Refining

I joined Servant Partners, my 2 year inner city ministry internship, because of many reasons....God calling me to be in the city (living and working here)...wanting to grow in compassion for those God loves...taking a step of faith into trusting God as Jehovah Jirah - thee Provider in my life...to be amidst a community of fellow Christians that care about similar things....to seek justice...to spread the gospel....to see the Kingdom of God present in a place where many think God has abandoned (but really is ever so present)...and to see where God will lead me!

BUT...I didn't know what God would be stirring in me....things that He is at work of refining in me that need to be worked through in my character. I didn't know prejudice thoughts would evolve because of 1 difficult experience on the streets of downtown LA...but God is working through that and from a sermon at church I realized that God is there to help me rewrite this "card" in my mind. I didn't think that my students would challenge me in ways that made me question my approval from them and my approval from my coworkers and my own self esteem in the work place....but really it brought me to a place where I can seek God for patience, mercy, and compassion for my students...because mine is not enough, and see the students with new mercies every morning, just as God sees His children on Earth with new mercies every morning/every day! :-D I didn't think that God would bring up something from many years back - forgiveness that I had not truly given, and how I need to seek wisdom from friends and scriptures, and to really pray and cry out to God about that. I didn't think that my fear of death of loved ones would come up again, but 1 John 4:18 says "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."....and since Jesus Christ is perfect love, I need to lean more into Him to help me take away this fear. INTERESTING....God has been doing a great deal of refining for my character, especially through some things that I was surprised about, but it has been good....what blessings from the Lord! :-D

So we are now 2 weeks in to our ministry projects that will continue for 6 months. Our end goal is to have 2 small group bible studies in this area of South LA that are in partnership with our church. So....we are just continuing to be more intentional and proactive about building relationships with our neighbors, being out in the community, sharing the gospel with people, and eventually inviting people to be a part of the small group bible studies!

I would greatly appreciate your prayers for a few things:
-There is an idol at a house close to our street (kinda like the golden calf in Exodus that the Israelites were worshipping) ...we have learned more about it and have been praying for the destruction of it...so please join us in prayer for that....and pray that we get to have conversations with the people who live there who are already open to spirituality, but show them the real God who is worthy of worship!
-Pray for continued interactions with our neighbors in this community
-Pray for reconciliation among our neighbors in our apartment complex
-Pray for Liliana (she sells tamales and champurrado...I shared about her before) that she and her husband, Javier, are able to have enough money to make ends meet and that my household and others continue to have conversations with her and that they come back to church again
-Pray for continual conversations with coworkers about Jesus and for the Kingdom of God to be very present there

Thanks so much for my supporters, prayer partners, and loved ones! :-D Remember to please email to keep me updated with things going on for y'all...and also if you get any senses/thoughts while praying for what is going on for me here in South LA. Take care and blessings!!!