Archive for March, 2008
Highlights of My Easter Vacation
I went to Mexico to chaperone my son, Logan. I also went to benefit from time and toil spent shoulder to shoulder in the dirt with him. I went to experience the dry climate, the Mexican culture and people, and more importantly, to revel in the fellowship with other “workers”.
I expected to enjoy the company of the church youths that made the trip. I anticipated playing games and “chatting” with the children there at 3M (really just making hand signs and motions, because Hola, Adios and Gracias are the only Spanish words I know).
I looked forward to a week of deep and meaningful devotions up at the foot of the cross each morning after the 1.1 mile hike to get there. God always seems bigger when the horizon stretches out endlessly in every direction you look. When you can see miles and miles in every direction there is a special appreciation for Job 38:4 where God asks Job, “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Who marked off its dimensions? Who stretched a measuring line across it?
But while I was in Mexico I caught something I did not anticipate. I caught the vision.
My son Logan related to me a comment from his Mexican buddy, David’. (I don’t speak Spanish so I just call him David.) David had explained how he regularly feels the need to speak up in school to challenge the evolutionary and humanistic teachings his instructors espouse in class and in lectures. THAT’s when I caught the vision.
I caught the vision that amongst the pastors being trained in the Pastors College that I was constructing, one day there would be men who were, at one time in the not so distant past, boys who had grown up at Rancho 3M. There, in the building I was privileged to be wiring and dry walling, would be boys/young men that had been trained and guided in God’s word from a young age under the direction of a godly man, now ready to receive graduate level training in Godliness and Preaching.
I caught the vision of the gospel moving across the heart of Mexico through these boys and other young men from other Latin American countries. I could see God’s Sovereign Grace being carried down through Central America into the heart of the South American continent. I could envision Spanish speaking pastors going out from the Pastors College we helped fabricate, and returning to their native countries to share the true gospel and to teach and train others in biblical principles.
I was thrilled to see the seeds of something SO LARGE and so influential taking shape right before my eyes. I was excited to see part of God’s plan unfolding right in front of me. And I was delighted that I was permitted to see it when it first started and be a tiny, tiny part of it.
That’s the Highlight of My Easter Vacation
Categories: Mx08
No Comments »
Over Spring Break, 48 of us went to Mexico for a week– seven long days filled with countless stories of God’s grace and care. During our flights, in spite of security breaches at Dulles and Cowboys fans in San Antonio, all of our flights went well. Every day as we drove back and forth from Rancho 3M to Juarez, God guided us through erratic traffic patterns, wrong turns, and raging roadside fires. At the Pastor’s College as we worked, God protected us from all the dangers involved with construction–including broken ladders, hazardous insulation, and hanging an enormous sign. At Rancho 3M, God gave us wisdom and skill in work and patience with exuberant kids. God protected us from bacteria-infested water, dinner at local restaurants, and ambitious venders at the market. And through it all, God sustained us physically (by giving us strength to work) and spiritually (refreshing us each day from His Word and through worship). I don’t think that a single one of us returned unchanged or unaffected by this trip.
For me personally, although I was extraordinarily excited about going, I did to an extent begrudge giving up my Spring Break. I was tired of school and figured I could use a week off from it and all other responsibilities. Yeah, I was going to get off of school, but it was not like we were going to be resting in Mexico. And yet though I returned physically exhausted, God refreshed me spiritually. While I had left tired of school, as I returned, God gave me fresh enthusiasm for work. Even though rest was generally the farthest thing from my mind in Mexico, God still used that time to bless and encourage me.
Romans 8:32 says, “He who did not spare his Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” Having already given up His Son for us, God blessed us more abundantly than we could ever have imagined. Although we went to Mexico with the primary purpose of blessing Dean Adamek and Rancho 3M, God faithfully provided us with all that we asked for and far more than we could have imagined. Ephesians 1:3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.”
Categories: Mx08
No Comments »
Seniors, Dan asked me to remind you that you are invited to Crossroads tomorrow night for your first ever caregroup meeting. You are the guests of honor, and this meeting is all about introducing you to Crossroads and helping you get acclimated to a new group. The details are:
Thursday, March 27, 7:30pm
You should have received an email from Dan, which explains:
This new season of your life will be one of the most important of your lives, where you will be making some of the biggest decisions of your life. Our goal in the college ministry is to help you remember Jesus Christ and his saving work on the cross so that you can passionately love and follow him as you treasure him above everything else in the world. We believe that if you are passionately pursuing Christ then you will be headed in the happiest of all directions.
If you’d like to learn more about Crossroads, check out the Crossroads blog.
Categories: Announcements
2 Comments »
We’re back. Now it’s story time.
What were the highlights of the trip for you guys?
Categories: Mx08
11 Comments »
Here are pictures from yesterday and our trip home:
Categories: Mx08
1 Comment »
Hola mi amigos back home. I have actually expanded my Spanish to eight words instead of the original seven!
I have been on the caulking team, so my hands are very tired. We had to caulk in closets, and the only way to get into them is to climb through the loose insulation (the door is on the outside but locked on the inside). I scared people twice – once by opening the outside door and once by going back through the insulation. There is nothing like coming out of a “wall” when no one knows I am there!
On the way home the boys in our van treated us to songs from The Sound of Music. When David informed “Jackie Chan” (read Gabe’s post) that he was singing off key, he said, “We’re the janitors of music. We have all the keys of singing. Let’s sing in G minor flat.”
We are all having so much fun here, and I think it is all accented by our lack of sleep. Thank you all for praying for us. God has really blessed our work; and it is so wonderful to see everyone cheerfully serving each other, the church, and the kids at Rancho 3M.
Categories: Mx08
No Comments »
Today I went up to Gracia Soberana to work on the Mexican Pastor’s College. A major part of the work that we’ve done so far is putting up insulation on the roofs of the apartments. Putting up insulation is hard and frustrating work. And as I was doing this, I was really tempted to complain and wished that I was doing something else. However, putting up insulation is a critical step in completing the PC and it is a huge service to Dean and Gracia Soberana.
So although it is difficult work, God helped me to see that this is work that glorifies Him. Doing this will allow pastors from the entire Spanish-speaking world to be taught how to preach God’s Word, care for their congregations, and, most importantly, give Jesus Christ more of the glory due His name.
Categories: Mx08
2 Comments »
|
(102)
