Today we’ll be getting ready to head up to Sudbury (tomorrow)! We’re looking forward to the weekend, and hope lots of people from the area will be able to join us.
Where did the Bible come from? On Friday (May 23) from 7pm-9pm and on Saturday (May 24) 9am-12pm, come and investigate important questions such as If the Bible was copied so many times, how do we know what the original said? Why are some Bibles bigger than others? Who wrote the Bible (and how do we know)? What about the Dead Sea Scrolls? Who decided which books would be a part of the Bible (and why)? What about the “Lost Gospels”? … and much more!
We’ll also be sharing on Sunday morning about Mexico, and I’ll be preaching. All these events will be at Lansing Avenue Baptist Chapel in Sudbury Ontario.
Camino Global Canada is searching for a new national director.
We recently met with the Camino Global director here in Canada, Charlene de Haan. She was helping us get organized as we plan ahead for our ministry here in Canada over the summer and in Mexico beyond that.
Charlene feels that it’s time to move on after 4 years of service with Camino. We appreciate the many ways that she has helped move the mission forward, and the ways that she has helped us personally in our ministry.
Below is a copy of the press release from the board regarding the search for the new director. Please pray that God would lead the right person to the position, and that the board would be wise in their search.
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Toronto, ON, April 21, 2014 – The Board of Directors of Camino Global Canada seeks nominations and applications for the next CEO/National Director. Camino Global’s current Executive Director, Charlene de Haan, submitted her resignation to the Board, effective as soon as a replacement can be found.
Marvin Srigley, Board Chair, says “The Board of Camino Global Canada is thankful to God for Charlene’s inspiring hard work in furthering His Kingdom. The advancements of Camino Global Canada have come through Charlene’s tireless faithful efforts. We pray and know that God will continue to bless and use Charlene for His Glory.”
Camino Global Canada has established a search committee to facilitate the selection process. The search committee would like to be in receipt of nominations and applications by June 30, 2014.
National Director Search will Culminate with 125th Anniversary
Founded in 1890 as the Central American Mission, Camino Global has always focused on ministry among Spanish speakers. Today, Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world! The scope of Camino’s outreach is global, spanning four continents with missionaries serving on-site or online among Spanish speakers everywhere. Explosive growth of online ministry has accelerated Camino Global’s impact on an international scale. Spanish speakers in more than 100 nations benefit from tools such as Obrerofiel.com and ministry partnerships such as Global Media Outreach. Kingdom business ventures, like HOPEcoffee.org, have developed in Honduras in the last four years. Now multi-cultural teams prepare to leave North and Central America to reach Muslims in Southeast Asia. As Camino Global celebrates 125 years in 2015, David Ruiz, Vice President of Global Ministries, says “This is a time when the Lord wants to make a deep impact in world evangelization through the Spanish speaking church.”
To the Ends of the Earth – Together
Nineteen-eighty-three. Costa Rica Bible Institute. A Camino missionary challenged his students about sending missionaries from Latin America to the ends of the world. One student refuted him with a strong statement. “It’s easy for you to say that because you (Americans) have dollars but we (Latinos) don’t. Less than a year later God changed that student’s understanding about missions, and today Gustavo Soto is the Director of Latin Mobilization for Camino Global. When God recently opened a door in the Philippines, FAM and Camino Global mobilized seven candidates from Costa Rica, Honduras and Mexico to serve on a multi-cultural team. FAM International supports 49 Spanish-speaking missionary units in 21 countries. Camino Global’s mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ, serving among and with Spanish speakers globally.
Responsibility of the National Director
The National Director will build on the success of the past and shape vision for the future. The ND assures the purpose of Camino Global as defined by the Board of Directors in a biblical, legal and efficient manner. The ND ensures that the mission fulfills its vision by aligning personnel, finances, structures and procedures in a way that effectively achieves its goals. Salary of the ND is contingent upon skills, qualifications and participation in personal/organizational support-raising.
Summary
Camino Global Canada, through a time of economic challenge and internal reassessment, has emerged with a clear directive and mandate to grow and further the missional journey alongside Spanish-speakers. The new National Director will work with the Board to complete a strategic plan, investing personal unique skills, experiences, relationships and passions into the development of a strong leadership team. The new leader will guard the legacy of Camino Global while leading a robust mission culture that will further the vision of Camino Global worldwide.
Yes, we’re going to start driving north. We would appreciate your prayers – for strength and health, for a vehicle that works, for smooth sailing through check-points and borders, and for good visits with friends and family.
I estimate that, Lord willing, 7 days from now we will have driven almost 4000km (2500mi). Let the games begin.
As usual there’s a lot going on! We would certainly appreciate your prayers for the next couple of weeks…
Over the next couple of days, the semester at the community centre is wrapping up. Today and tomorrow there are regular classes – and then tomorrow evening will be the big closing event (more on these special events here)! Shari will be making presentations to those who have been involved in the baking classes since January. And I’ll be giving a short Gospel presentation.
On Saturday, another big event – an Easter Egg hunt! An extreme novelty for Mexico, this is something we’ve done – what – is this the 3rd time? Anyway, great fun for the kids of Jesús MarÃa.
On the home front, school continues for the kids, and lots of preparations for ministry which will take place over the summer.
Regular activities continue next week. I’ll be closing out another Chronological Bible Study on Monday. And – oh yeah, sometime next week we start driving north.
And we’re just going to keep driving north, visiting friends and driving driving driving. Lord willing, two weeks from now, we will have driven over 3500km (2200mi) north. But it will be about another 10 days after that before we actually arrive in Canada.
Ok, here it is! This is your chance to see what our first service was like at the new property in Jesús MarÃa. 🙂
A few disclaimers are probably in order first. The video is only 12 minutes long, so I obviously left out a lot. For example, many people shared their thoughts about having a service at the property for the first time, but I only included a few. Some parts didn’t record as well as others, or were hard to hear, etc.
Also, I’ve included some “subtitles” – sort of – in the English version of this video. They are only paraphrases and summaries of what was said (or sung). I didn’t have the time to translate every word, and sometimes parts were cut off or difficult to hear. So if you understand Spanish, you’re a step ahead. If not, you’ll get the general idea. 🙂
I was thinking today that this was actually the first time we’ve had a place that we’ve fit into. The first Sunday we met, it was in a rented house, and it was packed out. When we rented the salon, we frequently ran out of room.
Admittedly, we were a little short on chairs on Sunday, but we had lots of room and we have space to build a bigger room.
This morning we had our first service on the new property! More pictures and video are coming, but I want to give a quick report with a few pictures.
Four years ago, there was no church in Jesús MarÃa. So more than anything, we thank “our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us … to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2:13-14)!
I don’t know what you think of when you think of a church plant, but you may find two things interesting.
First, there was no missionary leading the service. A missionary didn’t preach, or teach Sunday school, or lead the music. No missionary planned the songs or arranged for the food that appeared after the service. I happened to be playing keyboard, but I don’t do that every week.
Now sometimes we do those things, but our goal is to equip others. And, in fact, we can’t even say that we did that alone – apart from God who truly gives people the power, believers (many still young in the faith) have helped others to get involved.
Jesus builds His Church. We’re honoured to serve Him.
That being said, here’s the other amazing thing. There are many, many, many people who have been involved in this work. Even looking just at the land and the building, there have been people from many parts of the world who have helped.
Thank you to the many who have prayed for these people, and who have given and even come and helped with the construction!
But speaking just of people here in Mexico City, there have been so many people who have given sacrificially of their time and money to make this property and building a reality. I’m talking about people working late into the night, people praying, people washing cars to earn money, people selling food … looking around during the service, surely almost everyone we could see (except for new people) had helped to get us to where we are.
So the work is all the Lord’s – and yet He invites so many to be involved! A great community of people, leading others to worship and praise and celebrate!
It’s exciting that the church now has property that belongs to them – a place to make disciples.
But the neat things is, the church itself (or, I should say, ourselves), belongs to Christ – purchased with His blood – united forever to Him.
