Vereda: (n) Mex, rural narrow path.

Vereda is the name of the church I go to here in México City. I love the name because it so represents who we are as a church, a Vereda is (as Word Reference so eloquently put it) a rural narrow path, it's the kind of path that wasn't there but as people walk by it each day, one day it clearly shows up, usually still surrounded by weeds and trees. It's organic, no big machinery came through to make it happen, it would probably not show on Google maps, you kind of have to know from a friend, or having encountered it yourself if you were looking for the road.

Vereda's Vision: To be rescued, to be loved, to be The Church.

In a city of thousands of highways and main roads, it's so refreshing to have found this company of people. The leadership is a pastoral team made of three couples an American married to a Mexican, an American couple and a Mexican couple. I mention this because I feel most at home when at least two languages are being spoken, and when different cultures are represented. In this 200 people church I've found at least three different NGO's represented, and people from Venezuela, Chile, the U.S. and Korea. It's like God knows me or something, like He would know that my heart thrives when it is amongst different cultures and languages, and that the kind of School we're wanting to start requires a bit of all those flavors to happen.

This community is definitely a gift from God. I would only add one other meaning, in the context of our church, Vereda means family. Last Sunday we got to do our first official promo for the School of Supernatural. For my team and I this school is a dream come true, our baby. After the video we had, we spoke a few words and said we'd be in the back. Our pastor stopped us right there and said he believes in the school stuff, but further more he believes in us, and proceeded to ask the church to pray and back us up and believe with us that heaven can invade the earth through us!

Afterwards when we were giving out flyers with more info about the school, all kinds of people came to congratulate us... so much so that someone thought it was my birthday. Ha, ha! Not my birthday, but I definitely feel like I'm giving birth (I'm sure the team feels somewhat similar); and I feel that this is the best place to have this baby.

Writer of Success Stories.

I got an email the other day, one of those updates from LinkedIn that I usually ignore. This one had job updates, and since I've been unsuccessfully looking for a part time job, I thought I'd at least take a look.

Scroll down, "...Specialist". Nope. Scroll down, "Senior Analyst..." nope.

Scroll down. "Writer of success stories". Scroll Down.

Wait. Writer of success stories? I like the sound of that.

Well the job was about interviewing people who had testimonies of how this particular company had helped them improve their business, and I actually did post for it (tho' I haven't heard back). But beyond the job itself something about that title description just felt so... right.

I heard God say, "isn't that what you're supposed to be, anyway?" and I knew He wasn't talking about the job. Writer. Of. SUCCESS. Stories. Isn't that what we're all called to? Isn't that what God is asking us to do with Him all the time? Testimonies. Success stories; I was lost but now I'm found, I was sick but now I'm healed. My life was like this, but then He happened, and one cannot be unchanged by His goodness, love and truth.

That day I decided with God that I'm in, I want to be more purposeful about writing success stories with Him. Not just write as in record things that happened (like the position for that company), but write as in be a part of the making, as in partner with God in creating success stories to share with the world. For He is good and He is happy, and the world so needs to know.

I had all these things in my head and then I watched the show Castle. Nathan Fillion is pretty funny if you ask me. For those unfamiliar with the show, Richard Castle is a writer who partners with a cop to solve crimes. In this particular episode, he's put in front of a classroom of second graders in an effort to identify a witness by gaining their trust. He says to the kids: "We are all writers, if you can tell a story you can write a story". Given the context of my day, I took it as an invitation, and I extend that invitation to you as well; let us all be exactly that, co-writers with Him of the most amazing, loving, redeeming success stories.

In The City

I made it! For a couple of weeks now I've been living in Mexico City, doing life, learning to get around in public transportation, going to church... and planning, planning, planning.

January 31st, 2015 is our launch date for the Mexico School of Supernatural Ministry and I still have all kinds of feelings about it. Mostly I'm excited. As I've gotten to know people in the church I'm partnering with, I can sense the hunger and the readiness for more. There are other feelings too; anticipation, cautiousness, and this O-M-G-can't-believe-this-is-actually-happening, kind of feeling... but they're all part of the package, I guess.

I think people don't quite know what they're getting themselves into, and that's even better. I don't even know what I'm getting myself into, but every time I close my eyes I have this vision of heaven celebrating this move; which is comforting, to say the least. All I know is that He asked and I said YES! And it's like I keep saying "yes!" each day, with each meeting and challenge and task; yes, yes, yes!

Yes to finding a place in a nice part of town so that more people can get to it, even though it might be more expensive.

Yes to being looked at as "the one who knows what she's doing", even though most time I don't have a clue (thank you Holy Spirit).

Yes to planning! I recently read a tweet by Paul Manwaring (@Paul_Manwaring) saying that "We must never use the Holy Spirit as an excuse for not organizing - this denies the organizational genius of the Holy Trinity." and I totally agree. Holy Spirit is the master of structure and organization and there's nothing better than getting the blue prints from Him.

Yes to His yes over us! God brought me here, He plugged me in with an amazing church and great generous people, and He's opening doors for us. It seems a bit scary at times 'cause these are doors I've never crossed before, but then I hear Him whisper, "Go for it!" and so I do. The great thing is that I'm not alone, God is with me and a team is coming together. We cheer each other on, and at the same time stand in awe of the fact that we were somehow chosen for such a time as this.

Right now we're working on the vision, the mission, the core values, the calendar, the homework assignments, the application forms, the promotion, the website, etc. and believe me, we couldn't do it without Him.

Yes, yes, yes! We keep saying yes to Him, and we know the most important "yes" is to His Presence, permeating everything we do.

Wow, Thanks, Help!

Anne Lamott has a book called "Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers", honestly I haven't read it (sorry Anne), but I love the concept of the very concise prayer in those key moments. Plus, those happen to be key words I really identify with at the moment, except maybe in a different order;

Wow! - Wow, wow, wow! I am alive for such a time as this, I am about to embark on an adventure of epic proportions. I have the great opportunity to move to Mexico City to start a School of Supernatural in Spanish. (Excuse my happy dance - Waaahooo!!) I am just in awe of God! He's been so faithful and good to me: bringing me to the right place in Bethel Redding to learn about starting schools, and giving me an opportunity to coordinate the project to have material for schools in Spanish available.

On top of it all, this is the time for Mexico, I can feel it in the air, the atmosphere is ready, the people are hungry, the ground has been prepared. Not only Mexico but Latin America is becoming more and more prepared and has been establishing more of a Kingdom Culture, where the gospel is more than just, "you're saved so you'll go to heaven one day"; it has become a shout to bring Heaven to all spheres of society, to be the answer to the prayer Jesus taught us, "On earth as it is in Heaven."

Thanks! - Thanks is pretty close to my Wow right now. I am thankful for the path that's taken me to this point in time. I'm thankful for the love, the relationships, the connections, the tools, the preparation, the prayers, the provision, the expectation, the potential, the revelation. I am mostly thankful for HIM, my God. He is and will continue to be my inspiration all along, it's really all about being His daughter and doing what I see Him do. He's up to something good, and I just want in!

Help! - Isn't there some kind of inspirational phrase that says that if the dream doesn't scare you it isn't big enough? I'm there. It's just a tad scary to think of the potential that a school like this can have, to think of the reach and the legacy that could be built from this, the lives impacted, cities transformed in every way; education, arts, government, science, business, etc. I'm dreaming of it all! His Kingdom come! ...Help! I'm moving to the one of the biggest cities in the world, and starting something that at this point is a bit countercultural, even for Christians. I need His help and the guidance of His Spirit.

Please join me in prayer for the preparation of this new project, Lord willing we will begin our School on January 31, 2015. Still many things need to be put together, and I will be moving to Mexico on October 6th, 2014. I don't have a place to live, or income (until the school starts), so please pray for the best set up for me. I'll be looking for a part time job that allows me to also continue to plan the school.

I'm just so excited, all in. My God is so good and worthy, it's the only way to go, and I just know that this is His heart so I'm just joining in. :)