Almost the End

     We are coming up on the end of our time here in Wisconsin. This fact saddens me greatly. I adore this place. This little schoolhouse in the middle of the cornfields where this Texas girl freezes twenty-four seven. Except when I have a beautiful cup of Tazo tea. Usually black, every now and again green, but always capable of warming me up. We have three more weeks of teaching then a half week of ministry prep then Christmas break and then outreach! I am not sure if I mentioned this before but I am going to Thailand and Myanmar. We do not have too many finalized details as there are so many choices and we really just want to pray into it and see what God is leading us to. However, there has been confirmation on several things. Some include, medical camps, child soldiers, a boys' home, the Karen people/refugees, and the red light district. We are all getting excited about our opportunity to show the light, love, and truth of God. I would love to say that we are all able to go at the moment, but many of us lack money. Why is it that it always comes back to finances? We have our first school-wide fundraiser coming up on the 6th of December. We will be passing out hot chocolate to university students for free and from the amount we pass out we will receive the previously pledged amount from those sponsors. I hope that makes sense. Our second school-wide fundraiser is our annual benefit dinner. (By "our" I mean YWAM Madison.) Here, we will be making the meal, serving the meal, providing entertainment, and cleaning up, of course. Those of us that work this meal will receive equal portions of the money. My Thailand team will also be doing other fundraisers, as well as relying on the donations of others for our trip. At the moment, my team needs over $90,000 for every member to go. Please stand in agreement with me before our Father that when He places the desire to give on hearts that our brothers and sisters in Christ obey. Even those who are not believers, that they would respond to the Father's call.
        I am officially going back to Texas for Christmas break. My dad splurged and now all four of us will be there. My older brother's girl was supposed to come, but I guess she is scared of us down south. All I want is sweet tea. And heat. And...I think that is mostly it. Ha
      That was just a random rabbit trail, one that I will more than likely go back and edit and add onto. But then again, maybe not.
    This coming week we will be learning on Destiny. The speaker for this week's topic should be arriving soon. The following week lectures will be on Rescuing and Restoring Street Children and the last week of lecture will be on Relationships. Can I just say that I am pumped about all of these topics? Not necessarily one more than the other because each time I expect a certain topic to be on something specific it is usually not. Which is fine..to a certain degree. Not going to lie, I definitely have a favorite week. The teacher was amazing, the classes where fantastic, and the Friday ministry time was too good to be true. But it is. Day after day the Lord proves His goodness in my life. And this joy that is form deep within cannot be faked. This desire to let all know of my freedom is not from me. God is so good. Speaking of which, I wrote a prose poem and performed in front of my whole DTS and staff. It was so great. So freeing. I love my God and I cannot deny all He has done for me. Let me pull up the poem:
     The Identity Factor

In a place of isolation and shame
Hiding from all mankind
Making an escape 
In a world all my own
Hiding; hidden
And now for my shame:
for what I have done,
what has been done to me
And who I have been
Abused and used
Neglected and rejected
Perfection pushed upon me
A voice 
Ever so calming
Ever so peaceful
Child come
No, I am
Too scared of being cast away
My fear of being rejected
Makes me the rejector
Then one day
Not too long ago
He beckons again
Child come
Though still frightened
I say okay
And in this place
Of heartache and pain
He begins to tell me
Though abandoned 
I have remained the same
You belong 
You are valued and worthy of my love
My heart's desire is for you
And you are certainly not your past mistakes
Day after day
He wrecks my heart
He speaks into me who I am
And who He has called me to be
He has planted this tree
By His living water
They say God doesn't do that
Yes He does
Go God!

 ©Maya Magdeleña

  There is a story behind the last three lines that my DTS and staff understand. That is more or less the reason those lines are there, but you can skip those lines if necessary. 

  Lately, the Lord has been speaking into me about my identity. About who He says I am. My small group and I made books and I have been using mine like crazy. I love that simple book that holds so much truth. And it is truth; I think that is the best part. The hardest part is putting that truth into action and learning how to believe it. Because it is a huge learning process but the people here are helping me learn and most of us are learning together. God never lies.