Summer is here, and life is very very busy! We were very encouraged by all of your responses and your prayers following our last newsletter, so thank you. Life has moved so fast in the last year, and both of us truly feel like God is growing us through all of this. Part of the growing is constantly remembering that we have done absolutely nothing to get ourselves here… to get ourselves saved, to get ourselves married, to get ourselves in ministry, to get ourselves a source of income, to get ourselves a home, or to get ourselves a baby boy on the way! Every good and perfect gift has come from Him (James 1:17) and so our prayer is to ever be seeking after Him, the Giver.

One such step of obedience came last week during Calvary Chapel Saving Grace’s youth summer camp. With my (Barek) new work schedule (nights and weekend nights) I only get Mondays and Tuesdays off. Because of this, I couldn’t join CCSG’s youth summer camp for its entirety, unfortunately. But after praying, Ara and I felt it would be totally worthwhile to go for at least my two days, at the beginning of the week. So I got assigned to teach the Tuesday night session (in Hebrews) and we were excited.

But Sunday night, after work, I broke my contact for my right eye. For those of you who don’t know, I’m as blind as a bat in my right eye, so this made things interesting, for not only the youth retreat plans, but also for work! These are the kind of inconveniences that God allows at times, ultimately in order to have us walk by faith (and in this case literally) not by sight.

We went up the mountain to the camp a day later than planned, with Ara doing all the driving of course, and we had an incredible night and next morning. God moved so powerfully through this camp, and we got to witness His glory and His salvation! I got to teach on Hebrews 3, where Jesus is counted worthy of more glory than Moses, and where the Hebrews are warned to heed God’s voice while it is still “today.” By the grace of God, after the message and during worship, I got to pray with a young man to receive Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. All glory be to Him, who loves us, and saves us, and sustains us through everything. He never leaves us nor forsakes us, and there could not be a greater gift for Ara and I in pushing through the inconveniences to our plans, walking instead in His, than to see a life saved by Him. Ultimately 3 youth kids gave their lives to Him through the camp. Praise God!

We Got An Apartment!

I (Araceli) had been doing research on finding an apartment and we had no idea how quickly the LORD would open the door for us to move out of my in-laws. Within a week of searching and applying we got approved! It has been a month of living on our own. We were beyond blessed for the time we got to live at my in-laws. They had given us the entire upstairs of their home. One of the bittersweet moments was walking into our prayer closet knowing that we had to pack it all up. That was where we both sought the Lord, prayed together, and did our personal devotionals.

Now here is a picture of our living room in our apartment. We can’t wait to create memories with our baby boy in this home, and to see how God uses this place for ministry!

Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

Isaiah‬ ‭41‬:‭10‬ ‭

Throughout my pregnancy, the LORD has constantly been teaching me to be fully dependent on Him, physically, spiritually and mentally. I am constantly running to Him for aid and comfort and He has been so faithful to meet me there. The week that Barek and I were going to host some missionary friends, my heart was not in the right place. A part of me was excited to have them over, but physically and mentally I was wrestling with not being able to do it. I knew I needed to pray and I asked the Lord to encourage me and He did! He gave me the verse above. I held to this promise, and guess what?… God was faithful, and we had such a sweet time with the missionaries. Both Barek and I were encouraged by them and the calling that God has placed upon their lives. It is so refreshing to have likeminded people who understand the need to reach the nations with the gospel.

Another moment where I had to depend on God was when I went grocery shopping at night by myself. Out of nowhere I got a nosebleed so bad that I had to go to the hospital. My mother-in-law picked me up, and when I got in her car I remembered what I had read in the book that I am going through with some women at the church. One of the things the author wrote was, “Although such and such is happening, I’m going to praise you God.” So in that moment I said, “Although I’m having a nose bleed and it seems like the most inconvenient thing right now, I’m going to praise You God.” God is constantly calling us into a deeper relationship with Him, and sometimes that requires going through what seems inconvenient.

Praise Reports

• Praise God for the 3 youth who got saved!
• Praise God for His faithfulness
• Praise God for our new apartment

Prayer Request

• Pray that the 3 new youth believers would grow in the newness of life
• Pray that Araceli would see an OBGYN soon as she has transitioned doctors and has not been seen for two months
• Pray for Araceli’s health and baby Moses’ health
• Please continue to pray that God would provide a second car, if He sees fit
• Please continue to pray that Barek would be a witness at his job