proximamente

proximamente means 'coming soon'.. because a very large update will be coming in the next couple days.. the last two weeks have been the craziest weeks yet of my eight months here.. i have so much to tell you and no time at the moment to start.. but i promise it will be soon! thanks for all you guys who read regularly!

trip to the zoo

hey everyone, sorry its been a while since ive posted.. ive had a lot on my mind and havent really felt like writing.. also, we havent really done much.. but anyways, we went to the zoo on friday just to get out of the house and do something fun as a team, and it ended up being really sweet.. i love animals, and i got some decent pictures of some of them so yeah.. enjoy!

if you click on the pictures and look at them full size, some of them are really incredible.. and as always, there are a lot more pictures at the gallery..

even trev has a bad day..

its late.. i should probably be in bed.. but i just have this nagging.. something.. that wont let me..

i just listened to a podcast from francis chan called, 'even francis has a bad day,' hence the title of this post.. he was just talking about feeling like he was under strong spiritual attack.. he explained that he had been planning on having the sermon that morning be about rejoicing, and praising God.. but when he got to church, he was feeling like anything but rejoicing.. and he talked about just not being able to fake it up in front of all these people..

i really identified with that.. i dont know what it is in me, but i think im realizing something about myself.. i noticed it last night when my mom and sister were skyping with me, and asked me how i was doing.. i said, oh im fine.. and i realized that i really was not fine.. i realized that i usually respond to questions like that with, im great! or im fine.. and thats pretty much it.. part of it is honestly because i just dont get bummed out too often.. but when i am, i still tend to just say, oh im fine..

i feel like most of what i say on this blog is just awesome stories of how everything is great, and sweet things im learning.. stuff that gets you pumped and makes you wanna listen to 'eye of the tiger' and go save the world.. and i think its so awesome that the Lord has been teaching me so much, and giving me an incredible, crazy vision for what He wants to do in this country.. but at the same time, im not always at that place of just loving life.. i have been hesitating to post anything for the last week, because i honestly just felt like i didnt have anything to say that would be of any value or encouragement, nothing i was feeling that would get people pumped up.. i couldnt bring myself to write about how awesome life is right now because actually, life is really hard right now.. and i think i needed to just say that.. not for anyone to console me, but i think i just needed to be honest in saying that life is hard right now, i feel like im under attack, and please continue to pray for me.. i know so many of you do pray faithfully, and i cant thank you enough with any amount of words..

i have a sense of peace about all this.. im not crying myself to sleep, by any means.. i think im just getting to a point in my stint year where i will really need to lean fully on the Lords strength to push through.. i have been getting weary of being apart from ali.. it has been so hard to feel connected to the woman i love with so many miles between us and such sporadic communication.. i just really miss her..

well, im rambling at this point, and my eyes are starting to quit on me.. i better call it.. i hope this didnt come off as depressing! i still love Jesus and He loves me too.. its just been really, really hard this last week.. but thats ok! God is still good, and i am still privileged enough to be here in el salvador, sharing what He has done to change my life.. i knew when i signed up that it would be a great honor, but that it would also be really hard and growing and stretching.. turns out i was right..

thanks for all your prayers, friends..

real men | Gods Word

one of our favorite things to do here on stint is listen to sermons.. its something that i think makes life feel very normal, or at least more normal.. and our choice every sunday is really between attending a spanish speaking church here in town, or listen to a podcast of a pastor from the states.. call it a cop out if you wish, ill own it.. i just know that for me, church is a place where i go expecting to be fed and refreshed, and charged up to go back out into the world for the rest of the week.. at this stage in the game, a two hour sermon in spanish is a total drain; we tried it when we first got here for several weeks, and it was just really tough.. so now.. podcast sermons!

also popular on our team is one particular pastor that some of you may recognize.. his name is francis chan, and he is a pastor at cornerstone community in simi valley.. i heard francis speak a few times during high school, when he would come speak at grace baptist, and i was always just amazed at how real this guy was.. he spoke with passion and authority, but without a hint of pride or self glorification.. he speaks with this kind of conviction and passion because he is a man who humbly recognizes that he is broken, and is willing to live his life in front of the world, fully exposed, so that God might be glorified through him.. he reminds me so much of paul from the Scriptures..

ive been listening to a short five part series he did a while back called, the end of the world.. i honestly started listening to it because i just wanted to hear about the prophecies and the end times and that sort of thing, but its totally not how it has played out.. he has been focusing on 2 timothy 3, which starts with the verse, 'but understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty..' the series has not been centered on the prophecies and the wild things the Bible says will happen.. besides, when paul says 'the last days,' it includes everything from Jesus' death on the cross until Jesus returns.. no, the core of the study is the question of whether or not we are prepared, whether we are living our lives to stake a stand for Christ in the face of all the evil the world throws at us every day..

todays sermon, part four in the series, was about two things: leaving a rich heritage, and living by Scripture.. from 2 tim. 3.13-14 says that people will continue to go from bad to worse as history draws to a close.. paul, the author, encourages timothy, the recipient, to continue in the things he had learned, always keeping in his mind who had taught him.. francis explained that no matter what is going on around us, we have been laid with the charge to raise men and women of God who are committed to His Kingdom at all costs.. i want to be able to look my kids in the eye one day and confidently tell them, 'i have lived my life before you.. you have seen that i would do anything for Jesus.. now go do the same..' i want to be one of those solid, unwavering, absolutely real men who people can point to and say, i watched his life, and he is the real thing..

the second part was really just a total encouragement to me.. he just talked about the power of the Bible, that it is completely sufficient for salvation.. it was humbling to be reminded of the fact that there are no words that i could ever say that would be powerful enough to save someones soul.. the Word of God is even more powerful than any physical miracle that God could perform.. the Bible is simply more convincing.. its an incredible and bewildering and startling truth, but it is true nonetheless.. there is just so much power in the Word of God.. its comforting to know that as i am down here, surrounded by people who speak another language, often stumbling over words and feeling insecure or uncertain about what to say.. i know what to say.. i speak Gods Word, nothing more or less.. and i trust that God will do the work in the persons heart.. 'the Word of God is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness...' its funny, it doesnt mention anything in the Bible about the Word of Trevor, and how powerful it is.. its nice to know i dont have to rely on myself for people to meet Christ..