fear, feathers and freedom

Six days. Six Days until I leave for East Asia. I can't believe it's less than a week away. It seems like yesterday that I got the e-mail that I was going. I wish I could tell you that finding out about this trip was a beautiful picture of obedience and that I was a faithful, trusting follower of the Lord, but in that moment, I was faithless. I cried like a child and wanted to hide. I didn't want to go. I didn't want to see the things that I will be seeing on this trip. Still don't. But here is what I've learned in the past 15 weeks, (and it has taken me every single day to learn it)


I am covered. 

 "He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday." Psalm 91:4-6

I am covered by His grace, I am covered by His protection, I am covered by His plan for my life. The Lord does not make promises to his people that He does not keep. He has brought me this far and I am covered.

I don't know what my future looks like on this trip but I know that the Lord surrounds his people.

I have nothing left to say really. I am still at a loss of words that this trip is coming up to fast. Please continue to pray with me for this trip. I can't wait to tell you about it when I come home. Thank you all for your love and support.

A Letter to my [not so baby] sister

Hey little girl, you're sixteen today. Sixteen. First of all, I would like to congratulate you on surviving year fifteen. Fifteen will really put you through the wringer. (Ask Taylor Swift's friend Abigail.)

You have been on this earth for sixteen years and already have so much to show for it. You've been an extra in two blockbuster movies and been featured in a documentary by an award winning film maker. You have lived in five cities, across three states and over two continents. You have
surfed the Atlantic, Pacific and East China Sea. You are quite the adventurer.

I think anyone that meets you knows that you're brave, honest (sometimes to a fault), you can be harsh, and you're not afraid of offending anyone. You thrive on doing what is not expected from you, and you have very little tolerance for closed-minded people.Those are the things you wear on your sleeve. Those are the things you love for people to know about you. 

What you have to be your sister to

know:

- You care about people more than you want to show

- You hate to be in the spotlight

- You would rather be caught not wearing clothes, than to be caught crying.

- You would be the first one to stick up for anyone hurting

- Babies freak you out a little bit, but you love to do what scares you, so you hold them and play with them anyway

And the last thing, the thing you probably don't even know, is how proud I am of you. Katybug, you have got this whole world at your fingertips. You are strong and brave and you push me to do things that I would never dream of. Even though you are my little sister, in so many ways you are the one I most look up to. Your encouragement has really gotten me through so many difficult times and I am so excited that as you get older our friendship continues to get stronger. Not everyone is blessed with such a brave baby sister and I am so glad that I can call you such a dear friend. I am praying for you and I know the Lord has such an incredible plan for your life. He has and will continue to bring broken people into your life and I can't wait to see the way he uses your life to build the kingdom. It is an honor and a joy to have you for a sister. 

Happy sixteenth birthday, Katybug. Stir up some trouble this year.

Team EA

Dear loved ones,

I hope that this letter finds you well. As many of you know, I am currently a senior at the University of Mary Hardin- Baylor in Belton, TX. I am studying psychology and am planning on graduating in December. Currently I am serving at Temple Bible Church as life group leader to ten sophomore girls and they are my heart beat on my campus. I am so thankful that the Lord has blessed me with a position of leadership in their lives and I have grown tremendously in my walk by pouring into them. I have also recently begun an internship with women’s ministry at TBC.  The Lord has recently taught me so much about what it means to love people exactly where they are and love people in their brokenness. That is how the Lord loves us.

This New Year, I had the opportunity to go to the Passion conference in Atlanta, Georgia. While I was there, my eyes were open to modern day slavery. I learned about the 27 million people who are still in slavery today and that is more people than our entire history has ever seen. Half of those 27 million are in sexual slavery, or human trafficking, and half of those in sexual slavery are children. That is 6.75 million children that are being sexually exploited. This is not okay. Coming back from the conference, I felt very restless and irritated being at school feeling like there was nothing I could do to end this atrocity. Within just a couple of weeks of being back in Belton the Lord gave me an incredible opportunity to be a part of the work he is already doing to end sexual slavery. On June 17^th I will be leaving for East Asia to work in an American style bakery. This bakery is employed by girls who have been rescued from slavery and they are given a safe and loving environment to work in so they can earn a living and stay out of the sex industry. I will be leading them in a bible study and do a lot of prayer walking over the city. Since the ministry is fairly new, I will also be doing mapping for the ministry. This will help the missionaries there identify where the brothels are located in the city.

This will be a very difficult trip to go on. I am so very excited to see the way the Lord uses me for the work he is already doing in East Asia, however the nature of this trip is very heavy and will require me to lean on the Lord for understanding each and every day that I am there. I am asking you to first and foremost pray with me. Pray that the people I will meet will be receptive to the gospel. Pray that I would adjust to the culture and language quickly and learn how to communicate efficiently. Also pray that the funds would come in for my trip. My trip is a total of $3400 including airfare, housing, food and other expenses. If you feel led to help support my trip, you can either donate online at https://secure.acceptiva.com/?cst=98f714 and type my name in the box that says "write in student's name". You can also donate to my trip using a check. Make your check payable to Go Now Missions. Write my name on the memo line.  You can mail your checks to:
Go Now Missions
P.O. Box 195439
Arlington, TX 76019

Please let me know if there is any way I can be praying for you. Feel free to contact me anytime through my e-mail, larodriguez@mail.umhb.edu , or by calling me or texting me at 832-495-8130. Thank you all so much for the love support you have shown me. I am so blessed by having you in my life.