South of the border

Ministry has consisted of going to the houses of families around Palenque that Pastor Nester and his wife Selena know.  Their church El Olivo, The Olive Tree, or more importantly the people who make up the church have been our contacts here and our constant support. 

 

So you may ask, ´What exactly are they doing South of the border in Mexico?´

 

We prepare worship music, our testimonies, and a message from the Word that I interpret into Spanish.  On Wednesdays we prepare the church service for the congregation.  Over this past weekend an evangelist came from Guatemala.  During his healing service we watched about 30 children for about 3 hours — the entire service lasted 4 hours.  And in the U.S. we anxiously check our watches after 45 minutes.

 

We pray over people afterward our housechurch time expecting God to move.  Mexican families suffer from generational alcoholism, and so we´ve prayed for families with alcoholism, miscarriage, childhood death, sickness and disease.

 

 When we go to homes in the community, we enter the homes of families we´ve never met before and they receive us joyfully, often feeding us afterwards with tortas, tamales, or whatever they have.  I´m humbled by these people.  I´m humbled that they take in strangers and allow us into their personal lives and struggles.  I´m humbled by how their smiles and how they play despite having to raise chickens and pigs in their backyard, with trash burning at the side of their house.   I´m humbled by how when I enter their homes, they begin serving me with whatever provision they have. 

 

So I´m learning how to love the way the Lord loves.  And I´m starting to realize that some part of my self has to die daily in order for that to happen.  So maybe, ´taking  up the cross daily´ has a lot to do with learning how to love one another and serve one another.

 

Though often tired, dirty, hot from the heat, and bitten by mosquitos even while giving the message while preaching, we continue on trying to run the good race.