Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you

know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its

work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ~James 1:2-4

Wow! More than two months have passed since I first made my leap of faith in coming to

be a Radical Action Disciple. It seems like just yesterday I was on a plane flying to

Georgia for the very first time. Who knew God had such an awesome adventure waiting

for me! I’m sure that God has been doing amazing things for each of you, too as the

Holiday season is upon us all; cold weather and all (unless you are in Honduras)!

The past couple months have been packed with new activities, teachings, and adventures

that I never could have predicted for my future. I have learned so much. Living with five

other people in rather close quarters has taught me a lot about patience, unity, teamwork,

and especially love. I am still learning how to cooperate with people who do things quite

different from how I do them. While we have our share of arguments and disagreements,

we all really love living and learning together. My team is truly a blessing to me. I am

so thankful for them.

I spent my Thanksgiving break comfortably in Indiana, only to return and find that the

life of luxury was not what I had signed up for. Each member of the team spent three

days solo in the wilderness. We passed the time fasting and praying that God would meet

us and speak to us. I was very nervous about what was to come and dreaded it A LOT. I

prayed that the Lord would renew my heart and give me a fresh new look at what was to

come. The Lord truly answered that prayer for me. On top of that, He answered the little

prayers that let me know he was listening. For example, the sky had been full of clouds

all day long. When night finally came there was not a star in the sky and the moon was

barely visible. I started to pray to myself, “Lord, I love stars. I would really like to see

some stars if its not too hard, but if you say no, I understand…” Within five minutes

there was a part in the clouds just big enough to let a beam of moonlight and fifteen to

twenty stars shine through. The part slowly moved across the sky revealing more stars as

it went. Soon, it was out of my view. All I could think was, “Wow, that was for me.”

Knowing that the Lord was looking out for my small desires helped me to realize that He

was also looking out for the big details of my life. I poured out my heart to my King and

He revealed to me a lot of my characteristics that need to change. By the end of the three

days, I felt not worn out and hungry but refreshed and renewed. The Lord works in

wondrous ways and He was truly looking out for me.

Since the solo, our team has taken part in several other activities and training sessions

many of which were on the topic of world religions. It is important for us to understand

other religions in order to better understand our own religion, Christianity. I can now

more firmly stand in my beliefs. Also, by understanding the religious views of others, I

can more effectively minister to them and win them for the Kingdom of Heaven, the only

home that really matters.

Thank you all for your continuing prayers as they often sustain me. Please continue to

pray for guidance and direction in my life as I was accepted into two colleges and will be

facing some big decisions. Also, pray that the changes that have taken place and

continue to take place within the lives of each of us RAD students will be kept through

the hard times and happy times. Spiritual warfare has grown stronger with each

breakthrough our group has. Pray that the devil will have no footholds in our lives.

Lastly, please continue to pray for the financial support that each of us depend on to run

this ministry. Thank you all so much! I pray that you will each be blessed more than you

could ever imagine. Merry CHRISTmas and Happy New Year!

Love,

Kristyn Concepción