Let it rain...

Every time I look at the calendar, I can't believe how quickly this year is going by! We are well over halfway into our semester, with six weeks remaining. A new week starts and before we know it, they students are out the door for their weekend ministry assignments once again! Yesterday evening (Thursday), as we often do, we spent some time sharing communion together. Earlier the students had spent a number of hours in the desert, something that takes place once every couple of weeks or so, where they take nothing more than their Bible and maybe a notebook with them and spend some one on one time with the Lord. During our evening service a couple of the students shared about their desert experience and how they heard from the Lord. One student in particular shared how he came back full of joy and refreshed, having been very much encouraged by his time with the Lord. Though they were out there for several hours, he shared with joy written all over his face how the time just flew by and before he knew it it was time to come back. He also shared how he was just pleading with the Lord to give him the ability and words to preach His Word, especially in the church. Alfredo (the student) comes from a difficult past of drugs, etc. but the Lord powerfully rescued him from that, and now Alfredo is an evangelist at heart. He has no fear in going up to anyone and sharing the Gospel with them. He will tell you himself that he's probably struggled more than many of the others in some classes, catching on to everything, but far more importantly is seeing his heart fully engaged and being touched by the Lord.

On another front, exciting things are happening in Arizpe with Benny. He came out to visit us last week with a heavy heart. Although things were going well with the rehab center and with the small church congregation that he's been overseeing, there has been some opposition from a couple of people, one from a person who had been involved with the church in the past. Basically it came down to rumours and attacks towards the church and towards Benny. Though in spite of all of this, the congregation itself has rallied around Benny and even affirmed him as their pastor.

Benny shared how one day, during his daily morning devotion over the loudspeaker, he felt that he should pray with the people and ask for God to send rain. So he told them that the following day they would pray for God to send rain, this being the dry season and the farmers in need of some moisture.  The next day came and he encouraged the people to have faith in God and ask Him to send rain. During the day as he talked with people, they would ask him, "Do you think it's going to rain?" And he would encourage them to have faith in God and ask Him. As the afternoon wore on he continued to encourage the people and inside he was pleading with God to send some rain! Sure enough as the afternoon wore along, some clouds started to from.  At around 4:00 a few drops start to fall. By 5:00, a good steady rain is falling and it didn't stop until 5:00 the next morning. One could just see the excitement in Benny's eyes as he shared this story - and it was nothing to do with him but everything to do with God and His Goodness coming through, showing everything who He is.

We are very encouraged to see how God is at work among the people in Arizpe and using Benny. Keep praying for the ministry there. There are two people in the rehab center at this point, and they are both doing well. Pray for the church that it would grow in passion and numbers, that more people would come to know Christ through their witness.

Pray also for us at the school. Our desire is always to see this heart transformation in the lives of the students, above all else. One of the teachers shared last night during the time of communion how easy it is for one to leave something like Bible school as a "Pharisee", having an intellectual knowledge of many things but what we really want are true disciples, who leave with a more intimate relationship with the Lord. God bless!

A church service in the rehab center gym.

The church holding a public service in the community soccer court.

One of the young men currently in the rehab center.

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!