New Posts/Old Site

Now that I am going back on the World Race, I will post my new blogs back on the old site. Sorry for all of the back and forth, and thank you for continuing to follow my journey. To read my new blogs, please go to www.melinaorengo.theworldrace.org

Next Steps Declared...as He Promised.

Have you ever gone somewhere in your dreams, and then woke up feeling like you were really there?

That happened to me back in November. In my dreams, I went to Nepal. I remember I was there with X-squad (a World Race squad that left in July 2010). I didn't recognize any of the faces of the teammates, but I did see the faces of the people of Nepal. I could even see what the country looked like and I have never even been there before.

Also...back in November, I was praying about Native Americans because I really wanted to go and teach on the reservations. While I was praying for the Natives, I started dreaming about India. I couldn't stop thinking about this country and I felt a big pressing on my heart to pray for the people there. 

I was starting to feel really confused and I started asking God all kinds of questions. Then I felt Him tell me, "Go ask Bethany to pray for you." Bethany was working with me at the time, in the Adventures in Missions office, and she was my one of my squad-mates. I asked her to pray for me, but I didn't tell her why. As she prayed, she said she saw me on a speedboat, dressed in a blue, Indian sari. She said she felt like God was going to send me to India, and there was nothing I needed to do. I just needed to rest in Him and He would bring it to pass. 

Not to mention, back when I was 17 years old, the Lord told me I would go to Africa and India. The first part happened....I spent 7 months total in Africa, but I have always wondered would I ever really go to India.

I wondered if this had anything to do with squad leading. I never really had a desire to squad lead. My heart was so focused on working with Native Americans, and this had nothing to do with that. So I just prayed about...in case. But I told God I wasn't going to press the issue. So if this was something He wanted me to do, He would have to have someone approach me about it, and confirm it that way.

I never heard anything else about it. So in the meantime, I left Georgia, and came back to Florida. During this process, I have gone through more spiritual deaths, signed up for Teach for America and gotten denied, tried to do missions in Italy (that door closed), tried to get a teaching job on the Navajo Rez (that door closed), and I just kept waiting for God to show me the way. 

The Lord's words to me were: "I am positioning you for battle, I am positioning you for victory. Next steps declared." So I knew once I had my victory, I would know what was next. After I overcame a huge spiritual battle, one that I fought for weeks, I talked to Bethany on the phone and told her everything that had happened.

The next day......

I got an email from her asking me if would consider squad leading in July. As soon as I read the email...I knew.

Then she tells me that the first country, Route 1 would be going to was India. And the next country....Nepal.


Did I really need any more confirmation?

Gotta love how God works : )

How Can I Find Joy?

“Joys are always on the way to us. They are always traveling to us through the darkness of the night. There is never a night when they are not coming.” —Amy Carmichael

The topic of joy has come up a lot in my alone time with God.

A year ago, when I was in Kenya and Uganda, the Lord said to me my joy would be complete.

Wild Elephants in Uganda

I thought the word was for that specific moment and time, but I am quickly realizing, that the word was for this season that I am in right now.

The Spirit of the Lord lives in me, and He completes everything in me that falls short and is lacking. When times get tough...I fall short in many areas.

One of the Romanian children at kid's camp. She came from very difficult circumstances at home, but look at the joy on her face!

 

One of the coolest things about joy is...it can't be taken from you, because it is found in the deepest, inner parts that no human can touch or see. I was reading this book called Afterburn: The KC Kopaska Story. He was badly burned in an accident, and had to be literally skinned alive for them to remove the dead skin. It was unbearably painful! One day, a chaplain taught him how to use his mind to escape some of the pain...by thinking of his favorite place (something that brings him joy).

This really got me to thinking...Joy is a choice...and it is a powerful choice.

So powerful, that it can make you forget the pain of the external circumstances around you. Even when Jesus was crucified the enemy could not rob Him of His joy.

Hebrews 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Well how can you get some of this you ask?

By being thankful. Immediately when we focus on what we are thankful for...joy in the Lord begins to set in. Our focus shifts from the negative things around us, to all of the things we are truly blessed with. 

 

As our focus shifts, then joy is accompanied by peace...peace that all really is well, and that we have a Father whose love for us ever fails.

Luke 12:6-7 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. 7 Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Once that peace sets in, then hope follows. Hope that our prayers are being answered and our heart-cries are being heard.

Nehemiah 8:10 Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.

What are you going to choose today?

Ready for the Next Adventure?

If your dreams don't scare you, they're not big enough. 

A friend of mine posted this on her Facebook profile, and it has been ringing in my head ever since.

My dreams at the moment aren't really scaring me. They seem pretty normal and secure, although I know they won't be easy.

So this makes me think....does God want even more for me? Am I dreaming big enough?

A young woman I know gave me a word before I left Adventures in Missions. She said that I would teach communities how to dream. 

What a powerful word! Really? How can I teach communities how to dream if I am not even dreaming as BIG as I can?

To be honest, a part of me likes the idea of actually having a job. I like the idea of having medical insurance, driving a car, and having my own place. I like the idea of security, because that is what my life was like before the Race. I haven't had that for so long, and a part of me misses it. 

But do I really want that? Am I really ready to stop living the adventure...moment to moment..always plunging into the unknown and fully depending on God to meet my needs, because I have no other choice. If he doesn't come through for me...I'm screwed. 

Well recently, God has been placing some things on my heart and on my mind, that have my heart beating fast! Of course, it is so much bigger than what I have been planning for myself. I'm not going to lie...I'm a little freaked out. Hahahaha! But...He has never let me down before, so why do I even entertain the idea that He will now?

So...this is my prayer for you...if you are at a crossroad where you have to make a decision, between playing it safe or jumping into the depths of the unknown:

Father, thank you for giving us authority to completely annihilate the enemy, and may we always walk in the authority you have given us. (1 Samuel 15:3-5) Thank you that you do nothing without revealing your plans to your servants. (Amos 3) I ask you to flood us and fill us with your living water. Wash out all that doesn't belong and refresh the dry, weary, thirsty areas. (John 4:15) Thank you that you will speak what you will and it shall be fulfilled without delay. (Ezekiel 12:25) May we always be on guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducee.(Matthew 16:5) Thank you that we are like the stork and the dove who know their appointed seasons and time of migration. (Jeremiah 8:7-9) Thank you that with your courage, we will be obedient to your word. Thank you that you will put us in our position, as you did with Solomon, even if we are as little children and do not know how to carry out our duties. (1 Kings 3:7) For where we are weak, you are strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9) Thank you that we are bread without yeast, bread of sincerity and truth...through you. ( 1 Corinthians 5) In Jesus Name, Amen.

I am my lover's and He is mine.

As a kid I loved watching Disney princess movies.

Ok...ok....I still do : )

 Growing up, I have always been a dreamer, and “lost in my head” (so-to-speak).

I loved it because it really strengthened my imagination. However, maybe it wasn't always a good thing, because reality never seemed as exciting as the daydreams in my head.

 Until...I abandoned my life to Christ. Now, adventures that I dreamed up in my mind, actually come to life. They are even better than I conjured up.

One of the typical things I daydreamed about as a little girl was meeting “the one”.

Disney movies didn't help me, because I grew up thinking that is how it would happen.

He would take one look at me from way across the other side of the room, and immediately know he couldn't live without me.

Wow! Way to toot my own horn...right?

Way to make it all about me.

In this time of waiting...God has been teaching me a lot, about what it is like to be a partner and a wife.

Reality is :

1. Jesus is the true Lover of my soul. He didn't design me to put so much pressure on a fallen man to be my everything, to never disappoint, and to always be romantic. It is impossible for an earthly man to fill this role. Only Jesus, who is perfection, has what it takes. Why do I long for this so much? So He could fulfill this desire in my life. I long for this...because I long for Him. Women...we will find so much more peace when we put our desires and our perspectives in the right order.
2. Jesus has pursued us in an even more glorious way than in the movies...He pursued us and loved us, even before we were beautiful....when we were covered in shame and blood.

Ezekiel 16: 4 On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. 5 No one looked on you with pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for you. Rather, you were thrown out into the open field, for on the day you were born you were despised.

 6 “‘Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, “Live!” I made you grow like a plant of the field. You grew and developed and entered puberty. Your breasts had formed and your hair had grown, yet you were stark naked.
 8 “‘Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your naked body. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign LORD, and you became mine.
  9 “‘I bathed you with water and washed the blood from you and put ointments on you. 10 I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put sandals of fine leather on you. I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with costly garments. 11 I adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck, 12 and I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. 13 So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was honey, olive oil and the finest flour. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen. 14 And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign LORD.

So what does it mean then to be a wife?

What I am learning is that the real romance comes from my relationship with the Lord. That is where I put my hope. That is where my real desire to be pursued and adored comes true.

I am called to serve the earthly man (future husband) in love...meaning that I put his needs before my own and I push him towards the Father. In doing so, the Lord will do a work in him that will transform him into the man, the warrior, and the leader that God has always intended him to be.

Where are you placing the treasure of your heart, your desires, and your hope? Is it in fallen man, or is it in the One, who has the power to fully captivate your heart and romance your soul...Jesus?