Friday, December 12, 2008
December 12, 2008 - Pastor's Conference
Our first Pastor's Conference begins tomorrow. If you are willing please pray for the pastors and the conference. Pray that when it's over God has been glorified, the pastors have experienced love and encouragement, the pastors have been challenged, and most importantly that we have allowed God to be in complete control of the entire conference.
December 10, 2008 - Why?
(Brad) Why is it so easy to read a book about the Bible but more difficult to read The Bible? Why is it easier to read the Bible than it is to pray? I can read books about the Bible. Lots of books about the Bible. What others have to say about the Bible, what is in the Bible, what the words in the Bible mean in our lives. But to pick up the Bible and read it, just read it, can be difficult. Studying the Bible is no problem. Picking up the Bible and studying it to learn more about some topic, idea, concept, or question is easy. But to pick up the Bible and read it just doesn't happen regularly.
Then there is prayer. Oh, I pray a little here, a little there, many times throughout a day. But why is it easier to watch a movie than to pray?
We say prayer is the so important. I say prayer is so important. Prayer is where the Battle is fought. Prayer is where we do the majority of the battle. But we spend more time "doing" things. I need to get this done. Or, I need to get this or that started. Thinking, if I do these things then I'm doing something productive. I'm accomplishing something. If we believe prayer is really that important (if I believe prayer is that important) then why don't I (we) say this or that may not get done today (or ever) but I'm spending my time doing the really important thing. I'm praying. I am spending the next hour, two hours, praying and if I "do" nothing and spend the time in prayer then I am accomplishing more than if I "do something" and spend only a few minutes in prayer.
I read the story of David Wilkerson who has been in New York working with gangs, drug addicts, etc. for many years. Author of the The Cross and The Switchblade. A young minister came to him and told David he wanted to work with him in New York. David asked the young minister how much he prayed everyday. The young minister responded that he prayer 10 -15 minutes everyday. Wilkerson replied when you are praying two hours a day then you can work with me. Until you get to that point you are not prepared to work in this environment. Wow! Now that's doing what you say.
That's where I want to be. I want to stop saying one thing and doing another. I want to stop saying how important is prayer but spending so little time praying. If spiritual warfare, spiritual battles are real, and I believe they are more than I ever have before, then the Bible is clear that our battles are not fought in this physical realm but in the spiritual realm (Ephesians 6). Shouldn't my number one priority be to spend a long time in prayer everyday. Not when it is convenient or when there are not interruptions, but scheduled into my day to pray for a significant period of time everyday.
Then there is prayer. Oh, I pray a little here, a little there, many times throughout a day. But why is it easier to watch a movie than to pray?
We say prayer is the so important. I say prayer is so important. Prayer is where the Battle is fought. Prayer is where we do the majority of the battle. But we spend more time "doing" things. I need to get this done. Or, I need to get this or that started. Thinking, if I do these things then I'm doing something productive. I'm accomplishing something. If we believe prayer is really that important (if I believe prayer is that important) then why don't I (we) say this or that may not get done today (or ever) but I'm spending my time doing the really important thing. I'm praying. I am spending the next hour, two hours, praying and if I "do" nothing and spend the time in prayer then I am accomplishing more than if I "do something" and spend only a few minutes in prayer.
I read the story of David Wilkerson who has been in New York working with gangs, drug addicts, etc. for many years. Author of the The Cross and The Switchblade. A young minister came to him and told David he wanted to work with him in New York. David asked the young minister how much he prayed everyday. The young minister responded that he prayer 10 -15 minutes everyday. Wilkerson replied when you are praying two hours a day then you can work with me. Until you get to that point you are not prepared to work in this environment. Wow! Now that's doing what you say.
That's where I want to be. I want to stop saying one thing and doing another. I want to stop saying how important is prayer but spending so little time praying. If spiritual warfare, spiritual battles are real, and I believe they are more than I ever have before, then the Bible is clear that our battles are not fought in this physical realm but in the spiritual realm (Ephesians 6). Shouldn't my number one priority be to spend a long time in prayer everyday. Not when it is convenient or when there are not interruptions, but scheduled into my day to pray for a significant period of time everyday.
Monday, December 8, 2008
December 7, 2008 - Church
We went to the English speaking church in San Pedro Sula today. During the time for prayer request we learned of a 10 year old boy who had been kidnapped. Two other kidnappings and two murders that had happened in the past week in San Pedro Sula. These were only the ones we heard about because they had ties to people in the church.
Rodney and Teresa (our teammates) had lunch with a doctor who is a friend of the doctor Teresa worked for in the States. The doctor and his wife explained that the last five years the crime and kidnappings have been getting worse because of the the drugs and gangs. She and their children had been the victims of a car jacking at gun point and the doctor had been kidnapped leaving his office one day. Fortunately he was able to escape unharmed.
Presently we are not experiencing any of this but the reports of others experiencing this or people that we know having ties to those who are victims is increasing. Not sure what to make of all this but as Cindy said "It sure makes you think twice about leaving the campus."
Rodney and Teresa (our teammates) had lunch with a doctor who is a friend of the doctor Teresa worked for in the States. The doctor and his wife explained that the last five years the crime and kidnappings have been getting worse because of the the drugs and gangs. She and their children had been the victims of a car jacking at gun point and the doctor had been kidnapped leaving his office one day. Fortunately he was able to escape unharmed.
Presently we are not experiencing any of this but the reports of others experiencing this or people that we know having ties to those who are victims is increasing. Not sure what to make of all this but as Cindy said "It sure makes you think twice about leaving the campus."
December 6, 2008 Rodney & Teresa
It has been nice having Rodney and Teresa Walls back from language school and here at Hogar de Fe. Our team is now complete and we are having a good time working together. With most of us being here a year or less we are still in the process of feeling our way around. Working out who is responsible for what, where everybody's passions and skills are, and how each of us best fit into the different roles in order make our team the strongest. It's nice to have a good group of people to work through this with.
December 6, 2008 Pastor's Conference Prep
Most of the week has been spent making preparations for the Pastors' Conference on December 13-14, 2008. Brad has been doing a lot of writing and teaching preparations. He is suppose to speak all day on Sunday of the conference and do it all in Spanish, so the preparations are taking a little longer that usual. Cindy has been organizing the menus along with Bessy (Saul's wife). We are getting more excited everyday about the conference.
November 29, 2008 - Christmas Presents
A church was nice enough to send us A BUNCH of shoe boxes full of toys and stuff to give out in our churches to the kids that come to Sunday School. The boxes are similar to those that Samaritan's Purse started several years ago. They also sent along many large trash bags full of stuffed toys. Saul has collected from all the churches a list of the children that attend their Sunday schools along with their ages. So, today, Saul and Miguel (Brad helped for a little before we had to leave to pick up the kids) worked all day sorting the boxes and toys and dividing them up for the churches. Then in the afternoon and late into the evening they delivered them to the local churches. This is a picture of the truck before they left. That is Saul on the left and Miguel on right along with Saul's son Jonathan. We will also be getting the presents to the church in the other areas of the country.
November 29, 2008 - Day with the Kids
Today we had three of the children of one of our pastors spend the afternoon with us. The same pastor and his wife, Julio and Patti, that we had supper with Wednesday night. They are from left to right: Gabriele (known as Gabi), Yibely (pronounced Jee bell e), and José. We took them to the mall in El Progreso and had lunch at the food court. They had never been to the mall and their eyes were pretty big. They loved the pizza from Pizza Hut. Then we came back to the house and watched a movie. They also made cupcakes with Cindy. We had a lot of fun and helped develop our relationship with the pastor and his family
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