Winter quarter has been an absolute whirlwind so far. An awesome whirlwind:) We have had over 50 kids packed into the Stenstrom's house at our first three Cross Training meetings of the quarter (this picture is about half the group!). God has been doing an incredible work in so many people's hearts, and we continue to praise God for the ways we get to participate in His work on the Stanford campus. I step back often and think about the ripple effect that so many Stanford students falling in love with Jesus will have on the world. Channeling all of their passions, talents, resources, and LOVE towards God and His Kingdom is so exciting to Trent and I. God keeps drawing new people to himself and to the Cardinal Life community, and we are humbled and thrilled by His mighty power that is at work in transforming students hearts, minds, priorities, and lives. We so strongly know and proclaim that all glory and credit belongs to Him.
Something that we are really excited for, and know will have a HUGE impact on this group of students: we have about 30 students already committed to coming on a spring break Honduras mission trip! Our brother in law's father, Joseph Natale, started a missions organization there, on the island of Roatan many years ago, and there is a lot of poverty there, though a breathtakingly beautiful place! We are going to build a house for a family, possibly do some HIV/AIDS prevention education at the local high school that the Natale's started (1/5 people have HIV/AIDS in most of the towns on Roatan!), play soccer with the kids, pray and share the gospel with people, and just have fun and love on them! Please pray that God would do a mighty work in and through us. We are so excited about the group that is going, and we know that God is going to rock their worlds with His love, truth, and invitation to radically follow Him the rest of their lives.
One quote by Mother Theresa that has really impacted Trent and I pertaining to how we view mission trips: "the rich rescue the poor and the poor rescue the rich." This is so true. We often go into mission trips thinking we are going to serve and give since we have "so much", but we are served and given so much also. This summer in South Africa, I felt like we were "rescued" to a certain degree from our American consumeristic mentality, and we received so many spiritual riches from the poor there. It seemed like the degree to which they were materially poor, they were that spiritually rich towards God, which is so much more important. I was actually saddened by the spiritual poverty of America in comparison. The family of God, ALL of the family of God, NEEDS one another. So we will go to serve, teach, and love them, and they will serve, teach, and love us! I know our students will come back changed and hopefully more in love with God than ever before. And hopefully the effect upon return will be a closer knit community more in love with God and other people, leading to more people seeing and coming to know Jesus. May His Name be praised and lifted higher through everything we do!
