Ministry glimpses

13 June 2017

A Few Photos from Mt Calvary’s First Few Days

Jim Ministry glimpses, Prayer and Praise 1

Here are a few photos to give you a glimpse of what has been happening so far with the team from Mt Calvary.

Flooded Street in Las Palmas, Ixtapaluca The first night, for some of us, was a blur of flooded streets. booster cables, and getting very wet.

Mt Calvary at Sendero de Vida Las Palmas Half of the group (or so) shares a song at the Sunday service in Las Palmas.

Hearing Aid Demonstration Showing people how to use their new hearing aids at a special event to help the community, hosted by the church in Santa Barbara.

Fat Bulldog. A very fat dog at the children’s home we visited yesterday. His name is Balboa. And seriously, the picture doesn’t do him justice. He was a ball of flesh and fat.
Gustavo and Nathanael

Eating pizza and drinking Coke with the kids at the children’s home (Nathanael and Gustavo in the foreground).

Children's Home 2017 Some of the children at the children’s home (they have a total of about 18 right not), along with one of the owners.

25 May 2017

The Bible Teacher’s Guilty Confession (and some upcoming events)

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I’m such a bad Bible study leader. Do you know what I did?

I’m so ashamed.

For our Bible study passage we … we … we opened the Bible at random.

I know, I know.

Actually, it’s not quite as bad as it sounds. We had just finished a two part study on how to study and understand the Bible. We did a review, and then as a bonus we look at 7 ways to look for Christ in the Old Testament. My claim was that you should be able to open up to any page in the Old Testament and find Christ.

So – after we got the training, we tried it out. Sure enough, we found Christ in several ways in – where was it? Some chapter in Jeremiah. It was quite interesting, actually. I noticed some things I hadn’t before.

Really, you should try it. Just don’t open the Bible at random expecting that it will be talking about you. That’s when you get into trouble!

Tomorrow we’ll head into “grey areas” – yes, actually a study about how to figure out what to do when the Bible doesn’t address it directly (how to dress – video games – going to the casino – you name it!).

Actually, this study is online in English – here is part 1, and here is part 2.

Cake creation 2017 begins! I’m preaching on Sunday, and would appreciate your prayers. Once again I’ve been learning about some things that have really confused me in the past, from Mark 6. Amazing stuff.

In the midst of all this – it’s (a slightly belated) birthday season! This week, a party for Hannah, and next week a party for Nathanael. Hannah’s party is a dolphin theme, and we’re taking her and some friends to the aquarium in Mexico City.

But if you know Shari, you won’t be surprised to know – cakes are being created!

12 May 2017

Thanks for praying! (No, really.)

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I don’t always report back properly after asking you to pray – but then again, here on earth we only see a fraction of the results of your prayers!

For example, we had an excellent weekend with Renacidos. New people were connected to the community of believers, and many many people heard the gospel.

I mentioned to you the Bible studies I was doing on Friday nights – recently focused on how to understand and study the Bible. These have been fun studies – and hopefully useful! Tonight we’re doing an extra-special study – a review of what we’ve learned, and a look at how to look for Christ in the Old Testament.

Sometimes I specifically ask for your prayers before I preach on a Sunday morning. I sometimes wonder – if I really knew what I was doing, and what was going on people’s hearts – would I freeze and be too nervous to speak?

God does amazing things in our hearts through His Word.

The last time I spoke, it was on Mark 5:21-43 (listen in Spanish). In this part of the book, Mark tells us about two hopeless causes – a woman who no doctor could help, and a girl who was beyond help because she had died.

Afterward I got thinking about the people who were listening. Someone with a mother in their house, who had come home from the hospital for her final days. A man who we almost lost this year, who has one leg and recently lost a good part of his remaining foot. Someone with a father with cancer. A sister with a chronic illness. The list goes on and on – and in such a small group!

There is no hope from me – no hope from within this world. But such wonderful hope from another world – from our Lord Jesus, the Resurrection and the Life!

Pain is not the basic reality of life. Death is not the end.

So this is why we need your prayers – because the darkness is deep, and the Holy Spirit must shine His light to guide us beyond what we can see.

Thanks for praying!

28 April 2017

A Big Weekend with Renacidos!

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We have a big weekend coming up! If you’d like to pray, here are a few highlights:

Children's Day Event 2016 - in Ixtapaluca with Word of Life — Children’s Day Event 2016 – in Ixtapaluca with Word of Life

Tonight – I will be continuing the Discovering Life 2 Bible study. This week and next week we have especially fun topics – this week, How to Understand the Bible, and next week How to Study the Bible.
Tomorrow morning (11:30am) instead of the normal kids’ club, there will be an outreach in the community of Alfredo del Mazo. A group is coming from Word of Life Mexico (besides the interns who come every weekend) to do some special presentations in honour of Children’s Day (which is actually the 30th). We will also be providing reading glasses and hearing aids to people in need.
Saturday evening – another presentation from the group from Word of Life (the group is called Renacidos – Reborn). This time in the Path of Life Bible Church in Santa Barbara.
Sunday morning – we’ll be having an early service, so that we can worship and pray for the days’ events. This is actually Children’s Day, so after the service we’ll head back over to the community of Santa Barbara, where Renacidos will have evangelistic activities for the kids and their families.
After the activities, we’ll have the interns (I think around 25 people this time around) at our house for lunch. If we can find something to feed them. 🙂

So lots of teaching, outreach and evangelism this weekend! We would appreciate your prayers as we meet new people. We would also appreciate your prayers for the new church in Las Palmas, who will be very involved, and for new people – believers and unbelievers – who have recently connected with the church community.

19 April 2017

Ixtapaluca Project: Complete!

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A few years ago, our team initiated a project to help the local church in the community of JesÃºs MarÃa, Ixtapaluca, to purchase land and begin construction. Great news! We have reached our goal, and completed the project!

This project of course is only a gift to help with some of the cost. The church has raised a great deal from other sources, such as offerings and garage sales. But working together, these funds have now been mostly converted into soil and brick and wire. The church has land, and part of a structure.

The next goal is to finish the walls of the main sanctuary and put up the roof. Lord willing that will be done this summer!

For all of you who helped with this project – thank you! If you donated, you should receive a final report sometime soon.

Already this building has been used for Sunday services, Bible studies, counselling, classes for the community, temporary storage of things like wheelchairs for people in need, and much more. As I’ve said often, the building is only one of many means to an end – to see disciples of the Lord reaching out to share His truth and love.

This is a good time to post a few pictures, to remember what has happened over the past few years…

First Service JesÃºs MarÃa — Very first service in a small rented house in 2010. It was packed!

Construction begins — Peeking over the wall, you can see construction beginning. First, they had to demolish the old pig sties! (2013)

First service on the new property — First Sunday service on the new property, in the temporary sanctuary (2014).

Baptisms 2016 — Baptisms in the roofless sanctuary in 2016.

Children's Ministry Seminar 2017 — Representatives from all three Sendero de Vida churches at the Children’s Ministry seminar in JesÃºs MarÃa (2017).

9 April 2017

Genesis to Revelation – Learning and Teaching

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It’s been 66 weeks, and 462 blog posts in Spanish. And I finally finished yesterday.

With a desire to learn more about each book of the Bible, I started to write brief notes about each book of the Bible on my Spanish blog – En la Biblia. On Sundays, “Measurements” – the length and genre and some details about each book. On Mondays, “History” – where the book fits in history, dates of writing, etc. On Tuesdays, “Author” – or, of course, authors in some cases.

Wednesdays, the “Key” – one key word for each book (thanks to my Dad), and an explanation. Thursdays, “Characters” – key people in the book. On Fridays, “The Christ” – where do we see Him in the book? (Answer: all over the place!)

Finally, every Saturday, “Meditations” – key verses and passages to meditate on or memorize.

So I hope I’ve learned something. And maybe a few other people have too!

So today I started a brand new brief daily post – proverbs in the Bible! A new proverb every day with a brief note. So I’m looking forward to meditating on various proverbs for the next 365 days.

The logo I’m using says: Proverbs: The ancient art of real life (“real” actually has a double meaning – it can also mean royal.)

When I’m done that (if I finish!) I’ll actually have 3 daily projects – The Believer’s Daily Treasure, The One Year Catechism, and the Proverb of the Day, plus the Bible book summaries that don’t exactly fit in a year but I might try to cram them in somehow. That way I’ll have various paths people can take to do a daily Bible meditation. They’re generally very short – in many cases you could read them in less than five minutes.

Just a little something I work on to learn both about the Bible and about Spanish! Here’s hoping I’ll retain something.

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