I CAN ONLY IMAGINE
Last night, Paula and I went to the Mercy Me concert that our girls bought us tickets for my birthday present and it was awesome. They have had so many great songs over the years, but everyone came to hear their greatest hit I Can Only Imagine. As the question is asked in the song, when we get to Heaven are we going to stand in His presence or are we going to fall on our knees? Are we going to be able to do anything at all? I just want to see the one who paid the penalty for ALL my sins and gave me His righteousness as a gift and Worship Him as the Spirit moves me. Worship on this side of Heaven, as far as I see it, is offering up our bodies as a living sacrifices to do what He asks of us, whenever He asks us to. Romans 12 says that this is our reasonable act of Worship. Even though I fail to do all that He asks of me, I still consider it an honor to be serving Him here helping the poor in Mexico. The needs over there will never go away, so I know that God will always have something for us to do. I cleaned and organized the warehouse today and it just doesn't seem to get empty. We give and give the food away and it never empties. We met an 85 year old man Lupe' and His bride Francesca the other day. They live in a leaky house on the other side of the canal and could really use a new house. They are both new believers in Christ and as a result of their new found faith, got married last year after many years of living together, and I mean many, many years. Although we usually try to find families with kids needing a home, Roy and I both thought we could build them a slightly smaller home, to fit on the lot they have and bless them in the later years of life. The wood arrived for the trade school yesterday and Roy covered it up before the heavy rains last night. We hope to started painting it tomorrow. So I turned 55 yesterday and I still can't believe I'm that old. Thanks for the phone calls and well wishes.
MANY HANDS MAKES " LIGHT" WORK
When the truck backed up to the foundation to deliver the load of caliche' to back-fill before the concrete comes, all 15 tons was dumped in one spot and needed to be spread over a 30 X 30 foot area to a depth of 10 inches in some spots and 20 in others. But with so many men out of work, it wasn't hard to find some that wanted to make a few bucks. In a little less than two hours, they had the foundations ready for the "BIG POUR" of concrete. The truck arrived just as we were getting ready to leave, but we needed to take some photos, so we stayed until it was done. The trade school will be a huge blessing to the colonia and yesterday, Pastor Victor said He would teach the fine art of tapestry, or upholstery repair. When the team arrives next week from IIT they will have their hands full to get it all built in the time they have here. I'm sure God will getter done. The things we have to do without Carmelo, are a little strenuous, but we are trusting God for the right people to help us and so far so good. The one photo of a make shift house, with tar paper as a barrier from the elements, will be the next house we build with a matching grant donation from our church for the second time this year. Praise God for generous hearts!!! I just got a list of all the people that helped the team from Moraine Valley Church that just left, and I am so grateful that people respond to the needs of the poor and help us build these houses, provide funding for kids to attend school and all of the other projects we are called to get involved in. I shared with the Pastors that we had at our place in the colonia on Saturday, that in spite off all the evident needs that are present here in Mx that God doesn't respond to our needs, He responds to our faith. Meeting the needs of others is faith in action, and the more we spend our resources on meeting the needs of others, the more God gives us to meet more needs.
TRADE SCHOOL PLANS BREAK GROUND
The floor has been started for the trade school in spite of the fact that Carmelo, my right hand man, secured a full time job and can not help us anymore. I had to scramble to get some men in the colonia to help build the foundation for the 30 X 30 trade school to assist the colonia in some much needed training for jobs and also teach the women how to sew. When a vision is cast before God, He is faithful to provide the funds to make it happen. Mikke Smit and the other students from IIT in Chicago are making the drive to build the school, with the help of many partners of theirs providing the funds, www.mexicoproject.org is the site for more info.
A FULL AND FRUITFUL WEEK
A week spent serving the needs of a single Mom named Rosa, by building her and her kids a house ended with our monthly food and clothing give away. It is always my favorite day of the month, when hundreds of people come to get some much needed food provided by the Hand of God through us. It is always special when we have a group here to serve the people their food and Dave Bosi gave a powerful, heartfelt message, followed by an invitation to follow Christ. Many responded as Paula translated the Salvation message. We prayed for the sick, the needy and those needing jobs. Afterward, we lined all the children up to receive the backpacks that our church in McAllen, Calvary Baptist, so generously provided the funding to fill them with toys, and dolls and soccer balls. We had more children than backpacks and prayed that God would touch them and break them and multiply them to allow each child to receive a backpack. When the last child came to the front we handed her the last packpack and rejoiced at Gods' ability to do exceedingly,abundantly more than we could ask or perceive. Over 250 children walked away with something in their hand they didn't have before, a gift, and a little book JESUS IN ME. Alan loves Ruthys' empenadas little hand made matza cakes, filled with anything from chicken or beans or cheese and then pan fried with creme and salsa. We had a powerful prayer time before we left, when 6 year old Mimi prayer for everyone before they left. A great week, spent with great servants of God and Paula and Me. They blessed us in so many different ways, with all the projects we finished in Mexico and here at our house. I always plan to golf more when they are here, after all, they bring their golf clubs all the way from Chicago but we'll have to live with the few times we did manage to play, and rejoice in all the things they did to serve us and the Kingdom. I pray for Gods Blessings on all their lives because they don't give their hearts over to fear as many do when it comes to reaching out to the poor in Mexico, but rather walk in Love which casts out ALL fear. Do you understand that? Gods Love puts ALL fear in its' rightful place, under the Love of God. So if your fearful, try walking in Gods Love.We miss everyone already and look forward to seeing them this summer.
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