Meet our family

We were happy to meet our assigned family this morning -Trinidad and her grand daughter, Jade (pronounced Hahday in Spanish). Trinidad's property happens to be located in the city of Puerto Penasco, which is very unique since 1Mission generally works in Nuevo Penasco, also known as the barrio. Trinidad actually has a "house" already, though it has no door or windows. The real treat for us was that there are two mesquite trees on the property and with temperatures currently at 91 degrees (at 4:30 in the afternoon) I can assure you we appreciated those trees!

After finishing pouring the concrete slab and building the frames for the walls and roof, several of us hit the local Supermeracdo (supermarket) to shop for basic food supplies for the Children's Home where we will be visiting this evening. Don't tell anyone, but we had enough left to buy two huge tubs of ice cream and enough bananas to also treat them to banana splits tonight! So much for all those calories we burnt off today :-)

In/Out Teamwork!

The team has arrived safely in Puerto Penasco. As a shout out to Pastor Brian and his enthusiasm about the team work and joy of In/Out Burger employees, the team had our picture taken at our Phoenix lunch stop before heading down to Mexico. (sorry if you missed this sermon - it was a good one!) It's been a real joy to watch the team members get to know one another and form friendships that I know will last a lifetime. That is, afterall, what happens on these Work & Witness trips. You can not help but be building friendships while building houses and, ultimately, building the Kingdom of God.

We've already seen answered prayer, including all team members arriving safely despite coming from different places. One team member who was flying standby ended up being the only standby passenger who made the flight from Houston to Phoenix. If he had missed that connection, the entire team would have been held up four hours!

Thanks for your prayers and keep up the good work!

Father (Son & Holy Spirit) Knows Best!

We have been preparing our hearts and minds for this Work & Witness trip to Puerto Penasco, Mexico since we first gathered as a team in August. I have been sensing that God wants to do something significant through this body of believers since He first formed the group. We were excited about our family assignment and had begun praying for them since we received their bio from 1Mission almost three weeks ago. Our desire to bring them needed gifts was strong, but something was blocking the flow of needed information from the field. Missions is always about flexibility and patience, so we waited. Just yesterday we found out that our previously assigned family decided to apply for government-funded housing, making them ineligible for a 1Mission house. We have been reassigned a 66 year old grandmother whose 6 year old grand daughter lives with her part of the week. Her name is Trinidad, which in English means Trinity! How cool is that? Please lift up Trinidad, her grand daughter, Jade, and the entire team as we head across the border tomorrow afternoon. As always, your prayers are truly the wind beneath our wings.

Living the Goods News

I have been invited to assist a missions agency with planning new ways to evangelize and reach out to the lost. I have a burden for the lost and I love being creative and brainstorming with others, so this seems to be right up my alley. However, knowing I can not and should not rely on my own efforts, I have been spending much time in thought and prayer focusing on this subject matter. Here's where my thoughts and prayers have taken me thus far:

While words and intentionally developed evangelistic activities can do much to communicate the Good News of Jesus Christ, I believe it is the life that has been transformed that ultimately convinces others of the power of the Gospel. People need to see the power of God's salvation plan, not just hear about it!

I am blessed to be surrounded by many brothers & sisters in Christ whose focus is on the lost and whose lives are a powerful witness. They are intentional about always being prepared to give a reason for the hope that is in them. (1 Peter 3:15) You do not need to have a seminary education, a theology degree, the power of persuasive speech or even the ability to recite the four spiritual laws or the Roman Road; you just need to live out what God has done and is doing in your life and joyfully share your story with others. It's the best evangelistic tool I know!

Loving One Another

Last night was our final night for our spring semester of ESL (English-as-a-Second Language) classes. What a joy it is to be used by God to help improve the lives of refugees, immigrants and international students. As we teach English we reach out with the love of Christ to those who are often marginalized or isolated in our society. When we are faithful in loving one another, God accomplishes great things through our obedience.

Several of our students obtained jobs and others received job promotions due to their increased English proficiency and the dedicated efforts of our ESL teachers. The children entered the building each week with joyful enthusiasm, barely containing themselves from running down the hall to enjoy their time with our fun-loving childcare volunteers. Our "ESL Angels" brought in healthy snacks, which nourished our students and their families both body & soul.

One student took time to write a thank you letter stating, "In this school, I found a group of friendly and generous people." Another student commented on how different this "school" was from other places she had gone to study English. Love and kindness are what this student said she sensed when she was here among us.

Smiles, hugs and expressions of gratitude filled the air as we parted ways for the summer months. What a difference love makes and what an impact we have when we simply and sincerely love one another!

So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. John 13: 34-35

The Aftermath of Easter

Words are fun! I love to research their origins and history. Take for example the word "aftermath." Today's most common use of this noun is to refer to something that results or follows from an event, especially one of a disastrous or unfortunate nature. (the aftermath of war; the aftermath of the flood.) However, in the early 1500's, "mǣth" was an Old English word that meant "a mowing." Originally, "aftermath" referred to the second crop of grass grown following the harvesting of the first crop of grass in the same season.

We just celebrated the most significant event in the church calendar - the resurrection of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ. Easter services were wonderful! The church was full to the brim; with people, with praise, with the Spirit's presence, with the sound of breaking chains, with new growth. There were many cards submitted with our responses to what chains were binding us as we entered the service and what a difference it made to be set free from those chains. Praise be to God!

I encourage you to make time daily to consider the "aftermath." Will you choose continued growth and additional harvest in your spiritual life, or will you inadvertently pick up the same chains that you so joyfully threw off this past weekend?

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. 1 Peter 5:7-9

Well done!

We've been talking a lot lately about the early church; about community, about loving one another, about reaching out in love and about our Great Big God who first loved us. Since giving the year end Faith Promise report this past weekend I've been blessed with hearing more personal testimonies and stories of what God has done in your lives or the ways in which God is speaking to your hearts regarding your time, talents and treasures. If the past 48 hours is any indication of what God is doing in our midst, it's going to be another exciting year!

Thank you for sharing your stories with me, thank you for stepping forward to volunteer your time in missions, thank you for your faithful financial support of Faith Promise, thank you for shining His light and telling His story in words AND in deeds. Well done, good and faithful servants!