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I am so excited and humbled to be given the opportunity to be a missionary associate in Spain. This has been a call God has been developing since I was 16 years old. I remember as clear as day, God called me into a ministry at my youth group small group. In the quiet of my mind I had this conversation with God.
God: Say yes to ministry training. You are set a part. Me: Okay, I will do ministry. But I will not be a missionary, please? I really don't want to live and have a family over seas. God: (crickets...) Me: ummmm cool! We agree! Fast forward a few years. God began to whisper to my heart and highlight the issue of sex trafficking in our world. In 2013 I was at a church Conference attending a mission a giving luncheon. There was a banned of the different countries names all over it. Out of the 50 or so countries written on the banner, one stood out to me. INDIA. I could not un-see it. India stood out so clearly to me and again in the quiet of my heart I heard God spirit highlight India and call me to go there. I believe God was making me into a missionary. I had no clue what would come later.... All the Best, Marissa
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I think we can all agree that this Pandemic time has been a weird one indeed. I will admit that the first few weeks I was leaning back and took the posture of “I will wait this out”. However, after week three, it was becoming apparent that this was not going to go away quickly.
God is so funny sometimes. I don’t know if He has ever done this to you, He speaks a wonderful word and then the next day you are living in the complete opposite reality. Right before the COVID shut down happened here in California I was traveling in Spain exploring a ministry opportunity. In light of the world getting thrown into chaos however, my leader suggested I cut my trip early and go back to the States. I arrived back home on March 13th, the very day travel began to shut down here. I came home not in defeat but rather on a ministry high. I had received confirmation from God that “YES! This is where I am calling you! Go after it!” Except when I arrived home and the Stay At Home Orders began to unfold, the word God gave me did not line up with my reality. Here’s what I learned, when God speaks and our realities don't match, this doesn’t mean God got it wrong. Rather God knew what He was doing and in the midst of confusing circumstances God wants me to know the truth. The truth is, I am called to go be a missionary, I am meant to go to Spain, and I am meant to prepare to go. I don’t know what God has spoken to you but I do know He has a word for your life. Whether that looks like a ministry position or not. God has a calling on your life and your unique calling is needed in this world. First, take time to ask God for a word of your season of life. There is something, a person, a situation, your neighborhood, your family, your city, that is special about the call on your life. God has uniquely placed you there! Next, set up ways to remind yourself about your call. The best way, I think, is to tell someone. Share with a friend what God has spoken and ask them to remind you when (and it’s a when not if) you forget. Also, write it down with a date. Whether by journal or sticky notes, writing it down will make it so you can return back to it. Finally, press forward in faith. Shortly after I decided to pursue being a missionary in Spain even though I had doubts, God spoke Matthew 21:21 to me “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.” I began to pray this over each step of my missionary process. And you know what? God did move the mountains. My prayer for you today is that you would gain more clarity on your call and in faith press on towards it. My guess is that there have been some disruptions to your 2020 but this does not mean it’s not fully in alignment with what God has planned for you. All the Best, Marissa 26.5 // 16 // 115Today,
*In Spain trafficking is a 26.5 billion dollar industry. In the world, trafficking is a 186 Billion dollar industry. *71% of people trafficked are women and children. *In our world, 16 years old is the average age of someone entering into trafficking.The average range is 15-20 years old. The 2nd highest age bracket are 0-2 years, because of the children are born into brothels. *Trafficking happens virtually in every country. *Estimated by the United Nations 20-40 Million people each year are trafficked. * Last year, there were 115 victims of sex trafficking identified. Trafficking statistics are notoriously under reported everywhere. While, these numbers are shocking, you can be sure it does not account for the full scope of the issue. More importantly than anything else, each one of the numbers are representative of a person. A person with a family, story, hopes, dreams, and value. Take a moment to pray for the women and children in sexual slavery in our world. If you would like to learn more or how you can help, visit United Nations, Polaris Project, Project Rescue, A21, New Day for Children, and many more other organizations are doing wonderful work everyday. Let's stand together against sexual slavery. "Now these are the nations that the Lord left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before." Judges 3:1-2 I came across this passage a year ago. It immediately stood out to me. God wants me to be able to war? That didn't align with the image I have in my childhood Bible of Jesus sitting surrounded by baby lambs. I don't think it was a coincidence when I came across this verse. At the time I myself had bee battling spiritual attacks and had several friends coming against similar attacks. Depressive episodes, financial hardships, and manipulative work relationships were wrecking havoc on mine and my friends lives.
I concluded that God was speaking even though you are battling it is what I have intended for you to learn how to fight. This gave me an entirely new perspective on the challenging battles the real Enemy of my life would throw at me. When you are in a spiritual battle remember that God has promised to never leave you, in fact He fights with you! |
Hola!My name is Marissa Deraya; Global Worker with Project Rescue serving women and children of Spain. Let's Stay Connected!Subscribe to My NewsletterCategories
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