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Summertime means vacation right? Not if you’re part of what happens during the summers here in the Yucatan! Take a look at our online newsletter to see what went on! Click here or on the picture to see all that is going on!
Our online newsletter is viewable as a PDF document. If you do not have the Adobe Acrobat Reader software installed, you may download it here.
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Tags: Evangelism, Instituto Biblico Bethel, Maya, Newsletter, Summertime
If you’re a regular reader of disciplemexico.org you’ll have see my comments on the team play of missionaries. We’re blessed to be a part of an international group of ministers committed to seeing God’s purposes advance throughout the world. My recent trip to Florida to meet with ACLAME members was a reminder of how vital this network realizing this goal.
Still, regardless of how effective our missionary network is, if our team doesn’t extend to include national believers in the work, our goal of incarnational ministry, of making the work truly part of the fabric of the culture to which we are called, will fall short. That’s why I’m glad to be a part of the team of faculty members assembled to teach at the Bible Institute this fall.
Yesterday, we assembled at the church, “Cordero de Dios” to celebrate the opening of another year of ministerial formation in the Yucatan at Instituto Bíblico Bethel. In all, 28 different professors will collaborate across 3 separate programs. As you can see, it’s an undertaking that requires more that an individualistic effort.
So I’m blessed to link arms with fellow national believers to take part in providing an education that will raise up disciples will will strive to do all that Jesus commanded us to do.
What’s your take?
Is team ministry simply a missionary enterprise, or is it essential in your context as well?
Have you seen a good model of team ministry in action? Share about it.
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Tags: Discipleship, Instituto Biblico Bethel, Mérida, team ministry
A year ago last spring, I was making calls to visit pastors in the KC area. It was my fifth day on the Light-for-the-Lost Tour, and I wanted to see if I would be able to get some face time with missions-minded individuals while I was in town. My goal was to be able to build our support so that we would be able to leave for the field, but God had seen fit on that day to begin a relationship that would have lasting repercussions.
In my calls, I spoke with Brandon Watkiss, Director of Operations for Partnership International, an organization designed to facilitate short-term missions trips. He agreed to meet with me that day to see the ways in which we might partner together. During the hour that we had that day, he spoke to me about monthly support, but he also shared his desire to link missionaries with missions teams in a way that was mutually beneficial to both the ministry of the missionary and to the lives of the team members. We parted encouraged, having both seen the potential of this new relationship.
Fast forward to late July 2011. Finally, the stage had been set to receive a team from Blue Springs Assembly, a team that had been sent through Partnership International. I had spoken to Brandon previously about the trip, about our need to see the additional building at the Bible Institute finished, and he responded sending a team with a “mind to work.”
The got on the ground on July 24th, and were undaunted by the rough accommodations at the Bible School. Armed with their own bedding, they set themselves up in what would be their home for the next week. They had little experience, but with instruction, they moved quickly on the first day, preparing the roof to receive the concrete that would be poured the next day and getting started on the kitchen walls on the lower floor.
The second day was a marathon of digging, pouring and carrying, as sand, gravel, water, and cement was mixed by the bucket load, time after time in order to pour what was to be the floor of the second level and the ceiling of the lower level. With their persistence and the help of local pastors, the work was done with time to spare before lunch.
The quick work on the first two days enabled us to prepare for the children’s services scheduled in the towns of Oxcum and Kilinché respectively. We spent time in prayer and canvassed the neighborhoods on Wednesday and Thursday in each of the communities, getting to know the both the believers in each congregation and get a concept of the specific challenges that each pastor faced in their ministry.
On Friday, the work stopped on the Bible school, but the ministry moved into full gear as services began. With a combination of songs, dramatized Bible stories, games, and lots of activities, the group effectively communicated their desire to be with each community and direct them toward Jesus, the one who had brought them to share His love in tangible ways with both the children and adults that gathered in each event.
Some of the highlights of the week came when, in Oxcum, some 80 children participated in Saturday’s event, where we had the chance to pray for many who indicated their desire to be a part of God’s family. Another came on Sunday night where, in Kilinché, two women came forward and committed their lives to Jesus for the very first time!
As we wrapped things up, we got chance to hear from the team members about their experience in the Yucatan. Pastor Jeremy Naranjo shared that the trip had been the realization of a dream that he had had to personally lead a mission’s team. He had faced several obstacles in the past, but he was glad to see how, through Partnership International and the ministry opportunities in the Yucatan, he was able to see this vision come to fruition. Others spoke of the life-changing nature of the trip, from the cohesion of the group itself to eye-opening experience that they had in their face-to-face encounter with the culture of the Yucatan. Each pastor as well expressed their gratitude for the work that had been done. Buildings had been advanced, communities had been opened, and lives had been restored because of their labor.
What Brandon Watkiss and I had seen as potential in the spring of 2010, the linking of missions teams and missionaries to for mutual benefit, has taken its first step toward becoming a reality. It is our prayer that, as we continue to observe the need and the way that God is working in the Yucatan, we’ll be able to utilize teams targeted specifically to advance the kingdom, both in the lives of the individual team members and in the ministries of the pastors and leaders with whom they work.
(Didn’t get enough photos with the post? Check out some more here!)
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Tags: Dreams, Evangelism, Instituto Biblico Bethel, Partnership International, Salvation
This Saturday, the 28 students from my Practical Evangelism class, together with a host of doctors, orthodontists, and stylists are planning a targeted evangelistic outreach to the community of Oxcum, Yucatán. In this town known for problems with drug addiction and alcoholism, the class elected to assist Ruben Sanguino, the leader of the Assemblies of God mission, as he looks to bring tangible proof of God’s love to his community.
Starting at 9:00 AM we will be setting up a social outreach designed to bring medical and dental attention as well as address hygiene concerns. Following the outreach the people will be given the opportunity to respond to God’s love through evangelistic services that will be held on the site in the evening.
Pray with us won’t you?
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Tags: Evangelism, Instituto Biblico Bethel, Outreach, Oxcum
In 2008, then Bible School Director Silverio Blanco and I met to talk about ways in which we could work together to update the facilities of Instituto Bíblico, Bethel. Since that time, we’ve invited others to join with us to make the vision that we put down on paper a reality. Finally, that vision is coming to fruition.
This Spring, construction began on a new building for Bethel. This will hold a cafeteria, a library, and a multipurpose room that can be used as an additional, much needed, classroom. This month, Sparrow Fellowship from Waterford, PA, was our first team to lend a hand in construction. They worked for a week, not only laying a foundation and building walls, but more importantly investing in the mission of raising up new leaders for the work here in the Yucatan.
Take a look at the pictures below for some of the week’s action:
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2009 Bethel Graduation
Since we’ve been in Mexico, we’ve witnessed the passing of a generation. No, we haven’t been here in Mérida for 20+ years, although looking at the growth of our kids during this term has made me wonder at times. I’m talking about the recent Bible Institute graduation service celebrated this past Monday, where Generation 06-09, walked the platform to receive their diplomas from the District Superintendent. This marks a milestone as it means that the students that I had the chance to teach from the first year of their Bible school experience are now being launched into ministry. The freshmen from my Personal Cvangelism course of December 2006-February 2007, my first solo class taught in Spanish, are now moving into their vocations.
Watching them receive their charge as graduates I had mixed feelings. There is a sense of joy in knowing that I had a part in their formation as ministers, but there is also a sense of regret. So often I had wished that I could have had certain sessions over again, where my lessons could have been more polished. On more than one occasion I’ve wish that I could have another chance at conversations that I’ve had knowing now that my Spanish could have been more understandable. In spite of my wishing, though, what was taught was taught, and the encouragement, advice, and prayers have been spoken. And that’s OK, because I believe that, though at times stammering or searching for the words, we communicated. As we learned we grew, each one of us offering to the other what we could not acquire on our own.
It wasn’t by chance that God brought me together with this generation at this moment in our lives. I so as I said goodbye to each one I prayed that as we part our ways, the graduates to their respective positions, and my family and I to the US to intinerate, that God will help us to remember the ways in which our being together expressed the manifold wisdom of God (Eph 3:10) that saw fit to join us together during their generation in the Bible school.
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