Wisdom comes...

As the rain falls down tonight, creating a symphony all around us I am reminded of what this day was and is: a unique gift from God.

How did you spend your day today? 

I wanted to take a minute to say thank you to the many people that sent e-mails and provided prayers and insight with my call for wisdom in my decision to go to Chiapas, Mexico for the next Timothy Leadership Training.

In response to the plans for tomorrow….

Hermano Jesus, Pablo, Darvin, Guillermo, Miguel, Dan, and myself will leave PBM around 3pm and head to Huehuetenango.  There we will spend the night and then leave early Monday morning for the border.

Once we get across the border (PRAY for smooth paperwork for the Guatemalans…Dan and I should have no problems)….then we will meet Pastor Miguel from Chiapas who will travel with us to Las Margaritas. 

TLT will start around 4pm on Monday and last until Thursday noon.  After the conference we will head back to Huehuetenango for the night and then return to the base around noon.

*We ask for prayers for safety with the travel

*A hedge of protection for the 25 pastors that will be gathering (6 different denominations!)

*For God to give the right words to those teaching

*For the Lord to cover us (the team traveling) with cloud by day and in the night glow of a burning flame!!!...let the traditionalists that have brought problems for Christians in the past, be blinded and blocked from encountering what we feel God leading us to do....

Join us in prayer for what God will continue to do in the Chiapas area…..

Some GREAT missionaries (The Kempers) used to say “Chiapas para Cristo” which means: Chiapas for Christ……

We go with the same heart, but with the motto…”Chiapas con Cristo”…..Chiapas with Christ.

Update on Wendi and a hunger for Wisdom....

UPDATE on Wendi’s last meeting:

We just got word that things did not go well again with the Passport office for Wendi.  Since Wendi’s father’s name is on the birth certificate and since she is only 15, the office is saying that they have to have both parents’ signatures.  We are now onto the next step, we are not 100% sure what that is.  We do know that her first surgery is scheduled in August…..but she needs a passport and then a visa….pray with us for all things to clear and to clear QUICKLY!

~Vicki

Wisdom. 

It is a true mystery.  It is often something that we do not see within ourselves.  It can escape us if we are not looking for it and it can show up when we least expect.  It is not knowledge, and it is not information.   Wisdom is something deeper.

I have longed for wisdom.  Not the wisdom that comes from books and schooling only.  I long for the wisdom that is richer than that: The wisdom from the Lord.  It is this covering that can come and go.  If you tell someone you are wise, they think you are arrogant.    If you show someone you are wise, they sometimes will marvel.

Wisdom.  Let it not escape us.  I went looking for wisdom many years ago.  When I was 21 years old, I was determined to seek after wisdom.  I knew that I could not grab onto it alone.  I knew God spoke in and through others, and so I went chasing it. 

I carried with me a red book whose pages were blank.  When I read or heard a quote that spoke to the depth of my soul, I wrote it down.  Sometimes it was scripture, other times it came from within.  I wanted to grow from the wisdom….and then pass it on to my son and daughters.  May they fall in love with the wisdom of the Lord the way that I have.  I still have that book today.  I still add to it today at different times as well.  I go back through it from time to time to scroll through the pages and let it marinate my soul once again. 

It is with this same passion that I request your help in my quest for continued wisdom.  I have a decision to make and I need to make it by Sunday at 3pm (4pm Central Time).  Sunday through Thursday in Las Margaritas, Chiapas is the next Timothy Leadership Training seminar for 25 pastors.  There would be 8 of us going up to teach, lead devotions, and assist these pastors and to train them in the Biblical Truth.  This part of Chiapas is one of the most persecuted parts of Mexico and Central America.  The traditionalists are those who have a mix of Catholicism and Mayan beliefs.  They have been hurting Christians, kidnapping them, and even killing them.  Yet, in and through this, the Christians are crying out for help and hope from the Lord….they want more.  The Church is still living there! 

I am faced with the decision: to go or not.

To go: to be an encourager and help with the seminar.  I would lead two devos and help host and assist.

To Not go:  Would my presence as a “gringo” make the group more of target (which is a serious concern that we all are talking it through).

This decision has been given to me to make.  I long to make the wise choice.  Maybe not the choice best in the sight of mankind, but the choice in the sight of the Lord is what I want to do.

Pray with me BUT more importantly, pray for the pastors in the Chiapas area that WANT more of Christ and want to share Him with those in the area.  There is Hope in the name of the Lord.

~Justin

Prayers Needed

Today there is a very important meeting happening in a small little office with a mom and her daughter and government agent. Wendy is needing a passport and Visa to be able to travel to Ohio for some very needed surgery that she is not able to receive here in Guatemala.  Wendy was born with some intestinal mal-normalicies, and a hospital and team of doctors is willing to donate their time and resources to help Wendy, 15 years old.

Here is where you come in!  Wendy's birth certificate lists her dad, but he left the home soon after Wendy was born.  Now when the passport papers need to be signed the government wants Wendy's dad to sign them too.  So, we need prayers that in todays meeting there can be alternative paperwork filled out, or that the person listed on Wendy's birth Certificate can be located.

This is literally life and death for Wendy!  We need a million dollar prayer answered TODAY!  Will you please join in storming the gates of Heaven in Wendy's name!

With anticipation,

Vicki