I’m going to warn you at the beginning, this post is
probably too long… but our previous post was made in an attempt to get something started as a blog. There is so much more to share about this new
and quite unexpected chapter of our life.
As you may already know, we believe that God is calling us to move our
family to Guatemala. To be honest, I (Christy)
have always been skeptical of the idea that God “calls” people to a particular
place. I believe that God calls all of
those who are His to walk with Him and tell about Him wherever they find
themselves… So if you ask me, I would be perfectly fine to do that the rest of
my days in the same place! I am not one
to feel the need to have adventure, or change for that matter, in my life. But God is so gracious with me! He loves me too much to let me have my way in
that and consequently miss out on all He has in store for me!
For the past several years, Joseph has been on several
short-term mission trips with our church to the countries in Central America. Each time, his heart has grown more attached
to the people in that part of the world.
He has felt a growing desire to be a part of the work God is doing
there. But he has also come home each
time to a wife who was very sure that she was meant to stay put! So Joseph left the matter in God’s
hands. He never pushed me, he just
prayed. And he continued to seek the
Lord with all of his heart. Over these
years, God has given Joseph a driving passion to tell as many people as he can
about the good news of the gospel – “that God was reconciling the world to
Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.” (2 Corinthians 5:19)
Sharing this message has become his passion and his joy, along with teaching
others to do the same. His love for God
has grown deeper and he is compelled by God’s love for this world to share the
gospel whether he is on a jobsite, in an engineer’s office, at a neighborhood
event or sitting at our dinner table with our daughters. God
has continued working in my heart too.
He has shown me ways I was looking for fulfillment in things apart from
Him – things that could never satisfy the way He could. Then, in April of 2015, I was able to go with
Joseph on one of the mission trips to Nicaragua. It was exhilarating to be so far out of my
comfort zone and experience God using me.
I got to experience the reality of these verses: “And He has committed
to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as
though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s
behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so
that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians
5:19-21). I went out with the group each
day telling people that God had made a way for them to be reconciled with Him. I told them that they could have the total
assurance that their souls were secure for eternity! That no matter how hard their life on this
earth might be, one day when it was over, they could know that they would spend
their eternity with God in heaven… where there would be no more tears and no
more pain. That if they trusted that
Jesus suffered and died for their sins, then God would forgive their sins make
them right with Him! And when they truly believe in Him, they become a new
creation, born again as a child of God, able to finally live the life God had
intended for them all along. And so many
people were glad to hear this! They
accepted this news with joy and relief!
And as they prayed with me, confessing their sins and accepting God’s
free gift of salvation, they weren’t the only ones that were changed
forever. I was changed. I tasted what it was like to be immersed in
the work of God - the work of lifting up the name of Jesus – and nothing less
is good enough anymore. There is no
other purpose that is worth living for.
The reality is, I turned 37 today.
How in the world did that happen?!
And in the blink of an eye, I will be 47, then 57… This life goes by so
fast. I do not want to get the end of it
and look back wishing I had let go and really jumped in to whatever the Lord
wanted to do with me. No. I will not let that happen. If God, for whatever reasons I may never
understand, wants to use our family in a particular place during a particular
time, then I say yes! And I say it with
joy! I thank Him that even though He
could use anyone to accomplish any work He wants to do, He is calling us to do
it! Yes, I believe we could stay here
and be faithful to share the Gospel here, but I believe He has something in
store for us there – in Guatemala – and I won’t miss it for the world!
There is more to share, but I am trying to write a blog
post, not a book. We did bring our girls
on a trip this last April of 2016 to both El Salvador and Guatemala. During our visit, we sought the Lord about
whether this was really something He was leading us to do. We had the best time with our dear friends
Stephen and Cheryl Parris as they stayed with us throughout our visit. We also got to know the family of the pastor
of Iglesia Bautista Vida Nueva in Guatemala as we stayed in their home. Joseph has developed a deep friendship with
pastor Nelson Rivas over the years.
While our family stayed in his home, we too quickly felt the bond of
friendship with Nelson, his wife Rosemarie and their youngest daughter,
Camila. Nelson and Rosemarie moved from El Salvador to
Guatemala 8 years ago with their 3 daughters to start Vida Nueva
Guatemala. Nelson and Rosemarie are
excited along with us that the Lord wants to bring our families into ministry
together. We will share more details about
the Rivas family, the church in Guatemala City and the work of the ministry we will
be doing in a later post as this one is too long already! Thank you for your interest in our family! We are so blessed to have such incredible friends and family!
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| Our girls with Stephen and Cheryl Parris |
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| Nelson and Rosemarie Rivas, with their youngest daughter, Camila |
