Wow! It's been too long since I've posted something. Recently, my pastors from Green Valley Christian Center of Watsonville came down with a team from our church family. It was great to see everyone, but I was very touched that they would take the time to come and see what God has done through about 1/3 to 1/2 of our congregation. What I mean by that is that there are few people at my home church that haven't been to Door of Faith Orphanage. If they haven't, someone in their family has or they sponsor children at the orphanage. I could tell it was a lot for my pastors to take in for their short trip. It had to feel great to know that their influence was reaching down to Baja whether they had been coming or not.
It was a real picture to me of the different gifts represented in the body of Christ. People discipling and equipping believers are just as important as the ones that live out what they've been equipped to do. I've also noticed that when people come to Mexico, they discover that they do have gifts and abilities that may get overlooked in the states. Shopping, cooking, hugging, smiling, lifting, moving, hanging things up, taking things down, loading, unloading, washing, painting, driving, praying, reading, etc. are all things that God can use.
Letting God use the ordinary things into healing times, teaching times, learning times brings tremendous joy not only to the "doer", but to God. Today for instance, I asked children what they wanted for their birthday. Seems ordinary enough. But God uses it to teach me Spanish, build relationships with children, build relationships with sponsors, and give hope to children that could be forgotten, but their not. They've been brought to Door of Faith by God, not Social Services.
I also taught eight little boys how to play the card game "Go Fish". Since we've had tremendously stormy weather this week the children here have been staying inside. Not the end of the world, but staying inside for long periods of time, especially for little boys is not an easy task. Knowing this, I dropped by the little boys dorm and saw their faithful, smiling yet exhausted dorm mom watching a movie with them. Within minutes of me sitting down I was climbed on, hugged, kissed, called mommy, my pockets were searched, my ears were yelled in and I was talked to by several at the same time. I absolutely loved it! (Partly because I knew that I could leave at any time.) How that dorm mom does it day in and day out is amazing.
All this to say God uses the prayers of some, the money of others, influence, parenting, teachers, bad life experiences and good ones and mixes them together to shape us for service. Don't ever underestimate the power of a faithful smile every time you greet someone, or the kindness of tying a shoe. All of these things are things God can use to show His great love for all people everywhere.
It was a real picture to me of the different gifts represented in the body of Christ. People discipling and equipping believers are just as important as the ones that live out what they've been equipped to do. I've also noticed that when people come to Mexico, they discover that they do have gifts and abilities that may get overlooked in the states. Shopping, cooking, hugging, smiling, lifting, moving, hanging things up, taking things down, loading, unloading, washing, painting, driving, praying, reading, etc. are all things that God can use.
Letting God use the ordinary things into healing times, teaching times, learning times brings tremendous joy not only to the "doer", but to God. Today for instance, I asked children what they wanted for their birthday. Seems ordinary enough. But God uses it to teach me Spanish, build relationships with children, build relationships with sponsors, and give hope to children that could be forgotten, but their not. They've been brought to Door of Faith by God, not Social Services.
I also taught eight little boys how to play the card game "Go Fish". Since we've had tremendously stormy weather this week the children here have been staying inside. Not the end of the world, but staying inside for long periods of time, especially for little boys is not an easy task. Knowing this, I dropped by the little boys dorm and saw their faithful, smiling yet exhausted dorm mom watching a movie with them. Within minutes of me sitting down I was climbed on, hugged, kissed, called mommy, my pockets were searched, my ears were yelled in and I was talked to by several at the same time. I absolutely loved it! (Partly because I knew that I could leave at any time.) How that dorm mom does it day in and day out is amazing.
All this to say God uses the prayers of some, the money of others, influence, parenting, teachers, bad life experiences and good ones and mixes them together to shape us for service. Don't ever underestimate the power of a faithful smile every time you greet someone, or the kindness of tying a shoe. All of these things are things God can use to show His great love for all people everywhere.
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