God Knows (May-July 2024 Update)

What a busy summer we've had. So many different things happened leading up to summer, plus all the summer activities! Not everything turned out the way we had planned originally, but God knew why.

In the month of May, together with the Secret Agents of Christ Club, we handmade evangelistic cards to hand out to the houses in our community of Terrazas del Valle! In June, we went door-to-door handing out these cards and praying for people. Many of the kids who are part of the group didn't show up. We were rejected and ignored many times. We almost even got attacked by a crazy dog. I was also worried that we didn't have enough cards to hand out. But God knew. That day, it was really hot. When we were all exhausted from walking in the heat and decided to stop, we had just handed out our last card. Some doors may have ignored us, but we were able to pray and speak to others who decided to listen to us. We were able to bless an older couple who had been out in the sun all day trying to sell some things to be able to eat that day. Abigail felt the need to go talk to them, and she was able to pray for them and bless them with some money so they could eat. If we would have had more kids come, it may have been hectic with the heat and not enough cards. But it was just the right group with just the right amount of cards in just the right amount of time. God knew.

In May, we also had a special event for the kids, as we had been doing the whole month of April for Kids Day at Saturday Kids Church. We had our final championship day with the kids who had won the competitions during the month of April, and it was a blast. Two weeks before on Kids Day (April 30), I was slightly freaking out. I had promised the kids an inflatable obstacle course, but I had no money for it. I had no idea how I was going to get it for them. I was going to try and pay some bills a little later to have money for it. I then thought against it, and I decided to wait and do the grand final later on. If I didn't do it right then and there, the world wasn't going to end. I could wait. And I'm glad I did. That month of May, I received two generous donations out of nowhere, and it was from that how I was able to rent the inflatable obstacle course. The people we rented from also rented to us a little bounce house for the younger ones for free. They said that they noticed the location we gave them to drop it off was for a church, and they wanted to help us out. The kids had a blast, and so did I. God knew.

Kids Camp 2024 happened. It almost didn't. Honestly, not many donations for camp came in this year. Things were really hard to plan due to this. We were wondering the whole time how many kids were going to be able to attend. We were scrambling to find staff for camp. We were missing many materials for the games and teams. I didn't feel ready for camp at all.

But God knew. An amazing Tijuana missions organization, Von & On, stepped in and helped us with many different things. They brought us stuff for the team flags and bandannas. They lent us a huge canopy for shade. They even handcrafted together some square scooters for our Hungry Hungry Hippos game. Materials: check.

As the date for camp approached, something unusual happened: not many kids were signed up. Our church had around the usual number, but the other churches that we invited didn't have kids signed up. That stayed the same for camp, too. Because of this, the money that we had raised for camp covered the campground, transportation, and food for all of our kids and staff. Staff that weren't sure on coming were now able to. Kids, staff, food, and transportation: check.

God knew.

As I write this update, I'm reminded that God knows. And I don't. I think I found myself falling into a mindset that I needed to find solutions. That I need to get a job. More jobs. I need to do this and that to make everything work. But no matter what I did, it was never enough.

But God knows.

God knows what I need. God knows what His ministry needs. God knows what His kids need. So He's got it taken care of. I need to stop worrying. I need to stop trying to make things work. God is literally like what Yoda said, "Do, or do not. There is no try." God does or doesn't. He doesn't leave things half done. He's either going to come through completely with everything or He won't move because it's not His plan in the first place. If God gives you something to do, He's going to back you up until the end because He's the One who gave it to you to do in the first place. God knows.

And I walk in faith knowing that God knows. Abigail and I are really struggling with getting things ready for our wedding in a few months. We're looking for a new place to live for the size of our going-to-be new family, but we haven't found anything reasonable. But God knows. He's going to take care of these huge things that aren't huge for Him at all. He's got this. So please be in prayer with us: for the people we reached during our evangelism outreach, for Saturday Kids Church (and our VBS coming up next week!), for all the kids who attended Kids Camp, and for Abigail and I for our wedding and our future home. Pray that God continually reminds us that He knows and that He's got us in His hands. We need all the prayers we can get.

Thank you all who donated toward camp and who donate monthly. Your support means so incredibly much to us. You all honestly blow us away. May God continue to send His incredible blessings on you all.