Destino Winter Conference

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I am 81% the way there! Please continue to pray that the Lord will bring me into contact with people who want to invest in this ministry. The past couple of months have been slow with the holidays and I have already talked with most people I know. Thank you so much for investing in this ministry! I continue to work diligently to report as soon as possible.

Destino Winter Conference:

I believe in the effectiveness of prayer. It is something that still amazes me. We have a Sovereign God but yet, He listens to our prayers. I have been greatly encouraged to see how much prayer goes into our events. We have been praying for the Winter Conference for a long time now. Thank you for all of your prayers. There were several stories shared there that impacted me and I know impacted students as well.

The theme of the conference was "Redemption." To be redeemed means to be bought back. The Bible uses a term that was of common use in that day. Nowadays when we hear of "redemption" it just sounds like some super spiritual word, but in the day of the New Testament the use of redemption in the Bible showed incredible imagery. Slavery in the time of the Bible was common. It was far different from the slavery that happened in the States. However, slavery it still was. The term redemption was used when someone paid for a slave to be set free. This is the illustration the Bible uses to describe what Christ has done for those who recognize Him as their Savior. He paid the price to set us free from the slavery of sin.

A new Destino staff member shared in front of the conference his story, his story of redemption. He shared several pictures of when he was younger. On one of the pictures he said that this was the first time he got drunk. He struggled on and off with drinking for a good portion of his life. There would be times of soberity but that would only last for a few months to a year and then he was right back to how things were. There came a point in his life when he realized that he was empty. He thought he knew who Christ was but one night in desperation offered up a prayer basically saying, "God, fix me or kill me." He was at the end of his rope and knew that God was the only one who could help. As he laid on the floor, he heard the Lord tell him, "Get up off the of the floor and you will never drink again." This is this man's story of how the Lord rescued him from his alcoholism and he truly has delivered him from it. I believe he said he has not had one drink in 14 years.

Now he did mention that not everyone's story is as dramatic as what happened to him, however the message was the same: we have been redeemed. We have been bought back by the Lord. He has offered us the gift of a relationship with him and if we would allow him to enter in our lives, he will free us from many of the traps that have enslaved us.

I heard from one staff member that as they offered to pray for students that night, one student in particular came up to ask for prayer for his drinking problem. The environment was created that students could be honest about what is really going on in their lives and give it to the Lord to see what he would do with it.

I was incredibly encouraged to hear about how the Lord worked in my fellow staff member. The next story also was of great encouragement. I arrived a day early to help with set up and registration. I found myself on my knees painting some of the background pieces that would decorate the stage for the conference. As we traced the images of the different backgrounds and started painting I got to know another staff member who is working up in New York City with Destino. Originally from the Dominican Republic he shared with me a bit about his story, but I was really able to hear more when he decided to share some of his poems during the Talent show. Many of his poems were when he was an unbeliever and just searching for something true. He had been deceived, disappointed by the promises of the pleasures in life and in many of his poems has actually discovered how the Lord was speaking to him then without even knowing Him just yet. That night he disclosed that because of all he was involved in, contracted HIV. As he read the last poem of the night, describing the internal fight he was having with this new realization, I saw in front of me the true picture of redemption. This man's life was not the same. His life had been dramatically impacted by Christ. His openness of sharing his past opened up students' eyes to realize that a past given over to Christ is extremely impactful, and has no regrets. There is so much of his story I have not really heard. He is working on a book that will be released later on this year sharing with the public his story. He has started this facebook page for those of you who would like to know more about it: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chronicles-of-a-Nation/447658108623494

This brings me to another story (I told you that there were a lot of stories to tell!) I had the privilege last year to attend Destino's Winter conference while I was at the U of A. This year the Destino group from Denver Colorado got up at the end of the conference to update us on a girl who had received Christ one year ago. Her name was Lina. Lina had grown up in a house where she did not experience unconditional love. I believe it was a situation where one of the parents abused drugs and I can't remember what the situation was with the other parent. Needless to say she had a hard time opening up to people because of all the hurt she experienced. Any kind of kindness was suspicious because she was not used to people doing good things out of love, but rather out of manipulation. She got involved a year and a half ago at her campus. There was a staff person that would invite her and her friends to dinner and eventually they came to know each other and develop some trust. As I said before, she went last year to Destino's Winter Conference and there came to know the uncondional love of her Heavenly Father. She had been through so much in her life up to that point. She had battled depression and put in unfavorable situations and she finally had peace. She was finally able to experience uncondional love. All of a sudden she had a real family that supported and encouraged her, (the other students of Destino), and she was able to experience God's love through them as well. Well, tragedy struck again a few months after the 2012 conference. Lina was diagnosed with cancer. What would seem like another low blow for a young girl to others, for Lina did not rock her boat at all. Throughout her battle with cancer she had joy and did not blame God for her current difficulties. Even through all of the treatments she showed peace for she knew whatever happened she would be with her Father.

As one of her friends shared with Destino's 2013 Winter Conference this story, through tears she also said that Lina passed away later on that year. It was an incredible illustration of how much things can change in one year of a person's life. Lina had met Christ in January of 2012 and later on that year was with him. Lina's testimony is a great one. Her parents were affected by seeing the faith of their daughter this past year through her difficulties. At her funeral, her father gave his life over to Christ.  As all of these things were explained through tears, tears were running down my face as well. These students had suffered an incredible loss this past year. Who would have thought that they would have such happy moments just a year ago to now standing in front of the conference informing everyone of her passing. Amidst the tears, there was joy. Joy that this life is not about us. Suffering along with Christ is never in vain. One day we will be reunited with him.

Imagine.. all of these stories and more were shared with students. There were students in the conference who had been walking with the Lord for many years and there were students there who were just along for the ride.

I met many of the students that I will be working with in Long Beach and Fullerton back when I went to our Fall Retreat. One student stuck out to me. He seemed closed off and somewhat defensive. He was there at Fall Retreat but I could tell that he was skeptical of most of it. Well, I was told by another staff member that during this past conference he gave his life over to Christ. My coworker said that his smile was ear to ear, he had never seen him like that before.

Wow this has been a long entry... but thank you for going along with the ride :) I look forward to seeing more of what the Lord is doing!