battles

God has been teaching me so much. He is so good and so faithful. Lately, I have been wrestling with my flesh intensely. Most of the time I don't wrestle hard enough or long enough. I give in too soon. I do not put on the proper protection. Sometimes I feel like I suck at being a child of the King. My deepest and purest desire is to be a man that God sees as one who has a heart for Him. I want to be a man that God can entrust with tasks, both great and small. I want to desire Him more than anything here on the earth, or in the heavens above. I want to want Him more than food or water.
It is easier said than done, isn't it? Today, I feel defeated. But I am earnestly praying that God will continue to mold me and make me into what He wants me to be. May I always look to Him. May my gaze be on Him alone.

Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Psalm 73:25,26)

Knowing God

God has been teaching me so much lately. In the past few days I have been inundated with blessings, encouragement, and challenges from God. I don't know exactly why He is doing all these things in my life, but I know that He is going to look greater and I am going to be stronger as a result.
I have been reading a little from J.I. Packer's KNOWING GOD and I have been humbled and broken. I have realized that I do not know God! I know much about him. I can give you facts about who He is and what He does. I can quote Scripture. I can tell others about Him. I can even be godly and still not have much knowledge about Him! But I do not think that I truly know Him. For about 4 years now my favorite passage of Scripture has been Philippians 3.7,8, but they now have a deeper meaning. I want to know Jesus Christ in the same way that the Apostle Paul did!

This is my desire, to honor You
Lord, with all my heart I worship You
All I have within me, I give You praise
All that I adore is in You

Lord, I give you my heart
I give You my soul
I live for You alone
Every breath that I take
Every moment I'm awake
Lord, have Your way in me

11 weeks

It has been exactly 11 weeks since my last blog entry. I have done a horrible job blogging thus far. I hope for that to change! We have begun our fall tour. We will be traveling until the 19th of November. We are in Walton, IN ministering at Calvary Union Church. God has been doing amazing things in our lives. It has been incredible, God-glorifying week so far! Illinois, Michigan, back to Indiana, and Maryland are in our near future.
The latest and greatest news for me is that i now have my CDL license! I am driving our charter bus this year. It has been exciting and fun so far! last weekend was our longest trip so far (600 miles from Rochester, NY to Walton, IN). I know that driving the "beast" this year will provide me with great experience and a lot of time to spend with the team in very confined quarters!
I hope to be on here very soon with another post. God Bless you all.

one thousand apologies...

Dear patient friends and acquaintances,

I sent out an email telling you all of my email change to a .mac email address.  Well, it turns out I couldn't keep that one for very long.  So, I now write to you to ask you to change my email address back to the old one: njlaparra@gmail.com.  I am sorry for the inconvenience.  I know you will forgive me (at least i hope you will!)   Thank you!

Nicolas

--
nicolas john laparra
2200 blue mountain parkway
harrisburg, pa 17112
585.690.8213

another email change... hopefully the last

hello to all! I am changing my email address to
nicolas.laparra@mac.com. I will still keep my gmail account open but
I would like to start working from the .mac account. thank you for
making this change!

in HIM,
nicolas

--
nicolas john laparra
2200 blue mountain parkway
harrisburg, pa 17112
585.690.8213

34 days until we leave for india...

So much has happened since my last post. We have had so many incredible meetings. God has blessed in marvelous ways. We are finishing up a week of meetings here in Ramsuer, NC. We had chapels everyday for the school body (about 300 students). We had chapel in the morning for grades 6-12, and then a shorter chapel (but no less exciting) in the afternoon for the elementary grades. We had meetings in the evenings from Wednesday until Friday. This is ERM's 15th year at this church and school and we have had the best attendance we have ever had. God has been so good to us!
We have another week of school chapels this coming week at Alamance Christian School (Graham, NC). We are very excited about what God has in store for us! After that, one more week in NC, two weeks in WV, and then we are leaving for India! It has come upon us so fast...
God has been teaching me so much lately. It has been almost overwhelming, but He gives us the grace to handle all he brings out way. I have been encouraged reading the book of Nehemiah. God worked in His life in such an incredible way. And I have also been greatly blessed to meditate on Habakkuk 3:17-19. WOW! If all goes wrong, He is still faithful and we can rejoice in this! God is good!
Keep us in your prayers, and visit our website for further updates on what is going on. Until next time...

Nick

update from the road

Our spring tour has been amazing so far. We left our home base on
1/20, and we have done so much so far! We send a couple of days at
Peoples Baptist Church in Greenville, NC. We left there on on the
22nd and headed to Piedmont Baptist College for two days. We went to
several classes, spend time with the students, and we sang in one of
their chapels. On Wednesday we travelled to Lexington, NC to have a
meeting at Union Grove Baptist Church. On Thursday we travelled to
Greenville, SC to visit Bob Jones University for a couple of days. We
had a great time there, doing the same thing we did at PBC. There are
several ERM alumni at BJU so it was great to see them. We are now
involved in a week of meetings at Northside Baptist Church in
Orangeburg, SC. Steven Broome (former team leader of ERM) is now
serving as Youth Pastor here at NBC. We have been enjoying southern
hospitality to its fullest extent (barbeque pork, mac-n-cheese, green
beans, and sweet tea at almost every meal!). It is wonderful... God
is good.

Keep our team in your everyday prayers. God has blessed us so much,
but every "family" has their little problems. Also, keep our finances
in your prayers. Some have reached the mission trip goal of $3000,
others have not. But God is faithful and we are very confident He
will supply! Thank you so much for your prayers and for your support!

-Nick

"twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do.  so throw off the bowlines.  sail away from the safe harbor.  explore.  dream.  discover." (mark twain)

 

i have always been known for doing crazy things, eating crazy things, and just being out of the ordinary sometimes.  sometimes it gets me into trouble. most of the time i like it.  do something different today.  be wierd.  be crazy.  just don't get into trouble and blame me for it:)!  have a fantastic God-centered day!

 

- nick

a week into our 2nd training camp...

Well, we have been back in PA for a week now.  It has been an amazing, event-filled week.  Two days after we returned, we began our meetings.  We ministered at Capitol Baptist Church (Harrisburg, PA) on Sunday morning, and at Bible Baptist Church (Harrisburg, PA) that evening.  We stayed right at BBC for Monday and Tuesday as we ministered at their church-school.  We had fantastic chapel times with about 250 high school students and about 2 elementary students. God really did a great work as we saw about 40 teens buying the Q.T (quiet time) challenge.  We are praying that those books will be used to strengthen their walk with Jesus Christ. 

 

We have a busy few months ahead of us.  I will not take time to tell you about the entire schedule right now... if you would like to see it, please visit our website: www.encounterrevival.org .  Continue to pray with me about making decisions concerning my future here with Enounter.  Also, pray with us as we all raise money for our mission trip.  Everyone needs to raise $3000 for this trip.  We are so excited about what God is doing in India.  I am especially excited about seeing my three little kids (the little ones I have the honor of sponsoring)! 

 

Before I sign off, I would like to share a two verses with you (this is my prayer for the next few months... and for the rest of my life!):

 

"But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.  Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.  For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count the as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ."  Philippians 3:7,8

 

--
nicolas john laparra
2200 blue mountain parkway
harrisburg, pa 17112
864.901.8540
www.nicolaslaparra.blogspot.com

heading back to encounter

Well, new year's day has come and gone!  Here we are in the year two thousand and seven!  I am so excited for this year.  I have made my resolutions and I plan, with God's wonderful help, to keep them! 
Tomorrow morning, at 5:45 am, we begin our trip back to Harrisburg, PA (home of Encounter Revival Ministries).  We begin church meetings this Sunday and we do not stop until the middle of May!  We have a long tour ahead of us, but I am so excited about what God is going to do in my life (and if the lives of all those involved in ERM).  If you, the reader, would like to keep up with us while we are on the road, check our tour schedule out at: www.encounterrevival.org.  Please keep us in your prayers.  There is so much that goes into one week of meetings (which means that so much can go wrong!)... but God has been so good to us. 

prayer requests for this tour:
1. spiritual growth in my life (increased dedication to Jesus Christ)
2. missions trip finances ($3000)
3. i am in need of a laptop for personal and ministry needs ($1000)

God bless you all (Romans 15:13)

little angels from "hope center." (www.hopecenterhonduras.com)

back in NY (wish i was back in honduras)

I have been back in the US for almost two full days. I miss my family... I miss Honduras. I had an incredible time with my family! It was so good to be home for a while, after being gone for two years. Everyone is growing up so fast, I can't believe it! My "little" sisters aren't so little anymore! And the guys... well, they just keep getting uglier:)! Seriously, it was such a blessing to be with them. I was able to participate in several avenues of ministry while I was there. I preached at a Bible study, at church, and at 3 school chapels. It was such a blessing to be able to share with the different groups of people. I was also able to share, one morning, at teacher devotions. It wasn't a very restful time, but what can you expect in a house of 12 people! The joy that filled my heart, from being with my family, made my need for rest to vanish! Seriously... I think i gave out over 45,675 hugs and kisses in the two weeks I was there. I loved it! Overall, our trip was a huge blessing. Memories were made that I will never forget.

heading home

I will tell you all about my honduras trip in a little while... for now a quick update.  Andrew and I are making the last leg of our journey this morning.  We flew into Chicago late last night.  Our plane left Miami and hour and a half late, due to mechanical problems (which means we arrived here late).  We waited an hour for our hotel shuttle, only to find out that when we came out of the airport, we missed the last one by about 5 minutes!  We finally got a cab, and we just enjoyed about 4 hours of great sleep at the local Holiday Inn Express.  Our plane leaves at 9:35am... we are almost "home."

-nick

Merry Christmas!

I want to wish you and yours the merriest of Christmas days! May we never forget how special this day truly is. May we never cease to praise Jesus for all he has done for us. LUKE 1:20

-nick

30 minutes in heaven (at "centro de esperanza")

HOPE center. it truly is a place of hope for the little honduran kids. my little sister (elisabeth) volunteers time and love at a little orphanage, outside a tourist town called "valle de angeles." it is about 45 minutes from our home. i tell her there is not greater place to give her time and your love. we went shopping at "valle de angeles" today, so we decided to stop at the orphanage for a few minutes. what an amazing few minutes it was!
i cannot begin to explain to you how great a joy i experienced from being there. to hold them. to love on them. to hear their incredible stories. it was amazing.
i have to tell you one story. the girl i am holding (in the picture album about the center) in the first picture (the one actually wearing clothes!)... her name is kimberly. kimberly came to the orphanage when she was only 3 months old. at the time, she was living underneath a bridge with her mother. when they found kimberly, she was covered in shoe glue. her mother was addicted to shoe glue and did a poor job taking care of kimmie. it took the workers quite a while to clean her up from the glue she was covered in. they had to use turpentine. when i heard this, my heart broke. i held her tighter as i heard her story. the whole 30 minutes was like this. i did not want to leave!
i don't know how or when, but I do know God is going to use me to help orphans. i know this very well. i want to adopt 5 kids into my family and I want to help so many more. i love them so much.the ministry i am with (encounter revival ministries) is going to india, in april, to help at an orphanage there (1500 precious ones... 3 of whom i am very honored and blessed to sponsor).
i believe God used my time a the orphanage today to prepare me even more, and to deepen my love for orphans.please pray for "hope center" and for all those around the world that are doing their part to take care of the fatherless. pray for them everyday.

visit "hope center" at: http://www.hopecenterhonduras.com/

"religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father is this: TO VISIT THE FATHERLESS AND WIDOWS IN THEIR AFFLICTION, and to keep oneself unstained before the world." - james 1:27

-nick

You are God alone...

So, I was going downtown with a fraction of my family members, and as we were going down the mountain we were listening to "You are God alone" by PC&D. What and absolutely amazing, God-centered song! In the midst of the traffic, in the midst of the people, the hustle & bustle of the disorderly way of life here in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and in the midst of dodging gigantic, man-sized potholes... I stood in awe of how great God is, and how small and undeserving I really am. God is so amazing, and He truly is God ALONE!

8 "Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors,
9 remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me,
10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,'
11 calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.
(Isaiah 46:8-11 NIV)