Remember this picture?
Next week, I'll be heading off to Matamoros,
Mexico to help lead a group of
300 students from Atlanta, GA. To
say that this is a CRAZY trip, is an understatement. However, I have some sort of weird adrenaline
rush working with this large group. I
guess I love to organize things. I will
be helping with logistics. What is that
you ask? A large part of what that
entails is transportation. Believe it or
not it is a full time job just trying to figure how to mobilize 300 students
plus staff and translators into the field each day. We will be using 6 buses and 12 vans to get
through the city. We will minister with
3 different host pastors. We will build
22 different homes for the people in Mexico. We will work with orphanages, rehab centers, and
prison ministries, all throughout the city.
I am excited about the trip, I also know it will be exhausting and
challenging. Please join me in praying
for the logistics of this week.

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Pray for safety, not only during ministry sites but in
transportation.

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Pray for the drivers that they will have confidence and
will know where they are going.

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Pray for health for everyone!

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Pray for translators.
There always seems to be a shortage of these!

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Pray for
NO RAIN. Rain equals MUD in Matamoros which basically paralyzes
transportation and therefore ministry.

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Pray that the vehicles will all work…all week!

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Pray for clarity for my mind as I try to think through
all the angles.

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Pray for the rest of the staff and leaders to also have
clarity and remember the details of their jobs.

Also, as I step aside from the logistics and think about the
spiritual aspect of it, the implications are huge. Not only do these students have the
opportunity to make an amazing impact on the city of Matamoros.
But they will grow and be stretched in their faith as well. Yesterday, I began reading through their
individual applications so I would know some of their needs and be able to
better pray for the group. After several
hours of reading, I only had made it about a third of the way through but I saw
a common theme in their applications.
These students are in a battle in their schools. They are looking for friends that can
encourage their relationship with Christ.
They are having to say no to drugs, parties, sex, and all of the other
convictions that can make them different.
Pray that these students will be encouraged to press on even in their
own schools; this opportunity that they have to make a difference in another
country will challenge them even more to make a difference at home. Pray that they will make new friends that can
support them in the battle. Pray that
God will call students to long term missions and ministry. 300 students are about to step into an
opportunity to experience God in a way that they never have before, pray that
they lay themselves aside and watch God work in their lives.