May 24: Aligning with God's 21st century moves

On Sunday 17, Rev. Gary Edmonds came to preach about five points that are really present in this century regarding to God and his followers.
Those five points were:
1. The world has been turned upside down! (Psalm 87)

• It means that things that were not easily done years ago are now being done at an incredible fast pace. Missionaries are traveling more often and the spread of the gospel is even greater. Another example is that churches are being built in places that we never think of before. Really hard places due to their other beliefs and stuff like that. But is all being done because it all belongs to God!

2. The Gospel is about the Kingdom! (Mark 1:15; Acts 28: 30-31)

• In this one Rev. Gary mentioned how this is basically about God who comes to restore everything! It is about Him shaping us and moving things around. What God wants from us and promises.
  

3. Social unity is essential for credibility! (John 17: 20-23, Psalm 133)

• This is about making all of us into one by eliminating boundaries to bring all kind of people together from all over the world so that the rest would start to believe. Because we can't talk about God's love to others when we don't try to live that attribute too. It would be contradictory. And when words are being contradicted by actions then people obviously are not going to believe what is said.
  

4. Send the right people to the right people! (Isaiah 66:19, Acts 18:9-11)

• In this one, Rev. Gary mentioned something about identifying the people to then guide them. I think that this mean about having chosen people from the congregation that have a true desire to be servants of God and do his will. And send them to others that are in need of Jesus so they can serve as guidance for them through the process of letting Jesus in.

5. You will run into pain and suffering! (2 Corinthians 11:23-29, Matthew 5:10)

• This one is pretty much self-explanatory. Everyone that is in God's will will pass through sufferings of all kinds. But we have to be strong and know that God doesn't lay on us burdens that we cannot hold,. He is there all the time, He loves us and He must have a reason for it that might go beyond our comprehension but that we have to accept because it forms part of His plans.

--I think the last three points are revelant for us as we prepare for this trip because we need to be unified to be able to work well and get done whatever has to be done on time and demonstrate through our actions a way to be like Jesus. As we go, we would be pretty much an example to follow for them so we need to be careful on how we interact with others and how we approach things because that talks about who we are. And the least contradictory action taken after had said so many things about God can affect somebody else's faith. I'm sure we would face things that we are not used to or might start having problems in different aspects of life as we prepare for this trip. Things can get out of control and really overwhelming but we need to stand and overcome the situations.

May 24: Jeff's Challenge

1. We are not going to Mancora to serve: we are going to Mancora because we are servants.
The difference is that serving is the action of doing something for someone and it seems more like a choice you have whether to serve or not. While servants are the people specifically chosen to do a job and make things succeed.
If I'm a servant then whatever is told to me to do has to be done in order to let things flow in a easier way and accomplish the purpose of the trip or etc. It requires obedience and cooperation. Being a servant has to do with being submissive to someone, specifically to God. In the other hand, if I were to serve then I'm pretty much on my own deciding on how to do things or not.
We can serve to people in Mancora by being servants of God and to them. Because God is graceful and loving and those are attributes that should be applied whether we know the people or not. That way people might see Christ in us and be moved so tighter bounds or friendships would be built. I think is about being servants to them in an action of love to God, not of obligation.

2. "To get closer to God"
-What is the impact of culture on faith?-->How can I see life and the gospel differently because of what I've experienced?
-What's wrong with the world?-->What can I learn about justice, poverty, and the causes of suffering?

I hope to get more insights in this questions because I'd like to see what great impact people from other country and their lifestyles can make on me. How that would make me see things or realize things that were always there in the scriptures or constantly presenting in my life and maybe I haven't been able to clearly see or understand. Maybe the experience would be eye opening to me in that part. And I have to say pretty much the same for the second question. I just want to truly understand the circumstances in which others live, how things affect them emotionally, physically, and mentally so I can think of good ways of approaching people and helping them go through whatever they may be going through.

As I pray, read the scriptures, and prepare for this trip I feel that God is telling me to be strong and stay focus in this because I've been going back into putting walls and not letting people in anymore. I feel his word is comforting me and letting me know that I'm not alone, that I can trust in Him, that He is with me, and that I need to pass through that mass to work efficiently for this trip. Also, that this isn't about me but about what I can do for others and how I can work in people's lives with God by my side.

May 17: Commitments (Missing part...)

"Our individual and team preparation would be characterized by:

• Building Unity
• Getting our minds and hearts open to what will come and to learn
  
• Being humble
  

May 17: Commitments

I read through all the commitments and found out that I didn't disagree with any of them because I think they are good to apply in a mission trip and daily life.

Two commitments I felt strongly about are:

• We WILL dignify and respect the locals and the church we serve by not talking about them in demeaning ways.
• We WILL encourage journal writing on the trip, focusing on things that make us uncomfortable, questions that come to mind, and insights we gain.

For me these two are really necessary for a short-term mission trip because we are to build lasting relationships with the locals not making them feel bad around us and go away.
As Christians we are to be loving just like God is. And a way of showing that is by being respectful to others in all ways.

I also think that the journal will be helpful to let us keep track of the things we will be doing and reflect on how we will be feeling about a certain situation and realizing the changes that get to happen in people's lives as well as our own. Having the time to journal will help in our spiritual growth to have a lasting change in our lives.

May 10: Outcomes & Objectives (Summarize)

I basically said on the last post how I wanted this experience to change me or mold me by saying that I was hoping to see life in a different perspective more than I already see it. What I mean by this is that I would like to stop being so negative or pessimistic about my own life. I would like to have more confidence in who I am and what I can do and help others in their struggles. And this is an opportunity to prove myself that I'm capable of many things, that it will come if I work hard and get determined to let the change have its process.
I hope that I will start being more social. I don't consider myself anti-social. I like meeting people and everything but it's easy to notice when I don't trust someone because I put this wall between the person and me without even letting some good amount of time pass to get to know each other better. I don't mean to do that. I don't think I was even conscious that I did that until I started writing in this blog. But I see that what has been causing me to act like that is that I am too afraid of putting trust in someone and get hurt later on. I guess I had been so disappointed of people already that that's what I mostly expect any time I'm meeting someone new. But I'm willing to let that behind. In fact, since a couple of months until now it's been better. And I will sure be more open.

May 10: Objectives

• Give participants direct experience in planning and implementing effective cross-cultural service.
• Provide participants with many opportunities to share their faith in Christ through word and deed and develop and exercise their unique gifts and abilities.
• Assist participants in learning to work well within a team that must strategize and plan ministry programs together and then function effectively in a foreign culture.

I hope that this time of preparation and the mission trip itself will make me get out of that shell that I am so used to be under. I want to be able to express more often my opinions and ideas, to not be afraid of sharing what I think because this is what happens to me most of the times. I get to be afraid that my opinions would sound lame or not be taken into account and at the end I don't say it. And I don't want that to be part of me anymore.
I also hope I can get more sense of responsability by being part of a team that is orginizing something because all my life I haven't really liked working with people. I do things mostly by myself and if I'm in a group I feel uncomfortable and don't really say anything and just do what I'm told to do so. Though I have to say that things have been changing these few weeks that had passed since I'm part of this team =). I'm starting to express what I have on mind!
I'd like to see myself grow in my faith, to share about God with people that I don't necessarily know and be able to build a lasting friendship with someone. I want to help teens that are struggling in their lives because I know there's lots of worse things that could happen to someone than the ones I had gone through. And I want to be there for them for comfort and to guide them to the Lord. Doing these things will surely make an impact in my life, make me see life in a different perspective by understanding other people's struggles and by seeing God's work in their lives.

May 10: Outcomes

"How and why we do is more important than what we do."

To me this means that it can be seen that I do great things to serve God, but it doesn't make any good or difference if I'm doing it for the wrong purpose or if I hurt anyone on the way just for my own gain. Because at the end what matters is what is on the heart. The true desire that one has for doing things for God.
I feel this is an important idea for Christians to understand because sometimes we can start with our mind set to serve God. But as other things come such as good amount of money or lots of recognition, we as humans can somehow loose the purpose somewhere in the way and have our minds more in the recognition or other stuff rather than doing what it has to be done with a humble heart. Those things can happen to anyone. But we can overcome that if we try to keep our focus on the main purpose and if we pray about it.

May 3: Assumptions

The ones I disagree are:

• We must not go overseas to do something we aren't already doing in our neighborhood...
• We cannot truly serve those we do not know and love.

In the first one, I just think that it is not necessary to go overseas when you have so much you can do in your surroundings. The word "must" makes it a little harsh. It almost sounds like a rule. So if I decide to go overseas and do something and have done nothing in my country then it's wrong? That's more or less the feeling that is giving me. And in my opinion, there is call for everyone in specific. Some are more easily adapted traveling so those people can do that even if they haven't done that much in their own country. It would be good to have set something, as a starting point, to gain experience and truly understand what God is wanting from us. But at the end, it is what God is making them feel they should go and minister.
About the second one, I have to say that I disagree because we can serve people that we dont necessarily know personally or love because eventually there could be created a relationship out of love and disposition and people would get to know each other. Plus, God will be among them as well. Everyone needs of the Lord and of people willing to sacrifice their time to share about Him even if one knows the other or not.

Agree:

• Most short-term participants report having life-changing experiences, including their own culture's consumerist values, and being challenged to a life of missions, but revert to their old ways within 6-8 weeks...
• Our mission trips usually assume we have something to offer the churches and communities we visit, but there is much to learn from them as well.
• We tend to think that church is church wherever we go.

I have never been in a mission trip before but I kind of get that of having these amazing changes and then eventually they are lost because they were left at the place. And from what we've been discussing it seems like it happens pretty often. So what we are doing now it's good for us. To keep our minds in the purpose and be ready for everything that we are going to expierence. The time that we are going to have to journal and reflect during and after the trip is an excellent thing to do as well so we can have our time to calmly see the changes and results in the place, in the people and ourselves.
I think we always have something to learn from others. It is not all about us as individuals, is about others too. So seeing their experiences, their lifestyles, their daily life is a good way to understand who they are and what things they see important in life.
I agree with the last one too because I believe that is something we mostly think since we know that the church is not necessarily the building but is composed by God's people. So it's like if I go here or there, it doesn't make a difference because the people are the ones who make up the church. In this case, I think it should be clarified that not all people could be following God in the right way, that it depends on how they live their life.