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Missions Team: The Love of the Father

March 20, 2007 in Ministry, Missions by Dave | Permalink

Sunday, March 11th
Mike and the Sheep As I had stated previously, you’re reading these updates via time delay. Our Chi Alpha Missions Team is now settling back into their routines on campus, but there remains much to be told:

We arose the morning of March 11th a bit less worse for the wear from a night of sleeping without our pillows but looking forward to the work of the day. We ate breakfast at Mun Ha, which serves some great huevos rancheros (eggs ranch-style). Our bellies full, we left for the church.

The theme for the week was Luke 15: the stories of the lost sheep, lost coin, and the lost son. The classes were divided with the team going to minister with the children. I spent the morning with the adults working verse by verse through the chapter and showing how our growth in discipleship is shown by the measure in which we reflect the activity of Jesus. Jesus searched for the lost and rejoiced when they were found. We too as Christians, or Christ-like people reflect Christ’s love when we act this manner.

It just so happened that the night before we were looking for lost things, namely Helmer’s Resident Visa Card. So, although I lost out on prep time, the ready illustration about the relief and joy that we felt in finding the card, drove home the point I was trying to teach. What Mike had related the night before was coming to pass.

The real highlight of the day, however, happened during the evening service. Recapping the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15, Mike preached, with Helmer translating, on the love of the father–a love so extravagant that would cause a grown man to act foolish as he ran to embrace his filthy disgraced son who was “lost but now found.” The response from those in the church was immediate and heartfelt. In a country that has had to deal with an absence of loving fathers, Mike’s message had struck a chord.

Yes, God was empowering us on the way, and we truly felt his presence helping us relate and minister across language barriers, as team members and church members joined in prayer around the altars. That night, back at Mun Ha, we shared our joy as we had experienced the amazing work of God through us.

Missions Team: Anticipation

March 19, 2007 in Ministry, Missions by Dave | 1 comment

Missions Team Greeting As I have noted in my previous post, the Chi Alpha Missions Team has come, ministered, and gone. However, there remains a story to be told. In this “Missions Team” series, we’ll be revisiting some of the events of the past week.

Saturday, March 10th:
Yesterday had been a time of last minute preparations: buying medicine for those who might get sick, Gatorade for the heat that we are expecting, confirmation of our rooms at Mun Ha, the place where we are going to stay, and the preparation of the Sunday School lesson that I will give. Of course, nothing is quite where I want it to be, but I’m counting on time in Muna to be able to finish everything off.

I’m worried a bit about the team. Mike emailed and let me know that van trouble had canceled their skit practice. Their worship set has yet to be developed. Still, there is no time to think about a “plan b.” We pack and head out to drop off our two pet “budgie” birds and head to the airport.

Presidential Plane The airport is a mess with security checkpoints, armed guards and commotion on the runway. The President of the United States is arriving Monday, and already a huge airplane holding his vehicles has landed and is being unloaded. Needless to say, there are delays. The group’s plan was supposed to have landed by 1:30 but doesn’t touch the ground until well after two. The passengers come off in a trickle until, finally, around 3:00, the team is off. After hugs for “Uncle Mike” and greetings between the team and the group from Muna, Jeovany, Hasabias, and Israel, the missions trip begins with our trip to meet Pastor Julian and settle our things at Mun Ha.

Lunch was wonderful with warm exchanges between the group and the women preparing the meal. Pastor greets us and verifies the work for the week. We finish and head to our rooms in order to prepare for the morning’s service, but upon arrival, we find out that Helmer, our worship leader and most fluent Spanish-speaker, has left his resident visa at the airport. So long preparation time. Adios skit practice. It’s time for a return trip to the airport!

Before Helmer and I leave, however, the group gathers for a devotional and prayer. The trip has started at a pretty hectic pace, and many of our expectations have been unfulfilled, but Mike’s words of encouragement are well received: “God has a tendency to empower on the way,” he says. That’s not to say that we have an excuse for lack of preparation, but after we’ve done what we can, we need to leave Him space to move, and if we commit to following His plan for the week, we can expect to see Him touch lives and hearts, not only those of the people of Muna, but our lives as well. I feel lead to “release” the team to minister. This trip is not mine to make or break. We are operating as a community of believers and we can expect God to use each one of us.

As we head off down the road to Mérida to recover the lost visa, there is a sense of peace in each one of us. There is also an excitement about what God is going to do through this team. May your will be done Lord!

Back with a Story to Tell

March 18, 2007 in Ministry, Missions by Dave | 3 comments

Mun Ha About 9 days ago, I posted about the arrival of the Chi Alpha team from Washington D.C. Well in that time they’ve arrived, ministered, painted, toured, and should now be back in D.C. recovering just in time to start up classes again this Monday. However, for those of you who are following from home, the fun is just beginning. Like the time-delayed coverage of the Olympics of years past, we’re offering coverage of our first missions team along with all of the twists and turns along the way.

The series reads as follows: (Just click on the first title and click on the back arrow to come back to this listing)

Post #1: Anticipation
Post #2: The Love of the Father
Post #3: Looking for God in the Dark
Post #4: Doing What it Takes
Post #5: Flexibility? Check!
Post #6: Wrapping Things Up

Note: The picture above is a picture of where our family stayed while we were ministering in Muna. The site is called Mun-Ha, and boasts traditional cabanas (no A/C or indoor plumbing folks) complete with grass roofs, offering the perfect base for a week of servant-ministry.

Headed Out of Town

March 9, 2007 in Media, Ministry, Missions, Prayer by Dave | Permalink

Typical home in Muna If you’ve been looking at the Upcoming Events module, We’re nearly set to embark on our first missions team project. We’ll be headed south from Mérida to the small city of Muna. There, Kelly, the kids, and I, along with a group from America University’s Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship (led by my twin brother, Mike), will be building, painting, and evangelizing. We’ll be partnering with the Lilly of the Valley Church, pastored by Julian Puc Tum to raise a column to support the second floor of their building, painting in the newly constructed pastoral home, and holding evangelistic services for kids and youth.

We ask that you would join with us in prayer as we work with this group. We would ask for your prayers concerning our safety during the construction, our health, especially for those adjusting to the new environment and foods, and our outreach. Also, we would ask that you would pray for the team members. Many future missionaries are called during missions trips like this one. Pray that God would not only touch hearts in Muna, but also those of our group, that they might be open to His call to “Go!”

Needless to say, this one week trip will see me away from the computer for a while. So, although you are always free to drop a comment, it may be held in moderation before being published. While you are waiting for the comment to go, why don’t you head over to our photo album to view shots of Muna and the surrounding area.

A Few Steps Back, a Few Steps Forward

March 3, 2007 in Ministry, Progress, Thanks by Dave | 3 comments

Joel Toothpaste With my running commentary on the state of my health here and here, one can get the impression that we have been shut down for a while on the ministry front. However, although I’d lost a few days in my recovery, we’ve also been active, planning for an upcoming missions team to work in Muna, starting a new semester here at the Bible Institute, and serving in our local church.

One especially noteworthy event was our Carnaval service. Every Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, the date that marks the beginning of the Catholic season of Lent (Cuaresma in Spanish), the city of Mérida hosts Carnaval. This event, which is very similar to Mardi Gras in New Orleans is one big day of “sinning” before the purification of the Lenten Season begins. Of course, as Christians, we don’t believe in this binging and purging habit when it comes to living a Christian life, so our church offered an alternative Carnaval service.

During the service, there was an atmosphere of celebration for what God had done in the lives of the believers, participation in games and singing, and a wrap-up teaching before we sat down to experience the culmination of the event, sharing some great yucatecan food!

I was in charge of the afternoon’s message. It was an opportunity to share with the people my message on the tongue. (You can read the message in Spanish here.) I was able to share that it is not only sufficient to avoid the apparent sins of the world (e.g Carnaval), but that it is necessary to subject our entire self, all the way to the unruly tongue, to the power of the Holy Spirit.

During the course of the message, I was able to utilize Kelly’s pink dish washing glove as an example of being filled with the Spirit, as well as invite others to try and refill toothpaste tubes as an example of the difficulty that we have in taking back the words that we say. The picture above is of one of the church members, Joel, as he attempts this impossible task. The wonderful payoff, though, was seeing several of the church members come forward to pray for a new experience with the Holy Spirit.

So, yes, we’ve taken a few steps backward due to illness, but we’ve also seen God taking a few steps forward utilizing His power through us. Thank you for your continued prayers on our behalf!

Ahhh… Coffee.

February 7, 2007 in Coffee, Ministry by Dave | 9 comments

Coffee Smile Kelly and I had a chance to escape the hustle and bustle of the everyday as we were looking for a birthday present for a local pastor’s wife. With the kids being watched by fellow missionaries and the present acquired, a stop at the local Segafredo Café gave us time to talk, plan, and enjoy one another for a while. Kelly ordered an Oreo Frappé, and I ordered my usual Espresso Macchiato. My recent sickness had kept me from heading out, and our stash of coffee at home was depleted, so expectations were high as we awaited our order. I’m happy to say that not only did the coffee meet our expectations, but that mine arrived with a smile.

The smile got me thinking. We have found coffee to be more than just a morning pick me up. Kelly and I have seen our relationship grow stronger and other relationships formed within the conversations we’ve shared around coffee. We’ve now had several Yucatecos over our house to enjoy a cappuccino or a vacuum brew, and, much more than enjoy the coffee itself, they’ve opened up their lives to us, sharing thoughts and feelings that we’d never hear in other settings.

I’ve also found open doors to relationship where I purchase my coffee. There is a small café near the foot of Paseo de Montejo called Café Cafico. There the owner, Federico, roasts and sells coffee from all of the growing regions here in Mexico. He has been my source for the raw coffee that I use to roast at home and good conversation as well. We’ve talked about everything from Mexico City, to the political system, to the Catholic Church in my twice monthly “meetings” with him. Yet we’ve also talked about man’s problem of sin and the need for relationship with Christ.

Who’d thought that when my brother bought me my first Mr Coffee 4 cupper at CBC that I would be lead on a journey to discover, not only how to create a great cup of coffee, but also the revealing and redemptive relationships that form around this beautiful beverage. Espresso anyone?

Oh the Humanity!

January 27, 2007 in Devotional, Ministry by Dave | 7 comments

Flicker Photo by Kogakure It’s very rare that a movie gives me pause for thought, but those that do usually keep me thinking for some time. That is what happened last night as we settled in to watch a library-borrowed copy of The Bicentennial Man. The film, starring Robin Williams, starts off as a whimsical story of the adjustments of one family to their android helper “Andrew.” However, it takes a dramatic turn into realm of the metaphysical when Andrew begins his quest become human. The interesting point of the movie is that the immortal, self-maintaining Andrew does what most would seem to think ridiculous. He decides to make himself mortal in order to truly share in the human existence and embrace those that he has not only served, but come to love.

Of course, the Christian parallels are obvious. Christ himself shed his omnipotence in order to die in the the place of those that he loved, but I was moved to think from the other perspective. My humanness of late has been real drag. Since we’ve made it back from Mexico City, I have been struggling with a sinus infection, my personal nemesis. I have tried to take care of my work responsibilities, my correspondence, and keep up with my kids, only to see my energies wear out long before my list of to-dos. The aching head and stuffy nose seem like anchors against which I have to struggle an inch at a time. There have been many times when I wished that I could trade in my faulty pieces for robotic upgrades.

Still though, it is funny how God chooses to use our imperfection, our humanness, to work our his purposes through us. I was at the Salvador Alvarado stadium, watching our kids in the track program, when I struck up a conversation with an externally happy but definitely hurting parent. Our conversation started with the everyday, but moved quickly to his disintegrating marriage. He told me that he was hanging on only for the sake of his kids. Reflecting back to the pain that I felt in the midst of the divorce of my parents and the way that God has helped me to recover and rebuild my life helped me to offer him help in finding a way forward through his pain. God used my dysfunctional past, my human experience, in order to minister in this man’s present situation.

How often are we touched by the testimony of determination through pain, triumph over adversity, or recovery against all odds? I am personally encouraged as I watch the progress of Joel and Amy Maxwell, friends who through the grace of God has been overcoming what many would say impossible odds. Parents of two, they are renewing their lives after their humanness led them through business failure and personal debt to Officer’s Basic Training, military deployment and renewed purpose.

The power is not in our perfection, nor in the facade that we might choose to display. It is in the intersection of our imperfection, our weak human condition, our story, and God’s amazing grace that power is displayed to those around us. Like Paul says in 2 Cor. 4:7: we have this “treasure in jars of clay.” We show the reality of God’s power through his redemption of our brokenness, and, as we continue to allow him to work in our lives, he takes our brokenness and makes into something beautiful.

I don’t know how this sinus infection is fitting into God’s plan just yet, but I am certainly glad for the chance to reflect with thankfulness on God’s intervention in my humanness. I guess I’ll delay that order for those artificial lymph nodes.

Back from the City

January 23, 2007 in Mexico, Ministry, Prayer by Dave | Permalink

Angel of Indep.--photo by dave I just wanted to send out a quick update to thank those who had prayed. As you might have read in our last post, the whole Godzwa family traveled to Mexico City in order to present ourselves to the Immigration Officials and receive our work visas. Well, from the photo to the left, you can see that we made it to Mexico City, but that is just the start of the great news that we have to share with you!

We now have our official FM-3 business visas. This means that we will not have to leave the country to renew our tourist visas. It also means that we now have significantly more freedom to live and work here in Mérida.

We are glad to report safe travel and absolutely no incidents with in the city with the police or otherwise.

We were treated like royalty by our hosts the Grecos, and those who stopped by to spend the day with us like the Amiots, Breits and Thomases. Thanks for your hospitality!

We can also say that, all things considered, our children behaved wonderfully, and our flights were actually a rather enjoyable experience. It seemed to me that even the airline corn chips tasted better.

Thank you for your prayers!

Tags: Visa

Back to the City

January 16, 2007 in Mexico, Ministry, Prayer by Dave | Permalink

Angel of Independence “The City” in the U.S. is of course, New York City. It is one of the most important centers of commerce and culture in the country, and, who can forget, it is also home to the best team in baseball, the New York Yankees. However, when you speak of “The City” in Mexico, you are speaking of Mexico City, the nation’s capital and home to about 32 million people.

This Wednesday we will have the opportunity to travel back to “The City.” We were most recently there this past August, when we received our invitation to work in Mérida. This time we will be traveling in order to receive our official religious visas, which will give us more freedom to work in Mérida and throughout the country. We’re happy to finally be through with this process as it has meant mailing of lots of paperwork and dealing with lots of waiting. Still, God willing and the thumb prints don’t smudge, we’ll have those important documents in hand this Thursday.

Also, we’re looking forward to getting together with other missionaries, including friends from language school, Peter and Delia Breit and Josh and April Amiot. Their children and ours we’re good friends in Costa Rica, and we’re glad to have another chance to allow them make memories as well as catch up with them on their lives and ministries.

So this week please be in prayer as we head out to “The City.” Pray for safe travel, for the complication-free reception of our visas, for patient easygoing kids, and for protection in and around the metropolitan area.

Tags: Visa

Watch your language!

January 12, 2007 in Language, Ministry, Missions by Dave | 5 comments

Image from: https://s108.photobucket.com/albums/n7/anne86au/?action=view&current=speaknoevil.jpg We’ve certainly heard that line before. Whether we’ve used it or had someone use it on us, we know that something inappropriate had been said, something that didn’t fit in the conversation or context. Now, many of us would relate that unfortunate language to various four letter words that we may have heard throughout our lives, or perhaps to the childish giggles that accompany the use of “potty words” outside of their appropriate place, but today I’d like broaden the application of this phrase.

Alejandro, one of students in my evangelism class was testifying of a recent encounter. It wasn’t a report of “salvation” or “re-dedication,” but a reflection on his overly technical spiritual vocabulary. He was giving his friend a Bible that he had purchased when she asked him where to begin reading. He mentioned that the book of Matthew was a good place to start. Disappointed, she explained that she wanted to read about Jesus and not about Matthew! He had to take a minute to collect himself and explain that the gospels, although titled with the name of the writer were actually records of the life and work of Jesus. In his testimony, he shared with us that he was going to take the time to work through his thoughts, making sure that his communication with those who were not followers of Jesus would not only be correct, but also clear and understandable. He was committing to watch his language.

This testimony is a good reminder to all of us. We have a tendency to slip into routines in our speech. One story, related to me by fellow missionary Paul Kazim, is about a group of Bible School students traveling together. When stopping for gas, one of the students sticks his head out of the car to say, “The gas prices have really gone up, Amen?” Now while that line is certainly not out of place in the church, it would have a group of people scratching their heads at the local 7-11. Are we watching our language, or are we thoughtlessly separating ourselves from those we should be reaching with the use of a “sacred dialect.”

We missionaries must especially guard against this kind of behavior as much of our Spanish language habits are being built within the working environment of the church. Phrases like “Dios le bendiga (God bless you)” or “Bendito sea su nombre (Blessed be His Name)” are lines that can bring instant reaction in a worship service, but lose much of their significance when spoken in a secular context.

My brother’s post on the Bible knowledge of an AU student is proof that in the US as well, the need to clearly explain our God speech is more necessary than ever before. More and more, we are facing the same cosmopolitan, multicultural, and very often secular society that Paul faced in his missionary journey to Greece. In light of this, it would be a good practice to adopt Paul’s methods of explanation and the use of cultural references as he spoke to the crowd in Athens (Acts 17:16-31), meeting them in their context in order to share with them about their need to be in right relationship with God.

Like Alejandro, I realize that I need to remember to watch my language. I need commit to clearly relate to others (in Spanish or in English) what God has done in my life, and welcome them into the discussion by decoding my technical “God-speak.” Won’t you join me in the process?

How about you? Do you have a story to tell? Post a comment and share with us when you had to watch your “language.”