Thursday, May 28, 2009

A Community That is Christian




We are currently reading a book called Community That is Christian. It is by a professor from Fuller seminary and is about leading Christian small groups. It was a "recommended reading" for Jennifer in one of her classes at Asbury, and we are just now getting around to reading it, but have found it to be a very helpful read as we are in the process of starting a small group in our home.

Last week we had our first get-to-know you dinner at our house for the small group/Bible study that we are starting in our home. 10 people attended not including us or the children. It went well and we were very up front about the purpose of the group. The purpose is to form an authentic Christian community, one in which we are there for each other and we grow together as we study the Bible. (See Jennifer's notes on facebook for more details or e-mail us if you would like a copy of them). With the exception of 3 people all of those who came to the dinner are not attending a church and come from a catholic background. In our group it doesn't matter if you are catholic or not. All that matters is that you want to grow and know God better. There is one stipulation of our group. Each member has to take it seriously, meaning that no one misses unless they have to and that it is a commitment. Why? Because without commitment we will not grow as a group. We will not know each other well and we will be like every other small group. That is not our goal. Our goal is to be different!

Initially, we were super encouraged by the attendance and interest in the group. Lots of people asked us if they could come and expressed a desire to be a part of the group. We want so badly to do the right thing and make everyone feel welcome. While we were hoping for 15, 10 was a good turn out. Sadly, our neighbors approached us afterwards and said they didn't want to be a part of the group. This kind of hit us hard because we don't really understand why. One neighbor said she has had a bad experience with Christians (and she really has), and that made her weary, even though she knows we are different. Our other neighbor told us that she and her family just didn't want to make a commitment. This breaks our hearts because we think that if we do not sacrifice the time once a week to study and grow together, we will never really learn. Mmm....Please pray for our friends and us as we take this journey together. Still we are not sure if we will have 5, 10, or 12 to start with, but there is a hunger, an interest...The question is will the people respond or will they listen to the voices that are often stronger telling them that it is a waste of time, not worthwhile, or that Christians are weird. Aren't we all longing to be part of a community that is Christian? One where we can grow, be ourselves, be challenged, study, pray, and walk through life together?
Many people we've talked to here and in the States are. Are you part of one?

Monday, May 18, 2009

Everything Changes









Wow! Our apologies for going so long this time between posts. We are not sure where the time is going...

Much has changed over the past few weeks. Thank you for praying for the May 5th meeting between the church we've been working with here in Leon and the WGM Mexican national church. You all deserve an explanation. So here it goes...

On Tuesday May 5th, the church here in Leon met with the WGM national church and told them that they would be separating from the Organization. They no longer wanted to be part of WGM and therefore wanted to be an independent church. The consequences mean that the church here in Leon will no longer receive support, covering, or WGM missionaries. Thus, the decision affected us. We could no longer work in that church because it was no longer part of WGM. Therefore, last weekend was our last weekend there. Saturday we painfully said good-bye to the sweet kids of Canon de la India where we have been working on Saturdays. Sunday was a very awkward day as we told our friends at church good-bye. Some did not understand what was happening, and others did. What broke our hearts was to see how torn up many of the youth were when we told them it was our last Sunday at the church. Our intention is to continue with our friendships even though we will no longer be in the church. Please continue to pray for the Leon church as it goes through many changes, and that the congregation will follow God's voice.

What does all that mean for us?

Most of you received our newsletter, or will be getting it in your mail box soon. We explained that we would be leaving the Leon church and starting other things. One of those activities will be having a small group in our house. We plan on putting a lot of energy and work into this small group with the hope of reaching our neighbors and friends who do not have a deep relationship with Christ. The idea is to grow together in knowledge of God and as a community. We already have lots of people interested and will be having the first get-together this Thursday. Also, there is a church here in Leon that is looking for WGM's covering. We will be helping them with a Bible study there once a week and may get more involved. In addition we hope to work with a friend who has a music school where we will teach English and Ballet classes. So, no worries...We will be busy and we are grateful we will not have to move from Leon.

And the big news...

Josh's little brother, Andy, has been visiting us this week, and he announced that he will be getting married on August 1st of this year in Ohio. Josh will be his best man. All that to say that we got the fun surprise of finding out we can go back to Kentucky for a few days at the end of July. We will spend 10 days between Kentucky and Ohio. Our time will be busy, but we are looking forward to it. We didn't think we'd be back to Wilmore until the summer of 2010. We said we wouldn't go back unless a close family member died or got married. There you go!

As you pray, please pray for us as we try to come up with money for the unexpected expenses of going home for the wedding etc. We are so excited about being at Andy's wedding, but did not budget for two plane tickets back to the states. If you could please pray for God's provision in this area we'd be very grateful!!!!!

This weekend....


We had a wonderful weekend, and yesterday we are thankful for the opportunity we had to share a testimony at the main WGM church in the area in the city of Irapuato. We spoke about the MTI car wreck, the pain and sorrow we've faced over the past 2 years and how God is not safe. We had shared this testimony many times before in the states, but translating it into Spanish and making some changes to it was a little nerve racking. The good news is that yesterday in the Sunday morning service God really moved and people responded to our message. The service was amazing and we are thankful we could be used to change people's lives. God is not safe is not an easy message to share and is not always received well, but we have come to find out that it is so true. God never promises our safety and though he is with us, we are not safe from harm and danger.
In the evening last night we drove to a little town called Valle de Santiago where there is a new WGM church plant. We also shared our testimony there and enjoyed getting to know the people of that group. The day went beautifully until we got lost in Valle de Santiago on the way home. Thankfully, we finally found our way back to the main road. ;) One big yahoo is that we were able to give the testimony in Spanish and were understood. Yah!


Thanks for reading this very long update!!!! Thanks for praying, thanks for giving, and thanks for caring!

God is good, and we are super excited about what he is doing and our plans for this year! Yahoo!

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Update






Hello all!
Mmmmm...So many things we could say, but we aren't sure where to start.

Let's start with this influenza epidemic again...

Okay, honestly, by now we have come to the conclusion that this flu ordeal is not as big of a problem as the media and even the Mexico government is making it. We have reason to believe that they might want to blow it out of proportion because they want to put fear in the people to distract them from other things. If you have questions about our theories and why let us know. Anyway, some of you have heard that more than 100 people, or even bigger numbers, have died in Mexico. This is NOT true. Check out the World Health Organization for official numbers (www.who.int). We have been keeping close tabs on this and many have died due to complications with pneumonia as well as the flu. As of today 16 people in all of Mexico, a country of over 200,000,000 people, have died. Please do not panic or be alarmed. You can however pray that all this disappears quickly. It is killing the already terrible economy here and I'm sure around the world as well.

Special Prayer...

This Tuesday the 5th of May there will be an important meeting between the church here in Leon and the national Mexican church of WGM. The meeting is an extremely crucial one. Would you please join us in prayer that God's will would be done? Thank you!

Newsletter...

Many of you have been asking us when you'll be getting our next newsletter. It will be coming your way soon. It is just waiting for approval. =) Thanks for your patience!

God is doing something BIG...

Last week we started writing about the local church and a church plant model that God has been developing in our hearts. Jennifer posted her thoughts on her facebook page under her notes if you are interested in reading them. We have received many positive comments in response to what she wrote and in several conversations we have had with others. Now, we are excited and looking forward to the future because we think we will be able to use this model and help national pastors use it as well. In addition, we got to visit some friends in a nearby city last week who are using the same type of church model. God has honored them and their obedience and has grown their church plant like crazy in a matter of a few months. It was a treat to spend the weekend with this special missionary couple, be a part of their worship service, and share our ideas and callings. Josh was thankful they gave him the opportunity to preach or rather share a Bible lesson with them at their worship service last Friday. Our missionary friends are Honduran and they arrived here in the country the same time we did to work with WGM in Irapuato. We are thankful for them and their friendship and for what God is doing through them!

More to come soon...