Philippines Missions Trip

12.18.2018



Dear Friends and Family,

I hope you are doing well! If you do not know already, I am currently in Redding, California doing my First Year at Bethel School of Supernatural Minsitry (BSSM), which is a Ministry school where I am learning about the radical and tangible ways in which God is moving in and through us by applying core values such as identity, kingdom, discipleship, and service. 

So far my experience has been incredible, which has been filled with so much healing, redemption and God's radical love. Alongside being a student and encountering Jesus more each day, I have been working part-time at Simpson University in the Admissions Department, where I graduated with a BA in English this past April. I am also volunteering as a writer with Bethel Ministries called INCREASE Testimonies, where I get to interview and capture what God is doing in peoples lives through testimonies. This team consists of seven other individuals and by the end of May, we will get to publish all these stories in the 4th Volume of these book series. 

Along with all that I am doing in Redding, I have been selected, along with 60 other students, to join one of Bethel's Missions Trip Teams to the Philippines! I am so excited to get to go to the country where my mother is from and impart the love of God to a place that is so close to my heart. This trip will take place in four cities for two weeks from March 23 to April 6th. I fully believe that miracles, signs and wonders are breaking out in the Philippines. While there, we will be partnering with the same churches and ministries for the last NINE years. In the past, this team has seen government officials, people of influence, trash dumps, and churches radically touched. 

I am so excited to be a part of a team that will awaken fellow Filipinos to know who God truly is through supernatural healing, prophetic, leadership development, and kingdom creativity. A burning fire for the Lord is living in the Philippines and I am so excited to partner with Holy Spirit so that He is manifested! I am so hungry for adventure, passionate about revival, and cultural transformation. 
It is no mistake that I am on this trip!

While on this journey, I would love to invite you to be my prayer partner. I ask that you pray and stand with me as God leads me in soul, spirit, mind, and body. I want to live a life that is completely etched by God's words over my life as I pursue His work! My life is His and I am willing to go wherever He leads me.

I am also praying that you will consider supporting my trip to the Philippines financially, which is a year-end tax-deductible donation. The cost of this missions trip is $2300 per participant and I would appreciate any size gift. If only 50 people gave to my trip and each gave $46, I would meet my goal! I have already met my first deadline, which reserves my spot on the team of $230. My second deadline is $920, of the total funds raised by December 14th, and the third deadline is $1610 by January 18, 2019, and finally, February 15, 2019, with a total of $2300. You can donate online at this link, which is also on my Facebook page: 

With every fiber of my being, I could not thank you enough for taking the time to read and think about supporting me as I grow in knowing God deeper. If you have any questions about my team, our ministry or BSSM, I would love to talk with you! Your support, whether spiritually and/or financially is a great gift in itself! I hope and pray that God blesses you abundantly! 

With Love,
MJ Gutierrez
Email: jackylene.gutierrez@gmail.com

He Loves Because He Loves

12.16.2018


I want to share a recent realization of the tangible, profound, and radical goodness of God. One day after class in BSSM, there was an announcement that BSSM and Simpson University were going to have a basketball game. When I heard this, I was (1) surprised that BSSM even had a basketball team and (2) I  knew I had to go because it was two of my worlds coming together. Having graduated and currently working at Simpson, as well as being a BSSM students, I thought it would be a good game to watch. 

When I got to work, I told my co-workers about the game and I was told that Simpson staff can get in for free, but I realized that I never got a Simpson Employee badge, so I went to I.T. to get one. I quickly ran upstairs and took my picture and was given a staff ID card. After putting it on, I felt super fancy and official. I left the I.T. department and waited for the elevator. As I was waiting, I looked at my BSSM ID card picture and started comparing it to my Simpson ID card picture. I stared at both pictures (pictured above) and I could see there was a tangible difference.

As I looked at my BSSM picture I wanted to start crying because I could see the pain in my smile. I felt that my BSSM picture had a harsh smile and that I was trying too hard. Whereas, the other picture, felt more authentic and natural. 

While comparing these pictures, I was reminded of the first few weeks when BSSM was starting, one of the instructors told us that his wife was one the photographers for orientation. She shared with him that as she took all of our pictures, she could see so much pain just by looking into our eyes, which was the most she's seen in a single class. Our instructor asked the entire class at main session to stand up, if that resonated with anyone and practically everyone stood up. There are roughly 1400 students in BSSM-1st Year. 

My spirit was transfixed on these pictures because I knew both were still the same person, but as I held both ID cards in my hands, in awe of how different both pictures were-- even I thought they were two different people. I finally got downstairs to the Admissions Department and I told a few of my co-workers about this revelation. I held my Simpson badge, which had the newer picture and said that this is the confident, God-filled, and free MJ. I shook my head thinking how differently my cheeks set, how the corners of my mouth curled, and my eyes. My eyes were the most noticeable to me. The goodness of the Lord is what lives inside of me. The work and intentional ways in which He has pursued me has brightened my face. Doubt, fear, and limitations are no longer existing within me. God has reminded me of who He is and what He says about me. 

I couldn't stop staring at the newer picture of me-- I guess I can just look at the mirror-- but my heart shouts for joy to see a radical difference in receiving the truth of who Jesus is and who He calls me to be because He lives inside of me that He has to come out! One of my favorite chapters in the Bible is Psalm 84, which begins with, "How lovely is your dwelling place,/ Lord Almighty!/ My soul years, even faints,/ for the courts of the LORD;/ my heart and flesh cry out/ for the living God" (NIV). My heart, soul, mind, and body resound for more of Jesus! I love Him so much!

My core shakes with the desire that you, dear reader, will also know and seek His face to the point that every part of you cries out for the presence of the Lord. I declare that you will encounter radical and tangible moments with the Holy Spirit that praises and worship become a default setting to the way you live out your life. I hope you know that you are called to live out in love, purity, grace, and peace. Thank you for reading!

Love,
MJ 

I Sat Watching Stories

12.10.2018


I sat watching stories
Knowing those were the same seats I sat in
A moment of innocence
Of a fast-beating heart
Unaware of the reality that comes after

Faster than realizing I wasn't ready
A booth filled of expectations
Gazes held for too long
And a soul
Later cut and gutted
Out on the table

Laying out right next to yours
Afraid of the exposure
The dim overhead light
Flickering
Staying alive-- Our souls
Dented and bruised

We sat too close
Letting others join into our space
Carrying the parts of us that
Was closed off to the rest of them

Midnights collected in ink
Into the slippery ditches of my own mind
Sweet memories.

Deep baritones
Voices
Bringing comfort to my ears
The same ears that would soon
Turn against me.

Listening to the lies
That I should be
Someone else.

Remembering
Holding onto the past
Remembering
Who you came with
Remembering
That I got too close
Remembering
Naive and blind

Stepping into the light
Remembering to love myself again.

His Dreams Are My Dreams

12.08.2018


A few weeks ago, I was able to talk to my Daddia (I call my dad: Daddia) on FaceTime. I got to the Civic Auditorium in Redding earlier than usual and I thought to call my Dad while I ate my lunch. I sat in my car listening to him talk to me about his day and how his work is going, which I found out was on strike, which also means that he is not working as much as usual.

I began to tell him how much I love him and being so grateful for the sacrifices that he and my Mommia made everyday, even when I was a little girl. Knowing how little money we had, my parents still made sure that we always lived in a home, provided food on the table, and when it came to it presents under the Christmas tree. I started crying as I talked to my dad because the love I have for my parents was so great, all I could do was cry. Every time I think or talk about my dad I want to weep because he works so hard. For years--even before I was born-- my dad has always worked two jobs and when he wasn't working, he was doing something to fix the house. Now that he was down to one and a half jobs (the half being on strike), he says that he's going to drive for Uber and send packages for Amazon. He is relentless.

I began to think that I, as a college graduate, could be there at home in the Bay Area helping my family financially, where minimum wage is $15 in the Bay! I wanted to cry and began asking God for help. I'm currently sending my parents as much as I can give them. I tell my Daddia that I wish I could be there with them, but he tells me that me being in Redding and doing BSSM is what our family needs, which made me cry even more. He continued saying that his dreams are my dreams. I love my Daddia very much that I am so thankful for how hardworking, selfless, and incredibly kind he is.

Later that day, during worship in Main Session for BSSM, I thought back to the conversation with my Daddia on FaceTime and started thanking Jesus for giving me my family. My mind brought up an image of my Daddia while I talked to him on FaceTime and I began to think how tired he looked. I started crying again (my mascara was GONE by this point) and I was reminded by the Holy Spirit about a time in the beginning of BSSM that our Yes to being here-- in this school-- has a sacrifice and that God was going to honor that sacrifice. That sacrifice is my family.

I began to think and pray for my family that I spoke to the Holy Spirit saying I want my Daddia to meet my future husband. I started crying because I also thought that because my dad is getting old and when Jesus takes my dad home (I'm crying as I write this); my Daddia would be able to meet my future husband and know that I am being taken cared of.  As I stood during worship, I started weeping and I was reassured by the Holy Spirit that He knows and sees the desire of my heart. I will wait for my future husband knowing that God is going to bring His best. A man that will intentionally pursue and run alongside me exploring and running deeper into all that Jesus is! After this encounter, I am in no rush to get a boyfriend, but my posture remains in a place of running towards Jesus, peaceful in who He is, and keeping my eyes focused on Him because everything else will come from Him and I rather that than anything else.

With Love,
MJ
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