A Run Around Saturday!

Today was a day with many things going on at once!  Divide and conquer could have been the theme!    We started with our devotional by reading Psalm 34:1-10. The first verse really stood out to me. "I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth."  Just imagine if we all lived this way!  How could I possibly say something bad about my neighbor, or tell a lie, or draw attention to how great I am! ...Hmmm.  It could change the world if we constantly praised Him!  Such a hard thing to do by our own power!  Obviously this is why we need to abide in Him!  This was illustrated nicely in the rest of our devotional time as Patrick shared his testimony with the team. In summing his testimony up it was clear that relying on God to guide us and asking for His Holy Spirit to empower us makes all the difference in life's circumstances. It doesn't mean everything will go our way, but it does mean He will give us the grace to move through whatever comes our way, good or bad!


For activities today we had the opportunity to set up as a whole group for the bazaar. Then the ladies took over with Shelly and worked selling clothes to anyone who came by. Apparently it was quite busy in the morning but slowed in the afternoon. It was quite amazing to see how many bins of clothes had disappeared. It is also nice to know that all of the remaining clothes are organized for the future. I am sure that is a huge blessing to Shelly to be able to put that all away in an organized fashion. I know everyone would have loved to sell more clothes to those who came, but who knows whose lives were touched today by this ministry?  God does!

While the bazaar was going on the majority of the men worked to finish the sidewalk ramp along the side of

the church. Again, this entailed a lot of mixing concrete and pouring it while Fransico and his men worked their magic to create a beautifully smooth surface. Barb was able to use some of her creativity to lay various leaves into the surface leaving their imprint on the 'Tree of Life' church sidewalk. An unique connection I think!

While all of this was going on Greg and his team of Jack, Ed, Ulysses (spelling?), and myself drove to their 'camp' to do some repairs and clean up for a church BBQ tomorrow. It is about half an hour from the church and has such potential to be used for ministry in the future. There was a lot of yard clean up to be done that Ed, Jack, and I worked on. Greg and Ulysses took care of welding a door in place in one of the buildings and repairing a basketball hoop. Ulysses is such a man of God and has such a servant heart. In the days we have been here he has dedicated so many hours to the church volunteering his time and welding talents. He has also been at every possible event that has been on for the local church this week. Bible study, prayer meeting, hosting part of our team for supper, repairing the churches front gate and door at camp. For all this he takes time from his own work as I understand it. He is just one of many here who serve using their physical and spiritual gifts in such humble ways.

So after all the men's work was done and the team, including the local missionaries had helped to pack up from the bazaar we all cleaned up and prepared for taking in more of the sites of Hermosillo. Again we were toured to various locations throughout the city by Shelly, Nolanda and Cornelius, Ed and Terry, and Jack and Lucy. I have to say thanks to all of them for the time they have spent with us. It has been a blessing to talk and joke with all of them. We are starting to get to know them well enough to have some great laughs. Just ask Ed and Terry about trying to take group photos of the team with cameras taking pictures of their noses instead. I'm sure many of the Mexican people on top of the mountain lookout wished the 'gringos' would stop laughing so loud.

Today our tour included a stop at the site of the daycare where the 49 children died in the fire 4 years ago.

Shelly spoke with us there about the impact on so many lives and the five families of victims that she is still presently ministering too!










Next we visited the 'Virgin of Guadeloupe' shrine.  It is a picture of a virgin (many would say Mary) who the

Catholic Mexicans pray to for their requests to be answered. Many pray for healing of some sort. I will not go into huge detail about how it came into being but the fact is it is a huge part of Catholicism here in Mexico. Shrines are build on the mountains in several places in Mexico and thousands of Mexicans come to these locations to seek the favor of God to answer their prayers by praying to this virgin. You see her image all over the city and people often leave plaques with their prayers and thanks for answered prayers on the mountain by the shrine. Thousands of candles are burned and coming up in about two weeks will be the huge yearly celebration to her, where even more people will climb the mountain to seek her favor.  It was an eye opening experience to one of the hugest roadblocks to ministry here in Mexico. We spent some time praying to the one true God, our Saviour and Heavenly Father, from this spot (individually at the top and as a group in the parking lot). Praying in particular to thank Him for the free access He has provided to Him in the sacrifice of His son, Jesus Christ. We also prayed for those who have been deceived into thinking they cannot have direct access to pray to God knowing that He cares and hears our petitions directly.

Then before our supper in a downtown restaurant we stopped to see the view from a mountain in the middle of the city. It was beautiful to watch the sun go down and the lights of the city come on.  From here we walked through some markets on our way to the restaurant.

Reflecting now on the past few days I see just how enormous the need for Christ in this city is and it leaves me in awe thinking about just how much bigger our world is than Hermosillo. I'm also seeing how a love for these people is growing in our team. They overall are such a loving people and willing to smile and try to communicate with us. I also am amazed by the simple joys so many seem to have, like walking through a park or just sitting down with family to enjoy a snack. On the other side you cannot help but notice the extreme poverty and living conditions unlike anything I've ever seen in my EMS career in Regina. The final thing that continues to impress me is how Greg and Shelly in particular, but the rest of their team as well, never stop serving and ministering to those around them. It is not unusual to find Greg having a one on one conversation with someone with his Bible in hand or on his phone sharing, what he has been learning or listening to others concerns. Shelly, as well, can be found talking to kids or needy people at every opportunity. She is such an encourager of the Christians around her and brings smiles to many people's faces in a day. They exemplify Psalm35:1 as God's praise is continually in their mouths!

Dwight

PS: if the dates seem one day off it is just because of posting the entry after midnight. Hope that helps