Prayer Request: Mexico

I spoke with Pastor John last night. He is not coming to the states right now. He doesn’t want to leave his family alone. When I called him yesterday he was just about to meet with a General (who is Christian) in the Mexican army. When I called him back later in the day he explained what the meeting was about. He has several commandants from the local police attending his church. One of them had his wife kidnapped and murdered a while back and since then one of the other commandants travels with an armed escort everywhere they go, including to church. In fact, they considered closing his church at one point. This week three men were hanged from one of those pedestrian foot bridges close to his church as a message to someone. So there is a lot of fear in the country of Mexico and Pastor John was asked to meet with the General to talk about training his men on the Truth of Jesus Christ. How to build up warriors who know what the Truth is. Corruption is running through every level of government and it is this General’s hope that when his men hear of Jesus that they have a foundation to lean upon.. one that is true.

So please pray for Pastor John and this new ministry he is embarking upon. Lord, please provide him with the ability to speak into the hearts of these men so they understand what the TRUTH truly is. Jesus Christ.

Life Preserver

God gave us Jesus.

 

Religion vs Relationship?

Religion vs Relationship.
Last week in Haiti my non-believer (yes, a non-believer) roommate made a comment about “you religious” people. It wasn’t a off handed remark, it was more of a compliment to his team members. We were talking about why we were in Haiti and he said he wanted to do “something different” and serving people in Haiti with us “religious folks”.  That’s different for sure.  I got to speak with him a lot last week. In fact that night I felt like I needed to clarify something with him.

See there are those who “believe” and those who “follow” Jesus Christ. Believers attend church on a weekly basis, maybe join a small group or bible study. But most likely God is not a regular part of their day Monday through Saturday. They go out of need. It makes them feel like they’ve done their “Godly duty”. And they may even tell you that exact phrase. But ask them to go on a mission trip to a country like Haiti and serve other people is most likely way out of their comfort zone. Their prayer language would tend to be more “self” edifying and tailored to whats in it for “me”. (I know I was once there).

A follower on the other hand is immersed in seeking God’s heart. In Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus was asked which were the greatest commandments, his response was: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” God talks about LOVE extensively in the bible. Love is a very emotional word that is tied to the core of who we are. We ALL seek to be loved and to love. Love is about relationships. A loving and nurturing relationship between Father and son or daughter.

So ask yourself who you are in the Lord, are you merely a believer or are you a follower? An active participant in your walk with Jesus. I personally enjoy a loving relationship with my Heavenly Father, one that I pray that you will have one day too.

I struggled with putting God in my day to day life. I once asked my Pastor that exact question.. how do I immerse myself into God without being in full time ministry. Owning a business, the demands of a family and just every day “life”. How do you do that? He offered me a book to read, and I recommend you read this book as well. It’s called In His Steps by Charles Sheldon. Its group of testimonies of people who accepted a challenge from their pastor on a Sunday morning and how it transformed their lives over a period of time. It revealed a lot to my heart and I pray it does for you as well.

Observations from my heart

Last night I had my weekly meeting with Pastor Gil. We never got to our intended lesson plan. We ended up sharing about our trips to Haiti. He traveled to Haiti with the Foursquare GO Team in December and stayed in Port A Prince at the Foursquare Mission. He traveled on a “tap tap”, which was the means of transportation for his team. He shared how crowded the the tap tap’s were and how very uncomfortable they were to travel long distances on. He shared about the living quarters in which they slept and how they are located near the UN compound in Port A Prince. Our conversation amplified something that was on my heart all last week.. as we came home to a villa each day from our designated work groups to a pool. Comfortable beds to sleep on. Working bathrooms with cold showers to wash away the filth from the days labor and wonderfully prepared meals… where we didn’t even have to do the dishes (in Mexico each team is required to clean all the dishes after each meal). Think of a wall with barbed wire on top of it. On one side there is a road that is filled with debris, mounds of smoldering trash, murky water that just sits there and on the other side are beautifully manicured plants, a large swimming pool, a basketball court and quiet, restful accommodations. Surely I felt stretched last week. No doubt about it. But did I truly leave my comfort zone? I absolutely enjoyed my roommates. Loved learning as much as I could about their walk with God, as much as they were willing to share anyway. But we were in a safe environment where all we had to worry about was the sound of someone snoring (me included) and the barking dogs next door. We even had sheets and pillows on our beds. It felt strange to me, a bed with sheets?.. I slept the entire week on top of the covers with my own blanket which I pack for every trip. Well… anyway that is some of what I’m processing in my mind… one other thing to note.. of all the trips I’ve taken this is just my second trip where I haven’t had to lead the team, where I was just an active participant. It was an adjustment for me, I had to force myself away from saying/doing some things I would normally do and then other things I just couldn’t help myself. It was kinda interesting how I became the keeper of the team list… and how much I struggled with one name all week long. Somewhere there is learning in all of this.. I’m just waiting on God for clarification.

Residential de Basque Park

Anyone who was with us last year knows this park. It was the first outreach with our brothers and sisters from Alabama and was also the first this year. What perfect integration of our ministries… yet again. What a great group of people.. many of the same people and some “newbies” too.  The ladies from our team had so much time sharing time with the children playing throwing the Southwest frizbee’s (Thank you Gail) freeze tag and coloring. Shannon has quite a “boy” following and June’s flirty boy friend was there too.. so was Michael Jordon.  I will post more pictures when I get the chance.. miss you all.

GUADELUPE VICTORIA

Sue gave a very powerful testimony in GV.

The team went out to Guadelupe Victoria yesterday. They prayed over the new church that was built in Arturo’s village on the top of the mountain.  Chris lead the  VBS songs and had the children rock’n. Delia gave her testimony on how she has been stretched here in Mexico and Sue gave a very powerful testimony that broke through to a group of women and one man who came forward for prayer.

Psalm 96

¹ Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all the earth.

² Sing to the LORD, praise his name;
proclaim his salvation day after day.

³ Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

⁴ For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
he is to be feared above all gods.

⁵ For all the gods of the nations are idols,
but the LORD made the heavens.

⁶ Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and glory are in his sanctuary.

THE CHILDREN OF AXLTA MX!

I snapped this photo and the woman said something to me which I did not understand so I asked Kenny to translate. She asked for money. She said that she had no money and no food and was hungry. Which is something we heard from almost everyone in this village.

Proverbs 31:8 – “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute”.

We did our first full ministry at a playground in Axlta. The pastor and his family used a megaphone all week annoucing our arrival. When we showed up the playground it was full with families and children. As we started to unpack the sound system and organize the children started to run away… then I over heard someone say that they were going home to bring the rest of their family. While this was happening we started throwing gliders out to the children who were left behind.. they would grab one and then run away. Then they realized that we were giving them to them and they would stay and throw them and play with the other children. There were some who had more than one and Pastor John told them one per child and they ran looking for someone to give the extra’s too. It was so refreshing to see how giving these children were. Not so long after this we had full families standing on the sidelines looking in as we prepared. When the music started the team went out and invited the children into the center so we could start our program. We started by playing the Spanish VBS songs the team rehearsed and all the kids really enjoyed singing with Pastor Art. Both boys and girls participated in doing the hand motions and singing along with us.. it was so much fun seeing them engaged in a Sing A Long… can you imagine the teens back in the states doing this?

After the VBS songs our new team member from PA, Theresa sang a song, translated by Arturo. And then Kenneth from PA brought a message to the children. Kenneth comes by way of Puerto Rico. After the message Pastor John came out and started speaking to the children. The message that we bring this year is Dios es Real (God Is Real). Dios esta con nosotros (God this with us). Dios es fuerte (God is strong). Dios es grandioso (God is Huge). Dios es en control (God is in control). John preached to the children in Spanish and when we was done he asked if any of the children would like to join him and accept Jesus into their lives… all of the children started to walk forward.. and he stopped them and told them they need to be sincere about doing. They hesitated about a half second and kneeled in front of him. As John was praying with the children we walked around taking pictures of the children (91 of them). It was so awesome seeing the expressions on the children’s faces.

After the prayer we set up face painting stations and all the team members interacted with the children, what joy the children had when they saw each others faces being painted. I had a feeling face painting was going to be a big hit with this team.

THE CANDY

Anyone who has been on a missions trip in Mexico has experienced the candy pass. Its where we make a big line across the sea of children and have runners that help fill supplies as you run out.. its a process that tries to limit the bags to one per child. When we go the City 2k the children know that candy is part of every program and really work hard to get “more” than their portion. At this outreach they were handing the candy to the kids behind them to make sure everyone had some. In fact someone tried to hand someone an extra bag and the child said, no thank you I have one!

Overall the day was flawless, less the slashed tires on Pastor Johns truck when we went out to leave. The enemy weaving his evils tricks.. yet another example of us over coming the barriers he puts in front of us every day! Press closely and push through and the glory of God is revealed!

OUR FIRST MINISTRY

We had an awesome worship service in Axlta. An indian community deep in the jungle. This is a church plant of Pastor John (Church of thanks – Axlta).

FINALLY…

Wow.. what an odd post that was. I guess it never really got posted. YES! Is  a perfect way to expressing how our trip is going so far. Yes, we got here safely, (thank you Lord). Yes, we’re being stretched! Yes, we’re experiencing awesome ministry! Yes… this is EXACTLY where we are suppose to be! LOVE THIS TEAM!

(When I logged on this morning I found that my post didn’t post.. all it said was Finally… YES!

JUNGLE TODAY!

Today we leave for the jungles of Axalta. Back friday. I will post when we get back. Unless I am able to blog via blackberry. Which is what I’m doing. The team is doing awesome. So excited to see what the Lord has in mind for us! Thank all who helped us to get here we are going have some powerful testimonies to share. Bless you all