Day 6 | Matt Bailey

Hola amigos! Today has been a great day here at the Crow Nation. I finally got to take a shower after four days of work. I felt soooooo amazing! I know this sounds cliche, but it really started make me think about God. Going without a shower for four days is gross, and I can barely stand it, but how many times do we not wash ourselves of sin and just go on with our lives? We know we have sin in our lives, but we don't take the time to wash ourselves in the Blood of the Lamb, and be made pure and whole. I want to crave his Holiness like I crave a hot shower. When I get to that point, then I will be where I want to be in Him.

Later today, Bill came up to me and gave me a project, something he has never really done before. I've been in charge of things like teaching, doing bible studies, being a counselor at Cowen, but doing construction work...well...that has never been my strong suit. He showed me the site, and explained the job to me, and I felt a bit overwhelmed. I went back to my room, laid on my mattress, and I was so nervous I would screw it up. But then I realized that I serve a God who can do anything, a God that moves mountains and makes the waves in the oceans. He feeds the starving, completes the broken, holds the frightened, destroys evil, and holds the entire cosmos in his hands. Surely he can but two boards together. And so I prayed that he would help me do this, and he gave me a peace to go and do it.

I went out to the site and looked at the job I had before me. I rallied Mary, Kelsie, and Drew to my side and we owned that job site. Everything went miraculously good! It was more work than we thought it was, but when we got done with the project, it was so amazing. God deserves all the credit for that job, because we did not have the ability or the knowledge to do that job.

You see, God doesn't need gifted people to do his work. He doesn't need carpenters, welders, farmers, trained musicians, doctors, lawyers, or any other special person to do his work. He just needs you. He just needs anybody who will say yes to him, and he will give them all the power that they need. Our potential lies completely in the power that Christ endows us with to do his work. And i assure you, if he wants you to do it, he'll make sure you get it done. Just believe, that's all the difference between ordinary and extraordinary.

Day 4 | Matt Bailey

Today has been totally awesome! We started the day out at 7, with breakfast, and then it was off to vbs. Logan was coordinating the whole thing, Bryson was teaching  bible study for the kids, and i led the puppet show. It's really amazing when you think about it. All three of us, Logan, Bryson, and myself all come from Godly families. Our families live for God, and the core values of their lives is to bring him glory, and look at the impact it has had on their kids. We are all playing a strong part in the ministries we are involved in. You might not think that being involved and going to church is important to your kids, but it is. It makes a difference.

I spent most of the rest of the day under all the cabins, putting girder beams in. Eladio and I were on our bellies, in the dark and grass. It was awesome!

Probably the greatest thing that happened all day was this little girl at VBS, she fell in some mud and got in on her hands. She was walking around, looking for somewhere to wipe it off. We didn't have any napkins or towels, so we were all looking around for what to do. And then I said, "Here, wipe on me" and she did. Both her dirty, little mud covered hands went onto my pants, leaving a huge streak of mud on my side, as she made herself pure. She looked at her hands afterwards, and she was so excited. I walked away and didn't think much about it until later.

It was when we were on our way to camp that God spoke to me. I looked down at my pants, and saw the smear of dirt that blotched my clean pants. And that was when I got it. What I did for that little girl was what Jesus did for me, what he did for all of us. I was a dirty, sinful, wretched, ugly, broken man, and Jesus saw my despair, and he said he to me "Here, wipe at on me. I'll take your sin. I'll take your sin, I'll take your dirtiness, I will take your brokenness" And its only because of Him that I have been made clean. Its only through him that I can be made whole, to be free from the chains, all the addictions and all the pain. He took my sin on, and gave his life for me.

When I realized that, I just started crying. It was the most amazing thing. God is so cool, and he is beyond any imagination. He is God, he is love, he is the love of my life, and I can't wait to be with him tomorrow. Praying for you guys :)

Day #9

Crow Agency is a place of life. To me, it’s always been a place of learning and growing, and it has been no different this week. With daily devotionals, speakers who have met with God, and lots of projects to get done, this was a week to truly learn and understand the ways of God and servanthood.
On Wednesday, we started working on a deck for one the buildings near the church, and I was really excited to be a part of it. We worked for 1 ½ days on it and we finally got it done. As I looked at that little piece of architecture, I had pride in what I had accomplished. I remembered when it was random pieces of wood, but after we had cut there, nailed there, measured here, it all came together into an amazing structure.
And as I thought of these things, I thought about the way God looks at us, and I wondered if he ever looked at me and had pride. He has done an amazing thing in my life, because I was without focus or direction, just a random piece of piece. But after he measured me, cut me, and nailed me into place, I have life abundant and new. For that, I am thankful.

Day 4

We finally got to Montana yesterday and I was so excited. It was exactly how I remembered it with the Quanza Hut, the dorms, the park, the gas station, it was all so familiar. It reminded me of the amazing time we had the last time we were here. That was a long time ago and God has done so much since then! Today we had the Skypecast at the 11:00 service, and never “Skypeing” before, that was pretty awesome.
God really blessed me today during worship. We sang this song, I think is called “Everlasting” and I almost lost my voice. I was really praising God during that song and I was so blessed. I hope that during the rest of the trip God will continue to speak to us and that we would listen. I pray that I give Him all that I’ve got, because he deserves the very best I’ve got.