The World Is Too Much

The following devotional is taken from the book “Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young.

THE WORLD IS TOO MUCH WITH YOU, My child. Your mind leaps from problem to problem to problem, tangling your thoughts in anxious knots. When you think like that, you leave Me out of your world-view and your mind becomes darkened. Though I yearn to help, I will not violate your freedom. I stand silently in the background of your mind, waiting for you to remember that I am with you.

When you turn from your problems to My Presence, your load is immediately lighter. Circumstances may not have changed, but we carry your burdens together. Your compulsion to “fix” everything gives way to deep, satisfying connection with Me. Together we can handle whatever this day brings.  -"Jesus Calling" by Sarah Young

Our Steps are Ordered by the Lord

Ever wonder if you are following the path the Lord has laid before you?  Seasons change and seasons go throughout our lives.  The month of May marks for many families the milestone of commencement exercises acknowledging accomplishment and the passing from one season to the next.  As our youngest child walks across the stage next week to receive her High School diploma it will signify a finish line not only for her but for her daddy and me as well.  We will have celebrated 30 years of marriage, 30 years of raising and training children and for my husband 30 years of government service.  God has been so faithful to us.  We have more than ten thousand things in which to be thankful! 

Along the way we have sought the wisdom and will of the Lord.  We have lived every day in the fear of the Lord offering our lives as living sacrifices as unto HIM. Proverbs 3:6 instructs,

"In ALL your ways acknowledge Him, and (then promises) He SHALL direct your paths."

We believe the Lord has directed our path. We believe our steps have been ordered by the Lord as well by what we see in Psalms 37:23: "The steps of the righteous man are ordered by the Lord."

So can we trust him with the next 30 years? Absolutely and positively and a resounding "YES" and "AMEN" we can trust our God for all that He has in store.  As I said to my daughter the other day, "We need to be willing to let go of the present in order to embrace our future."  It may involve change, it may involve growth and it may involve some discomfort and displacement.  But we can rest in God's word which is unchanging and unfailing that even now our next steps are being ordered by the Lord.

Penny Slosson

Short-term Missionary Coordinator

Barbara Rowe, CFCI missionary in El Salvador, shared that the Faro Project (neighborhood youth center) just finished a two-day "Culture of Peace" seminar. The gathering was for youth and pastors of the Faro Project.

Youth were able to share challenges they face in their neighborhoods such as the pressure of gangs. While discussing such topics, the youth also expressed their desire to create a community where people can live in peace and harmony.

Barbara said it was two days of "laughing and crying and praying together."

Upon leaving the seminar, the youth felt more encouraged and motivated to try to make a difference in their communities.

Please pray for the youth that came to the seminar - that they remain encouraged and serve the Lord while serving their communities!

What's Stopping Me?? (Maybe the Holy Spirit?? !!)

Things don’t always go the way you want them to – do they!

I think the Lord will solve a problem one way and BOOM He does it another way and things turn out better!

On a recent trip we were at the gate and ready to go when the pilot came on and said the plane could not fly due to mechanical issues and we all had to deplane, reclaim our luggage, and rebook our flight! What a headache! It was no fun but in the end I got to fly first class and got to my destination early!

I think God has a sense of humor.

The trick I have learned is that I try to do my life the way God wants first, depending on the Holy Spirit and his sovereignty to lead me. I try not to “do my life…….” I depend on Him to do it for me and watch for His clues first.

That does not mean I don’t plan my agenda or prepare for the battle of managing CFCI, but it does mean that I acknowledge I don’t know it all or can do it all and I should not lean on just what I know, but lean on His ways and His understanding of how I’m to lead and do life.

I make my planned choices and handle my circumstance by His empowering directions and sticking with as many biblical principles vs. man made principles that I know. I listen too, I read, I mediate, that I seek advice from my staff and board members and there I find the path I am to follow.  

Remember that practice may not make you perfect, but it does give you wisdom to make future decisions. It moves you to a higher level of thinking, performing and quality results.  I found out that I have to simply include God in all of what I think and practice. It takes an extra daily effort to get Him included, but the bottom line is that He appreciates this effort and He will not fail you. He makes no mistakes and He wants and desires the lead. Listen and follow because allot of fruits are going to be produced.

Just as our faith is a day by day process in the development of our birth into the Kingdom of God on this earth (we are no longer of this world by the way) and one day into the Kingdom of Heaven, so it should be with our special relationship with the Holy Spirit. 

Peter, one of Christ’s apostles, found that they only way he could do his calling were by being empowered by the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul did as well and it's all available for us. Let’s get on with this most important game because He’s ready to open the door wider than ever before for you.

  

What’s your next move?

Keep looking up!

So many great things are happening throughout CFCI.

Grettel in Costa Rica is trying to raise money to send all of our Costa Rica missionaries to Haggai Institute for leadership training. This would give our missionaries the opportunity to improve their leadership skills. Attending the Haggai Institute comes with a commitment to train 100 other people in leadership and to share their faith with 100 people. Awesome!

Nicole at RENACER in Costa Rica is teaching Zumba to the girls living there. RENACER is a therapeutic center for street girls. These girls enter the program voluntarily. At RENACER they receive counseling, group therapy, education, job training, life skills, and a love for the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Zumba is just one piece of their physical fitness curriculum...and a fun part!

Barbara in El Salvador is helping to start Faro Projects in several impoverished neighborhoods of San Salvador. Faro Project helps youth connect with each other in a positive way, helps develop their values, gives them a safe place to hang out and have fun with friends, and shares Jesus with them. It's a wonderful ministry that is making a difference in these young lives!



Diana in Tuxpan, Mexico, has a new family handling the custodial duties for Camp Kikomar on the beach. They are a young family (just one young son) with lots of enthusiasm and energy for the job! 








Amos - our newest director in Dimapur, Nagaland, India - opened his city base in April, then traveled to the U.S. and Central America to visit other directors and attend the CFCI International Board meeting. Wow!

I could go on and on and on. These are just the things I've heard about. Can you imagine how many other great things are happening through CFCI around the world? I stand amazed at God and how he works through so many people to accomplish His Kingdom growth.

Want to join God where he's working? Visit our website at www.cfci.org!

Jill Adams, Communications Director

From Sarah, CFCI short-term missionary
to El Salvador

"There were so many things I loved about my experience in El Salvador. The thing I enjoyed most would have to be the people. The relationships I formed with the people in my ESL classes, the children at Siloe school, the boys at the soccer school, the people at church, the missionaries, and others I really cherish. I loved being used by the Lord to minister to them and being ministered to by them."