This post is going to be a little bit short on pictures, and a little bit long on words, so hopefully you won't mind. We left early Friday morning. It seemed so hard to believe that our week in El Paso/Juarez was already over. It was hard to leave. God had done such a big work that week, that I think we were all wishing it would last just a little longer.
But, soon we were flying back to MSP, with full hearts and fun memories. In the previous Mexico post, I mentioned that I would share some of the biggest things I learned down there. So now I'll do just that...
For any of you who have been down at BPS, you know that a huge mantra of Mr. Jarvis' is faith.
He really pounded that home the entire week. "God will get the victory", he said, "and Satan will be defeated. Our mission is to spread God's Word which He wrote to the lost whom He loves." He also challenged us to never stop believing that God will go to battle for us. He reminded us that "Today's needs were yesterday's wants." Often we give up hope that God will answer our prayers and we turn to plan 'B' before we actually need our answer. Many times, God wants us to take that first step into the Jordan River before He shows us the way out. Obedience is ours; results are God's. God will always honor faith in Him. One of the days before we went into Mexico, Mr. Jarvis gave a devotional on the difference between "boat sitters" and "water walkers". He talked about how Peter was the only one of the disciples who got out of the boat. The rest of the disciples knew that they could trust Jesus, they believed that He would help them walk on water, but they still thought that the boat was safer. The same is true in our lives. If we merely believe or know that God will take care of us and supply our needs, but never actually put it to the test, we are like the disciples who sat in the boat. Our boundaries are marked, and we will never know the blessings God has for us outside of the boat. But, if like Peter, we put our trust and belief into action, the boundaries of what God can do in and through us are limitless. If God calls us out of the boat, we are His responsibility and He will take care of us. The final message Mr. Jarvis gave us, was again about how God is trustworthy, and we can put our complete confidence in Him. He talked about how sometimes we are so afraid of losing that we never get into the battle. As Christians, however, we don't have to hide until the storm is over- we can turn and face the wind knowing that we are more than conquerors. We can trust God to eternity. God is a good God who does good things.
I'm excited to continue to put these truths into practice in my life. It was so good to get them pounded in day after day down there at BPS.
Coming home, I think it's easy to think that my life was counting for more down there than it is up here. I think that's a mental trap we fall into after we've done something "big" for God. All of us saw God work so clearly down there, it's definitely more of a challenge to see Him working up here. There are just so many daily, life distractions. I'm trying to make an effort to look for how and where He is working up here too...I know He's doing something awesome. I read this article shortly after I got home, and thought that it was really pertinent. True, I can't wait to go down to work with BPS again next summer, but I certainly don't want to waste the time in between then and now. All in all, it was an amazing week, and I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to spend part of the summer at BPS.
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