Positioned as Sons & Daughters! 
 

Good afternoon from a beautiful and sunny Antigua, Guatemala! After 8 wonderful weeks of leading an outreach in the mountains of Guatemala, we are thrilled again to be in the safe confines of our home in Antigua! Though traveling around can be fun, there is still nothing better than climbing in your own bed at night knowing also that you no longer have to live out of a suitcase! Thank you to everyone who prayed for us over the last few months! Your prayers were felt and made a deep impact on the lives of many people throughout the outreach.

Adopted to be Children of God
When I look back over the many things that God did on the outreach, I often find myself humbled and in awe that He would choose us to be His instruments to bring His love and hope to the many people we encountered. We had the privilege of ministering to over 3000 people, many of whom experienced the love of Christ for perhaps the 1st time in their lives. It was a beautiful sight to see each time we were able to give a timely word or a timely hug. 

However, the most impactful reality of this outreach was not how much He used us, but how much He spoke to us about our identity as His sons and daughters. Throughout the outreach I found myself reading one book after another about the Father's Embrace and the difference between a spiritual orphan and spiritual son. Though I have been walking with the Lord for over 17 years,  I had never considered before just how much more my life has had the reflection of an orphan as opposed to a son. This was a very difficult reality for me to face, but was one that I knew I had to embrace if I wanted to walk in the amazing freedom that Christ attained for us on the cross. Orphans have the tendency to point fingers, judge, and elevate themselves above others as they attempt to compensate for the reality that they really have no Father and no home to feel safe and rest in. They are constantly striving to be accepted as a son (much like the older brother in the story of the prodigal son. The more I read and meditated on this, the more I realized that I needed to stop working for my place in His family and that all I needed to do is rest in the reality that I already am His son! There is nothing we can do to attain this position of sonship and once we truly embrace this reality, it changes everything about the way we see the world and respond to those around us!

Spring DTS Has Come to an End!
This past Friday we had the honor of graduating 5 students from the Discipleship Training School that we launched in February. The theme of the school was "Born in the Spirit, Flowing in Good Works" and as I look back on all He did in the students and our staff, it is clear that He was definitely challenging us throughout the school to flow with His Spirit and to express our faith with powerful works of love. It was not always easy for us, but it was definitely something that we thoroughly enjoyed, especially the outreach portion as we got to serve together as a family in ministry! Thank you to everyone who prayed for us and our students over these last 5 months! There is no doubt that without you, none of this would have been possible.

Fall DTS Launches in August!
Yep, you read that right! On August 3, we have the honor of launching our 2nd Discipleship Training School of 2017! We have always only led 1 school per year in the past, but we felt God challenge us this year to make this entire year focused on training youth for missions! We are expecting between 6-10 students for this school and already have students registered from the US, Canada, and El Salvador. We also have several more from Guatemala in process and we want to invite to pray for these students and our staff as we get ready for this great adventure that God is calling us into!