In the five years that I have worked for Amor Ministries I have never had the troubles crossing the border the way I did just two weeks ago. We got turned away from the border three different times at two different border crossings in the course of two days. Twice they took issue with the buses our groups were bringing and once with a rather large trailer. In all it took me about 14 hours to cross three groups. I can normally cross one group in about an hour.
Needless to say it was a very frustrating weekend. I was temped to ask God what he was thinking in allowing such troubles, but I kept reminding myself that God’s ways are higher then my ways and his thoughts higher than mine. With that in mind I started asking God to open my eyes to what ever it may be that he was trying to show me. And he did.
While attempting to cross the border with a rather large trailer for the second time, the border guards turned us away because the group had pack a lot of items to give away while on their trip (they failed to inform me of this). You can only do this at one border and you need a permit which is a really big hassle so we just don’t do it. So my plan was to take the group to our office in El Paso unload the donations and the try it again. As we were being put in the line to cross the border back into the U.S. one of the border guards asked me a question. At first I did not understand because he was talking to me in English and his knowledge of it was about as good as mine of Spanish. I thought he was trying to tell me that we should have just paid him off, but being unsure I asked him to repeat himself. As it turned out he was asking me to pray for him. He also asked me to pray for his family and his church. I remember the wave of emotion that came over me as I realized that God had put us there for this very reason. So I asked his name (Nathan) and I have been praying for him ever since.
The next day I was turned away from the border that we normally cross with a very small bus and sent back to the down town border crossing. An unusual event for one day indeed but two days in a row was getting on my nerves. As I crossed the border I was pulled into secondary and who should be the one inspecting my vehicle but Nathan. I stood amazed at the opportunity’s God gives us as he finished his inspection and let me cross. Before I left I called him by his name (he seemed surprised that I remembered) and let him know that I was praying for him and that others would be as well. So if you are willing I want to ask that you join me in praying for Nathan, his family and his church. I know God will work wonders if we are faithful.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Friday, June 08, 2007
All Nations Seminary
We just finished an amazing week working at All Nations Seminary, and I just wanted to share a little bit of it with you.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Beauty from Pain
Awhile back I was driving home from Juarez. On the car in front of me was a sticker that I am sure you have seen. It has become one that I see on quite a regular basis. It is the little boy Calvin from the famous comic strip Calvin and Hobbes. I remember when I was a boy sitting around the breakfast table waiting for my parents to finish with that particular section of the morning paper so that I could read the comics. Calvin was one of my favorites. I cringe now when I see him on the back of someone’s car, for what started out as someone’s clever way to state their loyalty to one car company or another has become a way to put down anything or anyone that causes us pain. By now I’m sure you have seen the mischievous little boy standing with his back to you looking over his shoulder while he urinates on something we are to assume the driver of the car does not like. On the car in front of me this particular day he was urinating on the words EX-WIFE. My heart sank as I read the words. I couldn’t understand how someone could come to hate someone that they used to love with such venom as to post it for all to see. As a sat there I realized that this is all too common a thing for us. You see I really don’t think he hates his Ex-wife I think he hate the pain he feels because of the relationship that they failed to hold together. We all hate pain. I don’t know anyone who truly likes it. I remember the pain that I felt when my high school sweetheart of three years broke up with me. I can’t say I felt much different than then the person sitting in that car in front of me, and looking back now I wish I had handled it better then I did. I don’t like pain anymore then the next person, But I have learned that if we let it pain can make us grow.
I guess that is why it love the work I do with Amor so much. When you really take a close look at one of our mission trips you realize it is full of pain. You are out side in the elements, the hot beating sun, the wind blown sand, some rain now and again, and on the rare occasion snow. You work all day to come back to camp only to find that you have to set up your tents because the wind has knocked them down. Someone one your team is going to hit themselves with a hammer sometimes repeatedly. You can bet the more then a few will have bad sunburns. You have to use an outhouse that you can’t stand to breathe in. Flat tires, broken down vans, cuts, scrapes, aches and pain it all goes hand in hand with one of our trips.
So why would over 25,000 people choose to put themselves through this every year. Why aren’t they running from the pain? Why don’t you see Calvin urinating on Amor’s name, or any other mission trip organization? Maybe it is because with Jesus we grow through our pain. Jesus endured an excruciating amount of pain to show his love for you and me. These groups endure a small amount of pain to show their love for Jesus and their fellow man. When we start to realize that we are not the ones that matter but instead we serve the one the matters. Pain is just a side effect, a passing event that will be replaced with joy. At the end of nearly every trip I see smiles on faces, on the families that receive and the groups that give. I have yet to see any amount of pain ever take that away.
I guess that is why it love the work I do with Amor so much. When you really take a close look at one of our mission trips you realize it is full of pain. You are out side in the elements, the hot beating sun, the wind blown sand, some rain now and again, and on the rare occasion snow. You work all day to come back to camp only to find that you have to set up your tents because the wind has knocked them down. Someone one your team is going to hit themselves with a hammer sometimes repeatedly. You can bet the more then a few will have bad sunburns. You have to use an outhouse that you can’t stand to breathe in. Flat tires, broken down vans, cuts, scrapes, aches and pain it all goes hand in hand with one of our trips.
So why would over 25,000 people choose to put themselves through this every year. Why aren’t they running from the pain? Why don’t you see Calvin urinating on Amor’s name, or any other mission trip organization? Maybe it is because with Jesus we grow through our pain. Jesus endured an excruciating amount of pain to show his love for you and me. These groups endure a small amount of pain to show their love for Jesus and their fellow man. When we start to realize that we are not the ones that matter but instead we serve the one the matters. Pain is just a side effect, a passing event that will be replaced with joy. At the end of nearly every trip I see smiles on faces, on the families that receive and the groups that give. I have yet to see any amount of pain ever take that away.
Monday, April 23, 2007
A Very Different Year
What an amazing spring we had this year. Looking back over the past years I have worked here I have never had a spring go so smoothly. We even had beautiful weather. Normally during spring we have many days of hard wind which can make for some grueling work days. But this year I believe there were only a couple of days of wind at all and they were not near as bad as I have seen in the past.
It was a very different year for me however, I was not the one out there constantly with groups. My roll this year was that of supporting the staff; Eric, Howie, and T.J. They all did a wonderful job for our groups. I had many groups express their appreciation of each of them. We also had much more volunteer help this year then I can remember in the past. It made for some busy weekends getting them settled in and trained but it was all worth it. They laid the ground for an exceptional spring by getting all of our prep work done early and taking the load off of our staff on work site lead out days. I can’t express how grateful I am for each of our volunteers.
This is the first spring that I have not spent all of my time in the field working along side the groups. I remember the first day after getting the groups settled into camp I spent some time visiting with the groups and then as I got in my vehicle to go home for the night, I felt a little sick driving out of camp. I realized that there is a big part of me that is going to miss being there in the field ready to act on whatever comes up. There is such a bonding that occurs when you spend that much time with groups trying to assist them in their mission. While I really enjoy my new roll, I know I will miss that more then anything. Thinking back on it now I am glad for that little bit of heartache. It tells me that I really do care for those that I serve. Anything we do can easily become just a job. There are times that I ask myself if I am letting that happen to me here at Amor Ministries. I think if I ever answered yes to that question it would be time for a change. But I know my heart is still in it, the many lives that are touched by this ministry continue to touch mine. I cannot see this as just a job when it impacts my life so profoundly.
It was a very different year for me however, I was not the one out there constantly with groups. My roll this year was that of supporting the staff; Eric, Howie, and T.J. They all did a wonderful job for our groups. I had many groups express their appreciation of each of them. We also had much more volunteer help this year then I can remember in the past. It made for some busy weekends getting them settled in and trained but it was all worth it. They laid the ground for an exceptional spring by getting all of our prep work done early and taking the load off of our staff on work site lead out days. I can’t express how grateful I am for each of our volunteers.
This is the first spring that I have not spent all of my time in the field working along side the groups. I remember the first day after getting the groups settled into camp I spent some time visiting with the groups and then as I got in my vehicle to go home for the night, I felt a little sick driving out of camp. I realized that there is a big part of me that is going to miss being there in the field ready to act on whatever comes up. There is such a bonding that occurs when you spend that much time with groups trying to assist them in their mission. While I really enjoy my new roll, I know I will miss that more then anything. Thinking back on it now I am glad for that little bit of heartache. It tells me that I really do care for those that I serve. Anything we do can easily become just a job. There are times that I ask myself if I am letting that happen to me here at Amor Ministries. I think if I ever answered yes to that question it would be time for a change. But I know my heart is still in it, the many lives that are touched by this ministry continue to touch mine. I cannot see this as just a job when it impacts my life so profoundly.
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