In spite of the fact that our church is called the Path of Life Bible Church Las Palmas (Iglesia Bíblica Sendero de Vida Las Palmas), since March of 2020 we actually haven’t been in the community of Las Palmas. But – we’re about to return.
Ezequiel and I went to look at one of the local properties for sale a while ago, and unfortunately it just wasn’t going to work for the church. So we do appreciate your continued prayers about that.
However, David and Ezequiel were able to check out a place to rent. We’ve been renting a party hall each Sunday morning. But for slightly less money overall per month, we now have a place 24/7. That’s a huge blessing, because we’ve been moving a lot of equipment every single Sunday! Plus, we now have a place for other activities if we choose to do something during the week.
Last Saturday a bunch of us from the church got together to clean and fix and paint the place that we’re now renting. There’s always more to be done, but I think it’s just about ready to go.
The next step will be, of course, to see how it all works in real life! This past Sunday we practised setting up the chairs, but this coming Sunday will be the real test when we have an actual service.
As I was looking back over the past (almost) 9 years of the church, I realized that this will actually be the very first time that we’ve rented our very own place. So that is a great blessing! Plus, we have separate rooms which we can use for things like Sunday school.
I’ve been thinking back to all the times we spent praying for that community. God has chosen to spread our reach further and to other places, but maybe He has further plans for Las Palmas itself!
Whatever the case, may God use this new place for His glory!
Thursday evening, I was off to my follow-up doctor’s appointment. It was raining, but who’s afraid of a little rain? And after all, the van is parked right in front of our front door.
Flooding, the day after the worst flooding…
I was, however, pretty soaked by the time I got into the van, and by the time I opened our gate (so I could move the van out onto the street), I had stepped in water deep enough to soak my shoes.
Shari suggested I maybe cancel my appointment. As tends to be the case, she was right. However, at the moment of the suggestion, the van was already out, I was trying to close the gate as quickly as possible, we were both getting soaked, and it was one of those split-second yes/no decisions. So, off I went.
As you can see, I cheated with the picture above – this was flooding on Friday evening, not Thursday evening. Flooding happens quite regularly around here, but nothing like Thursday. I was driving through lakes and rivers the whole time.
After many adventures, I was only 500 metres from the clinic, but then I remembered I was about to drive down a street rather notorious for flooding, and Thursday was no exception. With the rain still coming down in torrents, I came to my senses and began backing up, to see if by any chance I could make it home.
Backing up wasn’t so easy at that level of visibility. But then I realized that they were closing the road behind me – that is, where I needed to go. But the gentleman putting up the rope across the road saw that I was just leaving, and when I explained that I was leaving, he was kind enough to let me go.
The fun wasn’t over yet. And it wasn’t my imagination that this was unusual. Our area was apparently the hardest hit in the flooding. Firefighters were literally rescuing people by boat, where there used to be streets.
So there was no stopping if I wanted to get home (and no time for pictures!) – I drove through rivers and lakes, winding around to try to find the highest ground (or at least the least flooded ground). Every manhole I passed was now a little fountain 1-2 feet high of sewage water pouring into the street. (Genesis 7:11 – “the fountains of the great deep split open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened.” At least that water was clean!)
Finally with a busted umbrella and a jacket that could have been wrung out, I arrived home with some flood debris stuck on the bottom of the van. Our street was pretty much as it had been – which I’m thankful for. Our house was fine.
Not to say everything was fine – we did have some loss from the flooding, but I won’t get into that here. The short story – we’re fine, the house is fine, and I was glad to be home.
Many other people had worse problems. With a local sewage ditch overflowing, appliances and electronics were destroyed as water swept through houses.
Here’s an article – I ran it through Google Translate for you, but it gives you an idea and shows a picture taken very close to where we live, where I often do business: Flood in Ixtapaluca
So my appointment was cancelled (they messaged me to ask why I wasn’t there, so I explained – it simply wasn’t possible!). I rescheduled for the next day, attempting to avoid the rain, which tends to come later in the day. There’ are ‘s a tropical storm off the coast which is giving us dismal weather for a few days – “Delila“. But the rain started again before I left. As you can see in the picture above, there was still flooding.
But! Not nearly as bad as Thursday night. So lots of splashing, but no closed roads.
So – I saw my doctor a day late. And – yikes! Delila is getting stronger still, although it’s slowly moving away from us. Not much sun is predicted for the next 4 days. Those clouds are dark up there. Here we go again! Can I stay home tonight?
This month the Path of Life Bible Church Las Palmas made another move, to a place with a little more space.
The new place is a party hall called “Centennial Hall”, not far from where we were meeting before. Some of you may remember that we’ve met in party halls and gardens before, and the decorations that happen to be up always make things interesting!
Things are going pretty well there, although we’re still working out some kinks. The sound was a lot better this past Sunday, as we made a few adjustments. We do have to get used to having more limited time again, as we’re only renting the building for certain hours.
We’ve been enjoying some interesting times of teaching already. Oscar and I have been doing a series on false Christian sects. One of our goals is to be able to better share the gospel with the people we meet, in this part of the world with so much confusion regarding religion.
Ezequiel has been doing some teaching on how to live as a Christian in our modern world. And we’re also continuing in 1 Corinthians, which has been a major challenge because it’s most definitely touching many of us exactly where we are, talking about things that people are actively dealing with. Specifically, we’re about to dive deep into questions of marriage and singleness.
We’re thankful that we have the Word of God to guide us!
We appreciate your continued prayers as we look for a permanent place to meet! Also, please pray as we do deal with many issues individually and as a church. We’re thankful that these things drive us to depend on the Lord.
We’ve been learning a lot, as a church, about what a church actually is. And it’s a big topic! But one thing we know is – it’s important to meet together.
All bundled up to lead the music!
After our service yesterday, Ezequiel and Oscar and I went to check out a nearby hall that we might be able to use, temporarily, to meet. After some cold Sundays, meeting inside is attractive! Of course, cold season will be over soon, but then comes rainy season with its own problems.
This place has its pros and cons. One issue is that there are no doors on the bathrooms – hopefully something than can be fixed!
There is a good amount of space for the main service. There is a small little room that might work for the children’s Sunday school – certainly not ideal, it’s like meeting in a storage closet (and no door there either!).
But – hopefully it will be temporary!
For the last two Sundays we’ve been giving people opportunities to be more involved. Partly in the Sunday service and all that entails. But a big job will be raising funds for a permanent place for the church to meet. We’ve met in three main places so far, and we’d like to be a little less nomadic!
So the congregation is coming up with ideas to raise funds. The church has already saved up quite a bit. And you can be involved too – just go here, click on the country you would donate through, and scroll down to the bottom of the page to read about the Path of Life Project.
We also talked about prayer on Sunday – another important responsibility that we have as believers!
Here’s one part of the study – what we learned about our strategic position in personal prayer. Pray with us for this special need of a place to meet!
We pray…
with confidence, because Christ has saved us. (Heb 4:14-16)
with humility, because we are in need. (Psa 10:17; Jam 4:6)
with repentance, because God is merciful to forgive. (Psa 32:5; 1Jo 1:9)
with joy, because God is a good and loving Father. (Mat 7:7-11; Joh 16:24-27)
with hope, because the Spirit helps us in our weakness. (Rom 8:25-27)
without ceasing, because God is always with us. (Mat 28:18-20; 1Th 5:16-18; Heb 13:5-6)
in secret, because we look for God’s approval, not people’s approval. (Mat 6:5-6)
with expectation, because we pray according to His will. (Joh 14:13-14; Rom 8:25-27; 1Jo 5:14-15)
with patience, because we are God’s chosen people, and God will fulfill His purpose. (Luk 18:1-8)
with thanksgiving, because God has always been faithful. (Psa 100:4-5; Phil 4:6-7)
Moving is always an adventure, and this move has been no exception! As is often the case, there has been so much going on, and I have so much to talk about, that I have no time to do it!
Moving in Mexico has some added challenges that you may or may not experience in the country where you live. When you move into a house, it may be pretty stripped down (the owners of the previous house were very thankful that we had left a few lightbulbs!), and not always exactly ready to live in.
I’ve explained to some people that the previous house would have cost us a lot more in the long run, but this one is costing more in the short term. So we’ve been working on things like:
Installing one of the main downstairs windows
Repairing/replacing locks
Purchasing and putting in bathroom mirrors (still working on that one!)
Electrical/gas lines for the washer/dryer
Repair/replacement of the kitchen tap/drain
Installing lights where needed
Needed changes in paperwork
… and that’s just a start. But we’re making progress! And the house itself is in much better condition than the one we left.
Thank you so much to those who helped with the cost of some of these things through your special gifts for our move.
We were so thankful to have the generous help from friends in our church with cleaning and moving. We got the majority of the furniture and appliances moved in one day at the end of November, and then spent a good part of December moving the rest and cleaning the old house.
But on top of all the moving challenges, we had other adventures. For example,
A punctured tire while we were moving things from one house to the other
A car battery reached the end of its life as we were handing the keys of the old house to the owners
The same day, our internet stopped working
Power outages
Water pressure problems
But amid all these things, we have been able to reflect on God’s provision, the kindness of friends, and, in this season, the joy of the coming of the Messiah!
Outside of our dining room window is a tree that hummingbirds and sparrows just love. They are a constant reminder to us of Jesus’ words:
Are not five sparrows sold for two assaria? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.
Luke 12:6-7
There’s still a lot to do as we unpack and continue to install what needs to be installed or repaired. But we’re so thankful for how God has provided over the past few weeks!
It has been a particularly busy teaching time lately, for a couple of reasons.
First, our preachers have been taking turns helping out with the preaching at the church in Jesús María.
A plant growing where our church currently meets. Ain’t it cute?
But second, since we finished our church doctrine series in Sunday school, we’ve been picking our own themes, at least until the end of the year. Plus we’ve gone back to doing special themes on the first Sunday of the month.
Having a “blank canvas” when it comes to preaching is a huge amount of work! Sometimes you can pull up something you’ve done before, but I don’t actually have a huge number of one-off lessons to teach.
I did pull out one lesson that actually was the first lesson I ever taught in front of a church – that would be at Grace Church in Newmarket – “Principles of the Changed Life”.
This past Sunday the sermon was “Christmas Traditions in the Light of the Bible”. I asked people what Christmas traditions they wanted to talk about, and away we went! Not an easy topic, for sure. But not a dull study. At least, for me!
But that’s not the only blank canvas we have right now. We’re still looking for a house to rent, but also we’re looking for a temporary/permanent place for the church to meet. The place we’re at is increasingly unsuitable and we need to find a place. So I was out taking pictures of a possible place today, and we visited another place last week.
A blank canvas can be exciting, and a whole lot of work! But we’re also getting ready to celebrate our 8th anniversary as a church. And that’s a reminder – that what started as a blank slate can end up as an amazing work of a faithful God! So we’re thankful that we need a place to meet – and a big one at that!
