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!
