Preface

Hey folks!

Today was another great day at the plant with a lot of exciting problems to overcome; not to mention the sickness that my team leaders suffered through. Of course I didn't get sick because Carlos says that I have a “Mexican” stomach. After work, we went to this beautiful beach and got to enjoy the pleasant seawater. It was definitely something from a vacation commercial or movie. I couldn't imagine it was real. 

I do feel obligated to preface these blogs for my readers that don't necessarily live near me. It is a great story of the Lord providing and I would love to share it. 

The past couple of years, I did a lot of crazy things like actually follow Jesus, change my major, added a different major, and allowed God to be the author of my future. All of these things were extremely frightening at the time, but I have been able to build faith in my God and His provisions for my life. After a year of deciding not to go to medical school but instead work with environmental issues, I pleaded for the Lord to show me His plans for my life. It wasn't until October 2011 that He made me realize that He really does provide.

I went to this conference, called World Mandate, that my church, Antioch Community Church, has once a year to excite people about changing the world by being the light in their local community or wherever God calls them. On one day, they had a workshop about how to advance the kingdom in business and establishing a kingdom-minded company. During the workshop, I heard Elisa Teipel speak about her company, Natural Composites Inc., and how they wanted to find innovative ways to use agricultural wastes and meet legitimate needs in developing countries using a cheaper product. On the kingdom side, they wanted to transform the communities around their facilities and place value in the nation they were located in. This nearly blew me away: a company that desires to see the kingdom advanced? This sounds completely fake. I decided to speak with her about this company and I became ecstatic about working with them when I graduate. We exchanged information and I knew that this was a possible opportunity for me.

Time went by and I almost forgot about the company until I decided to email Elisa around January 2012 about a possible internship in the summer. At this time, my pastor, Tyler Hardy, sent a few guys an email about this company that needed some help for this semester and I decided that I can work there while I wait for Elisa's reply. Little did I know, however, that the company was actually Natural Composites! It was amazing to see God just orchestrate this setup for me to work with NCI. We had a few laughs as Elisa finally emailed me a week after I started working with NCI and asked to set up an interview. 

I haven't had many jobs, but this is by far one of the most encouraging ones I've had! Every day is like working with friends that I've known for years. I receive encouragement when I come into work, while I’m working, and before I leave. I’ve never felt so appreciated in my life! I didn't care if I was grinding coconuts to make powder or working a sieve machine to separate different powder sizes. I felt honored and like a part of the team. The employees are extremely humble and really love Jesus a lot. After some time, I started praying for God to provide an internship. Edgar, my manager, tells me a week after I plead to God that they want me to intern at the Dominican Republic. At first I was excited, but then I felt so unworthy and unqualified that I really doubted they wanted me to handle such a big responsibility. It wasn't until the team really encouraged me that I started to feel like I was able. It nearly blew me away. They trust me? I've only been working here for 4 months and they trust me enough to send me to a foreign country and gather important data to improve their company? How is that possible? With God all things are possible of course. Completely in a state of euphoria, I began to see how this connected to God and His plans for me.

Sometimes I find myself wondering about how much God trusts me. How is it that from the moment I decided to follow Him, He entrusted me with advancing His kingdom? The day I said yes to Him and no to my old life, Jesus simply said to follow Him and He would make me a fisher of men. We as people tend to think that we can’t do anything for God because we aren’t pastors or some high and mighty evangelist. That just isn’t the case! The moment we receive Him, we are commanded to make disciples. He called us first to do great things. I began to read about Paul and how he started his ministry. It didn’t start by learning about the Word or status; it started by God calling him. Even when the apostle Ananias was afraid of bringing him to the church, God told him that He called him to do great and wonderful things for the kingdom! Talk about living in an upside-down kingdom! God doesn’t see the mess that we are; He sees the marvelous creation He intricately made in our mother’s womb. I can’t imagine anyone that would see a drug addict or murderer and put him in charge of a ministry to see millions of those same people find freedom.

After this trip, I can see how close-knitted every area of life is with God and His kingdom. I’ve always thought that in order to fully understand God, we need to fully immerse ourselves in all the good things that he created for us. Now, I’m actually seeing how that is very true. I can’t comprehend the magnitude of His plans as He consciously created all things for His glory. Such things are too wonderful for me to think about.

I can’t wait to go on my next trip and experience God in a whole new way! I’m really excited about seeing a new side of Him or look deeper in one I’ve seen! This blog cannot truly capture my excitement or joy for the Lord and His purposes! I hope to be able to express what I receive from Him. I will be writing my adventures in Gulu, Uganda in my other blog adventureswithmyking.blogspot.com so be sure to check it out every now and then!

God bless,

Pablo

Day 2 in the DR

Buena! or Greetings!

So today started out great! Last night, our electricity went off and the apartment was so hot, that we really needed to get out of there. Carlos, the plant manager, took us to this little hotel around the corner and stayed there for the night. I totally wish we were staying there all week because there’s AC, stable internet, and a more comfortable bed. I’m not complaining, but we were definitely spoiled last night!

This morning, we had breakfast at the hotel and I was able to meet the people that will be here in the apartment with me during my 2 week stay. I was so relieved because I thought that I was going to be living here on my own. Carlos’s assistant, Yasmin, is going to start working in this apartment/office in the coming weeks and Julio, the newly hired accountant, will also be working here. Hopefully, I can ask Yasmin and Julio to take me sight-seeing while here!After breakfast, we headed down to the plant that is near Sanchez and the route was absolutely gorgeous! The beach is all along the road and there were even some nice fishing spots! 

Once we arrived at the plant, I became aware of a whole new world that I have never stepped foot in: the business world.

Today is only the second day of our trip and we are already buried in so many problems that need to be solved. I had no idea just how many things need to be catered when starting a business. I knew about the problems that we discussed in various meetings back in College Station, but it doesn’t become real until you are in the midst of the problem. I’m nearly mortified thinking about how much time we took today to discuss our plans, strategies, conflicts, products, solutions, and anything else you can think of. My world view has most definitely expanded past its narrow perspective and I cannot go back to that mentality any more.

However, I can’t tell you how much fun it has been. This is nothing that I have ever experienced before. Although it is stressful, the moment you find a solution or resolve a conflict, it’s sweeter than any bitterness that may have come up during the hours of meetings. Sure I may have tried to work out a math problem and suddenly came out with the right answer, or maybe even received an “A” on a test after hours of studying, but it really doesn’t compare to discovering a way to bring unity to a team, make profits, or even find out what the real problem was in the first place.

I feel like that is so like my walk with Jesus. There are so many trials and tribulations that we go through that sometimes if feels like you just want to give up or even so many temptations that you want to give in. It’s stressful when you don’t know what your plans are for life and you are a couple of years from graduating. It’s stressful thinking about bills, expenses, roommates, classes, or anything else that comes to mind. However, God promises to be with us in the midst of all these troubles, frustrations, pains, and even when you’re at the lowest part of the pit with no hope of escape. Psalm 91 really paints a picture of God protecting us and you never really see Him being a protector until you are in the midst of the arrows or pestilence. He promises this:

“Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in TROUBLE; I will rescue and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation” v. 14-16

Isn’t that amazing? The God of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things, most powerful person to ever exist is Promising to be with us and protect us! What better way to describe this than love: all-powerful, crazy, relentless, furious love. I have a lot to learn about His love and I will take every chance I can get to receive a revelation of that love. 

Well, I'm off to bed because tomorrow is going to be a big day and rumor has it that we are going to go to the beach! That's gonna be sick!

Later days,

Pablo

Adventure in the DR

Howdy! So I have arrived at my apartment in the Dominican Republic after a short 5 hour flight, a 2 hour drive through some very beautiful scenery, and a "gourmet" dinner at a genuine DR restaurant. It has been a long day with my only food source being the delicious pizza at the "Italiano Restaurant Pizzeria" along with chicken wings and fried plantains which I have to say is not bad at all. Some pretty neat events included conversing with our flight attendant from Argentina named Pablo,

driving around the country side and seeing the beautiful landscape that I was unable to capture well on camera,

and eating at a non-american restaurant.

I don't feel like it has hit me yet that I am here in the DR. There's something in me that cannot believe that I am here on an internship with a company that really loves Jesus and desires to see His purposes fulfilled on the Earth. I hardly believe that I merit such an opportunity to be apart of setting the foundation in this plant and helping make business decisions from the work I have been assigned. Is it really that hard to believe that my God is so good that He would provide me with an internship I don't deserve after a year of wondering if I made the right decisions? How little faith it seems that I have that I can't even believe the things that are happening in front of my eyes. Thank you Lord for grace and mercy! Not only is it hard to believe that I'm here, but its hard to think that I'm actually doing work where a company is entrusting me to perform my duties well and take responsibilities for specific tasks. This change of scenery has been so different. Not only does my performance affect me in the form of grades and financial aid, but it affects my company as a whole. My company now has brought in another gear in its intricate clockwork that is part of the process of being successful.

Oh how this relates to the body of Christ where success is measured by the depth of our relationship with Christ and loving the people around us, and where our performance is the measure of faith, gifts, etc. that the Lord has given to us to advance His kingdom. In order for the body of Christ to do the job she was charged with is if every part loves God with all their soul, heart, mind, and strength, works together in building each other up, and loving the people around them. Through working with this company, I've learned that I don't know everything there is to know about business, engineering, or even science. However, they do want and need what I do have to offer in order to be successful. In the same way, I don't know everything there is to know about the Spirit, about evangelism, about prophesy, or even love. Although I may strive to learn more about it, I don't need to know everything to do the things I was created to do: love, walk in the Spirit, rejoice, honor, encourage, worship, etc. What I do need to know is that God has given me a specific set of "skills" in the kingdom and He is asking me, "Are you willing to risk everything to see My kingdom established?".

 Am I really willing to risk everything I have to see His kingdom established not only in College Station, Houston, the DR, and Uganda, but everywhere He will take me? Is it worth throwing my life away in exchange for His life? Am I willing to trade in comfort for discomfort, to leave the safety of my bubble and go up against the walls of the enemy and declare that My God is bigger? After counting the costs, there is only one conclusion that I have: I don't understand His ways, I don't understand trials and tribulations at times, but when I see His face, it will be worth it all!

I do have one request from all the readers out there: that you pray for me. I deeply need the Lord to pour into me these next couple of months as I travel, work, advance the kingdom, and experience Him. Please pray for rest in the Lord and that I may find it in the shadow of His wings! Thank you all for the love and support and I hope you find these blogs encouraging!

Peace, Pablo

Spiritual Warfare

So I really want to blog about how God was able to break off a lot of fears in my life. It started with a really bad experience during the night and ended with victory!!

As usual, I'm hitting the hay around 10pm because I'm so exhausted and so I get ready for bed, drink some water and pass out within a few minutes. I don't feel like I dreamed anything too intense, but I woke up feeling like I missed our daily team meetings at 9am. I frantically check my watch and realize that its only 3am. Relieved I turn to fall back asleep when my roommate, Avery, tells me that for a minute, I screamed pretty loudly in my sleep. When he said that, I immediately freaked out and turned on my flashlight. For some reason, I just became super fearful to the point where I don't want to turn off my light. So we pray for a little bit, but I'm still stricken with fear.

Avery falls asleep and leaves me to my thoughts and flashlight. After about 15 minutes of trying to fall asleep, I eventually get into a state where I can't distinguish my dreams from reality. One minute I'm in my room with Avery sleeping in the bed next to mine, the next I'm laying on this bed that looks very similar to my room, but Avery is gone. I begin to try to wake up but I start to feel a pair of hands covering my eyes and mouth, preventing me from seeing or speaking. I even feel a hand grabbing onto my shirt and trying to drag me down onto the floor. I'm freaking out so much because I can't move, I can't see clearly and when I trying to scream or even speak, I can't. I begin to panic until I get the thought to scream Jesus to be free. After a minute of battling, I was finally able to say His name and wake up breathing heavily and full of fear.

I quickly wake up Avery to ask him to pray for me so I can go to sleep. Bear in mind that this entire time, I had my flashlight on because I was so paralyzed with fear and I feel like the Lord told me to trust Him and to turn off the light.

"WHAT?!! I CAN'T DO THAT!! YOU MUST BE JOKING!! THERE'S NO WAY I CAN TURN OFF MY LIGHT!!"

After realizing what I had said, I began to believe that I can trust in Him and so I turned off my light and within a few minutes I was asleep. However, the battle did not end there.

The dream sequence I had then was very weird. I kept travelling from place to place with the feeling that I was being chased. One minute, I'm in a house on the swamps in Louisiana, the next I'm on an oil tanker that looks like a cruise ship on the inside. While on the boat, there were thousands of people and they were all running around as if there was a terrorist on board so I'm running around with them because of this presence chasing me. I finally go into a room as everybody in there leaves and the only person I see is Tyler on the other side of the room. At once I tell him everything that was going on and he simply said, "Bro, you gotta cast that out". At once, I felt the great force push me towards him and immediately pull me back into this dark void.

It was at this time that I found what was chasing me: a demon.
This demon was a pretty large creature with red eyes and a figure of a Minotaur. I was extremely unbearable to look at, but I couldn't move because he had this huge sword shoved inside of me through my stomach. I took one last look at him and decided to take Tyler's advice. I shouted, "Go to Hell, satan!" at the top of lungs and immediately, the dream world I was in shattered and I woke up.

That was the most intense battle I have ever faced in my entire life and I was able to break free from it all because God said to trust in Him. Sometimes life feels like that: we're paralyzed with fear and can't seem to get out of it. In those times, God says to trust in Him and He will deliver us. He sees that we're relying on everything to help except Him: The Only One who can help at all.

Now, because God is so good, I'm free from so many fears that I once had about people. I can actually live in freedom...who would've guessed it?

Completely Ruined by His Love

SO I have had one of the most life changing experiences ever and I still can't figure everything that happened with me. I just spent 2 weeks in a foreign country doing the will of the Father and what do I get out of it? a changed heart forever.

At the start of my mission trip to Gulu, Uganda, a team member came to me and gave me a word that God is still doing a work in me. At the time, I didn't realize what that exactly meant and what kind of work He would be doing, but I received it and believed it to be true. Now that I think back in retrospect, I see how true that word was and how much it has impacted me. I'm a changed man. I feel so anxious about going out and sharing the Love of God, of going out and advancing His kingdom and doing His will. I'm not satisfied by the things of this world like I used to be. I'm not satisfied just living an average american life or an average worldly life. I just want to live and operate in the kingdom and nothing else. I just want to spread the seed, harvest the fields and sow into the kingdom. Before, I would kid around with a friend of mine saying that I would join him in planting a church in Lubbock, Tx, but that was simply a joke for me. The reality was: I was stricken with fear because I didn't know how to do that. I didn't really want to bring so much pressure on myself. I didn't want to get away from the comfort of an established community. I didn't want to just leave my life behind because what would people say? what would my friends say? what would my family say? I became crippled at the thought of leaving a community and going into a strange territory and facing challenges all on my own. Of course, here I was saying that perfect love casts out all fear while I'm still clawing onto this one fear. However, once I saw true love in action, true love in the works, this fear just slipped out of my fingers and I finally felt free from it.

I told several friends that I feel envisioned, empowered and encouraged but to be honest, I'm not sure for what. I can definitely see myself starting something in College Station but what and how? All I know is that God is with me and He isn't going to push me into a new land without Him first going there to prepare a way.

I just want to do His will. I don't know how that will look like in the time to come, but I just know that with God, all things will be possible and nothing will be able to stop us!

Pabs

A Not-So-Tall-Tale

Howdy,

It's been a super long while since I've posted a blog! My, oh my, has the time flown by...as quick as a beaver doing cartwheels I usually never say!

So, you know that feeling you get when things don't really go the way you plan and it takes a couple of days to coup with what God has in store for you? Well, I felt that just last week so its still fresh in my mind! I had this huge plan for the Christmas break that I sort of ignored what God wanted for me during this time. Instead of taking a class and getting it over with by next semester, God really wants me to rest and take it easy. I had no idea why or what good it would do. That is, until I took a step back to analyze my situation. I had gone through the semester just completely stressed about many things and it had devoured me. Certainly, a class that meets every day for about 4 hours is not the best break ever. Of course, I did what any person who thought he was right would do: I quarreled with my Dad. Obviously, He has more wisdom and knows what is the best path for me so I gave up as soon as I challenged Him.

At first, I was fighting to keep myself from fleshly desires and picking fights with my family about certain things, but now I actually just focus on my Beloved and things just fall into place. Petty arguments aren't touched, frustration is history and any bitterness seems to have left me. I actually feel the way I'm supposed to feel:free. I had this awesome picture when I arrived home on Monday. I was following Christ with my cross. Obviously, carrying a cross would severely slow me down, but what amazed me was that every morning, I would put it into the ground and actually crucify myself and my spirit would come out and run towards Him. That really wrecked me because I felt that it was a declaration to myself: I CAN die to my flesh every morning and live in the Spirit! Thrilled about this during quiet time yesterday outside my house on my hammock, I ended up walking around my house declaring it a home free from any evil spirits and welcoming the Holy Spirit to dwell within it! I can actually say that it feels good to be at home resting. My mom may not agree too much with me not getting a job, I don't really agree with it either, but I'm finding different ways to bless my family and actually feel like I want to be here. I still wish that fellow antiochers were nearby so I can stop by for a visit, but its ok. I think I can manage with just Daddy. =)

Later days,
Pabs

Get Up With God

Get Up With God

Howdy,
So I found this site "getupwithgod.com" and it is really good, especially because it gives me some topic to think about throughout the day. Today, I read an old entry about Forgiving One Another and the story that he put really wrecked me. He wrote about post-WWII and how a pastor who had survived the concentration camps preached about forgiveness. At the end of the sermon, one of the guards from her camp, whom she had remembered, came up to her and said that he had become a Christian and believes that God forgave him for all the wrong things he had done, but he wanted to hear from her that she forgave him. At first, she was reluctant to forgive him, but the Holy Spirit came upon her as she shook his hand and He pretty much wrecked them.

This just got me thinking that despite everything that everyone has done to me in my life, I can get over myself, feelings and all, and forgive them. Whether it was being teased in grade school or being severely wounded by my best friend at age 10, I can forgive them just as I have been forgiven. Forgiveness certainly does break chains and bonds formed long ago. Jesus forgave the guards that whipped, cursed, mocked and spat on Him. He said, "forgive them, for the know not what they are doing". I found myself saying that same thing when I went over all the people whom I needed to forgive during my quiet time. They really didn't know what they were doing or what the outcome would be from that situation. My best friend didn't know that saying he didn't want to be friends anymore would cause such a huge heart wound, he was 10 years old! If Jesus can forgive me for turning away from Him everyday, then I can forgive Juan.

Pabs