Commission Unto Mexico 2012

"Generations ago a white missionary came to us for the first time.  He didn't know any Spanish, just like most of you who've come this week.  But, like you he knew the language to speak God's love to us, like you have."

Those were one of the last things we heard this week.  On the last day in Monclova, Mexico, a few of us stood up and shared how this week had impacted us and a Mexican man shared this, in Spanish of course.  This past week has been filled with many joys, challenges and relationship building.  The construction team finished the electrical jobs, recruited us to help paint many of the orphanage buildings, and repaired the children's playground.  The rest of us spent a lot of time with the orphans.  We played sports, card cames, shared Bible stories, sang songs, had fun with arts and crafts and ate way too much candy.

 Here are a few pictures of our week.  We have a bunch more on Facebook and a few videos on Youtube.

 We sang about 5 songs all week, most of them were from my days of playing in the MNU Marimba Group (Thanks Dr. Baldridge!)

 We loved the food, it was great! I think my favorite when we had white rice with this tomato sauce with veggies and chicken in it, or when we had steak strips and veggies on tortillas.. Everything was served with rice and beans.  We loved it, but by the end of the week there were many Americans who just wanted a pizza or cheeseburger. Lucky for them Monclova has pizza hut, mcd's, etc.  I think it kind of ruins the experience when you give into such little things.  If we're trying to see what being a missionary is like, and then can't go without fast food for 10 days... I don't know. 




Our Volunteer Missions site: http://web.nazarene.org/site/TR?pxfid=4870&pg=fund&fr_id=1090

Little Things That Make Us Tick

In Sunday School this last week we were finishing up a lesson about the teachings of Jesus.  We were reading Jesus' famous teachings from Matthew 5-7 and this last week we were talking about chapter 7.  As we were talking about each section, the class became quite animated about the first 6 verses. 

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.  Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you."

 Do these verses prohibit us from judging others?  I would say no, that these verses are warning us about judging others.  If you can't be prepared to give a reason for your criticisms, you shouldn't judge at all.  It seems to me, that most often the case is that we judge others to give ourselves an excuse not to love others.  Like disregarding someone with a tattoo, or someone who drinks occasionally, or those who believe in a different faith, or those who profess to be homesexual.  We tend to put them in our box of "freaks".  It really bugged me when I've heard of different stands that Christians have made in public (like standing out at abortion clinics or when they went to support Chick-Fil-A)  These stands tend to hurt the Christian image more than help show our compassion for people.  

It's easier for Christians to categorize sins so that they don't have to see people as they are - humanbeings. While I agree with homesexual lifestyle just as much as I agree with lying or stealing, I do not agree with how many Christians are stating how they hate certain types of people because of the choices they are making. Why are certain sins worse than others? I've done my share of my own bad choices, but I'm not condemned for those.

Another point I'd like to make is that when we judge or criticise those who don't believe in Jesus, we are being quite foolish.  Why would anyone change their ways for someone they don't even believe in?  There's no way I would have stopped making my selfish choices if I hadn't been in a relationship with Jesus, the one true God.  

So, we need to stop trying to convince those around us that their choices are wrong until they've made the choice to follow Him.  That is the only choice that really matters anyway, and once they've made that choice, God will start the process in their journey of changing their hearts, minds, desires, and choices.  When we forget this vital step, we are only conveying to our friends and family that they aren't good enough or worthy enough of our unbiased, unconditional love and we should love them this way regardless, since that is how Christ first loved us.


Our Volunteer Missions site: http://web.nazarene.org/site/TR?pxfid=4870&pg=fund&fr_id=1090