Happy Mother's Day!

Philippians 3:13-14 “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

*** Happy Mother’s Day…to all you mommy’s out there! You are by far the most important people in the world!! I mean, think about it, every great man or woman, King or Queen, doctor, scientist, writer, teacher, musician, or missionary was nurtured for nine months in the womb of a woman, who then bore excruciating pain in order to give innocent little lives a chance – is that not incredible?!?! In my opinion, motherhood is one of the highest callings a person can fulfill in this brief lifetime. It requires responsibility, total commitment, superhuman love, and inexhaustible patience and energy. I can only hope that one day the Lord bestows upon me such an honor. My very own mother is a woman of great strength, grace and determination, and though she has endured heartache and trial, she has always been able laugh in the midst of it. She has an eye for decorating and has been known to rip out walls and transform a house into a work of art! Her clients and coworkers at the beauty shop get more than they pay for, because she listens to their problems, and openly shares the truth of gospel, more boldly than most. Her fountain of joy and wisdom comes from her morning coffee dates with the Lord and His Word, where I know the whole family gets a good dose of prayer. I am so thankful that the Lord has blessed me with such an outstanding example. Love you Mom! ***

I have been reading this book called “And I Will be Found by You,” and the Lord has used it to remind me that my works have NOTHING to do with my Salvation or the love the Lord has for me, but that His pleasure is aroused as we seek His presence. Francis Frangipane, the author, was going through a time when he had been asked to leave the church he was pastoring because he had confronted sin in the church. He could barely provide for his family and they were living in Iowa during one of the coldest winters on record. He wrote: “I repeated again my abiding prayer: ‘Lord what do you want of me?’ Speaking directly to my heart, He said, ‘Love me where you’re at.’” The Lord assured him: “‘this is all I will ever require of you.’”
The question is: what does it mean to truly love Him? I have been focusing so much on my ministry tasks, that my identity, and my relationship with the Lord have been wrapped up in the results (or lack thereof) of what I am doing. It is not that He doesn’t want to use to show His glory in the world, but His source of joy comes from those He loves (us) loving him so much that we cannot help but seek His face, and in so doing begin to become more like Him.

Ok...and now for the update:
Since I last wrote you, I went to Saraguro, which is a very much unevangelized, rural, traditionally Catholic area. The OM team did a medical outreach there a couple of weeks ago, and now the goal is to follow up with a discipleship program and help the two struggling churches there to form cell groups in order that these people don’t become like so many who are evangelized, and left to themselves, without a clue of where to go from there. I helped get things started at the end of last week, because only one person was able to go. It’s just good, old-fashioned missionary work. We hiked in the highlands in the rain in order to find the women we were intending to visit. They were grateful for the visit and interested in more Bible study.
We had a Cristo Vive meeting planned for last Saturday in Cuenca, so I hopped on a bus for a three hour ride home. I immediately went to the grocery so I could bake something for the meeting. It was time to begin, and only one person showed up. Another guy came about two hours later, and no one else had heard whether the other folks were going to show up. After a good, honest chat with the guys that did show up, I had a good, honest chat with the Lord about what I should do, and the conclusion: ‘Go with the flow.’ In order for things to happen the way I want them to, I would have to change the culture, and that is not what I am here to do. So, I keep praying and letting go of my frustrated plans. On Monday, I had a meeting with Henry, who is interested in assuming the role of leadership, and we are going to move forward with presenting the ministry to the other churches in the area, and plan on having a team-building event on the 15th instead of an activity for the kids.

On Tuesday I went back to Saraguro. I got a later start than I had planned because I had to wait to receive a package from Quito and I wanted to spend a little time with Jessie, the American girl who lives with us, because she is having to go home unexpectedly next week. I finally got on a bus at 11:30 am, and we weren’t even out of Cuenca, when we encountered a roadblock. A group of people had gathered to protest a water law (apparently the government is trying to take water from the indigenous people who live in the highlands, and they obviously don’t like that idea). In order to communicate their disapproval, they stand in the middle of the road. After sitting for about forty minutes we were able to continue. I finally arrived in Saraguro at about 4:30 pm, and headed straight for my hostel. There was a European couple on the bus and because I they thought I looked like I knew where I was going, they followed me! Come to find out, they have been travelling for 8 months, through Canada, Washington, Mexico, Central and South America. They are from País Basko…technically Spain. We spent the rest of the day together, getting to know each other and Saraguro, since Darren (the guy with whom I am working here), was somewhere high in the mountains visiting people. Darren finally arrived at about 8:30 (he had been waiting for a ride, getting drenched in the meantime). Marcos and Miriam (my Spanish friends) came to Saraguro with the intention of experiencing how the indigenous people live, so they asked if they could join us for our visits. It didn’t quite work out, since we were late getting back from our morning visits. They seem like very “open” people so it will be interesting to see how things progress from here. I’ve made some new friends that I will one day need to visit in Spain, and of course, I am praying that they will come to know that Jesus is the Truth. Friday morning I left Saraguro, stopped off in Cuenca, and boarded another bus bound for Guayaquil. Our bus stopped three times for extended periods (once because we blew a tire and had to change it). I love buses. It is Saturday morning and we are getting ready to go get all of the orphans from the orphanage. We are planning to take them for a swim at a local pool, watch a movie, feed and bathe them. I am so excited to see them, especially Flor. I doubt they have ever been able to do something like this. I can’t wait to tell you all about it.
Tomorrow, Sunday, I am planning on spending the day at the beach with Mercedes, my “Mami Ecuatoriana.” On Monday, I will return to Cuenca to spend one more week building up ministry potential there.

I close with a prayer from the book I mentioned earlier:
“Lord Jesus, The revelation of Your love has swept me off my feet. Lord, You have drawn me and I run after You. Master, even in the mundane things of life, I shall express my love for you. Consume me in Your love.” AMEN