God's Glory Everywhere

Hey Y'all

I realize it has been a little while since I last wrote, but I have been keeping very busy here in Monterrey. I will give a recap of this week. God has really shown me His glory in more than one situation this week. All I did was ask that He would, and He answered.

Sunday
Church at Douglas was an amazing experience as always. This time the worship team brought more of their friends so the band was even bigger. God was truly worshiped and the kids were truly connecting with their God. We had a group of incoming freshmen from a christian school in Cincinnati, Ohio help us that afternoon for the work projects at Douglas. I at first thought to myself that they were going to be a difficult group. I was very wrong. They were the best group I worked with all week. They truly understood their purpose for being there. We tore out lots of debris and started putting in a new temporary fence on one side of the property that was exposed. I also led a small group of these 9th graders in a bible study over the topic of Shelter (the theme of B2B this summer). To see their spiritual growth from day 1 to day 5 was really encouraging. God truly moved in their hearts, and I saw His glory.

Monday
I was at Douglas again. We pretty much just did a bunch of small projects to fix up the church and the clothes lines until about 5 pm. Then we stayed at the home to watch the kids while the encargadas (the ladies that take care of the kids and live at the children's home) went to one of the staff homes to pray. There is going to be a change in leadership among them so there remains a lot of uncertainty while spiritual movement is occurring at the same time. God is in control, and He is moving there. We had a grand time playing with all of the kids while the encargadas saught the Lord's council. The kids behaved better with us then they every had before. God's glory was shown during baby sitting 80 orphaned children.

Tuesday
I went with the same group that I was with on Monday to an area known as Cadareyta. The area and the community we serve in Cadareyta is a very poor area. They were originally living in a Rio community on free land along the river. These communities along the river are called squatter villages. People come squat on the government land for free and build their houses out of whatever they can find or afford. However, this one community was forced to abandon their shelter along the river because the government was going to build a bridge there. The government to provide them very small plots of land in Cadareyta on the other side of the mountains. Pastor Angel served this community when they were by the river. He continues to feel the Lord's call to serve that community. We are building the community a small church there. The church will serve as a community center and a place for Pastor Angel and his family to live. In the late morning, we placed rhubarb on the walls of the church in preparation to pour the second floor. That afternoon we took several people from the community to a public pool and had a cook out. I grilled 60+ pounds of meat for tacos. Pastor Angel shared a message and Mrs. Angel led us in worship. God was glorified through community.

Wednesday
It was my much needed day off. One of the missionary couples took those of us that were off to go see Up. Movies in Mexico are a whole lot cheaper. That evening Satan attacked me. I felt very discouraged and defeated. I became physically, emotionally, and spiritually worn out. Discouragement ranked in my heart. That night in worship, I asked God what he was going to do about this? How was He going to help me? When was He going to help me? Not even a minute later the worship leader said He felt that there was some discouragement that ranked among us tonight. Those that were discouraged he asked to raise their hands. Then others came around us and prayed encouragement and joy upon us. God truly came with loads of encouragement. I saw His glory through His rescue of me.

Thursday
Work projects in the morning at Douglas. The Douglas kids came over for a pool party on our campus. I had a 30 minute conversation with one of the Jovens in Spanish. I have built so many relationships with the staff and the Jovens on campus. I thank God for all of them. Worship was a wonderful experience where a testimony of recovery was shared. God was glorified through the workings of a smooth and wonderfull day.

Friday
I slept a lot. I read a lot. I reflected a lot. I prayed a lot. Then all the interns went out for a night on the town, Intern night out. We took a boat out onto the lake in Monterrey which sits between two mountain ranges. The glory of God is shown through the beauty of His magnificent creation.
I encourage you to ask God to daily show you his glory.
I hope to be posting pictures very soon.

God Bless
Andrew