The Church of the Open Door!

My commitment to Pastor Renairo to keep lifting him up.....in prayer!

So, today was the last day on the worksite here with the Ensenada Project and it was bittersweet. I had to overcome Addi's and my 'hurling' last night as we both got sick, but felt good enough in the morning to make a go of it. After all, I just blogged about finishing strong so this was going to be a real test of stamina. I was glad I went because as the day went on, my strength continued to increase. It was a morning that was committed to prayer and the great exchange as I like to refer to it in Isaiah 40

29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Rylan joined me today and was a hard worker impressing the group leader, Chuck, who watched as he pulled nails out of a 2x4! We were able to complete the roof and get the rolled shingles on and the team inside completed the drywall and applying the compound. We were unable to hang the doors...thus the title of my blog, but another team comes tomorrow and will take over where we left off.

We ended the day at the site by completing the circle of love with prayer with Pastor Renairo, his wife and family joining us as we sang 'Mighty To Save' together. There were long embraces, tears of joy that flowed and a real sense of knowing that this had been another God ordained week. It was another amazing testimony to God's goodness.

As I reflect on this past month, I have to admit I am so grateful for the opportunity to partner with the national pastors here and support them in their ministry in a real practical way. Even though there was a lot of construction work to do in many ways it has been a sabbath for me and I feel very rejuvenated to step back into my calling and ministry at Southside.

A sidenote...

Every morning this week as we drove up the driveway to the orphanage, we saw many different people picking the green beans in the field. They were men and women and children who would be on site as early as 6am and they are paid on a per quota basis. Compared to them, few of us work as hard as we do for the little that they receive at the end of the day. In many ways it gives you an incredible sense of appreciation when we just walk into a grocery store and easily purchase whatever we need without much thought other than the price we are paying. Seeing what I saw made me realize I would be willing to pay more for vegetables like these if the money made it back to those in the fields, but unfortunately this is not the case. In reality these people are actually the lucky ones because they stand by the roadside with their buckets and the farmers can handpick who they want and so some who are willing to work will walk away in the morning empty handed.