{"id":1644,"date":"2015-07-15T19:43:10","date_gmt":"2015-07-16T00:43:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/?p=1644"},"modified":"2015-07-15T20:36:17","modified_gmt":"2015-07-16T01:36:17","slug":"a-leaf-in-the-wind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/2015\/07\/a-leaf-in-the-wind\/","title":{"rendered":"A Leaf in the Wind"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Theresa

Theresa at her post at the front gate. In the triple digit heat her hat is a vital part of her outfit. She has an awesome tan by the way!<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cSo\u201d, you ask, \u201cwhat is it like having two distinctly different people sharing 260 square feet of living space in a little travel trailer in the blazing heat of the south Texas sun?\u201d<\/p>\n

Well let me tell you\u2026<\/p>\n

First of all though, let me say that we feel incredibly blessed to be here, and to be able to do what we are doing in order to continue to be a small part of the ongoing ministry in Mexico. We have survived our first \u201cfrac\u201d, and are still smiling (most of the time) \u2013 a milestone of considerable significance. Truthfully though, the past several weeks have been very stressful and incredibly busy for Theresa and me, with trucks entering and exiting the gate almost non-stop both day and night. Over the \u201cfrac\u201d we have been averaging about 120 vehicles over a 24 hour period. This means some 250 trips out to the gate in order to either log traffic in, or allow them out. Most days over this time we have simply set up a tarp for shade and sat at the gate so that we could keep up with the steady flow of traffic. Sleep at night between vehicles has been neigh onto impossible.<\/p>\n

\"Steven

Steven logging in a truck filled with frac pumps and equipment<\/p><\/div>\n

But, thankfully, we are beginning to see light at the end of this particular tunnel. The actual \u201cfrac\u201d has finished, and now they are beginning to set up the well site for the ongoing extraction of gas and oil. This means that at present water and oil trucks are running night and day, endless lines and lines of water trucks extracting frac water from the site; but at least this gives us some sort of a semblance of a return to a routine, even if the trucks are now running on a 24 hour schedule pretty much nonstop.<\/p>\n

We have taken to doing shifts over this time. I cover the nighttime hours from about midnight until the morning; at which time Theresa takes over and I crash until the early afternoon when we both are able to cover the gate, as well as getting normal living stuff taken care of together until the night routine begins again. It works, but we are looking forward to when we can begin to get into a bit of a more normal schedule again (what ever that will look like now with two new wells pumping as well).<\/p>\n

\"The

The Newsong team and the church at Solidaridad. The person in the back with the white mouth is a clown who is also a student at the Bible Institute<\/p><\/div>\n

But, as I have already stated, Theresa and I feel very blessed to be able to serve for this year in order to assist with ministry finances as the work in Mexico transitions into independence after our leaving.<\/p>\n

We do have a critical prayer request though concerning our work here in Texas. As you are no doubt aware, the price of crude oil continues to be very low. The downturn in the petroleum price has kicked the props out of what was only very recently a booming business here in the U.S. This is having a ripple down effect into the whole area where we are working around Laredo. Spin-off business that were a going concern only months ago, are now struggling to survive. What this means for Theresa and me personally, is that there are fewer and fewer gate keepers needed and workers are being laid off. Last week close friends of ours, who had been working as gate guards for our company, were laid off. Where there were hundreds of guards working only a year ago, only a handful now remains.<\/p>\n

\"The

The Newsong team being hosted in Javier and Cristina’s home for a meal<\/p><\/div>\n

As I wrote in my last blog \u2013 our commitment is to work for one year in order to be able to give our income to the support of the ministry in Mexico. We can only do this if we have jobs. Also, we stuck our necks out in the purchase of our travel trailer so that we would have a place to live in order to be able to do this work. We need to pay off these expenses, as well as earn an ongoing income in order to be able to fulfill the commitment that we made with the leadership in Mexico. Our prayer, and our request for your prayers, is very basic; simply, that we can stay here at our gate (without having to move), and that our job will continue at least until the end of April 2016, at which point we intend to return to Canada. So, please pray with us in this so that we can fulfill the commitments that we have made, and accomplish the things that we feel called to do.<\/p>\n

Thank you for your prayers with us on this matter.<\/p>\n

\"This

This is why all sugarcane harvesting has been suspended for this harvest cycle<\/p><\/div>\n

As I was sitting under my shade tarp at the gate the other day, in between jumping up to control vehicle traffic I was reading through an old Gospel for Asia \u201cWorld\u201d magazine. In the November 2014 issue K.P. Yohannan, the founder of GFA, was asked what major lesson he has learned as he has lead the ministry (of Gospel for Asia). His answer to this question made a deep impact on my heart.<\/p>\n

He responded: \u201cA few years ago, while in the midst of a struggle, the Lord spoke to my heart and said, \u2018Be a leaf in the wind.\u2019 He simply meant, \u2018I began this work, and I will continue to do it. Don\u2019t strive or agonize over anything. Just let Me be God, and you be like a dry leaf that is carried by the wind, and there will be no strain or pain\u2019.\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Brother K.P.\u2019s response spoke to me because it strikes at the heart of my struggle with leaving the ministry in Mexico. God desires us simply to be like a dry leaf blown by the wind of his Spirit. Then, as K.P. explained, there will be no strain or pain. It is God\u2019s work, and hence, His responsibility to see it completed to the end. (Philippians 1:6).<\/p>\n

\"This

This is the condition of the land at the Training Center farm. Armando walks barefoot in the mud<\/p><\/div>\n

The fact that God continues to work mightily through our Mexican brothers and sisters that we left behind was wonderfully evidenced in the end of June when a team led by Pastor Marty Dyer from Newsong Church in Grove, Oklahoma went to Cd. Valles in order to spend several days ministering with Javier and the other leaders. The report back from both sides, both from Javier, as well as that of the U.S. team members was very encouraging.<\/p>\n

In the first two days of the Newsong ministry trip they accompanied Javier to Rio Verde (about an hour and a half to the west of Cd. Valles) where they ministered with a young pastor by the name of Hazael. For the past couple of years Haziel has been mentored by Javier, and has begun a new outreach in Rio Verde. Javier wrote to me saying that the time in Rio Verde resulted in a time of liberation, healing, and strengthening of the church there. He said that not only did this time bless, and make a huge impact on the fledgling work, but that there were also new families who came to the meetings, and who gave their lives to the Lord as a result of the ministry.<\/p>\n

\"Javier

Javier had to shed his shoes in order to take this picture of the entrance road looking back towards the Training Center farm site. Notice the corn on the left. Even this rotted due to the excessive rains this year<\/p><\/div>\n

Then, back in Cd. Valles at the Bible Institute, there was a time of teaching and ministry with the students and staff led by Rhonda Bettes, one of the team members from Newsong Church. Javier said that not only was this a time of blessing, but that there was hardly room in the building to fit everyone who came to receive the teaching.<\/p>\n

The evenings were then spent ministering in San Antonio Huichimal and Buenos Aires, both mission church plants of the little church in Solidaridad where Javier himself pastors the work. It is at Buenos Aires, a squatter village, as you may remember from a blog from some months back, that Javier and Cristina have a ministry with the very poor children of the village, and it is here that they run a children\u2019s church and feeding program. Javier stated that as the team shared with the children some adults also came to be ministered to, and some of the moms gave their lives to the Lord. The time in the little mission church in San Antonio Huichimal (pastored directly by Armando and Alicia, the discipleship trainees at the Casa del Obrero Training Center) was also a time of blessing and encouragement, and several people also were prayed for and gave their lives to the Lord. The Newsong team\u2019s time on Sunday ended with two services at the little village of Solidaridad where Javier and Cristina minister. This was also a time of blessing and encouragement for the Church.<\/p>\n

In an email to me following the mission trip Rhonda Bettes wrote\u00a0\u201cThe young couple that<\/p>\n

\"I

I will need your signature on this line please…<\/p><\/div>\n

run the Casa del Obrero (ie., Armando and Alicia<\/i>) are truly amazing young people. They have true servant hearts. God chose them well. The young man gave his testimony, he was funny, articulate and passionate\u2026His wife was sweet, kind and helped Cristina in serving us. They all treated us like family, and at the same time like royalty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here, then, we see what happens when men and women become dry leaves blown by the wind of the Spirit of God. We don\u2019t have to strive and fear that God will not be able to complete the task.<\/p>\n

Sure, things may not always go according to our plans all the time. This year for example, despite all the back breaking work of Javier and Armando on the Training Center farm, we have just received the final word that because of the non-stop heavy rains and flooding in Cd. Valles this year the sugarcane mill will now not harvest or process our sugarcane crop. This means that we, like many of the other farmers in the area, have lost one whole year\u2019s worth of work and its associated income. This certainly was not in the plans; but, as Habakkuk reminds us: \u201cThe LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.\u201d (Habakkuk 2:20).<\/p>\n

Who are we to dictate to God what he must do. We believe that the Casa del Obrero farm is supposed to become self-financing, and that it is to become the financial base for the ministry; but it is God who sits on his throne, not us.<\/p>\n

We will strive to be still and silent before Him; dry leaves, blown by the Spirit of God.<\/p>\n

Please remember our brothers and sisters as they continue to serve faithfully in Cd. Valles. Remember that the work continues vital and ongoing in Mexico. Nothing has changed at all there except that Theresa and I are no longer living there.<\/p>\n

Also, please remember Theresa and me as we serve here in Texas.<\/p>\n

Be blessed in the Lord.<\/p>\n

Steven and Theresa<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cSo\u201d, you ask, \u201cwhat is it like having two distinctly different people sharing 260 square feet of living space in a little travel trailer in the blazing heat of the south Texas sun?\u201d Well let me tell you\u2026 First of all though, let me say that we feel incredibly blessed to be here, and to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1644"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1644"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1655,"href":"https:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1644\/revisions\/1655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}