in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life

Virgin of Guadalupe

Someone's house
One of the streets I worked on

I want to share with you what God has been doing in my life these past few weeks. I have gone from deep discouragement to deep joys. God has been using this time in Mexico to truly mold me and shape me and I am so thankful for that. He always wants us to grow closer to him and that sometimes involves hard days.

This last week however, I have been incredibly encouraged. I have been involved in the coordination and translation tasks of two volunteer teams that have come down to help from the US. I worked for two days with a group of youth and we went door to door giving out gospels of John (Evangelios de San Juan) and I translated as they shared their testimonies in English. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed translating! It was a blast of creativity as I tried to translate their profound emotions and thoughts. Simply glorious ;)

I also had my first Bible study with one of my teammates this last week and we had about 6 or 7 people show up which was wonderful! And I was challenged to pray out loud in Spanish for the first time ever. Though I have been learning Spanish for the last 5 months I had never been forced to pray and therefore avoided it at every turn because if speaking isn't hard enough, imagine trying to passionately speak to God in a language not your own. A few days later though, I prayed out loud for about 8 women as I went house to house taking surveys - what a tremendous blessing that was! God is so wonderful to shape us and stretch us at exactly the right moments.

This past week I have had the opportunity to share the truth about Jesus more than I ever have before. And it awakened me to the deep darkness of the city of Leon. These people are steeped in lies from the time they are born and they cling to it stubbornly as it has become not only a religion but their culture. Everything they do revolves around their holidays and idols. Almost every house has an Idol of the Virgin of Guadalupe - if you don't know about her I encourage you to look her up. She is everywhere here and people worship her as their divine mother. She is more important to them than our precious Savior. Though there is no basis for their beliefs in her found anywhere in the Scripture, they cling to her as a savior. One of my greatest conversations and also most tragic moments this week was on Sunday. We went to a part of town that is poorer and also known to have more gangs and I knocked on 3 doors before someone answered. But on that third door, I looked in and saw an old man and then almost passed the house by, but something inside of me made me knock. He came to the door and invited me and one of the volunteers in to sit at his table as we chatted. He is 68 years old and there was an entire wall covered in idols. We began to speak and honestly, I shared about a relationship with Christ and the hope that he gives us more passionately than I ever have before. And it was such a joy because I was speaking Spanish! God is so faithful! What was so tragic was that he had no hope whatsoever. He looked at me and said "All of that sounds wonderful, it sounds beautiful, but how can it help me?" My heart broke. Here is a man who has an entire wall dedicated to idols and he says he believes in God but he has no hope that God can help him or change his life. My heart was awakened to the oppressiveness of the darkness in this city - it is like a heavy weight bearing down us. Please pray for this man, Jo. He has health issues and is taking care of his 96 year old mother. He was a sweet and precious older man - please pray that as we follow up with him his heart would be softened and that he would witness the joy and love that we have within us through the Holy Spirit.

"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

This passage has really spoken to me lately - Just by living in this dark world we are demolishing strongholds simply with our mere presence which contains within it the Holy Spirit. How blessed we are to have within us weapons that have divine power. What is even more interesting and astounding is that these weapons are weapons of love, peace, humility, selflessness, faith, joy, etc...that through living holy lives we can defeat the powers of darkness is insane. Sometimes it is so hard to actually use these weapons - we want to wage war as the world does with hurtful words and mean glances and manipulation but through the power of the Holy Spirit we can live Holy and allow God to fight the battles through us using His incredible love! It is the Spirit within us who fights because in reality we are incapable of living holy without him guiding us and giving us strength. But with Him we can live HOLY - so amazing. I have been challenged lately, by God, to live a more selfless life. Though I am here in Mexico and I have left my family and the comforts of home I have still been living selfishly - As though I deserve a great adventure in this place and as if I am entitled to happiness. But the truth is, is that God never promises us a great adventure, he doesn’t promise us happy days. But he does promise to love us and to never forsake us. There is a passage that says: I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:12-13. Hallelujah! We can do everything through Him he gives us strength. I have been having to rely solely on God’s strength lately as I have had none of my own and he is so faithful. The secret is to rely on Him - to give it to Him - to surrender our lives to him - to be sacrificial and selfless and also humble. It seems hard and our flesh resists but when we choose Christ we truly have joy and life! How holy is he!!! We truly receive abundant life when we loosen our grip on our own lives and trust God to do with them what he wills.

Thank you all so much for your support during these last few months. Please continue to pray for this city and for these people who have been confused by lies. Pray that the strongholds here would be broken and that people’s hearts will be softened. Pray for us as we continue on in God’s work here - sharing passionately and boldly about him. Pray for strength and a deepening of our faith. Pray that we would draw closer to Christ and that each day as we open his word we would learn and grow and truly hear from Him. Your prayers are appreciated more than I can express here.

Also, here is a link to a site I created to share my music. I hope you enjoy it :)

http://www.purevolume.com/RachelEldredge

And hope does not disappoint us...

“And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given to us.” Romans 5:2-5

“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” Romans 12: 9-13

I have now been in Mexico exactly 2 months. 2 months worth of time has really held a lot of growing for me. God is stretching me and teaching me in ways I never expected. I am thankful for the ways that I am growing and maturing - I am having to constantly lean on my Father in heaven for strength and wisdom in every situation. I don’t know if I have ever had to be this reliant on him before. Please be in prayer for me as I continue walking on this journey with my creator, every step is difficult but I know that in the end I will find myself closer to Him and that is where I want to be.

Please pray for my ministry here, I have been able to start 3 English conversation groups although they are all very different. One of them only has one student and I have wondered if it is worth my time - however this one student is of the Baha'i faith and we are having very free conversation about faith and beliefs which makes me think it is definitely worth my time. One of the other groups has 4 students and the last group is an entire class (about 10 or so). So far we are having decent conversation in English but I am not really sure how to begin sharing the truth with them. I shared the prodigal son story in the larger group and we had discussion about it, it was very interesting but I am not sure that this will be a good method for every class as they really struggled with the English. Please be in prayer for these classes and these students - The 5 that I know the best are B, J, L, M, and M (the two M’s are girls and the rest are boys).

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:27

Please also pray for me as I try to create presentations about child development and nutrition. My heart’s desire is to work with the poor and oppressed and so far my only idea for getting into these areas and trying to get to know the people is to share practical information with them. My plan is to prepare the presentations and then find government buildings in these areas and try to see if I can find an entry to share. Through these presentations I obviously want to help these people in any way I can with practical needs but my main goal is to share about Jesus. Please be in prayer for these areas of town and the people that live in them and pray for me as I try to prepare and plan. This is a bit overwhelming for me and I am just leaning on God to show me how to do it.

I have begun to really get involved in my church and have started to make friends with some of the youth there. One of the girls that I have come to know and love is D. She is the pastor’s daughter and she sings like an angel. We have started singing together some and she is teaching me all kinds of Mexican slang which is very funny. I just want to thank you for your prayers that I would find friends, I feel like I have begun to make friends at church and I can only give the praise to God. Please continue to pray that I will make friends outside of church and that I will meet people of peace that I can begin to disciple. Thank you all so much for your prayers and willingness to keep up with what is going on in my life. I am blessed.

Restore to me the JOY of your salvation

Hello from the center of Mexico :)

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways and sinners will turn back to you.” Psalm 51:10-13

I read this verse about a week ago and I wrote it in my prayer journal as I do many verses. When I decided to write this update today I went back to my journal to remember what all I have been going through and praying about in the last few weeks. This verse hit me in a new way today - I think the first time I read it, it affected me but today I heard it anew.

My experience here in Mexico really hasn’t been like I thought it would be. I have told God this and I have cried many tears since I arrived here - though this is slightly embarrassing to admit. When I have done mission trips in the past my heart has always been set on fire to tell the people around me about Christ. There is a verse in Jeremiah that says “But if I say, “I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I can not.” (20:9). I have felt this kind of fire before but lately it has been only a smoldering heat and not a blazing flame. A dear friend has recently shared with me about the romance of God - his creation and his word display his love for us every single day. I know this romance but as many of you know I am a feeler, which is good sometimes and other times very bad. When I don’t feel God’s immediate presence I struggle - I long for intimacy with him in the worst way. I have known the romance of God but lately my heart seems to have quieted and I am able to feel and see only glimpses of that romance. The other day I went to the park - I had my ipod and I was listening to worship music and the sun was shining and the breeze was perfect and there were pelicans and different types of birds everywhere and I had to jump and sing (when I was sure no one was looking of course) and praise God for his creation and for what He is doing in my life. He has fulfilled so many of my heart’s desires - I desire to be among people that do not know him so that I can share his indescribable love with these people who have never heard. When the days are hard here and I have no one to lean on except for Christ, I feel like that joy and romance from him have been snuffed out but I know the truth of his word! His word says that he loves me, that he will never leave me nor forsake me! I am so glad that Jesus gave me that one seemingly strange day of joy at the park during these days that sometimes seem endless - He gives us glimpses of hope and this we can trust in. No matter what struggles come, I can always lean on him even if I can not feel him in that moment. This is a time of struggle for me - but struggle leads to growth and I want to grow. I want to grow closer to my savior everyday.

The point of this update is not that you would feel sorry for me but so that I can try to encourage you all in any points of trial in your lives. Christ is sufficient! Even when you can not feel his presence he is there - he is constantly with us and he knows all of our inward struggles. You can always fall into his arms and he will never drop you no matter how difficult the situation.

Ok so this update doesn’t really have any prayer requests yet and it is already super long. I am going to list some points of prayer below and hopefully expound on them later. I hope that is ok with all of you who read this.

• Please be in prayer as I have started 2 to 3 new conversation groups with students at 2 different universities. Pray that this would be a chance to share the gospel with these young people who think all they need is a good job and a nice house.
• Please pray for the poor areas of the city that I am thinking about working in. One I have looked at is called Los Naranjos. I am trying to put together materials about child development and nutrition that I can share in these neighborhoods as a way of getting to know the mothers and children. Pray that I would have wisdom putting this information together in a presentable way (as it is in Spanish) and that the government officials would allow me an entrance. Also pray that I would have wisdom in incorporating the truth of the Bible into each lesson and that Bible studies would get started as a result.
• Pray for the few friends I have made here -
• M and B who are new Christians.
• C who is trying to get into a university here in town.
• P who is my age and is not working or going to school - she is constantly with her boyfriend, pray that I would be able to hang out with her without G, her boyfriend.
• Also pray for Pm who is a Christian that I met but who also told me she doesn’t tell many people she is a Christian because she doesn’t believe she is a good example - pray that she and I would both have time to get to know each other better as she has a 2 yr old son.
• Please pray also for the church I have started attending, Divino Redentor. Pray that I can get involved with the jovenes (the youth) in the church and begin to belong to this little piece of the body of Christ.

Thank you all again for your prayers for me. This is a place with a lot of spiritual warfare and I cherish each and every prayer that you lift to the Father in my behalf. I am excited to see what God has in store for me here as I know he has brought me here on purpose.

In Him,

Raquelita

MMMMEEEEXXXXIIIICCCCOOOOOO!!!!

Brothers and Sisters in the faith,

I just want to thank you all again for your continued prayer for me. I know that it is a huge commitment to pray for me during these two years but please know

that I am so grateful. I have needed your prayers a lot lately. I didn’t expect this transition to be as hard as it has been but I know that there is a purpose in it. It seems that sometimes God allows me to struggle so that I can relate to the pain of those around me. This has been a lonely time - In Guatemala I was surrounded by other believers my age and I think I took that for granted. I now have a wonderful team here in Leon - they really are great and I am so blessed by them but at the same time I have a hunger for fellowship in the body with others my age, with others that share my desire for adventure. It is difficult for me to get out in this city everyday alone. The wonderful thing is that God really has been showing up even though it has been hard for me to show up. The guy that I met at the ice skating rink, M, has invited me to his house several times to eat with his family and his wife, B, and I have gone walking and gotten to know each other better. I found out that they only received Christ about 3 or 4 weeks ago so I am sure that this meeting was not an accident. I have asked them about reading the Bible and at this point they don’t really know how to go about it so pray that we can begin reading the Bible together and that this can become a Bible study. These people are definitely people of peace for me so please be in prayer for them. They have 3 children, M, J, & C.

Please also be in prayer for me this week as I am finding all of the Universities in the city and trying to find out which campuses I am allowed on. I went to one University last week and I talked with the director of languages about starting up conversation groups in English. She seemed very skeptical so please pray for her and also pray for me as I try to come up with ideas to present to her through email - please also pray that the email will be clear as I have to write it in Spanish.

I also want to share what has been going on here in Mexico for the last few weeks. There is a celebration/worship service tomorrow in a city called San Juan del Lagos. This specific day is for worshiping the Virgin of San Juan who they believe can give them miracles. People from all over Mexico have been walking to San Juan del lagos in order to receive more blessings - the further they walk the more blessing the receive. Me and another missionary here happened upon a parade of these “pilgrims” as they are called and we followed them to a camp site here in Leon. This was only one of many camp sites but we walked up and talked to a man there about the pilgrimage and their beliefs. This particular virgin is not Mary but they pray to her just as they do Mary in the Catholic church. We listened to a prayer and they believe that she can take away their sins and heal their infirmities. Please be in pray for all of these pilgrims - some that we met had been walking for 15 days from Mexico City. Please pray that God would bring down these idols and that the truth of Jesus would be presented to these people. Please also pray that these people would not be satisfied in their worship of this idol.

I am so grateful for all of your prayers and encouragement! The body of Christ is an incredibly beautiful gift. I am including a prayer calendar that I made for myself and for all of you to help you pray better for this city if you would like. It is only meant to be a reminder to pray and to hopefully give ideas of the needs in this city - I hope it is helpful. I am also attaching a link to more pictures that you can look at on Facebook. Thank you all for everything!

For more pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2653710&id=4922382

Proof of my skating classes....

Estoy Aquí!

Hola Amigos!

I am now here in Leon Guanajuato, Mexico! Thank you all so much for your prayers during this time of transition, I have really needed them and felt them. It has been difficult leaving all of my friends and my host family from Guatemala but I know that God has new things in store for me here in Leon. I have met my team and they are wonderful! My team here consists of two families with children and 3 single ladies (including me). I am living alone which has been interesting as I have never lived alone before - it is a little lonely at times but I am trusting that God will provide friends for me soon.

My ministry goals here are still a little unclear but my main job right now is just to get out and learn the city and try to meet people. I have decided to join an ice skating class - which may sound a little strange for Mexico but for some reason it is pretty popular here. I am hoping to meet people through this class so please pray that lots of people would sign up and that I would be able to befriend them while I am falling on the ice. I went by the skating rink the other day just to observe a class and see if it would be a good way to meet people but there was absolutely no one there. As I was getting ready to leave I happened to see a man working on the ice and we chatted for about an hour - the length of time that I was just going to observe! God is pretty creative :) This man, M, invited me to his church with his wife and kids and wants to introduce me to some girls my age in the church so please pray for him also and for Sunday when I go to this church. Because I was interested in the class they also offered me a free one to see if I like it! Exciting!

Also, I am trying to meet my neighbors which has been a little difficult as their schedules are so different from ours in the states. They eat lunch at about 2:00 p.m. everyday and dinner is at about 9:00 p.m. or later. I am trying to adjust but I find myself hungry everyday at 12:00p.m. I met a woman in my neighborhood the other day, Senora M, and I am planning on taking her some cookies very soon (I may have taken them to her already by the time I get this posted). But please pray for her - that I would have a chance to get to know her and share Christ with her. Also please pray for my next door neighbor, C, she has 2 kids and her husband works everyday until 10 or 11 p.m. Please pray that I would be able to share with her and get to know her better and even get to play with her kids. One of my jobs while I am here is to get bible studies started within my neighborhood and eventually a church. This is a very difficult task because each little cluster of houses is guarded by a gate which is great for security but terrible for sharing the gospel. I have found out about 2 people that I can hopefully go to visit in other house clusters but this requires prayer as well. Please pray that the doors would be opened (literally) to these little neighborhoods.

Another aspect of my job (I know there are lots!) is to work with university students. Many of the Universities though also are gated which means I need friends first before I can get onto the campuses. Please pray over this. I have made a contact with a girl who wants to learn English so that she can apply to one of the nicest Universities in town. We are going to try to meet each Saturday. Please pray over her. Pray that I can become friends with her and that I can share the hope that I have in Christ with her. I think the main thing here is that these people don’t know the hope of Christ. We as believers have an incredible opportunity to speak with God everyday and to know the unbelievable comfort and love of his presence. Pray that these people would see that in us - my team - and that these people would want it for themselves. Pray that we as a team would be people of prayer and people of compassion.

I am so grateful for each and every prayer that you all lift up for me and for these people. God really is listening and working! Praise Him!

Love you all,

Raquelita

Que te vaya bien

The crater of the Volcano (there is a soccer field inside of it)
At the top of Volcan de Agua

Looking out over Antigua and Guatemala City

Hello all,

It has been a while since my last update, not because I haven’t had the time or the desire but I just haven’t had the words. There is so much to learn here and so much to grasp - it just seems impossible. Sometimes I try to wrap my mind around who God is but I am just too small. I want to be apart of his work here and in Mexico in a mighty way. I don’t want to miss out on any opportunities because of selfishness or laziness - I want to always be growing closer to Him and getting to understand Him better even though I know it is impossible to know Him fully.

There have been 4 aspects of my life that I have been praying about lately - possibly 5. One is Joy - I desire to be a woman of joy and of light. I want to represent what Christ can do in our lives, he can take away our pain and our grief and give us joy in Him. That does not mean that we will always be happy but it does mean that we can be content in Him. I desire this in my life and I desire others to see it in me and want to know Christ better because of it. The second thing is passion. I want to be passionate about the salvation of these people. I want the reality of the hell they are facing to be constant in my heart and mind. There is a verse in 2 Thessalonians 1:8-10 that says: “He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the Lord and from the glory of his might on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among those who have believed.” This verse hit me the other day in a new way - these people will be shut out from the Lord. I can not possibly imagine what that will look like, but I know an existence separated from God is torture. I want to be a woman of passion that I might be a bolder witness to these people. The third thing is for selflessness. Jesus was a servant to his disciples and to all of us. In living and looking more like Him I want to be more servant hearted. The last thing is prayer - I want to be an avid prayer. I want to pray all day long without ceasing and I want to lift up these people in the power of the Holy Spirit. The fifth thing is peace - I am dealing with a lot of logistical issues with my Visa and I am not going to make it to Leon when I thought I would. I need prayer to be at peace knowing that God knows exactly when I will get there.

I appreciate your prayers and your notes of encouragement more than I can say! I am so indebted to you all. I want to give you all a short list of people to pray for here in this town of San Juan Del Obispo:

Damaris (my host mother): Pray that her heart would be open to the word, that I would take advantage of every opportunity, and that she would have peace in the comfort of God.

Luis (a host father of a friend): He is a huge leader in our Bible studies and even suggested that we go out to one of the poor areas around Antigua - that was one of the most amazing Bible Studies yet and it was all his idea. He is in danger of losing his house in this next week if he can not come up with about $9000. This is pretty much impossible for him without a miracle from the Lord. We have been having Bible study in his house every week and he is the definition of a person of peace from Luke 10.

Christopher (a host father of another friend): He is an alcoholic and his family is suffering terribly right now. My friend Corey was able to share with the wife and tell her that Christopher needs a lot of love right now. She immediately started to cry and left the room. A few days later she told Corey that he was right and that if he hadn’t said that she would all the reason in the world to hate Christopher. Please pray that Christopher would have the strength to beat this addiction and that his family would have the strength to support him through this time.

Thank you all so much for the support and love you have given me - I am so blessed by you all.

In Him,

Raquelita

Que onda?

This past week here in Guatemala has been a really rewarding week for me. This week I took a few risks for Jesus and God honored them which was amazing. On Thursday I asked the group of missionaries here if they would want to meet to pray that afternoon. All but one said no because they wanted to go to Antigua to use the Internet. That same afternoon, though, I ate lunch with my host mother and I asked her what she was planning on doing that afternoon. She needed to go into Guatemala City, which is about an hour bus ride away, to buy some new shirts and gifts for the store that is in our house. When she asked me my plans and I said I didn’t have any, she asked me to go with her. I hesitated for a moment and then said YES! We spent the entire afternoon together shopping for clothes and shoes, which if you know me at all you know is my least favorite pastime, but it was really fun. On the bus ride home, we weren’t able to sit together because there were so many people on the bus. She sat directly in front of me and I decided to pray. As I was praying I had an overwhelming feeling of God’s love for her. He knows her intimately and personally. He knows all of her struggles and pains and hardships. He knows every thought that crosses her mind and he loves her infinitely more than anyone else. I was blown away. Then I applied that love that I know God has for this woman to all of the people on the bus. He loves them all intimately and perfectly. I was so encouraged. I want to have that same love and passion for all of these people. I hope that I will get closer everyday to seeing them as Christ does - through eyes of love. That night we had a dance practice and so I spoke Spanish almost allllll day long. It was really hard and fun. Needless to say, in school the next day my Spanish was rolling a lot better than normal.

The next day, I tried again to get the missionaries here together for prayer - this time they said yes. That morning I prayed that the time of prayer would be completely of the Lord and that my plans for it and what I wanted it to be wouldn’t get in the way. When it came time for the prayer time I was in my house still talking to my host mother after eating lunch together. I ended up being 40 minutes late to the meeting because my mother and I started talking about Christ! God did have a different plan for the prayer meeting and it didn’t include me ;). My mother and I talked for about 2 hours about why I decided to come to Guatemala and about her story with God. She told me that in the past she was very angry with God because her marriage wasn’t good (Romeo was living a double life) and because her grandmother died. She started crying as she told me these things and I could see the pain in her eyes. I shared with her that God always knows our needs and that he wants to provide. I shared with her what the Bible says about the rich young man who came before Jesus. If you want to read the story it is in Matthew 19 and Luke 18. In this instance, Jesus tells his disciples “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life.” I told her how I have left all of my friends and family but how God has provided family for me here through her and through her children. I told her that I won’t see my nephew for the next two years but God has provided Marco Alejandro for me to play with. God does not neglect our needs or our desires. I also shared with her what I had felt when I looked at her on the bus. That God loves her so much - she looked at me and smiled and said “why did you think that?” I told her that I was praying and I just realized how much he loves her and I told her that she is in His hands and He always sees her. She started to tear up again. This has been the most rewarding conversation I have had since I arrived here! Please keep praying for Damaris - that her heart would be open to the truth and that she wouldn’t let her preconceptions of evangelical Christians get in the way of a true acceptance of Christ. Please pray also for her marriage. Many times this week I have come home and she has looked as if she has been crying. I haven’t seen Romeo in about a week and Damaris says he is working. I want to believe that this is true but I am not convinced. Please pray for this family! This is a critical time for them. Please pray that they would want the joy of knowing Christ and that when the correct time comes to share I would have the words to speak. Please also pray for the Bible study which we are having tomorrow this week instead of Wednesday. I asked Damaris to come and she said she will but I hope she follows through - Pray that God would keep reminding her of this.

I know that this has been a long update but I hope it will spur you to pray with me for these people and specifically for this family! Thank you so much for all of your prayers they are so appreciated and they are felt! Please continue to let me know how I can be praying for you as well :)

Sincerely,

Raquelita

P.s. I am attaching some videos of our dance practices! Hopefully this will give you an idea of the fun I am having getting to be apart of this family's life! The first video is of Marco Alejandro Dancing and showing off. The 2nd is of me teaching my family the Cupid Shuffle. The 3rd is my family dancing my favorite dance for the festival - those girls can move!