A broken vessel

I have been struggling with low energy, low self-confidence and low desire to serve.  I have detected this, and recognized it from past experiences.  RED FLAG!!

Life's circumstances, family problems, attacks, personal conflicts ... all have a part in it. Yes, it does happen in the lives of missionaries as well!

I prayed, God will you fill me?  I am empty, I need to give and have nothing to give.  

Then, this morning a thought came to my mind:  what if I am at my "broken stage" ... what if there is something to be changed and God is using this time "to break me and make me again".  A broken vase cannot carry anything... 

That lead me to think that that are phases in life that we need to give ourselves some time.  Time to "rest" in Him, time to pick up the pieces, time to reinforce our trust in our Maker.  

So, here I am  ... waiting and resting in Him.  Life goes on, but my focus is in restoration and not pouring myself in others.  I must be whole again and then I will be ready to be filled and give what is freely given to me. 

I am broken, but I am not alone.  He is molding me and making me better for His service.  

My advice:  learn to hear your heart, and recognize the seasons of your life.  Saying "no" to some things does not mean being disobedient to Him.  It may mean to choose the best over the good; it may mean to give yourself time!

This reading blessed my heart this morning.  I hope you enjoy as well ... it is from this blog:   A Time to Laugh 

The Master's Vessel

Psalms

This year I will be studying the book of Psalms.  I hope to get some nourishment and will pass on what the Lord speaks to me.  

Psalm 1: 

 ¹ Blessed is the man 
   who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked 
or stand in the way of sinners 
   or sit in the seat of mockers. 
² But his delight is in the law of the LORD, 
   and on his law he meditates day and night.

I am following a study that asks me to write these instructions to fit my own reality.  Am I not called to live amongst the the wicked, sinners and mockers?

At first it may seem to be a contradiction in God's word. 

After a little thinking and praying for wisdom in how to bring this to my reality I think the waters got clearer. 

God has called me to be among these people but my presence should bring the wisdom, respect and dignity to them.  I find that when I first meet a person, they do not know anything about me.  They take the liberty to say and do things that really fit well on those categories above.  BUT I have found that after they know me and where I stand, they are selective in what they say, the jokes they tell, etc.  

These verses become reality in my life as I bring those values to the relationships I have.  They become aware of the sin in their lives because of my testimony.   I may not say a word, but they know. 

That brings me to another thought.  How do I go about introducing those values to my relationships?  I think that most of the time love and patience are needed. But in many cases, love should be accompanied by admonition.  I should be able to speak the truth in love and introduce the fear of God in their lives. Still, love should be the base of any action. 

ALSO, it is important for us to have people who can speak in our lives, people who knows the Lord and can bless us with counsel and good company. 

Praying that I will be able to witness God in a way to bring Biblical values to people's life even before them Know God personally.   May this be the first step to get closer to Jesus. 

The work belongs to Him

Getting back to Spain was an act of obedience. I guess as time goes by you realize many things you are missing away from home. Sharing my heart openly here ... Yes, I do doubt, I do lack in faith, I do have second thoughts ... hopefully someone there can relate to me! :)

Many things went through my mind: I am missing seeing my nephews and nieces group up, some of them getting married, birthday parties, family get-together, etc. Time will not go back ... I already missed many things and will not be able to make up for it ...

I have to say I was full of second thoughts. THEN, God spoke to me! ... in a way only He can do. He took me to the book of Jonah and his reluctance to go where he was supposed to go due to lack of faith and plain disobedience. God told me I was having a lot in common with Jonah ... enough said.

We came back, obedient to God´s message. Work here is hard and I had this thought in my mind. It is a bigger job that us. We will never be able to see fruit. We will get burnt out again working and working harder to see something happen.

Then I talked to Sonia ...

Sonia is a lady that came to Christ a little over a year ago. Right after arriving, still trying to feel excited about the "work I have to do", she called me. She was SO excited about us being back and said: "While you were away, I was afraid I would not know how to relate to God but the strangest thing happened: He started talking to me! He speaks to me through the circumstances, through the Bible ... it is incredible!"

Wow! So I am not the one "doing the work"! Yeah! I felt such a peace, this work is not on my shoulders, He is doing it and He is allowing me to see and rejoice on what He is accomplishing! I am trying to keep this thought very alive in my mind and heart. I cannot take control over things because He is in control, He is doing, He is the head and the active part of this work. I feel released and I am trying carefully to keep that perspective in front of me. It is so much easier to be doing rather than being.

May we all be able to find this place where there is rest for our souls, by the Good Shepherd, watching His work while enjoying fresh water and calmness.

Time in Oasis ..

We are just back from out STAS (State-side Assignment), time in which we rest, spend time with family, reconnect with churches and find opportunities for renewal.

I have to say it has been wonderful in each account. One of the most wonderful experiences took us to Goias, Brazil. I am originally from Brazil so part of our 6 months away was spent there.

We heard about a place called Oasis from my pastor in Brazil when we shared how tired and almost burnt out we were. We checked it out, signed up for it and went! We had plenty of time for praying, reading, interacting with others, listening to God, etc ...

God showed us so many things:

1) it is OK to be tired ... we just need to keep going to the fountain of renewal, back to the basics of faith. We are loved, we were uniquely created, we are like no one else, etc.

2) we are unique and created to a work that can only be done by us ... no need to compare ourselves ... we have our own place in this earth that no one can occupy.

3) the need to be at the feet of the Saviour ... go back to the first love back and back again ... it is vital that we stay there. Otherwise other values and worldly thoughts get on the way. We loose the perspective of God ... we start looking at circumstances through the lenses of sin, of our background, of our experiences.

4) God is in control. It is such a comforting thought to know that God can control the situation when you cannot evaluate, make plans or think properly. That is the way we felt and still we feel God worked His plan in us. There is peace in releasing the control to Him ...

Well, there is so much we learned during our time away ... God was so good to us listening to our "complaints", giving us time to understand and realize things, closing doors, opening doors, ... it is a cool place to be: in His Powerful Hands!

The most amazing thought is that OASIS can take place anytime, anywhere ... that is my prayer today ... that each one of us will be able to find our oasis with the Lord. Wonderful company!

If you live in Brazil you may be interested in this wonderful ministry to Christian workers:

http://ministeriooasis.spaces.live.com/

Acts: tradition or freedom in Christ

Our house church has been studying Acts. It has been exciting to see our group reflected on what went on those days. BUT we all come from different backgrounds (cultural and religious) and it is very hard not to lean on what we already know by experience. On Acts 15 we are faced with the dilemma: tradition or Christ. Even though we know the right answer is, how often we fall on the same things from the past. They are not intrinsically wrong, they are just not vital or as important as we thought they were.

That is why I love our meetings, we are ourselves, we are a family. We do not burden each other with expectations that are not Biblical. If someone cannot come, we realize there must be a reason. If I have to meet with someone instead, it is understood I have a divine appointment and instead of receiving criticism, I know I can count on their prayers.

Now, it is hard not to put an unnecessary burden on each other, we have so much baggage we bring from past experiences!

My prayer is that we learn to live our freedom in Christ and act on it in relation to our brothers and sisters. Help me, God!

I Gave God My Life, But Not My Toothbrush

Someone sent this story to me. It is not my own experience but I see myself reflected in it! I often feel God's burden in my heart for the lost. I just want to do whatever it takes ... but when it comes down to small acts of service, I have an attitude. The story goes like this ...

"One morning during my quiet time, I had such a burning desire in my heart for God to use me. My heart was reaching out to God. I poured out my soul before his throne. “Oh, God.” I cried. “Use me to honor your name. Whatever the cost—prison, beatings, martyrdom—I want to serve you. Take my life today to use as you see fit. You are my King and I give myself to you.”

I shared this desire with others in our team. I felt so ready to lose anything for the kingdom.

Then we had a houseguest. . .again.

Elliot used to come to our house a lot. He had no money, no job, and no place to stay. I would get so tired of serving tea, reheating dinner when he came late, washing the extra pajamas and sheets, and rearranging our kids so he could have a place to sleep. I grew to have a very poor attitude in my service toward this brother. Soon he stopped coming.

Later I heard he was sleeping at the bus station and not eating regularly. Stricken with remorse, the next time he called, I asked him where he had been and invited him to come see us again. You see I had had my quiet time and I was ready to give up my life for the kingdom.

Then he used my toothbrush and left it bloody.

I was angry. It was my favorite toothbrush—though I hadn’t realized it till then! He was my husband’s friend—why didn’t he choose to use my husband’s toothbrush? I would have to go buy a new toothbrush. I knew I could never find another like it. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got.

“God—look what happens. I did this for you. I wanted to help this guy out and what does he do? He picks my toothbrush to use and get bloody. I can’t believe it! I have to buy a new toothbrush. I liked my toothbrush. God, it isn’t fair!”

Then I heard a still, small voice. “You offered me your life. You mentioned beatings, prison, and a willingness to be martyred. All I asked from you today is your toothbrush.”

At times, I get so grandiose in my thinking; anything for you, Lord; anywhere for you, Lord; anytime for you, Lord. When what God is looking for is my service to him in the here and now details of my life, the small things I have to give today.

It isn’t likely that I will ever be beaten, stay in prison or be a martyr. Maybe that is why I am so ready to give myself to God for these spectacular opportunities to serve (at least it sounds spectacular in a book written by someone who survives it all). What God wants from me is to be open day by day, minute by minute to serve him by giving him not only my life, but my toothbrush as well. "

Lord, help me to be faithful in sharing your vision, your desires and your passion for the world! But mostly, help me to be faithful to serve when nobody is looking, when nobody is noticing, when I have to be uncomfortable for the sake of others, when I have to give up precious time of resting to help my neighbour. I have to tell you, Lord, that these "interruptions" in my life are not always welcomed. BUT I trust in a God who is in the business of reshaping lives and changing behaviours. Help me, Lord, to be faithful in the small things.

God's Time

Today we were shopping and got late to pick up our son. We raced to the school expecting to find our little boy desperately crying for someone to come. He was the last kid to be picked up.

When he came in the car I told him how sorry I was. I asked:

- Were you scared?

He said:

- No.

- Why not?

- Papa said he would be here ... I was waiting for him to come.

God spoke to me at that point. The only thing my son needed was the assurance that my husband had promised, therefore he would abide by his promisse. I thought about my own relationship with my Heavenly Father as I wait for Him to do His work in my life and ministry.

1) He said He would: My son felt secure because my husband told him he would pick him up. God gave us so many promises and I have seen them been acomplished over and over again ... and yet, I doubt.

2) He always does what he promises: My son knows my husband. He knows his character. He had similar experiences before and he always came through. Don't I see the hand of God in my life and ministry over and over? ... and yet, I doubt.

3) He was not impatient: My son was just looking around. I do not want to wait for the time of the Lord. I get impatient and frustrated. He WILL come and meet me in my need as He has always done before. Not before, not after, but at the right time. I have seen it ... and yet, I doubt.

Just a little incident and lots of life lessons. God will give the fruit of our labor in due time. I love when God calls my attention and make me reflect on His truth through the eyes of a child.

Blessed are the children ...

We just started a new venue to broad our influence where we live. I invited, for the first time, kids of friends to come to our home and participate on a child friendly Bible class. Because of where we live, I thought no one would buy into it. I was wrong. On Friday night 13 children gathered in our living room to sing, pray, play and do crafts around our theme:

JESUS, THE GOOD SHEPHERD.

I have to admit, it was different. I was tense for a moment. Here, it is a big responsibility to teach children without their parents consent. There I was, I had their avail, but I was so nervous … I wanted to do it right and that they would come back for the next meeting.

Everything went so well. Kids just loved it. It was a first time for most of them. They ate every word I said. They were so receptive! At the time for responses to the message, they all stood up by a picture of Jesus. They place the little sheep they had cut out by Jesus without thinking twice. In their minds, Jesus is the Good Shepherd. I am the little lost sheep. I need Him! That simple!

It made me think of all the adults we are trying to lead them to see it and they have so many but´s and why´s. Jesus’ words make so much sense in light of this experience:

“Blessed are the children for of such is the kingdom of heaven”

We must become like them!

AND … they loved it so much they are inviting new friends for the next meeting! The word is getting around at the school! PTL!

If you are in the frontline, expect to get hurt ...

Being in the frontline put us in a vulnerable position. We might just get hurt …

My husband writes:“We met P and R while living in the north, several years ago. Mara met R thru her gym class and then P and I got introduced. We hit it off great, he wanted to improve his English so away we went ... the four of us got together on many separate occasions. And C and I got together several times a month, to talk English, play pool, jog together, etc. One time while at their place, the subject of life and death came up, and we had a brilliant opportunity to share the gospel, the hope of Christ, the certainty of salvation, etc. And on other occasions I was able to share with P, one to one…
This past Monday I called P, out of the blue more or less, as I hadn't spoken to him for a while. They had moved to M, at least for the short term. He had a close cousin who was tragically killed in a car accident in December, and that had spun him a terrible vortex of depression. … I had a great time chatting with P, upon hearing of his depression I told him that we would be praying for him, he said that they had run into a local believer from an evangelical church there in M, I encouraged him to go to one of their meetings, etc…¨

Isn´t what we do all the time? Look for opportunities to share… but do we know is time is in our side? I have news, time isn’t…
My husband continues:“I didn't know that two days later that he would suffer a fatal heart attack ... he wasn't much over 40 ... if even that ...”

We are left hoping all we shared came together in God´s timing … the fact that Dwight called him out of the blue … it makes us think that God was pursuing him during his last moments ….

We are hurting not only because we loved and appreciated him as a good friend, but because we are uncertain about his eternity. One day we will know.

Meanwhile, God is telling each one of us to preach time and time again, as we do know what tomorrow brings.

I am glad I am not in charge!

It was Saturday night and my family went to the elevator in turns as there was no way all of us would fit, considering all the extra load of “stuff” we take for our house church. The meeting would be at one of our regular’s home on the next door building.

We had some songs to sing, some food, the advent wreath, candles, the guitar, kid’s activities with supplies, our Bibles, etc

Getting there we had plans to spend time around the wreath, sing and read the Bible, have some thought provoking questions and nice answers that would make all of us feel warm inside. This time of the year is so special and that was our plan for the event.

We get there and people are going crazy with food preparation. They had so much! It was sweet of them, but it took the focus from our time. We then started singing some songs that they brought from their Catholic church. Nice songs and we even knew some. Nothing like it was planned …

My husband started talking about last week’s focus. As the topic starts to penetrate our minds and hearts the last visitor family arrives. They then started kissing everyone, and the food started being served. Nothing like it was planned …

Almost like an instinct I admire in him so much, my husband starts the conversation again. This time the kids are in the back doing their Christmas crafts and reading portions of the Bible with my daughters. He starts talking about faith on the promised of God through Jesus, topic of the second week of Advent. It only started there, questions such as “Is God real?”, “Why does God allow suffering in the world?”, and statement such as “I am happy as an Atheist” brought a different dynamic to our meeting. Nothing like it was planned …

We had dessert and the kids wanted to present us a performance they had prepared in the back. It was about forgiving our friends when they wrong us. It had a good message but at times it was hard to get it with all the noise, disturbance and discussion among actors! We sat there for a while until we demand a last act! Nothing like it was planned …

We finished the meeting with an open end. We did not answer all the questions and not all questions were mentioned. It was midnight and we were tired. Strangely we walked home with joy our hearts. It was crazy at times but all that happened had a purpose. We were growing in knowledge of each other, as a family. People felt free to express their view and opinions. Kids felt part of it. The Word was preached. God was glorified!

When we meet as a family, do we ever plan every step of the way? No, we visit family with open hearts wanting to spend time together and sharing life’s experiences with each other. That was what happened. Did we plan exactly that way? No, but that is OK. I am glad I am not in charge! Our Father is in control!

A New Season

Hi!

I have been silent to a few month as we found ourselves in transition. I just could not find the time to sit down and write. I guess I wanted to figure things out as well ... not that I have gotten there yet!

Last time I wrote we were in Miami. Now we find ouselves in Madrid, Spain! Yes, we are here! I still need to digest all of our lessons and experiences of the last two years.

I do not understand all that happened to us but I see these two years as a journey through the desert. God had a lot to deal with us, to prepare us for a new season and show many facets of His being. I keep saying I know a bigger God than I knew 2 years ago! I am just SO thankful that our "desert experience" took place in Florida, from all places! God was really merciful to us! :)

Jokes apart, it was such a blessing to be placed among people who cared deeply for us and ministered to us in incredible ways.

About our field here ... have you heard about the land that was overworked and needed to rest for a season so it would be ready to receive new seeds? I am sure you have. That is our prayer for our present situation.

If I would have planned this experience, I would have done differently perhaps. BUT, it was such a necessary time away to be renewed and restaured. God knew it all the way! I am glad He does not ask me for advice!

OK, I am here and ready to join hands with all of you, Women of the Harvest! Please send me your stories, thoughts, experiences ... we can minister to each other!Etiquetas

Becoming Strong in the Broken Places

Hello friends!

I have been thinking lately about my journey to where I am today. I still have lots to learn, lots to change, in short, God is not done with me. BUT, there are a few lessons I have learned in my walk with the Lord.

In many occasions I found myself very close to God, but in others, unfurtunatly, I was far from God. The funny thing is that all during those trials, I was always serving God. People with whom I worked never noticed my spiritual status.

When you are a Christian for a while you learn to say the right words and do the right things before other people, no matter how you feel. But when you are alone in your room with closed doors, there is where your real "you" emerges.

I do not think God is waiting for those moments with us to make us feel terrible and demand a change. I believe he is hopeful for the right attitute in our hearts. He undestands our weakness and wants to make us strong. If we just could cross our pried and open up so He could work one of His miracles!

I write from my heart and to myself that some seasons in our life won't be easy. Even when you are in the center of God's will, doing His work, serving the people ... still, problems will arise. Then, what does God want from me?

I think he wants an attitude of surrender, trust and willingness to learn a new lesson. I am not there yet!! I still complain, get mad at Him, cry in desperation, etc. But He is patient and will wait until we calm down and surrender ourserves totally to His working hands in our lives.

I read this the other day and spoke to me personally. I would like to share with you:

"To become strong in the broken plances in our lives demands that we do two things, seeming opposites: hang in there, and let go. To somehow dig up the courage to keep going is the very courage that allows us to scoop up broken pieces of our lives and lay them all at the feet of the One who would do more in us than just get us through the storm. As James Means said, he would take the fire that blackens our horizons and warm our sould with it. He would sharpen our vision in the darkness that oppresses us. He would use the despair of standing at a grave to deepen our trust. This we cannot do for ourselves.
Perhaps because our brokenness brings us to the end of ourselves, it is here, in these jars of clay that we offer up to his very special grace, that God's all-surpassing power is make known and he, indeed, makes us strong in our broken places. "
By Verdell Davis
Riches Stored in Secret Places

I will leave these verses with you:

"My heart is steadfast, Oh God, my heart is steadfast, I will sing and give praise."Psalm 57:7

"And He said to me: 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.'. Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."
2 Corinthians 12:9

God bless you today! -- Mara

Finding Good in the Ordinary

Many times in the past, as we worked as a family to bring people closer to God, I felt overwhelmed.

I felt much was expected of me. I realized later that much of that expectation came from myself. I always had big plans to do this or that ... much came to be thanks to sleepless nights and stressfull family times.

One of the things that I used to find very annoying were the interruptions. I had plans and "these people" did not let me do them. They kept interrupting me. Didn't they realize I was trying to serve them? :)

I read the illustration below the other day, during my devotional. It illustrates it very well.

FINDING HOLINESS IN THE ORDINARY

Henry Nouwen, in his book Out of Solitude, tells of an old Notre Dame professor who had always complained that his work was constantly being interrupted. Like so many of us, he longed for the freedom to concentrate fully on what he considered important. Late in his life, however, the professor came to realize what he wished he had knwon all along:

the the interruptions were his work ...

The interruptions are the work. The pieces are the whole. We cannot wait for a total, personal revelation of all that God has for us to be handed down in one lump sum. God reveals Himself to us bit by spiritual bit. Even our broadest visions and our highest goals, once we know them, must be broken down and lived out in the small particulars of our everyday lives if they are to have meaning.

By Claire Cloninger

When God Sines Through

Boy, isn't this a good message? I felt liberated after reading this a few years ago and rereading it just the other day. God wants us and our time belongs to Him. It would be so much easier if we handled all to him every morning and let Him use it. I am speaking to myself here.

Work for Him is good but only under the guidance of His Holy Spirit we will know when to start, when to finish and when to welcome the interruptions as they might be the most important task of the day.

"In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening do not withhold your hand; for you do not know which will prosper, either this of that, or whether both alike will be good.

Eclesiates 11:6

A Broken Heart

Just lately, it seems that G. has brought many poeple on my way that have had very difficult situations in their lives.

We, as a family, are making an effort to get to know people in our circles of influence. For an extrovert, such as me, meeting people is fun! Getting to know their hobbies, what we have in commun, their backgrounds, etc ...

But not all is fun ... knowing people and actually showing you care means getting involved in their struggles, problems and many times to be heart broken over what they are going through!

I find myself experiencing this lately. One friend I met has breast cancer on her early 30's, one lost her husband on a contruction accident and the other on a traffic accident. Both are under 50!

I have been so sad knowing of their life struggles. I pray for oportunities to share about what matter to me the most but the HS will have to do His job first. They will have many questions about G. and how He relates to what is going on on their lives. It is a tough job but it is not my job, He has healed many and is ready to heal an open heart.

My p. is that one day, they will experience the freedom in C. I pray for you too, that is reading this blog post and is going through a similar circunstance. He will carry you through as you share their burden and love "them" into the Kingdom.

Scrapbooking

If you know me you know I am a scrapbooker. I just wish I had more time to devote to it, but you will hear it from any scrapbooker.

I started doing it to record the way Dwight and I met. It is such a cool love story that I wanted to keep all the detailes, including all the letters we exchanged, etc.

Then, with kids and family events, I saw it as a wonderful way to make those memories alive and even more beautiful.

It was with time that I realize what a wonderful tool it is in making friendships and sharing your faith and values with other ladies!

In Madrid, Spain, God brought a group of ladies to scrapbook together. I had many changes to share my faith, my biblical points of view on different aspects of life, and me!

Also, it becomes a support group. In this busy pace of life we all live, it is hard for anyone to find true friends, who know you, who cares about who you are and are interested in what you have to say.

I feel this kind of group offers this kind of support. Through their pictures, they share their most valued memories, they share who they are and we get to know each other really well.

We met once a week and in some of those morning, we never got to actually scrapbook. We shared so much over coffee that there was no time to work on the pictures! We had all kinds of circunstances. Some times it was just plain fun among girlsfriends. Other times it was not as light. We had one lady sharing family problems over tears. We had other one sharing about all the bitter memories she had when seing some of her baby/child pictures. And the list goes on ...

We also had two occasions in which a group came to do a workshop for them. There are many stablished churches there that have a scrapbook ministry and would love to come and help you with resources and their presence. Actually, many do not realize the impact they can have in a church start. Our experience shows that many, if not most churches start with ladies!

So, as you can see, I am an avid scrapbook lover!

Visit this article I wrote in my other blog about how I found out that "Scrapbooking is Biblical!" :

http://marasplace.blogspot.com/2005_05_01_marasplace_archive.html
Note you will have to scroll down on this page above to read the article!
Have a good week and get those pictures out of the shoe boxes!

Would you like to post here?

I would love to hear your stories. I know we all have many exciting or sad stories we have lived first hand in this labor of church planting.

You may have also a new truth from God's word and you cannot keep it to yourself - share with us.

Another option is to share what you have been doing that is giving you some good results - we are all life learners and always open to new strategies and tools - don't keep it to yourself!

I invite you to post those stories here. If you are already a "blogger" you will know what to do. If you are not, I can help you with the steps and how to become part of the group. If you do not want to go that rout, just send me your story and I will post it within a couple of days.

I reserve the right to edit some information that I do not think would be appropriate, but you will be informed of it.

Please make this a place to "hang out" during your down time, it will be an exciting venture.

Love, Mara

Other blogs to visit ...

Dear reader,

I would like to share with you about my blogs. I have friends all over the world and like to keep in touch. It all started as an update on my family, with time, blogging became my means to share my points of view, my values and my faith.

I recommend to any of you who desire to share your life with others. More and more people are leaning on internet to keep informed about things. So I see this as an oportunity for you to also use this means to make an impact.

I feel I can share openly about my faith without threatning anyone. The reader is the one in the control of how much they want to read. In the other hand, the HS works and I believe is working on this very same moment on lives all over the world. I just want to give my humble contribution to the ones who are interested in what is up with me.

I invite you to visit my other blogs. I vary from recipes, to new truth I am learning on God's Word to celebration of special dates. I guess they are just a picture of who I am. My other blogs are:

marasplace.blogspot.com -- English
elrincondemara.blogspot.com -- Spanish/Español
ocantinhodamara.blogspot.com -- Portuguese/Português

Another good thing is that you can also put a counter in your blog and you can know how many people visit your space. I am so happy to say that I had over 4000 visits to my blogs altogether during the last year.

If you want more information on this, please contact me at:
mwilliamsinpain@gmail.com .
I will be more than happy to give you more information or even help you to set it up.

I encourage you to try it out. It is fun and it is another way to speak up for what we believe - and DO WE HAVE A MESSAGE!

Who is Mara?

Updated on April, 2016

I am a happy wife and mother of three!

Dwight, my husband, and I met 26 years ago during a mission trip to Spain. He went to Spain all the way from Texas and I did it from Brazil, where I am from. After a long (and romantic) story we got married about a year later.

We lived in Texas for the first 3 years of our marriage. God gave us the blessing of seeing the birth of a multicultural church in that city. It was an exciting time of our life.

God, then, directed us to move to Spain to continue this labor. We arrived in Gijon, north coast of Spain, in the Summer of 1993. It was overwhelming to see the crowds of people without the Lord. God was faithful once more bringing people on our way through different circumstances. God was good to us, allowing us to be part of the birth of another church that started in our home.

Our two daughters, Sarah and Amanda, were also born in that city in 1996 and 1997.

Dwight was invited to assume a different responsibility and we moved to the capital of the country, Madrid, in 1999. Once more, we hurt as we left a "family" behind us, but they were not alone ...

We lived in Madrid from 2000 to 2005. During this season, we had our time to dedicate to CP a bit limited but we still saw a small BS group emerge. It was a joy to be able to share our faith with friends in our home. As always, our prayer was that our home would be a lighthouse.

During our time in Madrid we had Christopher added to our family in October of 2000.

In 2005 God directed us to a change. We found ourselves in Miami! A beautiful place where my husband worked mentoring and encouraging CP around the metropolitan area. It was a job he loved to do and God used him in a great way. I had the opportunity to be "out there" substitute teaching and meeting new people.

In 2007 we found ourselves back to Madrid, Spain.  It was back in the suburbs of Madrid called Alcobendas.  We saw the birth of a house church.  Due to some educational needs we moved to another suburb city called Alcala de Henares in 2012.  Our girls have graduated and are not living in USA.

We still live in Alcalá at the moment, 2016, and our youngest Christopher is our only child at home.  For this school year we are hosting two teenager TCK boys.  So our house is still full for the time being!

Regarding ministry we are doing church planting.  At the moment we have two attempts of small group start, still in the forming phase.  I personally have a ministry with ladies through craft classes and a blog for women.  We see dozens of people weekly sharing Christ verbally and through our services in our community storefront and in other ways.  We attend an amazing church and most of our partners in ministry come from there.

We are thankful to God for the rich life he has given us so far and we look forward to what it is to come!  God always surprises us and we want to find ourselves ready at any point when God sends the winds of His Holy Spirit and we start sailing vigorously seeing many people come to Christ in our beloved Spain!

Pics of Mara & Family

My family in front of the Kendall Brazilian Church in Miami

Easter Sunday, Kids at the Brazilian church we attend in Miami

Some of the church of Gijon, PicNic May 2005

Other special friends from Madrid

Our kids and some of their friends from Madrid

Farwell party with friends in Madrid

Mara and her friends from Madrid, scrapbooking workshop

Girls with little friend, from Gijón, Spain

Christopher and I at a sight seing place in Gijon, Asturias

Dwight in front of the "Museo del Prado" in Madrid

Kids in the typical Madrid outfit!

Welcome to Priscilla's Place

No, my name is not Priscilla!

Well, let me explain ...

Many years ago when we first arrived in Spain, I received an invitation from the local believers to present a study to church planters! Yes, me! Needless to say I was very honored but ... scared. I started looking for a woman in the Bible who could be the theme for my short "message".

I came across Priscilla and the more I studied about her, the more I admired this woman. She is only mentioned 4 times in the New Testament, but these short mentions say a lot about her. She has become my historical mentor in many ways. Many times during these last 13 years doing church planting, I thought of her and her sacrificial work of love.

There are many things I love about her:

- She was a real friend to Paul
- She was hospitable - the church met in her house
- She is always mentioned with her husband - they were a team!
- She was mentioned, in one of the times, first than her husband - she was equally involved in the effort to spread the Gospel.

So this space is dedicated to Priscilla! I hope it also becomes a place for all the other "Priscillas" spread around the world, sharing the Good News and serving God with the best of themselves: this is church planting!

Make this your place and share articles of your experience in this labor of love!