Another week down...I can hardly believe that I have now been away for 6 weeks in total! Can I say it has been difficult, but God has been so so faithful. I´m going to start with a verse that has been speaking to me this week a lot.

 John 15- Í am the true vine and my Father is my gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word i have spoken to you. Remain in me, as i also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.´

 Since I´ve been here, I´ve felt very weak at times...weaker than I ever thought was possible. I guess I´m out of my comfort zone, alone alot and around all new people so nothing is known to me from before. In that its very easy for the devil to keep reminding you of your weakness and your sin and even that you can´t do anything about it. For me It´s been kinda like that. As I mentioned in a previous blog...as you get closer to God and deeper in service for Him, the devil will try even harder to trip you up. So often I get caught up in my imperfections and my own sins, the devil blinds me from the truth and tries to steal all hope. But even though we all are imperfect beings, God meets us where we are...and that is the truth. When you desperately want to grow in God, the devil will remind you of your sins and condemn you...giving you the attitude that you have too much to change so it´s impossible. While it´s important to know your sins so you can do something about it, it is important to know that CONVICTION comes from God, and that is healthy and necessary to grow...but CONDEMNATION comes from satan. If you´re in a place where you just think you´re in too deep for God to ever pull you out...stop...and pray against satan and his powers of evil...becuase, let me tell you friends...there is hope...and hope in abundance in Jesus! Let God cut off those sinful, dead branches in your life...and at the same time...know that He is pruning the parts of you that need to be pruned...let Him mould you and make you more like Jesus. My prayer for each day here is to remain in Christ, and let Him remain in me totally...and to do that I need to make more and more room for Him in my life, as it gets busier. Here´s the gold...´No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.´ There it is...plain as it could be for us to read...but more importantly, to LIVE! The devil is trying to detach us from the vine at every opportunity...but we have to cling to God with all we are...remember, there is hope in God, remember, even if you think there isn´t, he is ALWAYS working away in background chipping away at you to make you totally His. Let Him have ALL of you!

 Another concept that has been with me this week is that of PEACE. This week my life has been very busy and I haven´t had much time to myself. The only way i could describe it is that my mind and life has been noisy...so much to the point that on tuesday night I just came home and began to cry. God is breaking me heart for the people here, and giving me great opportunities to share...but I just need to find that peace He gives and let Him speak to me. That night God gave me these verses...

Isaiah 26:3- "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast because he trusts in you"

Psalm 29- "The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace"

And I just happened to be reading John again the next day and God drew my attention to this...

John 16v33- "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

What truth! I was totally overwhelmed, because this was just what I needed to hear. My life was so noisy...I had so much in my head and so many plans for this year, and the overwhelming feeling of not knowing where to start. But God always brings me back to Himself...I need to remain in Him, knowing that It won´t be easy...and my life will become ´noisy´again and again...but i need to return to the source for perfect peace.  

At the weekend, I travelled to Milagro with a team. For the past two weeks there has been a team of 42 people from Rochester, New York and from Colombia. This weekend they were all split up around various parts of Ecuador...and I had the pleasure of getting to know 4 of them down in Milagro. I went with them so I could get to know the people of Milagro, where I will be working this year. On Friday afternoon we led a service for kids of a local primary school and their parents. On Friday night we led a service for women. On Saturday morning, we went to a local town called Naranjito for a youth conference. On Sat night and on Sunday morning we led 2 more services. It was a lot of church in one weekend! But it was a blessed time. I led worship on piano and sang a few spanish songs to them too. It was so great to be able to meet the people there. Milagro is very very poor, dirty and has so much need. There is a high crime rate, and a huge problem of gangs and shootings there...but people are so friendly and open. Even though the place seems so poor...it is so rich becuase of their faith in Christ. The Church welcomed me in and prayed for me, and said that they would adopt me as their own this year.

I will blog more about this trip soon...I´m excited about Milagro, even though there is a lot to do...remember there is HOPE!!

For now, please pray for a safe appartment for me to live in, as i hope to move there next week

Pray also for the people there. I will be working with a man called Carlos Peña. he works in an even poorer area called Las Mercedes, in house churches and evangelism. Pray for my Spanish and that God would give me the perfect words to say, and for boldness.

Guys, your comments on here mean so much...and your prayers are spurring me on each day. keep praying and knowing that we´re all working to advance the Kingdom of God.

much love

JBx