Exciting times. 11/25/08

Excuse the glare.. and off-center shot..

BUT this is a recent brainstorming session that my team had. We are in the process of casting vision for the upcoming school year on Matias. It is a truly exciting time for us to reflect on the reasons we are here and dream big for the plans that God has for the students on this campus and this country. I am hoping that you will be able to discern some of our ideas so you can be lifting Matias up in prayer!!

Also, I wanted to give a brief update on ministry lately. The Lord has been encouraging us in huge ways during the past week. We have been committed to founding our days in prayer and God has been showing up big. Yesterday we met Adriana. A second year art student who was excited to talk to us and even spoke English with us. Adriana has a relationship with God and wants other people on her campus to have the joy that she has from the Lord. She was so thankful that we were in El Salvador to share God with her classmates. She was radiant the whole time that we talked to her and even made her ride wait for 15 minutes to finish the conversation! We are hoping to talk more specifically about the gospel when we see her next week. And then today we met Valerie. Valerie has lived here for 4 years after growing up in the states. She had told us that she has seen us around a lot and has been hoping to connect with us somehow.. after talking to her for a few minutes we realized that she was in the same ciclo as Andriana meaning they take all the same classes, along with our friend Maggie. As soon as we sat down Valerie shared that she was a Christian too and was so thankful and excited to see a movement forming on her campus. It was so encouraging for us to see a group of women forming that will soon become a bible study and community! The guys have been meeting students who are totally on board with the change we are hoping for the Lord to ignite. Luis is a communications student who invited us to his exposition. Once he heard that Vida Estudiantil is based in evangelism and discipleship he immediately wanted to be involved. It has been challenging to find committed students but in the past week the Lord has brought us students who want to be a part of what God is doing on their campus! It has been such a gift.

El Salvador is already full of Christmas cheer and has been since late October. The pictures below are from a local mall. Yes that ornament is bigger than my head. Eek!