Mexico Missions Team 2013

Celebrating 10 years of serving in the Yucatan! 

Now is your Opportunity! It is an exciting year for our Mission work in the Yucatan as we celebrate 10 years of serving in the village! This year's team will also be witness to a historic event as we take part in building the very first Christian church in the village!

Our theme this year is "Built on the Rock of Jesus" Restoring Hope and Renewing Lives! Applications are now available at Sunshine's Global Mission Cabinet for the 2013 Mission team and must be turned in no later than September 26 

My To Do List... or God's?

4:00 am... Me Awake staring at my To Do list

The good news is that it is shrinking! The pad of paper is full of black scratches of tasks completed. Yet, I leave tomorrow with the Early Team for Mexico and there are still a few things that aren't scratched off including my personal suitcase! As I contemplate the list, I wonder if each and every thing that made the list made it because I wanted it there or because God Commissioned it to the list? As I was reading my Bible this morning I read this:

Isaiah 42: 5-7

This is what God the Lord says---

He who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it:

I the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a LIGHT for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness

I am the Lord; that is my NAME!

Amazing! God isn't interested in a To Do List, He is interested in me and every member of this Mexico Outreach Team 2012 because God is going to open the eyes of the blind, free the captives from Prison, and release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness!

He will take hold of our hands and will make us to be a covenant for the people and a LIGHT for the Gentiles!

My To Do list or God's?

Tonight is Packing Night!

It's 4.00 am and by this I know that the mission trip is near. While on the trip, God typically wakes me up at about this hour so that we can talk about the day and what He has in store. In the quiet of the day, I listen and God knows this. He want to be sure that I don't miss his voice and his plans for the day! so today he woke me with insight on today, Packing Night.

Packing night... What does it really mean

Tonight most of our team will get together to pack all of the Team supplies. Each of us carries one personal bag and one bag filled with items to be used during the mission trip. As I woke this morning, I began to understand that packing is about so much more than cramming as many supplies as possible into a suitcase while still keeping it under 50 pounds! Packing night is about lives that will be touched and transformed for Eternity!

Packing night is:

Listening... to the voice of God. Each team member who is packing tonight faithfully answered God's call to go into the world to carry His Light into the darkness.

Giving... to people in God's world. Each item that was donated or purchased for this trip has a story behind it. School Supplies... Soaps and Shampoos... Jesus Calling Devotion Books... Each item was given or purchased by a person or a family who wants to be a part of God's story!

Creating... for God's glory. Beautiful embroidered tapestries, t-shirts, sticks, spa kits. Each created using the gifts that God granted and each item will be used to reach hundreds for God's glory!

Living... for Eternity. As I think of packing, I think of each pencil, each crayon, each heart box, each Bible Story, Each gospel of John, each t-shirt not simply as an object placed in a bag but as a life. Think of the magnitude of that! Each item will be given by a man, a woman or a teenager that is deeply in love with Jesus and has a passion for His people! Each and every item will be touched and loved by a woman, a man, a child, a pastor, all loved by God! Each item has the potential of being the vessel through which God's story begins in the life of that woman, man, or child.

Yes, I now understand that packing night is less about packing and more about the Light of Eternity!

Thank you God and 4:00 a.m.

Wendy

Wow! I just can't believe that there are only 2 1/2 weeks until our team leaves for the Yucatan and the village of San Francisco. We have a smaller team this year with 14 people flying to serve on the mission trip. There are many other local people that will help us when we arrive and we can't wait to see them! It feels like we are in the midst of family when we are there! A big family reunion. We know that it is only through God that we have been able to form these friendships with our local partners and the people of the village. He has given us a common bond through Him! We are finishing up with gathering supplies, writing curriculum, learning the lifehouse skit and so much more but soon it will be time to Shine Bright the light of Jesus! We just pray that we would be able to lay down our own agenda and listen carefully for the voice of God and His will for this trip! Please be in prayer for our team, Manuel and Nancy and their children in the village, the local church members and our local partners as we prepare to serve in Mexico. Our prayer is that people will know that Jesus is the only light that will help them learn the truth and the way!

When Happiness Fades, JOY Remains!

Why is it that happiness is so fleeting?
Through the course of one day my feelings of happiness or the lack there of can literally change 10 times! Reflecting on that thought, I realized that being happy is an emotion that is completely based upon whether my life is going well(or not) at any given moment.

Happiness is an emotion that is based upon something positive happening in my life.

In other words...

When everything is going well in my life... I am happy
When my life isn't going so well... I am unhappy

The great news is that when the happiness fades away, JOY remains! Joy is something that is bigger than you and bigger than me and it isn't based on whether I have matching socks or a clean kitchen! With Christ in my life, I have an unspeakable JOY through the Holy Spirit. JOY is something that will last forever!

The JOY of the Lord is my strength! Nehemiah 8:10c

Wendy's Summer Immersion Trip 2010

I am excited to share that from July 22 through August 2, I (Wendy) will be traveling to the village of San Francisco, Mexico to completely immerse myself in the daily life and kingdom advancement with the Mayan people who are so near and dear to my heart! As you know, Sunshine Church sponsors Manuel and Nancy, a local Mayan couple, who are working diligently to share the Love of Christ in the village of San Francisco! They have invited myself and Mercedes (who will help me translate) to be guests in their home within the village. My prayer is that in doing so I will gain a better understanding of their culture, religious barriers, struggles, and daily life. I believe that this will also enable me to better equip short term mission teams as we continue to build a village of people who love and serve Jesus Christ. God is truly orchestrating His plan and I stand in amazement as I watch it unfold!

If you would like more specific information on my itinerary and/or prayer requests, please see the link above to our Mexico facebook page!

Being a light in the Yucatan!

Wendy

Mission Team Update

Praise God! Our team is experiencing blessings that only God can provide. God continues each day to reveal his plans for the villages of San Francisco and Xocempich. Everyone from the team is doing great and we are working so well together. God is using each of us to serve him in ways that are so unique for each one of us!

Highlights:

Today, our cooking team made 630 sandwiches in 1 hours and 10 minutes! We have our dinner in San Francisco tonight for the families and so we could use prayers that all will go well when we pass out the meals and that God would provide enough food for everyone who comes.

Larry and the Vet team have fixed 11 dogs and cats and have provided countless other services for families with animals. He even has a family in Xocempich who asked him to move to the village!

We went home visiting today in the villages of San Francisco and Xcopteil. God´s presence was definetely present in each home we served. Please pray against the fear that so many families have as to what others will think about them if they become Christian

The Bible club is going wonderfully and each person is making such a wonderful impact on the lives of the children!

The work team is very busy with many projects including making tables and benches for Nancy and Manuels family in which they hold worship services in. There are plans being made to contract a bulldozer to level off the land which so many men have worked to level but there is much work to be done.

God is amazing and we continue to see His blessings each day!

The Outreach Team