let's walk the walk...

One thing I constantly take for granted is freedom of religion. In the US of A we are free to believe -- or not believe -- whatever we want, no matter what someone else says. We can stand outside of Capitol buildings protesting for something we believe in. Now think about that...we can stand outside of our government building..and tell our government officials that Jesus Christ is Lord and He is the way, the truth, and the life. Now lets consider some countries in Asia, where freedom of religion is nonexistent. People are kidnapped, tortured, and even killed if not only government, but also people within cults find out they are worshiping Jesus. It's kind of a foreign concept, huh?
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This comes to my attention because I just started reading the book Radical by David Platt, which he talks about being in a darkened room in an Asian country with church leaders who, if caught there, could lose their lives for discussing the Bible. He says,

They had gathered in secret. They had intentionally come to this place at different times throughout the morning so as not to draw attention to the meeting that was occurring...I listened as they began sharing stories of what God was doing in their churches..."Some of the people in my church have been pulled away by a cult." This particular cult is known for kidnapping believers, taking them to isolated locations, and torturing them. Brothers and sisters having their tongues cut out of their mouths is not uncommon..."I am hurting and I need God's grace to lead my church through these attacks." As I looked around the room, I saw that everyone was now in tears...They all looked at one another and said, "We need to pray." Immediately they went to their knees, and with their faces on the ground, they began to cry out to God...

How crazy is it to think about this? I honestly have a difficult time imagining what this life must be like. I take my freedom of religion for granted every day. People know I'm a Christian...I wear it around my neck on a necklace, I have it on my car, I put it all over my Facebook and Twitter (sharing God via social networking :) ), and I try to show my love for God in my daily life. I can't even imagine how fearful these people must be...but they are so faithful and trustful of God's protection....I admire them. Christian persecution is so prevalent in other parts of the world that attending underground churches is the only way to worship with other Christ followers. Martyrdom happens. But with an unfailing faith in God, persecuted Christians are pressing on despite their circumstances. And the thing is that they're succeeding not only in their walks with God, but also in harvesting new believers. How humbling.
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So where are we as Christians in America??? As a free nation with the ability to preach and disciple OPENLY and well, FREELY, I feel like our America is just going with the flow. We as free Christians could step up and walk the walk like those who risk their lives daily to spread the Word of Christ. We as free Christians SHOULD step up and walk the walk like those who risk their lives daily to spread the Word of Christ. Imagine how much of an impact it could have on the world if we used our freedom to live radically like Jesus and for Jesus. We take our freedom of religion for granted. What a shame it is that we don't take advantage of the fact that opportunities to make disciples are prevalent here in America...we need to use our freedom to further His kingdom. We're at a turning point and it's our decision. Live and share His love...don't be selfish. Let's take advantage of our freedom of religion...Let's do something radical.
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I encourage y'all to read Radical by David Platt. It challenges us Christians to take up our crosses and live out what the Bible commands of us. "To believe and obey what you have heard." He encourages us to live radically, as Jesus did. It's a great book (from what I have heard and read thus far)...$15.00 at a Bible book store, or online. You wont regret it!

the truest love

happy valentine's day to all! whether you're with or without that cuddle buddy/love of your life, just remember that the truest love anyone can find is with God. no matter how lonely you get, or how happy you are, God is waiting patiently for YOU to tell Him you love Him...and no matter what or when, He is willing and ready to not only tell you, but SHOW you abundant love.

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! His love endures forever! Psalm 136

we hear many bible verses about God's love...and that God is love. God and love go hand in hand, so on this day, remember that He is the true keeper of your heart, and He will never break it. His love endures forever.

my life, His plan.

I often times wonder if I am really on the right path: the path which the Lord wants me to follow. Am I taking the right steps in my life on Earth to further my relationship with Him and His kingdom? Did I make the right decision there? And of course, that big question everyone keeps asking me..the same one I continually ask myself: where do I go from here? After I graduate, will I have a job waiting for me that will allow me to follow God's path? Is it possible that I will know which road to take? Honestly, all of these thoughts and questions scare me. Like I said, I wonder if the path I'm on is the same one God wants me to follow.
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As I think about this future of my life, I can't help but think back to the circumstances in which He has led me to where I needed to be. There are two awesome things that stand out in my mind... As many of you know, this past summer I spent 3 months serving the Lord in Nicaragua. Now, getting there wasn't exactly a piece of cake...fate had to step in to move me to the spot of being allowed the opportunity to go on that mission. Many others had been selected to go, but by the grace of God, I was chosen to be the third of three summer missionaries. Now that it is all in hindsight, I know that that "fate" was God at work, situating circumstances, pulling strings, and aligning the stars for me, of all other people, to be blessed with the opportunity of spreading the Word to a foreign nation. And what a blessing it was!
Also, during the fall as I searched for internships for this upcoming spring semester, I didn't really have a clue as to what I would do..so I went to the job fair and gave my resume to a few companies, hoping they would find interest in me. In the days following the fair, I received phone calls from two companies...one of them had already come up with a position for me. The woman was excited to share with me that after reading about my summer as a missionary, she knew I would be perfect for the position to work with churches in the Austin area. This was a type of position she had been wanting to implement for a while, but just never knew how, when, or with whom. So, my internship will be working as a liaison between the company and religious organizations in Austin... :)
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Now, tell me if you think those are God things...? I still wonder if I am on the right path, but I think I know. I think HE definitely has me on a path. It's crazy how I feel like the Lord is absolutely preparing the path for my life through my life's experiences. I feel like I can look toward the future with hope, and ignore that fear that so easily creeps up while I sit here clueless about what I'm doing with my life.
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I was reading through Psalm 2 during my devotional today and the passage discussed how the people of the world plot together to come up with their own agenda, ignoring and trying to overcome what it is that God has on His agenda. Then, in Psalm 2:4, it says,

He who sits in Heaven laughs, the Lord makes fun of them...and warns them.

The passage then goes on to discuss how God has set his own king upon Jerusalem. Later in verse 6, the Lord says,

"If you ask me, I will give you the nations...You will rule over them with an iron ..."

You see, the point of this is that no matter how much we plot, or how much we ignore the Lord, He does still have a plan for us. The issue lies within whether or not we ask Him, in His sufficient grace and love, for guidance and direction to where He needs us to go. I've gotta keep that in mind as I begin this transition in my life. We've all gotta keep the faith!
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Wherever He leads, I'll go
Wherever He leads, I'll go
I'll follow my Christ who loves me so
Wherever He leads, I'll go

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That pretty hymn just decided to pop in my head...I thought I would share :)

here's to a new year!

Sooo...I definitely lied when I said I would try to write every week. Here I am, in the beginning of January and I haven't posted anything since October. Maybe writing more should be my New Year's resolution...? Forgive me. I have been at home for the past month, watching my sweet, sweet Christmas vacation days tick away before I begin my last semester of college. Whhhaaaaat???!!! Yea, it's happening. Hello REAL WORLD! So anywho, I have had lots of time to think about life and where I'll be in a year from now and how my life will be then.
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The other night I began reading a passage of scripture from one of my favorite books: Philippians. For some reason, Paul always has a way of making me smile and giving me hope through words he sent to the Philippians so long ago. I often wonder how I am supposed to find the right passage to read..ya know, one of those that really gets to the heart of you...and God always has his way of leading me to the words that humble me and remind me just how awesome his promises are to us. While I was reading chapter 1, I came across verses 27-28:

"Be sure you live in a way that brings honor to the Good News of Christ...stand strong with one purpose that you work together as one for the faith of the Good News, and that you are not afraid of those who are against you."

These two verses resonated with me. Just the other day I read about Christians being persecuted and killed in the Middle East and Africa. Sometimes I wonder about the fear these Christians must face in their countries for standing up for what they believe in...because here in America, we really don't know fear for defending our faith. However, for those brothers and sisters in Christ, as well as for us, this verse is a good rock to stand on. Our purpose on Earth is to bring glory to God..to spread His word...to make known the greatness of Christ in our lives, giving Him all the honor and glory He deserves...and to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are one body, working together to further the Kingdom of God. Scripture tells us that following God will not be an easy ride, and this journey takes the path of the road less traveled. But somewhere out there, I guarantee that you and I will find someone else who is just as excited as us to take that glorious path. ...And that's what this verse is trying to help us see. Yes, we can band together and fight the darkness to bring about the Light of the Good News in this world, and that with the Lord on our side, the Devil cannot defeat us.
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There are times that we fall...everyone does...we can't help it, we're human. However we can live in such a way that others will see the greatness of Christ in our lives. They will be able to tell that there's something different about you...that smile on your face, or that spark in your eye will let them know that you've got something in your life, and it must be good. Because after all, GOD IS SOOOO GOOD!!! Hopefully they will ask you about it, and you, or I, can share the Good News. :) Yes, I just put a smiley, because the thought of sharing His word with other people puts a smile on my face every time I think about it.
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So what is my New Year's (New Year??) resolution? To get off of my high horse and to spend more time in the Word. Knowledge of the scripture gives me more ammunition to ward off the enemy. I want to live in a way that brings honor to the Good News of Christ. I don't want to fear those who are against me and the Lord. I need to take more time to work together with the Body of Christ to further His Kingdom. Then, hopefully my light will shine in such a way that others ask me what my secret is, and I can share with them that I've found an unfailing friendship, hope, love, and faith in an AWESOME GOD, and that's something that cannot be destroyed. I pray that in a year I will have been blessed with many opportunities to further His Kingdom and that more so than ever, my lifesong sings to the Lord.

"I'm blessed."

So there are those times when I feel this nagging that it's time to pray, or time to stop and listen, or time to write...and this is one of those times. I cannot believe that it has been almost 3 months since I have updated my blog. What a slacker I am! I've stopped and thought, "hmmm...maybe I should update my blog and talk about how my summer ended or how things have changed after my trip", but just never had that nagging like I do now. Can I just say that I am so amazed at how many people actually read my blog...I mean, wow. I began this blog with the intention of having another way to express myself creatively, emotionally, and spiritually, and when I returned home to those "Jenny I read your blog"'s from SO many people in my community, I was absolutely blown away. I cannot express my gratitude to those who tuned in to see what God had in store for me, the mission teams, and the Nicaraguans who were on a mission to serve Him...and my utmost gratitude goes to the Lord, the Master of it all. Oh what a mighty God we serve!
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I've had my ups and downs since leaving Nicaragua. The spiritual tension has been challenging. I feel homesick at times, and I just want to talk about what I did there, even though I've already repeated myself time and time again -- I truly feel like there will be no end to my, in all honesty, love affair with my missions experiences. I just find it so much harder here because there aren't tons of people willing to listen. It makes my day when I have someone tell me that they would love to spend the day hearing about my experiences, and I would love to spend hours upon hours giving God all the glory He deserves...but it seems like those who I want to listen don't really want to hear what I have to say. I think that has been one of the most difficult things to cope with. However, I will share one experience with y'all...I've found that prayer does work wonders. Increased prayer over someone or something has kind of guided them in the direction I believe God wants them to go. It is such a pleasant surprise when God goes ahead and paves the way for a situation so that when the time is right, we can sit down and talk about Jesus (after all the prayers).

Do not be anxious about anything, but pray and ask God for everything you need, always giving thanks. Philippians 4: 4-6

One thing I have noticed is how my faith has been strengthened and how I have been humbled. This summer gave me real perspective on life. There are so many times in the past where I've been so selfish..it has brought out the worst in me. I've found that it is so easy to get caught up in my life and not look out amongst the living. Have you ever been to a soup kitchen or experienced helping out those at a homeless shelter? If you have or haven't, I challenge you to. One thing you'll find out is that the majority of those men and women have positive outlooks on life. If you ask "How are you today?" they will usually simply respond with "I'm blessed." How humbling that is...two words that put me in my place and really make me realize just how blessed I am -- to have so much and still complain about how I don't like this or I don't want that. Praise the Lord for the stress in my life, school really is not that bad. I have a roof over my head and a pantry full of food. After 22 years of living, I know that I too have been SO AMAZINGLY blessed and no matter how much I try, no amount of gratitude will be able to express my gratitude for what He has given me. It's by grace, I have been saved, and His grace is sufficient.
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One of my favorite things is sitting here thinking about how the Lord never ceases to keep me in line...that little humbling factor that teaches me I'm not in charge, He is; I'm not perfect, He is; I'm a servant, not a ruler; I'm here to make disciples and show the fruits of the spirit to everyone, not to bring my brother or sister down.

When you talk, do not say harmful things, but say what people need--words that will help others become stronger. Ephesians 4:29

I will try to update my blog more than once every 3 months...hopefully more like 1 or 2 times a week. Again, if no one reads this, I don't mind...I'm just here to express myself and discuss how the Lord has impacted my life for the better. He is awesome! Amen.

Let's Pray Y'all

Our past week we went with a team from Charleston, South Carolina to Ciudad Dario to distribute the gospel of Luke, the Story of Jesus. We were so surprised when we pulled into ACIBEN (the guest house for the Christian Association of Baptist Churches of Nicaragua...where we stayed for the week) and a group of Nicaraguans from the neighbor town came in. Why were we surprised? Because they had worked with this very Charleston group last year. So it was like a family reunion, and it was so awesome to see. Rachel, Lauren, and I were relieved when we saw that the house we were staying in had an overhead shower (with AMAZING water pressure) and a flushable toilet...not bucket showers and outhouses. What a great/easy way to end our bathroom experiences in Nicaragua :)
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After prayer walking the first day, Ciudad Dario was very receptive to the gospel. We even had a lady come up to us asking if we were there to talk about Jesus even before we had begun to hand out any books of Luke. One of the days I was blessed with having the opportunity to pray for an old man on the street. Rachel had constantly been telling us that we don't have enough books to hand out to everyone on the street because they would all be getting books in their homes as well, BUT if we felt like we should take that opportunity to stop someone and give them a book, we should. So I did. I stopped the old man, gave him a book, and asked him if we could pray for him. As we started praying, he began to cry. He was so thankful for our prayer, and I was so grateful that the Lord made me feel like I should turn around and give this man a book and pray for him. I don't know what was plaguing him...whether he was sick or just tired in his old age, but in that one moment, our hearts were lifted up to Jesus, asking him to bless this man (which we are constantly reminded in the Bible that the Lord has already blessed us). What an opportunity. Thank you Jesus. Later on that day, I went into a house on the street and started rattling off the Spanish I know to 4 older men. One of them asked me where I was from and what state. When I told him around Houston, TX, he smiled..then I noticed that he was wearing an Astros cap, and he started speaking perfect English. We discussed the purpose of me being in Nicaragua and our ministry and he told me that it's great to see that we have traveled so far A. because we have a heart for telling Nicaragua about Jesus and B. because Americans need to get away from all of the comforts and experience what it's like beyond our borders. Eventually I came to find out that he works at Continental Airlines in Houston..so honestly, I hope to see him when I go home on August 2...how cool would that be?

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Overall we were blessed with the help from the church members from San Isidro who helped us work Ciudad Dario and we ended up handing out about 5,000 gospels of Luke. We showed the Jesus film twice and during the second night's movie, Sergio (our driver/the Godly Nicaraguan man who is the missions director for the Nicaraguan convention/Loren's successor in taking over Operation Go) led 3 people to accepting Christ as their Savior. Crazy how the Lord works. One of the women had received the book in her home while she wasn't there, read it, heard we were showing the movie, came to ask about the book, and then accepted Jesus. I don't know about y'all, but I'm clappin' for and praisin' the Big Man upstairs.
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During the week we had a despedida at ACIBEN for Loren and Karen. It was basically a despedida from the Nicaraguan Baptist Convention for them, so pastors from around the country of Nicaragua came to show their appreciation for the Dickeys.
I was happy because I was able to see Pastor Hector from Esquipulas, where FBC Schulenburg was last year, Pastor Juan from San Lucas, and my favorite, Pastor Francisco from Los Encinos/Las Sabanas, all in one place. They gave Karen and Loren a pinata and 3 cakes as part of their going away party.

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It's all kind of a blur, but I wanted to talk about the other fun things we did while we were at ACIBEN in the afternoons. We played NINJA, climbed trees, played SCUM (a card game), ate food (yes, FUN), and I TRIED to play baseball and soccer and realize now that I should never do that again...mainly because I was a sad excuse of an athlete.

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I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed this group from Charleston BC. I felt like they were more of a family than a team..and they looked out for us just as much as we looked out for them. They were very giving, accepting, and loving to us, to the Nicas, and to the Lord. I'm glad we were blessed with the opportunity to meet and share a week with them, and they were a great last team to have. I also really liked the fact that they were so Southern in their accents. It's always fun having a group of people who speak the same way you do (with heavier accents) :)

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When it came time for us to leave ACIBEN and Ciudad Dario, it was kinda weird. Rachel, Lauren, and I had finished our last days of distribution with our last team, and it didn't feel like it at all. Even today, 2 days after they have been gone from Nicaragua, it still doesn't seem like our summer is over. Now we have to trust in these verses that I have written and talked about so often:

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.
1 Corinthians 3:6

and

My Word, which comes from my mouth will not return to me void. It will accomplish what I have sent it out to do.
Isaiah 55:11

let all of creation sing to Him now

Today is our last day of preparation for a team. They are from Charleston, South Carolina and we will be going to Ciudad Dario, birthplace of the Latin poet Ruben Dario. It's amazing how quickly this week came...considering the fact that it seems like a few days ago we were sitting around a table planning out the hectic summer ahead. I feel so humbled by my experiences from this summer. We are not here because we are "good people" as I have been told. We are here to serve the Lord. We are here to make disciples, but we still strive to do this because even Jesus only had 120 disciples when He died. I'm here in Nicaragua because of these verses:

The Great Commission
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 28:19

and

I expect and hope that I will not fail Christ in anything, but that I will have the courage now, as always, to show the greatness of Christ in my life, here on Earth, whether I live or die
Philippians 1:20

It's these verses that have changed my life. I strive to be the woman of God that I am commanded to be. The fact that I'm here serving Him has had such an impact on my life. I only hope that those of you who read my blog and those people whom I encounter and have the opportunity to share my testimony with will feel compelled to take part in missions. It is unlike any experience, and if you let it be, it will be an extremely JoYfUl and lifeCHANGING and FAiTH impacting experience. We can give money all we want, but until we go, whether it is in our own home towns, in the States, or in foreign lands, you will miss out on the journey.