Sunday began with word and ministry at El Shaddai Terrazas - Greg preached and the team ministered. This was followed by a time of breaking bread and fellowship with the congregation. Later, we took a quick peek at the building Pastor Mario intends to purchase for his vo-ed project. Then, back to Casaverde for the evening service of El Shaddai Peronia. Again, pastor Greg preached, and the team ministered to a full house. The evening was topped off with a typical meal with some of the church leaders.
Packing, debriefing, and heading home tomorrow. Thanks much for your prayers!
my mother was from guatemala city. i visited guatemala city twice as a child and i have vivid memories of the beautiful landscape and also. of the incredible poverty. this is one mission that i have absolutely NO problem with in supporting with my tithes. the stories i hear about how bad things are in guatemala, i KNOW, are NOT simply ploys to get financial assistance. the poverty, the unbelievable corruption of the POLICIA ( i remember my mother telling me about regular raids into the marketplaces and tourists sites by the POLICIA armed to the teeth, wanting to search everyone, ESPECIALLY their paranoia about cameras leaving the country) and the atmosphere of despair and fear, this is all old news. my mother GREW UP in this. i KNOW had bad things are there.
ReplyDeletesupporting this mission has special meaning to me..on a multitude of levels. tithing is something that has gotten a bad rap..by ME for along time, even after returning to the Lord, because of the profound disillusionment i felt because of all the erroneous, self-serving teaching that has taken something totally Biblical, and turned it into something totally UNBiblical. but its like this it takes a certain person to GET conned by a false teacher, as well as to BE the one who cons and the first thing i had to do was to REPENT. getting my heart right with God has drastically changed my perspective on tithing, and knowing, like pastor gary says, God may not always meet my GREEDS, Hell always meet my NEEDS.
putting in my 10% towards the kingdom of God, expecting to get a 100 fold return, if i was looking at lining my pockets on a spiritual principle, is something thats not going to mean a whole heck of a lot to a people, who are doing well to barely subsist from day to day. the 100 fold we need to start looking at is towards the KINGDOM OF GOD, not what we can get in the way of money.
supporting this mission has a special meaning to me.
i believe on of the fruits of TRUE repentence is the overwhelming desire to makethings right with the people so many of us hurt during our selfish walk with the world. oftentimes, some of these people are already dead when we give our lives to the Lord. however, there are LIVING amends we can make. i always wondered how i could make amends to my mother for the neglect and substandard care i gave her when she was dying in the last six months of her life, not to mention the untold grief id inflicted in the years before. God has a way of answering ones prayers (sometimes we dont even know it IS one)in some of the most unbelieable ways. this mission carries a message of unbelieavable hope
to a people that otherwise would be without hope. i also know the unbelieavable battle that so many of the catholic missionaries experienced on a daily basis and the incredible hope they were able to bring against all natural odds. if my mother were alive today, she would applaud the efforts of all those whom God has placed the desire in to make life better for her people.