Yesterday

Yesterday was an incredible day. We divided into three teams and was able to finish the 3 houses.  In the middle of the day we got thunder and heavy rains which became a little challenging. Muddy slippery worksites! My heart was heavy as I listened to some women share their stories. What they have to endure everyday to survive is overwhelming. A couple of days before we left I was praying that we could show the women Christ love and I asked God for a simple way to do that. It came to me to get items to give pedicures. I ran to the dollar store and the beauty store to get the supplies. Yesterday we had a line up of women waiting to get their pedicures. We set up our "spa" in a home made of plastics and sticks. What a blessing it was to be able to wash these womens feet and to paint their toes. Jesus showed us how to serve. He was the ultimate example of sacrifice. I must share that as we gave these women a little pampering there was no greater blessing. May we be Christ hands and feet and maythese people see the heart of Jesus.

Friendships

Yesterday was really incredible. Meeting the families that we will be building with was so emotional. We prayed for each family and they shared how thankful they were for us and that God had blessed them with a house. We are really looking forward to building friendships with these amazing people. They have had years of suffering and we are going to rejoice this week for the house that God has provided them. We are off to dig! Hope to post again tonight.

10 Families

This morning we will be going to meet the ten families that will be receiving their new homes this week. The team started meeting in April to prepare for this trip. We have prayed, fundraised, collected shoes and clothes and had our team commisioning. We can prepare all of these things but I am never prepared to see the horrific conditions these families have been living in. I pray I never become complacent in seeing suffering. I pray that I will always be affected by poverty. I don't ever want to grow cold to the needs of people suffering. As Christian we are called to have His heart. All throughout scripture we see Jesus heart of compassion for those who are suffering, those who were sick, those who were hungry and thirsty. We are here because we are wanting to help those who are suffering. May God be glorified this week. May we be changed this week.

Were Home!

We have arrived and are at the hotel. We are all settling into our rooms and we will be soon leaving for dinner. We will be eating tonight at Pastor Jorge and Maritza´s.

I can only speak for myself but when the plane lands I feel like I am home. This place has captured my heart from the first missions trip when I came with Dennis and Daniel. It says in the bible that God will give you the desires of your heart. He honored my heart´s desire by having us share this experience with both Brian and Daniel. Daniel has been here before but this will be the first for Brian.

We are excited and anticipating what God has for the team this week. I pray that we will be His hands and feet and that His name will be glorified in all that we say and do. I am so thankful that these 22 people were obedient to the call that God had placed on their hearts. They were open to be used to serve people living in extreme poverty. I am so thankful that they stepped out of their confort zone. God wants us to have that open heart to follow Him wherever He calls us. When we have that heart God takes us on a great adventure. If we just follow Him.

Milestones

There is a relatively new restaurant in the City of Niagara Falls called Milestones. It sits at the top of one of the taller hotels in the City. Perhaps you have been to it if you live in the Niagara Region. I haven’t been to it yet, but I have been to another one in another part of the Province. Have you been? If you go to their web site, they have a place where you can find out about their culture. We have been talking about our culture at our church over the last twelve months or so. What is our culture? What do we want our culture to be? How do we get there? Not that I want to advertise for Milestones, but according to the web site they are about inspired food created by inspired people, familiar food with a twist, a stylish, inviting and welcoming atmosphere for all occasions, genuine and uniquely different service, and people that possess what they call the”H-Gene”- hospitality. Sounds like a church I would like to attend! How about you?

Milestones are also are also one of a series of numbered markers placed along a road or boundary at internals of one mile or occasionally, parts of a mile. They are typically located at the side of the road or in a median. They are alternatively known as mile markers, mileposts or mile posts. Mileage is the distance along the road from a fixed commencement point. While we have milestones that mark our progress when we travel down the road, we don’t really have them for our spiritual lives. Unless you want to count our conversion and then, for most of us anabaptists, our baptism, we really don’t have spiritual milestones, do we?

Many of you who know me, know that a year ago I went on a missions trip to El Salvador to build houses for the poor. We were told that we would be doing more than just building houses, but I must have daydreaming that moment because I don’t remember. I know I am not like everyone else. I get affected by stuff faster than most. At least that is how I see it. Anyway, I don’t think I have been the same person since I went on that trip. Just ask my wife Grace. I think she would confirm it.

While we were in El Salvador our group was given an opportunity to give testimonies at the Wednesday evening church service. They meet on Sunday and Wednesday nights. Anyway, I didn’t want to do it, but then for a reason unknown to me I just said yes. Shortly after that I was overcome by fear. I wondered what I would say? What could I say? What did I have to say? Was there anything worth saying? Did I have any spiritual milestones worth telling? Thankfully I could remember a few basic ones like when I accepted Christ as my Saviour, when I asked to be baptised, when I asked Christ to be the Lord of my life, and when God saved my marriage.

So here I sit at a milestone of sorts. It is two weeks to a year since I came back from El Salvador. So what gives Ken, what have you learned, how have you grown? Well, if you have read any of my posts on Facebook you already know. If you haven’t I have tried to compile a list of a few that come to mind.

1. God loves me with an unbelievable, unconditional love.

2. God wants me to love his children the same way.

3. God wants me to love my neighbour and strangers that I meet (even if they are in the middle of the ocean- Right Patricia?)

4. God wants an active relationship with me. He wants to talk with and to me every day. He wants me to listen for his voice and to stop when I hear it.

5. God wants me to become more and more like his one and only son, Jesus.

6. God has a specific spiritual gift for me that he wants me to use to build his Kingdom. He has one for you too!

7 God wants me to love mercy, act justly and to walk humbly with him.

God wrote a love letter to us many years ago. It is called the Bible. Do you want to be loved. Feel loved? Then read it. I know that sometimes it is hard to be motivated to read it. But if it has been a while since you did, try again. You won’t be disappointed. I rarely am.

I’ve got to go and pack my bags for another trip to El Salvador. See you at the next milestone!

Bro ken

New homes...renewed hope.

It is hard to understand the conditions that families are living in before we build them their new homes. I thought I would post a before and after picture of a home a family was living in before we built them their new home. I wanted to give you a glimpse of what we see as we go to El Salvador to build the homes that God has provided for them. These new homes not only offer them shelter but it gives them renewed hope. Hope that the future will be better for themselves and their children, hope that the world does care. I know it shows them that God has not forgotten them and that He loves them and cares for them.

Psalm 140:12“I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy.”

Isaiah 6:8 "Here am I. Send me!"

It is hard to believe that in a few weeks we will be leaving to serve the people of El Salvador. We will be there from November 3-11th. This team of 22 people are so excited to share the love of Christ and be used by God for His purposes and for His glory. God has provided enough funds to build 10 houses. We will also be handing out food and holding a childrens minstry. Our plans also involve visiting a Compassion Centre in San Vicente. Pray for us as we need the Lord to direct our steps and the strength to complete the tasks He has prepared for us. I think of the verse in Isaiah 6:8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” We have said "Here am I send me". May God  use us mightly to spread the gospel and may many come to know Christ.