Praying for Arizpe

Since my last posting, I had the opportunity to see a lot of you as I spent about three weeks up in Winkler, MB, right up until Thanksgiving weekend.  Despite the chilly weather (and the in-house wars between deciding whether to turn on the A/C or the heat!), it was a great time connecting with many of you.  Of course there is never enough time to connect with everyone, but I really appreciated those connections that I was able to make, and to sense your support behind me as I shared with many of you what God's up to down here.

I just got back this afternoon from a quick trip into the mountains to the town of Arizpe, which I've shared a fair bit about with you.  This is of course the small town where a student from two years ago, Benny, has plans to open a drug and alcohol rehab center in the facilities of an existing church.  As I shared recently, the previous pastor couple had left this past summer and Benny is serving as their pastor right now as he prepares them as well as the congregation for the work of this rehab center, hopefully to begin sometime later on in November.

The town of Arizpe

I spent a couple of nights out there, connecting with him, and bringing a truck load of items such as kitchen utensils, a washer, a fridge, and other stuff.  I know some of you have been asking me, "How's Benny doing?" and I'm happy to say that he is doing very well, very excited for what's coming.  Some might think that it's a bit of an odd match, placing him out there.  He lives in the capital city of this state, Hermosillo, a city of close to a million.  The town of Arizpe is a farming community, with the men all decked out in cowboy hats and boats, where it is not uncommon to see people riding their horse through town.  He comes from a background of the cartel, selling drugs, and living as a hitman, and here he's taking on the responsibility of pastor in this little farming community.  But sometimes that's just what you need, a little bit of unconventional!

Talking with Benny, he's been very excited as he's connected with the people of the church (the congregation being down to about 5 to 10 people), in seeing their willingness to be involved in this ministry, and their desire to grow in their relationship with the Lord.  He's also excited with how he's seen the community respond and he's tried some new tactics to reach out into the community.  Many mornings he sets up a large speaker facing out the window of the house directed out towards the surrounding houses, pulls up his Bible and shares with those in ear-shot a verse, a few thoughts and a prayer.  At other times he turns up the Christian worship music and shares it with his neighbours.  He's been going out and inviting people, visiting with them and getting to know them.  The exciting this is that it is working and people are coming on their own, without even being invited!  People are seeing whats going on and some who have not come to church for a long time are just showing up.  One could just feel a new life and a new vitality.

Benny standing in front of the center

One of the projects we tackled, not a huge one by any stretch, but one that Benny was excited about was painting the name of the ministry on the front wall of the building.  Lugar de Encuentro: Vida Nueva.  "Meeting place: New Life" is the name of the ministry.  And that describes so well Benny's desire for the ministry, that people who perhaps have little hope in their lives having battled with various addictions, would find exactly that, the hope that comes from a new life, which can only come in Christ.  The goal in the church is not to have a large number of people in the service, but to see people's lives transformed, to see the believers of the church grew up in maturity in their walk with Christ.

Inside the facility, two dorms, a kitchen, and washrooms off to the right

The house, part of the mission

The goal is to start towards the end of November.  There are a small number of needs to get to the point of being ready to open including some things like a couple of mattresses, some chairs and tables, an area that needs to be fenced of, things like that.  For the most part everything is in place.  Benny already has the 20 people he wants to start with ready to go.  His plan is to take on 20 people, have them for four months and then see a new batch of 20 come in.

As you think about Benny and this opportunity, pray for him and this small congregation.  Pray for those first 20 people who will have the opportunity of entering.  Pray that God would already be at work in their lives.  Thanks for your prayers!

An Update Update

I'm writing this update to update some of the previous blog updates...have I lost you yet?  I've had some people ask about some of the previous blog postings, wondering how things have been resolved for some of the concerns that I've asked you to pray for and I'd like to take a little bit of time to, well, update you!  I'll go in reverse-chronological order, starting with the most recent first...so here goes!

Rehabilitation Center

In a recent post I mentioned to you the possibility of opening a rehabilitation center in a small town up in the mountains about 5 hours from San Carlos.  If you remember from that posting, the mission that I'm with has several church plants up in that area, one being in the town of Arizpe.  The pastor in this particular community had recently left and the church is somewhat in a state of limbo.  Unfortunately, the church has been going through some tougher times over the past couple of years and there have been few people attending services, around 10 or so active church goers in a town of about 2,000 people.  You may also remember the facilities that this church has, a large gymnasium with several dorm rooms, bedrooms, a kitchen, and bathroom facilities...all seeing very little use...and perfect for something like a rehab center!

This past Monday we arranged a meeting to meet with the members of this church and the leadership in order to get a sense of what they thought of this whole idea of running a rehabilitation center using the facilities of this church.  Benny, of course, since the first moment we opened the doors to the facilities, saw an answer to his prayers as he's had it on his heart for some time to open a rehab center.  How would the members of the church react to this idea?  Well, we weren't sure what they thought of having their facilities "invaded" by people struggling with addictions.  And not only that, but asking them to also be apart of this ministry, helping along side Benny in working with these people.  As we sat their communicating the vision with them and then ultimately leaving the whole idea in their hands as to whether we would move ahead or not, I remember thinking, "How in the world are they going to agree with this?"  We were throwing something rather huge their way, something completely out of the ordinary, something that would mean some serious change for them.  I remember thinking, what church in their right mind would sign up for something like this?  As Benny was sharing his vision with them I didn't sense a whole lot of positivity, observing the faces of the people as they listened, and honestly, I couldn't blame them!  This was a lot to be throwing at them.  At best, I figured we would leave them their to think and pray about the project and perhaps get back to us with a reluctant YES in a couple of weeks.

But as Benny finished sharing with them the vision that he had for this ministry, one by one different members expressed their excitement and desire to see this ministry take place and to be a part of it as a church.  In fact, the first man to respond had two questions for Benny.  The first one was: "When do you think you could start?"  And the second one was: "What needs to be done before we can start?"  I could just hear the little voice in the back of my mind, "Oh ye of little faith..."

As it turned out, the congregation was indeed ready for a change, ready to step into something different and new.  They didn't want to keep everything as it always had been and instead wanted to move in a new direction.  They wanted to see their little church body grow and recognized that this may be what God had in store for them.  Wow, what an encouragement!  It made me think about how often (or perhaps, how rarely...) we as Christian are ready to step into something new, radical, uncomfortable or different for the sake of serving our Lord.  I find myself much more willing to keep things the way they've always been, the familiar, the comfortable, but this little church body was quite an example of stepping out in boldness and faith.  We all left that meeting excited and even humbled by the incredible response of these people.

Please pray for this ministry!  We've left it in the church's hands to come to a final decision in the next couple of weeks.  Meanwhile, Benny is of course very excited.  Pray for him as we move towards making this actually happen.  The goal, providing everything falls into place is to start within the next couple of months with about 20 people or so.  Also, praise God for opening the doors thus far and for what He's going to accomplish through this!

Alex

Speaking of rehabilitation centers, you might remember a young man, Alex, whom I mentioned a little while back in this post.  He is doing well.  He's still in the rehabilitation center but looking at getting out in the next week or so.  God has definitely been at work in his life and he has a sincere desire to live his life for the Lord and to not go back to his previous lifestyle.  Please continue to pray for him as he comes to mind!  I can't imagine that it would be easy to leave such a controlled environment and enter back into your life without going back to the old ways.  Alex does have a good church community with which he can identify and a circle of Christian friends, however because of choices he has made in the past, some of those relationship have been damaged.  Pray that he would remain strong!

Mitzia



You may also remember me mentioning the situation with Mitzia, (you can read about it here a seven year old girl who is awaiting a kidney transplant and has been waiting for several years already.  I wish I had better news but it seems as though everything is in the same situation, that nothing has as of yet been resolved.  They are still waiting, seeming to have fallen victims to the health system here in Mexico which at times can be very slow for whatever reason.  Keep praying for her and for her situation, that God would not only bring healing to her through whatever means He chooses but that He would also touch the hearts of the members of her family.

Coming to Canada!

One last update, I'm actually in the process of packing my bags to spend a few weeks up in Canada with family and friends!  I'm flying out on Monday and will be there until Thanksgiving Monday.  I'm really looking forward to connecting with as many as possible and I would love to go for coffee for meet up with anyone who would like to hear more about what's going on here in Mexico.  You can fire me an email and we'll make it happen!

Dios les bendiga!

Summer Showers

Some of you, especially those who have had the opportunity to spend some time out here with me in the summer, might think I'm crazy to say that this might be my favourite time of year.  To put this statement into perspective you have to realize that we are at the peak of the summer season out here.  The heat index is pretty much stuck at 40 degrees for the most part (low to mid 30's with high humidity), and the Mexican sun beating down on us mercilessly.  Top that off with the fact that we have to endure almost 4 months of this intense heat.  It's a lot like winter in Manitoba, where you hit February and you wonder if the winter is every going to come to an end...only it's obviously on the opposite end of the spectrum!

So how could I possible enjoy this time of year?  Well, its the time when we potentially have the most rainfall, and over the past number of weeks, we've had several good rainfalls.  Living in the desert, surrounded by rocky mountains covered with cactus and some pretty sad looking dry, brown bushes, rain is something of a treat.  A treasure in fact!  Psalm 63 begins like this:

You, God, are my God,
    earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
    my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
    where there is no water. (Psalm 63:1)

For me this verse has taken on new meaning as we endure the hot days of summer, often consuming a gallon of water without even thinking about it!  And it truly is amazing what happens when a little rain falls.  What is normally dry and barren, suddenly turns green and luscious!  (NOT words usually used to describe the desert!)  But you can see for yourself in the picture below.  It was taken about a week ago overlooking a valley just outside of San Carlos.

Enough about the weather though!  I wanted to share with you two specific prayer items.  The first one is somewhat of a tag on to the previous post, about a past student named Benny.  I shared a little bit about his testimony, how God got a hold of his life and how Benny's dream is to open a rehabilitation centre for drug and alcohol addicts.  I also shared a little bit about how the two of us had gone up to a small pueblito, a little town named Arizpe, up in the mountains a number of hours from San Carlos, where the mission that I'm working with has a church plant.  We went to do some maintenance in the mission facilities as the previous pastor couple recently moved on to another ministry.  The facilities include a house and a large gymnasium complete with a number of door rooms, smaller bedrooms, a kitchen and bathroom facilities.  In the past short terms missions teams have gone up and made use of this facility but over the past couple of years the gym has been largely unused and it was showing signs of it.

Well, combining those two things together, Benny's passion for opening a rehab centre, and this large facility that is seeing very little use, and you might see where this is going!  Benny saw the facilities there and it didn't take long for him to see the potential for his vision to enfold right there in the town of Arizpe.  Over the past couple of weeks we've been thinking, praying, and talking to different people including the leadership of this ministry as well as some of the leaders involved in the church out there and everything has been positive so far.  Pray for this opportunity as it comes to mind!  Everything can look good in our eyes but if this is not what the Lord has in mind, then we don't want to have anything to do with it!  Pray not just for this potential opportunity but pray for Benny's ministry in general and that God would make a way for the passions that I believe He has put on his heart to be worked out.

That leads me to the second prayer request:  I'm preaching once again this Sunday in the San Carlos Community Church.  Please pray for me as I prepare!  It's always a humbling experience preparing to preach.  Pray that God would clearing put the message that He wants me to share on my heart.  God bless!

Benny's Story

Last week I was able to take in a little bit of a change of pace and scenery.  I spent Monday to Friday in a small town called Arizpe, about four hours northeast from San Carlos, heading up into the mountains where the mission that I'm with has several church plants.  Recently, the pastor couple in charge at that particular church plant had resigned and I went up there to take care of some maintenance at the facilities there.

Arizpe, being up in the mountains, is at a higher elevation, a little under 3000 feet.  They tend to receive more rainfall there than we do here and as a result it was wonderfully green and lush as you can see in the picture below.  A nice change from the relatively dry and dusty San Carlos!

The town of Arizpe

I went up with Benny, a student from two years ago whom I've had the pleasure of getting to know over the course of the past year.  He's a few years older than I am, in his mid 30's, but in comparison to what I've gone through in my life, he's got quite a story to tell!  For much of his life he was involved with the drug cartels in Hermosillo, the capital of the state of Sonora and was actually an assassin for hire.  For years he lived this lifestyle, controlling the drug trade in his particular community, and "taking care" of those whom the higher-ups told him to take care of.  This lifestyle eventually landed him in jail and it was there that he found the Lord, and his life was completely changed.  He shared how along the way, God kept putting people in his path, sharing the Gospel with him, telling him that Jesus loved him. He also shared how his mother was constantly praying for him for years and believed that one day he would come to know the Lord.  And it happened one day as he was in jail serving out his sentence.  He cried out to the Lord and promised that if He would get him out of jail, he would serve the Lord for the rest of his life.

It actually happened, not long after that, that a judge whom he knew came by the prison where he was at and noticed him there.  She asked him what he was doing there and before she left, she told him that she would get the paperwork in order to get him released.  To his surprise it wasn't long after that that everything was in fact arranged for his release and he walked out a free man; God had miraculously set him free and he has indeed never been the same since!

Benny has such a desire to serve the Lord in whatever way he can and it is contagious being around him!  It's refreshing to hear his perspective of things, as someone who didn't grow up "in the church".  He has such a simple yet passionate grasp of what the Gospel message is and his desire more than anything is to share that with everyone around him.  As someone who has grown up in the church, I find that sometimes it's so easy to get caught up in "playing church" if you know what I mean.  We can get stuck in the ruts of rules and traditions, sometimes simply going through the motions, that we forget how simple the Gospel is and how powerfully transforming and life-changing it ought to be, not only in us, but in the people around us!  Instead of getting caught up in worship styles, we ought to be caught up in worship of the Creator Himself!  Instead of worrying about programs and activities, we ought to be caught up in the needs and concerns of our neighbours, both physical and especially spiritual!

Having come from a life of drugs, his particular passion is to reach those who are caught up in drug and alcohol addictions.  His dream is to open a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center and he is praying for the opportunity to do so and more specifically, a place to use.

Currently, Benny has been given the opportunity to work in several of the prisons in Hermosillo, doing Bible studies several days a week with the inmates.  He's also been doing some sharing at an existing rehabilitation center.  You can keep him in your prayers, that God would provide a place for him to be able to open his own rehabilitation center.

It's always an encouragement to see how God can and does work so powerfully in our lives.  And it's so important to share this with others, isn't it?  Psalm 96:3 says,

Declare his glory among the nations,
    his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

God bless and I hope Benny's story has been an encouragement to you!

Enlarged by Thee

"The house of my soul is too narrow for Thee to come into me; let it be enlarged by Thee." 

Words written by Augustine somewhere around the year 400 and for whatever reason they struck me this evening as I was reading them. Over the past couple of weeks I've been helping out at the San Carlos Community Church as we are in a time of transition, looking for a new pastor. It's fallen on a few of us who remain for the summer months to cover things like preaching, worship, etc. The last couple of Sundays were "my turn" to preach and I've been speaking from Paul's verses in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18:

"16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 

What started out as a passage for one message in early July ended up becoming several messages...and there's still more to talk about! A look at Paul's life and his words is always a humbling one, considering he was probably one of the greatest missionaries/church planters of all time. It's not even so much all that God accomplished through him that is so incredible, though this is quite something to think about as well! It's also the way in which he lived his life, in complete surrender to Jesus, no matter what it cost him. He so lived this attitude out that he seemed to have little use for this life itself other than to do what he could to "take as many people with him" to eternity as possible.

And so this particular passage seems to capture a sense of his viewpoint, living not for this life here and now but living for what's coming. It's pretty humbling to think about, especially knowing how easy it is to get caught up in this life and living as though this life is all I've got. I kind of agree with Augustine when he says, "The house of my soul is too narrow for Thee to come into me; let it be enlarged by Thee." Let my heart, mind, all that I am, be enlarged to somehow be able to capture or contain more of this amazing and awesome God that loves us so deeply!

Newsletter July 2013

Greetings to all!  Instead of a regular blog posting I've put together a more indepth update to let you know what's going on these days.  Click here or on the image below to view my latest update online. God bless!

Praying for Mitzia

At the local English speaking church, San Carlos Community Church, I have the opportunity to be a part of a committee that oversees the dispersement of a fund raised within the church for use to reach out and have an impact in our local community.  This was part of a vision to "Touch San Carlos" that our pastor (who unfortunately recently returned back to the US to be closer to their kids and grandkids) introduced to us a couple of years ago.   $50,000 US was raised and has been at our disposal to have an impact for Christ here in San Carlos.

Over a month ago we were introduced to a young girl, Mitzia, who is seven years old and has had to have dialysis since she was seven months old because her kidneys were failing.  Out of desperation, the aunt of this young girl's mother, who is a Christian, got in contact with us because for a number of years already the doctors have had her slated for a kidney transplant yet nothing has happened.  She came to us to see if there was anything that we could do to help with the situation.  Several years had already passed with the family being in limbo, waiting for the transplant to take place and for whatever reason they kept getting different reasons or excuses from the doctors that they couldn't do it yet, even though they already had a donor in place, the little girl's grandmother (who is only probably in her 50's or so...)  Though there really is very little that we can do other than come alongside them and put the situation in God's hands, I also thought of a good friend here in San Carlos, Juan Carlos, who has many connections to people in different areas of the public medical system and other people of influence.  He's been knocking on those doors to see if he can pull any strings and to see if there is any way to apply some pressure on the situation and get things moving beyond this limbo stage that they've been in.

Of particular concern, a bit over a month ago little Mitzia began to take a turn for the worse and the regular dialysis that they were doing with her at home was not longer effective and they've now had to take her into a children's hospital in a city about an hour and a half away three times a week to have it done there.  This is not a family that is particularly well off and the burden of having to go such a distance so often is taking it's toll on an already difficult situation.

They came to us not knowing what else they could do.  A couple of days ago, my friend and I decided to go pay them a visit to encouragement them and see if there had been any developments on their end with the doctors.  Unfortunately there weren't any changes in the situation, just that the doctors kept giving them different excuses for why they couldn't or wouldn't schedule in the transplant.  To help give you an idea of the medical system here in Mexico, it's a mix between public and private health care.  Those who have good jobs or the means to pay for it have access to good medical care.  For those who don't, there is a public system in place for them as well, though it is a slow, cumbersome process, sometimes full of bureaucracy.  It would seem that for whatever reason, this poor family has been getting the run around with little hope in sight and a little girl in desperate need of help.

As we sat there visiting, Juan Carlos challenged them to put their faith in the Lord in the midst of this situation, knowing that He is ultimately in control of each of every situation.  He encouraged them to trust the Lord to go before them, and make a way where there seemed to be no way to go.  We prayed with them but before doing so, Juan Carlos took Mitzia's hands and asked her some questions.  "Do you believe in God?"  An innocent, childlike "Yes," was the reply.  "Do you believe that God made you?"  "Yes."  "Do you want to thank God for your life?"  "Yes."  "Do you believe that God can heal you?"  "Yes."  I don't remember what other questions he asked but each one was responded by a simple yes that you know came from a simple, childlike faith.  And with that we prayed.  There was such a sweet sense of God's presence as we prayed one couldn't help but be moved.   As the tears flowed down we acknowledged together God's presence with us and His sovereignty over even this situation.  We prayed that He would bring healing to her body in whatever way that He chose and that ultimately He would be honoured and glorified.  I don't know who's prayers rang louder in God's ears, whether it was any one of ours or whether it was Mitzia's own prayers, but I do know that God heard us and filled us with a sense of His peace and presence.

As you think of her, would you lift up a prayer?  This coming week some of Juan Carlos's contacts are having a meeting with some people of the leadership of that particular hospital and it would be great to either get some answer as to the incredibly long delay or to put some pressure on the situation, to get something done.  Pray also for this family.  I know that the aunt is a believer and though the others would way they believe in God, I don't know whether they truly have a personal relationship with Jesus.  Pray that above all, God would be honoured and glorified in that family!

I'll be back soon to give you more of an idea of what I'm up to these days and to keep you informed on some of these things that I've been sharing about.  God bless!

Rehabilitation and Renewal

I'm gonna take a break from sharing about our students to give you an update on a young man named Alex.  Many of you have probably read about him in previous blog postings and some of you have most likely met him if you've spent some time down here in San Carlos with me.  I've shared over the past years a little about his history and testimony (which you can read about here), how he has been on his own since the age of 12.  After traveling around in a traveling circus for a number of years, he found his way into a Christian home, being taken in by a pastor couple and came to know the Lord.  However, he has battled many things in his life, among those the pull of a lifestyle of drugs.  Last year I shared how he had falled back into that lifestyle and to be honest, that's been a common theme in his life.  He'd just hang in there, coming clean for a bit, and then go back to his old "friends" and back into that lifestyle.  It seemed that he would say he wanted to change but in reality he never seemed to truly want to make that decision and turn his life around.  I remember having conversations with him about all of this but he never seem to be able to or willing to break out of that cycle. In fact, things seems to slowly get worse and I've really seen very little of him over the past number of months as he's isolated himself having been caught up more and more in that lifestyle.

This all began to change just over a week ago and as Alex shared with me yesterday, he started to realize the depths to which he had fallen.  He shared with me how one high was only leading to another and he had this sense that someone was coming after him, following him and he was living in fear.  He came to that point where he knew he needed to change and called up another good friend of mine (Juan Carlos).  They went to check out a local Christian drug rehabilitation center, my friend with the intention of leaving him there and Alex with the intention of just checking it out.  As they were there and talking with the director, he put the choice before Alex: "Are you going walk through those doors and make a choice to change your life or will you let the devil continue to have this foothold in your life?  My friend was afraid that he would turn and run but there on the spot Alex made the choice to stay.

Yesterday marked the 8th day of his time at the center and I have to say that I hardly recognized Alex!  I saw a sincerity and a brokeness in his life that I have never seen before!  He wept as he expressed sorrow for the ways he had treated so many people in the past, people who had only tried to help him.  He had actually been a student for a short while at the school I'm now at, four years ago, but for various reasons it had not worked out and Alex ended up leaving because he just wasn't showing any signs of truly wanting to grow or change at the time.  He expressed regret and sorrow for the way he had treated the staff at the school who had been their to encourage him and see him grow spiritually.  We had a very encouraging time and I was blown away to see how deeply God had touched his heart and truly changed him.  I've seen him making changes in his life in the past, only to turn back and fall back into the old lifestyle.  But this was one of those times where I truly believe that he will never go back.  I really believe that God has some huge plans in store for his life as he continues to surrender to Him.

That's not the only huge encouragement and blessing from yesterday.  I went to the rehabilitation center with several other guys, two of whom some of you may know as well.  There are two guys from Empalme, from the church that Pastor Omar and Cristina used to pastor.  One is a younger guy, father of a couple of children, and the other is a bit older with a family of his own.  These guys too had been involved in a lifestyle of drugs, something so common especially in that community in Empalme.  But they came to know the Lord and had left that behind.  However they too had fallen back into that lifestyle and for a number of years were really struggling, no longer going to church.  The younger guy had once been heavily involved in the youth program and in leading worship as well but he had left all of that behind and returned to drugs.   Their names are Rojo and Guadalupe; some of you might remember them from time spent down here.  God has done an amazing work in these guys as well, let me tell you!  They came to the rehabilitation center with us yesterday to share their testimonies and to encourage those who were in the center.  It was so awesome to see them minister in prayer and boldly sharing what God has done in their lives.

It's awesome to see what God does through people who have truly given their lives to the Lord!  It's too bad that for many of us it seems to take this rock bottom experience to truly get our attention but whatever the method God needs to use, He seems to do what He can to get us to truly turn our focus on Him.  And what a blessing when we do!  I know that many of you have offered up prayers for these young men, perhaps it's been a while since you've last done so but how about we offer up a prayer of thanksgiving together for God's powerful and gracious work that He's done in the lives of these men and in each one of our lives!  Amen!

Our Grads...Part 2

Well, we've just about made it through the first week without our students around.  In some ways it almost feels like a distant memory already but we definitely miss seeing them around, especially not knowing when or if we will see some of them again, this side of eternity!

That's especially the case with about half of them who came from different parts of Mexico and it may include a 14 hour bus ride to get to them (or 35 hours in the case of Sergio who came from the distant city of Puebla!)  I'd like to highlight the remaining "out of towners," those who came from the furthest, sharing a little about them and how I saw God at work in them over the past months.

Joel

I'll start with Joel.  He's got a neat testimony, having become a Christian early on in life but later on he got caught up in a lifestyle of drugs.  He came to the point, though, where he was tired of that lifestyle.  Hearing a message on the Prodigal Son, he identified himself with the son, recognizing the emptiness of his life and how it was only God who could truly fill him.  Deciding at that point to follow Him wholeheartedly, he's been passionately serving the Lord, with a particular desire to minister to those who are caught up in a lifestyle similar to what he had experienced.  If there's one word to describe him it would be evangelist!  He's a guy with no fear, without thinking twice, he would be out there sharing the Gospel with someone or preaching it on a street corner.

But perhaps what touched my heart the most in Joel was his tender heart towards the Lord.  We could see this grow throughout his time here in the hours spent in God's Word.  Joel was always passionate, often being the first one to speak up and pray in a group setting, and doing so passionately.  Two memories stick out and both came on the final day.  In the morning of the last day we went out into the desert, staff and students, and had a time of communion together, the final time we would do so as a group.  Towards the close of the time Joel lead us in a prayer, thanking Jesus for His broken body and shed blood.  It wasn't just the prayer he had but the tears and the passion which accompanied his prayer.  His love for the Lord and the intimacy of his relationship was so evident, and so neat to see.  The second memory was during the evening (I think I mentioned this in passing on the last post) towards the end of the graduation ceremony as the students were singing a song Heme Aquí, Here I Am, and Joel was one of those singing his heart out with tears rolling down his face.  You didn't have to spend a lot of time with him to see this passion and his love for the Lord flow out of him.

Luciana & Roberto

Luciana and Roberto

Their daughters Melody and Priscila

The oldest students this year, both around 27, the two couldn't have been more opposite in many ways.  Luciana is a very outgoing, vocal person, always ready to share what's on her heart and has a deep passion for the Lord.  Roberto on the other hand, especially in the beginning was quite quiet and reserved, especially when it came to matters of sharing what's on his heart and sharing about his faith, even in a group of believers.  He came being at a very base level in his Christian walk, having recently come to know the Lord.  Luciana had a huge heart for ministry and especially for children.  Roberto would help out where he could but didn't come with any particular passion to serve the Lord.

Like Joel, Luciana had a real sensitive heart towards the Lord and would quickly come to tears when sharing her burden for the lost and her desire to share the Lord with them.  I remember many times throughout the school term being struck by this burden which she had and couldn't help but see the Lord's heart through her, how He must be burdened and weep for those who don't know Him and don't want to have anything to do with them.  Leaving, she was very excited to be heading back with a newfound desire to share the Lord with those around her who didn't know Him.

Roberto really came out of his shell throughout the semester and there were two particular memories I have of him that really showed how far he came through the year.  One of them happened a couple of weeks ago when the students were out during Semana Santa, the Easter Holy Week where thousands of people come to San Carlos for what is pretty much a week long party.  The students when out handing tracts to people and the Gospel.  Luciana and Roberto headed out together and Luciana came back saddened in particular by one person who would not even take a tract, refusing to having anything to do with God.  Roberto on the other hand came back so pumped at going out and sharing the Gospel, something that he had been very afraid to do but with his confident wife at his side, was super excited at having taken a hold of the opportunity.  I think he had done something he had never had the courage to do before and it was exciting to get out there and just do it.

The other memory came on the final day, at the graduation ceremony.  Each of the students had to share a verse from about 40 passages they had memorized throughout the semester.  Roberto was terrified at the thought of it, as public speaking of any sort was not something he enjoyed in any form whatsoever.  He shared with us after the ceremony how just before he was to do it he was feeling weak and even a little sick in his stomach but he prayed to God, knowing that God would give him the strength to do it and sure enough he made it through!  Perhaps for some this may not be a big deal but for him it was a huge challenge overcome, relying on God's strength!

Well, this post is already getting long so I think I'll leave it at that and share about some more of the students in a later post.  It's a joy to look back and not just remember them but see how God in fact worked in their lives during our short but intense time with them.  We keep praying for them as they are settling back into their lives and invite you to do so as well whenever you think of them.  Check back for Part 3 soon!

Graduation 2013

The day after grad...  It brings back a lot of memories from the past, whether it's high school grad, graduation from Bible School, or just any such type of circumstances where you've grown used to being around certain people only to have them take off in many directions, wondering if and when you're going to see them again.

It's feeling a lot like that today, the day after our graduation ceremony for the 10 students that we've had the privilege of walking along side over the past 14 weeks.  Yesterday evening in front of about 75 friends of family members of the students, we celebrated what God has done in their lives during the time that we've been with them and said our tearful goodbyes.  It's always a mixture of feelings, relief in some sense that the marathon semester has come to an end, pride and joy in seeing how far the students have come along in this short time, but also a sense of sadness (and I know this reality will especially sink in next week as I head back to the now quiet and empty halls of the school) not knowing if I will see any of these students again, this side of eternity.  Fortunately five of the students live either right here in San Carlos or at least within a 45 minute drive.  But the other five come from further away, one from Nogales, three from the state of Sinaloa close to Mazatlan (about a 12 hour journey) and another from the city of Puebla, a 38 hour bus ride away.

CLASS AND STAFF OF 2013
Back L to R: Melina (assistant), Katie (office), Howard (director), Roberto, Joel, myself, Sergio, Manuel, Emanuel, Carlos
Front L to R: Yarely, Susan (kitchen), Luciana, Eric & Roxanna (main teachers), Areli, Esthefani

It's been a tremendous blessing for me to be apart of their lives, to see the passion for the Lord with which they are leaving the school and heading back into their homes as well as their places of ministry.  I've learned a lot and been challenged in my own walk with the Lord and what it truly means to serve Him with all of one's heart.  Yesterday evening during the grad ceremony, after we had handed them their certificates and prayed for them, the students sang a song together called Heme aquí, Here I Am, presenting themselves before the Lord, ready to serve, as Samuel did after hearing God's voice calling him.  To see them sing it with such passion, a number of them with tears flowing was very powerful.

As you think of it, pray for these students as they head back home into their places of ministry.  It's always hard to leave what is in many ways such a safe and closed environment and head back into the "real world" where there may not be the same support structure and where instead of being able to study the Word twelve hours a day, one has to resume with those normal day to day activities, whether it be work or just the routine of daily life.  But much more than being worried, I am excited to see how God will use them to transform the people around them in those daily routines to bring people to Himself.  Pray for them in that, that God would use them powerfully and that they would continue firmly planted in their relationship with the Lord, continuing to study the Word and grow in Him.

I'd like to over the course of this posting and the next couple of postings just give you a brief description of each of the students and how I saw God at work in them over the past couple of months.  For today I'll just start with one student, Sergio, the one who's come the farthest away and comes from a family of I believe it's 8 siblings.

Having traveled from the city of Puebla, about a 38 hour bus ride from here, he was not actually the first from his family to have gone through this program.  His brother had gone through it several years back.  He's a quiet guy who, as he shared with us the night before graduation, loves to listen and learn from people rather than speak.  He's one of those guys who is often the last to speak up and share what's on his heart, if he would speak up at all, but every time he would speak, he would have something very significant to say.  As quiet and contemplative as he may be, his desire is to ...well, I'll let him share it with you directly:

“Mi visión saliendo del CEC es predicar en las próximos pueblos, levantar nuevas iglesias y ir a misionar, trabajar con étnicas.” 

"My vision as I leave CEC es to preach in the surrounding villages, raise up new churches and to go and do missions, working with the ethnic people."

I've appreciated his quiet and deep devotion to the Lord, his sense of humor, and the humility in which he serves.  I know that God will use him mightily as he heads back to his home and helps his family in the ministry.  His family is very much involved in their church and he will be a valuable part of that ministry as he goes back and gets plugged in.

I'll leave it at that for now!  You can also pray for us as staff as we recoup and regroup, evaluate this past year and look forward to what we can do for next year.  God bless and thank you for your prayers!

10 days to go

Wow, April 1st...  How did that happen?? I imagine for many of you waiting for the release of winter, it couldn't come soon enough...eventually the cold and the snow HAVE to give way to spring time and warmer weather and perhaps most importantly, no snow! Here though, April brings with it the promise of HOT weather but more importantly our school's graduation! I think the last time I wrote we were in the midst of week five here at the seminary. Well, April 1st finds us on the first day of week 13, with only one more week to go! Where did the time go?

It's been a tremendous ride so far, with challenges and joys along the way. There's no chance of avoiding at times difficult circumstances and a healthy dose of growing pains when you put together ten students and a number of staff in a close, intense environment aimed at sharpening each other's walks with the Lord and spurring one another on. But the fruits of His work in our lives, as challenging as it can be at times is always whatever path He may take us on. I was reading this morning from James, chapter 1 verses 2 and 3 which talk about considering it pure joy whenever we face trials of many kinds, knowing that the testing of our faith develops perseverance and perseverance is indispensable in our journey towards spiritual maturity. "If only there could be another way," I hear my flesh groaning!

Nonetheless, looking back there has been significant growth in the lives of each one of the students who have been with us since the beginning of January and it is exciting to see. Of particular interest is one young couple, a pastor's daughter and her husband, Manuel and Areli (the pastor and his wife having gone through this program the year before).  They have grown in leaps and bounds during the past three months. They had been involved in ministry before coming here, working together with her parents in their church.  But as they have been challenged not only in their understanding of the Scriptures through a lot of intense studying but also having been encouraged to focus on their relationship with the Lord, they have found a new, deeper passion for serving the Lord. Manuel was so excited coming back from their weekly weekend ministry for how the Lord had worked through him as he had a chance to preach for the first time, filling in for his father in law who wasn't able to be there to preach.  He also shared their experience of a small discipleship group that he has been leading with his wife and how tearfully they had completed their last formal lesson together in a course that they had taken here in school and were guiding them through.

Another student, Emanuel, came back excited with the new opportunity to disciple his brother and sister in law whom had recently decided that they wanted to turn their life around and come back to Christ.  They went right to Emanuel and asked him to disciple them and share with them what he's been learning over the past while.  Obviously, they are seeing in him an example that they want to follow.

Last week during the craziness of Semana Santa, we had a tremendous opportunity for ministry, which for those who have never experienced Semana Santa here in San Carlos, is a week of partying and celebrating centered around the Holy Week leading up to Easter.  (Yeah, it is nothing short of ironic and deeply sad that many, many people take to the streets here in San Carlos in drunkenness and partying during the time when we celebrate and remember Christ's death and resurrection...)  The students were involved one afternoon with a ministry outreach project that was put on by the local English Church, handing out tracts and Bibles to many of the thousands and thousands of people walking the main street in San Carlos from Thursday to Saturday of last week.  Each evening was capped off with a Christian concert where the Gospel was clearly presented.

The students took to the streets during the afternoon to advertise for the concert and also armed with tracts, they walked up and down the streets handing them out and talking with those who wanted to know more.  In particular there was one couple who were deeply impacted by that experience, Roberto and Luciana.  These two couldn't be more opposite in many ways when it comes to their approach to evangelism.  Luciana is a bold, fearless witness and came back feeling so sad at some of the people with whom she had talked to, who had not even wanted to take the tracts that she had offered them.  She expressed such sadness as they wanted nothing to have to do with it, even though she encouraged them to take the tracts anyway for the moment when they needed them.  Roberto, on the other hand, is a pretty quiet and reserved kind of guy, especially when it comes to sharing what's on his heart or sharing about Christ.  But with the bold witness of his wife by his side, he came back pumped and excited for the freedom that he felt in being out there and sharing with many the Gospel.

I've had the opportunity to do some teaching in these last couple of weeks and I'm glad to say that I've got the first class under my belt!  Last week I had the opportunity to begin teaching an introduction to homiletics.  Not sure how I exactly got nominated for this role, seeing I'm far from an experienced preacher, never mind teacher, but if you've got extra prayer time open, by all means I'd appreciate it if you fire up a few prayers for me (and maybe more so for the students!)

That's all for now.  We'll be having our graduation next week Friday, April 12th, and just like that it's gonna be over for this school term.  God bless each one of you and thanks for your continued encouragement and support!  ¡Dios les bendiga!

Weekend Rendezvous

Had a bit of an exciting weekend to say the least!  One of the things the leadership at the school has tried to do over the years is stay connected with past students, at times going out to visit them in their various places of ministry to see how they are doing and to encourage them.  This has meant travelling to different parts of Mexico, right down to the south-central part of the country.  This weekend didn't see us going quite that far, but we made a trek, myself along with one of the main teachers and three other men, to connect with one of the couples who were students last year at CEC.

We travelled about 300km southeast of here to a small remote town called Basiroa, with a population probably close to 1,000 people.  The first 250km were on nice four lane highway.  But gradually the roads reduced in size and quality from there till the point where we were on winding gravel roads described by someone on the team saying, "You couldn't make better washboard if you tried!"  None of us had actually been to this town before, we only knew the name and had a rough idea of how to get there.  Rural Mexico obviously does not have much for signs (if anything at all!) and so part of the adventure is just in arriving.  We quickly renamed this little town llega-si-puede which means something like, "Get there if you can!"  Fortunately, after stopping at houses and asking for directions we did get there!

The couple, Jesus and Maribel, have been working in this community since they graduated from their first school term, last April.  Jesus grew up in this town but hadn't lived there for a long time.  His parents were still living there and they felt God's call to come back home, so to speak, and preach the gospel in this town where there was only a Catholic church, no evangelical church to speak of.  We were greeted by them and a number of children, who had been waiting for us.  As we heard more about their ministry in this town, we heard about their ministry especially with the children.  We could tell right aways that they had a special connection with some of the children in the community.  They had a solid group of about 25 to 30 children with whom they worked regularly.  In their experience, building inroads with the adults was much more difficult, as it takes more time to gain their trust enough to be able to share and see the gospel touch their hearts and pull them out of the catholicism that they have grown up with.  So, they have poured a lot of their time and energy especially into the children, gaining the confidence of the community and an entrance into the homes through the children.

Jesus and his wife Maribel

Part of the purpose of our trip, aside from connecting with the couple was to encourage them in their ministry.  We came together with Rob Kehler, who has a film ministry, travelling with portable equipment to show evangelical films and giving out Bibles.  That evening we had planned to show the Jesus film to those in the community.  We arrived around 4:00 and started going from house to house, inviting people to the film showing later that evening.  As the sun went down we setup our outdoor mini-theatre and got the show going.

Setting up the cine

Children waiting for the show to start

We were treated at the beginning by a song the kids had prepared for us, "Bienvenidos, bienvenidos!!"  (Welcome, welcome!)  We were delighted to see some 75 people altogether, children and adults, glued to the screen in silence, watching the life of Christ portrayed before them.

The children singing our Welcome song

After the film, we handed out New Testaments to those who wanted, both a children's version and an adult version, and also handed out reading glasses to those who needed so that they would be able to read their new New Testament.  One of the men also shared with everyone before they left the opportunity they could have to respond by giving their lives to Christ.

The next evening, we decided to show another film in the same place, this time a movie called "Last Flight Out", which tells the story of a pilot sent to help some missionaries working in a remote tribe surrounded by guerrilla-style oppression, and how this man eventually comes to know the Lord through the example and witness of the missionaries.  Once again, a strong crowd came out, many children and adults.

Though, before this weekend I had only met in passing this couple, it was very neat and encouraging to see those who have come through the school faithfully serving the Lord.  It's amazing how quickly you can feel remote and somewhat cut off from "civilization" here in Mexico.  Though we were only about one and a half hours away from a large urban center, gone were a lot of the services we become attached to like cell service, phones, internet, etc.  Cooking your food is done over a wood fire, washrooms are brick outhouses.  But this couple was willing to leave the modern conveniences behind to be faithful to the call they had received.  They did not have a house and were living with his parents.  They did not have a place to meet as the place they had was no longer available and they were now meeting in someone's home.  But their plans are to establish themselves in this community and continue in the work they've started.  Praise God that He is raising up people to reach those who don't know Him!

As some of you may remember, I've had the chance to travel with Rob Kehler on motorcycle trips to different parts of Sonora and into the state of Chihuahua.  It's amazing to see how many communities there are, especially in rural Mexico, who have a Catholic church but little or no evangelical influence much like the community where Jesus and Maribel are working.  It's exciting to think that the students of this school are and will continue to reach out to these people for Christ!  ¡Dios les bendiga!

Week Five

Just one month into the school term and it feels like we've known these students for much longer!  It took a couple of weeks for everyone to find their places and to get settled into routines, myself included, but here we are, a third of the way through our time together!

The students are much younger than they have been in the past year (so I'm told!) and it brings with it its own unique blessings and challenges.  The youngest is Yarely, a young woman who us 17 years old, turning 18 soon, the oldest is Roberto, 28, who is here with his wife and two young daughters.  Often in the past they have had pastors who are in their 40's or 50's and even one man who was 60.  But this year God saw fit to bring these particular students!

As with their age, in many ways these students are young in their faith.  Several of them have testimonies of lives lived in drugs and violence until the Lord brought them to a place of repentance and change.  Others have grown up "in the church" so to speak and are learning what it means to walk in a greater intimacy with the Lord.  The other evening we had a time of sharing, a "family time", and it was encouraging and challenging to hear what God is doing in their lives.  Some of them are grasping onto some basic concepts such as what it means to meditate on God's word, and encountering God in deeper ways in those personal times.  Others shared about their desire to return to their communities and share the gospel with those who live there.  One woman in particular, Luciana, the wife of Roberto, who has a particularly tender heart towards the Lord shared with tears how she was sad to think of the people who were perishing who haven't heard or haven't put their faith in the Lord.  Here desire is to return to her town and share with those who don't know the Gospel.  How I wish I had the same depth of passion for those who don't know Christ that she does!  Its encouraging to not only hear from their hearts but to see how God is shaping and moulding them, placing His desires in their hearts.  More than anything, that's the goal of the school here, the desire we have for the students, not only that their knowledge of God would increase, but that this knowledge would lead to transformed lives!

My role is becoming more defined as I go along.  Now that school is in session, my roles have been more in the administration as well as working with the students. A fair bit of my time is spent in the office, helping with whatever needs to be done from helping to prepare for the classes, organizing the weekend ministry placements each of the students take part in each weekend and things like that. I have also been doing a little bit of teaching music as well as sitting in on a small group with all of the guys. It's been a lot of fun to get to know each one of the students and we are excited to see God doing a work in each one of their lives. Some of them, especially some of the guys are particularly reserved or quiet when it comes to sharing what's on their heart, specifically what God is doing in their lives but we pray that He will continue this work deep in their hearts and that they will let their guards down to share this with others.

We've put together a brief description of each of the students, and how you can pray for each one of them.  You can view these mini-biographies HERE.

Pray for us as a staff also! Living in community as the students do always brings with it it's own unique set of challenges but these are all moments to shape and mold character and to become more like Christ! Pray that we would have wisdom as we seek to model Christ's character and walk along side the students in this process!  Pray for me personally as I continue to find my place in this new ministry. I want to be willing to do whatever God may want me to do, for His honor and glory!

  

Week One

The start of a new year always brings with it a natural time of reflection, looking back where we've come from, perhaps making some needed adjustments (ie. those dreaded New Year's resolutions!) and looking forward to what's coming.

This past year has been a year of changes to say the least as many of you already know, having accompanied me in prayers, thoughts, and counsel.  And God has been good, bringing me to a new place of ministry, with new exciting opportunities.

Just before I made a surprise visit home to be with my family during Christmas, I got moved into my new place of residence, a camper just across the street from the school facility.

My home? The camper on the right.  The other camper
houses the resident teachers, Eric and Roxanna Ericcson.

It is nice to have a place to call "home" for the near future!  As I also just mentioned, I did make a surprise visit home, coming home to a pair of shocked parents mid December!  It had been three years since all of us had all been together for Christmas and I figured it was time to brave the cold and indeed by the look of unbelief and shock on their faces, it was well worth the effort!

I made it back to San Carlos on the 3rd of January, just days before this winter's school term starts.  As is often the case here in Mexico, there was little knowing exactly how many students would show up until they did in fact show up!  We did have 10 students come, really the perfect size of group for the type of school that it is.  There are several couples in the mix, one newlywed couple and another two couples with young children.  A number of single men and women round out what is a very young group this year, ranging from 18 to 28.  Often there are students in the 30's, 40's or even 50's who come.

Orientation started on Monday.  This being my first experience working here in the school I felt as though the orientation was as much for me as it was for the students as we are all figuring out our new roles, responsibilities, etc.  By Tuesday classes were more or less underway though it will still be a week or so before we all find our place!

I'm very excited for this school term though.  The term is 14 weeks long, neither long nor short, but I think the key is intense!  Students have classes throughout the morning and afternoon, Monday thru Friday.  The evenings are often filled either with group activities, or watching videos such as the movie of Matthew or, like every Thursday evening, spent sharing communion together.  Though there is lots of information that is passed along to the students, the real goal of the school and desire of each one of the staff is not amassing information but personal transformation.  The goal is that each of the students is significantly impacted in their lives by the work of the Holy Spirit and to that end everything is focussed.  

Pray with us as we enter into this new semester.  I'm looking forward to share with you as we progress through this term, sharing victories and struggles, but for now just pray with us as we pray for the students, that God would touch their lives and accomplish in them whatever it is He wants to accomplish!

Pray also for us as a staff.  Whenever their is the will and desire to serve the Lord, the enemy will do what he can to distract.  Not only that, but the students can very well come with their own baggage and issues that will need to be worked through so pray for us as a whole.  Ephesians 6 talks about this spiritual battle.  Verses 18 and 19, Paul acknowledges in specific the power and importance of prayer in the context of this spiritual battle.  So with that in mind, pray for us!