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During Women’s Bible study, at our first small group meeting of the year, our leader asked that we each share a little bit about ourselves. Oh boy….an ice breaker, everyone’s favorite. Ladies started with basic information about children, spouses, places they had lived, how long they’d attended this study and where they went to church. We quickly made connections of which states we’d lived in (Texas is well represented in our small group!), having the same number of children, etc. Then something special, something unplanned and holy-spirit led, happened: we started sharing our testimonies.

Something that began as a basic introduction soon became intimate. Acquaintances became confidantes. Memories from when we had struggled or been hurt, been encouraged and drawn to our Savior were shared. We nodded in understanding, laughed with each other, and stood in awe of the ways God had pursued each of us. The commonality among each story was that none of our stories represented lives lived solo…..in every story SOMEONE had prayed for us or spoken encouragement into our lives, SOMEONE had come alongside and invited us to church, SOMEONE shared the gospel, their testimony or their faith with us. Every. Single. Time!

In 1Peter 3:15 we are reminded,

“You must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.”

In my Bible study that morning, these women lived that, what an example!

As I look back on my life I am awed by the number of people God set in my path….some for years and others only for a season. A childhood friend’s mother who wrote me letters sharing the gospel when I was a non-believer, a neighbor who shared God’s word with me when I would call and ask for advice, women who kept showing up and praying over me and my family. Although their words were important, their PRESENCE was life-changing.  

"It’s impossible to change someone’s past experiences

about religion and church

but it is entirely possible to share your testimony

of who Jesus is and how He has transformed your life."

You see, life is not meant to be lived solo. In Pastor Frank’s sermon a few weeks ago he said, “We are designed to be in community.” Do you wonder what that looks like? He continued, “We should be asking ‘Are you struggling? Can I help you? We should be willing to say ‘I will commit to walking with you, to walking thru this with you.’ To be the one who says, ‘Yes, I will join that group and be in community.’”

I wonder if most of the people who changed our lives that we shared about on Wednesday even know the impact they had; they were Sunday school teachers, neighbors, friends, parents of friends and more. It made me wonder, “Jodi, how are you showing up for the people around you? Are you ready to share your testimony and why do you hold back?”

Be encouraged to show up in people’s lives in a real and tangible way. It’s impossible to change someone’s past experiences about religion and church but it is entirely possible to share your testimony of who Jesus is and how He has transformed your life.

MCC has so many opportunities for discipleship, fellowship and community and we would love to help you get started whether it’s in a community group, Bible study or serving with a local ministry or international missions.  

I bumped into him most Sundays after service ended. We shared thoughts about the sermon, poked fun at each other, talked about the weather, and marveled at how awesome our wives are. He wasn’t interested in football, so the Cowboys never came up in our conversations. After repeating this pattern for several months, I still didn’t know much more about him. We were still acquaintances.

We attended church together; we worshiped together, but… were we really connected?

In Acts 2, the Holy Spirit comes to believers, Peter teaches the crowds, and 3,000 were baptized.  Afterwards, in verse 2:42, the Bible says

“They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

Verse 46 says they would meet together every day. As believers, they wanted to spend time together and recognized the value of fellowship. They knew that they wanted to learn together and to grow together.  Reminds me of a popular phrase today: They wanted to live life together. Like a family, full of brothers and sisters.

A few years ago, I sat down next to him at the Church picnic.  He had a nice spot under a tree. As we were greeting each other, a kid walked up with a leash. On the end of that leash was either a small horse or a HUGE dog. The kid handed the leash to him and ran off. I had no idea that he had a pet, let alone a beast like that. 

That afternoon, I learned about his life, choices he made as a father and grandfather, and the reason he always has a small horse for a dog. We shared the stories of how we became believers and how we saw the Holy Spirit working in our lives. We spent an hour together that day and we connected enough to know that it wasn’t enough.

Sunday mornings are great for us to worship together as a body, but not enough for us to grow together. Or live life together. My friend and I enjoyed worshipping together, but it was when we spent time together, at the church picnic, and later in a fellowship group, that we really grew together. Later, when his wife was struggling with her health, he called so we could pray together. And when the horse/dog was lost, we looked late into the night – together.

My friend is no longer here, but his imprint on my life has not left.  It was not enough to only see him on Sunday mornings. In order to go deeper, we had to have time together.  I am so thankful for opportunities to build relationships, to build fellowship and the gift of his friendship. I am thankful for our time at the church picnic and meals we shared in fellowship groups.

The church picnic is coming up soon.

The annual MCC Family Picnic on Sunday, October 6th, from 1:00-4:00pm. Bring your food, drinks, blanket or chairs, and lawn games and spend an afternoon with your church family at Embudo Hills Park.

Who will you get to know better?

Who will you build a connection with?

I would encourage you to plan to attend, to spend time with someone new, dig deeper, and take that next step to living life together. Hope to see you there!

We rejoice as God answers our prayers!

I was taught to sew and embroider at a young age. Both my mother, and her mother (my Nana) took the time to teach and encourage me. I observed Mom and Nana sewing or embroidering and then giving the item away. I felt the love they put into the works of their hands and observed the joy of those who received and that memory accompanies me to this day. And so, it is my desire to pass on this love and encouragement to others. By the grace of God, other ladies at Mountain Christian Church share the same heart and Sister in Stitches was born and continues to grow.

In Fall 2017, at the begining of the Sisters in Stitches (SIS) ministry, we envisioned a three-fold ministry within MCC. First, a ministry to make prayer quilts. Second, we desired to mentor young people to sew with the purpose of learning to use their time and talents to make usable items to bless others and thus glorify God. Thirdly, SIS wanted to have fellowship and grow in the grace of the Lord as we quilted and prayed together. The goal and heart-felt prayer of SIS is first to honor God with the works of our hands and seek His will. By God's grace, Sisters in Stitches and Kids in Stitches (KIS) continues to grow just like a quilt.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.   ~2 Corinthians 1:3-4

In God’s perfect timing, the part of our ministry that first flourished was teaching young people to sew. Our desire is to teach them skills and enthusiasm to sew on their own. At first, just learning to use a sewing machine was an accomplishment! But as the kids continue to learn and grow with each KIS Workshop, learning skills that are built upon in the next workshop, we are so encouraged, as are the kids, that they are becoming more proficient.

And even sweeter than seeing new skills mastered, as we sew we continue to encourage the kids to pray and share ways we all can bless others with the work of our hands.

Another goal of SIS to make prayer quilts. The idea behind these quilts is simple, yet powerful. As we stitch these quilts, we pray for the recipient and encourage the kids to do the same. If we don't know who the quilt is going to, we still pray, trusting God already knows. At our next workshop in October, each KIS will make a nine-patch quilt block and then we will sew all the blocks from each KIS together to make a prayer quilt.

As we continue to turn the direction of this ministry over to the Lord, we praise him for bringing our prayers to fruition. If you have interest in SIS or KIS please contact Davra Clayton.

My prayer before the plane took off the runway that would ultimately bring me to the other side of the world, “Father, I ask that I would be faithful and obedient to you and that I would be a blessing to others that you will have me meet on this adventure.” The Father sure answered prayers in many wonderful ways. Recently, the Lord called me to join a group who were traveling to East Asia for a Cultural & Language Exchange program.

Much of our time was spent at a specific university. Each day was broken up into three sections. Each morning both the American students and university students would take turns to present on a particular topic from their cultural perspective. Topics varied from American and East Asian sports, to culture and worldview. It was fun for both groups to learn from one another. In the afternoon, the university students did different demonstrations for us. For example, there were demonstrations on ancient style of dress, how to make hairpins out of wood, how to tie-dye clothing, how to do martial arts and many more. Finally, the evenings were spent establishing relationships.

It became challenging and frustrating as the weeks went by. The Lord taught us that before we go about our day, we must be in prayer. How we went about sowing was through prayer. If you want to be a good farmer who sows you must be willing to do the preliminary step that is most important.

Prayer paves the way for effective ministry to occur. It is pressing into God so that we can allow Him to transform our lives, deepening our understanding of our identity, His character, and what His Word says. Through that transformation, He equips us with everything we need to share the gospel well with others. Without prayer, our ability to minister will be ineffective and useless. We learned to pray amid spiritual warfare (Eph. 6), and see that people are not our enemies.

My outlook on ministry and evangelism has dramatically shifted since the trip. As I was studying how the Messiah went about ministry here on earth it occurred to me that it was not about all the fancy words, but it was really about love. “Preach the gospel at all times. When necessary, use words.” These famous words incapsulate the heart of gospel-centered ministry. Prayer is the most loving thing you can do for yourself and others.

Before you can love others well,

you must be able to be loved well

by the one who is love.

Having a willing heart to genuinely pray for someone exemplifies a true godly love. Prayer and love go hand in hand. The two most important commandments we are given from God, “Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord our God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. No other commandment is greater than these” (Mark 12).

The Messiah perfectly demonstrated what love is by living out these two most important commands well.  His love was so authentic and deep for His Father and people.  If we want to be like Messiah, we must be willing to mirror Him. Without words we can demonstrate the fruit that is given freely by the Holy Spirit. Love is the fruit that must be far deep in our hearts before we even consider sharing the Good News to others. Before you can love others well, you must be able to be loved well by the one who is love.

Sharing the gospel is not about going up to someone to point out that they are wrong, and you are right; it is about approaching them with God’s perfect love and meeting them where they are at. Since the students were limited due to language barrier, they knew they were loved because of the intentional time we spent building relationships. Through love and how we lived, it sparked curiosity and interest among our new friends. No one came to follow the Messiah on this trip, but the gospel was revealed to them in how we faithfully loved them and planted seeds in them.

Thank you for all your prayers and coming alongside with the finances that aided in making the journey to East Asia possible. Throughout the trip it became more apparent that it was God’s timing for me to embark on this adventure. Many prayers were answered.  I look forward to the next assignment the Father has me embark on with Him. Thank you, thank you, and thank you!

I opened the mail, sifting through the regular bills, the advertisements and sighing about the mundane of life when I came across my very first sponsor child's welcome packet. I held it in my hands as I read about my child. I thought to myself, will my letters make a difference?  Was it really going to be relational? I've never written a letter to someone on a regular basis. How could I possibly make a difference?

Years have gone by and I have had the opportunity to meet my sponsored children while traveling with a team to Bolivia. I have prayed with them, played with them and talked face to face with them. My sponsor children are still pretty young and though the relationship I have built with them is amazing, I kept asking myself, will they really find success out of poverty? With God and the FH sponsor child program really make success stories? Then I met Mayrita Barrios.
Mayrita was a young child living in the Village of Horno Casa B when Mountain Christian church first partnered with Food for the Hungry in 2009.  She was a sponsored child and was working in a bakery with her family. When Food for the Hungry was first introduced to Mountain Christian, Mayrita was the little girl in the video. Quoting Marvin Procter, “She is the reason we are in Bolivia”

I met Mayrita this past April. I learned that one of her favorite childhood memories was receiving letters from her sponsors. She told me of stories of looking forward to reading her letters and participating in the Food for the Hungry program and how that program made such a huge impact in her life.  With God’s grace and mercy, and the help of her sponsors and FH, she came to know Christ.  In Mayrita’s words, “With the arrival of FH, they guided me to the decision to follow Christ.”  When she graduated the program, she took a job as a FH facilitator so she can help other children and their families.  She continued to keep in contact with her sponsors and the countless teams that came to visit Sucre, Bolivia.

"With God’s grace and mercy,

and the help of her sponsors and FH,

she came to know Christ."

Through her time in Food for the Hungry, she made special connections with the people from MCC. God has graced us with a transformational relationship with Mayrita. So much, that she is coming to visit the United States to speak with and develop more relationships while telling her story at Mountain Christian Church. Mayrita will be coming to our church next month and will be speaking to the congregation and sharing her testimony on September 22^nd!

Meeting Mayrita and listening to her story has brought me a new level of transformation with regards to Missions.  God uses so many people that we meet to bring us closer in unity and in fellowship. Mountain Christian Church has grown with our community to community partnership not only to share the gospel, end malnutrition and poverty, and bring enriching and transformational relationships.  Personally, through these relationships, I have grown closer to God and strengthened my faith.  Mayrita’s visit will be the 3^rd of hopefully many more Bolivians to visit our church to share their stories and speak of the great positive impact our little mountain church has in Bolivia and Food for the Hungry.

Every year we send a team to go on a short term mission trip.  If you are interested in going, I urge you to go.  There will be an informational meeting for our upcoming trip on Sunday, September 8^th after 2^nd service.  If you have any questions or would like to know more about this trip, feel free to contact Jennifer Ward.