The time has come

Wow. The day is finally here and I'm not finished packing, yet! LOL!I'm almost done. Last year, I was up with Sun before getting a few hours of Zzzz's before our departure. This year, the team is meeting at Lou's house at 11a. Saturday evening, we will be traveling to Cuba via Tijuana and Monterrey and arriving in Havana on Sunday morning. ***Please cover the team in your daily prayers. Lord willing, we will return, safe and sound, on June 28th, Sunday afternoon.

Over the last couple of days, I have been very aware of the enemy attacks against me. At times it was difficult to block out his evil whispers but, God, though friend's encouragement, brought me through it. My mom has always told me, "Rebuke the devil in the name of Jesus!" Hey, it works.

Thank you for your financial and spiritual support throughout this past year. (Oops...I forgot to update the blog about Havana Nights! Huge success. Over $4,500 was raised! I will blog in detail when I return.) Thanks again to all of the supporters. Your generosity will help to bring so much hope and love to the Cuban people. I am so excited to see the faces of the children when they receive their toys and candy, the faces of the men and women who receive bags filled with soap, shampoo, toothpaste and toothbrushes (things that are rationed to them by the government), and the hearts changed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the Bibles, tracts and other literature purchased with monies faithfully contributed by you. I pray God richly blesses you.

♥♥♥

An opportunity for YOU

On June 20th, 2009
...the Sancti Spiritus Missions Team of California will be returning to Cuba for the second year in a row to bring a little light and hope in a world of darkness and uncertainty. Again, I, Frances, will be part of the team.
Within the Team of twelve, each Missionary must raise their own funds ($1,500/ea.) for air fare and a stay of 10 days...
June 20 to June 29 ,2009

I Need Your help... Prayerfully consider helping to send me to Cuba. There is no time to waste. Souls are at stake. This is a rare opportunity for US citizens to show Cubans that there's still kindness in America. Furthermore, it is a wonderful opportunity to share God's unfailing love and hope to the hopeless and hurting in Cuba.


" Why shall you gain the whole world and lose your own soul?
What would you give in exchange for your soul?" —Matt. 16:26


Make checks payable to "Light & Life Downey".
PLEEEASE (this is important) include in the memo line:
"Frances Vázquez - Cuba" on the bottom left of the check.

Address the envelope this way:
Light and Life - Downey
9245 Florence Ave.
Downey, CA 90240
Attn: Friend of Frances Vázquez


Write your thoughts, prayers, and words of encouragement. I care for you and wouldn't think of asking in such a way if it wasn't a serious request from the depths of my heart. I pray God's abundant blessings over your life, your family, and over all you do.
Sincerely in Christ,
Frances C. Vázquez

Havana Nights

The Havana Nights Dinner will have a silent auction, raffle prizes, and delicious Cuban food! Tickets must be purchased by May 19th. Call 562-862-0910 (Ask for Lou) for any questions. Mention that you are a supporter of Frances Vázquez.
I have dinner and raffle tickets available for purchase. Contact me immediately to secure your tickets. Tickets will not be sold at the door!
Checks can be made out to "Light & Life - Downey" with "Havana Nights - Frances" or "Raffle Ticket(s) - Frances" in the memo line. If you will be purchasing both dinner and raffle tickets, please indicate this on the check. Cash or personal checks are accepted.
Thank you for your interest and support.

Sincerely,
Frances Vázquez

By the way, I am $445 away from reaching my $1,500 personal goal. There is more than one way to support Cuba Missions!

Praise Report!

Praise the Lord! God gave us $2,900 with the March 28th Rummage Sale! After picking up the order of donuts, I arrived at the church @ 445a. I'd been up since 330a. I went to sleep around 1230a the "night" before. I was running on a Divine energy boost! Lou & her husband, John, Margarita & her husband, Carlos, Roy (church Controller), and Anna (our stateside missionary & fervent prayer warrior) were already at the church moving the furniture into place. Shortly thereafter, Elsa & Tricia, along with a handful of the men from the church showed up to continue help set up shop. The "Ironmen" were a huge help to us. They worked together to carry out the 15, or so, tables (already filled with sale items) from the fellowship room. More team members and additional helpers came after 5a to help. We were blessed with around 40 helpers and more showed up later in the morning to work the tables. I was in charge of the toys because everything was 50¢ to $1 and I didn't have to go through the trouble of "haggling" with the customers. I am not very good at pricing things. Lou was wise to give me the "simple" table. LoL!

Another AWEsome thing that happened was:  The Spanish church, Camino de Gracia, set up an evangelism table to share the Gospel of Christ and someone was interested in learning more! Praise the Lord!

When God blesses, He blesses abundantly!

Cuba Mission 2009 Rummage Sale

Cuba Mission 2009 Rummage Sale
Saturday, March 28th
6a -2p

*There will be a Bake Sale.

*Coffee and water bottles will be available for purchase.

Light & Life Christian Fellowship
9245 Florence Ave.
Downey, CA 90240

View Larger Map

Change for the better

It has been decided to change the dates of Cuba Mission 2009 from July to the fourth week in June. We will no longer be traveling in July because the airfare is more expensive and since the team desires to be good stewards of God's money, the change was made.

The team is being hand-picked by God. Based on last night's meeting attendance and by a show of hands, the 2009 team is as follows: 

• Returning missionaries:  Lourdes (Lou - our fearless leader), Margarita, Beatrice, Elsa, John, Naka, Hannah, Nicole, and myself (Frances)
• New missionaries: my friend, Tricia, and Nicole's cousin, Briana
• Naka's friend, Annette, has committed to go but, the new dates for the mission interfere with her work schedule (*Please pray for God to open a door for Annette to go on the trip)
• Margarita's husband, Carlos, and her son, Charlie (2008 missionary), have been praying about being a part of this year's team but have not yet received confirmation.

During these next few months, the team will be in preparation through prayer and training with the new materials for the mission. Please remember to keep the team covered in prayer during this time. Satan is attacking but, God is prevailing. AMEN and AMEN!

Praying on the Whole Armor of God

I originally posted this on our team blog for Cuba Mission 2008:

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

After a major turning point in Cuba, our team started to begin our days with reading Ephesians 6:10-19 (NLT),

10 A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. 12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. 14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. 15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. 16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. 17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.
19 And pray for me, too. Ask God to give me the right words so I can boldly explain God’s mysterious plan that the Good News is for Jews and Gentiles alike.

We were diligent in praying this over us. If we were entering an extra "spiritually hostile" area, we would read it and pray it over ourselves. We became a team of prayer. We prayed over everything we did. Lost passports had us praying. Angry horse & buggy drivers had us praying. A team member sharing the gospel or praying for a person had the rest of us praying. If we had no food to eat, we prayed for God to sustain or suppress our hunger. When I fell and scraped my arm and leg, I prayed that my minor injury would not distract me from God's mission in Cuba. We learned to become absolutely dependent on God for everything. The biggest and smallest of details were covered in prayer. That's how we survived in Cuba; in a land where we had virtually no resources...no 24hr, drive-thru anything! Our time in Cuba was spent waiting on the Lord for our every move. We would have been completely lost without His day-to-day, moment-by-moment guidance.

Longing

I feel that my head (or maybe my heart) has been in the clouds lately. I am seriously missing my dear friends in Cuba. I was talking with God as I was driving home today, telling Him all that I feel towards Cuba, missions, and them. I'm just waiting for Him to give me the green light and then I'm gone. The more I dwell on His AWEsomeness last year, the more the Holy Spirits tugs at my heart and the more I fall in love with God all over again. I'm getting ansy. I do but I don't know how I will have the strength to come back after the trip. I can only predict that a bigger piece of my heart will be left behind.

Signs

The Cuba mission team will be having a Rummage Sale sometime in March. I'll post the date once I'm sure. Anyway, our new team member and good friend of mine, Tricia, sent Lou this email:

"blessings lou,

i spoke with my brother-in-law regarding the 6 rummage sale signs we talked about and he generously agreed to donate them, i was floored when he said yes without hesitation, you have no idea how uncharacteristic that is of him!!...

blessings & prayers,

tricia"

Praise the Lord all around!

Canceled but, Covered

Our field trip has been canceled due to family life taking precedence. No worries, Lou told me that The Free Tract Society responded to her tract request email. They asked for a mailing address! That is a very good thing. We will see what the Lord put on their heart to send. Also, Pastor Otto, who gave us tons of tracts to take on the last trip, contacted Lou.
Praise the Lord! God is faithful.

Sancti Spíritus Ministries

We are in the process of becoming a non-profit organization, Sancti Spíritus Ministries (seeking to get our "501 (c) 3" status soon), whose goal is to, in God's time, have a resource center on the isalnd that will aid Bible-believing/Bible-teaching churches in Cuba. Our long-term goal is to plant a non-denominational church. Our name comes from the city in which we did our 2008 mission trip and it works out because in English, it translates from Spanish into English to mean Holy Spirit. Amen & Amen! Last year, God worked in MIGHTY ways through the Holy Spirit. I will post another blog talking more about how the Holy Spirit worked in my heart through last year's Cuba Mission Trip.

Since we are on the path to getting our "non-Profit" status, it is fitting and most important that SSM have a Board of Directors to handle all the executive & administrative aspects of the organization. Lourdes, a.k.a Lou, is the President. Naka, Margarita, Greg, and Elsa are also board members, all of whom were missionaries in the 2008 Cuba Mission. The newest board member is Jeff, who God perfectly placed in front of us. Jeff has a background in law and has been on more than a few mission trips. He will be a huge help when the board needs to complete the "501 (c) 3" paperwork, which Lou says is a few inches thick. LoL!

More to come...

Field Trip

Exciting things are happening. On Saturday, Lou, Margarita, and myself will be driving to Los Angeles to check out the FREE TRACT SOCIETY.

The Free Tract Society, Interdenominational
6012 York Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90042
M-Sat 1030a - 5p

"The Free Tract Society also offers over 500 different English tracts, with translations and additional selections in more than twenty other languages and dialects."

They have been publishing Gospel tracts since 1897! They have tracts in 30 different languages.The tracts are printed right in the store. The first pound of tracts is FREE. Lou sent the organization an email telling them of our Cuba ministry and petitioning them for tracts to take on the mission. We are praying for God to touch the hearts of anyone and everyone to donate their time, finances, efforts, gifts, and resources to our ministry.

The Start of Something New

So, I realize that I think too much and over analyze what to write on my blog. I'm not going to try [too hard] and make this an über-professional sounding blog. It's just me writing my thoughts about my love for missions, Cuba, "Cuba Missions", my previous and future missions trips, and everything surrounding those things. I will eventually write about my first [and, Lord willing, not the last] missions trip to Cuba and how I came to discover that "I Heart Cuba Missions". Maybe, I'll even write about my new relationships with my new friends that I made while I was in Cuba. Yup, so this is it.