The Roof
Yes, the sanctuary roof for the Path of Life Bible Church in Jesús MarÃa is now up! Wanna see it? Here’s a brief video from last Sunday.
ST Highlight
A Hearing Aid/Glasses Event (video)
Some of you have heard about our recent events in Ixtapaluca, where we have been providing hearing aids and reading glasses for people in need, along with a presentation of the gospel. Well, today you can get a glimpse of what one of these events looks like.
I was able to help one lady with her new hearing aid. Her hearing was pretty bad, so I was either shouting instructions or making sure she was looking at me so that she could understand what I was trying to tell her.
This particular person was also waiting to receive a pair of glasses. Her name was called from the front, and up she went. When she sat down, her friend said,“You actually heard them call your name?!” Well, she was pretty proud of her new ability to hear what was going on. 🙂
Anyway, here you can see a little of what happened this time around.
Between Two Teams
Our remaining time with the team from Mt Calvary went well. There were lots of other fun activities. For one, the women promoted and joined a craft class hosted by the church in Santa Barbara. Here are a few of them – they were making pretty greeting cards.
Also, we continued with evangelistic events, where we providing hearing aids and reading glasses to people who needed them, along with sharing the gospel. Here’s the team singing in front of a large crowd in the town of RÃo FrÃo (also in the municipality of Ixtapaluca).
The next team arrives tomorrow, so I’ll be heading downtown with them, Lord willing. Shari and Hannah will be teaching the adults and kids back here in Ixtapaluca at our regular Friday evening study.
This team will be starting their ministry on Saturday, and I’ll be preaching on Sunday.
Sunday afternoon, Nathanael and I will be heading out with the team to the State of Veracruz. I’m mainly going to help with transportation, and there was just enough room for one more small person, so Nathanael is squeezing in too.
The team will be involved in ministry in various areas in the state.
Here’s a photo of some of the people who took a similar trip a few years back. Some of the same people will be there this time.
We’ll be gone until Thursday, the team flies Friday, and the next team comes Saturday. And so it continues!
A Month of Short Term Teams (and how to pray)
Today 28 people will be arriving in Ixtapaluca, to be involved in the ministry here. This will begin a month of short-term MANIA, featuring 3 different teams.
The first team to come is from Mt Calvary Church in Elizabethtown, PA, Rod‘s home area. This church sent a team last year (pictured below doing an evangelistic skit at a public junior high school). Also coming to check out the ministry here are Phil and Jessie, from Kansas. 13 Mexican families have generously agreed to host people from this team.
If you know us, you know that we believe in short term missions. Ever since the itinerant ministry of many of the Apostles, God has used short term missionaries. And we’ve been blessed by the fruit of short term teams. There are many in our churches who are there because of short term ministry in cooperation with long term ministry.
So how can you pray for us and for these teams coming over the next 30 days? Here are some ideas:
- Pray that there would be a real connection between team members, teams and missionaries, teams and local believers, and believers and unbelievers. This means true unity in the Spirit among believers of whatever culture, and an opportunity for those believers to share Christ with unbelievers.
- Pray for health and strength. Some days can be pretty intense, and serving in a tropical country always has special health challenges. Pray for missionaries, host families, and team members. And pray that God would show His strength in us, even when we’re weak.
- Pray for humility and open-mindedness, and the ability to listen. We all need to serve one another and serve the Lord, and learn from one another, even when our first reaction toward someone or something is overly judgmental.
- Pray that we would grow to be more like Christ, and that people would see Him in us.
- Pray that we as believers would remember to turn to God in prayer, and turn to His Word, when we need help (and when we think we don’t!).
- Pray for long term results. First, that people would come to know the Lord, that new friends would be made, and that local believers would grow. Also pray for short term team members, that this time would be a part of long term growth, and a new vision for service in their churches, in their communities, and in the world.
A Verified Vehicle
It took the better part of yet another day. And there were many more strange and bizarre adventures as I talked to many different officials.
And I’m just not going to waste your time with all the details.
But at the end of the day (yesterday), we had a verified vehicle. With license plates.
So what does that mean? That means that after three and a half months of no van, we now have a vehicle that we can drive every day (unless there’s an unusual level of pollution – sometimes the government adds special restrictions).
Praise the Lord!
We’ll be trying to get the van back into good shape before the short term teams start arriving – in 3 weeks and 3 days!
I kind of feel like I need some driver’s training to remember how to drive. But Shari says it’s “just like riding a bike”. 🙂
Thanks for praying! (No, really.)
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!
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!