Back from Tijuana! What an incredible trip, one from which I hope never to recover...

Hey Everyone! I've been back from my missions trip for just over a week now! Sorry for the delay in posting but it has been REALLY good to have some time to process what happened on my trip.... Let me just preface this entire post by saying that it was phenomenal, provoking and transforming on so many levels, and an experience I will not forget.

We saw so many healings, miracles, and salvations, and experienced such incredible levels of God's presence and power that it's difficult to keep track of it all. I'll do my best to be a good steward of what I saw and experienced but I'm telling you, there was SO MUCH that it's a bit overwhelming :).



After having a couple of weeks to think about all that happened in Tijuana, the lives that were affected by out ministry, and all the things that the Lord revealed to me, I must say that my initial feelings of the trip on the whole have changed a bit... Don't get me wrong, I still feel the excitement and awe that I did while we were in the thick of ministry, seeing people's lives touched and transformed by God's love and kindness, but the difference now is that, in retrospect, I can really see what God was teaching me.
ALOT of my team and the other missions teams around the world experienced incredible healings and salvations among masses of people. God was moving so powerfully and quickly in so many nations that week, people just reaching out their hands, praying in faith and BAM, healing! Salvations! Miracles! But for me, my experience was a bit different. My encounters in ministering to people we much more in depth and lengthy... and it was incredible to see what God accomplished. For example, one night of our trip we held an open-air worship and healing service on Revolucion Street in downtown TJ, and it was a POWERFUL evening. One of the most significant encounters I had was praying for a woman named Rosalinda. At first, I was simply translating for my friends to join them in praying for this woman's healing. But God had SO MUCH more planned because over the next two hours, I got to take part in Rosalinda being completely healed from the pain in her chest and left arm, forgiving her daughter, experiencing the power and fire of God in her body, and I got to talk one-on-one with her and hear her heart. I was so moved and in awe of the things coming out of her mouth... She told me "I thought God had forgotten me but now I know that He hasn't" and "Now the doors of my heart are open, and they will not shut again". She even sang to me a series of her favorite worship songs! It was SO amazing!
So though I didn't see many radical creative miracles or healings in mass, I did have a dozen or so in-depth encounters like this one with Rosalinda, where I got to partner with the Lord in ushering in physical and emotional healing, encouragement, the breaking off of the enemy's curses and lies, and the establishment of the love and truth and freedom of the Lord. With all those encounters in my head, the Lord showed me that what He was teaching me through them was how to minister to and hear His heart for the one right in front of me. This year has really been a journey for me in that area... because though it's tempting at times to develop formulas or standards of how to get people healed and set free, doing that is almost always detrimental! Because it all comes down to listening to the heart of God in the moment, being ever-sensitive to His presence, and relying on Him to lead you by His Spirit to extend what the person on front of me truly needs. That's what is at the heart of everything... developing relationship with the Lord that not only changes and grows me more into His likeness but expands His Kingdom in this world through His love and power and glory.
Another testimony I MUST share: Above you can see a picture of me with a beautiful young girl. Her name is Rosa and she is a gem. I met her at the last church we ministered to, and it was an encounter I will never forget. One of the 2nd-year leaders on our team was preaching and charing her heart with the congregation, and at one point, with tears in her eyes and the passion of the Lord in her voice, she invited anyone who had dreams burning in their hearts, dreams they had been earnestly praying for, and hadn't yet seen realized, to come up to the front and to declare their dreams into the microphone. It was a POWERFUL moment. Slowly, two, three, five, then eight people came to the front, and even more followed, including Rosa. And after I had prayed with and ministered to several woman, I saw her and felt the affection of the Lord pulling my heart toward her. She was so precious, kneeling at the altar... So I put my hand on her shoulder and began to pray, asking the Lord what He wanted to speak to her, and the first thing that popped into my head was a picture of a rose. At that point, I had NO IDEA that her name was Rosa, and that what I had actually just received was a prophetic picture for her but actually a word of knowledge about her :). She laughed later when I told her that, and was touched that God knew her name! So after a couple minutes of her praying in silent, she leaned over to me and said, "I want you to pray for me because it's my dream to sing in the church. God has given me songs in my heart to sing... will you please pray?" As you can imagine, I was THRILLED beyond measure to partner with her in praying for her dream to be released! So we prayed for that, and then if that wasn't enough, she leans over again and says, "Okay, so now I want you to pray for me to preach in the church." This girl was AMAZING, so mature for her age and earnestly pouring out her dreams before the Lord. So we prayed again together, and I got to share the heart of the Father to her, that He thinks she's amazing, absolutely perfect and beautiful, and that it is HIS desire to FULLFILL her dreams. God also put this verse on my heart: "Ahora bien, la fe es la garantia de lo que se espera, la certeza de lo que no se ve." In English it reads, "Now, faith is the guarantee of what is dreampt of, the certainty of what is not yet seen." I will never forget the look in her eyes when she stared into my face and repeated, "La certeza de lo que no se ve." Ah, how I love her! And though it broke my heart to tell her that I may not see her again for over a year, I was able to make her a card, and I assured her that I will be praying for her, that God will continue to bring her closer to her dreams.

One last thing that I wanted to share with you all... just a couple days ago the Lord was reminding me of how faithful He is to back up and strengthen His children when they are faithful to step out in boldness and faith to extend His Kingdom to the world. I thought of how many times all throughout our trip that the favor and protection of the Lord were SO evident in our ministry times. There is something to be said about the opposition the enemy brings against us when we take a stand for Him. We are not to be ignorant of the warfare that goes on in the heavens, and yet, at the same time, we MUST NOT live in fear! The Almighty God of the universe, our Everlasting Father, and the Lover of our souls has placed His glory as our rear guard, and establishes every good work that flows from our lives. In Him, no weapon formed against us can prosper. He also reminded me specifically of the verse in 2 Chronicles 16:9 that says, "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him." So while at times it may seem as though we're suffering for the cause, "defending ourselves against the world", all it takes is a simple change of attitude and perspective to know that God is for us, and is always there, eager to show Himself strong on behalf of His sons and daughters. We have His favor and His protection, all the resources and power of heaven on our side, and that's one thing I know that I must become increasingly more aware of as I step out boldly for Him.

Well, though this could be an endless report of testimonies and revelation of the heart, I must retire for the evening. So I bless you all, and promise to post a couple more times this week!

Love and blessings,
Keep running hard after Him, and know that every testimony I ever share is yours for the taking!

Melissa

News from Winter Camp, expectations for missions week, and oh yeah, it's my birthday! ;)

Hey Everyone! Man, it has been a VERY busy past few weeks! I apologize for not posting more diligently; I'll do my best to fill you all in on what I've been up to! As usual, God continues to do amazing things that leave me in awe and more in love with Him than ever. I MUST tell you about last weekend! As some of you know, I drove back to my homeland to take part in my youth group's annual Winter Camp, and let me tell you, it was exceedingly, abundantly above all I could've asked, hoped for, or imagined! Two of my wonderful friends from School of Ministry, Kate and Libby, came down with me, to partner with what God was doing and to contribute in any way they could to how God was moving among the youth. Even before I tell you of all that God did, I have to interject this: Words cannot begin to express the depth of my gratitude to them for coming alongside me in prayer and action. They gave their hearts and efforts to support my dreams of God moving in greater measure in my youth group, and for that I must say thank you, thank you, thank you for your willingness and friendship. You are an incredible blessing to me.

Ok, all that heartfelt thanks aside, here are the amazing details! The weekend truly left me in awe... It was so incredible to see God bring the entire weekend together... the theme of this camp was "Dispatch and Deploy", which REALLY stirred me up with an incredible level of expectation. My youth group has been in a "waiting room" of sorts for quite a few years now so it has been the cry of my heart to see us break forth into the fullness of our calling and destiny. Needless to say, I started praying for the weekend months in advance, listening for the leading of the Lord, and preparing the way in the Spirit for all the things to come for us individually and corporately. On the other side of the weekend, all I can say is WOW, what an incredible God we serve. I actually found myself laughing at my own preconceived ideas, and completely wrecked and in awe of what the Lord had done. He answered EVERY SINGLE PRAYER and fullfilled every work that He said He'd accomplish but He did it HIS way! Exactly how it should be, and of course, how He would do it because He's God! It was a wonderful revelation to be hit with... that He is God, God who loves to partner with His people to bring about their (His) dreams in the best possible way. Wow. How critical it is to have a foundation of prayer!
Every year, we look back on the year before and see how the Lord just continues to build His work in us through our previous encounters with Him. The ceiling, the highest point of last year's camp, was absolutely the floor for this year's! I was blown away to watch God move as even during our very first session of the camp, the kids were experiencing deep healing and encountering the presence of God together, in worship and in ministering to one another. It was POWERFUL. Throughout the rest of the weekend, kids were being set free in so many ways... 2 people were saved, and one rededicated her life to the Lord. Another was filled with the Holy Spirit and received the gift of tongues, while another was delivered from suicidal thoughts and ushered into a healing power-encounter with the Lord. God just brought so much healing, and that was one way He blew my preconceived ideas out of the water. NOT that I don't recognize the need for the healing work of the Lord by any means! But as I was praying for a "Dispatch and Deploy" themed weekend, I had envisioned much more activation and practice in a grander sense, without taking into consideration in order for us to minister healing, wholeness, and salvation to the world, we ourselves must first allow the Lord to bring healing and wholeness to the areas within us that are lacking. I was very grateful when that "DUH" moment hit me :). He did EXACTLY what we needed: He moved in a deep and powerful way to heal and change our hearts so we can in turn be dispatched and deployed into the world to usher in His Kingdom of life and healing and blessing.
Two other amazing things: From the leading of the Lord through Kate, she and Libby and I took some time to bless and honor my pastors. Kate really felt that it was the Lord's heart that we honor them from the house of Bethel and to extend that covering over them because they were so open to using us and all that we've been equipped to do through BSSM. Not only that but also because their hearts were so open to let the Lord move and to move with Him throughout the entire weekend. So we prayed over them, and washed their feet... it was so humbling , such a beautiful way to honor them. And the other AWESOME thing was that my pastors asked the three of us to lead the entire communion portion of the session on the last day of camp. From start to finish, they gave us total freedom. It was SO exciting! Haha, we were TOTALLY tired when they told us but we just went back to the cabin and said, "Okay, Lord, what do you want to do?" He always comes up with the best ideas :). So we just asked Him for a blueprint for the service, and He began to stir up things in our hearts to share, and gave an amazing plan for the next day! It was so perfectly fitting, so totally HIM. We started by asking my friend Shawn to lead the group in "In Christ Alone", and then I proceeded to share with the kids some things that had been on my heart about the complete victory we have in Jesus, that God met us at camp not just so we could experience Him but so we would carry what He did in us, and that whenever God shows us part of our destiny, He ALWAYS equips, anoints, and empowers us to fulfill it. I talked about quite a few other things too, and then Libby led the kids in an awesome time of taking communion together in groups of 3 or 4 people that they could be accountable to after the camp. She shared from her heart about the importance of having people around you to support you and remind you of all the things that God did, and to encourage and spur you on when life gets tough. After that, I led a time of "sealing" all the kids, something that the Lord had put on my heart even before we knew we'd be leading part of the service! I wanted to seal them for two very specific things: for permanent new levels (that the increase of God's presence and anointing that they experienced in them and through them at camp would be the NEW NORM; that it wouldn't be just a "mountaintop experience" but one that would truly transform their hearts and alter the way they lived their everyday lives), and against any attack of the enemy that would try to steal away what they received from the Lord. This one was HUGE for me to share with them because whenever we leave an encounter or a life-changing experience with the Lord, the enemy will always come at us with lies, telling us that nothing happened, that we're not changed, that God didn't move, that our hearts weren't effected. But it's all LIES! So I made it a huge point to speak over them all that they DID encounter God, that they WERE changed, that they WERE equipped and empowered, and that they will NEVER be the same again! We "sealed" their minds from all those lies, anointing their foreheads with oil and proclaiming that no weapon formed against them will prosper. It was SO AWESOME!! And then as the grand finale, Kate shared prophetically that we were leaving the camp on "March Forth", and proceeded to clothe us all in the whole armor of God, straight from Ephesians 6, to be fully equipped and covered for the conquest before us. So we all marched forth empowered, supported, sealed, and clothed, as sons of God and brothers in Christ! A complete work of our faithful God! WAY more happened throughout the weekend than I am able to share here but as you can tell, God answered and exceeded even our highest expectations and desires. I am so eagerly waiting the months to come to see how His work in us from just that weekend increases and transforms into a greater revelation of our destiny as a youth group!

As I also mentioned, I'm headed off for my missions trip to Tijuana, Mexico in just a few days so I'm bursting with excitement for that coming adventure with the Lord. I have NO DOUBT that I will be stretched, strengthened, grown, and accelerated beyond all I can conceive of at this point . On the outside, I'm sure you'll recognize me when I return but hopefully I'll have been changed in heart, mind, and spirit beyond recognition :). We are going to see lives transformed, people delivered and set free, ransomed from the kingdom of darkness and brought into the Kingdom of God's marvelous light! The trip is from the 13th to the 20th, and I would REALLY appreciate your prayers during that time! In fact, if I could ask at least five of you to commit to pray for me for just 10 or 15 minutes each day, I would REALLY appreciate it. Here's the list of things our leaders asked us to keep covered in prayer:

• Unity in our team/no tension
• Joy!
• God's anointing and favor on everything we do and say
• Servant's hearts
• WIDE OPEN doors for ministry
• Demonstration of God's Spirit and power
• Revival to break out everywhere we go!
• Revival fire to ignite KEY people that will spread it and keep it kindled!
• People radically saved
• Hearts open to the Gospel
• Miracles, signs, and wonders! Ask for specifics like blind eyes opened, hearing to return, limbs regrowing, etc
• Favor with people, pastors, and gov't officials
• Language barriers to be overcome, and successful communication
• Supernatural abilities to speak in Spanish!
• To feel God's love and compassion for the people
• Prayer for the children in the orphanages we'll visit
• Boldness!!
• God's protection from all sickness and harm!
• Traveling mercies! Vehicles to run well both there and back!
• Favor and ease at the border
• God moments everywhere we go!
• Blessing to the people of Mexico and to each other!

Is that a long enough prayer list for ya? ;) Thank you so much for all your love and support! It means the world to me AND to Mexico!

And last but not least, yesterday was my birthday! Yes, I have been roaming the planet for almost two decades. I am SO GRATEFUL for all God has done over this past year, and I can hardly begin to imagine what He has in store for the next few to come. All I know is that my life changes more and more radically each year, and I'm coming ever closer to the realization of my calling and destiny. So here's to another year of earnestly seeking the Lord of my life, the Lover of my soul, and the King of my heart! It's going to be an incredible year!

I love you guys so much and will update you as soon as I possibly can when I return from TJ!

Be radically blessed,

Melissa