Fifth Day

So, last night we had another wonderful time of Word and worship. The singing is getting more and more passionate as we fix our minds on the truths He has revealed in His Word. It is so exciting to see kids ovewhelmed by the greatness of God. We sang an updated version of "And Can It Be?" which asks again and again "Amazing love, how can it be that Thou my God should'st die for me?" What a great question to ponder over and over again. We ended our time of musical worship with "He is Lord," proclaiming that Jesus really is the Lord. He has risen from the dead! And we marveled at the thought that "Every knee shall bow/Every tongue confess/That Jesus Christ is Lord!" What a humbling thought that this God to whom all will bow became sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God! For me! For His Church, all who will ever believe! Incredible. Then we prayed passionately for the good of Guatemala and for lasting personal life-change as a result of this trip. I really wish you could be here for the worship.

Then Jesse came up and talked about more of Jesus's life on a mission. We looked at Jesus feeding the crowd of 5,000 (though it was many, many more) as found in Matthew 14. He showed us that this wasn't just a group of people who were on a picnic. They were following Jesus because they thought He was going to be their next revolutionary leader. But Jesus had much bigger plans than some mere political platform. The day was ending and the people needed food, so Jesus saw the perfect opportunity to show Himself and His real plan to His disciples.
Since the people were hungry, the disciples suggested a perfectly reasonable plan: send them away to get their own food. But Jesus used this opportunity to reveal His glory. He would have the disciples feed them. We miss a lot of the shock of this story because we've heard it so many times, but imagine being at the TCU basketball coliseum and it is totally packed. Now, you see the people have no food...and neither do you. So, with at least that size of a crowd Jesus tells them to feed the people. They are stunned and Jesse said that the disciples probably laughed at Andrew when he mentioned that he had some bread and a few fish...I know I would have. They were TOTALLY inadequate.

Jesus was using the smallness of their offering to show Himself. Jesse painted the picture of the disciples bringing baskets of food to each group and then returning to Jesus for more as He multiplied their food. They were inadequate and only as they returned to Him could they provide for the people. Jesse showed us that we are just like the disciples in this way. We want to do great things, but can only do it as we are constantly returning to Christ for nourishment and more resources. We are unqualified and inadequate, but God, in His mercy, doesn't want to use us just once. He wants to use us over and and over again as we return to Him in service.

You would think that Jesse's talk was over, but he continued just a little more to show us something very great. Jesus describes Himself in this chapter as "the bread of God," "the bread of life," and "the bread that came down from heaven." Bread was so important in that day that people would probably starve to death if they didn't have the resources to make bread. Having bread meant having life. Jesus here was pointing to the ultimate source of life. He is that source. BUT, what must be realized is that unbroken bread is useless! As long as the bread is unbroken, we will be broken, dying of hunger. But if the bread is broken, we can be whole. Jesus is our bread because He is the one who was broken for us that we may live!

Now we can be the ones who have bread and show others the life we have in Him. What an incredible lesson to learn about life on a mission, right? As he concluded, Jesse said something very important. Something to the effect that, "Don't let your limits be the thing that defines you. Let Christ's power work in your weakness as you jump in to work that is too much for us." WOW! So, do you let your limits define you? Or are you acting in faith, in areas that you really have to depend on Him to succeed? We have the Bread of Life and He was broken for us. What more assurance could we have that the God of all provision is with us and for us?

After the talk, we gave God the glory again. It was stunning to see these kids getting more and more into this. This is true worship, boasting of God's person and work together, building each other's faith. On the first night, five kids spoke out to praise God. This night we had 27 kids offering up praise to God and I had to cut them off or we would go all night. Pretty cool.
Here is a sample of the things they glorified God for:

• Ellen Purifoy: was looking at Lake Atitlan, realizing that it is less than a freckle on the face of our planet, and yet could completely swallow us. God created it all, but He is pleased to know us.
• Garrett Cannell: for Mike, the coffee shop owner. A group went to visit his shop across the lake to see what it looks like to run a business for the sake of mission. As soon as we get some time, I'll have somebody blog about it for you.
• JD Roberts: for the great spiritual impact this trip can have and especially for the ability to have this love when we get home as well.
• Marshall McBurnett: for losing his booklet with the lyrics. It forced him to sit and listen to us sing and he was overwhelmed at the words and sound of all of us in worship.
• Ernie Elbert: for rain because it brings new life and nourishment; symbolic of God's cleansing of our hearts by Christ.
• Ian McGlothlin: for Wayne Huff because, "He gives cool talks, is a cool guy and has cool clothes." Cool. :)
• Billy Bob Watt: for Wayne, who took them in the city. A man came into the shop they were in and was drunk and very loud. The kids were a bit intimidated, but Wayne went out and paid for a taxi to take the man to his home. Billy Bob was so impressed at Wayne's care and ability to think on his feet.
• Julia Capper: for the power of prayer as we prayed for Alicia. God was so faithful to answer us.
  
• James Floyd: for Andrew Haverly's love for people (amen!).
• Sherman Young: for David Phillips and his role in getting kids to Christ.

There were so many more. We'll make a list somewhere for y'all if you like.

So, the next morning I awoke to find a surprise: Alicia Hunker was walking toward the dining hall to eat breakfast! Dr. Burkett said he didn't expect Alicia to be walking at all today or even much tomorrow. But God is so faithful to hear our prayers. We ate with her and got to fellowship together before the day started.


The rest of the day played out much like the others. We only returned to our three work sites. I've got some great pics from the trip out and my work site.

We worked at Camp David. I thought it would be fun for you to see some pictures of what it looked like when Dave, Amelia and I went there years ago to scout out some work for us to do.
BEFORE
AFTER: This is what it looks like today. We were playing soccer on it. Just amazing.
In this next three photos, I told the people to look like they were farmers in the Dust Bowl. Not very convincing. We buried Sherman Young.But he managed to escape and then he lectured us about shovel safety.

We had a great dedication ceremony, praying and giving thanks to God and appreciating the Alfa y Omega Church.Dr. Burkett is an elder of our great church and is sharing about Christ Chapel's love for and commitment to this our sister church.A nice and safe ride home. Actually it is very safe...really.
Here we have proof of how awesome guys are.

First...John Blackwell eating a grubworm.

Next, we have Gaines Myer and Joel Peterson

But Natalie Law had to prove that girls rule by partaking of her own grubworm goodness. She even did it with much more poise...though she did have to fan herself for a while afterward to keep from losing her breakfast.

After working and praying in the field, we came back early to do some baptisms. I don't have any pictures of that on my camera, so I'll include a description and pictures of that tomorrow.

We begin our long trek back to the States tomorrow. Please pray for us. While we value and diligently pursue safety, mostly pray that God would be supremely glorified in our travels.

I'm bushed.

Jon