My Life in the USA

Hey guys!

      It has been a crazy week here in the States. I have learned that it is a real thing to not have time to respond to a text message or email over the past few weeks. Between school and working, I'm pretty much tied up, but it's all going well. School, I have to say, isn't the most interesting part of my day, but it keeps me busy. Working at Gwinnett Church has been incredible so far, and I can't even begin to share all of the things I have already learned as a part of the Leadership Development Program.

     But, besides all of that, God has been growing me in incredible ways over the past few weeks. Just to kind of give a run down of the doors that have been opened in my life...relationships that I've been able to build with those around me that don't know Christ is awesome. The opportunity to share Jesus with these people is so exciting. If you could join me in prayer for these people Lane and I both would greatly appreciate it. There are names of 7 people posted on my bedroom wall that I'm intentionally praying for every time I see the name that their hearts would be softened and the Gospel would change their lives, as it has mine. If you would like the names of these people to join us in prayer, please feel free to email and we will be happy to send them to you.
     
     Next, is an idea that I decided would be fun to try and see what happens, is a little fast food restaurant ministry. So what happens is every Tuesday and Thursday between classes, I pick a fast food restaurant to sit at and eat for about an hour. I strategically pick the most center table in the restaurant and dive into the Word for about an hour while praying for each individual that walks in. I have been doing this about 2 weeks now, and will faithfully do it as long as I am able, praying expectantly for God to soften the hearts of those around me to ask me questions or to at least begin thinking about the guy at McDonalds reading his Bible. Whatever God decides to do with it will be perfect and part of His plan. But if you could be in prayer for that as well, it would be greatly appreciated.

     Lastly, I want to encourage each of you with this...

     2 Thessalonians 3:3
     But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. 

     Remember this as you begin your weeks today. That God is faithful to provide when we call on His name. He is able to carry our burdens to fight our battles for us and keep us safe from harm. Pray in everything. So much so that you become in constant conversation with God. Run everything you do, all your words, thoughts, and actions, through the filter of His Word so that everything you do my be good and pleasing to Him. It may sound silly and feel silly at times, but when you give everything to Him and begin drawing near to Him, He will draw near to you, and you will begin to find Him in all things. From the smallest situation to the biggest, He wants it all. I have learned and experienced this first hand, even over the past week, that when you begin feeding your flesh and choosing the ways of the world, your Spirit is starved and you begin to feel God less and be in less communion with Him, but the opposite is also true, that when you are feeding yourself Spiritually, you begin losing your flesh and truly dying to yourself because there is no room for you and for Him.

     Thank you all so much for your continued love and support. We can't express just how thankful we are to know each and every one of you and that you all are a part of our lives in some way. As always, if there is any way we can support, pray for, or encourage you in any way please don't hesitate to email us. It is truly an encouragement to feel and read the love and support from our brothers and sisters in Christ. Thank you all so much!

In Christ,

Watson

El Salvador

Hey friends!  

It has been about three weeks since our team arrived safely here in El Salvador.  We are so thankful to have experienced the Lord’s protection over our travels and first few weeks getting settled in.  Thank you to each of you who have supported me financially and prayerfully.  You are a huge part of this journey and your prayer means more to me than you know.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!! 

Here’s a little about El Salvador so far…

The first week after arriving on the 27^th, we had “Orientation Week”.  We have been all over the city of San Salvador and beyond.  Mario, a pastor here as well as our fearless leader, has showed us the country and introduced us to lots of new people.  We are now plugged in at a couple different churches and an awesome youth group that is middle school through college-aged students.  Building relationships in these environments has definitely been my favorite thing about living here so far.  I have made a special friend, Genesis who loves to ask me and the other girls questions.  We try our best to answer them with the little Spanish we know!  She is so sweet and her smile is contagious. 

Our team began attending Spanish classes at La Universidad de Central America (UCA) this past Thursday, the 17^th.  Class is going well as we are all eager to learn Spanish in order to use it for the Lord’s work this year and beyond. 

As well as starting school this week, we are easing into our work with a few different ministries we will be involved in throughout the year.  We will be working in a few orphanages as well as teaching English classes at a church, La Gracia, twice a week.  We have passed out flyers and gone door to door spreading the word about our English classes in neighborhoods surrounding the church building twice the past couple weeks and the first English class begins this Tuesday, the 22^nd.  Lots of people seem to be interested… Praise God!

Starting yesterday, a few of us had the opportunity to go to Escuela Americana, an American school in San Salvador where we will be helping teach an after school Bible class for Kindergarten through middle grade students.  For those of you who know my desire to teach and the love for school I have had since I was young, you can understand my excitement for this special ministry!  Our team will be in charge of writing the lesson plans for the class every week as well as teaching and leading it every Friday afternoon.  How cool is that?!  I am SO pumped to see the Lord work through all of these ministries! 

Outside of our scheduled ministries, Global Year El Salvador provides some free time in the afternoons/evenings during the week for us to get involved in other local ministries of our choosing.  Some of the team, including myself, has joined a kick boxing gym and begun building relationships there.  The owner of the gym is a man named Carlos who our leader, Taylor, has gotten to know well.  He has invited him to church and we are praying that Carlos will come and experience the Gospel!  If you would like to join us in prayer for this boxing ministry, we would be thrilled!  I will continue to keep you all updated as much as possible on how the Lord moves in Carlos’s life as well as the lives of the other men and women we are getting to know there.  Ravyn has recently started taking all four of the girl students here to a dance studio that is about a 30 minute walk from the house.  We have enjoyed meeting and getting to know the owner of the studio, Pablo.  As Ravyn was a student here in El Salvador last year, she knows him well and they have kept up with each other since then.  (Ravyn is now our intern this year.  She’s the bomb!)  Pablo has a huge heart.  He wants faith so desperately, but his eyes have not yet been opened to the beautiful Grace that has been freely given to him.  We pray for Pablo every day, and now that all of us girls have had a few opportunities to talk with him and hear his heart about God and faith, our hearts have been burdened deeper and deeper for Pablo’s salvation. 

Being here about three weeks now, I have found this new love for the Word.  God has definitely placed that in my heart and I love it so much.  When I think about how badly I NEED the Word and NEED to be in it… it’s crazy.  The Psalms say to meditate on His Word day and night.  I don’t do that anywhere near what I should be.  I’ve been convicted by this verse and God is working on my heart with that.  Ravyn said the following statement the other day and it stopped me dead in my tracks… Feeding the Spirit starves the flesh.  But sadly, in just the same way, feeding the flesh, starves the Spirit. Feeding the Spirit starves the flesh.  I need to be focused on continually feeding my Spirit, the Spirit of God that lives in me!!  Not distracted by the flesh’s desires or feeding the flesh’s worldly appetites.  Paul writes in Galatians 5:16-17, “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of your flesh.  For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh.  They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. “  I have to really focus on feeding my Spirit and therefore, starving my flesh and it’s desires.  I want to meditate on His Word day and night and have His praise continually on my lips. 

Another thing I am learning…  I was reading in 1 Peter last week about beauty.  The following are common verses among women, but something new stuck out to me this time in reading and I want to share it with you!    …

“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes.  Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.  For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God adorned themselves.”

Like I said, I feel like these are common verses among women, but the second half of this group of verses sometimes seems to be left out when I’ve heard them before.  I should not find my beauty in any outward adornment or in any outward appearance or anything I put on my outward self.  Rather though, my beauty should be found in my INNER SELF.  The next line really hit me the other day and has every time since then… the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit.  Wow.  I am praying and begging God to work on this in me.  I want the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit!  This which is pleasing to God!  It says here that this gentle and quiet spirit is how the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves!  I want to be just like them!  I have put my faith in God, just like them… so why would I ever try to let my beauty come from anything or anyone else?  I am learning to let my beauty come from that of my inner self in a whole new way.  The unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit. 

Thank you for your outpour of love and prayer for Watson and I.  We could not be more blessed by the incredible relationships God has placed in our lives.  Thank you for checking in on our blog today!  Don’t forget if there is any way we can be praying for you or if there is anything you’d like to add, please don’t hesitate to comment below or email us at watsonandlane@gmail.com.  Thank you!

-Lane

“As a deer pants for streams of water, so my soul thirsts for you, my God.”

Psalm 42:1

Peace

Hey friends!

     It has been a crazy first week of no Lane in our lives. She flew out around 10:30 on Thursday morning and safely landed in El Salvador Thursday afternoon around 3:00. The first week has to be the toughest. Throughout these first few days I have learned several things that I never would have imagined learning this quickly.

     First, I learned how much we take for granted the value of a face to face conversation and rely on social networking, text messaging, etc. to have our conversations. After a week without that, it really begins to put in prospective just how much we take advantage of that.

     Next, I have learned the power in having brothers and sisters in Christ. Romans 12:4-5 says " For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, through many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another." These verses have truly come to life for me as I went through a tough week. The number of encouraging text messages or people encouraging me in some way has blown me away. I believe this is truly how the church is to function. It is made clear in Scripture that through Christ we are one body and are to encourage one another. When one part of the body hurts, we all hurt; when one part of the body rejoices, we all rejoice together. God has truly taught me that in just a week. So thank you all so much for your love and support of each of us. There's no words to explain just how grateful we are.

     Lastly, the last thing I have learned is found in Isaiah 26:3-4. These verses say "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.". Our God is a strong God. He is greater than all things and through Him are all things. He is capable of holding and sustaining everything, and chooses to because He loves us. We are not capable of holding any situation or circumstance that may come our way. This verse taught me that when we keep our focus on Him, there we find peace. He is Jehovah Shalom, the God of peace. I think though, that it is important to ask the question, what exactly is peace?

      A lot of people would relate the word peace to the opposite of war time. But that isn't what true peace is. The word shalom translated means wholeness, being complete, or well being. Peace means having things properly designed and well ordered, harmony and balance. Peace is more than an emotion. Its not something that changes based on what life throws at you. Peace stays calm in the calm and in the middle of the storm when everything else around is chaos. We know that in our lifetime there will be trouble and hard times. Jesus tells us this in John 16:33. Its one thing for the world to be falling apart, but another thing for us to be falling apart with it. We can find our rest in God though, because He has already won and overcome the world.

     So how do we find peace? By abiding in Him. We must keep our minds and hearts focused completely on Him, seeking to constantly align our thoughts underneath God's point of view. I have learned that this is truly the only way to have peace. By abiding in Him, seeking Him in everything, and staying in constant communion with Him, I have learned and felt a true peace even though the world around me seems absolutely crazy.

     My prayer for each of you this week is that you would find and experience this week, just as I have. The world around may seem crazy, but I pray that you would lean into Christ even more during this time and by seeking and abiding in Him, that you would find His peace that passes all understanding. As always, I am available to talk any time if you need to talk you can find my phone number and email both on our bio. We love you guys thank you for each of your continued prayer and support!


-Watson