So, here is an update on what has been going on in the past month. I completed my Perspectives on Missions class. It was great! I learned a lot and made some really good friends. I was sad to have it end because I found the content extremely interesting and I loved the time spent with others who were passionate about the same things as I am. However, I am happy that it is over because now the time that I spent reading and preparing for the class can now be spent on other things, like learning more Spanish! I'm registered for a summer class at Triton Community College that will go for 2 times a week for 6 weeks. I look forward to learning more basic conversational Spanish to build on the very basic stuff that I already have. I completed the psychological testing that needed to be done for my potential sending agency and so now I am just waiting to hear the results of that so that I can continue on this application process. There really is no news about my condo. It is still up for sale with no one even looking at it. It is sometimes difficult to stay positive about this when most people's response to this is something like, "Yeah this is a really bad time to be trying to sell", followed by "Would you be able to rent it?". Unfortunately, with the combination of property taxes (which are extremely high for the county I live in), my mortgage, and my condo association fees, the rent would need to be much higher than what the going rate for a 1 bedroom condo rents for in this area. However, that being said, I KNOW that God has a plan about this, just as He has a plan for all the other parts of my life, and just like He has the plan for when the trees turn from brown to green in the spring. So, I continue to prayerfully wait for His plan on this matter and I promise when something happens regarding this, I will make sure ALL of you know!!! :).
Last time I was telling you about the amazing connections that He is making for me, and I asked you for continued prayers regarding this. Well, I thank you for those prayers because He continues to make these connections that are encouraging and 1 that is just so incredible I know it is from the Lord. I will share with you about 2 people. Last month I told you that I was planning to meet with a retired doctor in the area that is native to Peru but has made the US his home for the past 30+ years. Many people from my church encouraged me to meet with him. I finally did meet with him and was amazed at what he is doing even now in his retirement. He is part of a non profit organization called PAMS (Peruvian American Medical Society) who raises money to buy supplies and equipment to support frequent mission trips back to his native country of Peru. These medical missions help educate medical personnel in Peru with life saving medical procedures while performing surgeries and medical care to the underserved citizens of Peru. He is an inspiration to me and really just an encouragement to me to be doing what I'm doing. The second person I want to tell you about is a woman named Christen. My friend Becky is the one who suggested that I might want to contact Christen. Becky and her husband Robert are the missionaries that I stayed with in December the second week I was there. So, I took Becky's advice and emailed Christen. I found out yesterday a little bit of Christen's story. She has been a missionary in Peru for 3 years working with Young Life all over Latin America with an emphasis on teens with disabilities. Her background is that she is a recreational therapist and had hoped to go to school to be an occupational therapist (that is what I am), but instead the Lord lead her to Peru with Young Life. Before moving down there she had been on many short term trips with Wheels for the World, which is the ministry that sends short term mission teams to provide mobility equipment like wheelchairs and the love of Christ to those in need. This is part of Joni (Eareckson Tada) and Friends. So after all of that back ground here is the amazing way that God works! When I contacted Christen it was via facebook. As most people do when you are meeting someone through social media, you tend to look at their bio and pictures to get a sense of who you are. Christen did that and began commenting on some of my pictures from my trip to Peru last May. Specifically the pictures of the boy that we gave a wheelchair in the GREEN shirt! The boy that is the main page of this blog. The boy that really pulled at my heart to do more than just give a wheelchair. I know him as David. Christen knows him as Angel. We may know him by two different names but he is the same boy! She shared with me that she has been working with this particular family with a lady named Doris who is a missionary from Switzerland in a ministry called The Refuge (www.asocelrefugio.org ) serving infants and children in poverty. Angel has an older sister that also has CP. Anyway, long story short, she has posted on her blog ( http://www.christenrenee.blogspot.com/ ) a picture of Angel in the SAME GREEN SHIRT about 1 year after the picture that I took of him when we delivered the wheelchair. The best news she gave me was that he is using a walker to try and walk short distances!! This was something that I felt he could do when I first met him, but at the time he did not have the resources or therapy to do it. Isn't the Lord amazing?!!! Through our conversation about Joni and Friends, Christen and I also realized that we know the same family associated with the organization! I know the family because they are members of my church! She knows them because the dad works for Joni and friends and he helped lead a few of the trips that Christen went on with the organization! Isn't the Lord amazing?!!!! I can't even begin to tell you how in awe I am at how He is connecting me with people such as these. This is the encouragement that continues to confirm that what I am doing is from The Lord. THINGS like this happening is why I KNOW that He has a plan for my condo and debt as well. Today my devotional reminded me of His promise: God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? Numbers 23:19. God is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of, infinitely beyond our highest prayers, thoughts, or hopes. Ephesians 3:20.
Thank you all for your continued prayers and support. I really can not do this without all of you praying alongside me. Please continue to pray for a solution to my condo and college debt. And for me to learn more Spanish. Lastly, for the continued interview process with the sending agency to be successful as well. I am so thankful for each one of you and am blessed to be able to share with you all how the Lord is working in my lie