Cassandra Lopez served in IGNITE Class 6 in 2014 and currently oversees Potter’s Field Kids in Costa Rica. Recently her and her husband took 14 kids on a four-day Youth Retreat. It was an amazing trip. The following was sent from Cassandra, and recounts what each of the youth learned:
Sofia: “God was correcting me a lot during this trip. His will is perfect and good, and yet lately I have been trying to do my own thing, following my own will. I learned that I so often live for myself, and not for the glory of God. So many people are dying without Christ, and I am over here selfishly not saying anything. I want to live in God’s perfect will, because I know His will is the best.”
Belen: “I need to offer my life as a living and holy sacrifice, that is pleasing to the Lord. Sometimes I think I am doing well, but then God shows me how prideful and selfish I can be. I need to learn to love, to really love people, like God loves me. I need to share God’s love with others.”
Rebecca: “Peter said, ‘God I will never leave you, I will die with you!’ But then we see him deny Christ three times. I realize that I sometimes deny Christ too. Not always with my words, but maybe because I don’t say anything or with my actions. I don’t want to be like Peter, I want people to know that I love Jesus.”
Anayeli: “Everything we do we need to do for Jesus, as an act of worship.”
Denis: “Learning about Moses really impacted me. He wanted to be in God’s presence. He had a jealousy, a fever, for the presence of God. He would look for it and then never leave. Here and now we don’t have to go anywhere to be with the Spirit of God, because He lives in us. Yet, we don’t have that fever that Moses did. It makes me think of when someone gives you something for free, compared to when you have to work for it. We often treat those things differently. But I want to have a relationship with the Lord like Moses did.”
Spending time in the Word
Katherine: “When we were doing outreaches and people wouldn’t accept tracts I felt bad. But I have to be okay with the fact that not everyone will accept.”
Nazareth: “I learned that I need to be aware of my actions. Actions speak louder than words. I need to really love those around me. And God really convicted me about how He doesn’t look at the outward appearance, but at the heart. I need to focus more on my heart, then on what I look like.”
Maria: “We need to leave vengeance in God’s hands. I need to be patient and loving to those who hurt me. I need to not hit my brothers when they upset me, but treat them with love. As a result, God will bless me and I will overcome wickedness with good.”
Fatima: “I learned to love my neighbors, forgive others, and just live for God. Also, that I don’t need to get caught up in my appearance, because God looks at my heart.”
Performing a skit presenting the gospel message
Ivan: “God really convicted me when we read about how God doesn’t look at the outside, but at the heart. God described a heart that is beautiful in 1 Peter 3. It doesn’t just apply to women. I want to have that heart, the heart that God desires for me. Also, during worship one night, I felt the presence of the Lord with me. It was the first time I ever felt Him like that. It wasn’t emotions or excitement from what was going on around me, it was just Him and I. I just keep thinking about that, it is something I will never forget.”
Julian: “Sometimes I act like the Israelites with Moses. It is just about what I want, but not about what God wants for me.”
Elias: “I don’t want to pay people back for the bad things they do to me. I don’t need to because I have Jesus. Maybe if I stop getting mad and upset, but instead am happy (because I don’t care what they say), people will notice. Maybe they will say, ‘Why is he happy when people are mean to him. I want to be happy too.’ Then maybe they will ask me and I can tell them about Jesus and invite them to church.”
Jose Luis: “I learned that God doesn’t care about the outside, and that we need to put vengeance in God’s hands.”
Camila: “I need to leave vengeance in God’s hands. I need to stop hitting those who tease me (my enemies). Also, when we are sorry and feel bad for our past, God will always forgive us, so I need to forgive others too. I am like the Israelites with Moses, but I don’t want to continue being like them. I want to be like Moses. I want to share God’s word with others, I want to read God’s word, I want to be a disciple. I will be a disciple! I know I will! And I will bless my enemies. When they are hungry, I will give them something to eat and when they are thirsty I will give them something to drink. I want to be 100% a disciple for Jesus!“
We hope you were as blessed as we were when we heard them sharing these things. Because of your faithful prayers and financial support, children all over the world are being discipled and growing in their relationships with the Lord.
That’s not all, these 14 youth had something to say to you. They want to thank you for your prayers and they hope you are all blessed beyond what you can imagine.
Please continue in prayer for them; pray that these things would remain real in their lives, and that they would allow God to mold and shape them. We know that God wants to use them in such a mighty way to shine His light. He already is!
Thank you, thank you with all of our hearts. May God bless you abundantly!
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