Jake is a spiritually mature teenager. Unlike other teens that I disciple, Jake reads the Word regularly, has a desire to minister in his school, and has a godly relationship with his girlfriend. It is a joy to encourage him.

I believe Jake is cut out for career ministry. He seems to want to go that route, as well. God has used me to encourage Jake to pursue Bible college and to study deeper in the Word. I challenge Jake to find people to minister to.  In just a few months, I have already seen such growth in him. I am excited that God would let me work with someone who will be a leader of his generation for the sake of Jesus.

After some coordinating and discussing the best way to handle things, I ended up making the 200-mile round trip down there to pick up the food. I came down on a Sunday and was able to share in the service how thankful we were for this blessing. When I got there, I was taken aback by the large amount of food. I had been told it was a lot, but I had no idea it was this much! I had brought down four large storage trunks to put loose items in and was driving my pickup with an eight-foot bed. Well, we filled every trunk as tight as we could and filled the back of my pickup, and the back seat and floor of my extended cab, and the floor of the passenger seat!

We had much more food than we needed, so the church suggested we share it with some of the people in need around where we lived. So far, we have given large amounts of food to four families and still have a large amount left we are hoping to give to a fifth family. Even so, we were able to make use of a lot of food for ourselves as well. What a fun time it has been giving out the food to people! God has blessed us with smiles and eyes that look upon us in a way that speaks much louder than words. What a blessing it has turned out to be not to get our Christmas cash gift this year!

Fast forward five years.  This fall, Fran had a singing group at the Christian school’s weekly chapel service, and guess what? Charlie was among them.  He had come back to Christ in college and was a short-term missionary with this worship group.  They had committed to a one-year outreach and were traveling all over the Northwest encouraging people in Christ.  He was excited to see Fran and reconnect with Shiloh Bible Camp.  Since his parents live in the area, there is a possibility that he could help us with worship in our summer camps.  God is faithful, and it is encouraging to see His power in Charlie’s life.   

Katie came up from the Los Lunas Bible Club in Meadow Lake.  Terry from the San Antonio club hosted the event at her church.  Trisha, a helper from the Zimmerly Club in Socorro, attended.  In addition, various children’s workers in two local churches in town attended.  Avelonia from the Zimmerly Club was hospitalized, and she regretfully was not able to attend either session.  The Lord used Skip and Betty Spaulding in many ways to encourage us and to give us hands-on teaching tips.  They taught us new memory-verse games and songs.  In addition, they reminded us that it is important to ask children who respond to the Gospel invitation, “Why have you come?”

I used this question twice in December in two clubs.  Judiah, in response to the question, “Why have you come?,” said that she already had received the Lord.  The reason she had come for counseling was to receive assurance.  She wondered if Christ would leave her if she sinned.  I shared with her Hebrews 13:5, which affirms that Christ will never leave us or forsake us.  She seemed relieved and comforted.  We also discussed the importance of daily confession of sin (1 John 1:9) to keep our communication with the Lord open.

At Zimmerly, Leo responded to the invitation.  He could not remember why he had come.  I began to relay the story that I had told in class.  Then he remembered why he had come –  He had never received Jesus as his Savior, and he wanted to receive Him. I saw a joyful look on Leo’s face when he trusted Christ as His sin-bearer and Savior.

In teaching the Bible lessons in the public schools, we are not just telling Bible stories.  We try to bring the Gospel into each and every lesson, because it is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe.

The large basement was filled with clothes and shoes for a ministry the church had carried on for several years. In observing some abuses of this ministry, Randy and the church board decided to empty the place and prepare it for something more useful.

Two large rooms are contained in the basement of the church. The rooms are entered through a bottom door, which comes off the lower basketball courts. To our benefit, this is the only public slab or basketball court in Wilhoit, but “No Trespassing” signs had been installed at the church to keep the children and vandals off the property.

The gutter had failed and caused the paint to boil on the leaking walls in the large basement room; the floor had moldy carpet since this had happened several years earlier. We knew we would need this room to house VBS workers in June, so the walls were scraped and prepared with new paint, the carpet was ripped up, and the carpet glue was stripped out. What a job! New tile was laid, and it was so fresh and clean. Randy called a local thrift store and asked if he could donate all the clothes – they were so happy to take them. Excitement was building in us all for this new direction.

During summer VBS, we found out the new toilets that had been installed in the basement did not have a hook-up to the septic field. The original plans did not contain this information. It came as quite a surprise to the VBS workers! So the toilets were sitting idle from non-use the week of VBS as a lift station and septic line hookup was installed. A contractor donated the drop ceiling that was needed in the old clothing room. The volunteers kept plugging away at finishing the showers for summer use in 2010.

Now it is one year later, and we are ready to pursue the youth. We have had a new influx of members with children and energy. Several of them were challenged to give up the worldly things in their lives so they could be an example for the youth. Three have quit smoking and drinking, and they are thriving in faith. Mentoring is going on, and they are hungry for the Word. The naysayers are gone, and new growth has begun. The Lord goes before us…and we are excited to see what will occur in the new year. We praise the Lord!

Around this part of Colorado, there is no problem finding a lot of people who could really use some food. After loading my truck, I headed to Aguilar, praying that this would be another opportunity for the people of this little town to see that Jesus loves them and for me to have a chance to meet some more people here. I drove to the park, started putting the food out on the tables, and set out my chalkboard sign with the word “FREE” on it. Let me tell you, that word will get people’s attention!

The big majority of people who stopped were people I had never met, so I made some new contacts. Several made a couple of trips back as they thought of someone else they could take some food to. More people came, telling me that someone had told them there was food being given away at the park.

As the people helped themselves to what they needed, there were short conversations about how this was community at work and thanking God for this provision. I am praying that this time has opened a door, in the not too distant future, to talk to some of these same people about the FREE gift that Jesus offers them.

Upon our arrival in San Diego, I (Jeff) contacted an elder in a church that supports us.  Over a cup of coffee, I asked Dan if the church was involved in cross-cultural ministry in the San Diego area.  Dan enthusiastically shared with me that the United States resettles around 50,000 refugees each year and that San Diego is one of the cities in which refugees are placed. Of the top ten countries of origin, at least five are from the 10/40 window.

Within the city, there is opportunity to offer practical ministry help to families from Iraq, Nepal, Uganda, Laos and Vietnam (to name a few).  As relationships and trust develop, there are many churches and ministries to connect them to.  As a first step, our entire family has signed up to be a mentoring family to a refugee family recently arrived in the United States.  Our children will accompany us as we visit with this family. 

We thank God for leading us to this opportunity.  Through partnering with existing organizations, we hope to find “gaps” of ministry opportunity and share the love of Christ “internationally” within our own borders.

Unfortunately, I find myself doing the same thing as Peter in trying to win God’s favor and grace in my performance. Recently, I have been reading Jerry Bridges’ book The Discipline of Grace: God’s Role and Our Role in the Pursuit of Holiness, and he presents this question: “What is the difference between a good day and a bad day?” My immediate answer is “Whether things go my way.” A bad day is when I don’t get up with the alarm, miss my quiet time, gulp down breakfast, and head off to do the activities of the day feeling guilty. A good day is just the opposite: getting up right away, doing everything I am scheduled to do, and feeling good about myself because “I have God with me now.”

But God is not concerned about my performance. His grace is evident no matter if I do the things that are scheduled or not. Are they important? Yes, absolutely, but we do not attain more grace or favor with God. His grace remains the same. The grace the saved me is the same grace that sustains me. As Paul wrote, “[God’s] grace is sufficient for you” (2 Corinthians 12:9, NIV).

We recently spoke at Peninsula Baptist Church; you can hear the sermon on the church’s website.

The words of the song “Be Still My Soul” encourage me to remember that God is faithful “to order and provide” and that in every change, “He faithful will remain.” At every juncture of the road, I seek His face and ask Him to order my footsteps.

After having taught a Bible club in Los Lunas, I was heading back to Interstate 25. As I drove, I asked the Lord, “Should I drive home, or should I drive to Albuquerque to check on Nina?” [Nina is not her real name.] As I approached the interstate, I decided that I should head north to Albuquerque rather than south to Socorro. Nina is always on my list of people to help, and I often pray for her and her son, Seth (name also changed). Sometimes, it is hard to catch up with Nina because she doesn’t have a phone.

When I arrived in Albuquerque, I decided to stop off at the Eagle’s Nest Condominiums rather than to head directly to Nina’s house. I parked my car and headed to the office. How surprised I was when, on my way to the office, I met up with Nina as she was heading to her truck! I had never seen her at the Eagle’s Nest Condominiums before, and I knew that if I had arrived a minute sooner or a minute later, I would have missed seeing her altogether. I sensed the Lord’s hand in this encounter.

“What are you up to, Nina?” I asked. She told me that she had gone to visit a homeless friend who had just been placed in one of the condominiums. She said, “She wasn’t there, but she left me a message, saying that she was in the laundry room.” She added, “. . . but I don’t know where the laundry room is.”

I replied, “I know where it is. Follow me.”

Nina and I walked toward the laundry room, and I noticed that she was wearing pajama bottoms and house slippers with a sole that kept flapping against the ground because it was torn half way up one foot. We met up with her friend and went to see her new place. Nina had given her some old furniture and two chairs that had seen better days. The friend thanked Nina for all of her help. I was pleased to see that Nina was reaching out to others.

We left and went to the parking lot. Nina had parked on a slope, because she had to roll a little before she could get her truck to start. I met Nina at her house. She let me know that her water heater had broken down again and that her heater was not working. She had bought two cheap heaters, but when she used them, they kicked the breaker. My heart ached for her. I had never seen her in this condition before.

I took Nina to get a bite to eat, and she wore a coat that she had patched with matching material from the coat pocket. One night, she had fallen asleep with a cigarette, and she had burned several holes in the back of the jacket. I complimented her on her patch work. All the while, I was bemoaning her habit and thanking the Lord for keeping her alive.

As a single mother, Nina has carried a cross of grief, pain, and disappointment. Yet in the midst of every crisis, the Lord has been faithful to her. I called to request a journeyman and a technician to come to Nina’s house, and now her hot water heater and heater are working. I rest in the thought that Nina and Seth are warm! I rest in the thought that the Lord will provide for them. “In every change, He faithful will remain.” 

The weather was cold (10 degrees Fahrenheit), so I turned the furnaces on Thursday afternoon. They were performing as they should then, but Friday morning our kitchen/dining hall was well below freezing. A stuck gauge on the propane tank had fooled me, and we had run out of propane. Our local supplier made a special trip for us, and we were warming up again by Friday afternoon. When the temperature rose enough, I turned on the water.

Shortly thereafter, not one, but both of the main water lines into the building broke.  I found myself knee-deep in water in a manhole, trying to repair forty-year-old plumbing, finally admitting failure well into the night. The weather had turned colder, and the furnace wasn’t keeping up, so we heated the building with a noisy construction heater and supplied water with a 100-foot garden hose.

With little sleep, my wife and I and our children tried preparing an early breakfast and then lunch on Saturday for these men. I substituted corn starch for baking powder in the biscuits, so they didn’t rise. Meanwhile, the chapel furnace malfunctioned, releasing smelly gasses into the building, and had to be shut down.  The kitchen’s refrigerator burned out overnight, so we bussed food back and forth to the camp store refrigerator nearby.  Our battle is spiritual, but Satan enjoys the distractions that these relatively simple troubles cause.

I was falling asleep, so I went home to take a nap after lunch. While I was gone for my nap, the men shortened one session and sacrificed their free time to take several loads of leaves to our dump site, a job that hadn’t been completed due to the other more pressing needs. Several promised to return later and help with other tasks. (Among them was fellow missionary Jim Wilson.) I found their willingness vastly encouraging!

I still have a broken furnace and refrigerator, two broken water lines, and the unexpected budget-busting propane bill to deal with, but the retreat was a success and God showed Himself faithful to supply all our needs, in this case by the hands of some “walking” followers of Jesus who proved unselfish and understanding.

So, let’s do it again!

P.S.  At the time of this posting, the big propane bill has been paid through two generous donors whose unexpected checks arrived the same day the bill arrived.  Praise God!

The men were very open and friendly as we went door to door and group to group gathering outside. It was a cool evening but not so cool we could not sit outside for a while. The workers were relaxed now after many long hot days in the tomato and strawberry fields.

With my interpreter we bonded with a number of these migrants and asked about their families. We had brought guitars and my harmonica, so we played songs for quite a while. One man had his own guitar, and the three of us played together while the others listened. It was nice because no one had to get up early for work but for just a long ride, and they could nap on the bus.  The men were very grateful for the materials we had given them.

We didn’t have a program or anything formal that particular night but just worked on relationships for the future, since we believe that many of the men will return next spring and summer. We thank God for this open door and look forward to meeting with them again next year!

The girl who owned the dog (who had received the worst injuries in the accident) was certain that he was dead, and the rest of the family was sure he was either lost for good or had been taken by someone else, as he was a very friendly dog. Some of the family had been back to the scene of the accident a few times already searching the area by car for the dog.

When we pulled up to the scene of the accident, the dog was there waiting for us as if he were expecting us! He was perched on the side of the road, watching us drive up as if he knew all along that we were coming.

When we brought him back home, the family was very excited. They commented on how it may seem like such a small thing in comparison to the whole of the accident, but it was a big deal to them, and they were extremely happy and thankful. Praise God for answered prayer!

One gentleman talked to me for a good while afterwards about how a friend of his had been promoted above him in work and how he had not been treating him very well. He shared that he was going to go seek him out, apologize, and pledge to do better. Another couple took us out for lunch afterwards and just talked again and again about how pertinent the message was.

Please pray for these folks that God would continue to work in their lives.