In Spirit and Truth

"He said to them, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.' And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them." —Mark 10:14-16 Some of Jesus’ words require an extra step to understand. When he speaks of the kingdom of God like a farmer, or shepherd, we have to first understand those agricultural pictures before we grasp what he was saying. The above statement, however, does not. Having just returned from Guatemala, one thing I learned from that trip is this: Children are children, no matter where you find them. Over time our culture shapes us into different people, but children have not yet been fully shaped by the culture. In children we see that we are all the same! I had the great privilege of spending a great deal of time around the children of Guatemala

"Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you." —1 Thessalonians 3:1 Pray for the Guatemala Mission team. Pray for the people they will encounter in the clinics, and in the streets. Pray that God would direct their steps. Realize that you are also in mission. Realize that the God who can direct their steps in Guatemala will also direct yours. Pray for the people you will encounter, and for the eyes to see those God has for you to bless.

"Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you." —1 Thessalonians 3:1 Each year, we at Faith participate in commissioning several mission teams. We declare that those who go out from us in mission are “Ambassadors” not only of God’s Kingdom, but also of the Faith family. When I tell friends and colleagues at other churches about our missions involvement, they are consistently astonished, both at the number of trips we take, and the number of participants on those trips. After participating in so many commissionings, I thought I had a pretty good idea of what to expect this past Sunday as you commissioned the Guatemala trip. I have been looking forward to this trip for many months; but as you commissioned us, the trip became real. I felt a deep joy swell over me, both that I had the opportunity to go, and that the church, my church, was praying for me and sending me out. I don’t know that I will