Thoughts and musings on my recent trip to Mazatlan

How would you describe God work in/through the Church here in Mazatlan?

It has to be the Sunday morning service when they received the deed to the land for the new church building. To have something they prayed for IN FAITH for almost 20 years to finally become a reality gave me hope in issues that I have been praying about for many years also.

Also, when we were out inviting the locals in Bugambillias to the Festival of Hope the first day, we met a woman who told us she went to another church in town, but had had a vision that a church was coming to their area. She saw it clearly with mountains in the background, and assumed it would be on one side of the town, but Spirit and Truth will be on the other, which also will have mountains in the background. Sometimes we get “visions” from the Lord and then without all the details we use our human minds to fill in the details, without waiting for God to do that.

What did God teach you or reinforce to you?

Prayer is not only the work before the event, but it IS the work. At some events we went to I did not have an officially assigned job to do (which annoyed me immensely at first) so I gave myself the job of just praying the entire time. Angela Rankin gave me a little prayer card that I carried to near tatters the entire trip with various scripture to pray over the lost and that became my mission. Sometimes it may have looked like I was just walking around aimlessly or sitting like a lazy bum, but I was nearly always in prayer for the people around us.

In the devotional book, “My Utmost for His Highest” for October 17 (the first event and day I felt most uncertain about what I was supposed to be doing) reads, “There is nothing thrilling about a laboring man’s work, but it is the laboring man who makes the conceptions of the genius possible; and it is the laboring saint who makes the conceptions of his Master possible. You labor at prayer and results happen all the time from His standpoint. What an astonishment it will be find, when the veil is lifted, the souls that have been reaped by you, simply because you have been in the habit of taking orders from Jesus Christ!”

What did you see God do through this week that can only be attributed to Him?

Rain, rain, go away! Nearly every time we had an event scheduled, it rained. Not little rain, but buckets beyond belief. In fact, Saturday morning we saw a scene straight out of the Weather Channel with cars driving in the road, while the water in the road was well over their tires! But, with only God, it blew over, and the Festival of Hope was able to proceed with sunshine and changed lives.

Sunday we went to Catarina, a small village tucked in a valley. Before the event was to take place, we saw dark clouds and lightening and heard thunder. But God not only kept the rain away, He gave us a rainbow the entire service to remind us He would keep it away!

Wednesday dawned with torrential rain again, winds like crazy (we later found out it was hurricane/tropical storm/whatever) and we again thought our outreach at el Rincon would be washed down the tubes for sure. It had already been rained out the day before. But sure enough, my God, who is bigger than the storms, provided for us and we ended up having a beautiful, blue sky afternoon with many kids and adults attending and receiving the life giving water they needed from Jesus.

An interesting note about the water. Johnny Paine, with whom no words can describe, reminded us specifically on Tuesday night that we should be very careful about praying for the rain to go away. They have been in a drought all summer and need the rain badly. So is it selfish of us to ask for the rain to stop so it will be easier to do what we want to do? Another spiritual lesson I see.

What habits or truths do you learn that you want to continue to apply when you go home?

Pray without ceasing for the lost. Yes, it was “easy” to see the lost on a mission field in a third world country. Is it as easy to see the lost souls at the grocery store, at my kids’ school, at our church? I want to keep that tattered card and pray when I am in the grocery, when I am eating lunch with my kids at school, and when I am at church. Better yet, I want to memorize the prayers/scripture, so it can just flow out of me.

Who do you need to tell these stories to?

My children. My Sunday School class. My church, Anyone who will listen to understand why, while there is a plethora of wealth and goodness you can get from God in church, in Bible Study, etc, until you go out and experience something like this, whether it be in a third world country, a poor Appalachian county, or wherever, I believe you cannot grasp all that the Lord has. Yes, I could have lived my life just fine with Jesus by my side had I not gone to Thailand and Mazatlan, but oh how much sweeter and richer my life is because of it! I think it should be a requirement for all members of the body, but at the same time, you must go with a willing heart. Willing to throw it all on the table and say, “Lord, here am I. Use me.”

O:)

Melissa

If you are interested in more details or pictures, e-mail me at bibliomaniac@bellsouth.net and let me know! I'll be happy to share!