Power of Prayer
I can't believe that our trip to Spain is less than 1 month away! It only seems like yesterday that we were all meeting for the first time at Dave's house.
We all have gotten to know each other better through our weekly meetings as well as some fun outings. I have greatly enjoyed going out for Tapas, gelato, and Starbucks with team members. However we were able to bond the most this past weekend during our team retreat at Lake Lanier. We got to enjoy great fellowship, WONDERFUL cooking (big shout out to Justin & Amaris and their amazing culinary skills!), and some fun on the lake. Personally, the retreat made me feel a lot closer to everyone and gave me a confidence in our team.
This confidence has been built by the deep conversations, shared testimonies, and numerous prayers we've all experienced together. God has helped open our hearts to one another by us opening our hearts to Him and praying.
One common prayer we've all had is for our group fundraising and finances. We have all endured many obstacles and hurdles trying to raise funds for this trip. Many people have been unable to donate due to the precarious economic state of the country. A couple months ago, Andy Stanley spoke on this issue and explained how during tough times, attendance always goes up in church or religious institutes but donations/offerings go down.
Our group has been affected by this issue. We have only raised a fraction of the costs that we need to go on our mission trip with less than a month to go. Consequently, I am reaching out to all of you out there to really pray for our team and our group! We all have a great desire and passion to serve our brothers and sisters in Sevilla but we are struggling with funding this trip. In tough economic times, people want to give less but please pray with us that God moves the hearts of people to take a leap of faith and invest in our team and our mission to Sevilla.
Prayer is a powerful tool. The Bible is filled with stories and examples of situations and people who've poured their hearts and souls out in prayer and God has always answered them. In Psalm 116:1-2 (NLT) it says "I love the Lord because He hears my voice and my prayer for mercy. Because He bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath!" God has heard our prayers because we have been blessed with many things so far in our preparation, but we still have a ways to go and much money to raise.
Please pray for us to fundraise enough money but more importantly, please pray like Paul taught us to pray in the Lord's prayer, that God's Will will be done in regards to this trip and in everything else.
Besos,
Hannah
This picture is one that I took at a gas station right after our group retreat last weekend at Lake Lanier. I took it as a sign because I believe everything has a purpose.
