Welcome Home

Today is Tuesday, June 29th and we have been home three days and counting. As we crossed into the United States and through immigration we heard two very special words from the officer who looked at our passports, "Welcome Home." I was again surprised by how comforting that sounded. Being in a foreign country with a foreign language, foods and culture drains the emotional energy from you. It seems we gave everything we had in the seven days we were in Aguascalientes. Working, praying, encouraging missionaries and brothers/sisters in Christ and trying to help share the Good News God has for our world.

As I think about that "welcome home" and how great it felt to be in my home land, a citizen of the United States, I am reminded of Hebrews 11.8-10, "It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. And even when he reached the land god promised him he lived there by faith - for he was like a foreigner living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob who inherited the same promise. Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God."

Sometimes I think we get to comfortable in this "foreign land" we call home. It is our earthly homeland but it is not our home. We are still traveling to our home where we will one day hear our Father say, "Welcome Home" and we will then be home - ready for rest. But until that day, we are still on the mission field - we are still working to share the hope of Jesus with the people around us. We must not miss this fact. Until we are home, we are still working in the harvest field that is ready for harvest. And Jesus himself said that the workers are few so pray that the Father will send more workers into the harvest.

So here is my challenge - even though I am tired and back "home" I must remember that I am not home and the work still goes on. So Lord, show me those you want me to talk to today and to build a relationship that will bridge to an opportunity to share the hope found only in Jesus which will lead them to the "eternal home" they have been seeking all their lives.

So as I close this blog, I want to say thanks to all those who followed it and prayed for our team. You were working right along side of us. And I encourage you to keep on praying, working and sharing the Good News with those who must hear and believe to enter into their eternal city built by God especially for them.

Thanks

Dave

Amazed

In my Bible reading this week, I have been in Luke and early in the week I read Luke 10. In this passage Jesus sends out his disciples two my two to the villages he planned to visit. He commissions them to be workers in his fields and says to them Go now, and remember I am sending you. When they returned, the disciples are amazed at the response they received as they were faithful to do what Jesus had asked them to do (17). Jesus responds that he "saw Satan falling from the heaven as a flash of lightning."

We too are amazed at what we are seeing among the people and among our team. In going and doing what we are asked to do, we are witnessing a good response from some of the Mexican people. Sam and Jenny have received several opportunities to do Bible studies with interested families in order to explore the Gospel with them through a simple Bible study. Many people and children have heard the Gospel and are responding and I would hope that Jesus would say the same thing of our Going, "I see Satan falling from the heaven as a flash of lightning."

Today we will work in the morning and this afternoon, we are going to an orphanage to give a kids club (puppets, wordless book gospel presentation, Bible memory:Romans 5:8 in Spanish of course, a craft) Each of these activities give us opportunities to lower the wall of culture, raise the Good News so others can see and allows us to smile, love and express in broken Spanish the love of Jesus to these children and hopefully their parents.

This morning we will work again and some will hike a mountain (7500 ft.). We are very close to finishing the drywall ceilings in three 16x20 rooms so a couple of us will stay at the camp and finish those rooms.

We are praying for those of you in the Hampton area experiencing flooding.

Thanks for praying for this outreach - we are witnessing God's work in Aguascalientes and we are thankful for the opportunity and your support.

Dave

Kids Club

Late Wednesday afternoon held another first for all of us. Sam and Jenny plan Kids Club around having groups from America because of having extra help and we are a "draw". :) Yes, we are kind of the side show. But seriously, Kids Club was one of the most unbelievable things that we have experienced so far. We were supposed to start around 7:00-7:30 but everything is on "Mexican time" which means it's not a definite time. What we also thought was unusual was the fact that this was not a "scheduled" event - no one else knew that it was going to happen. We had trouble wrapping our minds around the fact - how do you hold Kids Club when no knows it is going to happen?! Here's how: You start in the parking lot of a park. Then you send out teams into the neighborhoods and invite them! What a concept. As Sam put it, "if you build it, they will come"! It was unbelievably exciting to watch the faces of everyone as we told them about the puppet show, etc. They were very gracious, thankful and willing to attend. It was amazing to see that many of the people we invited actually came and joined in the fun and were willing to listen and learn about the good news of Jesus Christ. Pray that a seed will be planted in the hearts of those who attended.

Barbie

Sore muscles

Day 3 of construction at the camp. The gals learned how to use a chop saw, drills, and how to measure and attach scrap lumber to the wall for the ceiling sheet rock backing. The guys and gals again taped and mudded and hung sheet rock. In two weeks the camp will have their 1st week of youth camp. We are working hard and long. We are surprising ourselves with our new skills and so enjoying our fellowship and hard labor together. Some of us try to grab a "siesta" (nap) in the van on the way back to the hotel where we clean up for evening activities. At 7:00 p.m. we will help with our first Kid's Club at a local park. True to Mexican tradition, we have no idea if and how many children will come. Puppets, crafts, songs, and Bible verses are on the agenda. They say "if we build it, they will come!" Thank-you for your many prayers. Continue to pray for open hearts, and opportunities for people to hear Jesus' words of hope, love, and salvation.

Rosemary

Halfway Through

Here it is Wednesday morning and we are halfway through our trip already. We have seen so much and done so much it is hard to put it all into words. It is neat to see God working in us to mold us into what he wants us to be. His workers, His people, His body...

As Americans...well, even as humans, our desire is so strong to have things done our way, in a way we understand, in a way we are familiar with. When we are taken out of our familiar area, we are stretched physically and emotionally to take in and accommodate to our new surroundings. At that time, when we are in a place that we have no control over how things are done, we realize even more that the truth is that the only thing we can do is make sure our relationship with our Father is where it needs to be. We need to ask Him to forgive us for the many mistakes we make by our faulty world view and ask Him to change our hearts and turn to Him. We need to take on His world view, His love for humanity and show it to those around us. That is truly what it means to be a Christian - a follower of Christ - we need to shine His love to those around us. That is something we have heard so much it becomes mundane. But isn't that truly how we should live, with a love so strong for those around us that it shines. Isn't that truly what everyone wants - to be loved for who they are. Only God can do that completely - an unconditional love, but God has called us as His followers to LOVE.

Today, I challenge myself and anyone reading this to show a love towards others so strong that God's light shines through. This can not be done on our own power, but only through the Power that comes from above.

Lord, fill us with Your love, Your light, Your strength... so that we can love fully those around us and shine Your light today!!! Thank you, Lord for hearing our prayers and understanding us and loving us unconditionally.

Aimee

Not a Typical Monday Morning

Our typical Monday mornings find us grudgingly up at five a.m. and preparing for the beginning of a week long endurance. This Monday we found ourselves in a whole new situation! We had no idea of what we would be doing!

We spent most of the early part of day working on and finishing cabins for a camp just outside Aguascalientes. While the construction methods were not what we are used to we come to realize that going to Menard's and getting materials was not going to be the way we were going to do this. We are using recycled materials from the Nissan factory here. Pallets supplied the wood we needed to form the ceiling structures and we literally wired these to beams that the steel roof is attached to. Others sanded, mudded, and finished sheetrock, while others sorted wood and cleaned materials out of other cabins. We can explain more later.

The late afternoon found us cleaned up and heading out to do door to door evangelizing. We split up into groups and took off from a park. This was for Barbie and I a new experience, one we will never forget! It was exciting to see our "leaders" visit with those who came to the doors about the good news of Jesus, the Bible, and their salvation. Amazingly enough the people were very receptive. Several of the people listened eagerly to the hope that is found in our Lord and are making plans to join a Bible study, church or Kids Club to learn more. It was exciting to see that people are the same the world over. That they all realize and yearn for a savior.

We ended the day at Sam & Jenny's eating homemade guacamole and salsa dips and chips. We all discussed our experiences and prayed for those that we hope will eventually come to the Lord.

Needless to say, we fell exhausted into bed once again!

Aliens to Amigos

What an amazing day of contrasts! Sam took Dave and I to a very poor section of town to meet our host family only to find them not home (remember we are on Mexican time and schedules!) He visited with a lady in the street and we were welcomed into her very small and humble home. She was cleaning and spoke no English. With our limited Spanish we were able to make conversation and interact with her and her husband Santiago ( a retired taxi driver.) Her daughter and children arrived, we ate with them and played. Laughter and hugs are a universal language in any country. We went to a Market and park with Veronica and 3 children and Espironza, their mother and grandmother. Seven people in a five passenger car, which kept overheating due to a hole in the radiator hose. Dave was able to put a temporary patch around the hose using a plastic bag and added much water throughout the duration of our trip. We explored a very interesting market and beautiful lush city park. We attended a secret family celebration in a very unusual situation. We were a bit concerned about the location of where we were, but all the time felt so honored to be included on a special family celebration. We knew we were their amigos (friends) and they would protect and care for us. We felt like aliens and minorities all day, but we were treated with honor and love and care. Veronica and her husband, Pedro have a delightful family and are very new Christians. They were baptized last week. Deep are the bonds of love through Christ. We will be joining Sam and Jenny in Veronica and Pedro's home for a Bible Study later in the week. A very exhausting day, but such joy sharing life with fellow believers.

Rosemary

We're Here

We arrived last night after a delay with our flight at DFW and exited our airplane onto the tarmac and walked across in front of the plane we had just flown into Aguascalientes International. Before we could claim our bags, we had to pass through customs - also very interesting and before you do it, nerve racking ordeal. Walked around a few more barriers, send our luggage we had just claimed through another x-ray machine and then passed a couple of custom agents who were searching bags. Just before them was a red button which you press. A light above the button would either move you to search or to go on through. A very interesting process. Oh, by the way we all made it through in one piece. Thanks for your prayers.

We met Sam and Jenny and traveled about 30 minutes to their home and a light supper (10:30-11:00 PM) and then to our hotel - good accommodations but not like home. The night sleep was short and sometimes awake due to strange noises, but we are all together this morning in the hotel lobby - a small room with a few chairs and tables and of course internet connection. Yeah!

Any way we are off to get breakfast at Sam and Jenny's and then to church for their first morning service in there new church. It is Father's Dad here too and that means that many of the families will not be in church but with families, so we will see how many show up.

Happy Father's Day Dad and to all other fathers.

Will have someone else blog tonight so you get a different perspective.

Temps are about 70 degrees and sunshine.

Serving together.

Twas the Night Before Leaving

It has been a busy day of packing and running between raindrops. Storms have blanketed North-central Iowa last night and today but for many including ourselves, it allowed a little more time to pack, spend time with family and prepare. It always seems there are more details for a mission trip that show up the day before you leave. But as i sit here tonight, it seems that we are ready.

Tomorrow morning, we will meet as a team about 10:00 get the van packed and last minute details finished up. At 10:30 some of our church family will gather around and we will pray together for God's work and God's safety in this mission adventure. If you would like to pray with us, just show up before 10:30 and if you can't, pause for a moment at 10:30 and join us in prayer to our Almighty God whose calling we are following to go and share the Good News and encourage the church in another country for the honor of Jesus.

As we have talked with many of you over the last several days, there has been a unique similarity in the comments as we talk about this mission trip. Many have commented that they would like to go also - sometime in the future. I find that refreshing and confirming because one of the primary reasons we are going is to discover if God is preparing a partnership with Sam and Jenny Hanson for future mission endeavors to the Church in Aguascalientes, Mexico. It would seem that God is stirring in the hearts of his people to go - short term or long term - to go on a mission with God for the sake of those who have not heard or those who need to be encouraged. So I will ask you again, please be praying that we would understand God's will on this mission outreach.

So tomorrow I will Lord willing be writing from Aguascalientes, Mexico. Thanks for your prayers, your support and your friendship. All of which make this trip what it will be.

Until tomorrow,
Pastor Dave

Preparation

Our team met yesterday and are finishing up preparations for our departure on Saturday. I thought that I would give an itinerary of our week. Our team will be gathering at Faith by 10:00 am on Saturday to get the van packed and then will have prayer time with family and friends at 10:30 so we can depart the church by 10:45.

We fly out of the Des Moines Airport at 3.17 Pm and arrive in Aguascalientes, Mexico at 8:45 PM. Upon our arrival; we will eat, have a brief orientation and then go to our hotel for our first night in Aguascalientes. Sunday morning we will go to church with Sam and Jenny and in the afternoon spend time with some of our host families learning the culture and family traditions.

Monday we will be working at a camp preparing it for their camping ministry that begins soon. In the afternoon we will be doing some door to door evangelism trying to cross the language barrier and inviting people to the church and a possible World Cup Soccer Outreach. Tuesday will be similar in the morning and the afternoon we will work in a kid's club ministering to children in a effort to teach them about Jesus.

Wednesday we will take a tour of the city, doing some shopping but experiencing the culture of Aguascalientes and Mexico.

Thursday we will visit an orphanage and minister to them through a kid's club and just playing with them. Friday we will return to work at camp in the AM and do the kid's club in the afternoon.

Saturday we leave Aguascalientes, saying good bye to Mexico at 7:10 AM and will arrive in Iowa about 2:45 PM.

As we look forward to these new experiences, please be praying that as we experience some culture shock, we would be listening to the Holy Spirit's direction so that we can minister with limited Spanish, but through the Love of Jesus to the families we come into contact with. Pray that we will be good ambassadors for our Lord. Please pray also that we would get a good perspective about a longer term partnership with the ministry with the Hanson's in Aguascalientes, Mexico.

Thank you all for your prayer and support in this outreach.

Beginnings

Thought it would be helpful for all who are praying and following this mission trip if we were to blog our thoughts and experiences throughout this outreach. We will try to update this blog daily when the trip begins on June 19. Until then I will keep you posted on our thoughts as we approach our departure date.