Experiencing God Personally

Friday, April 30th all the missionaries, 2 worship leaders, a translator, and 9 youth left Candelaria to go to a quite place. Lisa, Jacob, Ashley, Diego, and I had been planning a retreat for the youth for a while now. We decided from the beginning that we could only bring the youth that were truly serious about knowing Christ more. So, we started a new Bible study in which we were reading through the book of John, and we began praying. If the kids came to 5 out of 8 of these Bible studies then they would be able to come on the retreat. We prayed and prayed asking God to bring the ones that were ready. God answered our prayer!

He chose 9 kids specifically to go on this retreat, and I knew they were ready to hear God's voice. As we left for the retreat I knew God was going to do some amazing things, but I seriously underestimated His power (don't we always do that)! From the moment we got to the beach these kids were free. They were free to worship God in whatever way they wanted, free to spend time with Him without any distractions from friends and family back at home, free to tell God exactly how they felt, and free to truly experience the presence of God. It was absolutely beautiful. By the time we headed home these kids couldn't stop smiling, and they weren't smiling because they had fun at the beach. They were smiling because they had tasted a little bit of God's presence and they liked it! Our purpose for this retreat was so that the kids had an opportunity to step outside of their daily life, and truly experience God more personally. Now we are beginning to see the fruit of this experience!

Thank you to my home church, Idlewild Baptist, who helped support the retreat financially. You guys played a huge role in what God is doing in these kids lives. Also, thanks to everyone who was praying for us and continues to pray. I can certainly feel God's blessings pouring down upon me.