llegamos bien

Hello all my dears,
Each girl from the Chile team arrived safely home on 1 July 2008. Thank you so much for your prayers; God kept us safe and did a lot of good work in each experience we had. If there is anything I have learned, it is how much stronger his love is for us than vice versa. Though we have our agendas, his master plan always follows through no matter what.

As the co-leader of this team, I had many concerns and uncertainties of how this trip would play out. It's interesting to see how we have our human ideas of what life should be like and the different qualifications people should have in order to do great things. It has been a humbling experience to see how God often chooses the weakest of the weak to do great things. Prior to the trip, there were many outside opinions as to why many of the girls on this team should not have gone. That was discouraging, but by God's strength we were able to do what he has called us to do. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." -Isaiah 55:8-9.

In a country where feelings mean so much to people, I didn't feel God the entire time I was in Chile. That made life hard to praise and worship God, but we are to live by faith...not by sight.
"We were crushed and completely overwhelmed, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we learned not to rely on ourselves, but on God who can raise the dead. And he did deliver us from mortal danger. And we are confident that he will continue to deliver us.(Our God is a strong tower, a shield, and a fortress) He will rescue us because you are helping by praying for us. As a result, many will give thanks to God because so many people's prayers for our safety have been answered (or in our case, will be answered)" --2 Corinthians 18b-11
Pay close attention to the part where it says, "He will rescue us because you are helping by praying for us." Honestly, there were times where I didn't even have the strength to pray with full honesty. Thank you for co-laboring with my team and I as we (you and us together) spread the word of God to others. We could not have done this without God using you.

First, I must thank God for all he has done, for He has been our strength. And second, I would like to thank you for helping us do His will. It's good to be back home.

In Christ,
Raquel