a big highlight

For me one of the biggest highlights of our trip was getting to meet individually with the women and hear what God was teaching them, their team, what they are struggling with and how they are engaging in their new culture. These men and women are some of the most incredible people to work with. They love Jesus, they are stoked about the Great Commission and encourage us deeply. So I was scheduled to meet with Erin after her time on Campus. I walked down to the gate of the guesthouse we were staying at. Seriously, CR reminded me of Africa in the fact that all flats had huge gates with razor wire all around their own property boundaries. You can kind of see it in the photo below - the gate is black.

Erin comes around the corner and shouts, "Jen, have I got a story for you!" Right away I knew it was going to be good. Erin is from Ohio and we had chatted a couple times before this, but I was really looking forward to getting to know her a bit better. Earlier in the week we had met on campus together and were sharing the gospel with students using Soularium, which is a series of 50 photos. We ask students to choose 3 pictures that describe their life right now, then to pick 3 pictures to describe what they wish their life looked like right now, and finally ask them to choose one picture that describes God and explain their choices. It's a pretty great tool - if you'd like to do it sometime I think we have some photos around :) I'd love to hear your answers. Anyway, back to Erin... Now I knew that one of Erin's main concerns or a lie she was believing since she has been in CR was that God wouldn't be able to use her because she can't really speak Spanish, and wouldn't be able to connect with the students. Needless to say God blew her mind. She had gone on Campus with Jesse to share the gospel. They met a man and woman and he began talking with the dude and she with Priscilla. Priscilla spoke no English, but they were trying their best to communicate with each other. Erin told me that she was hearing words come out of her mouth in Spanish she didn't even know she knew! And Priscilla was understanding every bit. Erin said, "the passion and the longing in her eyes and in her words broke my heart, but also made me so incredibly joyful at the same time. When we got to the part where I talked about how Jesus Christ is the only way to God she was stunned, this was something she had never heard before." She prayed to receive Jesus with Erin totally in Spanish. Quite a story. A testimony of God's faithfulness for sure and especially when we are weak He is strong and His grace is truly sufficient. What a God we have!

Erin is in the green shirt