The past three weeks may have been the most amazing three weeks of my life. So much has happened. Some of it seems to have taken place so long ago; because every day God keeps amazing me more and more. I have met some super cool people; people that are a huge blessing and that I hope will continue to be a part of my life in the future. I have been encouraged, challenged, welcomed, missed, loved on, befriended, stretched, pressed, home, lost, bold, submissive, learned, taught…
I have seen some new doors opened.
I have seen answers to old questions begin to take shape.

Ok, for those of you who think that was too vague; I apologize. And I will do my best to post something more specific as soon as time allows. But here is a quick overview of some highlights (take no offense if you were a part of something not on this list – there were literally too many things to remember):
It all started with a 27 hour drive with a bunch of Hondurans, a couple Mexicans, a Colombian, and me. We drove from Monterrey all the way to a GCLA (great commission Latin America) conference in Georgia. There was some really good teachings, some good fellowship (from dominoes, basketball, football, soccer, volleyball, a jam session, and lots of chatting). We had the chance to hear from some of the best speakers GCLA has here in the United States. Apart from the great teaching, one thing that really struck me was the diversity – I loved it. The conference was for people who attend GCLA churches in the USA, but my church from Mexico jumped in on the fun too. The Trip seems like so long ago, but here are some snippits from my journal, and additional reflections as I look back a few weeks later….
I remember feeling slightly apprehensive about the weeks, as we pulled up to the conference center, after our 27 hour drive; and no one was there to greet us or check us in. and our leaders did not know if we were staying in a hotel, or there on site. It all worked out fine, we just went out for a nice country breakfast while we waited for someone to come fill us in on the details. After check in I went for a little jog around the conference grounds to shake out the kinks from the 27 hour drive. As I was running I noticed there was a gym. Naturally, curiosity got the better of me and I entered. To my shock, I saw walked onto something I hadn’t walked on in quite some time. it gave me goosebumps. I walked onto a wood floor, glass backboard, basketball court. I instantly knew it was going to be a great week.
The theme of the conference was “metamorphosis”. Which you might recall is the scientific term referring to the process by which a catapillar becomes a butterfly. That should be very easy for Christians to relate to as we have to undergo a similar transformation from our old self into the new creation we are becoming in Christ Jesus. We must be radically different than the people of this world. We must fight the temptations to fall back into the life of a catapillar when God is making us butterflies. We must not take the easy rode, but most follow the upside-down tendancies of Jesus. And that is a daily process, a daily fight, a constant renewing process as the Holy Spirit works in us, molding us day by day.
Every once in a while a pastor will say something that just jumps out at you, and becomes a life motto. Some people call them wisdom nuggets. I have a lot of them that I hold tightly to, (mostly from Amado, Klunke, Knowlty, Sergio, my grandma, my parents, and a lot of other random people who have changed my life without even knowing it) and I like to pass them on, and spread the fire. I often compare it to God hitting me with a baseball bat (sometimes I can be stubborn and He finds a way to make sure I get it). The bombshell from this conference (to me – I’m sure others had different experiences) was “What got you here, won’t get you there.” Nelson Guerra. He’s awesome. In other words, what has gotten you this far in your relationship with God won’t get you any closer to Him than you already are. This applies to almost everything in your life. I like to use the example of exercise (an example I stole from Pastor Amado. But now that I’ve cited him, its not stealing.) If you read a book about training for marathons, but don’t run or train; you are not going to be able to run a marathon. Or, if you run a half a mile every day for a year, but never increase the distance or speed, you aren’t going to be able to run a marathon. It might be as far as you can run right now, but you need to keep challenging yourself and pushing yourself. And all of a sudden you will realize you are running several miles a day!
Another good example is in a marriage. If you don’t grow closer to your wife/husband over time, but only stay as close as when you first got married (which was probably really close), you aren’t going to be satisified with where your relationship is at.
God wants us to continue to grow and continue to improve and He will continue to challenge and mold us into who He wants us to be. We need to constantly pursue God, to bring more and more glory to Him. Just like Moses reflected God’s glory after the talked on Mt. Sainia, so we must glow with God’s glory that His light might shine in this dark world.
Another thing I really really liked about the conference was the diversity. Like I said earlier, this was a meeting of all the Great Commission Minsitries Latin America churches that are in the USA. Yeah, its complicated, and yes I know the USA is not part of Latin America. However, there are many many Latinos in the USA. Anyways, my point is that these churches are all mixes of Cubans, Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Colombians, Americans, and who knows what else. It was soo fun to be around other billungual people for a while too. People who are essentially living in a differenct culture, too. Most of them were probably born here, but you know what I’m trying to say.
The only negative thing I have to say about the conference was it left me wanting more. But I guess that’s not a bad thing. The schedule was set up so that the entire afternoon was free time. like from lunch to dinner was free. I definetly took advantage of the chance to play basketball 4 hours each day; but i would have sacrificed an hour or two of that play time for another learning session.

I then was able to spend a few days with my sister in Florida! She lives only three hours from the conference grounds we were at, so she came and picked me up on the last night of the conference. It was great to get to see her, we hadn’t hung out in about a year. So we spent some time chatting, catching up; hanging out on the beach! It was a very relaxing, refreshing time for me. I always love my vacations with my sister.
But it was only a few days and then on was on to Chicago, where I had a week packed with visiting family and friends, speaking at churches (and a school), and just soaking up every moment I could spend with my family and my church. I want to throw a special shout out to those of you who made the extra effort to find time in your busy work schedules to hang out with me. And props to paul for hooking up the trip to see the Chicago fire (you can take me out of Mexico, but you will never take the Mexico out of me – I’ve caught soccer fever) Other shout outs go to Karla for not once, but twice making the long trip from the ‘ville out to my house, and to everyone at Westbrook/Gente Unida, and Bridge Commuunity church who welcomed me back with open arms. A few random highlights of the week that made me feel well at home… luch with Nick, and several CRC pastors, hanging out with some of the staff at WCC/GUM (Mont, Amado, Joel, Rick, Niel, Pierre, Ochoa, Jonathan, Rob), BBQ after church at Eddies, movie night at theUlemans, and all the various lunches, dinners, and coffees… I felt truly loved. I am soo blessed.

Next on the agenda was a mission trip to Tijuana with Westbrook Christian Church. I don’t know how I can begin to describe this. Prior to the trip I only new a handful of the 58 people signed up, but now every one of them are part of my extended family. I guess a week camping without running water, electricity, mirrors, hair gel, makeup, etc, etc combined with the intense manual labor required to build a firehouse will bring intimacy pretty quickly . I never felt like an outsider. I never felt like I was being judged. I always felt encouraged and loved. Everyone had an amazingly positive attitude throughout the whole week, and that made everything seem so much easier. God truly loves a joyful giver. I wish I had more time to get to know each one of them better, but Lord willing, I will be back to Westbrook soon, and we can all go to Mexico again next year!! But those I did get to spend time with were definitely a blessing. Those who I got to work alongside, or chat with by the fire were able to leave an impression on my life. God used each one of their gifts, talents, and heart to build a firehouse and to reach an entire community. We had the opportunity to serve in many many ways. Some played with the kids who came by the worksite, cooked mass quantities of food, washed dishes, poured concrete, hammered, sawed, sifted, shoveled, translated, and overall we all served and got served. By the grace of God, the house went up quickly and efficiently in three and a half days! There were no major injuries, and no major problems with the construction! That gave us the opportunity to meet a bunch of people for the inauguration of the house with the fire chief, mayor, city counsel men, some reporters, and several other VIP’s. Many of the firemen came to our campsite later for a barbeque of hamburgers and hot dogs. I think we frightened the other campers when 6 fire trucks rolled up to our site with lights and sirens blaring! The even brought the ladder truck and extended it to about 50 feet so people could climb it! Those of us who are able to speak Spanish were able to talk with them, and share the true reason why we would be crazy enough to give up a week of our cushy American lifestyle to do something for complete strangers. Specifically for me, I was chatting with a young man named Allan for quite a while. I was able to share some of my testimony with him. He later came back and found me to ask me for my email address so we could keep in touch. Please be in prayer for his salvation.
During this time, I was able to see what an amazing work God is doing through Westbrook Christian Church / Gente Unida Minsitries. I would be honored if God calls me to serve with them. [see prayer requests…]
*****below is an insert from my journal which I wrote to my teammates, and a different summary of the trip:
“We save lives, but you save souls”
How can I put a life changing experience on paper? How can I describe the incredible feeling of being a vessel used by God to reach a community thousands of miles away from home? How can I show you the dusty, dirty, barefoot, happy smiles of the little kids? How can I get you to hear their laughter? How can I duplicate the joy a small home brings to 6 firemen? How can I share the community, the love, the bonds built by hug therapy around a campfire? How do 57 strangers become my new best friends and a part of my family in less than a week? How do I explain the challenges, the struggles, the growth of being in a different country, culture, and being without running water, or electricity? How can I summarize all that pastor Mont, pastor Amado, Joel, Tim, and I shared during worship around the campfire? How can I share Joel and RJ bringing us into the presence of God, singing “You are God” under the stars?

I guess I can’t. I can only say that “You are God” and You are indescribable.

I can tell you that God is doing amazing things everyday. And as much as I want every single person who reads this to join us next year on this trip; I know that you can make a difference and spread the spirit in your regular daily activities at home, school, and work. We all have chances to spread the spirit and stop the fire everyday. We are extremely blessed. God has given us way more than we need. We have soo much that we take for granted. We have an amazing community of believers here at Westbrook. We have a great staff and great brothers and sisters who really love each of us and help us draw closer to God and bring Him more glory and praise. Let us encourage and challenge each other to not let this be just a one week experience; but a life of service and day by day let us continue to pursue God and never let our passion fade.
On a more personal note I want to say to my teammates an extra special blessing. Prior to this trip I only knew a handful of our 58 person team, but now every one of you are part of my extended family. I guess a week camping without running water, electricity, mirrors, hair gel, makeup, etc, etc combined with the intense manual labor required to build a firehouse will bring intimacy pretty quickly . But I never felt like an outsider. I never felt like I was being judged. I always felt encouraged and loved. Everyone had an amazingly positive attitude throughout the whole week, and that made everything seem so much easier. God truly loves a joyful giver. I wish I had more time to get to know each one of you better, but Lord willing, I will be back to Chicago and Westbrook soon, and we can all go to Mexico again next year!! But those I did get to spend time with were definitely a blessing. Those who I got to work alongside, or chat with by the fire were able to leave an impression on my life. God used each one of your gifts, talents, and heart to build this firehouse and to reach an entire community – both the community in Mexico and to strengthen our community at Westbrook.
This trip has taught me a lot. A lot about myself, about God, and about life. Thank you all soo much for being a part of that.
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That pretty much describes the last month or so of my life; obviously I had to leave a lot out; but I always have more stories if you’re interested.