God is Still Faithful

Remember earlier in the week when I wrote that I sensed God saying, ""There are many people on this team called to Missions and I am going to reveal/confirm that for them this week." That was for the Worship Center team that was here this week. Well, during our testimony service this evening, 4 people indicated they were, "One of them."

God, you are so awesome! Thank you for being so Real and personal!

Pastor Roman

We have the priviledge of working with this guy named Pastor Roman. He is a Pastor who talks a little bit like Marlon Brando in the Godfather. I call Pastor Roman the Godfather of Monterrey's Clergy. Not really. But Pastor Roman has this presence about him. It's hard to be with him for more than 5mn and not sense the Holy Spirit just oozing out of him. I can only hope and pray to be that kind of man one day!

The Worship Center did a VBS in a neighborhood near his church and it was an awesome time of ministry. I even got to read, "You Are Special," by Max Lucado in Spanish to the children.

Up to the Flagpole

Literally! We usually bring teams up to a place called, "El Museo Obispado," which means the Bishop's Museum. This place holds historic significance for the city of Monterrey and is where they have the largest Mexican flag in the whole city. It supposedly weighs 500 pounds and takes 200 soldiers to hoist it. It is up on a loma (small mountain) and provides a breathtaking view from a central point in the city of Monterrey.

On our team schedules, we usually indicate that we are taking them to, "The Flagpole." It's a good thing, because that's what we did today. We brought them to a Flagpole. They had the flag down today (probably for cleaning) and so, all that was there was the pole. The purpose in going there, however, is not to admire the enormous Mexican flag. It is to spend time interceding on behalf of the city and listening to God for what He wants the team to hear for the week. It's a pretty cool time.

This week, there were several things people sensed God speaking to them, and in my case, I sensed God saying, "There are many people on this team called to Missions and I am going to reveal/confirm that for them this week."

An Evening at the Orphanage

We spent this evening at an orphanage here in Monterrey with the new team that came down from the Worship Center in Lancaster, PA. It was an awesome time, until it rained. Several people gathered together to pray for God's favor to allow us to continue the ministry (and stop the rain) and He did. Thanks, Dad.

I should add, it's a little intimidating leading worship for a church called, "The Worship Center." They have a lot of really talented people, but they love to worship God and make it easy to remember, He is the focus, not us or the music.

I Love Skype

There are 2 things that I believe were designed with Missionaries in mind. They are Skype and the iPod. Let me explain.

First of all, a brief lesson in long-distance to and from Mexico. Mexico's phone system, as I understand it either has not undergone deregulation, or when it did, was taken over by a monopoly, as a result, those of us wanting to talk with loved ones back home or those in the U.S. wanting to talk with people in Mexico, pay an inordinate amount of money to do so. Not no more! With Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) which is what companies like Skype, Vonage and others do, I can call home for $0.02/minute. In the 15 or so years that I have been coming down to and living in Mexico, these rates are unheard of. I remember when I used to pay $0.50/minute.

Secondly, the iPod. Wow, a little hand-held device that will store up to 1,000 or more CDs? That's amazing. I have CDs down here in Mexico that I'm now going to ship back home because I simply don't need them anymore. I can travel anywhere in the world and bring my whole music collection with me (not to mention videos, etc.). I love it. I recognize I am not on the cutting edge here and that most of you already have at least an iPod Nano if not a larger one. Nonetheless, it is super cool to have one as a missionary when space and weight always have to be taken into consideration.

I'm Tired and 40

Well, today was the day that I mark the years of my pilgrimage at 40. It's funny, I don't feel 40 (kind of reminds me of Spicolli in the movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High where he says, "I don't feel tardy"). I don't think I look 40 and I certainly don't act 40. There are pros and cons to each of the three.

Maybe I began to feel 40 by the time I got home tonight. I've probably put in about 70 or so hours this week since we've had 4 teams down to the base and it's our busiest week of the Summer Short-term Missions Season. I can honestly say as I get ready to retire (for the evening) that I feel 40 (but I still don't look it or act like it).

What did we do today? Something like this:

7:30am - Meet to go over the day's schedule, pray for the teams (and for energy)
8:00am - Breakfast with Highpoint Church
9:15am - Head to Casa Hogar Orphanage for some Soccer, Basketball and hugs with lots of adorable little Mexican children
12:00pm - Head to downtown Monterrey to allow the team to go shopping, had lunch and a great talk with Jon Ross (one of our staff members here in Monterrey).
2:30pm - Meet with team and head to the Quinta (our base's summer home that has a pool)
3:30pm - Testimony Service with the team and swimming. God did some amazing things this week.
5:45pm - Head back to the base.
7:30pm - Meet with team to do DTS, SOS and Language School Promotionals.
8:00pm - Head out for Tacos at Tacos Fede
10:00pm - Head home and go to bed

See why I'm tired?

Thank you God for bringing me this far and for the wonders you've given me the priviledge to witness. You are awesome and amazing!!!

A Day in the Life...

Here's what today looked like:

7:30am - Meet re: day's events, pray for team
8:00am - Breakfast with team
9:15am - Worship
10:15am - Leave for Soup Kitchen (see below)
5:30pm - Supper at the Base
6:45pm - Leave for Hospital
10:00pm - Return home

The Soup Kitchen was awesome. We cooked food and fed about 40 children and a few of their parents. After we were getting ready to wrap things up, I saw a young boy who was interested in what we were doing. We had left over food so I offered him some. He asked if he could get meals for his family as well. I told him he could and followed him to his house and carried the drinks for him. When I got to his house, I noticed something seemed different about this area. All the houses nearby looked like they were being unassembled. They were basically being taken down as the people were notified that they would have to leave the property they were living on within 48 hours. It broke my heart to see an area that was already in very humble condition, only to understand that everyone was basically being evicted. I guess that's life as a squatter.

So, that's when God stirred a few people's hearts and the action began. One of the students asked if we could cook what we had left of the food, and we did. Be then went mobile with our Soup Kitchen since we knew many of these people didn't have time to make it over to where we held it at due to the move they needed to make. We ended up blessing about 30-40 families with an unexpected lunch and offered prayer and encouragement and the love of Christ.

As if it can't get any better than that, a family I had previously visited with a few weeks back in this area showed up again. A few weeks ago the mother had mentioned to me that she was trying to save money to buy a Nebulizer for her 6-year-old daughter Diana who has Asthma. Oddly enough, I mentioned that to the team we were working with when Karla, one of the team members said, "I have a nebulizer sitting at home that was only used twice if she wants it."

I am blown away how 2-3 weeks ago we prayed with this family that God would provide a way for her to either come up with the money or somehow provide a nebulizer for her. I had no idea He would do it through another team member coming back to visit that same area.

At the hospital, we had the priviledge of praying with a woman whose 21 year-old son, a Domino's Pizza delivery driver, suffered a severe head trauma in an accident. He has been in a coma and unresponsive for a week now. She is a believer and is trusting God for a miracle. He has a wife and 3 year-old child.

God, you amaze me! Please forgive me for believing in coincidences...I've been blessed to see so many things happen this year that have your signature all over them. Thank you for the priviledge to witness these things. Please touch William, the 21 year-old man who is in a coma in the hospital in Monterrey.

The Holy Spirit Came

I can't think of any other way to describe it. Today was another typical day of ministry with roughly the following schedule:

8:00am Breakfast
9:15 Worship
10:30pm Visit an Orphanage
1:00pm Lunch
2:30pm Depart for Food Distribution
3:30pm Distribute Food and Bibles, pray with people
5:30pm Reconvene with teams and set-up for open-air service
6:30pm Open-air Service

That's when things got interesting. We had 4 teams from 4 different churches in the U.S. doing ministry in this area. We covered it with Bible and Food Distribution, Evangelism and praying with and for people. We saw some people come to receive Christ doing door-to-door, but this evening's open-air service took the cake.

So we did a pretty typical program, songs, dramas, testimonies, muppets, etc. At the end, one of the team leaders got up and delivered a salvation message asking that those interested in receiving Christ in their heart raise their hands. About 3 people of the 150-200 in attendance raised their hands. I remember thinking to myself, "That's cool that those people responded, but since there's only about 3 of them, we'll probably be packed up and out of here in 15-20 minutes or so." I couldn't have been more wrong.

After a few minutes several of the students made two lines of about 15 students in each and faced eachother (as if they were going to play London Bridges). The speaker asked those who had raised their hands and anyone else that wanted prayer to step forward and walk down the line of students to be prayed for. The next 30-45 minutes almost seemed like a slow-motion film as I look back on it. Not only did the 3 people who responded to the message come forward, but many more people began responding as well. Pretty soon the line was so long that they had to make another line which is where I got pulled into the fray.

I was asked to line the students up and like any good YWAM staffer would do, I herded the students into two lines so they could begin praying for some of the people in the other line. I went and stood at the end of the line and thought, "I'll just stand back here and help out." Then one of the leaders came up and said, "Can you go up to the front of the line? We need someone up there who can receive prayer requests for people and translate for the team members." So there I found myself at the front of the line asking people what we could pray for. Within about 2 minutes the 3-5 people in line grew to 30+ and it would stay that way for the next half-hour or so. As people would approach me, before I could say, "How can we pray for you?" they would have tears welling up in their eyes.

It was so obvious that the Holy Spirit was moving so strong in this community, it was amazing! After a couple people came through, we began asking them if they knew Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Many said, "No," so we asked, "Would you like to pray and give your life to Christ right now?" Of the 15-20 people that didn't know Christ, all of them said, "Yes," to receive Him. Then they walked down the line and had 30+ youth ranging from 14-25 years old praying over them. It was so cool to see the response of the people in this community and even more so, to see God's hand move so powerfully in the hearts of His children.

As each person would approach the front of the line, I had to hold back the tears and the lump in my throat that would well up as I saw people whose hearts were broken, but were so ready to surrender their life to Christ. It is perhaps one of the most beautiful things I have ever experienced.

Father, may I never forget the priviledge of seeing your Spirit move so powerfully and praying for so many of your children to become joint heirs in your Kingdom.

Today was Supposed to be the Day...

...we left McAllen, TX to head to Houston. Well, it never happened. Here's what did happen, though. As we were getting ready to head out, I noticed the front left tire on the van looked low on air. I had checked it earlier in the a.m. and it had already lost 5lbs. of air. So, off to Pueblo Tire to get it checked. Got to Pueblo Tire around 10:00am and we were there until about 12:00pm. Found out we had picked up a screw in the tire somewhere between Monterrey and McAllen, TX. About 2 hours and $130.00 for 2 new front tires later, we were going to head out.

Realizing we were hungry for lunch we decided to call some friends to see if they wanted to meet us at Whattaburger. They did and we went. Whattalunch! Heading out from Whattaburger, we realized our check engine light was on. So down the road a couple miles to the Kia dealer in Mission, TX to get it checked out. We waited there a couple hours only to find out that it was a valve that keeps getting clogged, but they are going to replace it this time (this is our 3 or 4th time getting this same issue dealt with).

When they gave us the car back, they informed us that the battery died while they were checking the check engine light. Every once in a while this has happened when the children leave a light on in the van, but Fred at Kia, Mission, TX, informed me that at 4 years our battery was perhaps reaching the end of it's life. I honestly didn't believe him. I figured, "I'll drive it around a little and the battery will recharge, it's done it before." So, off to the Speer Memorial Library in Mission, TX to get books for the children for the drive up to Houston, TX. Picked out the children's books, checked out, got to the car, guess what. Battery's dead. Didn't even turn over. So, I start calling all my friends in McAllen, TX (I have about 4 of them now, all brothers in Christ). Within 15 minutes, someone is heading over to take us to Wal-Mart to pick up a battery. Anyway, by the time we did all that, returned the old battery and hit the road for Houston, TX, it was 8pm. We got about 20mn down the road before Sandra and I looked at eachother and realized, "This is crazy!"

Turned around and headed back to McAllen where we spent the night. It was not a good day.

Bombs Bursting In Air

Well, today we set sail for Houston, TX. The purpose of the trip is to shop for the items we need to finish furnishing our house (is that redundant?).

Monterrey, MX is about 2.5 hours from McAllen, TX and there is a toll-freeway (la quota), as well as a non-toll freeway (el libre). When we set out this A.M., it was nice and early and we thought we'd take, "The Libre." After taking 1.5 hours to go from Guadalupe to Cadereyta (a distance of approximately 10 miles) we decided to jump on, "The Quota." There was a protest going on as a result of the elections and the road was completely blocked off. About a half-mile down the road we saw several hundred people and police officers.

Being that it was the 4th of July and we were delayed by several hours, we decided to spend the 4th in McAllen, TX and head on to Houston in the morning. We contacted some friends in McAllen, TX and went and watched fireworks with them. It was a lot of fun for the children and we got slushies (raspados) afterward. It was fun being in smalltown U.S.A. on the 4th of July.

I almost forgot the miscommunication Sandra and I had. When we arrived in McAllen, TX, we got to Melody Lane where we were staying and the children were watching cartoons on TV. I was resting after doing most of the driving up to TX and having a little God Time. I made some phone calls and went out to check on Sandra and the children. It was then that Sandra informed me that she had just heard a newsflash that there were 3 missiles launched by North Korea and they were heading toward the U.S. I believe that she caught part of the newsflash and that half the information she was telling me was accurate, however the point about the missiles heading toward the U.S. and the fact that they had been successfully launched, etc., was not entirely true, although the newscast didn't mention that and Sandra may have misunderstood part of it. She informed me, however, that she and the kids prayed.

Needless to say, being a Cold War kid, I remember the standoff between the U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. for years. Hearing a headline like that made me immediately think nuclear weapons. I was alarmed at first, in shock and denial. Nonetheless, I began thinking, what if it was real (I'm a little embarrassed to admit that)? What if today was the last day of life on earth as we know it? I started thinking about all the people I could and should have shared Jesus Christ with and didn't (for a variety of reasons). Within about 20mn (and after no small amount of anxiety) I caught a news update along with checking www.foxnews.com to see if there was any truth to the report. I discovered that they were doing missle-testing.

Nonetheless, it really got me thinking. It really got me thinking hypothetically, like what if it would have been real. What if my world as I know it was going to end today? What if God, the creator of the Universe, was not going to provide me with the breath of life through the end of the day today? Talk about a quickening in my heart.

God, how can I live everyday with the same sense of urgency I felt when, for a brief moment, I thought it was real?