Bible Institute

I have a wonderful opportunity starting at the beginning of October. I plan to study the Bible through a Bible Institute that will be held at Casa de Maria Skills Center. I can think of no better life skill for anyone than to be able to gain better understanding of God's word. So, hear I go into a new adventure in Mexico. Oh, one small catch....It's going to be taught in Spanish. Please pray for me. I will have an interpreter, but it's not quite the same.

Another possible opportunity that is coming my way is to reach a community about 40 minutes south of the orphanage with the gospel. My good friend Lynette and I had a friend lead us to this community that he had been to before to do various outreaches.

It was a lot for me to take in while traveling to this community. God had recently blessed me with another vehicle that is all wheel drive and higher up so that I was able to drive the seemingly endless dirt road to our destination. I felt like I was going to a place that no one had ever been to before. I knew that wasn't true because of the tire tracks I saw on the dirt road in front of me, but I never saw any cars on the road.

When we finally arrived at the community, our friend took us to the local church. The church was about the size of my master bedroom in the states. It has hand made posters on the walls saying in the Spanish that God loved children and that they were precious to Him. In the front corner, there was an old dirty chair, I presumed for the Pastor to sit. About the chair in English was a plaque in English that said "Praise Jesus".

When I looked over the community, it was extremely quite with really no signs of occupancy. I was told that most were far away working the fields. It was strange still. I missed seeing children playing outside. I saw no one. My guess was that they were probably out in the fields working with their parents.

I asked my friend how he had gathered people for past outreaches,. He told me that first they tell the local pastor that they're coming. When they arrive, someone on their team honks his horn as he drives through town, to tell everyone to head to the church. When enough people arrive, they divide them into groups of adults, youth and children. Each gets a "to the point" message of the gospel and then following the little service is a time for a meal, a bag of food to take home.

I'm praying on how we can get involved. Please pray for us as we seek God's direction.

One Year Down

"Where has the time gone?" seems the appropriate question to start with. It's hard to believe that in just a few days a year has gone by. As a family, we find ourselves content because of God's goodness to us this past year.

With the addition of little Jesus as well as David's most recent dog and yes a horse, we are becoming more and more settled in Mexico. It has become home and the many visits from church family have made it easier to transition. It has become apparent to me that my oldest son David has little to no desire to return to the states with the exception of running errands to the states with his "compadre" Julian. Tyler, my youngest, seems to enjoy the benefits of living here, but reserves the right to return to live in the states. All in all, it seems that God continues to bless here beyond our wildest dreams.

It is with great anticipation that I look forward to this next year serving here at Door of Faith. I've learned much of God's faithfulness in provision and encouragement here. I still hold to the belief that if you simple make yourself available to God's purposes, He takes care of all the details. I've seen it over and over again in this past year. I'm learning to trust Him in even greater ways the longer we are here. For this, I am so very thankful.

Seek First to Understand

Life has been a little bit crazy here. Well, at the least I would say that life has "kept me on my toes." Due to some "behavioral" issues with little Jesus, I've removed the door of our bedroom and taken the doorknob off of the bathroom door. The "party manners" are over and the testing time has come. It's time to show unconditional love and break the thoughts of certain behavior guaranteeing rejection.

Although it's not everyday or all day, Jesus is on his second type of medication to help him fight against every impulse that pops into his mind. I haven't been too impressed with the new medicine. We switched to a time released medication, that in theory sounded better, but in my opinion it still is not a fit.

Yesterday, Jesus ran out of his meds, that were helping a little bit. He was having a very difficult day that progressed to me taking him to the Mexican directors for a time out. Very scary for Jesus. He knew this was very serious.

Unfortunately, my Spanish is still a work in progress and through a lot of misunderstanding and misinterpretation I began to understand that it appeared to the Mexican Directors that I was in over my head and was "throwing in the towel", when what I was trying to communicate was "can Jesus stay with you for a little while so I can finish up something I started with some other kids." After meeting with the directors, for what seemed like an eternity, a very bad potential outcome turned around and a small bridge was built in communication and appreciation.

What I'm trying to say is that yesterday, because of a miscommunication and a misunderstanding, Jesus was almost removed from my care and was possibly facing moving to another orphanage. Thank God for his grace in the situation.

Today, Jesus is happy and behaving. I can see him struggling to fight his impulsive behavior, but overall he's doing great.

Friends in Pain

Lately, I've been praying for two friends that are in chronic pain. It's hard to find ways to encourage people, when I have absolutely no idea of what they are experiencing in the area of pain. It's awkward not being able to take away their pain by some special prayer. Knowing and believing that God could take it all away if He chose to and not understanding why He hasn't.

I hear of people telling them things from "just confess that they are healed to ask God to forgive you." It breaks my heart to think that that is a way to "minister" the love and compassion of Jesus. It's teaching me a lot on how well do I understand scripture and a lot about this journey of faith.

I caught myself saying today, "I would make your pain go away if I could." I thought about that statement. Even though it sounds compassionate, am I coming across like I know better than God? God could take the pain away and yet He has not. Who am I to say I would take it away if I could?

We are so quick to seek instant gratification; even if for someone else. Is this right as a believer? I am starting to pray that God would get the most glory out of these situations. I am reminded of the blind man in scripture that had people guessing that he had sinned, or that his parents had sinned. That was the reason he was blind.

Why do we have to have all the answers. Does it show more faith when we provide answers or when we still trust God even though we may never have the answers? We are still living on earth as foreigners. If heaven is our home and one of it's rewards is a glorified body. Another no more sickness or pain. Shouldn't we all the more looking forward to heaven instead of focusing on being comfortable down here?

I believe it was Franny Crosby that was asked about her blindness since birth . Her response was beautiful. It was something like,"Why should I be sad about my blindness when the first thing my eyes will ever behold will be my blessed Savior."