Hi! Sorry it’s been so long since I updated you. My squad is now in Guatemala (!!!), and I love it here so much. The people, the culture, the views; it is all so beautiful! That being said, I have a story for you.
I want to tell you about my sweet friend Cam*.
Twice a week for ministry, my team and I go into a village near our base and do house visits. The goal is to build relationships with the families and love on them. We ask the Lord where He is guiding us, and we go from there.
The first day we did this, we ended up at a store owned by a man our leader had met a few weeks prior. We stepped into his store, and immediately I felt something special about him.
He was introduced as Cam. After a few minutes of talking, we learned that he is a believer of Christ. Not only is he a believer, but he loves the Lord wholeheartedly. Due to his age and being more limited in his abilities, he now devotes most of his time to reading his Bible and praying.
He spoke about how he used to travel all over preaching the gospel. I was reminded of Isaiah 52 where it says “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news!”. My eyes filled with tears because this “hermano en Cristo” devoted much of his life to sharing the gospel. He is the definition of these “beautiful feet”.
Toward the end of our visit, we gathered in prayer for Cam because he is slightly sick. As we prayed for him, he reached out and put his hand on me, and I realized he was praying for us. He was crying as he prayed, and of course we all started crying as well. He kept encouraging us to keep pressing forward (something we have been hearing quite often). It was just such a beautiful, tender moment.
My favorite part of the visit, though, was witnessing the sweet, childlike, inexpressible, glorious joy that he possessed. Psalm 16:11 says “in His presence is fullness of joy”. Cam so clearly spends time in the presence of Jesus. He radiates a joy and peace that is clearly from the Lord, and he offered it to us as we spent time with him.
This got me thinking: does my life look this way? When we spend time with the Lord, it changes everything. It changes the way we talk, serve, love, and live. Our lives should be saturated with joy, not because we are always in a situation that feels good or because we never experience trials, but because we serve a great God and He holds us in His hand. I want my life to radiate Jesus, and this can happen only if I spend time in His presence.
*His name was changed for privacy!
Beautiful Makenzie! The seeds you and your team continue to sow both there and in Costs Rica are blessed and will be honored and fruitful….that you can be sure of!! You all continue to be in our prayers!!!
Oh, my heart. May we live our lives in such a way that our presence changes atmospheres simply because the King of Kings has radically changed our lives. This is good!!