Streams in the Desert, April 15th

I trust in your word. (Psalm 119:42)

The strength of our faith is in direct proportion to our level of belief that God will do exactly what He has promised. Faith has nothing to do with feelings, impressions, outward appearances, nor the probability or improbability of an event. If we try to couple these things with faith, we are no longer resting on the couple these things with faith, we are no longer resting on the Word of God, because faith is not dependent on them. Faith rests on the pure Word of god alone. And when we take Him at His Word, our hearts are at peace.

God delights in causing us to exercise our faith. He does so to bless us individually, to bless the church at large, and as a witness to unbelievers. Yet we tend to retreat from the exercising of our faith instead of welcoming it. When trials come, our response should be, "My heavenly Father has placed this cup of trials into my hands so I may later have something pleasant."

Trials are the food of faith. Oh, may we leave ourselves in the hands of our heavenly Father! It is the joy of His heart to do good to all His children. Yet trials and difficulties are not the only way faith is exercised and thereby increased. Reading the Scriptures also acquaints us with God as He has revealed Himself in them.

Are you able to genuinely say, from your knowledge of God and your relationship with Him, that He is indeed a beautiful Being? If not, let me graciously encourage you to ask God to take you to that point, so you will fully appreciate His gentleness and kindness, so you will be able to say just how good He is and so you will know what  a delight it is to God's heart to do good for His children.

The closer we come to this point in our inner being, the more willing we are to leave ourselves in His hands and the more satisfied we are with all of His dealings with u s. Then when trials come, we will say, "I will patiently wait to see the good God will do in my life, with the calm assurance He will do it."

In this way, we will bear a worthy testimony to the world and thereby strengthen the lives of others.

Picture Time - March 2013

At the end of February, Sharla, Nate, and I ran a 1/4 marathon (13km) with a few hundred other Salvadorans! It was a blast, I mean, sure I was tired at the end, but these two friends made the experience a fun one! AND I got to check "Run a race in El Salvador" off my bucket list. :) (In case you're wondering, every participant received a medal; we didn't win or anything...)

We were super blessed to have Richard and Jen and also Matt Peace (from the C&MA National Office) come for a week at the beginning of March. This visit was to help make the decision about when the Mullinax family will return this summer. It was so wonderful to have them here and spend time together again. Can't wait for them to get back!

Some exciting news is that our Nathan Hare is getting married! The news that goes with that is that Nate is no longer with us at Wired. He has returned to the States for the time being, preparing for his marriage to Meghan. We are so excited for them both... We miss Nate, but we rejoice with him!

Wired went into Guatemala for the FIRST time this past month! A veteran team from Gospel Alliance Church + 3 men from NC served with us at a C&MA church in Cuilapa doing construction and evangelism.

Guatemala is a beautiful country!

Our caravan on the way to Guatemala, including a police escort (for security)!

I couldn't resist adding a couple of the flower pictures - Pastor Joel's house  (where the ladies stayed) had a beautiful garden just spilling over with flores.

Have you ever seen a poinsettia tree??

One of the most loving women I have ever met - Mama Gretel. She is Pastor Joel's wife. She served us humbly and self-lessly for the entire week. 

Training for CPE (evangelism) appointments!

The menfolk worked hard on building cinder block walls in the church building (you can see their work on the 2nd level). 

The ladies painted in the pastor's house every morning and, in the afternoons, went out to into the community to share the Good News of Jesus.

Yes - I am learning how to play the guitar. I was able to play for our morning worship for the first time!

Overlooking the city of Cuilapa, Guatemala

God blessed this evangelism campaign, allowing us to go into over 30 homes and share the gospel. Many people came to know the Lord! This was the first CPE that I really got to be a part of - what a blessing.

This whole family accepted Christ!

The Guatemalan team! They tore it up!! Each of these people blessed me more than I can say. 

These beautiful girls help their mom make and sell tortillas all day long. We loved getting to know them and sharing time with them.

Nestor, Mama Gretel, and her daughter Michi. 

My family came to visit! Oh my goodness, my heart was overflowing to have them here and have my two world's meet! My mom, dad, and my sister, Caroline, came for the whole week of Semana Santa! 

I wanted to throw in this last photo of my reunion with a family that I met in Salcoatitan  in 2011 with my short-term team from ABF. This woman accepted Christ during the evangelism campaign we helped with and her twins were part of the VBS.