Every week has been busy but especially this week. Not only did we have classes and outreaches but this week I got to teach twice and play piano for worship. Let’s just say I was pretty busy. During the first few days of the week, I wasn’t too stressed about making time but as the week went on and the responsibilities and opportunities piled on, I began to stress out. I remember praying and just telling the Lord how stressed I was about having enough time to practice for the worship set and study Daniel chapter 3 for the kids. I must admit I was overwhelmed but I remember reading in Strategies of Satan (our assigned book this week) how the enemy attacks your mind in this way. The enemy loves to get you to doubt the goodness of God. I simply trusted that the Lord would provide enough time for me to be a good steward of my responsibilities. As the week went on the Lord was faithful to give me time to practice the set list, study for the kid’s message, finish my books, and even call my friend and my parents. This small victory was a good reminder that God is faithful to provide in the small things as well as the big things. Just like the Lord can protect Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace how much more can He provide for the little things?

Playing Piano for Worship

This week I had the opportunity to play piano twice. The first opportunity was a disaster. I came underequipped and unprepared. In case you don’t know me well, I play alto sax sometimes for worship and often I just wing it and figure out songs by ear. I didn’t bring my alto sax to Mexico and I was asked to play piano, which I’ve been learning for about 3 months. I said sure and had the alto sax mindset going into it. If you ever play worship, I would not recommend winging it. I forgot to account for technical difficulties, a language barrier between musicians, and unfamiliar music! However, this disaster was how I learned that I need to practice and be diligent to practice with English speakers beforehand. When I practiced and changed my approach I was able to play with confidence, knowing the songs. I’m definitely no Mozart, but I’m not as bad as I was in the beginning. You never know, next time I write I could be soloing on the keys.

Learning to be a Servant

I have learned a lot throughout these few weeks but one of the Most Important Points (M.I.P) of this week was definitely the importance of being a servant. One of the pastors was teaching about why missionaries leave the field and the biggest reason was because of disunity. Sadly, the reason many leave the field is because of divisions over small things. The enemy loves to use small things to set well-meaning missionaries against each other. When these issues are not dealt with or dealt with carelessly they can build up and lead to division and arguing. These small trifles can lead to damage to the witness of the missionaries and even unforgiveness between brothers and sisters in Christ. This is where the importance of being a servant becomes so important. It takes humility to be a servant. This humility removes the potential for competition or jealousy, and better yet, it creates unity and love. Imagine if everyone had this attitude to put others before themselves in everything. The love and unity of that group would be astronomical. That is exactly why being a servant is so important, especially on the mission field. As a Christian, you are an ambassador, and as an ambassador you represent a country or in this case, Jesus. Therefore, how important is it to represent Jesus well to those who don’t know Him? The way we live shows so much more about us than our words. So when we divide over small issues or argue what are we saying about Jesus? This is so vital for us as Christians but especially for missionaries serving amongst the Unreached People Groups who have no access to other Christians or churches or even Bibles.

Prayer

Thank you all so much for your prayers last week. I really appreciate it. If you would like prayer I would love to partner with you in prayer as well. You are welcome to respond to this email, it goes directly to me.

• Pray for our trip to Culiacan
• Pray for our time in Kuare and for the Kuare tribe
• Pray for our teachers that they might have the words to speak
• Pray that the Lord would reveal His will for my life
• Pray for the Unreached People Groups

Thank you all for the encouraging emails last week. I love receiving those encouraging emails about what the Lord is doing in your lives. I pray you are all encouraged by this newsletter. If you would like to partner with me financially then there will be a link below. Thank you again. God bless you all.