Below is a video of the baptisms from this past Sunday. A few words of explanation…
We don’t have the video for the first two baptisms, hence the photos. Sorry!
There were 24 people baptized (I think I said 21 on Facebook, but I counted and it seems there was 24!). 19 were from the church in Jesús MarÃa, and 5 from the church in Las Palmas. It’s easy because the Las Palmas people went last, and that’s the only time I was in the tank. 🙂
You’ll hear a part of a song played over and over. And over. It’s become a bit of a traditional baptism song in the church in Jesús MarÃa, so they played a small part between every baptism. What you’re hearing is, “We give glory to You, Jesus!” – and yes, we do!
The other people you’ll see in the tank are Daniel (left), a leader in the church in Jesús MarÃa, and Ismael (right), the pastor.
Ok – here you are! About three and a half minutes of people you can pray for.
We’ve been thinking a lot about water lately. Frankly, it’s hard to avoid.
Black water – but not as bad as it has been sometimes…
As many of you know, we’ve gone from having very little water pressure, and having to resort to buckets to get clean – to now having wildly unpredictable moments in which we have more water pressure than we’ve had in years (no exaggeration), to water that is black, to not even a drop anywhere.
Our water was off all night – but did come on this morning. A little black, but certainly better than no water at all.
But really, that’s not the water that’s most important at the moment. The important water is in a rectangular tank up in the community of Jesús MarÃa. I imagine it’s filled by now, ready for a special service tomorrow, in which many believers will be baptized!
We have enjoyed spending a little time with some of the people who will be baptized, hearing how God has worked and is working in their lives. So we’ve been able to have an extended “time of rejoicing”, which will continue with the celebration tomorrow morning.
Please pray for these people, who may be in front of a bigger crowd than ever in their lives, 🙂 but who will be making a public confession of the inward reality of faith from the Holy Spirit!
I don’t know if the water will be clear or black – but it doesn’t matter much, because it’s only a symbol of the reality. The cleansing that God has done in hearts is perfect – and purifies us completely. And it is done with blood – imagine! But a blood so pure it cleans our souls.
I’ve been studying for an upcoming sermon in Hebrews, and these words seem very appropriate…
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Today was our first Sunday in the “Party Garden” in Las Palmas. It was a good service….. getting everything working was…. interesting.
Let’s just say we still have some things to work out before everything functions smoothly. We don’t really have a place for the kids’ Sunday School class, so we’ll have to rig something up for that. They have a lovely fountain in the front of the property, but that made hearing one another a bit of a challenge. I guess if you’re used to events with a band or huge speakers, it works. But we’re a church and we want to talk to each other!
But anyway, it was still a good service. I just wanted to stop by to give you a few pictures. I wanted to give you more of a view of what the place is like, but it was just too hectic – being our first time there,
So – here is just a glimpse!
Cuco leads the service
Shari explains our new Sunday School Material
A view from the front (notice the dog) 🙂
Rod preaches on Hebrews 9
So next week is a BIG week, but not in the garden – it will be at the Path of Life Bible Church in Jesús MarÃa, where, Lord willing, 5 people from our church will be baptized, as well as others from other churches. Stay tuned! 🙂
My last time preaching in the party hall in Las Palmas (on Hebrews 9).
Six weeks – one more week – how about after Christmas? Maybe February. Basically, the owners were waiting for the paperwork to come through so they could start construction.
But, finally, we find ourselves having to move. We’re not moving far away – it’s a “party garden”, in the same community. There are pros and cons to this place, and we haven’t actually met there yet, so we’ll have to see how it goes. It is a little more expensive, but attainable at this point. The good news is that it should give us some room to grow.
Andasadi Party Gardens
I’ll try to give you more details after we’ve actually had a service there.
However, it is definitely another temporary place. I don’t just mean temporary as everything in this world is temporary, I mean that we’re not sure how long it will work for us. And we’re only renting it for a set time Sunday mornings. AND even those mornings won’t always be guaranteed, if other events take precedent.
So we would certainly appreciate your prayers that this place will work for us (this Sunday, the 10th of March, will be our first Sunday there), and that the Lord would provide a more permanent place that we could use to reach out to this community, and provide more services during the week.
I’ll try to take some pictures and/or video on Sunday so you can see what it’s like!
The old place – “El Rincón Feliz” (the happy corner) (with Nathanael running our music PowerPoint)
To make things more confusing, we’re there for a week, and then we’ll take a Sunday “off” to meet with the other two churches in Jesús MarÃa (the only building that can hold all of us!), where we will be having a special joint baptism service this St. Patrick’s Day.
No matter where we are – we’re thankful that the Lord is building the Church – the people that are coming to Him!
The team from Camp Bighorn’s Journey program is here for one more night, before leaving for other parts of central Mexico. We’ve had some good times with them – hopefully it was useful for them too!
Some of the highlights of their visit included going up to the pass between the volcanoes, some “cultural challenges” such as eating some very strange tacos (you probably don’t want to know), and learning to get around on public transportation, a trip downtown, serving here in Ixtapaluca (getting to know some of the people here, helping with some construction-related stuff), and a visit to a public high school in a nearby town.
The school put on a “Mexican Traditional Fair”, a carnival with various stations where the team members played different games along with the students. In this case, it was an excuse for the students to practise their English.
Photo shoot with the superstars from the USA!
Here’s one of the girls trying out a trompo, a traditional spinning top. Mexicans grow up with these, as did our kids here in Mexico. For the newbie, though, it’s not so easy! But these guys learn fast.
A visit from a team like this brings new opportunities to share God’s Word, and to demonstrate a Christian character to the community. And its a chance for us to see things through new eyes! Especially in the case of the teams from Camp Bighorn, it’s a chance to continue discipleship in a (very) different context, and learn about the joys and challenges of serving in that culture.
Thanks, team, for visiting! Many more pics and videos from Rod here – Camp Bighorn 2019.
This week a group from Camp Bighorn‘s Journey program will be here in Ixtapaluca for the third year. They arrive tomorrow.
You can pray for them as they travel tomorrow. We pick them up at the airport first thing in the morning, and they’ll get to know Ixtapaluca a bit throughout the rest of the day.
Rod has organized an interesting and unique schedule for the team! Throughout the next seven days they will be enjoying many eclectic and challenging activities, learning how to navigate in one of the largest cities in the world in another language and culture. Then, next Tuesday, we’ll send them off to Puebla to continue their central Mexico adventure.
Here’s the group from last year, getting their first street tacos of the trip!
