reviving His kingdom. : Not of this World

In chapter 17 of John, Jesus says His longest prayer ever recorded. He prays for Himself, for His disciples, and for the rest of the world who has yet to encounter His glory and His word. In speaking of those who have chosen to follow Him, He says:

They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. (v. 16)

Not of the world; not of this world. As Christians, as followers of Jesus, we should look to others like we are not even part of the world that we live in. We should be so far above it, so far removed from its antics that we are aliens in comparison. We should be alienating ourselves- knowingly and happily.

With Christ, with His word, things that bother this world or things that this world cares about should not permeate my life. I am not of the world in the very same way that Jesus was not of this world. Any judgement, discrimination, wrongdoing, etc. should be solid bases for me to pray rather than condemn and forgive rather than hold grudges.

Earlier in John chapter 17 (backtracking, I know), Jesus prays:

I have manifested Your name to the men whom you have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have known all things which you have given Me are from You. (v. 6-7)

The men who You have given, who God has given. All of those who are placed in my path of discipleship are done so by God. It is not a coincidence nor any sort of stroke of luck. We do not chose who we disciple or serve, rather He chooses for us and organizes everything so that discipleship is even made possible. God will not send us disciples that we will not be able to reach.

Of course, not every person that we encounter or with whom we build a relationship is going to be a disciple in the way that Jesus had disciples. Does God want us to share His love and His word? Of course! But discipleship in this sense refers to the constant, dedicated, devoted teaching of the gospel. Jesus had only 12 disciples while He was on Earth; why would I ever dream that I could have more than that?

But with those disciples that God has sent us, has given us, He also provides us with the necessary tools to be successful in His name; He will not abandon us.

These truths have been especially powerful in the past couple of weeks of ministry here in Honduras. Primarily because I am continuing to work with Alex and to show him God's word and His truth, and also because I have re-opened the door to street ministry in La Kennedy.

About 2 weeks ago I started to read the Bible with Alex each night before he goes to bed. It is beneficial in so many ways (both of us practicing our reading in Spanish, he is learning the gospel, etc.), but my favorite part is talking to him afterwards about what we have read. Almost each night that we read, something new pertains to whatever has happened that day or something that has been consistent in his behavior or daily activities. Most recently we had a conversation about Jesus- how Jesus is God, but He is also God's son, and He came to save us from our sins. For an 11 year old, the depth of this conversation was astounding to me. I know that God is giving me the words to speak to this child, because there is no way that I could do this on my own. Although I am taking care of him as if he were my child for a little while, he has very clearly been placed in my life so that I can disciple him and teach him God's word.

Likewise, I am struggling a bit with 'making disciples' of the people that I am serving in La Kennedy. Since last summer, the community of 30-35 has changed quite a bit. There are much more young people living in the dump, one person has died, and a number of new women have joined the community. I thought ministry was a bit lopsided last summer, but now it is vastly more so. Through the words of John, it is so clear that God will give me disciples in His time, and they will be just that, given by Him. None of this will prevent me from building on the relationships from last summer and starting new relationships, but I must be aware of His guidance in order to disciple them in the correct way. For now, I must love them and serve them in every way that I can. When everyone else walks past their community and shuns them, I must act in a way that is not of this world and love them anyway. I have to alienate myself in order to love them, serve them, and glorify Him.

Here is a little bit more of what has happened in the past few weeks:

We celebrated Alex's 11th birthday on the 10th of the month with homemade tres leches cake, decorations, gifts, and a trip to the movies; it was his first birthday party ever! Just two days later he climbed onto a wild horse that had wandered onto the property. The horse was spooked by our big dogs and took off running into the street, where Alex fell off.

One step forward, two steps backwards.

I am looking to have Alex enrolled by the end of July in a private bilingual school which will start in August. In order to be admitted, we are practicing English each day and studying hard in mathematics, science, and grammar. I am also praying that funds will come in so that this will be covered. It will be $200 for initial registration and $75/month afterwards.

Last week Molly and I painted the kids rooms so that they are appropriately painted (blue for the boys and purple for the girls). With the fresh coats of paint and a couple of curtains, the rooms finally look like a home!

I am so glad to say that I have restarted street ministry in La Kennedy! I have committed to going down each Saturday to just spend time and hang out and each Wednesday to read to the kids, teach some English, and hopefully do a simple Bible study with the women.

Two weeks ago we had a visit from Barbara, the mother of one of the girls from my team last summer. She has been such a blessing to us for so many reasons! Fellowship, blessing the kids' rooms with curtains & nightlights, bringing toys & games, life advice, and many laughs. We are so thankful for her!

We also have a couple visiting us from Portland who is traveling around the world for a year spreading the Word. They have also been a great blessing to the ministry through their eagerness to build relationships with the boys and with us. Josh is an engineer, so I've loved having someone here with whom I can make cheesy science jokes!

I am so excited to continue all of these ministries here in Honduras and to serve our great Lord. If you would like to partner with me on this crazy journey, please consider supporting through prayer or finances. Donation instructions can be found in the right hand margin of the webpage, and prayers are welcome for all ministries as well as daily life.

Thanks for reading!