“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.   Philippians 1.6

 

As many of you know, Mercy and I have been preparing for this fall for quite some time. We have approached this time with a good deal of fear and trepidation. What makes this fall that way is that instead of our children going blocks from home to go to school, one of our brood is on the east coast of the US; Virginia in fact. Aida has started school at the University of Virginia. We have raised her up, and have released her. We hope and pray that we have planted seeds of wisdom and faith and many other things to prepare her for the long journey ahead of her. But when it comes down to it, what little control we had over her life while she was here is now gone. That was made even clearer this morning when we got a call saying “daddy, my bike lock isn’t working.” After trying to talk through some technical steps, it became apparent that I wasn’t going to be able to fix the lock via long distance, nor “fix” many problems. What a frustrating and humbling thing that is. But I am very confident that once she gets her “sea legs” for her new life, she will learn how to thrive in ways that will amaze us.

 

In many ways, this also reflects what we do as missionaries. When we work with a mission or teach students, we have a direct influence upon them. And it is tempting to want to control how things are done and how ministry is conducted. When we teach, it is tempting to tell them how to confront each aspect of ministry. When we work with a couple on the formative stages of a mission, we have a good deal of input with that couple, as we support and encourage them with their ministry. We help them to look at things from a different perspective. We encourage them as they try different ways to reach their community. And we are there to encourage them in the joyous and the difficult times of ministry.

 

But from our earliest contact, we explain that we are there to help and encourage and share insights, but it is their ministry. And there comes a time in which we realize that our students and our new church planters need to be able to “fly” on their own. It is the hardest thing to have them do ministry their own way, because we just know that mistakes will be made (as if we wouldn’t make mistakes if we were in charge, ha ha!).And mistakes are made. And we see creativity bloom in ways we would have never thought of. And we see ministry happen in a way that is real and genuine and right for that community.

 

This comes from a philosophy that is part of our history as International Ministries. We work at building up the indigenous folk, so they share Christ and do ministry in ways that are their own. That makes for a more genuine ministry for their context; it also assures that if missionaries are no longer welcome or able to be in a place, the work of the Gospel will still go on with folk who are trained to carry it out.

 

It is hard to let go, but when the ministry flourishes in amazing ways, it’s an affirmation that that good work we had something to do with will indeed be carried on to completion.                                                                                                   Rick

 

Ministry and Family Update  

This has been a very busy time for us with many transitions. Of course, as Rick has shared with you, our eldest child has left the nest to study at a University all the way across the country. We miss her so much and at the same time we are so proud of her. So we now have an empty room which is being painted and redecorated for Joshua our youngest. Joshua’s room will become my office/guest room so Aida will still have a place to stay when she comes back home. Richie won’t escape the home improvement tornado going through the house; his room will also be redecorated even though he prefers to be left alone without mom’s touch.

 

This summer we also visited churches in Colorado, Kansas,Iowa, Indiana, New Jersey and dear friends along the way. Thanks to all who hosted us each night as we traveled cross country. We returned home on August the 4th and I (Mercy) left for Puerto Rico on the 10th to visit churches and see my extended family. I had a wonderful time but am so glad to be home here in El Centro with Rick and the boys.

 

As the fall season approaches, life is getting very busy. Rick and I will be co teaching an evening class on New Church Planting. I will also be teaching a class on conflict resolution and Rick will be teaching a class for Church Planters. Last Saturday, we went with members of Primera Iglesia Bautista to “La Plaza de los Mariachis” to give out breakfast to the homeless, transients and mentally ill who make their home there. It was eye opening to see so much need and so much gratitude for this ministry.

Yesterday, we went up to La Rumorosa and saw the progress on the new building for “La Mision Monte Sinai”. Pastor Romo and his wife Rosita are excited about the new building as are the members of the new church plant. We took pictures and Rick is now coordinating a follow up short term mission trip to continue to do work on the building.

 

Tonight we will be visiting “La Mision de La Ladrillera” which will soon be receiving new chairs donated by one of our supporting churches in California. Pastor Gregorio was so happy to have these chairs. This mission meets under a tree and most people just stand around or sit on the roots of the tree.

 

We will also be visiting many of the new church plants to see what has been happening during our absence. We know that the Lord has great things in store for us. We are so excited to see where the Lord will guide us to this year. Please continue to pray for all of these ministries.

 

Prayer concerns and celebrations:

1. Please pray for the ministry in La Plaza de los Mariachis and for the resources to continue to provide breakfast and provide for the special needs of the people here.
2. Please pray for “Monte Sinai” in La Rumorosa and the ministry of  Pastor Romo and Rosita.
3. Please pray for the ministry in “La Ladrillera” and again for the resources to help the people who live there.
4. Pray for El Buen Samaritano as they continue with their breakfast program for community children and equipping leaders to continue the ministry.
5. Pray for Rick and I as we prepare our evening class on New Church Planting and for the people who attend. There is so much need in this country.
6. Please uplift Aida in your prayers as she deals with her first year away from home.
7. We are joyful and thankful that we are now at 102% of our goal for the fiscal year 2009 which finishes on September 30th. God has indeed been faithful through his faithful followers.
8. We are thankful for the hard work of our MPT in CT and also for our friend Kerry who is designing a professional website for us.
9. Please consider prayerfully whether you would like to support our ministry on a regular basis.

                                                                                                           Mercy