Short Update

Tomorrow I have to share about why I'm going to Cambodia with the English Congregation. And as you guys all know, I hate public speaking! So I'm really praying hard that God will put the right words in my mouth as I share with everyone. I am prepared.... so let's hope I don't choke and forget what I've been practicing tomorrow! :D

We also had a Cambodia meeting today. I can't remember which number this one was; there's been so many meetings, I've lost count of how many we've had. But that's a good thing. I've found that with each meeting, we bond a little more. Gradually, our team has really been coming together and recognizing each other as more than just teammates. It's important for us to be familiar with each other. If an issue arise when we're overseas, we'll be able to tackle it as a whole group, instead of just an individual (who's prone to stumbling much easier). We have a good group vibe going on, and it's been beneficial. 

Rocio's thoughts on 'Perseverance, the Skit'

So I've been practicing the 'Perseverance' skit, and my bones hurt from falling and being beaten up by imaginary people in my place. Tis painful! But more piercing and convicting is the skit's story.
I wonder, can one be a true Christian and not go through this in life? Is being a Christian so easy as to just profess it and you're safe, that's it, nothing more to it?
I was jolted by the realization that: if I'm not ridiculed in life for following Christ, am I truly identifying myself with HIM to begin with?

The main character is every Christian, not just a preacher. It's the high school teenager, its the young adult. It's every Christian's command to 'Go, tell the good news, I am with you...always'
I go with an initial enthusiasm, His Words in my hands...then rejection, then a couple of beatings. Slowly I try to crawl back up. The Holy Spirit finishes picking me up and points me again to the Word. I'm told to pick it up again. He's empowered me. He sends me out again, to speak HIS words.
I think I can do it my way and yield better results...not so. Yet more beatings, and I start to think, forget it God, find someone else. I want nothing to do with this, with you...nothing! I start to leave, I stop, I look back, I can't leave...He calls me to Himself...I can't leave...He receives me again, points me to His word, and again tells me 'Go, with My words Go.'
All the time He's behind me, in the background it seems, orchestrating events. In the end, it's not me who calls, it's not me who chooses. X calls each one and says 'come to ME.' I am only His instrument. Those He calls he allows to become His children. And I share in the joy of having brought people back to HIM.
But after the beatings and the ridicule, do I get back up? Do I trust Him? Do I question Him for allowing the beatings? When I walk away, do I come back? Am I bold, do I care more what other people might think of me....Do I love Him more than any other opinion in this world??? to do anything to identify myself with Him?
I have alot of thinking to do...

* my first blog*!!

Hey everyone
i'm darlene and like everyone knows me rocio's little sister!......
soo i'm not much of a blogger actualli i know nothing about it
but for all u guys to get to know me a little bit i'm gona start trying to blog..
I am 15 yrs. old and finishing my sophmore yr.
I live in PalmDesert which is passing Palm Springs.
This is a very new experience for me, the whole trip to cambodia
i had never really plannd todo missions overseas but when the opportunity for me to go came
i thought it would be a great way to grow in every aspect of my life and mostly spiritually.
I really like my team members and would love to get to know them a little bit more..
i dont know.. everyone knows me as a little quiet and shy but hopefully everyone will start feeling more comfortable but when they get to know the real me hmmm who knows if they'll still want me !!
Lol lets just say they'll have to put up with two rocios!!! :)
Anyways this is my first blog and it wont definitly be my last....
~d~

How to Get to Where You Don't Know Where You are Going

Check out this map of part of Paul's missionary journeys and the corresponding verses in Acts.

They made their way through Phyrgia [6] and Galatia [7], but the Holy Spirit prevented them from speaking God's message in Asia. When they came to Mysia [8] they tried to enter Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them. So they passed by Mysia and came down to Troas [9], where one night Paul had a vision of a Macedonian man standing and appealing to him in the words: "Come over to Macedonia and help us!" (Acts 16:6-9)

Well what's so special about a bunch of verses telling us where Paul went? Let's go back to chapter 15, where Paul and Barnabas have a disagreement over whether John Mark should be allowed to join them. The result is a split and two different teams with two different destinations. What a great way to start out a mission trip. Once Paul starts the trip he tries to go to three different places but God closes the door each time. Paul has no idea where he's supposed to go. After about 700 miles of travel you can imagine how discouraging this could be becoming. With no other direction to go in they reach Troas and can walk no farther because it's on the coast; finally God gives Paul a vision. However, if you keep reading in chapter 16 you find out that once they reach Macedonia they find women by the river and a demon possessed girl but no sign of a Macedonian man. Wasn't that the vision? Was that really from You God? After a few days Paul might have been asking these questions. But wait it gets better, after driving the demon from the girl the crowd attacks Paul and Silas, they get flogged, thrown into jail, and have their feet put into stocks. Yet somehow Paul and Silas are still able to pray and sing hymns. What do these men know that keeps them going?

I feel like Paul and Silas much of the time, not really sure where God is trying to lead me. God, what should I major in? God, which school should I go to? God, should I date this girl? God, where do You want me to work? God, should I go on this mission trip? God, should I stay for an extra two weeks of language study? The pressure of all these decisions can get quite stifling and it's so easy to feel overwhelmed. I feel so lost. My spirit feels crushed, how can I sing and praise God?

What did these men have that I need? Faith. Trusting that God is taking care of us, that He knows what's going on, and that when He says something He means it. But having faith would be easy if things happened right away. There's a second element: patience. I've heard it defined as doing something you don't like for a long time. That's why patients is also called longsuffering. If you were doing something that you liked, it wouldn't require patience, it would be fun and natural. Faith and patience need to work together to get us to where God wants us to be.

At midnight, while Paul and Silas are singing and praying, an earthquake hits and frees them from their chains. The jailer is about to kill himself when Paul reassures him that all the prisoners are still there. He falls at Paul's feet and asks what he must do to be saved. "At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized" (Acts 16:33).

"The word of God is called a lamp because it only lights the path a few feet in front of you." -Unknown