It's All Good!

Wrapping up at the end of another extremely hot day with Joe in the middle and Billy on the framing crew!


being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 1:6

Today I had a really good opportunity to get to know two of the youthleaders from Princeton Alliance.

Billy is the first guy I connected with this morning over breakfast. He is presently studying at Eastern College. He also leads a small youth group and shared with me how he has been inspired by a 'grandpa' in youth ministry who, in his 70s, gets down and wrestles with youth. Some have seen an 'apostolic' gifting in that he is the type of person who is very good at breaking ground with new ministries, but not necessarily called to long term ministry in one place. So, he wrestles with whether he should pursue youth ministry or church planting. We spoke his role as a shepherd with a small group in his current ministry and how that role will change to one who equips and trains apprentices to lead so that the group can multiply. They just recently saw 6 youth baptized. We also spoke about mentoring and the importance of having someone to connect with on that level.

The second person I got to know was Joe. He is ripped and a serious body builder like my brother Adrian who could lift a whole wall section by himself. He has such a great heart and the joy exudes from him. He manages an office for a lawyer in Manhattan. Joe shared how his mother in law who used to be a pastor in Brooklyn had a vision and told him that one day he would be building churches. He was told that nine years ago and at the time he shared how he was really just into himself and told her...whatever! However last year he was here with their team and they built the first floor of the church. He was baptized in the ocean last year and God really met him here in Ensenada. This year he is back with his daughter who he prays will also have a life changing week. There is a baptism service on Thursday for members of their team so we will see. By the way, Joe is on the team with me building the second floor of Renairo's church.

Today we got a lot accomplished as all the trusses are ready to be set in place. They were built last week by the team from South Carolina. We just have to finish the walls at the back of the church and we are ready to go on the roof.

Tonight I had the opportunity to share about my trip to Israel with the interns and staff here and we continued to focus on our strengths and growth areas from the previous teams.

First Aid Tips from Mexico...

Here is a first aid lesson that one of the interns discovered. She was cutting chili peppers that were full of seeds and in the process the heat from the peppers were surging through her fingers and up her arms. Everyone was giving her advice from running her fingers through her hair to letting them dry in the sun and putting them in milk. Finally she remembered that peeing on them apparently works and 10min later the pain was gone....well maybe too much information, but there you go!