Ysleta Lutheran Mission, El Paso, Texas
February 11-17, 2017
From the plane, this is the mosaic created by the fields and irrigation systems.
A couple of minutes after take-off and headed south, I saw this from my window. I think I know what it is, do you recognize it?
It got up to 83 today in El Paso, we were very happy that the A/C worked in the Mission van.
Pastor Kevin, your chair is still here and it has friends!! Also, it is warmer than when you were here with us.
Look what we found!! Whataburger, whataplace!!
Just going in the door was an experience...
Our server, Natalia, says 'Pastor Chris, where are you?'
This the oldest brick building in New Mexico, it also had a lot of neat crafts.
A sign in the town square about the Overland Trail.
Yet another sign in the square documenting the Civil War battle.
This is a gift shop now but back in the day it was courthouse and it is where Billy the Kid was tried and convicted.
This is a door in the adobe wall to the mission in Mesilla, The mission name, interestingly enough, is San Albino. The church was rebuilt in 1908 (perhaps in celebration of the Cubs WS win or maybe not, but it sounds good) The door however looks like it could be original to the fortification to the mission.
This is the 'before' picture of the 'neat' room.
If you look closely, you can see the hail that pelted us today. Clearly not everything in Texas is big.
Really, Pat, Don is on the level.
Oh, look, we found Sheila!! We found the floor too!! Woo-hoo!!
This looks so amazing compared to this morning...
These are the faces of the people we are helping in Ysleta.
And this is the face of someone being helped in Ysleta.
Here is the mousetrap that we found yesterday. Clearly some things in Texas do grow bigger!!
Eat your heart out Pastor Chris, two pots one cup... Mine, mine, all mine!!!
Here is the duct tape hoe and a sample of the sizes and variety of fasteners that we have found. The biggest nail shown here is a #60 pole barn nail.
This may not look like much to you but this is a little piece of heaven compared to what we started with yesterday. Those benches were completely packed underneath with boxes and boxes of nails and screws.
See how many Mission Trip related words you can find in the puzzle above. We will have a list for you to check in tomorrow's edition.
A view of the second room looking to the right as you entered.
Same room looking to the left.
Again the same room looking to the right. Slightly different don't you think?
Still the same room, looking to the left.
The large cardboard box in the picture is what we have been filling many times over with trash.
Sheila is obviously having a ball with this task.
These are the kits that they send out to the construction sites.
This is where we stored all the nails and screws that are used when building the houses.
Pat was framed --- honest!!
Siesta time for Don.
Pastor Heimer checked in on us this afternoon.
We were treated to this sunset this evening.
One last look at the previously messy room as we finished our work on Friday morning.
The ladies pause for a quick photo op holding the tools for the week, a dolly, a broom and a bin for sorting.
The look on Alonso's face when he saw the final product. Looks like Sandy got a little choked up as well.
Final instructions -- So, after you are done with it, put it back in the drawer!!!
It appears that the Texas mousetrap we found has nested and had a litter.
No trip is complete without a photo in front of the entrance sign.
Let's make a deal!! Is the flight to Peoria behind gate B41?
B43?
or B44? Our connecting flight home had its departure time changed twice and the gate changed twice. Thankfully the flight itself was smooth.
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Saturday
We couldn't have asked for a nicer day for our journey to start, although being at the airport at 5:45 AM has some drawbacks. We had a bit of a wait before boarding, so we passed some time doing some puzzles. One that we found entertaining was a word puzzle. There were 8 words that all meant 'start' but all the vowels had been omitted and you had to figure out what the word was. The puzzle read as follows BGN, NTT, PN, STLBSH, MBRK, CMMNCE, NST, RGN. In keeping with this word game, I took a picture after we got to the Mission and something is missing can you figure it out? Answers will come tomorrow, so be sure and come back for the answers. All games aside, we were very grateful for uneventful flights to Dallas and El Paso. We were picked up by Pastor Heimer, the man who started the mission 36 years ago when he was 4 --HA -- he is 76 and still going strong. He was telling us of some or the challenges they have been facing with the current political climate (can you say wall?) and also decreased funding over the last year. Apparently not as many groups have been coming down as in previous years. We spent the afternoon moving in to our quarters for the week and catching up on our beauty sleep. We picked up some supplies for the week and spent a little time figuring out how we would spend our spare Saturday and Sunday time. We decided that our meal out on the town would be today, so we went back to one of our favorite restaurants, The Cattle Baron. It lived up to all our expectations and then some. We spent some time in the devotions that you will find below, we pray that you will find it as meaningful to you as it was to us. Not very many pictures today but what there are follow the devotion. So, get a good night's sleep, go to church tomorrow and we will see you next Sunday. We’re on a Journey Exodus 13:21 -22 Exodus 40:38-39 We can’t know ahead of time what kind of foundation all of you, by your work on this mission trip, will lay for others. Even though we’re involved with physical labor on this trip, our faith has spirit-filled way of spreading by the work and witness of people like you and me. Jesus was very clear that our power source to do this work is the Holy Spirit. Prayer: God, we thank you for our safe journey this day. Thank you for our drivers and pilots and for those at St. John’s who are supporting this mission trip with finances and prayer. Give us a good night’s rest. Thank you, Jesus for being the foundation of our faith; help us to share it as we work this week. Guide us as we continue our journey this week. God; help us do your work. Let us greet enthusiastically this wonderful opportunity to serve you by helping our neighbors. Amen. Sunday’s Challenge—whether in El Paso or Illinois: Write down(Illinois) or share (El Paso) the ways the Holy Spirit has filled you and moved you to come on or to support this mission trip. Sunday Today is the day the Lord hath made. We were blessed to be part of the English speaking service at Ysleta this morning. The service included a blessing from Pastor Heimer. They are doing a sermon series on the fruits of the spirit and today's 'fruit' was goodness. It was a good message for us to hear as we prepare our hearts to bring the goodness of God to our work. After church, we headed out for a small community north of El Paso called Mesilla in New Mexico. Lunch on the way out of town was at a Texas institution call Whataburger. Whatamazing place!! Why did no one ever tell us about this before?? Mesilla was a nice little community with a lot of artisan shops and restaurants. It was the site of one of the western most battles of the Civil War as the South tried to dominate the Southwest. It was also the site of the courthouse where Billy the Kid was tried and sentenced to hang. And it was part of the Butterfield Overland Trail, a forerunner to the Pony Express. The ride home turned into a bit of an adventure as a front moving in brought high winds to the area. We were rockin' and rollin' for nearly an hour. A quick stop by the Mission and we were off in search of supper and a wifi connection. We had to choose between Smoky's BBQ and Tu Tu's Burgers and Hand Car Wash (you can't make these things up). Unfortunately the connection at Smoky's didn't get us the internet so we headed back to our favorite Corner Bakery to tell our story for the day. We will soon be back at the Mission and in our bed's to get a good night's sleep because the work begins tomorrow!! Oh, by the way here are the answers to yesterday's puzzle. BGN -- Begin NTT -- Initiate PN -- Open STLBSH -- Establish MBRK -- Embark CMMNCE -- Commence NST -- Onset RGN -- Origin' Well, now, that was fun, wasn't it?? In fact we had so much fun bringing it to you, here is another puzzle for you. Follow the instructions and see what you get -- Start with the word FAITH 1. Add an 'O' as the sixth letter 2. Replace each consonant with the consonant that precedes it in the alphabet by two consonants. (Example: J would become G) 3. Exchange letters one and two 4. Exchange letters five and six 5. Exchange letters three and four 6. Change letter six to the letter that precedes letter five alphabetically 7. Replace letter three with the second consonant that follows it in the alphabet What did you get? Sunday: It was God’s plan all along: We are Blessed to Be a Blessing-- The concept of crossing geographical or cultural boundaries to carry the God’s mission goes all the way back to the Old Testament. Missions didn’t start with the Great Commission, but has been a part of God’s plan since the beginning. Take a look at what the Bible says in these verses for missions. Genesis 12: 1-9 Isaiah 6:8 Psalm 18:49 Jonah 3:1, 2 2 Kings 17:27, 28 1 Chronicles 16:23, 24 Do you need a reason for being involved in this mission 019*000trip? Do you need a reason to be involved with missions back in Illinois? Are you involved in teaching or learning about missions? Would you like to sense the burden and hear the cry of a missionary's heart? Why missions? World evangelism has advanced under the banner of inspiring missionary quotes like these from Hudson Taylor, a missionary to China: “It will not do to say that you have no special call to go to China. With these facts before you and with the command of the Lord Jesus to go and preach the gospel to every creature, you need rather to ascertain whether you have a special call to stay at home.” "The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed" "God uses men who are weak and feeble enough to lean on him." “God isn’t looking for people of great faith, but for individuals ready to follow Him“ Prayer: Illinois—pray for the mission team El Paso—pray for those at St. John’s Monday’s Challenge—whether in El Paso or Illinois: The mission field is all around us. Take a picture (or find a picture) of people (or a person) in the mission field who needs to be touched. How can I impact their lives? What makes them special? Monday Prepare to be changed! Each time God's people gather for worship, change occurs. As we hear the Gospel proclaimed and celebrate the Lord's Supper, we are renewed and become strengthened, supported and fed. God changes us as the Holy Spirit works in and among us. There are changes happening now and changes yet to come. In this "green" season of the Church Year, we have special opportunities to thank God for the continuing growth that He graciously grants us. After 83 degrees on Saturday, we woke up to 43 degrees today. A brisk walk down to the lunch room was worth it though as we were greeted by Rita's sunny disposition and a nice warm breakfast. She has been cooking for groups down here for 20 years!! Over scrambled eggs and bacon, we found out from Chris, who organizes the volunteers, that we would be cleaning in the tool shed. This is a two room shed that looks like Fibber Magee's closet on steroids. Our previous experience with the tool shed was to wait outside while someone went on a seek-and-find mission and most of the time they came back with something close to what we needed. Anyway, this year they want to clean it out, inventory and organize it. The picture of the shed today was of the first room and easily the neater of the two. I do believe that I know several men in the congregation that would shudder at what we saw. Its probably best that they weren't here though because the El Paso definition of what can be pitched is way different than our definition. Nonetheless, we launched into the work before us trying to group things, pitch what was bad or broken and come up with more questions for our leaders than they could have ever imagined. We found several medical devices, a specimen cup, an ornate ashtray, a candy thermometer, purses, booties, diapers, and a box of wood lathe tools that they didn't know they had. We found a box of blueprints for the new and improved Ysleta Lutheran Mission. We also found a hoe that appeared to held together by about 25 yards of duct tape. We would have pitched it but it is the only hoe they have. 12 boxes of respirator masks, the toilet paper we desperately needed in the dorm, a file with a corn cob handle, screwdrivers and various hand tools were found in all four corners of the room and in between. After several hours of toting, hauling, organizing and pitching, we caught sight of two workbenches. We had heard rumors of there existence but just assumed that it was an Ysleta legend much like Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster. We were also surprised by the appearance of some hail in mid-afternoon. By the end of the day, we were getting a little tired but pretty pleased with the obvious signs of progress from the days work. There is a lot more ahead. Just wait until you see the picture of the messy room that I will share with you tomorrow. This evening at supper we had a chance to talk with Rita for a few minutes and she warmed out hearts when she told us how much it means to the people of Ysleta with the work that we do for them. Now for the answer to yesterday's puzzle --- Start with the word FAITH 1. Add an 'O' as the sixth letter (FAITHO) 2. Replace each consonant with the consonant that precedes it in the alphabet by two consonants. (Example: J would become G) -- CAIRFO 3. Exchange letters one and two (ACIRFO) 4. Exchange letters five and six (ACIROF) 5. Exchange letters three and four (ACRIOF) 6. Change letter six to the letter that precedes letter five alphabetically (ACRION) 7. Replace letter three with the second consonant that follows it in the alphabet. What did you get? ACTION You have now turned Faith into ACTION Still having fun?? We are!! Here is today's puzzle. Fill in the blanks: NA_ _NG CH_LDRE_ _AM_RIA DI_ _ILE W_ _ H J_ _ N K_ _W S_G_ Write down the first letter inserted in each word in order. Do the same with the second letter inserted in each word. What do you get? Monday Concentric-Circle Outreach – Read Acts 1:1-11 Jesus Encouraged His Disciples to Go Tell It Who was the first to use the phrase Great Commission? It may have been Dutch missionary Justinian von Welz (1621-1688). Nearly 200 years later, it was Hudson Taylor who really popularized the use of the phrase "Great Commission" to describe Matthew 28:19-20. Matthew 28:19-20 Jesus says to His true disciples: You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it gives light to all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Matthew 24:14 Mark 16:15 Luke 24:47 Acts 1:8 We need to understand what the Great Commission is, and realize it is a partnership with God. We are not solely responsible for people accepting Christ, but rather just the messenger. Think of the word “commission” as two words: “co-” “mission.” YOU and I, my friend, are on a mission for the sake of the good news and the Gospel that death has no power and that God is alive! You and I are on God’s mission. From The Story Jesus told his followers that their mission would occur in 4 distinct locations. How do you see God using your church in each of them? Jerusalem Judea Samaria The ends of the earth Along with sharing the message and the love of Jesus, we are also called to share our resources/material goods, our meals/fellowship and our life stories. How is each valuable, and how can we do it intentionally? The early Christians encountered conflict/had battles as they went about their mission. How can this inspire us as we encounter people who push back against the message of God? Against going on the mission of God? Is our church seeing regular increase in numbers? Is (our) church seeing regular conversions and lives changed? If so, how can (we) celebrate and encourage this? If not, what steps can (be taken) to help (our) church reach out more effectively? From Session 28 of The Story Prepare your heart. Realize how blessed we are to know the truth, and that people perish for the lack of knowledge of the Truth. As believers, we all can share God’s love in different ways. You may not be called to this mission trip, but maybe you can sponsor someone or help in different ways. We can all play a part as the body of Christ. We all need each other. You can do all things through Christ, amen? (Philippians 4:13) Well, today was it! The work began. And like the scripture says, a body is made up of many parts. We all are the body of Christ—many parts working together. There are toters, the washers, the sweepers, those who will return things to “normal”, the encouragers, the prayers, and lots of other important parts of Christ’s body. We have been active in our faith—serving God. Our actual body parts are or will be hurting, but the body of Christ was strengthened today by our work. To Inspire: To know the will of God, we need an open Bible and an open map." — William Carey, pioneer missionary to India "We talk of the Second Coming; half the world has never heard of the first." — Oswald J. Smith "The gospel is only good news if it gets there in time" — Carl F. H. Henry "'Go ye' is as much a part of Christ's Gospel as 'Come unto Me.'— J. Stuart Holden The Great Commission was not meant to be a spectator sport. Be a participant!--unknown Prayer: Grant us a refreshing night’s rest God. Thank you for your presence with us here today, giving us the strength to do your work. Calm our tired bodies. Jesus, thank you that you have shown us how to be part of your body—the church in action. Amen. Tuesday’s Challenge for those at Ysleta and in Illinois. Share the Gospel today by telling the story of Jesus OR telling the story of when I first placed my faith in Christ OR sharing stories about the presence and power of Jesus at work in my life today. Maybe you can share with the person in your picture Tuesday This morning during our wonderful, homecooked, don't you wish you were here breakfast, Sheila was able to have a nice conversation with Rita. She learned that Rita had come from Guadalajara over 25 years ago. She used to walk home from work each day and passed Ysleta Mission and saw the church there. After a while she decided to attend services and attend Bible study. Some time later she learned that it was a Lutheran church and not Catholic. Even though her mother had always told her how bad Lutherans are, she liked the church, Pastor Heimer, and Bible study so much that she decided to stay. And we are glad she did. She got married a few years ago and her husband offered to let her quit working, but she enjoys being part of the mission and decided to keep on working there. We were pretty much on our own most of the day. Alonzo was unable to come in and Chris had other duties pulling him away. Chris was in a disposing mood, so we pitched a lot of the larger nails and machine screws that we found. We were going to put them in their thrift shop, but they have a volunteer here, an older gentleman named Martin. He is well known for scavenging materials that are being pitched and taking them across the border where they are put to use. So, we asked and got permission to give all the unwanted nails and screws to him so that he could get more good use out of them. We have done about all we can do in the first room of the tool shed. We assume that there will be some rearranging and movement in the room. We thought that we would get into the second room today, but it wasn't meant to be. Tomorrow we will be in it for sure and we can't wait to see what we will find. Answers to yesterday's puzzle: NAMING CHILDREN SAMARIA DISCIPLE WITH JOIN KNOW SIGN Write down the first letter inserted in each word in order. Do the same with the second letter inserted in each word. What do you get? MISSIONS IN ACTION There may have been a little mishap in the puzzle, but life is hard. We must learn to be flexible on mission trips and forgiving, especially forgiving. Due to technical difficulties, today's regularly scheduled puzzle will not be presented as planned. Please ask us about it when we get back, maybe we will remember. Please pray for us!!! Tuesday—I am Christ’s Ambassador Read II Corinthians 5:11-21 Acts 13:2, 3 Acts 13:47 Acts 20:24 1 Peter 3:15 2 Timothy 2:15 Have you felt like a servant today—a willing servant? Have you felt you were a blessing to anyone with whom you had contact? Did you receive any blessings? The wonderful, nearly incomprehensible, marvelous thing about service and blessings given and received in the name of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, is that they seem to multiply. The seven loaves of bread and the few fish fed a large crowd. Who would have thought? Christ could not have multiplied if the boy hadn’t given what he had. The church grew because of twelve rather ordinary people who lived out their belief in Jesus Christ as they told others of the Good News! The church continues to grow because of service and blessing that keep multiplying. Giving and receiving, serving and being served, blessing and being blessed are part of the Christian community. That is how the body of Christ continues to grow. You are a part of this! "Sympathy is no substitute for action." David Livingstone, missionary to Africa “God wants us to be in His Word, but then we must do. Are you so full by God that you no longer have any effect as a Christian because you haven’t let out (to others) with the blessings and knowledge and service that has filled you? Let it out!”--unknown Prayer: Thank you, God, for this day that you have allowed us to serve in Your Son’s name. Thank you for using us to witness to your great message of love by our work. Thank you for blessing us with this opportunity. Amen. Wednesday’s Challenge—for those in Ysleta and at Sand Prairie Talk with a fellow member of our church. Encourage one another as you “let out” the fullness given by the Holy Spirit. Wednesday Ok, yesterday's technical problem has been solved. The puzzle we wanted to share can be found on the left side. It is a typical looking Seek-and-Find puzzle but you are looking for words that pertain to missions and our trip. We will give you the list tomorrow. I hope you all enjoy searching for the words, especially my granddaughter, Audra. We had a bit of a false start today. We headed down to the cafeteria for breakfast at the usual time, 7:30, but there was no Rita in sight. So, we left and came back 15 minutes later and there she was. Apparently she had left word with another that breakfast would be at 8:00, but that word never made it to us. Flexible, you have to be flexible on these trips. You never know where God will lead you or how Satan will try to get in your head to make mountains out of molehills. After breakfast, we headed back to the shop and moved out some of the bigger items that we don't want to have to work around like wheelbarrows, lawnmowers, air compressors, etc. We still had a few drawers to unload in the first room and then we started finding the items for the kits. Kits are what the teams use when they go out to build the houses like we did last year. They only have three of them and we weren't able to completely stock all three, but we came close. Then came the moment we had all been waiting for, we ventured into the second, and much messier room. We ended pulling out several lawnmowers, a mini-fridge, some nails, a table saw(with no motor), three car tires and wheels, some nails, a dining room set, a loveseat rocker, some nails, hazmat suits, a diaper changing station, some old tools that may not have seen the light of day since they were purchased and oh, did I mention, we found some nails. The 'before' pictures of the second room are on the left today as well as the 'after' pictures. When the 'after' photos were taken, we still weren't done taking things out but it was looking so remarkably different that I just had to take a couple of photos. Then came the drudgery portion of the day. We started sorting through all the various boxes, bins, pails, buckets, sacks and cups each with their own hodge-podge of nails, screws, bolts, nuts, fittings, handles, etc. That took us quite awhile, but we are pretty close to done. So far, we have disposed of a lot of stuff that was in the tool shed. In one of the photos, you will see a large cardboard box. So far, we have filled a box that size with trash five times. We have also filled a box that size three times with scrap metal to recycle. There have been a number of trash can loads disposed of and over half of the lawnmowers we found were sent to be scrapped as well. Near the end of the day, Pastor Heimer stopped by and put a little wind under our wings. He was very complimentary and grateful for the work we were doing and the progress we had made. We were all quite tired by the end of the day and we are a bit slap happy as a result. This may or may not be reflected in today's puzzle. You be the judge. Here is your multiple choice quiz for today. 1. As of today, how many nails and screws have been excavated from the tool shed? A. Around 500 pounds B. Around 1000 pounds C. Around a ton D. We don't know, we are done yet. 2. How many unknown tools did Dan Duval identify today without even being here? A. 1 B. 2 C. 3 D. 4 3. How many lawnmowers were hiding in the back room? A. 1 B. 3 C. 6 D. 8 4. How many unusable power tools were scrapped today? A. 1 B. 3 C. 10 D. 5 5. What food items have been found for (not for) human consumption? Choose one or more answers A. Chili powder B. Linguini C. Chicken D. M&Ms 6. What items were found that do not belong in a tool shed? Choose one or more answers A. Diaper changing station B. Breast pump C. Plaster cast wrappings D. Purses E. Candy thermometer F. Blood pressure kit G. Blankets 7. How many different places have we tried to get internet access? A. 3 B. 6 C. 9 D. 12 8. What is Pat's favorite saying this trip? A. Looks clean enough to me B. Is it time to quit yet? C. That's not gonna fit through the door!!! D. Woo-hoo!! 9. How many Whataburger restaurant are there in El Paso? A. 3 B. 7 C. 10 D. 14 10. What is the temperature range we have experienced in El Paso? A. 32 - 79 B. 50 - 83 C. 47 - 79 D. 36 - 83 Answers tomorrow, betcha can't wait! Wednesday--Keep your eyes on the prize Hebrews 11:1-12:3 Philippians 2:1-11 Encouraging Words: God is in control. He is sovereign ... even in our pain, even in our troubles. Through it all, his love is transforming us, perfecting us, completing us. Galatians 6:9 James 1:2-4 Isaiah 40:28-31 As you prepared to start a today, were you rested and filled with energy, or still stiff and sore from a tough week? Did part of you feel “in exile,” far from home and anxious to return? Tomorrow, remember that God is with you, lifting you up, encouraging you, renewing your strength. Walk on. Be strong. Soar like an eagle. How were you aware of receiving strength from the Lord today? How were you encouraged? What reminded you of the eagle’s wings? Isaiah honestly names troubles that Israel will have in returning to its homeland from exile. They will have to cross rivers and burning deserts, but they will be able to manage because it is God who saves them. What difficulties did you experience today? (They can be physical difficulties, emotional, relational, or spiritual.) What was painful to you? (physical, emotional, relational, spiritual.) What resources did you call upon to get you through those rolling rivers or burning fires? Sometimes we can’t fly over our problems on eagle’s wings, we plod through them. But yet it is God who saves, God who gives you the strength to go on. Thank the Lord your God for being present with you today. "The true greatness of any church in not how many it seats but how many it sends!" — Unknown "If you take missions out of the Bible, you won't have anything left but the covers" — Nina Gunter "Missions is not the 'ministry of choice' for a few hyperactive Christians in the church. Missions is the purpose of the church." — Unknown "The best remedy for a sick church is to put it on a missionary diet." — Unknown Pray Psalm 96 Worship in the Splendor of Holiness Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth! 2 Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. 3 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! 4 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods. 5 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. 7 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength! 8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts! 9 Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness tremble before him, all the earth! 10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.” 11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; 12 let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy 13 before the Lord, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness. Closing Prayer: We lift our difficulties, pains and sorrows to you, O Lord. Receive them. Help us sleep well, trusting in your love and in your closeness to each one of us. Lift me up on eagle’s wings, O Lord. Let my spirit be ever aware of your support and presence. Amen. Thursday’s Challenge for the mission team in Illinois and Texas Check out the Ysleta website if you’re in IL. If you’re in TX, look around. Write a “Thanks” letter (or several) to mission. The letters may include things about your life that have happened while the team was in Texas. Give thanks for a specific ministry done at Ysleta that changes lives. Thursday It has been a strenuous week and it takes a little longer to wake up and even longer to work the kinks out of back, neck, arms, etc. We were treated to breakfast burritos ala Rita --- delicious as always. That helped put us in the right frame of mind to get back to work. Chris has been working 12 hour days at a local hospital the past couple of days and Alonso can't get to the Mission until about 10, this would be a problem if it weren't for the fact that they trusted us with the key to the tool shed. As in the previous days, we start out by moving the larger pieces and things on wheels out of the shed just for ease of movement inside. Then we launched in to the real work for the day, organizing and arranging. Alonso wants the second room to have electrical components along one wall and plumbing parts along the other. We also convinced him that a large cabinet at one end should be used to hold all the various nails that are used in building the houses. Part of the organizing involved moving 12 bags of stucco mix each weighing 75 pounds -- yup, 900 pounds of stucco. That was the heaviest lifting of the week, but by far today was the dustiest and dirtiest. In terms of pitching things, there wasn't a lot of that today, but progress was still tangible and rewarding. Pastor Heimer stopped by in the afternoon to check on us and again warmed our hearts with his words of encouragement and thanks. Earlier in the day, Alonso, had a great testimony to the power of prayer as he related some of his experiences and the ways that God has answered his prayers and then blessed him with even more. He has been praying a lot about growth in the congregation of San Pablo (St. Paul) which is the church in the Mission. He feels encouraged to be bold in his prayers. We look forward to another good night's rest and one last push tomorrow morning to leave the tool shed in a much better place than we found it on Monday. We also look forward to our flight tomorrow afternoon and being home again with family, friends and our own beds. Words that you may have found in the Word Search are: Action Filled Journey Samaria Bible Gospel Judea Sandi Chris Grace Martin Sand Prairie Challenge Great Commission Mission Serve Don Green Valley Pat Share El Paso Heimer Pray Sheila Ends Jerusalem Rita Trip YLM (Ysleta Lutheran Mission) Answers to yesterday's multiple choice questions: 1. - B or D 2. - B 3. - C 4. - A 5. - A, B, and C 6. - A, B, C, D, E, F, and G 7. - B 8. - C 9. - D 10. - D In lieu of a quiz tonight, we have for your reading pleasure, funny stuff. There is a city called Rome on every continent, so when in Rome... Ladies don't forget the rummage sale. Its a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands. The Fasting and Prayer conference includes meals. The Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use the large double door at the side entrance. Fun fact -- banging your head on the wall for an hour will burn 150 calories. For those of you who have children but don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs. The Peace Making meeting scheduled for today, has been scheduled due to a conflict. When you blush, the lining of your stomach also turns red. Lightening bolts are two inches wide. The U.S. has never lost a war in which mules were used. Thursday-- God Has a Mission for YOU! "And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Colossians 3:17 ESV Mission trips are experiences of faith in action that provide service to neighbors, mutual partnership and transformation opportunities for those served and those serving, and the experience of joy and apostleship. Mission trips act to remove volunteers from their comfort zone and place them in new environments which test their faith and dedication to their fellow man. These trips often lead to stronger bonds among group members and a keen sense of accomplishment. Where is my life headed now? God commissioned the Church to set the example of His way of life to the world. God is exposing humanity to His ways through the Church. Peter exhorts the members of the Church, “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good works and glorify God.” (1 Peter 2:12) How cool is it that GOD allows us to be a part of His mighty plan? How are we able to be His mouthpieces and vessels? God is BEYOND amazing! We should ask God to give us boldness on the mission field (whether out of state or just locally in our backyards). Are we done yet? Our work here at Ysleta is nearly ended. It wasn’t flashy or fancy or a time of “look at me!” BUT, we have had a part in building God’s kingdom on earth as we have helped to provide a cleaner environment for future missionaries. Works such as this are taking place all over the US by many groups, many congregations, many religious denominations, and many people. The church doesn’t sleep when God’s kingdom needs building up. Praise God for your heart for His mission and His kingdom! ‘"The mission of the church is missions" — Oswald J. Smith "Lost people matter to God, and so they must matter to us." — Keith Wright "God is a God of missions. He wills missions. He commands missions. He demands missions. He made missions possible through His Son. He made missions actual in sending the Holy Spirit." — George W. Peters "'Not called!' did you say? 'Not heard the call,' I think you should say. Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear Him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father's house and bid their brothers and sisters and servants and masters not to come there. Then look Christ in the face — whose mercy you have professed to obey — and tell Him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish His mercy to the world. — William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army Do you want to feel like you are part of something bigger than yourself? Step out of your comfort zone and serve! We have a huge heart for serving others. God has given us an exciting vision to reach out into our city, the nation, and the world to spread the Gospel. By utilizing real people like you on short-term mission teams, we reach into the church to strengthen and encourage a deep commitment to Jesus and reach out into the world to bring others into a saving relationship with Jesus. Prayer: We are humbled remembering the work you have helped you do this week - work that is helping build your kingdom (reign). Thank you for the strength you have given us to do these jobs, the courage to come on a mission trip and the blessings we have received as we have served. Amen" Friday’s Challenge for those in Illinois: Find ways to show your support to the Ysleta team. Pray for the mission team when as they return home. Pray for their time Saturday as they “come down from the mountain” back to the plains of Illinois. Find something in the pictures and/or the blog about which you can ask each of them on Sunday. For the Ysleta Team: Share your story. Don’t forget to ask what mission trip week was like for those at home who shared our Bible study and our journey. Encourage others to join us on God’s mission! Friday The last day!! In some ways, this week has gone very quickly, but a lot has been accomplished during that time. With our flight leaving around 4:30, we were only able to work until noon, but we needed that time to wrap up a few loose ends and bring our task to a good stopping place. There is still plenty to do to make this the kind of tool shed that they want, and we can leave knowing that it is far closer to that goal than it was when we came. The happy dance that Alonso did when he saw the shop before we left, let us know that our presence did not go unnoticed and the time and effort was a benefit to the Mission and ultimately to the people they serve. We are very grateful for the gifts that were given to make this trip a reality and for the prayers offered up on our behalf while we were gone, We will see you in church on Sunday. Until then... |