Two Answers to Prayer (or, what was in the shoebox) (podcast)
A new podcast about some answers to prayer this past Saturday.
Prayer and Praise
Evangelism in Iztapalapa
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Over the last few months, many of the churches in the area have had special evangelism days. People from other churches join them so that they can do a special outreach. You may remember the day of evangelism that we had here in Santa Barbara in March.
Today the outreach was in Iztapalapa, a part of Mexico City about 25 minutes from us. The host church was Iglesia BÃblica Peña de Horeb (Rock of Horeb Bible Church).
I have to say, Iztapalapa is a happening place – and the church made it even more happening! There were activities for the kids, music, crafts – lots going on.
I enjoyed talking to a few people, kids, youth and adults, including two people named Carlos. I seem to talk to a lot of people named Carlos.
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I would appreciate it if you pray especially for one Carlos that I met. We had a good talk about the Gospel. It seems that the Lord has really been working in his heart, shaking him up through some time he spent in jail.
Please pray that he will continue to think about and read God’s Word, and that God will clear things up in his mind. He has a wife and three children.
Someone had carved this elaborate image of “Saint Death” into a living tree in the park. It looks like someone left an apple as an offering. If we “appease” the spirit of death, can we escape the power of death? Of course not.
So please pray for the ministry of the believers in Iztapalapa. Thanks to their efforts, there are many people who now know the One who really conquered death – completely.
Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
(Hebrews 2:14-15)
We Have Visas. Now What?
Today, after working at it for 676 days, we have visas!
Now is not the time to talk about all of our adventures over that 1 year, 10 months, and 6 days. If you want to hear some of the gory details, you can always check out some of these gems:
- Fun with visa documents… (1 June 2012)
- Visa adventures (and other adventures) continue! (23 November 2012) When everything took a turn for the worse!
- The Joy of Visas (podcast) (5 January 2013) This is the best summary of our visa misadventures, even though a lot has happened since.
- Visas: Another Update (25 February 2013)
- Visa Update: After 568 days, “One Down”! (4 June 2013)
Ah, the memories.
 This sign is in the immigration office – ‘To give a “thank you” is enough.’ In other words, don’t try to bribe anyone. I’m not sure I was in a gift-giving mood after 676 days! 🙂 |
Today, things went a lot better than I expected (thanks for your prayers!). In spite of the traffic, we made it (barely!) in time to get the pictures taken (although the picture-taking-place was closed, but we went to another place (the more expensive one!)), pay the fees, and get to our appointment in time. We did have a lot of help from our lawyer.
Of course the printer wasn’t working at the immigration office. So the repair crew worked on it while we waited.
And can you believe it? They fixed it and managed to get our cards to us after only about a couple of hours (we were expecting a few more). (Thanks for your prayers!)
We still have one issue that we’re trying to get resolved (we wouldn’t want life to be dull), but our visas at least are in our hands.
The next step? We had hoped to get them for four years, but were only able to get one. So the next step will be to start getting things renewed, starting early next year. But thankfully, due to the dates we got on these visas, that will be somewhat less complicated than I thought it would be. (Or will it?)
This adventure has, unfortunately, cost us thousands of dollars – literally (ouch). But hopefully it taught us a little patience – a little trust – maybe – … (the kids were asking today – “What are we doing now?” The answer was always the same – “Waiting, of course!” 😉 )
We’re thankful that God has allowed us to be here in Mexico. We’re thankful for the person that Shari was able to share the Gospel with this week at her baking class. We’re thankful for the laughs I could have with a family that just came to a service for the first time. We’re thankful for the chance I’ll have to preach the Gospel this Sunday. And sometimes God reminds us that all these things are really in His hands. Always.
Robberies, Hurricanes, and a Fresh Start
It’s not all bad news. But it’s not all good news either.
Two more robberies. Over the past week, the property was robbed – again. And the community centre was robbed. It’s quite likely that much if not all of this is not “random” – but that we’re targets because the the Gospel we share.
But the work goes on, as we do what we can at the property. If you missed the previous post about the property, don’t miss When The Church Is Being Built…
In the bigger picture of Mexico, you may have heard of the two storms that hit Mexico from opposite directions around the same time – tropical storm Manuel and Hurricane Ingrid. We’re generally too far inland to get actual hurricanes, though we do get rain rain rain and cold cold cold.
But closer to the coasts, at least 42 people have died in flash floods and mud slides, and there are thousands of people still in shelters. More here: Mexico storms Ingrid and Manuel leave trail of destruction
The first half of the hurricane season was quiet – the second half hasn’t started so well.
So that’s a little about the robberies and hurricanes. The “fresh start” has to do with the community centre. Today was the first day of the new semester. Tomorrow the coffee shop will open after a long hiatus. At 6pm, there will be the first of a workshop for kids. I talked to Tiffany (the teacher) tonight, so I know it will be a craft – a very cool craft – so I look forward to seeing what Hannah and Nathanael will have at the end!
At the same time I’ll have my first drama class. Actually, I’m calling it drama, theatre and cinema to cover all my bases. It could be blast – or, maybe no one will come. But we’re not afraid to try new things here. 😉
Tomorrow I’ll be starting with some of the basics of acting – basically the “house rules” for the class – and then we’ll see if we can have some fun.
So that’s the news from here! And hey, if some of you from Canada want to send down some of those warm temperatures, feel free. Meanwhile I’m going to make some hot tea.
Community Centre – Fall Season Announced!
We just received the official schedule for the fall at Centro Cultural Tiempo de Vivir – the community centre in Jesús MarÃa! The excitement begins next week (right after Independence Day). Here it is –
In case you don’t read Spanish yet, here’s an overview. Every weekday – exercise class! On Wednesday and Thursday, the coffee shop is going to be open again.
On Wednesdays we have a kids’ workshop – I think it’s baking and crafts, depending on the week. And – a new addition – drama class! I wonder who’s teaching that? Oh yeah – I am. 🙁 🙂
On Thursdays – baking class (Shari is teaching some of those), English class, country dancing, and guitar class.
On Fridays there’s a movie, apparently. And on Saturday morning, soccer – and my keyboard class.
So there you have it! We basically have 12 weeks of classes, bringing us right up against the Christmas season. Lord willing we’ll have a special closing program in December.
Thanks for your prayers! Let’s do it!
When The Church Is Being Built…
As upset neighbours looked on, the notices were posted around the church’s construction site. Work suspended.
But – why in the world would work have to be suspended? Did we do something wrong?
Some of you have heard bits of what has been going on from our newsletter and email update*. There are a lot of things that we don’t write on our blog, for various reasons. But since this is pretty public business at the moment, I’m going to give you a bit of an overview.
As most of you know, our church has been purchasing property this year to use as a meeting place. We’ve been renting what is pretty much the biggest place in the area – and we’ve been packing it out.
Regarding the property, we’ve been doing things – well, in a way you might not expect. As we’ve been doing the paperwork, getting permits, and proceeding with construction, we’ve been trying to do it all – well, I might as well just say it – legally.
I know, it’s a shock. But we’ve been working hard to get all the papers we need, and to go through all the proper channels.
But there are a few people who quite frankly don’t want a church meeting in their area. A few very vocal people.
So, work has been proceeding – slowly. It’s amazing – whenever we’re about to make some progress, an official of some kind seems to arrive to question some document or tell us to stop for some other reason.
And yet when someone came and robbed the site, stealing a lot of materials worth a chunk of change – well, no one noticed.
Last week, we** were trying again to get something done, and a crowd formed, very upset at what was going on. That’s when I sent out an email update asking for prayer.
It was at this point that some public officials showed up. Although one admitted that our paperwork was completely in order, eventually others put up the notice that work was suspended. Why?
Talking to some people in our church, we’ve started to think about it this way. It seems like things go beyond legalities – to politics. And behind the politics – well, you’ve read it before, right? For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood… (Ephesians 6:12).
We did see God working, through your prayers, last week. It seems some good contacts may have been made, and – we’re not sure what will happen, but there are some hopeful signs.
Work will actually continue. There’s no legal reason to stop it. Tomorrow some of our church leadership will be meeting with officials from the municipality. And we hope to make some more steps forward – tomorrow, and through the next few weeks.
We have a lot of friends in the area – people who know we’re there to serve the community. Of course, we’re sharing God’s Word – and we don’t expect unbelievers to understand that. But we’ve also had clubs for kids, healthy activities for youth, we’ve provided free wheelchairs, we’ve helped keep public spaces clean, we’ve helped kids with their homework. And so I think at this point, as I said earlier, there are just a few vocal people who aren’t happy.
But we’re here to serve them too. So if you’re praying, pray for us – but pray for them as well.
I keep remembering Jesus’ prayer in John 17:14-17:
I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
Someone else reminded me of Jesus’ promise from Matthew 16:18 – …I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
No, He doesn’t promise that we’ll get a building built (though if it’s His will, we will!). He promises that the Church will be built. That’s the people. And that’s what is happening.
Our pastor Ismael reminded us of these words this morning as he talked about the struggles with the property –
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.
1Peter 2:9
And so, construction or no construction, we will continue to proclaim His excellencies. Right?
*(Incidentally, we’ve send out three email updates and one newsletter in August and September. Normally we don’t send out so many updates, but you can see the reason. Anyway, if you’re supposed to be getting them, and you’re not, let us know!)
**I keep saying “we” not because I personally was present but because we’re a part of the church and help where we can. Generally speaking most of the on-site work is being done by others at this point. In this case, I got the news from several people who were present at the time.