Transformation, Inauguration

Four weeks in, eleven to go.

How did that happen?  The first days seem to move rather slowly as we go through orientation, getting to know people, etc.  The first day or so everyone is still rather reserved, even quiet but it doesn't take long for the ice to break and before you know it, almost a month has gone by and days start to rush by!

Back (L to R): *Guillermo, Gerry, Jesus, *Jorge, Alex, Arturo, *Ryan, Alfredo, *Howard, Joel, Juan, *Eric
Front (L to R): Jessica, *Angelica, *Susan, *Katie, Rosy, Noemi, *Roxana (*staff)

It has truly been a great first month of classes in so many ways, getting to know the different students, walking alongside them in their studies and seeing how they are responding to the Spirit's work in their lives.  What a privilege for them to spend 12 hours a day deep in God's Word and see the Spirit use it to make some deep profound changes in their lives.  One of the focusses in the beginning part of each school term is to spend significant time studying Spiritual Disciplines, and not just studying them but incorporating them into their lives.  Prayer, Meditation on Scripture, Solitude, Confession, Simplicity, Fasting, and the list goes on, tools that we have as Christians to grow in our relationship with the Lord.  Ephesians 4:13 is the goal (and also happens to be the theme verse for the school):

...until we all reach unity; in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God; and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ."

Spanish uses two different words for the word "knowledge", the word saber when it talks about knowing something as in intellectual knowledge, and the word conocer when it talks about knowing someone, a personal connection.  The word used in this passage of course is conocer implying not a meer intellectual knowing but a personal meeting and getting to know "the Son of God".  What a difference this approach makes, not just attaining a bunch of facts but getting to know a Person!  And when that happens, one cannot helped but be changed!  It's this change that we are looking for, not just in the lives of the students but we want to see in our own lives as well!

I've had the opportunity of sitting in on some of the classes (including Spiritual Disciplines) and also had the opportunity to teach a couple of the last classes.  I've also started teaching a class on MMusic inistry.  It's been exciting (and a little intimidating!) preparing for these classes, especially since they are being taught in Spanish (yes, the Spanish part of my brain is having to grow daily!)  It's always exciting to open up God's Word and see what it has to say to us.  Please pray for me as I continue with the Music Ministry classes as you think about it!  Pray that above all it would be the Spirit speaking and not myself!

Rehab Center Inauguration

This past Friday (a week ago) Howard and myself had the privilege of heading up to Arizpe and celebrate with Benny and the church there the official opening of the Rehab Center! He already had one young man who came from Guaymas and had spent two weeks there. During the service he actually got a call from an acquaintance in Hermosillo who knew of another candidate. He has several other people in mind from his home city of Hermosillo who are candidates. One of the obstacles that often exist is the entrance cost. Though it is not much (basically something to help cover the cost of food during their stay), for some it is too much. Typically friends and family will help cover this cost for a loved one but sometimes this is not possible, or they can only pay a portion. Benny's desire is to not turn anyone away, especially if the issue in coming is only the inability to cover this cost and so we are looking for ways (and trusting that God will provide!) so that no one would be turned away from getting the help they need to overcome their addictions! Since the weekend, Benny has received another individual, a 15 year old young man. We are excited to see the ministry in action and the Church rally around Benny, excited about the ministry!

Please pray for them as they minister to these people, and that God would bring those who need help to their doorstep! I have mentioned many times to Benny of how there are many people in many parts of the world praying for him and this ministry and you can't tell how much this encourages him! Thanks for your many prayers and we will look forward to sharing with you how God works through them to transform the lives of those who go there. Thanks for all your prayers for us as a staff and ministry! It is encouraging to know that there are people all over the world praying for us. God bless!

Week One

How are we already through the first half of January?! This holiday season has flown by and we are already full steam into the new semester of classes with today (Wednesday) being the third day.

I trust that you all had a very good and blessed Christmas season. I had the opportunity of spending it with most of my family and a group of 37 extra people whom they decided to bring along with them! My parents lead a team of 37 people from their church in Winkler, MB to spend just over a week here in San Carlos on a missions trip. 37 people is a lot of people to keep busy but they came ready to work hard and also ready to be a blessing to the people here! They came with backpacks and pillows to give away, suitcases and boxes full of clothes, a program for the children, and also plans to give out hotdogs and a Coke to the people in the different places we visited. On four different occassions we set out for different locations in Guaymas and the surrounding area, working together with some local contacts, different pastors and people who are involved in ministry. Early afternoon the entourage would roll in and we would set up for several hours of a carnival for the children with different areas including games, facepainting, songs, a Bible verse, balloon blowing, and things like that to interact with the children. In the meantime a trailer was opened up and the adults would pass through and take home items of clothing for themselves and for their family. As the afternoon wore on, the BBQ's came out and the hotdogs were thrown on the grill. We fed anywhere from a couple of hundred people to as many as probably 500 in one of the villages. As the sun would begin to set, a screen and projector were setup and a movie about the life of Jesus was shown. The evening concluded with one of the local pastors or ministry leaders presenting the Gospel message and giving people an opportunity to respond. Apart from this the team would spend the mornings in work projects from painting to helping a local ministry out in a construction project and things like that.

I'm exhausted just writing about it! But it was a wonderful way to spend Christmas as a family, and it's always neat to see how God uses experiences like this not just in the lives of the people who the team came to serve here in Mexico but how He uses them to touch the hearts of those who come to serve. Thanks to all of you from Bethel who gave of yourselves so selflessly! You were a blessing to those whose lives you touched and an encouragement to me as well!

A NEW YEAR

That brings us to a new school term which is already underway. In this culture, it's always an uncertainty planning ahead! Probably a week before the classes were supposed to start we had three confirmed students who had their application and references already sent it, and then of course a fairly long list of "possibilities!" Well, Sunday evening rolled around and we were up to 10 students, the same number we had last year, and there's actually one more who is supposed to show up later on today. As Howard our director has mentioned, we have been praying for these students ever since the last ones left, back in April, and we trust that God has brought these particular people here for His purposes.

As in past years, there is a great variety in the age and backgrounds of these students. The youngest is a 19 year old young woman who comes from a small, isolated fishing village about an hour northwest of San Carlos. She comes having been quite involved in her church's ministry and with a desire to learn more. Not far down the road from her comes a pastor who is probably in his late 50's or early 60's. He has been in the ministry for a number of years already, pastoring a small church in a small agricultural village and comes with a desire to study the Word of God in a deeper way than he has had the opportunity to do so through any type of "formal education". It's a wonderful mix of young people who are just figuring out how they fit into God's plan and older, more mature people who have already been serving for years in different ministry capacities. One man shared yesterday of his intense struggles with drugs and alcohol and how the Lord saved him from that lifestyle, taking away the tremendous weight that that lifestyle left on his shoulders.  He shared with us yesterday his hunger to learn and his desire to just share with those who don't know how the Lord set him free.

Over the course of the next months you'll come to know a little more about these students as I hope to share with you how God works in their lives through the course of this school term. The goal, as we've been sharing with the students, I think is best put by one of our teachers: it's not about the information as much as it is about formation. Of course as one studies the Word of God there is lots of information that one can and should take in, especially as we study the background, the history, even the geography, etc. surround any given passage. But much more important than that is how the Word forms and shapes our character, the internal formation that takes place!

So I'd invite you to pray for us as we enter a new semester! Here's some ways that you can be praying for us as we being:

• Pray for our students, that they would desire this same transformation in their lives.
• Pray for the range in backgrounds, some perhaps having more knowledge and experience than others; pray especialy for those with a very basic understanding, that they wouldn't feel "left behind".
• Pray for us as staff, that we would be the servant-leaders we need to be to help encourage and to demonstrate the kind of life that we see Christ calling us to.
• Pray for the unity in our leadership team as we are excited to have three new people join our team this year.

Thanks for your tremendous support and prayers!  ¡Dios les bendiga!

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!