doing God's work

What a week we have had!!  Many people have chosen the follow Christ and start a new relationship with Him.  God has gone ahead of this week and prepared many people's heart's to receive Him a new.  We have again made new friendships with the team members from Texas and have enjoyed the company of North Americans for a time.  I participated in the dental clinic on Monday and was amazed at all the equipment required to do dental work.  It was equally amazing to see how the Lord provided in time of need and how others were so willing to step in and give when necessary.  Monday we treated over 20 people with cleanings, extractions, and fillings.  It was of course hard to see the little ones having to get their teeth pulled but with the help of anesthesia it went okay.  The North American dentist was joined down here by a Nicaragua young lady dentist named Helen.  She was very skilled in what she could do and was also very patient and willing to do what most dentists in the states I would say would not be willing to do.  Tuesday I participated in the fiesta's and was able to share with several grandmas and great grandmas.  We were in a community of the very poor and medical needs were high.  I pray that in time God will send a team to help them with their medical needs.  Mostly the needs were visible in the older ladies which was interesting.  I wonder as a non-doctor what it is in that community that is harming only the older ladies and not the younger ones.  We were able to discover what medicine has  helped some in the past and are planning on making that purchase for them in Leon and delivering it to them next week.  Among all the acitivities going on with the different groups each day there was a women's conference, pastor's conference, youth conference, dental clinic, fiesta's and the evenings are filled with the crusade. 
It was my first time seeing a crusade last night.  I was amazed at the stage they were able to set up and the enormous amount of speakers and sound they can create in an open field.  Many, many people came last night.  The estimate was about 1700 people.  At one point in the evening all the sound lost power.  We waited around for awhile to see what would happen.  My understanding was that the electric didn't have enough watts to run all the sound equipment.  I wondered if they were going to have to give up on the evening.  The people from the churches that help to run the crusade all wore white shirts so they could be visible to all.  While the sound was not working they gathered as a group and prayed.  There were close to 50 people in white shirts.  After they finished praying they began to walk around the field of the crusade.  I really didn't understand why.  I finally asked a friend of mine about it and why they kept walking around the field in a circle.  Her explanation was absolutely amazing.  They had decided they were going to use the power of God to fix the problem and where walking around the field like the Isrealites did when they walked around Jericho. 
After they had walked around the field seven times do you know what happened???????????

The sound came back on and worked for the rest of the evening.  What an amazing testimony of the amount of faith the people have down here to rely on God when things go wrong.  I was so humbled by their faith.
There are two more nights of the crusade and then the team is planning to head back to the states.  They have given so much of their time and their effort has been fruitful and God has blessed them.  We are grateful once again for all that God has down here before the team arrived and all that He has done while they were here.  To God be the Glory!!!

One day to go!

If you look at this season from the perspective of a 4 year old, tomorrow will not come soon enough.  If you look at this season from an adult perspective, I would venture to say with all the hussle and bussle tomorrow will not come soon enough.  If you look at this season from the perspective of an elderly person, this day probably doesn't come soon enough because they understand the true meaning of Christmas.  If you look at this season from the perspective of Our Heavenly Father, He probably has a hard time waiting for tomorrow to come as well.  Our Heavenly Father is such an amazing and patient God.  Did you know He had to wait for almost 6000 years from the time He created the world until His relationship with man was restored through the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ?  All of a sudden waiting one more day for tomorrow to come doesn't seem so difficult anymore.  The greatest gift is about to be offered to us, are you ready?  In all the hussle and bussle this year, have you made preparations in your heart for what God is about to do?  For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  John 3:16. 

Looking on the bright side

We read this devotion the other day as a family and I thought it was so fitting that I needed to share it with everyone.  This devotion comes from Voices of the Faithful by Beth Moore.

Christmas was coming, but none of my children and grandchildren could visit our new country of service.  I was depressed.  The city as gray, cold, muddy and wet.  Since the weather was miserable, I did not want to leave the house to buy a big pot to cook dinner for a few guests that night. 
      My last minute shopping for the pot made me impulsively purchase a ridiculous looking hat to keep me warm.  As I trudged toward home, the gypsy "flower ladies" descended on me.  I finally gave in and picked out two bunches of holiday looking greenery with red berries. 
      As I stopped in at my neighborhood market to pick up a few items, I caught a glimpse of myself in the dirty store window.  I looked awful in the funky little hat.  Hurrying down one of the aisles, I happened to see another lady wearing a hat very similar to mine.  "If only I looked as nice in my hat as she does," I fretted to myself.  And you will never believe this!  That same lady had red berries in her cart.  " But hers are fresher and nicer than mine, " I whispered under my breath. 
      As I headed for the checkout, the Holy Spirit got a real laugh at me.  The far wall of the market was mirrored, and I was the "other" shopper!  He also convicted me.  So many days I focus on the negative.  It's sadly comical how we rant and rave over things that don't really matter.
                                                                                                         -L.G.G.., Central Asia

Heavenly Father, You have blessed me so much and sometimes I look at the negative things around me instead of the positive.  Help me to have a positive attitude, to trust you and to confess a complaining spirit.  Today, I pray that workers in Central Asia will be content where God has placed them.    Amen

I hope this devotion speaks to you as much as it has spoken to me. 
Merry Christmas  and to God be the Glory!

History of the Bible

I find it fascinating how the history of the world is so extremely related to the Bible.  We have been studing the history of the Bible from Genesis through Joshua this year in school.  We started of course with the creation of the world and moved into how the old kingdom and the middle kingdom are related to the stories in Genesis chapters 3-21.  We have just finished with the birth of Isaac and this morning Sierra made a wonderful observation.  She said it was just so amazing how Jesus and David are related in the family tree.  We spent several weeks studying the family line of Adam, Noah and Abraham, along with David.  I find it amazing how even the women of the Bible and our secular history of Egypt had a role in the life of Jesus.  The beliefs of many gods and the worship of gods in Egypt is quite astounding.  As we study  the different beliefs other cultures have had, I find it impossible to understand how they could not believe in the one true God based on all the evidence in the Bible and in the world today.  There are so many truths and prophesies that have come true over the hundreds of years even before Jesus walked the earth and yet the cultures refused to accept the truth. 
As we head into the Christmas season, I am humbled to think that God is so willing to forgive us and have a relationship with us if we would only believe.  As our family thinks about the upcoming events that will be celebrated this Christmas, our prayer is that you and your family will also feel the forgiveness and acceptance from God that He so badly wants to share with us all.  If you know someone or perhaps even you, yourself have not been able to come to the decision to accept the saving forgiveness God is offering you this Christmas, please don't wait any longer.  Make that decision today and begin a new year not only in life but in your spiritual journey to Holiness.  God is waiting for you to ask, He is holding out His hand hoping you will accept His greatest gift this season.  Our prayers are with you all!

The Christmas Season!

It seems with all the snow the east coast is getting Christmas should be easily celebrated!  I'm not sure what it is about snow, but it sure helps create the mood for the holiday season.  However, for those of us without the snow this season, where does that leave us?  It has been a long time since I celebrated Christmas without snow and cold.  As I sit and remember the times growing up in Texas without snow and cold for Christmas, I wonder what helped me to celebrate Christmas.  John and I have worked hard these last two weeks to figure out how to celebrate Christmas in a new tradition.  I believe, as I think about my growing up years the season felt Christmasy because we had traditions.  Since this will be our first of many Christmases down here we are working on creating traditions that will last.  The first tradition started is going to be decorating on John's birthday.  It was such a wonderful way to celebrate John's birthday and also get ready for Christmas.  This year since we didn't have a Christmas tree to pull out of storage and didn't really want to spend money on a tree we made our own.  We all had such a wonderful time of making the branches and leaves.  Since we also didn't have ornaments in storage, we decided to focus on making a "Jesse Tree".  I'm not sure how many of you are familiar with this part of Christmas, but it is an amazing way to focus on Jesus without all the hubbub of the holiday.  Each day we put another "ornament" on the tree that has to do with the Christmas story.  I found a website that even has the pictures ready to print and so that is how we are decorating our tree this year.  It is a combination of the Advent season mixed with the trimming of the tree each day and hearing the Word of God.  As for other traditions, we may have to wait until next year to add more.  We serve an amazing God and are exceedingly thankful for all that He has done for us this year and will continue to do in the future.  May God richly bless your lives and families as well.  Merry Christmas!  Feliz Navidad!!

Celebration Tribute!

Today is a day of celebration.  John has completed another year of life.  He is following his hearts call to Nicaragua.  He is being the father he wants to be to his children.  He is being the husband he wants to be to his wife.  God is using him daily to reach people with the salvation of Jesus Christ.  He is a strong and handsome man, looking on the inside of those around him instead of the outside.  He turns to God when life gets rough and knows that God is with him.  He provides for his family in every way needed and blesses those around him that he can.  He leads his family the best way he knows how, knowing God will help him along the way.  John is a man of wisdom and honor.  He does his best and then if that is not good enough he does more.  John hopes to make the world a different place and is doing it daily with the help of God.  John is a man of many talents.  He can fix things that are broken, build things out of scratch, and glue things that have fallen apart.  John is a man with much knowledge.  He could win on Jeopardy any day of the week.  He loves to read.  He helps those in need and cries with those who cry.  John is a great man touching the lives of those around him so deeply he will never be forgotten.   May God richly bless him throughout his life.

Haggai

As I studied the Bible lesson this morning I discovered how difficult it really is to do what God asks us to do as true believers.  Interestingly enough, even Israel struggled to put God first.  They weren't being blessed by God in there everyday efforts of life because they had forgotten to put God first.  They were building houses for themselves but leaving God's house in ruin.  Although we may not have an actual house we are building for the Lord, we have a spiritual one inside ourselves.  If we neglect to build that house on a daily basis our other efforts in life will not be blessed. 
There are four spiritual truths found in Haggai. 
The first being the Lord's work must take priority over all others.  Yes, Yes, I agree, in theory we as true believers strive for that.  The challenge here is to do more than just strive.  We are to put God's work first no matter what.  If we are able to apply this truth to our lives the benefits will outweigh any concerns or fears we have of stepping out and doing it.  
Second, the Lord demands clean instruments.  The challenge here is to make sure we are repentant and humble in our actions.  If we continually remind ourselves of where we came from and where we would end up without God's great mercy, we will be in the right mindset and be a clean instrument for God. 
Third, the Lord's work is linked to God's plan for all nations.  It is very difficult to see the big picture.  We are so small and yet God  is using each true believer for the good of His glory.  We must believe that even if we feel we can't make a difference in the giant pot of soup, we can with the help of our Lord and Savior. 
Finally, the fourth spiritual truth is good is not contagious, but evil is.  Wow, that is a hard one to swallow.  We are always hoping our smile and way of life will impact those around us, but in reality it is the evil around us that is spread to others.  We must force ourselves to do more than just live a good life.  We must challenge ourselves to reach out to those around us and make sure they know where they are headed.  Now, don't misunderstand me.  I am not saying we need to be rude about the whole matter.  What I am simply saying is we need to do more than just hope our good lives will be enough of a witness to change peoples hearts toward God.  My challenge question to you today is:  You are the temple of the Holy Spirit.  If you apply these spiritual truths to yourself personally what do you find?  Have you given too much attention and time to your personal affairs and neglected the things of God that are important for spreading the Gospel and the furtherance of His work?
May God richly bless you as you hear and obey what He has to say to you today!

Holiday Season!

We are well into Christmas and there is much celebrating going on down here.  Yesterday was the Catholic Celebration of St. Mary and her immaculate conception.  Many, many people celebrated with candy and fireworks.  The kind that last all day and long into the night.  They also went door to door asking for candy like we do in the states during the Halloween season.  Not real sure how it is all connected to St. Mary but none the less it is a celebration. 
Many people are also decorating for the Christmas season.  We have seen houses with Christmas lights and trees set up.  Our neighbors have really gone all out in the decorating.  Their whole house is lit at night. 
We as a family have had a wonderful time with another North American group that is down here for the week.  We have been ministering with them in La Paz Centro and working closely with the children.  We have all made a few new friends in La Paz and look forward to spending more time there.  God has really been doing some interesting things this week with our time down here.  I am anxious to see how it all turns out.  I am thankful that God is making His presence known and that we are being used for His glory. 
John did another sermon on Sunday last week and 10 people made a decision to know Jesus Christ as their person Lord and Savior.  We were in Las Panitas, near the beach and the church was held at a fisherman's house.  He served us fresh fish for lunch from his catch of the day.  We all tried it and it was delicious.  Of course, the fisherman serve fish down here with the head and tail still attached so we had to overlook the way the fish looked but still enjoyed the flavor of the fish very much. 
The kids have been enjoying swimming at the mission house in our neighborhood.  It is a good place to go and cool off.
To God be the Glory!  Our prayer is that God will continue to open doors for us so we know what He wants us to do down here in ministry.

Saturdays!

We have a relaxing day today.  I will be teaching music this afternoon but it feels like for the first time in two weeks we have a day of nothing pressing to do.  Our internet continues to go on and off and we are unable to fix the problem.  If you are trying to reach us through email it may be several days before we are able to get on so please be patient.  We continue to try to get help in this area but it is slow going.  I will blog as often as I can when the internet is available. 
I have been studying for the teacher training and came across a wonderful story about Dorcas.  I would like to share with you this morning.  The story of Dorcas can be found in Acts 9:36-43.  Amazingly, this women helped her community by sewing.  It wasn't something extravagent or expensive.  She simply learned about the needs around her and filled them as best she could with her gift to sew.  In fact, she was so extremely generous with her ability that the community grew to love her very much.  That love was expressed very deeply when God took her home.  Now, no one in the community really knew to what extent Dorcas had touched people's lives but after her death they began to realize.  As people came to the house to pay their respects, the house became overrun with so many people that she had touched, or had benefitted from her generosity.  Peter was called to come and see if he could bring her back to them.  Their love for her was so strong and their faith was also so strong that Peter was able to bring her back to life.  Now, the ironic twist to this story is that Dorcas had been helping people in the community with her own hands and as Peter called her back to life he took her hand and she awoke.  God uses our hands in amazing ways if we are willling to allow Him the chance.  Dorcas used her hands for God and God took her hand and gave her back her life.  My challenge to you today is:  What are your hands doing for Christ today?

God is good!

We have enjoyed the last several weeks working with North Americans, and Nicaraguans alike.  The school we help out at is such a fun and enjoyable time.  We are slowly learning to understand spanish and the children there are so welcoming and willing to help us in any way.  Sierra is enjoying teaching some of the girls her age english.  Caleb of course is very much enjoying game time with the boys and Kyle and Sydney hop in where they can.  Our sports camp time on Thursday is coming together nicely.  We have about 16-24 boys playing baseball and about 8-12 volleyball girls.  Their skills are improving each time we play which is always encouraging.  I have started the teacher training sessions which will last till the end of the month.  I have about 15 teachers joining me each week to learn about how to be a teacher and how to manage a classroom.  I am grateful for Pastor Caulderon for all his willingness to let John and I help out where we can and use the gifts God has given us down here.  I was able to gather with another North American group today and see the needs in La Paz Centro.  I would venture to say that no matter where we go, we could be of help.  Our challenge here is to discern what it is that God wants us to do and where we should put our efforts and energy.  We came down here with the focus to help children and so we will try to narrow down what aspect of the children's needs down here we should focus on.  We know many people in the states and other places around the world are praying for us and we know that because we ask God will answer.