What We Have Been Up To

Well, this has been a rather interesting couple of weeks...a week ago Sunday, Miguel was really sick. We knew that he had been exposed to dengue fever on his recent trip to Veracruz, so we feared the worst! He began having all the classic symptoms of dengue, beginning with fever, body aches and a headache located behind his eyes, so we got a bunch of people praying and I began mentally preparing myself to face this disease (some kinds of dengue require hospitalization).

And then on Monday morning he woke up with no fever, no pain and no headache! He was very weak, but nothing like he should have been if the dengue were to have run its course...we don't really know what to think, either he had something entirely different or God chose to heal him! Either way, we're really glad he didn't end up with dengue!

Another reason that was good was that Micah and I were scheduled to help translate for a team of eye-doctors who were in the area on that Monday and Tuesday, so I needed Miguel to take care of the other three kids while we did that...we had fun translating for the team, although we had two pretty long days and we got very tired! I was very proud of Micah, he did a great job at his station.

On Tuesday, Miguel even felt well enough to hang out with us for a few hours...we got the other kids' eyes checked and Miguel had fun playing with the kids outside while they were waiting for their appointments.

Tuesday was also Micah's 12th birthday, which we didn't really celebrate this year...we have always said we wouldn't have a big party for the kids every year and this year it just wasn't fitting into our schedule very well! We did get him a nice Lego set and a huge flan, as well as some other gifts. I love this picture of Micah, I think he was about 2 or 3 days old...he was so cute!

On Wednesday, Miguel felt sick again, this time sick to his stomach and spent most of the day in bed again (rare for him!). I'm beginning to wonder if maybe he isn't developing a lactose intolerance, because he was suspiciously ill after eating that flan the night before! It's possible, since he's been having a lot of stomach issues lately...anyway, he had been invited to share at a Totonacan youth event and was supposed to go on Thursday.  We had been debating whether or not to go as a family or whether Miguel should go at all! In the end, Miguel went alone and I stayed home with the kids.

Miguel had a good time at the youth event, which was sort of like a short camp, so we were glad he did not have to cancel. He shared about evangelism and small groups with the youth and they seemed to enjoy his session. Miguel always connects really well with the youth and simply enjoys hanging out with them, so these are good opportunities for him to use his gifts. He was also able to talk to a couple of the pastors there about areas where there are still no churches among the Totonacan people and that information is valuable for our survey.

Group picture

 Miguel interviewing the two pastors

While Miguel was gone, I was really struggling...I was very tired from not sleeping well and the kids were also cranky and chose to squabble a lot. It was quite discouraging and hard to know what to do to make it better, so I ended up praying a lot! I'm not sure what goes on when Miguel is not here to give me this fear and anxiety at night, but I do know that prayer helps.

Then we ran out of water in our rooftop tank and that was annoying...we had plenty of water in the cistern under the garage floor, but the pump wasn't working and I was having to haul it out in buckets (the plumbers came and fixed it last night, woohoo!). I really hate to complain about the water situation because I am very aware of the fact that many people around the world have to carry water or have very little water in the first place! And it isn't really that I mind hauling water, it's mostly that this house is not set up for carrying water, so it's a real pain to have to work around.

At any rate, all that was unfortunate because by the time Miguel got home on Saturday, I was not in very good shape to give him a warm welcome home! He wanted to rest anyway, though, so he went on up to bed and I worked on a scrapbook album we are making for Miguel's parents...that gave us some time and space to kind of recoup from our respective experiences of the last few days. I also had a lot of laundry to do and of course, the water ran out again in the middle of the busy laundry day and it also left me with a lot of dishes from baking banana bread and pumpkin bread to send with Miguel on his next trip.

Yes, Miguel left again on Sunday! Actually, both he and Micah left to meet up with a team from our home church in Arkansas who are doing a medical brigade in the city of Guadalajara, which is about six hours west of here. The brother of the pastor of our Puebla church is planting a church there, so a team goes from our home church every November to do medical work there in that neighborhood.

Miguel and Micah playing games

with the kids in Guadalajara

And while I am very glad that Miguel and Micah could hang out with them, coming on the heels of Miguel's other trip it's been a bit of a challenge for me. This is a part of our ministry, however, and my contribution often is to stay at home while Miguel travels...and while sometimes I struggle to see that as being a worthwhile contribution, I know that it really is.

After the struggle I had last week, I decided to make it easier for myself and lower my expectations of what I would try to get done or what I felt I 'should' get done this week...I also really prayed about the fear/anxiety issue I was dealing with at night and God has given me a tremendous sense of peace, which has allowed me to sleep much better than I was able to last week! I did have to go out on Monday to pay the phone bill, do some shopping and pay the rent, but it was a good outing with the kids and I even took them out to eat breakfast as a special treat. We've done some school, but not a whole lot and have spent some time just hanging out together having fun.

Miguel and Micah will be home tomorrow and I'm sure they'll need to rest for a couple of days...then I am supposed to make a cake for a friend's birthday on Saturday. She asked me to make her the cake and after I agreed, she stipulated that it have a Garfield on it! I'm not that good at decorating, so I decided to put a Garfield cake topper on it...I couldn't find one however, so a stuffed Garfield will have to do! That might be more fun anyway, since she can have it as a toy afterwards.

On Sunday, our Area Leader is arriving and that will start three days of intense yearly meetings and member care sessions for us. We're looking forward to it, though, and I think it will be beneficial to us and our ministry.

After that, I hope we have a few days to just be still...

Research Investigation Project

Now that we're getting a wee bit more settled, we're beginning to think a little more about the reason we moved to Apizaco in the first place and that is to be in a more strategic location from which to carry out the research that we've been asked to do about the Totonacan people group.

Totonacan dancers performing a traditional

folk dance in honor of the local saint. Cuautotola, Puebla.

Research seems to be a much-overlooked aspect of ministry and not something that we'd thought a lot about, to be honest with you, so it's been a very interesting subject to learn more about. Hearing our Area Leader's thoughts about research, however, we quickly saw the value and importance of research in a ministry context.  Gathering information is a most critical part of the ministry process in order to be able to develop the most effective, strategic and productive ministry strategy possible.

At first we were merely considering gathering ethnographic research (aimed at describing a particular culture and society) and/or strategic mission research (gathering data about things that can be mapped, such as locations of churches, percentage of Christians in each province, etc.), but the more we have learned about the Totonacan people and their context, the more interested we have become in doing research of a different sort.

The Totonacans aren't exactly what you would call an 'unreached people group', since there are many Totonacan churches that have already been planted among them.  There continues to be a missionary presence in Totonacan communities and many of the pastors of these churches are themselves Totonacans. They do seem to be, however, what you could term an 'un-discipled people group' and there is still much work to be done in the areas of personal discipleship and Bible translation (only 3 of 7 or 8 dialects have a New Testament in their language and even those aren't widely used).

Totonacan musicians playing accompaniment

to the folk dance.  Cuatotola, Puebla.

While ethnographic and strategic mission research will certainly be included in our research project, we would also like to look at some more specific issues of how churches have been planted among the Totonacan people and what does discipleship look like in the existing Totonacan churches (unfortunately, as is the case in many places, discipleship is more about classroom learning than a personal discipleship relationship such as Jesus modeled).

As we have been looking around for some good resources to help us with this research challenge, we discovered a resource called Breakthrough from GMI (Global Mapping International).  Written by Stan Nussbaum, Breakthrough is a resource that assists those in ministry to evaluate their ministries to see areas that could be improved and helps them learn more from their experiences than they might otherwise.  The guide aims to help you 'develop basic skills in field research, apply them to one issue or aspect of your ministry, and take action based on the insights that emerge from your research' (pg. 1).

We ordered the guide (although we plan to also order the e-book when it is available as it has more content) and are just beginning to read through it to learn more about this resource.  Even though this guide is more geared towards people who have already been in ministry for a while, it can also be adapted for a situation like ours where we are wanting to gather information in order to develop a strategy for future ministry.

Totonacan musicians. Cuatotola, Puebla.

Here is another quote I really like from page 1:

'This guide will help you get a clearer picture of other people's thoughts and feelings about your ministry. By understanding people better, you will get into a better position to hear what God wants to tell you about serving them.'

My thought on this quote is that this takes a lot of humility to be willing not just to hear other people's thoughts and feelings about one's ministry, but to also change and/or correct mistakes or methods that aren't as productive or as effective as they could be.  I have known/do know many in ministry for whom this would be difficult.

So, we're super excited to keep on reading this resource and learning more about how to do research in ministry, even though it scares us a little at the same time! We're kind of new to this whole research scene and I think we have a lot to learn.  We're not just excited about conducting the research in the Totonacan communities, however, but also about the possibility of helping others do this kind of research in their ministries as well!  The more we learn about it, the more value we see in adding good research skills to prayer over ministry problems and strategy development...and that's something we'd like to share with others.

Totonacan musicians in front

of the Catholic church.  Cuautotola, Puebla.

Jesus Prayed for Me

This week is Semana Santa (Holy Week) here in Mexico and as in many countries around the world, it is an important time to celebrate the passion and crucifixion of Christ.  Since all schools are on vacation this week (and next), we are taking a school break along with our friends (although we may have to start back to school next week).

Semana Santa is a time when most Mexicans travel somewhere...back home to visit their families, take a sightseeing trip, to the beach or maybe to spend a day or two at a balneario (swimming pool/resort).  Miguel is the only one in our family who is traveling as he is taking another trip the mountains this weekend and will have the privilege of attending a baptism of some new Totonac believers today in a mountain river. Then he will go spend a few days in Cuautotola, the town where our Mexican church has its Totonac outreach.

Miguel in the sierra (mountains)

This morning, I sat down with the kids and together we retold the story of Jesus' death, burial, resurrection and ascension as told in John 16 through Acts 1, with a few added details from the other gospels.  A couple of things that stood out to me in this story is first how Jesus took the time to more clearly explain to his disciples what was coming for them, even though they had a hard time understanding what he was trying to say (and they wouldn't really understand until later)...

Jesus went on to say, "In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me...very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy."

It was fun to imagine the disciples' joy when they realized that Jesus had truly risen from the dead!

Then Jesus goes on to pray for the disciples, continuing to bless and encourage them, but he didn't stop there...then he prayed for me!

"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me (that's me! and you, too, if you also believe) through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one--I in them and you in me--so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 

Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 

Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me.  I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them." 

I am not sure why, but it was comforting to me today to read Jesus' prayer for all believers and know that even during a time such as the one he was facing, he was thinking of people like me.

Little Children and Jesus

Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them.

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." ¹⁵When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.

This morning, Jkaile woke up after everyone else had gone to school. I 'caught' him praying over his breakfast.

Jkaile loves to pray!

Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire

I recently picked up a copy of Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire somewhere and I'm about halfway through it now. I'm taking it slow, letting it soak in (I usually blaze through books, but there are some books that need to be savored slowly). This is an amazing story and has been very thought-provoking and challenging to me in several areas...neat how God brings things into our lives to bless, encourage, and move us to change.

If you aren't familiar with this book, it's written by Jim Cymbala, the pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle in New York City and is basically the story of how this church has grown over several decades to be the church it is today (or rather, in 1997 when this book was written; I think he's written at least two more books with similar titles since). Pastor Cymbala also shares his thoughts on current ministry trends and other subjects relating to ministry in the church. His experiences with the inner-city in Brooklyn resonate with me because I think it's quite similar to overseas or cross-cultural missionary work.

Early in the book, Jim Cymbala shared that during his first few months at the Brooklyn Tabernacle he was literally depressed by the ministry challenges and didn't necessarily want to even be the pastor there. One Sunday night as he was preaching, he broke down and embarrassingly couldn't even continue preaching. Instead, he called for the few people that were attending the service to come pray with him at the altar. He said that as they began to call upon the Lord, the Spirit of God came down on them and began stirring their hearts. So much so that one of the ushers even confessed to having stolen money out of the offering plate! Pastor Cymbala says it was their first spiritual breakthrough.

He continues..."That evening, when I was at my lowest, confounded by obstacles, bewildered by the darkness that surrounded us, unable even to continue preaching, I discovered an astonishing truth: God is attracted to weakness. He can't resist those who humbly and honestly admit how desperately they need him. Our weakness, in fact, makes room for his power.

In a parallel vein, people are not put off by honesty, either. I didn't have to keep up a ministerial front. I could just preach God's Word as best I knew and then call the congregation to prayer and worship. The Lord would take over from there.

How I treasure those early humblings. Those experiences showed me that I didn't need to play the preacher. Jesus called fishermen, not graduates of rabbinical schools. The main requirement was to be natural and sincere. His disciples had to depend totally upon the Lord and his power. In the same way, I had to stop trying to act ministerial--whatever that was. God could only use Jim Cymbala the way he is. What a breakthrough that was for me as I learned to trust in God to use my natural personality. God has always despised sham and pretense, especially in the pulpit. The minute I started trying to effect a posture or pose, God's Spirit would be grieved.

What I could do, however, was to get even more serious about studying. I began building a biblical library and giving many hours during the week to digging into God's Word. But another John Wesley or G. Campbell Morgan I would never be--that was obvious. I had to find my own style and stay open and dependent on God."

Good reminders for both Miguel and I as we continue to wonder what is our place in ministry, exactly? Our primary ministry is in the process of changing and we're not sure what the future holds. We've already discovered many weaknesses and we have moments of wondering how God can use us when we are so prone to failure in many areas of our lives! Good reminder for us to humbly and honestly admit how desperately we need Him. How desperately I need Him!

Later, Jim says he received a promise from God of blessing for the church if he and his wife would lead the people to consistently pray and call upon the Lord. As they have actively pursued calling on the name of the Lord as a church, God has fulfilled this promise (although he does emphasize that the 'success' of a church doesn't depend on "attendance, buildings and cash", but on whether "that church is proclaiming his (God's) Word to people he loves under the anointing and power of the Holy Spirit to produce results that only he can bring about.").

Jim quotes Charles Haddon Spurgeon in saying,

"The condition of the church may be very accurately
gauged by its prayer meetings.
So is the prayer meeting a grace-ometer,
and from it we may judge of the amount of
divine working among a people.
If God be near a church, it must pray.
And if he be not there, one of the first tokens
of his absence will be a slothfulness in prayer."

Jim notes that after Jesus drove the money-changers out of the temple, Jesus seemed to be saying that "The atmosphere of my Father's house is to be prayer. The aroma around my Father must be that of people opening their hearts in worship and supplication. This is not just a place to make a buck. This is a house for calling on the Lord."


The book continues..."The feature that is supposed to distinguish Christian churches, Christian people, and Christian gatherings is the aroma of prayer. It doesn't matter what your tradition or my tradition is. The house is not ours anyway; it is the Father's.

Does the Bible ever say anywhere from Genesis to Revelation, "My house shall be called a house of preaching?"

Does it ever say, "My house shall be called a house of music?"

Of course not.

The Bible does say, "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations." Preaching, music, the reading of the Word--these things are fine; I believe in and practice all of them. But they must never override prayer as the defining mark of God's dwelling. The honest truth is that I have seen God do more in people's lives during ten minutes of real prayer than in ten of my sermons."

I like a book that challenges me in my own spiritual walk with God. I like a book that challenges me to think about how I am living out God's truths...the passages in the book about prayer, especially, have been convicting because I don't think that I can truly say that I am a Woman of Prayer. Oh, I talk to God a lot, here and there, throughout the day or night. But I can't say that I spend a significant part of my day in prayer, or that I am faithful to pray for this or that request for long periods of time, or that I pray with passion and power. In fact, I think that most times, my underlying thought is that of 'what much difference can this one woman's prayer make?'. I know that I have a tendency to underestimate the power of my prayers...

For example, this last week we had to address some issues with both Micah and JD...and it ocurred to me that although I am not praying faithfully for my kids every day. On Sunday, Miguel's brother Ivan called from Venezuela in a very drunken state and I realized that I haven't prayed faithfully for my dear brother-in-law who struggles with addictions and alcoholism.

I long for God to use me. I long for Him to manifest His power in my life. I long to truly believe His promises and truly live out my life as if I DO believe. I think that I, too, could use a fresh wind and a fresh fire.

Influenza

I'm sure that many of you have heard on the news about the influenza outbreak here in Mexico that is spreading to other countries as well. News stories are conflicting and we're getting a lot of different information from different sources. It's hard to know what is sensationalism and what is truth. Regardless of that, however, whatever this flu seems pretty serious and is scaring a lot of people. Up until today, only Mexico City and a few other places were affected by school closings, etc. but today the government shut down schools and all public gatherings across the country. This means that our mission school will also be closed for two weeks and we have canceled all mission meetings. Our church has canceled all mid-week meetings and may cancel their services on Sunday as well, depending on the situation at that time.

As you can imagine, the kids are excited to get two weeks of "vacation" even though they will continue to do their work here at home. I don't think that they can really fathom the seriousness of the situation and like all good MKs, just think a change from the ordinary is loads of fun! :)

So we appreciate your prayers as we face this new situation on top of the increased organized crime and drug violence here...my heart goes out to those who will and are being affected by these things. Many people may just not have the resources to get the medical care that they need if they get sick...Mexico as a country will definitely suffer in many ways by these recent events.

The Renewing of My Mind

I stayed home from church yesterday...for various reasons, I just wasn't up to going and I could tell that Jkaile wasn't feeling too well, either, since he is coming down with a cold. I kept him up for a little while thinking to delay his nap until the afternoon, but he became quite destructive...tearing up books and magazines, going around pulling everything off of shelves and onto the floor...the last straw was when he broke one of my coffee mugs (not my favorite, but still...) and spilled coffee all over himself, the floor, Miguel's books. My goodness. So off to bed he went and I began feeling a quiet urge to sit down for some time with God. So I pulled out my Patriarchs book to do another day of the study, we are on Week Three (yes, I know, a little behind the rest of you!). And God had something pretty meaningful there for me yesterday!

That particular part of the study was about the second time that Abraham lied about Sarah being his wife...this time King Abimelech took Sarah to be one of his wives (Genesis 20). God intervened once again, however, saving Sarah from committing adultery and in the process revealing Himself and His power to Abimelech and his people.

The first thing that stuck out to me is how God intervened twice on Sarah's behalf and held Abraham responsible for the whole situation. Scripture isn't really clear whether Sarah was going along with the scheme or whether she was just obeying Abraham. It is clear, however, that Abraham allowed Sarah to be put into a very compromising situation because of his own fear and that God stepped in to protect Sarah. It got me to thinking of how many times I balk at doing what Miguel wants to do, being unable to trust God with the outcome?

The second thing was that the study points out that Abraham seemed to have a "default" reaction whenever he felt threatened regarding Sarah and that was to lie and deceive-in this case, wilfull, premeditated sin (Gen. 20:13). What is my "default" when confronted with stressful circumstances-what is my pattern of handing crisis situations? I relate to this in several areas of my life...my responses under stress, my speech and responses to my kids and Miguel, my struggle with food, my thought life, dreams...like Beth says, repeated patterns of sin and foolish decisions that cause pain and self-contempt...

In her own life, God showed her that freedom would only come through the renewing of her mind.

1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy,

to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—

this is your spiritual act of worship.

2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world,

but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—

his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans 12:1-2 NIV

3For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.

4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.

On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

5We demolish arguments and every pretension

that sets itself up against the knowledge of God,

and we take captive every thought

to make it obedient to Christ.

II Cor. 10:3-5 NIV

23to be made new in the attitude of your minds;

Ephesians 4:23 NIV

Beth decided to ask God to not only renew her conscious mind, but her subconscious mind as well...including her dream life and thought life while she slept. She continues to ask God to place His truth deep inside, even in the places of her mind that she doesn't even know exist!

Later, Beth says she discovered the Greek word, "horme", which refers to impulses, urges, a forceful movement towards something, a sudden thought, whim, or dictating inclination. So then she began including that in her prayer as well, asking God to make even her reactions and sudden impulses godly!

Like Beth, I ask, what would it look like if I began attentively and repeatedly praying for the Holy Spirit to invade and renew me so richly and so deeply that even my impulses are godly? That even my "default" response is sanctified?

Victory

An update on the sharing of the testimony last night...I did it and praise God that He gave me the words to say! I was nervous at first, but then I was okay. And yes, I did cry, but that was okay, too, I think there were quite a few others with tears as well! Many of the ladies told me that they appreciated what I had to share and that it meant a lot to them that I was willing to be so open. And one of the ladies also told me that she thought I did a very good job at not oversharing, but being prudent and careful with my words. So thanks be to God for using me and today I am at peace.

In the last week, I've had 3 different bad dreams on different nights. One of those nights, Miguel woke me up since I was apparently I was talking in my sleep. I'm glad he woke me up because it was a scary dream! But, I'm very thankful that each time I was able to wake up, pray, and ask God for help. The one night I had Miguel pray for me, which was pretty special since he's usually not exactly awake enough to do that! I have taken the opportunity after each scary dream to search my heart and confess any sin that comes to mind or just spend time in prayer. I feel like I am having victory in this area and that my heart is generally more inclined towards God on a daily basis. Thank you to those who have prayed!

I will extol the Lord at all times;

his praise will always be on my lips.

My soul will boast in the Lord;

let the afflicted hear and rejoice.

Glorify the Lord with me;

let us exalt his name together.

I sought the Lord, and he answered me;

he delivered me from all my fears.

Those who look to him are radiant;

their faces are never covered with shame.

This poor man called,

and the Lord heard him;

he saved him out of all his troubles.

The angel of the Lord encamps

around those who fear him,

and he delivers them.

Taste and see that the Lord is good;

blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

Fear the Lord, you his saints,

for those who fear him lack nothing...

The righteous cry out and the Lord hears them;

he delivers them from all their troubles.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted

and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Psalm 34:1-9, 17-18

I have always loved Psalm 34; it is usually very comforting to me. When I was five years old, my Mom taught me a song using the first four verses...I think it's the first song I ever remember learning, which is maybe why it is special to me as it relates to those memories. :)