Time of Reflection

Hi everyone! :)

I hope everyone is having a Happy 4th of July! :) Lately, I have been doing a lot of reflecting and a lot of things have happened this past week and a half. Two Sundays ago, we went to visit a church called City Brook Church. We had been told by the Project Staff that they would be having their first baptism as a church. When we arrived we were given a warm welcome by everyone. The service itself was non-traditional. The people being baptized were given their testimonies. As they gave their testimonies, I cried uncontrollably in my seat. I could see their brokeness and sinfulness and how God had redeemed them. It gave me a lot of peace about presenting my testimony at our Tuesday Night Weekly Meeting. I was nervous because it was my first time presenting my testimony to a large group, but I remembered that it wasn't my story. It was the story that God was writing about my life pointing back to His story! The bigger story! It was really cool to see how God worked in that and how He uses people to show himself through them. I felt at home at City Brook Church! I had been praying for so long to find a home church in Milwaukee and I finally found it! God definetely answers prayers in His own timing.

Also, the Project Staff left this past weekend. On Saturday evening, we had our Transition Banquet. We were able to share together what God had done these past 3 weeks. The Project Staff announced all leadership positions for our Project. In a Project of 10 students, everyone is a leader some with more than one role. I am the Memories Coordinator :) If you are wondering what that means, I am responsible for capturing the memories of our Project. My responsibilities include writing a newsletter for our Project, designing & ordering Project T-shirts, and taking and ordering a group picture. I am excited to be able to serve God in this capacity as a leader. I am learning how to follow others which is different for me because I am so use to leading, but I am excited to see how God uses everyone in their leadership position and how we all continue to grow. At the end of Banquet, we were praying and when we closed our eyes the Staff left. As I saw them walk out, I began crying. I was sad because they were leaving. I didn't want them to go, but they had to. It's been hard without them. We are figuring out things for our own. It's a learning experience.

This past Saturday, we visited a church called Liberty and Truth Ministries. The pastor talked about the myth of self-sufficiency. Growing up we are constantly told that we need to be able to take of ourselves. Change is an important part of the Christian life. We are changing all the time. I believe we will all be challenged to change in the next 4 weeks that remain of Project. The pastor defined self-sufficient as being able to supply one's own needs without external help. We cannot be spiritually self-sufficient. Self-sufficieny is a myth. No one is self-sufficient. You always need someone. God does not want us to insufficient either though which means that we cannot function by ourselves. God wants us to be God-sufficient and interdependent of other believers. God wants us to be sufficient in Him. The pastor talked about the idea of a thorn. Situations that make you cry out out God and that help you be God-sufficient. It is the thorns in our lives that make us realize our need for God. Lately, I have been looking back at all the events in my life and I am thankful for the thorns that God has put in my life. It is the thorns in your life that cause you to turn from self-sufficiency to God-sufficieny.

On another note, my discipler Heather Schneider has been a tremendous blessing to me! She has pointed out things that I have been struggling with that I did not realize. I have been hidden them in the depth of my heart. A prime example would be my parents divocrce and my relationship with my earthly father. Both of which have affected my relationship with the Lord and my relationship with others. Two Saturdays ago at our Women's Event, I was finally able to bring some of the hidden things in my heart into light which had been causing me a lot of pain. I truly believe that this a summer of healing for me. Just being able to focus on my relationship with the Lord and growing in my understanding of who He is. Finding my significance in Him and nothing else. My discipler challenged me to pray about committing myself completely to the Lord for a year and being content in dating in Him for at least a year. It is something that I have been praying about. As much as a I desire to be in a relationship, I do not think I am ready for it now and think that a lot of healing needs to happens before that. I believe that if it God's plan for me to be in a relationship that He has someone hand picked for me. He knows me better than what I know myself. For now, I am dating the Lord and being content in that.

As always, a few prayer requests:

1. To find physical and soul rest in the Lord. Lately, I have been really stressed with work and Project Stuff. I'm always exhausted, but lately more than usual.

2. For me and my team for us to continue to serving the Lord well with this summer. For us to be able to love each well and for us to be able to speak truth to one another.

3. For God to be continually glorified by our Project

Thank you everyone for your continued support and prayers! It really means a lot to me! :)


With joy,

Rosa Castillo