How this weekend changed my life. I turned 25 on September 24th, thank you everyone for your birthday wishes. This weekend I went to a retreat at my church. The retreat was called 'Encuentro' and it has truly changed who I'am and I will share why.
Friday: We listened to a speaker and ate dinner together.
Saturday: We listened to various speakers, prayed together, ate together and experienced the Holy Spirit. Most of Saturday, I spent crying or on my knees praying as the Holy Spirit was cleansing me from pain, anxiety and fears I had in my life. At one point, I felt like the Sinful Woman Forgiven in Luke 7:36-38, " And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee`s house, brought in alabaster flask of fragant oil, and stood at His feet behind him weeping, and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and annointed them with fragant oil."
Sunday: Again, I spent the day in repentance, listening to speakers and experiencing the Holy Spirit cleanse me with the blood of Jesus Christ.
I have been a Christian my entire life and have been involved in church and ministry and I have never experienced Jesus Christ the way I did this weekend. I have committed my heart to Him, I no longer want to live for my own accomplishment and glory. I don't want to live in fear of this world, I have a GOOD GOD, who loves me and desires the best for me. I know now, I'm completely 100% sure that my purpose on earth is to be a servant to God, to his people and live a life of glory for HIS sake.
I will never forget this weekend and I have no idea what the Lord has in store for me, but I know that it is good and I know that He will always be with me. I re-committed all that I'am to my Savior, the Love of my life and my Best Friend, Jesus Christ.
I hope you can have this same experience in your life. Jesus LOVES you so much and He desires you, turn to Him and let Him change your life. I love you and so does my Heavenly Father. God Bless you.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Hi blog followers. I'm sorry I haven't written in a while, I have been a little busy.I decided to write this blog in categories: work/family & friends/fun/what I have learned or am I learning.
Work: Since June, I have worked with American groups who come to Peru to do social work as well as tourism. My role consisted of planning activities, translating and making sure everything with the group went smoothly. Some of the activities that the groups did was build a part of a wall for a dining hall in the poor community of Independencia. This work consisted of hard labor and I learned how to mix concrete by hand. While we were in Independencia we also slept on the floor with the YMCA offices. We also took the groups to a orphanage in Lima to play with children. There was a little boy named Mauricio who reminded me of my nephew Luca and I wished I could have taken Mauricio home with me.
Family & Friends: My host family is very kind to me. Manuel, my host-father is a ship surveyor in the port of Callao. He is also a very good cook, this week he made pescado sudado with fish, tomato, onion and tomato sauce, it was delicious. I love the fish here. My host mom works at a bank and she is awesome as well. I also have a host brother, who just got married and a older sister who is married and a sister who is the same age as me. They have embraced me into their family and I truly feel like I'm apart of their family. I also have my church family is awesome. Every weekend, I look foward to go to church. On Saturday night, I go to the youth group (ages range from 14-30) and Sunday morning service starts from 10:30 to 1, small group is from 6-8. The church is called Casa de Oracion. It is such a blessing to worship in another language and hear the same Word of God in another language at a church in another country.
Fun: I was able to accompany one of the American groups to Ica (which is three hours south of Lima). In Ica we saw the Nazca Lines, which are large figures in the dessert that can only be seen by the sky or elevation. The figures that I saw where a tree and a hand. We drove through the Pan-American highway to get there. In Ica we also went to ballestas islands where there were seals and various types of birds. My favorite part of this trip was going to the desert and doing dune buggy and sand-boarding in the desert. We also slept in the desert..brr..it was really cold. Something that I love about Peru, is that there is ALWAYS something to celebrate...dia de pollo a la brasa (rotisserie chicken), fiestas patrias (Independence days) or the day of a saint...we just celebrate Fiestas Patrias and during these days there we did not work...I celebrated at Plaza de Bandera with my family, went to the zoo with my church family and rafting with my friends from work.
Lessons learned: I will begin with what I'm learning about God. God is so creative, this beautiful and diverse country that he created is evidence of how great and creative God is. I´ve also grown so much closer to God, when I feel lonely, angry or frusterated, I turn to Him. I rely on Him everyday to give me strength and being here has made me realize how dependent I´m on him and truly how much He is in control. My spanish has improved tremendously! I love days when I get better and better at speaking. I´m also learning about myself..learning how to be more patient, to communicate better- not only in Spanish but in general, communicate better. There are days and moments when I long for home- and I use that time to turn to God and seek his guidance and enjoy the blessing and opportunity he has given me to be here.
Ok- thanks for reading! I will try to take more pictures and update more frequently. Take care and Dios te bendiga!
Friday, July 9, 2010
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Women who Fear the Lord by Jen Smidt (Mars Hill Church)
“Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised” (Prov. 31:30).
As I think back to the woman I was in college, this verse painfully yet accurately describes me. Operating on wit and outward appearances, I managed to convince myself and others I had it all together. But I was deceived. I was drowning in my sin with no idea what my lack of fearing the Lord had to do with my desolate heart.
Fear of the Lord is one of those Bible phrases that we throw around with very little grounding in the substance of our daily lives. It is defined as reverent awe or deep respect. Sounds great, but what does that look like day in and day out? If a woman deeply respects God, how does she live her daily life?
•First and foremost, she has a correct understanding of the character of God.
•She has searched the Scriptures for God’s definition of God and believes it.
•She has studied what God has revealed about Himself and relies upon this Truth rather than her experience of God.
•She accepts His holiness and His justice as completely good.
•She trusts in His mercy, grace, and compassion to deal with her sin and redeem her.
•She believes that His kindness is what leads her to repentance and as such, would never presume upon the riches of His grace by taking her sin lightly (Romans 2).
OUCH. There it is–the reason I blatantly and boldly lived a life of self-indulgence and sin despite the fact that I called myself a “Christian.” I pridefully and foolishly took advantage of the cross by saying to God, “thanks for your sacrifice, but I got it from here. Love that forgiveness thing! When I’m done having fun, I’ll be back with my long list of sins that I’ll need you to take care of.” In short, I was not a woman who feared the Lord.
But God has helped me become a woman who fears Him–a repentant woman who is deeply grateful for and moved by the cross of Christ. This does not mean being afraid to go near our Awesome and Mighty God:
•It means being terrified to be far from Him.
•It means resting in the safety and peace of His loving arms and not straying from that place of protection.
•It means running from the temptation to satisfy our needy hearts with someone or something other than Him.
•It means He alone is the influence in our lives, giving us wisdom to navigate each day (Proverbs 3:7, Prov 9:10).
•It means valuing what He values in a woman: a submissive heart, a gentle and quiet spirit, and a posture of worship.
As I think back to the woman I was in college, this verse painfully yet accurately describes me. Operating on wit and outward appearances, I managed to convince myself and others I had it all together. But I was deceived. I was drowning in my sin with no idea what my lack of fearing the Lord had to do with my desolate heart.
Fear of the Lord is one of those Bible phrases that we throw around with very little grounding in the substance of our daily lives. It is defined as reverent awe or deep respect. Sounds great, but what does that look like day in and day out? If a woman deeply respects God, how does she live her daily life?
•First and foremost, she has a correct understanding of the character of God.
•She has searched the Scriptures for God’s definition of God and believes it.
•She has studied what God has revealed about Himself and relies upon this Truth rather than her experience of God.
•She accepts His holiness and His justice as completely good.
•She trusts in His mercy, grace, and compassion to deal with her sin and redeem her.
•She believes that His kindness is what leads her to repentance and as such, would never presume upon the riches of His grace by taking her sin lightly (Romans 2).
OUCH. There it is–the reason I blatantly and boldly lived a life of self-indulgence and sin despite the fact that I called myself a “Christian.” I pridefully and foolishly took advantage of the cross by saying to God, “thanks for your sacrifice, but I got it from here. Love that forgiveness thing! When I’m done having fun, I’ll be back with my long list of sins that I’ll need you to take care of.” In short, I was not a woman who feared the Lord.
But God has helped me become a woman who fears Him–a repentant woman who is deeply grateful for and moved by the cross of Christ. This does not mean being afraid to go near our Awesome and Mighty God:
•It means being terrified to be far from Him.
•It means resting in the safety and peace of His loving arms and not straying from that place of protection.
•It means running from the temptation to satisfy our needy hearts with someone or something other than Him.
•It means He alone is the influence in our lives, giving us wisdom to navigate each day (Proverbs 3:7, Prov 9:10).
•It means valuing what He values in a woman: a submissive heart, a gentle and quiet spirit, and a posture of worship.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Facebook Fast
Hi everyone! Just in case you were wondering if I deleted you as a friend from facebook, I decided to fast from facebook until September 1 because I felt that it was distracting me from God and making relationships here. You can email me at felice.chavez@gmail.com if you would like to contact me. Also, thank you for your prayers. This past week I went to a small group and this Sunday I was invited to a church that is walking distance from my house. I'm also getting more accustomed to life here. Thank you for your prayers and supplication on my behalf.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
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