Ven Conmigo pt 3

Still, though, the gap between me and my destination felt so vast. It also felt like the sun was setting on this opportunity. Time was running out to make this work. For a long time, there was no empirical evidence to suggest that I was about to go on a six month mission trip. I wasn't even in the program yet. I had no money saved up. I had no plane ticket. I was doing poorly in my two classes. I felt silly when answering the question "what are up to these days?" or "what's next for you?" because I had a response with nothing to support it.

When I had finally realized that the clock was ticking, and April was approaching, I mailed in my application and waited for three weeks to find out that it hadn't made it yet to Costa Rica. Not only that, but my references were given the wrong email address! Needless to say, I was quite distraught at this news. I ended up going back to my doctor for another stamp of approval, got the right email address and I sent a digital copy of the application and references to Costa Rica. So I impatiently waited a little longer. In my restlessness, the Lord gave me this verse:

I will go before you
and will level the mountains;
I will break down gates of bronze
and cut through bars of iron.
I will give you hidden treasures,
riches stored in secret places,
so that you may know that I am the LORD,
the God of Israel, who summons you by name.
Isaiah 45:2-3

I tried so hard to hold on to this, but it was so difficult to do that when everything around me was saying the opposite.

Steven and I went on a road trip to Southern California the last weekend of February to visit some friends. We ended up going to the Pasadena International House of Prayer, where they were holding this event called The Well allowed one to sign up to hear a prophetic word. In my time of uncertainty, I obviously thought it may be helpful to hear from the Lord, so I signed up.

The first thing the prayer team said was that I was going on a journey very soon. Somewhere else, somewhere new. They said God was pleased that I chose this path, and that He was going to be with me every step of the way and it was going to be amazing. They said I've been confused lately and not sure where I was going, but they said I would receive clarity very soon. After that, one of them got an image in their mind of the Lord leading me to a safe hidden in a wall. He was spinning the combination to open it, so he could bless me with "the things I need, that I've been waiting for." I couldn't help but smile as these strangers told me the Lord's promises for my life.

The following Wednesday, I checked my email on someone's iPhone during a youth group leaders meeting. I know, I know; I probably should have been paying attention to Carlos, but I just felt compelled to check it. Victor Hernandez jokingly - or perhaps prophetically - said that I was about to be accepted into YWAM. I scrolled through numerous Facebook notifications, Freecycle adds and emails from work to stumble across my acceptance letter to YWAM. I promptly announced the good news and was met with a round of high fives and hugs. I was in!

Today, I'm sitting in the community center lobby about to study for my finals this Friday. I leave in two weeks on a red-eye flight to Costa Rica, with a layover in Texas. I can't believe it. God has been so faithful, and He's completely coming through on His promises. I know that when Jesus says "come with me" I can trust that He will truly be "with me". He is so good.

I'd like you, my friends and family, to come with me on my journey that the Lord has set out for me. Keep reading these, because there will be a lot more to come.

Ven Conmigo pt 2

Was this even possible? This idea of mine seemed simply too perfect to actually be doable. I was sure that there had to be something wrong with transferring credits from two different systems. After speaking to two different counselors from both community colleges, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this was not the case. It didn't matter, they would accept the credits.

So, that was good news. But would I even be able to go finish my general education at Foothill? I was dangerously close to failing my math class, which was a prerequisite for my final requirements of Statistics and Chemistry. I had fallen to a D, and I found myself really worrying that I would have to take this class for a fourth time. I talked to my professor, and asked if I had a chance to bring my grade up. He said it was totally possible, I would just have to work a lot harder than I had been that semester. My prayer had now changed to "if you want me to go, help me pass my math class." So I started going to tutoring, and I was able to bring my grade up to a high C. I passed my class. I could now take my final requirements.

Would I get into the classes I needed? I got into my Statistics class, but I was put on the wait-list for Chemistry. Not only that, but I was number 15 of 18 of the excess students. On the first day, every single person showed up, including the entire wait-list. The second day was no more promising, for only one person had dropped from the class, which only bumped me up one spot. By this point, I was very discouraged, and almost gave up. That weekend, however, I was convicted by Autumn Buzzel's testimony about her calling to Ghana. She reminded me that God's calling on our lives is made complete in obedience and perseverance. While she felt called to Ghana, she had to respond to that call and go. She had to contact people in Africa, she had to get her visa, get her immunizations, raise her funds, quit her job...and God was with her through all of it. I decided that following Monday to keep going to the class.

After two long, anxious hours of Chemistry, I approached my professor. Once again, she said, there didn't seem to be any room for me. Even though I was now the only person left on the wait-list, no one else had dropped. The class was completely full, she told me. More than full, actually, due to a lack of lab drawers for those who were enrolled. As she told me all of this, my heart sunk. I supposed my time would come later.

Before I could even think about leaving, my professor told me that she had decided to reward my patience, and enroll me in the class despite the crowded roster. She handed me an add code, and I preceded to cry tears of joy and laugh at the top of my lungs all the way home. This idea of mine had now become a feasible plan, and I took this as a final confirmation that I was now on my way to Central America.

Ven Conmigo pt 1

In Spanish, "ven conmigo" means "come with me." When I was taking Spanish classes in high school, it was the name of the textbook series we used for all four years.

This last season, Jesus has beckoned me to come with Him many different places;
to New York City for the summer, to singleness after a two-year relationship, to a new job, a new school, and now a new country.

Ever since my best friend, Steven Rozzi, did YWAM my freshman year of college, I have longed to do the same. The timing had always deterred me, however, because I didn't want to take off school.

I found a YWAM base in San Jose, Costa Rica. After three months of intensive discipleship training, the team is sent on a backpacking trip through South America to minister to other travelers and other backpackers via intentional acts of kindness and hospitality. Much like my discovery of NYCUP, I just sort of stumbled upon this particular YWAM base. And of all the bases in the world, this one just sounded right. Still, however, the timing of the trip was less than ideal.

Earlier this fall, something very interesting occurred to me: I only have two more GE's to fulfill before I can transfer to a university. What if, I thought, I could finish those GE's at Foothill College, which is on the quarter system? That would mean I could finish my general education in March, go to YWAM in April, and come back right in time to transfer to a University. How perfect of a situation is that?

I prayed a lot about it, and Jesus confirmed it again and again and again. Nearly everyone I talked to about it - whether a Christian or not - agreed that it would be a spectacular opportunity. Even my protective mother, who is always worrying about me, said that it sounded like an incredible idea. The one person who objected was met with a storm of bird feces falling from the sky all over his truck. Now, I'm not sure if that was from the Lord or not, but I like to think that it was.

One of the most striking things was that a classmate of mine from high school, who I would probably only call an acquaintance, met my friend Spencer Ryan (who is currently doing YWAM) while studying abroad in Australia. She reconnected with me through Facebook and preceded to tell me that I should do YWAM. Even though she wasn't a Christ-follower, she thought it was an amazing program. So much so, that she felt compelled to encourage my participation.

From this point, my prayer was simply this: "Lord, if you want me to go, let this work out."