On The Move Again

It’s 12:25am Thursday night or Friday morning, whichever you wish. I’m listening to “I Could Sing of Your Love Forever” and banging away at this old computer to meet a self imposed deadline of a Friday post. We have spent the day packing, transporting, and unpacking with the next two days promising to be more of the same. So, I’m thinking when will there ever be a good chance to write something if not now.

We are on the move again. For two homebodies the first forty or so years of our lives, we certainly have thrown caution to the wind. We are in the middle of our third move in as many years, and the future promises to be more of the same. What’s going on here? Isn’t this supposed to be the time of life to settle down, raise the kids, and get them off to a good start in life?

And here are a couple of interesting items:
Did you realize that the United States is playing against Brazil for the Confederation Cup this Sunday? It’s hardly on the sports radar scene in the US, but in Mexico broadcasting Cup games preempts regularly scheduled programming. On Wednesday we beat Spain who is the number one team in the world and finished ahead of Italy who won the last World Cup. Maybe US soccer is on the rise.

What a crazy night it was! I finally got in bed after 1:00am only to be awakened at 5:15 by a horrendous storm. Fearing that our things were getting wet in the carport I dashed across town to check it out. Outrunning the storm I decided to wait before waking anyone up, and Diana wondering what had happened to me called out the search party.

Preparing Your Heart

Over the last few weeks I have been writing short challenges for worship at El Puente. It gives us a few days to begin to ponder His vastness and prepare our hearts for worship. Here’s a sampling:

Pastor Steve recently told us of a church whose focus is worship. They have no outreach programs but have grown from 17 to 4000 people. The pastor of the church explains it this way, "If 17 people go into the street and look up, what do those who are around them do?"

I can't help believe that if we let the Spirit examine our lives, worship God in holiness and lift Christ up, then He will draw others to Himself. Let the worship begin.....and with passion!

There are many creative ways to give expression to your worship. Just take a look at the songbook Jesus used (the Psalms):
Bow down 66:4; Play skillfully 33:3; Clap your hands 47:1; Lift your hands 63:4; Speak 40:10; Burst into jubilant song 98:4; Celebrate 145:7; Kneel 95:6; Make music 57:7; Meditate 77:12; Say "Amen" 106:48; Sing Praise 7:17; Shout aloud 95:1; Sing a new song 33:3

None are required, and none are a measuring stick of spirituality, but each can be another avenue to express your adoration to the Lord.

Want to receive this end of the week worship challenge to help prepare your heart? If so contact us at ken@kneelingwetriumph.com or though Rope-Holders and we’ll add you to the mailing list.

Questions, Questions, Questions

I hear you are moving, what’s up with that? Yes, and we are really excited about it. We will have twice as much room, be within 10 minutes of work and be able to give more hospitality. There’s the added benefit of having a trampoline in the back yard and a cheerful garden area with plants and flowers!

What are your responsibilities at El Puente? When we came to El Puente six months ago, we were welcomed with open arms. We began to attend team meetings, schedule Sunday services, teach, and disciple the young man who is our worship leader. While Pastor Steve is in Canada for the summer, I have been handed his responsibilities.

What is El Puente like? El Puente is a multicultural, international, bilingual ministry. We meet in Hotel del Molino on Sunday mornings and are currently looking for a more permanent place. It is a gracious community of believers that values team, the process of the Christian life, and Biblical teaching that makes life application.

How’s your Spanish? Well, we’ve come a long way and it’s encouraging, but when we think about how far there is to go it can be discouraging. Carrying on a conversation is one thing; speaking fluently is quite another. Being in a bilingual work doesn’t help, but we rest in knowing God has us here for a reason.

What’s going on this summer? The big event of the summer is the youth group from our home church coming in July. We know most of them already, and it will be fun to reconnect and introduce them to our world. There’s a possibility I’ll make a quick trip to Tennessee at the end of summer, but we’ll see how that goes.

What are your kids up to? They are looking forward to the group coming for sure. Maria and Christina take an art class on Thursday and a craft class on Friday. A big upside is that being at El Puente has opened new doors of friendship for them. It has been a long dry season on friendships.

Daniel continues to play futbol on the cancha most evenings and is preparing to be away for a month this summer. He leaves for Houston to attend Student Life camp then a week with Diana’s family. After that he will be in Kenya and Burundi for two weeks. Thanks for all your letters, encouragement and involvement in his life.

How did you survive the flu? Fine, thank the Lord. We do not know anyone personally who came down with the flu, and life seems to be back to normal. We have heard a lot of conspiracy theories along the way though.

When do you return home? We have less than a year now before we return to the land of the free and the home of the brave. Maria is really hoping to celebrate her 15th birthday on May 3rd in Houston. We are thinking of visiting a Christian college in Colorado, spending time in Tennessee with my parents, and making other stops along the way. West Virginia looks like it will come into sight around the end of May.

Our Anniversary in Cholula – A Photo Journal

A beautiful June bride celebrates her 21st

Solitude – finding a quiet place to read is an anniversary tradition

Cholula is rich in color and history

Juan José asked us to help him repair his bike

Is the timer set on this camera or not?

Shopping was part of the total experience

A private dinner for two at Hotel Real Naturales

Delicious

Sweeter as the years go by

This Week's Musings

Colombian missionaries, Phil and Deene, spent the week here encouraging us all. They are an insightful and anointed couple (while I don't use that word often, but it sums up their lives well). On Saturday they led a communal prayer meeting – praying in community. Normally when a group prays together, each individual prayer stands alone. In communal prayer we are building our prayers one upon another, praying in continuity with what the previous person prayed, expanding a prayer on the same subject. In a communal prayer we listen and follow the conversation with God. We keep the prayers brief allowing others to always be joining in. It was a truly amazing prayer time as a group of 20 people opened their lives in confession, vulnerability and weeping. We had a taste of God working, and it left us longing for more.

We said good-bye to our friends and partners in ministry on Saturday. Keith and Dawn have probably just crossed the border on their way to Pennsylvania. We will miss their love and support for us, as well as the weekly fellowship at Italian Coffee Company. We actually began our friendship in Portland and continued it with many good memories here in Mexico. Keith and I met weekly for over a year for morning prayer, but we also had campfires, made late night runs to the bus station, and played the ancient Mayan number game together. Blessings, Goodlings!

Diana and I were hitched twenty-one years ago on June, 4th. She was a beautiful June bride whose beauty has only grown through the years. While her new hair style is attractive and suits her well, it is really the inner beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit that radiates from her. As for me, I am blessed to have married the wife of my youth. As a friend friend from West Virgina often reminds me, “Son, you married way over your head.”

In preparation for the baptism of eleven people this Sunday, pastor Steve told the story of Bob. Bob decided to take some of the poorest of the poor from his ministry in Venezuela to Israel. While there some of the group decided they wanted to be baptized in the Jordan. Since Bob was not of an immersion tradition, he put them off for a while so that he could watch how other groups did it. Finally confident enough that he knew what to do he entered the water with the first person. As he walked in to his surprise the others on the bank began yelling, “Good-bye, goodbye, goodbye”. Then as the person came up out of the water they yelled, “Hello, hello, welcome back.” What a great picture of dying to the old life, being buried, and rising again to new life.