Star of the Lamb

Ahh, so tired, hungry, my camel and I.
Long, the journey to follow that bright star of the sky.
To a child it lead I.
Sound asleep, there was no wipe.
I stand here the night, guard close his tiny sinless little feet.
My father’s steps they will walk deep.

Merry Christmas Everybody.
Always love the year long.

–Dave Harlon

In One – Poem by Dave Harlon

At our church door the leaves are falling. The cold wild wind to cmoe, Jesus always with us, our fears we have none.

Pastor Dunn tells a story, of this devil who thinks he’s won.

Jesus and Pastor Dunn together, keep this devil on the run.

At our church door the leaves are falling to say we need Pastor Dunn. A seat in our church, the devil, he has not one.

At our church door the leaves are falling. The cold wild wind to come. How about we all go out together, and pick up just one

The Father, Holy Spirit, and the most high Son

The Well of Life

My life fell into a well. Deep at the bottom I thought was Hell.

A rope took me to the top. Jesus was standing, prayer he gave alot.

A talk he had with me. It’s just a small well to he.

I left that well and went h0me. His love I could feel all through my bone.

Rebecca my name is known. With Jesus I am never alone.

 

– Dave Harlon

To Have Thee

Feeling bad, he cheers me. Falling down, up, he picks me. I can’t go on, a push he gives me. I am so blessed to have thee.

He does not let a tree stand in his path. He climbs the highest mountain and does not slip. He walks the darkest, deepest valley and does not trip. I am so blessed to have thee.

Lost astray, he finds me. Sick he heals me. The cross of Calvary, he went for me. I am so blessed to have thee.

He walks the green meadows and does not move the grass. He walks the water to a boat, and sleeps fast. I am so blessed to have thee.

Who is he? A man, magic – no, course not. You know his name. All these ways you to have him, just the same. Jesus I believe, is the name.

–Dave Harlon

The Hands of Jesus

Love drips down to the ground, a puddle of red I wish to jump in and drown.

The one who it belongs to I have just found. His head hanging down, yet my head I hold so high.

My life I have, for He has just died. I can’t help to stand here and cry, I can’t help to ask, why?

What I would do to touch and kiss those two hands, for they are the reason my life flies.

For it is in those two hands that my heart lies.

Sweet Jesus, oh how I love thee. He will be back some day, those two hands, we will all see. I pray for that day, maybe soon, it will be. That day I pray, my eyes to see.

The hands of Jesus did not die. I see a vision, the red puddle is all dry.

–Dave Harlon

Monterrey 2010 Reporting Sunday, September 19

Please join the Monterrey 2010 Missions Team on Sunday, September 19 as we report on our experience this summer. Following the morning worship service (starts at 10:15 a.m.) we will have a Mexican themed luncheon, followed by the team’s presentation.  Here’s a preview…

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Echo of Holy, Holy, Holy

I walked into a church, I sat down, why am I here?
There is nothing to cheer.
Song of joy, Pastor’s words of God’s love echoed off the church walls.
Holy, Holy, Holy I must hurry home at once;
Holy, Holy, Holy I must go tell all.

Holy, Holy, Holy sweet Jesus I could feel, standing right next to me so tall, so real.

Holy, Holy, Holy bless this church and its walls.

Holy, Holy, Holy sweet Jesus with you may I please behold.

Holy, Holy, Holy carefully hear, the echo of the church walls.

Update #8 Coming Home

We are home and settling in.  Thank you for praying us home.  There was a little concern about bringing some items home at the airport in Monterrey, and two team members we thought might have to take another flight because of checking in a bag that had a “suspicious” item in it for a carry on.  We stopped to pray, and a few minutes later both of them came walking towards the group just in time to board the plane.

We landed in Dallas right on time and got through immigration and customs with out a glitch.  We got a bit split up in Dallas but all made it to the gate in time.  We took off 45 minutes after we were supposed to, but praise the Lord, we got a tail wind and landed at the scheduled time.

We look forward to talking to you all about our experiences in Monterrey.

Blessings to you all!

Crystal

Update #7 Final Day, Saying Goodbye

I am updating you now, since tonight is our fiesta and I probably won´t have time once we get back. The ladies completed their duties at VBS. We think there were around 115 today, but we didn´t get the final count. We should know later tonight. Praise God, he held back the rain again! Suzanne´s health has been good today and the drama went very well. The mexican teachers were also involved. The kids kept chanting for us to do it again. So at the end of VBS, we did repeat the skit one more time for them. We all had a lot of fun. Linda, the director of VBS wanted us to introduce ourselves by name to the children so they could see how many of us there were to come and help them. Even the men came off the work site to be acknowledged by the church and the children. All the children and VBS workers took time to sing the Mexican version of Happy Birthday to our team mate Tom, who is celebrating his 50th birthday today. We have a few more surprises for him tonight.

The men have worked VERY hard filling in more of the holes. We will see tonight how much they were able to get done. The beauty of bringing a team the size of ours is that the extra money that hasn´t yet been spent (our ¨project cost¨) will be given to the church so that they will be able to finish the wall that we started. Juan, a deacon of the church and the master mason who has led the building project, will be able to receive one week salary in addition.

We have enjoyed our time here but are beginning to feel the desire to return home to share with all of you our experiences. We love you all!

Our plane leaves Monterrey at 12:50 p.m. CST. We are scheduled to arrive in Dallas at 2:30 p.m. then take off at 4:05 p.m. to arrive in Philadelphia at 8:25 p.m.

Please pray specifically for:
1. Clear communication of our love and appreciation for our Mexican brothers and sisters.
2. Followup can be made with children that attended VBS this week.
3. Restful sleep tonight as we pack and say goodbye.
4. What we have learned here we will be able to bring home and apply.
5. Safe travel home to Philadelphia tomorrow.

Update #5 and #6 Connecting and Cleaning

What an amazingly busy two days we have had. We were unable to access the internet yesterday, so this update will include what I would have mentioned regarding Wednesday AND Thursday.

Wednesday was one of the first days that we felt like we were beginning to connect. We were asked to teach the Mexicans SOMETHING. We came up with sign language for the Bible verse, since it didn’t require us to actually speak spanish. The younger girls also taught the song motions that many of them learned last year at a different church. The Mexican teachers were simply thrilled to have us be so involved. Wednesday’s attendance went back down to 96. We are told this was due to the cooler weather and the rain. But praise God for holding off the rain both days! We are so thankful for his answer to our prayers concerning the rain. Thursday we saw 130 children return to VBS to hear how God’s love is always with us and saves us. They heard today from the apostle Paul how they can have life ONLY through Jesus Christ. We seem to be enjoying ourselves more and more. Following VBS on Wednesday, we returned to the hotel to freshen up. Then we took the afternoon to do some souveneir shopping at an outdoor market with vendors from 22 different Mexican states.

The men have been working extremely hard at mixing concrete, making forms for the posts, pouring concrete and refilling the holes. We learned on Thursday that the vision of the church is to add a gathering space for children by building a second floor on an existing building. We are trying to get a picture of their plan. Afternoon rain has slowed the construction work but having an afternoon off on Wednesday really helped the men to rest their sore, tired muscles.

Following lunch today, we were taken to work on hurricane disaster clean up work closer to the base of the mountain. Squatters living there “illegally” have been devastated. What very little they had was destroyed by the 5 foot high water that came rushing through from Hurricane Alex at the beginning of July. A medical team had been there earlier in the day, and we joined another smaller team in the clean up around a church there called “Church of New Jerusalem”. Many of us were overwhelmed by how very little these people had. One man came and joined us right away and was very helpful. Eventually he came to us and asked us if we had food for him and his two small children. We didn’t come prepared with food, just to clean up for a couple of hours. Thankfully we were able to direct him to the project leader who was able to get him both food and clothes for him and his two children. For those of us who have not witnessed this type of poverty and loss, the impact has been life changing. Our desire is that we can share with you what we have learned and how we can help. MTW has a special project called the Genesis Project. It has been specially designed to help the people of Monterrey to rebuild their lives and find hope in Jesus Christ as they sort through what good could possibly come from this type of disaster. Monterrey has been more crippled by this hurricane than the news has ever reported. They tell us it is the worst flooding here in 100 years. Please be patient with us as we sort through all that we have experienced here! It is hard to believe that we have one more work day left before we gear ourselves for home.

Our prayer requests for Friday:
1. To take full advantage of opportunities to talk to the Mexicans.
2. Rain to be held back so that VBS can take place outside and more work can be done on the wall.
3. Nathan and several girls will be involved in a skit at the end of VBS. Pray for understanding and clear speech.
4. We will not forget to do something about helping in the disaster relief effort here in Monterrey.
5. PRAISE that Crystal’s eyes have been very good. Suzanne has had some allergic asthma issues and Cheryl’s eye got dust under the contact. Pray that she gets all the dust out and it heals well.
6. We are responsible to teach more sign language tomorrow. Pray that the motions will come to our memories.

Thanks for your prayers.
Crystal

Lindsey and Cheryl review the verse Wednesday

Connie enjoys a game of keep away with her students

Travis and the guys begin to refill the holes Thursday

Pallet Homes rebuilt along river's edge