A Worshipful Heart

Worship Confessional: An Opportunity for the Ordinary

Today we turned our attention to Acts 3-4, and Brian challenged us to consider a huge question "Am I an ordinary person that God desires to use to do extraordinary things for remarkable purposes?" 

I felt a bit fuzzy going into today's service because I have - amazingly - only led worship one time in the past month. Between the mission trip to Guatemala and then having the flu and taking off a few days to write, I have missed worshiping with my church family. 

Here's what we did:

We continued in our introduction of the song "Today is the Day" by Lincoln Brewster and Paul Baloche to our congregation. My team had done this for the first time last weekend when I was home with the flu and the congregation seems to be picking up on it easily enough. I saw that people were beginning to embrace the words as well as they worshipped. I was glad to see that. 

First Set of Worship:

1. Today is the Day - Brewster and Baloche

2. For All You've Done - Hillsong

3. Sing to the King - Billy James Foote

Welcome and Greeting

Sermon - "An Opportunity for the Ordinary" - Brian Mayfield

Video - Gregory Jones shot a great video of Sue Ann McCoy, our missions coordinator, sharing her story about how God used her to lead many people to Christ on a church mission trip. Powerful testimony!

Special Worship Song - "Center" (Charlie Hall) - Brian led us in this song and it was a beautifully powerful song to use to respond to the sermon. It really touched me deeply and Brian did a great job with it.

We wrapped up the service by singing "My Savior Lives" (NewLife). In looking back on it, I wish we'd used another song to bridge to this one to end on. It was a bit of an abrupt jump from "Center" to this song - too big of an emotional move in my opinion. I felt like we interrupted a sweet time with God to go to a fast song. If I had it to do over again, I'd use a medium tempo, more worshipful song between those two elements. As a worship pastor, I continue to live and learn!

Some points and questions I'll be thinking on this week in light of this sermon are:

 - If I am a follower of Jesus, God has a plan to use me.

 - God desires that we give what we have. This birthed two important questions in my heart: What does this mean to me? What do I have personally to give to others? (and this is one of those questions I feel like others might answer better than I can!)

 - Am I, as an ordinary person, allowing God to use me to do extraordinary things for His remarkable purposes?

 - Am I clearly stating that I live for Jesus Christ?

 - Do people recognize that I have been with Jesus? Can they tell by my life that I have been in the presence of Jesus? Do I exude the life and love of Jesus? Do I "smell like" Christ?

 - Am I underestimating what I have to offer? (a huge temptation for me personally because I often do not feel "qualified")

 - Am I courageous enough to ask God to make me dangerous for the Kingdom of God? This question really reverberated in my heart. I'm still thinking about it and will be for some time.

 - Am I willing to be used radically?

Do any of these questions resonate with you? Which ones? What is your answer?

How was your Sunday?

This post is a part of Sunday Setlists over at FredMcKinnon.Com. Go see what the rest of the world did in worship this morning!

My Love/Hate Relationship with Theology (Guest Blogger)

This thought provoking post was written by guest blogger Nancy Smith. Nancy is one of my best friends and I know you'll have much to think about after reading her thoughts, first published on Facebook.

On one hand, I really love theology. I love to think about the nature and character of God and how His different attributes, though sometimes seemingly at odds with one another, all work together to make Him who He is. I love to learn about the various schools of thought concerning things like election, atonement, the depravity of man, God’s grace, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, perseverance of the Saints, the end times, etc.

I definitely have my own opinions on what I believe the Bible teaches about all of these things: I believe that God reveals himself to all people through His creation (Rom. 1:19-20) and that He desires all people to be saved (2 Peter 3:9). I believe that God, in His infinite love for mankind, chose to allow us (just as He chose to allow Adam and Eve) to choose whether or not to love and follow Him. (Deut. 30:19, Joshua 24:15). I believe that while God, through the Holy Spirit, definitely draws people to Himself, He still gives us a choice in whether or not to accept his free gift of grace. (Matt. 19:16-22). I don’t see faith as a work in which I can boast, but a decision to accept the fact that Jesus is who He says He is and to commit to Him all that I am, all that I have and all that is yet to come, knowing that I am utterly incapable of doing anything to save myself. (Rom. 10:9-10, Rom. 10:12-13). So while salvation is totally God's doing, it is not something He zaps us with unwillingly. If we refuse to acknowledge His existence or His right to be the supreme authority in our lives, He gives us over to the selfish and sinful desires that we choose instead of Him. (Rom 1:24-30)

I believe that because we have free will and because part of our human nature is to seek out those things that will bring us pleasure, we all have a bent toward sinning (see Adam & Eve) – we have the freedom to choose our own way and we like exercising this freedom. I believe that we all become guilty when we choose our own way over God’s, and no one (other than Jesus) has ever failed to make this fatal choice. I believe Christ died to pay the price for the sin of all people, and that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16) I believe that baptism is a step of obedience for all who have chosen to give their lives to Christ. (See the stories of the Philippian jailer and the Ethiopian Eunuch) I believe that God’s Spirit indwells all who have trusted in Him and invited His presence into their lives. I believe that anyone who has ever truly experienced the love, the grace, and the power of God in their lives would never want to walk away from Him, and that prodigal sons are still sons, though they may not be currently experiencing the benefits of that status. The Good Shepherd goes out in search of His sheep that have wandered away from the fold (Luke 15:3-6).

I believe that Jesus will come back like a thief in the night and that try as we might to interpret events in the world to figure out when that will be, no one has gotten it right yet, so why should we think we are any different? Basically, the world as we know it will end whenever God is ready for it to end, and we should be prepared to withstand trials and tribulations if He so chooses.

Now, having stated what I believe about all these things, let me be the first to say that I could definitely be wrong - about any or all of it. While I do have a seminary degree and took several courses in theology, I am not a theologian. I haven't studied Greek or Hebrew. I haven't learned all there is to know about the early church or the process by which the canonization of scripture came about. I would be doing well to recite even one creed by heart. I am limited both by the scope of my education and by my own failure to dig deeper. I am also limited by my own spiritual experience. While I have definitely been through some valleys in life, I have not suffered great hardship or persecution because of my faith. I have always had all that I need (and then some) materially. I have never been through a life-threatening illness or through the heartbreaking experience of losing a child. While I believe my faith to be strong and genuine, there are some aspects of God's love and power that I know only vicariously. But most of all, I am limited because I am a created being with a finite mind – not an infinite and eternal Being whose ways are not my ways and whose thoughts are higher than mine could ever be. No one has known the mind of the Lord, and that includes me. But not just me, it also includes all those who are theologians, even John Calvin and Jakob Arminius. Who were they but men? Learned men to be sure – but in the end, just men who were looking through a glass dimly – even as we do. To paraphrase Donald Miller in his book Blue Like Jazz, –“What are the chances that any one person is going to get it all just exactly right?”

This is why it doesn't bother me in the least that my own set of beliefs does not fit neatly into either school of thought and why it seems ludicrous to me for people to be so adamant in purporting one school of theological thought or another. The truth is that God is God and we are not. He can do whatever He wants to do. He doesn't have to fit into our logical systems of thought (hmm – maybe God is a woman!) Whether He chooses to save some and not others or chooses to let us choose Him – that is His decision. Even if He should decide to redeem every person who has ever lived, that is up to Him. Whether or not believers will be raptured and spared from enduring the tribulation – God's decision. Whether it is possible to lose one's salvation or not – that too is up to God. Scripture can be found to support positions on all sides of almost every issue.

So this is where the hate part in my love/hate relationship with theology comes in. What I hate about theology is that it often seems only to divide those of us who are Christ followers. Jesus prayed for us in John 17:20-23. And what was his prayer for those who would believe through the message of his disciples? It was that we would be one – that we would be “brought to complete unity to let the world know that you (God) sent me (Jesus) and have loved them even as you have loved me.” But many times, we Christians spend so much of our time and energy trying to defend our own theological leanings and in the process insinuating (if not saying outright) that anyone who doesn't interpret the Bible as we do is obviously and idiot. We are so desperate to defend and back up our position that we fail to do the most important thing Christ commanded us to do – love each other. It is by our love for one another that those who are not believers will be drawn to Christ – not by how much scriptural evidence we intelligently present to prove that our understanding of God's ways is correct. We seem to care more about the correctness of our doctrine and our church polity than we care about the people around us who are hurting and who are dying without Christ. We care more about the pursuit of proving our position than we care about the pursuit of true holiness. Our spiritual pride and arrogance consumes us – keeping us from being the hands and feet of Jesus to those who so desperately need His touch. And it is pride (believing our own way to be better than God's) that is at the root of all sin.

I'm not saying that studying the Bible is not important – far from it. It is of great importance to know not only what you believe, but why you believe it. The problem does not lie in the pursuit of knowledge. It lies in knowledge being the end of our pursuit and in thinking that we can ever reach a place where we have nothing left to learn. When we conveniently ignore all the passages that implore us to live in unity with our Christian brothers and sisters, have we not become like the Pharisees? They cared only about the letter of the law and not its spirit. Though they were extremely knowledgeable of the law, their hearts were far from God – they were filled with pride and arrogance – even as many of those who want to debate theology are today.

This is why I love and hate theology. I love to think about it, learn about it, even discuss it – but never do I want to be guilty of assuming my positions are the only ones that could possibly be right. “Who has understood the mind of the Lord, or instructed him as his counselor? Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge or showed him the path of understanding?” Isaiah 40:13-14.

There are a few things on which all of us who claim the name of Christ can agree – that God exists and that He is both the Creator and sustainer of life; that He sent His one and only Son Jesus to make a way for sinners to receive forgiveness and cleansing from all unrighteousness; that those who know Him as Savior and Lord will spend eternity with Him; and that He has commanded us love one another and to go and tell the good news of His salvation to the ends of the earth. These should be the things upon which we focus our attention and expend our energy. Maybe if we did this more, we would come closer to being unified as Jesus prayed that we would be. Showing Jesus' love to the hurting people around us is a lot more important than winning any theological debate. Love God, Love others - those are the big 2. Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my commandments." That's what we need to be asking ourselves every day - how am I doing at obeying Jesus? That, and not some theological debate, should be the focus of our lives.

Worshiping Alone

Today the worship sevice I attended was a little unusual. For starters, there was just me. In my living room. All alone.

You see on Wednesday morning I arrived at the local Urgent Care facility with a raging fever (over 103) and was diagnosed with Type A Flu, most probably the dreaded A1N1, better known as "swine flu". As soon as this was determined, everyone around me slapped on masks and hurried me out the door. They wouldn't even let me pay!

So in light of all the panic and worry and fear - and to avoid spreading anything - Brian (our Lead Pastor) and I decided it would be wise for me to remain at home this morning and not lead worship. I knew my team would do a great job without me but I really missed being at The Brook this morning with all my friends. It was very lonely to be at home alone. I've only led worship ONE Sunday in June! I'm missing that as well, but most of all I've missed worshiping TOGETHER. I was so looking forward to the worship set planned for today and felt somewhat depressed at the thought of missing it.

To combat my depression, I put on Gateway's "Wake Up the World" album (one of my favs) and started cleaning up the house a bit, singing at the top of my lungs "The Lord reigns, the Lord reigns, the Lord reigns, we will sing and shout! You reign, You reign, You reign, forever King of all!". Then I moved on to singing "God of My Days" and "You are Good".

As I sang the words to "You Are Good", the truth really pierced my heart: "You are good, You are good, You are good and Your mercy lasts forever! Your mercy is forever, Your kindness is forever, Your goodness is forever, forever!" I just had to sit still before the Lord with that word for a bit and so I just sat and worshiped for a bit. I journaled and I even started a new song (Breathe on Me)......and I had a word from God. God preached a sermon straight to my heart, knowing I needed to hear from Him today as I had "church" all alone at home.

This is an excerpt from my journaling this morning: "I have realized that I've allowed myself to start down the slippery slope of being obsessed with "doing" - with what's next on the agenda to accomplish and finish." One of my own personal "biggest temptations" that I battle so often is the temptation of being a workaholic, of obtaining my sense of worth from work. As I've struggled with that, God has taught me some painful yet valuable lessons.

I realized today that one of the biggest lessons I've ever learned has been fading a bit - and that is that my "doing" MUST flow out of my being with God and also out of my becoming more like Christ. Anything else is ultimately futile and even forced - and they are birthed out of my own effort, not necessarily out of the Spirit of God. Sometimes the thing I MUST do is simply to sit at the feet of Jesus and spend time with Him.

Not to get marching orders.

Not to receive guidance.

Not to know how to do ministry.

Simply to take joy in being with Him.

That was my worship service this morning. What was your Sunday like? What did God say to you?

**This post is a part of Sunday Setlists over at FredMcKinnon.Com. **

I Hate This.....

So, I'm guessing everyone has read or heard about or listened to the the confession of Governor Sanford from South Carolina about his unfaithfulness to his wife. Apparently his wife already knew about it but he made another trip to see his mistress anyway. It is my understanding that the Governor is a Christian and had an accountability partner.

A few weeks ago, Gary Lamb, pastor of Revolution Church in Canton, Georgia confessed to an affair with his assistant and was asked to resign as pastor.

My goal here is not to offer deep commentary on why these men made the choices they did. My goal is also not to bash men. I just want to offer how these choices have made me, as a wife, feel - even though my husband has been nothing more than faithful and respectful for over 25 years. I only have a female perspective, so here it is....

First of all, I can't imagine what these wives must be feeling, married to men whom they believed to be committed to Christ, only to find out that their husbands had chosen someone else when the opportunity presented itself.

These stories make wives all over the world feel afraid, worried, and very vulnerable. We read it and wonder if the day will come when we will no longer be "enough", when another woman will be irresistable to our husbands. When I read stories like this not only am I appalled that these men could be so completely short-sighted, but it makes me feel like all that matters about being a woman is the size or age of my body. It makes me feel like - as a 43 year old - I am no longer attractive and therefore no longer worthy of a man's affection. It's not even my husband and I am sitting here on the couch with the flu feel old and boring - and very UNenchanting!

As a Christian woman, I hope and pray that my husband will find me attractive all through our lives, seeing my lines and grey hair simply as a sign of many years together. I hope he loves me for who I am, and for what we've experienced in life together, not just for how I look. I hope he admires my intellect and wisdom and spirit, not just my body. I hope he loves being with me all the time and enjoys spending time with me. I hope we will always be best friends and appreciate one another.

I hope he will always love God more than he loves me. May God give us strength to love Him and our family and one another with deep faithfulness. May we always see the best in one another and be amazed at the gift of one another.

Simplifying for the Sake of Others

For some time now I've been struggling with how much it seems to cost to "do church" here in the U.S., particularly to provide a really cutting edge worship service. The constant worry over really happening set designs, new software, programmable lighting systems and the like has been exhausting for me primarily because I felt so torn about the amount of money many of these things cost.

In short, I felt that sometimes our abundance can distract us from what truly matters. We focus on what we have or don't have and we sometimes forget the goal!

Don't get me wrong. I want to do the best job I can as a worship pastor. I want to provide a worshipful atmosphere for our congregation and lead worship with absolute excellence. But God is adding another aspect to this equation for me.

You see, for the past year or so, we've struggled to meet budget at church. Our budget numbers are fairly meaningless because we've tried very hard to spend nothing we absolutely did not need to. This has greatly limited us but at the same time it has forced us to focus on that which really matters.

In worship, for instance, I am not sure that adding programmable lighting would enhance anyone's worship experience. I don't think it would help them connect to God in a more meaningful way. So since new equipment is out of the question (unless something breaks - which our projector did!) I must ask the most important question as a worship pastor - what DOES help our congregation connect with God in meaningful ways? And how can we provide it at little or no cost?

Here are a few things we can provide that are low cost:

 - the opportunity to worship in community with others

 - well planned out worship services that give invitation and space to connect with God

- times of focused prayer for my faith community

 - continual leadership development of the leaders on my team so we continually grow and improve

 - teaching of the congregation about biblical worship

 - creative ideas to share truths in fresh ways

- passionate leaders who model worship

 - ministering to those on my team and in my congregation through spending time with them

 - encouraging those around me

 - giving my very best to my every day tasks as the worship pastor at The Brook

Those are just a few things off the top of my head! I'm sure that if we thought longer we could come up with many more ideas.

But God's been doing even MORE in my heart as I've been ministering in third world countries and preparing to train and equip worship leaders there. The question that keeps rolling around in my heart, the question that will not go away, is this:

What if we were to simplify not because we must (due to money issues), but because we desired to be a blessing to others?

What if we simplified in our home churches and used that money to help churches in the developing world? What if we were to teach our congregations that church is not about us and that we might could do without a new gadget or something that is cool in order to provide some basic equipment for a church that has very little? What if we decided not to upgrade our mics to the newest fav, or if we kept our older guitar instead of buying a new toy and used that money to provide basic microphones, and an instrument or training for a church leader in Central America? What if we cared just as much about seeing God's name be magnified around the world, in every nation, as we do about having church programs that meet our own personal needs?

How would this attitude bless the church world-wide?

How would this change us? How could it realign our priorities and help us to see what truly matters?

What do you think? Is it time to simplify for the sake of others?

Worship Recap: Ministering to the Forgotten

Today I was back leading worship at The Brook after being absent the past two Sundays for a mission trip. You can scroll down and read all of my posts about this phenomenal experience to see many of the things we were involved in.

It was a bit more difficult to get back into the swing of things than I had anticipated mainly because I've just felt so emotionally overwhelmed this week in the wake of our trip. I've felt a bit disconnected and "at sea"all week, so it required a LOT of concentration and focus for me to lead this morning. I'm so thankful for my team who is always so prepared and solid - they made it easy. Leading with a great team is a GIFT! We're doing one service on Sundays for the month of June and July - which I haven't done in about eight years - so that made things just a bit easier as well.

Our focus today was on our mission trip and having the opportunity to share with our congregation all that we did while in Guatemala. We used some video and pictures to highlight the different projects and ministries and then our leaders for the trip - Josh Britt, Sue Ann McCoy and Bill Schroder - shared about what we did and how God worked in their lives personally as we worked and ministered

The focus for our trip really seemed to be loving those that others have forgotten - we worked with orphans, handicapped children, the very poor and homeless, and the indigeneous people there who suffer from malnutrition and very poor housing as well as many other indignities. We all agreed that many of us are simply wrecked and broken in the wake of this trip - and as my husband said, "I just keep thinking about how we can get back and work SOON." I know that I, for one, will never be the same again.

Here's the worship we did today:

1. Cover the Earth (great song for the idea of missions and the nations declaring the glory of God!)

2. My Redeemer Lives

Welcome and Greeting

Video and Sharing about Mission Trip

3. Hosanna (love that line: "Show me how to love like you have loved me. Break my heart for what breaks yours. Everything I am for your Kingdom's cause!")

4. Sweetly Broken (this is how I'm feeling!)

5. Cover the Earth Reprise to go out on!

The stage was set for VBS so we had a cool set design! I felt like it was a wonderful service with a ton of energy and I really hope many of our people were challenged and encouraged to "Bring the Kingdom". I want to give a big kudos to our Pastor, Brian Mayfield, who totally canned his sermon late Saturday night in order to allow us to fully share about the trip. It was a great call! Be sure you check out his latest post entitled "wrecked". It so aptly describes how many of us are feeling. I am looking forward to seeing how God is going to call and direct us as a church family in the wake of this experience. I have been on other mission trips, but there was just something different about this one, and I feel that God is doing a deep work in us for the future - and for the sake of others. Be sure to check back this week for more of my thoughts on the future and how church leaders can make choices here in the U.S. to benefit others.

**This post is a part of Sunday Setlists over at www.fredmckinnon.com. Go read what other worship leaders around the world did today!**

How was your Sunday?

I'm Very Thankful

 

That I got to experience Guatemala with the love of my life, my husband Phil. I loved seeing how he got so excited about helping the people of Yalu in particular. He worked so hard and has great dreams for future trips and projects that will improve the quality of life for the people of this village and show them the love of God in a hugely concrete way.

 

We were also blessed to have our youngest son Daniel share this trip with us. I loved seeing him use his gifts and abilities to share love and joy with those he met. He did a ton of construction and played guitar and one afternoon (as seen above) he conducted an impromptu percussion workshop with the children who live in Yalu.

We loved experiencing Guatemala together. We are now praying about how God would have us minister there in the future. Our minds and hearts are full of all kinds of questions. Will I be able to return to train worship leaders? Should we return for Spanish language school? Would God have us go back and work in Yalu?

Tonight my heart is full of questions and dreams as well. But in the midst of all that wondering I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to go - and not only to go, but to go with two other members of my family. That was a deep blessing.

To all of you who helped us go, we want you to know how grateful we are. We ask that you continue to pray for us as we pray and process the next steps in our journey.

All Messed Up

Those would be the words to describe the state of my emotions since returning from Guatemala. I'm just plain all messed up - I feel like my heart is wrecked and I feel slightly confused all the time. I sit down to work and instead find myself staring into space thinking about Antigua and the people of Yalu, and dreams of the future. To say that I have not been productive this week would be a huge understatement. I sit in meetings and find it hard to concentrate and even harder to care.

I just have this huge question in my heart:

"God, what would you have me do next?"

God at Work in Yalu

As I'm sure you remember, Yalu is the remote mountain village I've been working in here in Guatemala. When we first began to work in this area the people were very remote and reserved. They would hardly speak to us or even acknowledge us and that was a bit difficult to figure out how to handle. But as each day has passed they have warmed up to us, talking to us more and more. We've learned since being here that about five years ago some Americans were coming into this village stealing their babies for black market adoptions. They are understandably still very leery of Americans as a result. We are praying every day that they will see that we are reaching out to them for no reason other than we love them because Christ has first loved us. As we spend time with them we pray that this will become very apparent and clear. Every nail that is driven, every screw drilled, every wall replaced, every meal served is another declaration that God loves them and that we are not here to take, but to give.

Today my building team worked at a home of a family that housed several generations together. Here's a video - rough and dirty for sure! - that will show you where I worked today. Enjoy!

Gutemala Housebuilding in Yalu from Jan Owen on Vimeo.

It was wonderful to have them help with the construction. The grandfather helped during the day, being such a gentleman while holding my ladder as I worked on the roof. Before lunch we had replaced the old, rusty section of roofing. I am pleased to say that Melissa (one of our teammates from North Star) and I completed most of this task on our own. It was a good feeling to be able to accomplish something physical that helped this family. You can see our great new roof below:

But for me, today was about being with the people. Melissa and I became very popular, mainly because we are the ones who brought candy (dulce) and stickers (no one in Yalu could tell us a name for these in either Spanish or the local Mayan dialect many of them speak). I used the stickers to bribe them to tell me their name (Comos te llamas?) and how old they were (Cuantos anos?). Then I would translate to English and we had our very own little Spanglish class going on.

Later this afternoon Melissa and I were really without a task to do so we took out the coloring book and crayons I had bought at Target before leaving home. Their faces lit up and they were so excited! And this is what made me cry......

They moved in their only small table, took out their handwoven table cloth, brought in rocks and stumps, crates and little handmade chairs to sit in and sat down to color. Even the mother colored with us! They took such delight in this simple pleasure and treat. We got out stickers and used those and so Melissa and I continued our little English/Spanish lessons, this time using colors. I laughed at Melissa (who knows even less Spanish than I do I think) and said it was her way of getting them to teach HER! So now we know most of our colors!

As we colored children from all over arrived until we had about twelve kids coloring all over the room. Melissa put stickers on her face and so did they. One day if they visit the U.S. they'll wonder why no one is wearing stickers like earrings! We learned their names and ages and communicated as well as we could given that the two of us know very little English and the mother seemed to speak the Mayan dialect mostly. But it was a sweet time and we enjoyed this so much. We gave them the book and crayons as a gift and they treated it as a special treasure. It really touched us and we're already talking about what we could do when we come back to minister to the women of the village who have very hard lives. We would love to make sure that they know that they are created by God for a purpose and loved dearly! You can pray with Melissa and I as we consider how God might want us to step out and minister in this way.

 

 

As we left for the day they told us over and over again "Muchas gracias" and when we said "Dios te bendiga" (God bless you), they nodded and smiled. We pray a door has been opened.

That brings me to our prayer request. We will be hosting a block party at Yalu Wednesday night at 5:00 pm. We'll have clothing for them, sing some worship songs in Spanish, do a skit, a puppet show, and share the gospel and then feed them dinner.  Please, please pray for their hearts to be open to the good news of Jesus Christ and for our love for them to also be apparent. Please pray that many of them will come to know Christ as their personal Savior tomorrow, that it would indeed be the day of salvation for them.

In closing I want to share with you a picture of me holding Brenda, the little girl that God used so mightily in my life as we worked at Hermano Pedro. Although her body is weak and crippled, her smile is so beautiful. Callie and I both fell in love with her and I felt God's presence in such a vivid way as she smiled up at me.

 

We are so thankful for your interest, support and prayers. We read your comments and know that you're back home keeping us lifted to the Lord.

Another Taste of Guatemala

I'm so proud of this team I'm serving with here in Guatemala. I love getting a front row seat to seeing them use their gifts and lives to glorify God. I've seen them love on special needs kids who are severely deformed, I've seen them feed them, paint their nails, hold them close, and sing to them. I've seen them handle a power saw or drill for the first time, dish out food for hungry kids, or encourage their teammates to try to do something they weren't sure they could do.

But you know what touched me most of all? When I saw them cry. When we went back to Hermano Pedro yesterday I saw everyone respond with such love and compassion to these people. I saw them get attached as we were allowed to get them out of their cages and allow them to come outside and they held them. I saw them care about how they were fed, and how a simple smile really did light up the room.

But perhaps I was most blessed to see them cry, to choke back the tears, to be overwhelmed for a moment but to go on anyway.

I am proud of how my teammates served but I was perhaps most proud of how they cared. I am glad they have tender hearts. I am happy they were disturbed. I am thrilled that their response was one of compassion.

Here are a few pictures of some of our team:

 

 

Callie is holding Brenda, the little girl I sang "Jesus Loves Me" to, mentioned in my previous blog post. You can see many more pictures on our student ministry blog so go here to read and see!

Today it was back to construction for me. I worked in Yalu again, which you might remember is a rural mountain village. We had more contact with the people today and some of us got to work in the feeding center there as well, helping to feed 250 children that are malnourished a healthy lunch. We completed two more homes and you can see some of these pictures below:

 

This is the family in the first home we completed. We returned today and they had cleaned it up and reorganized over the weekend. It looked so great! They obviously had alot of pride in their improved home.

 

This is the home we redid today. The walls - as you can see - are made of cornstalks. We took them totally down (which didn't leave much!) and replaced it with tin walls, which you can see in the pictures below:

 

This was our progress at lunch time. Below is our finished project!

 

The owner opted to finish the eaves/roof himself in order to run the electrical wires like he wanted.

Here is one of my favorite pictures of the day - all of the women of this family, who lived in homes right by one another, agreed to let me take their photo. The young woman to the far right is the owner of the home I worked on today.

 

Aren't their outfits beautiful?

Sorry for the grab-bag approach today but I wanted to add one last thing tonight before shutting down and heading to bed. We've had the pleasure of having some friendsn from North Star Church in Madison join us for this trip. Their company has been a great blessing. One of Phil's co-worker's - Todd - had been with us and we've loved working together and I know Phil has enjoyed ministering with him as well. They've been a gift!

Thank you for your prayers. We love knowing you're reading and praying!