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Ashley,

I just wanted to tell you again what an awesome experience I had with you. Once again I was changed. I'm still remembering things that happened. I remember you saying something about the girl who worked with Mama Carmen. You said that she wasn't working there any longer because she wasn't seeing any impact from her work there. Do you still remember what the most important thing is? If a person must see the result of their work that's okay. But I don't think full-time Christian service is a good career choice for them. The thing people forget or don't realize is that God doesn't need our help to accomplish His agenda. Your friend may have thought that since she wasn't seeing good results then perhaps God was leading her away from Mama Carmen's. God may have led her away, but that's not the point. The real reason your friend was at Mama Carmen's was so that through that experience she would draw closer to God and get to know Him better. God never needed her there. She needed to be there so that she could draw closer to God. I hope she didn't leave too soon.

Noah took over 100 years to build the ark. How many people actually believed in what he was doing outside of his immediate family? No other person believed. He worked on that ark for so many years and he made exactly zero impact in his community. I wonder if he ever felt like quitting? Many people believe that God had Noah build the ark so that he and his family could escape the flood. That's true but that's not the main reason he was commanded to build it. Did God need Noah? Couldn't God just have provided the ark before the rain came? Why put Noah through that process? Noah did not escape death as a result of building the ark. The ark only postponed his death. What was God really up to? What was He really doing in the life of Noah?

Ashley you may not feel discouragement now in what you are doing in Guatemala. Trust me, one day you will. Discouragement will come because you will look for results in your work. Try to remember that results are not where your eyes belong. You are not responsible for results. God may lead you from Guatemala to somewhere or something else. But He will not lead you away because you are not seeing fruit from your ministry. Remember that being in Guatemala is God's carefully orchestrated plan, made especially for you, to draw you ever deeper in love with Him. That, baby girl, is the most important thing.

I'm proud to know you. God has humbled me before Him as I see who you have become. Like Noah I have found grace in His sight. Your life reminds me of that every day.

D