Go & Serve

    Over the past month, I have found myself saying over and over how proud I am of our amazing teens and their beautiful hearts… 

   For the last 2 years Cadence and I have had the honor and joy to work with such a great group of youth. Of course they are teenagers- they can be such punks and they’re struggling to figure out who they want to be and how to deal with their emotions. But they are also sincere, kind-hearted, funny and full of life. They bring so much laughter to my life! 

    We decided that this year we wanted to start doing service trips with our youth to get them out of their comfort zones, to serve and love in new ways and to be part of what God is doing in their nation. This month we took our first trip to serve at Jesus Centered Ministries in Leon. 

   Cadence, Rosita, Sandra, and I all prayed about which kids we should invite on this trip. Once we had our list complete, we met with the youth to tell them about the trip, explain our purpose and let them know that they would be working together in order to raise their own money. We wondered how they would react to being required to raise their own funds. No one complained. No one thought it was impossible. They were all willing and ready to jump right in. I was so impressed with how well they worked together in order to raise money. They sold mangos and other food at baseball games and Sunday school (pictured above). Some of them even brought in their own money from home to pour into the group fund. They were motivated and selfless and worked hard to meet their goals. I continue to be impressed by them. 

    In Leon our youth were ready to help out in any way possible. The plan was to help paint their outer wall, lead songs with the kids, and practice reading skills with them. I loved watching the way that they worked and loved. The boys jumped right into painting the outer wall. They laughed and talked and worked quickly painting as much of the wall as was possible. Karla was a natural with the kids! She jumped right in teaching and reading books to the kids (pictured above). Leonardo became such close friends with one of the boys. They all laughed and danced singing songs. They displayed the love of Christ in such beautiful ways. I felt like such a proud mom. 

    The Lord has big plans for these teenagers! I can’t wait to see how their relationship with Him will deepen as they serve others. (The whole group pictured above at Jesus Centered Ministries)