Praise God, we have a new brother in Christ :) His name is Miguel and he's...a really close friend of mine. The other night I was talking to him on the phone. it was sunday night and I didn't have school on monday, so I ended up talking to him for 6 hours ( a new record!). all of a sudden I was asking him where he thought he would go when he died and he said "straight to el infierno." I asked him if that was something he wanted and he said "no, no I want to go to la gloria [heaven]" and we got to talking. he was convinced that he had sinned too much and there's no way that God wanted anything to do with him. I told him that the amount of sins and the "size" of the sins don't matter to God. I told him the parable of the prodigal son and how God is always watching and waiting for us to come back to him. I made sure that he understood that Christ came to earth to take our punishment and that all we have to do is accept this gift. I also told miguel how when Christ died, the curtain in the temple, the one that seperated us from God, was torn right down the middle. and that's how God opened it up to us to have a personal relationship with God. from there I went on to say how we are able to talk directly to God and don't have to go through a priest or anybody. and he said he wanted to talk to God and repent of his sins.

and PRAISE GOD I said all of that in spanish and HE UNDERSTOOD ME. It wasn't even that God provided what to say..but he translated it into spanish for me!

yesterday, on monday, miguel called me in the evening and we talked and later he said that he had talked to God that day. I asked him what he said to God and he said he asked for forgiveness for allll of his sins. I asked "did God say anything back to you" and he said " I think he did. He told me that he forgives me and that he's always cuidandome [watching over me]" and he told me that he had cried like..out of relief or..like something had been lifted off of him. and I say Praise God because he is a faithful God.

he provides the words and the courage. and I'm in still in awe. Gloria a Dios!

God, please continue working on Miguel's heart. I never expected to be used in such a way and I thank you for the opportunity. use me to show Miguel your unconditional love. take care of this boy, I love you!

also, keep working on my team members and my leaders. prepare us for this adventure