Search and Build

The first chapter of the book that I am reading right now ends with this paragraph: "Those who missed His Majesty's (Jesus) arrival that night missed it not because of evil acts or malice; no , they missed it because they simply weren't looking. Little has changed in the last two thousand years, has it?"

After I read that passage, I was transported back to the 18th of February where one of my neighbors was drunk and suicidal, and invited me into her house to pray with her and "help" her (there is a post titled "Crazy Walk" on this day that you can read more about that.) What she asked me that nite was "why do you know Jesus better than I do, and you are so young?" And what I told her was that for her whole life, Jesus has been looking for you, but have you ever reached out and looked for Him?

Maybe if you feel like Jesus is far away from you, you should look for Him! Are you looking for Jesus in your life? Do you look for Him during your day? HOW do you look for Him? When you find Him, what do you do? HOW can you look and find Him more?

Just ask yourself these questions... who knows, you might be surprised (and blessed) by what your find (Jesus).

realest of the real

HEY! time flies, April is going to be another fast month. we finally had a work day at the church building again, we took about a 2 or 3 month break from doing the general maintenance and improvements that we used to do every week! needless to say, that was a lot to be done and we did a good 2 or 3 hours of work to the building. sometimes i have to ask myself if this is really what i signed up for... cleaning a churchbuilding? thats mission work. believe it or not! i like lists so here is one that i came up with. things that most people dont think of when they here the word missionary:

1. Fun - thats right, your not supposed to have fun while working for God! the theme is "Git-R-Dun" not "Have some Fun"

2. Manual Labor - mission work isnt supposed to be hands on... arent you to busy with bible studies and mass baptisms?!?!

3. Shabby clothes - hard to believe, but the Mormons uniforms are on point, black pants, white shirts and even name tags. as for us, sometimes we look worse than the people we are ministering to!

4. Relax - how can you relax when you are driving out demons and feeding poor people all the time? yes, we find the time! this can be anything from some coffee at starbucks, a movie at the mall, or just going to the park.

So what was the point of this list? I just want everyone to understand that there are no real guidelines to being a missionary. I would say that the main guidelines are a mentality that you are theologically conservative, and culturally liberal. Thats right, preach the gospel while you are IN the culture. Missionaries are real people, some of the realest people out there! We cant have a mindset that missionaries are just those people who travel to far off places... every Christian is (or should be) a "missionary". so my charge is: GO OUT, PREACH THE WORD, AND BE REAL!!!

change

hey everyone! well its been just a little over a week since my last post. its been kind of wierd getting back into the work, sometimes i have to remind myself that just being a friend to someone is part of why i am here. nonetheless, i am attending a new small group and also studying with 2 young women. last nite i studied english with Fabiola, and she is doing really well. she just needs to practice talking in english and she will be on the right track. im not just her "teacher" though, one of the main reasons i wanted to study with her is because she doesnt have a whole lot of friends here, she has self esteem issues, and its just hard for me to watch a young, awesome Christian stay in their house all day! so after we studied at her house, i took her to the new small group that my teammates donovan and megan started at the nearby Starbucks coffee shop. last nite was the first nite and my buddy Donovan did an awesome job setting it up and leading it. we are doing a 4 week study called "reflections on the cross" and im very excited not only to take part in it but because hopefully Fabiola can now branch out and hang out with some of the other people from the church and whoever else shows up! i know small groups and studies are considered "work" but mainly i just enjoy hanging out with people! yesterday afternoon me and Jazmin and her little brother and sister went over to her grandmas house (her grandma lives pretty close to me) to eat lunch and a rediculous amount of other people in the family were there so i got to meet even more people. Lately i have been learning to cook Mexican food at Jazmins house and that has given me a good chance to sit down with her family and share the Bible if the opportunity arises. I dont feel like this is my "mission field" i feel like this is my community, my home. therefore, i want to evangelize it because i love these people and i want them to know Christ's love!!!!!