Blog

Dear Friends,

The New Year began with great movement at Juntos and continues to speed along!  In the year-end summary, that I sent in December, there were several requests that we asked you to pray through. God is already on the move and answering in surprising and gracious ways!

( Our 4th and 5th grade robotics team with the coaches who volunteer their time and expertise.  We are looking forward to more projects!)

• Nine new kids have begun attending Juntos on Monday nights.
• One of our staff, Joy, has begun prayer walking a nearby mobile home community with the mama of two Juntos kids who live there. We are praying for openings into all four of the communities that surround us.
• We began a robotics team and already completed our first competition! (The kids surprised us with how amazing they did, but we probably did not win it due to some improvements we need to make in teamwork. Quite the learning experience and super exciting!)

“It is a blessing to have connected with you all!  My son is loving Juntos.  He comes home to tell me what he has learned.  Most recently it was that we shouldn’t judge.”

  -a text from the mom of a new Juntos 3rd grader

• Our learning lab is up and running with amazing new volunteers, enthusiastic kids and supportive parents. The relationships being formed are priceless!
• Speaking of volunteers, we have had two trainings with incredibly committed, excited and qualified people from the community.  
• Most encouraging to me was the first meeting of our new advisory committee. It is comprised of parents, volunteers and former students.  I am grateful for this group’s support and for their wisdom as we, together, listen to the Lord and plan the future of Juntos!  

(We took 10 teen girls to the T4 conference in Ft. Worth where they were reminded that they are worthy because of Jesus.)

(We were able to bring 10 representatives from our Juntos team to the I:58 Navigators gathering in Virginia Beach. We were encouraged to continue focusing on “whole life discipleship” and God’s heart for justice.)

Thank you for your role on our Juntos team as God continues to privilege us with many opportunities to love and be loved by our community!

One of the most poignant expressions of utter hopelessness that I’m aware of was written by the Persian mathematician, astronomer, and poet Omar Khayyam in The Rubaiyat. He lived when the dominant religion in Persia was Zoroastrianism but his father was Islamic and Omar taught in an Islamic school. As a high school student, I loved that poem for its beauty of expression and for what seemed to me to be some broad truth. As part of that poem, he wrote

"The moving finger writes; and, having writ, moves on:

Nor all your piety nor wit shall lure it back to cancel half a line,

Nor all your tears wash out a word of it."

That sounded pretty hopeless, particularly because no one seemed to live up to the best he knows, whether it is by God’s standard or his own. What’s more, neither religion offered Khayyam any answer. In both, God is viewed as impersonal and the only possible way to please him might be to do enough good to overcome the bad. Doing that much good sounds hopeless enough, but then one never knew how much was enough.

Since high school, having spent some time studying the world’s religions, living in a foreign culture, and meeting people of other religions, some things have become clear:

• There is a universal recognition that a God must exist
• No one measures up to the best he knows (i.e. all sin)
• Aside from Christianity:
  • The only way to please god is by doing enough
  • Because no one can know how much is enough, no one can be assured of a place in heaven
  • In any case, god is impersonal and doesn’t care about me as a person

While all of the world’s religions may contain some elements of truth, all are deficient because they all represent man’s attempt to reach God. What’s remarkable, is that God has purposefully made Himself and His plan known through the Bible. And He revealed Himself not through just one prophetic writer but through many men over many centuries. In the Bible, He revealed that He is actually a personal God and His purpose was to send a Savior to reconcile us to Himself, One who would rule eternally with us in His presence.

When I would ask African Muslims why they came to Bible Study Fellowship and stayed, the common answer was 1) it was clear that what was taught was true to what the Bible said and not some group’s particular ideas and 2) since no one twisted my arm to become Christian but relied on the truth of the Bible, I knew that when I was being challenged, it was from God.

For those Muslims who believed and received Christ, the most important effect was being certain that they will go to heaven, because it depends on Jesus and not their own goodness.

None of us measure up and we all know it, no matter how hard we try to cover it up. The truth is that God is a personal God who wants to reconcile us to Himself and He has provided the means to do it. John 3:16 tells us how He expressed His love --- “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” That is God’s expression of love to all mankind, no matter how badly we have failed to measure up. And it is made effective in us when we consciously put our faith in His Son, Jesus, and His death and resurrection.

This verse is familiar to all of us. Maybe it is too familiar making it is easy to forget its impact. This verse contains the message God has for all mankind. It gives us a confident, secure hope and a future. It’s what we have as believers and what we have to offer others. And it’s the very thing we celebrate this Easter season.

To God be the glory!

Our Missions Team is pleased to share an exciting opportunity to spread the Gospel message and to provide ways for our congregation to be involved. We will be sending Emily, Hana, Heather, and Donna from our congregation to South Asia to help with COI’s Vacation Bible School the first week of June. This VBS hosts 1,000 children (nearly all Hindu or Muslims) from very impoverished neighborhoods. Thirty buses will bring children to the VBS location each day where they will experience a curriculum, teaching, food, and love very similar to what we do at our MCC VBS each summer. Our church is fully funding the cost of this one-week VBS for all 1,000 and our volunteers will assist with running the VBS and sharing God’s love with the children they meet! 

Many in our congregation have a heart for the South Asia region. We all know that Christians are actively persecuted there. Yet, we also know that there are many in South Asia who yearn for the good news of Jesus Christ and the eternal salvation that He offers. We are excited to become involved with COI and the work they do.

COI is a good fit for our missions’ programs for the following reasons:

• COI focuses on the unreached and often forgotten in the most impoverished areas.
• Children are a major part of the COI ministry and are reached through VBS, COI run schools, and child sponsorship programs.
• COI wants us to send volunteers from our congregation to be a part of the COI programs, whether it is participating in their VBS, teaching at one of their year-round schools, or helping to construct water wells in more remote regions.

As you can see, there are many "handles" for our congregation to grab hold of to get involved as we work to obey the Great Commission. We see our involvement with COI as being very complementary to our current missions programs including providing more ways that we can become directly involved with COI staff, students, and volunteers.

Please consider getting involved by joining our team traveling to South Asia, praying for Emily, Hana, Heather, and Donna, and all of the children who will participate in VBS. If you have a heart to join our team, please contact Tom O'Brien in person or by phone at 505-350-2121.

He was the first student that I noticed, and the first name that I learned.  I'll call him, "Robert".

I was there with Shine to tutor and help out with math.  The teacher was still getting to know the class, and laying the groundwork for how things would run this year.  But within the first 10 minutes that day, she had called Robert's name three times.  

First, Robert was out of his seat, wandering around and distracting others. Then, he was playfully wrestling with the boy in the seat next to him. Later, he was rolling his eyes, and sighing out loud, and making loud comments to the class. The teacher had just over thirty students for those early weeks, and had a number of situations to manage.

When she finally told the students to begin working on their own, I made my way to Robert. He was slow in getting out his materials. I asked him to take out his notebook, and he heaved a sigh as he flung it up in the air, to land twisted on his table.  

That first day, I came around to Robert several times. I was tempted to get bitter about his bad attitude and obvious disrespect of everyone. But my heart went out to him, and I left school that day praying for him.

Over the months, my appreciation for Robert has grown. He is actually above average at math. He just doesn't have much appreciation or respect for others. Lately, I've been sent out of class with 3 or 4 students each time, and Robert is usually not one of them.  Whenever we do get to work together, he still pushes limits; but he's begun to ask each week if he can go and work with me. It melts my spirit, and I'm beginning to see him dropping his guard just a bit. When a student chooses to give you respect, and opens up just a little bit, it is a gift that you know is undeserved. It's a gift that only God can give.

I've come to love Robert. I look forward to seeing him every week. Most weeks, it's just a few minutes at the beginning of class, and a few minutes at the end. But I always get a chance to say hi, and usually give him a high five. And I keep praying for him.

Recently, I returned to class early with my group. The students were working individually, and we had a few minutes left. Robert immediately called me over, and asked me to help him. I was so glad! We worked problems until the bell rang. And then we kept working. We worked through most of the passing period.

When we finally finished, he said, "thanks"; and we shared a fist bump.  "Nice work, Robert."

It may seem like a small thing, but I can't tell you how much it blesses me. I think there's a chance that the Lord is changing Robert just a little bit.

I definitely know that He's changing me.

“When I give, I give myself.” - Walt Whitman

When I came across this quote the other day when I was reading it struck me that Jesus gave us a picture of giving in Mathew 15 when He was breaking bread with his disciples for the people.  Jesus gave thanks, broke the loaves and fish, and gave them to His disciples who gave them to the people.

Similarly to Jesus’s breaking bread, the Shine ministry is an incredible opportunity to share the gifts of what Christ has already given us - love, hope & a purpose.

Since volunteering with Shine, my daughters and I have been able to see God’s greatest gift of love spread throughout A. Montoya and our community. When we first started volunteering on the playground a few years ago, we were met with speculation and apprehension.  Why were we there? Who were we and why were we volunteering? What was our hidden agenda?  Were we spies from the District offices? Slowly, the Lord calmed the apprehension and paved the way for us to give ourselves as vessels for the kingdom. He opened opportunities for great discussions with the playground “duty” teachers.

By consistently showing up and being present we’ve been able to get to know several of these teachers and begin to serve them in a way that is meaningful and tangible to them. It really is the little things; showing up, being consistent, being available, kind and interested goes a long way.

Are there areas of your life

that you are hesitant to

give to the Lord?

Over time, God opened more and more opportunities for us to be able to give in different ways such as helping out in various classrooms, in the office and by providing various supplies throughout the year.

God transformed the hearts and minds of the staff we came in contact with at AMS so that He could give the gifts that He has given all of us through the cross - love, hope & a purpose!  By giving ourselves as vessels of change and love, the Lord was able to bring hope and purpose to the staff as well as to the girls and I. We have built strong relationships with the staff and we know many of them by name.  The simple recognition of each other’s presence is welcomed.

Are there areas of your life that you are hesitant to give to the Lord? He gave so that we may give ourselves to His work on this side of heaven.  Come along & hold on tight!  It’s a journey that won’t disappoint.

Click here to learn more about Shine.