Am I Dreaming?

Well....He did it!!  God provided not only my full support, but the full support of our entire team.  I'm so excited that I got to witness God's faithfulness to his children.  We have a meeting today at 3:30 then we are eating dinner together and staying in a hotel tonight.  We fly out at 6am tomorrow!!  I'll be in Malaysia in two days and I can't believe it.  It still hasn't hit me yet that I am about to go to a foreign country and stay for six weeks.  Continue to pray for me and my team that God would comfort us and shape us this summer into the men and women he has so may things planned for.  This will be my last post probably for a few days at least so my next post will probably be describing in detail my amazement of Malaysia and God's creation around the world.  We'll talk to ya soon.

Slave to Righteousness,

Dono

The Word Fulfilled: He is Faithful!

Every day I try to remind myself that everything that I have, and every pleasure that I enjoy are results of God's grace on my life.  These past few days have been an awesome reminder of that.  In the past 3 days God has provided me with over $2000 for CCP!!  Ever since I have been home I have been on the phone all day just trying to find some money somewhere.  The way it has unfolded the past couple of days has really been amazing and I can't even put into words what I am feeling right now.  With only $400 left to raise, Malaysia has become a reality to me and it feels awesome.  Although God did not provide for me in the ways that I planned, boy did he provide in his own way and it is so much more satisfying. 

Please continue to pray for me and our team.  We still have a team deficit of about $7,500 and we dont want to stop until everyone is guaranteed to go.  As myself and others on my team have seen in the past week or two, if it is God's will, he will provide.  If he doesn't provide, then it wasn't his will.  It's that simple.  If we just remember that, then there is no reason why we should ever be disappointed or let down.  He puts us where he wants us, not the other way around.  Anyway I'll stop typing so you don't have to read for more than 5 minutes.  Please just continue to pray and watch as the God of the universe rocks your world....and mine too!


Slave to Righteousness

Dono

Sorry for the Absence

Hey guys....so I know its been a while since my last post.  I haven't posted anything in a while because for some reason I always feel like every post has to include some kind of amazing story about how much support I've been getting.  Since I haven't had any amazing stories, I haven't been posting.  As I think back, I realize that not only should I be posting about support updates, but also about "life" updates.  God has really been doing a lot in me over the last couple months and that is more important than how much support I have raised any day.  God has been showing me, although it is most of the time painful and stressful, that I really can rely on nothing else but on him.  I have tried to raise this support on my own so far and haven't been seeking God's provision for my life and it has showed.  I want to live a life that screams my need and reliance on God and his power and sovereignty.  This is one of the hardest things for me to do because I always want answers and miracles right away.  If God always gave me everything I wanted, I absolutely couldn't grow into the man I believe he wants me to be.  I need to remind myself of one of the first verses I ever memorized as a Christian, Phillipians 4:6-7.  These verses are there to comfort our souls and quiet our worries with the "...peace of God, which surpasses all understanding..."  I ask you all to pray for me, that I may let these verses speak to my heart and that I will present every request to God in prayer, even ones that don't involve support.  Pray that I would rest in my identity in Christ and not in my ability to raise $6,000.  My heavenly treasures are far more important and satisfying than that.  Well guys.....I think I'm back!


Slave to Righteousness,

Dono

Oh The Depths of His Grace

I know that God's grace is deep, but I am experiencing firsthand how deep the depths really are.  I thought the $200 gift I received wednesday night was the best that would happen.  However, in spite of my minuscule faith, God provided $500 more last night.  One of the staff girls here at State said that one of her supporters wanted to help support me.  It blew my mind because I have no idea who this person is or how they found out about my trip.  It is such an encouragement to me and my team and really assures me of my place in God's plan to reach Malaysia with the gospel.  My supporters are really blessing my heart by their generosity and I couldn't ask for anything more.  I could write all day on here but I won't.  So until next time.

Slave to Righteousness,

Dono

He is Faithful

I have been having a hard time trusting in God's sovereignty and his faithfulness this past week, until tonight!  At choir practice, Chris the choir director had me stand up and he briefly explained what I am doing this summer and how I needed financial support to go.  I was unprepared to talk about the trip because I did not know I was gonna talk tonight.  So, I didn't have any support letters or anything to write names and emails on.  However, even with the lack of preparation, I had a guy come up to me and pledge to give me $200!  That to me was amazing because he did not know hardly any details, just that I was going to serve the mission of God this summer overseas.  Its with little encouragements like these that God uses to build my faith in him and his power.  I am continuing to trust in his promises and in the fact that he LOVES me and will use me because I want to be sold out for the gospel.  I can't wait to see and experience the further explosions of faith that he will produce within me.  Please continue to pray for me and my support as I still have a long way to go.  Pray that I can raise $3000 by March 28th.  I hope this can be an encouragement to anyone who is reading this and that it will cause you to give praise to the Lord for little provisions in your own life that you take for granted every day.  Until next time, hopefully another support update!

Slave to righteousness

Dono

It's Gonna Be A Long Road

Today was the second day that I made phone calls to potential supporters.  So far I have had probably about $300 pledged and I thank God for that.  I am starting to realize how much money I really have to raise.  It is a little overwhelming how much money and how little time that I have to make this all happen.  Our team has a meeting this weekend and hopefully after meeting with the other members of my team I will be encouraged and pushed to confidence in the Lord's faithfulness.  I plan on sending out a second wave of letters on Thursday and following those up with calls the end of next week.

On a lighter note, I have begun to see what a privilage it is for God to give me the opportunity to take his gospel, the true gospel that can save lives, to the ends of the earth.  As each day comes I become filled with more and more excitement and eagerness to hop on a plane and go.  I finish tonight with this request:  please pray for my team and our faith in the Lord's promises.  Raising support can be a stressful time, especially with deadlines and your prayers would definitely help to reduce our levels of anxiety.  Also pray for the hearts of the people in Malaysia that we will come into contact with.  God's word says that he goes before us and prepares our path (Malachi 3:1) and I believe that our belief in prayer and its power will affect the effectiveness we have in reaching   the hearts in KL.  Its time for me to go to bed now, I have class at 9 am tomorrow.  I think I will create a sign off phrase to end every post.

Slave to Righteousness,

Dono

An Excited Servant

Okay. So at the Campus Outreach Christmas Conference I was asked to go to Malaysia this summer for CO Raleigh's CCP. I definitely wanted to go, but I was unsure of how my parents would feel, especially after I told them how much it was. Our team recently had our first "meeting" to talk about raising support and different deadlines we had to meet. The support discussion had me feeling somewhat stressed because I've never had to raise anywhere near $5700. However in the midst of all my worries and doubts, I am trying my best to see past my fears and to put my faith in the fact that I believe God is calling me to Malaysia this summer and that he provides for all my needs (Phillipians 4:19). I am going to try and send out my first wave of support letters tomorrow and then make some calls about a week later.

So I don't have a lot of info right now, but I will try and update this thing with support updates and with prayer requests and probably with some little facts about Malaysia. Well thats all for now. Hopefully my next post will come with a support update!