A Glimpse of God's Provision and Protection in Mexico

In Mexico things never go as we plan, but that is okay because they always go as God Plans!

There were issues galore this week in Mexico including closed visa offices, freezing cold weather, and our car breaking down in a dangerous spot. Yet there was the grace and provision of God to cover it all!

It normally takes under 3 hours to get to village ML, but on this trip it took 6 hours because we had visa issues at the border which the Lord helped us through, and our car broke down about 45 minutes away from the village. After my fearless leader and teammates tried seeing if it was just something basic they called our field director who was translating in a village about an hour away. While we were waiting for a while only kind and helpful people drove by or stopped to assist. A huge provision of the Lord came when O the believer we are working with in ML stopped, and he knew a mechanic near by. So, when the other team arrived they towed us to a mechanic about 20 minutes down the road, and then dropped us off in village ML before going back to their village. The mechanic was able to have our truck fixed the day before we left. It was neat to be able to make a new connection to a small village through the mechanic, and we hope to connect with them and share more when we return.
It was freezing cold that day and night, and continued into Tuesday the day we had planned for our outreach through the movie Courageous and a Gospel presentation during it. We walked the village Tuesday morning telling the whole town and inviting them to the evening event with flyers. I wondered if people would come because of the cold. Then they did! 13 people 12 of them unbelievers! Now maybe those numbers sound small to you, but that is over 10% of the entire village of 90 people, and way more unbelievers than we have ever had at a Bible Study this year. We were able to serve popcorn and hot coco. Then the Gospel of Jesus Christ was proclaimed. A few young shy girls also came that I hope to connect and share with more and more. We were not able to follow up with the guest as we wanted to, but we are confident that the Lord always follows up with those that belong to Him! It will be exciting to see how He has moved when we return!

Praising the Lord for His faithfulness to His work, and Thanking Him for the privilege of being a part of it!

PSALM 33:1-6
Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous!
Praise benefits the upright.
GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD
with the lyre; 
make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!
Sing to him a new song; 
play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
For the word of the LORD is upright, 
and all his work is done in faithfulness.
He loves righteousness and justice; 
the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD.
By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host. 

A glimpse of Bible Storying

This is a drawing of a story board. It reminds me of cave drawings. 

It may sound crazy, but 16% (775 million) of us are illiterate. In some countries the illiteracy rate is as high as 84.6%...

So the question is how do these oral people learn?

It is Through Stories

Many cultures are oral learners because they have never read or written. Therefore, they connect and learn new information through dialogue, images, and other ways.

This past week at the CPCP we walked through many stories from the New Testament, and memorized each of them in a story fellowship group. Then at the end of the week we each got to story one for the hour long Story Fest that took the listener from the birth of Jesus to His return. On Thursday alone we memorized 4 different stories. It was a worshipful week constantly verbally sharing truths of the scriptures to one another. Our tool boxes were filled with truth this week, and now we can use these tools with those we are meeting.

WATCH THIS AMAZING 10 MINUTE PRESENTATION OF THE STORY OF GOD!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4cL-Zcxa9M

A glimpse of Psalm 18

Sometimes it can be discouraging when things change. Change has always been a challenge for me. For some reason it just makes me feel like I don't know anything about the future. My heart gets frustrated, and then anxious, and then doubtful, and I can easily tumble into despair if I neglect to remember WHO I belong to and live in. Maybe I'm the only one, but maybe not.

It is a reality that plans will continue to change, and as a missionary there will be constant grief and loss in those changes. Loss of ideas, plans, and the reality of constant transition of people can be exhausting when I neglect to remember the author and controller of the universe. Thankfully, there are truth in the scriptures to remind us.

Psalm 18 is a chapter I have spent some time in lately. It begins with verse 1 "I love you O LORD my strength" and ends with verse 50 "Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever. " Do you see why David is in such deep affection for his LORD? God gives Him a great salvation from his enemies, and so proves His steadfast Love. Throughout the other 48 verses of this chapter he reflects on the Old Testament truths, and he also talks about The Lord equipping him for battle. Midway through in verses 29-31 is a truth that calms my anxious heart. 

"For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. This God-his way is perfect, the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock except our God? "

Now the battle and walls for us are a little different these days, the barriers are spiritual and sometimes physical, our battle is spiritual, and our enemy is the spiritual forces of darkness that constantly seek to kill, steal, and destroy us and the truths we believe, as well as, our faith and only eternal hope in Jesus Christ! So when you feel the darkness pressing in hold fast to the light of Christ in communion with him. Do not be deceived by the fading refuges/temporary comforts of this world because they cannot protect you, but dwell in the truths of the Scriptures! Remembering "This God-His way is Perfect; the word of The LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in Him.