The flying bull

This was an ad that resulted from an incident that happened in Mexico at a bull fight. "The Little Bird" as the bull was named, practically flew across all barriers into the audience! We are constantly reminded of how God has protected us from intoxicated people who have fallen in front of our van, bad drivers in general, wild farm animals, packs of dogs, and even flying bulls. We did not make that exposition, but are mindful of all that God has done in these three years of service outside of the USA.
The ad above is actually a joke that refers to the fact that the guys did not spill their beer in escaping the bull. We face people every day who are staring bulls in the face and we are worried about finding mac and cheese or grape jelly for our kids! God help us to be burdened for the lost of Mexico at the expense of our personal comfort.

Deeper Still

I once read a quote by Corrie Ten Boom that read, "There is no pit so deep that God is not deeper still." The pit of our first term on the mission field at times has been incredibly deep. Our children suffered repeat illnesses in Costa Rica causing many late night treks in search of a taxi at 2a.m. to get us to the emergency room. Lori lost her Mother to cancer while we were in Costa Rica also. We arrived in our new country of service to experience various robberies. Our children also have suffered strange illnesses to the extent that Lydia was in the hospital for three days. Now we have nearly lost our children and someone tried to break in our house one night after we moved to a "safer" area. So do I write all of this to say "poor me?" No, I write all of this to say that God is sustaining us. Through many prayers, email, calls, and even visits we are being renewed. I don't understand it all fully except to say that it has been a God thing in our lives. Some view us as heroes of the faith, but we prefer to just be seen as faithful. Emotionally, so much has transpired that we have wanted to scream at times. Yet every turn (teaching A Purpose Driven Life, listening to online sermons and a Beth Moore study, and time in God's Word) seem to contribute to keeping us on track.
So what has God said? He has chosen to remind us over and over that our faith is not based upon feelings, but promises. We must choose to stand upon the promises of God when the hurricane of doubt threatens. That is not what our flesh has wanted to do, but it has been what we have known to be the RIGHT thing to do.
Jacob has been speaking to us through our studies to remind us that when we wrestle with God He may allow us to win, but we may still walk with a limp. In a sense, we trust that nothing happens to us (or our children for that matter) outside of God's reach and purposes. So having wrestled with God about the safety of our children as we serve, we have resolved that all of our emotions do not change our call. We have said with Job, "Though he slay me, yet shall I praise Him." We won this battle as we can still kiss our children goodnight, walk down to watch the train, and walk the dog to the vet. That does not mean that we don't have a limp. I cannot explain all that our limp entails now, but we trust God to heal in His time.
The Apostle Paul listed a laundry list of challenges that he faced in one of his letters and at the end he noted that one of his greatest burdens was for the churches. We continue to be burdened for the churches that we are working to start as well as existing churches. We are amazed by the spiritual warfare in the Bajio due to the great amount of lostness in this area. The things that I have mentioned here are only the tip of the iceberg when thinking about the work here!
Keep praying, giving, and going.
Listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches (not the buildings, but the body of Christ!)

Anointed Waiting

How did so many people in the Bible wait so long to see God work in their lives, families, and/or surroundings? Some spent 40 years herding sheep or something other than preaching and actively serving their God in what we would call "ministry." Even Jesus himself spent his first 30 years working as a carpenter and waiting for the appointed time. We have been on the mission field for two years and are beginning to see breakthroughs, but what a long two years. It seems as if the floodgates are opening and we are seeing doors open in ways that we never expected. One lady who received Christ about 3 months ago has started her own Purpose Driven Life study and is close to starting a second in an area that we had been praying for. Another family, very religious, have expressed an interest in meeting with us one night per week to learn more about God's purpose for their lives. In this family there are two business owners who potentially could touch many lives. There seems to be story after story, door after door that is opening to the gospel, because we have hurried up and waited. We have weathered various storms including the loss of Lori's Mother to cancer so that we could serve in such a time as this. Rick Warren wrote in his book "The Purpose Driven Church" that serving God was like riding a wave. You can't really take credit for it, you just are there being faithful. How incredible it is to ride the wave that we have been given!

I've Arrived!

Well I have finally arrived among the hip crowd. . .I have my own blog! I know, it really is not that big of a deal, but somehow I hope that it can be used to bring glory to the name of Christ. Some may be wondering about the name: Taco Assassin. It is not original. . .unfortunately. It originated here in Celaya just around the corner with a small taco restaurant that serves tacos made in a style derived from Mexico City. What I like about them is that they are different, original for these parts, and inexpensive. That pretty much sums up who I want to be as I share Christ with people. I want to be different, because the religion that they know here has not impacted their lives. I want to be original because the same old approaches to things have not worked thus far in reaching our city for Christ. I want to be inexpensive? Yes, inexpensive in that I do not take advantage of the people to build large, ornate buildings while some live in cardboard shacks. While our grace is not cheap (it cost Jesus a great deal of sacrifice), it is free for any person who will receive Christ as Savior.