El paraiso

Well…there’s much to say about el paraiso.  Paraiso means paradise in Spanish.  However…I like to put it this way when describing the current state of the village town – the evil ruler is holding the once beautiful kingdom hostage.  Can you guess what that might look like?  Yes, the people there live by God’s grace alone.

The small village runs much like a farmhouse does with chickens, pigs, horses and cows living amongst the people.  Oh, and there are many street dogs, some pretty sickly looking.  The town once known for the paradise it displayed functions without continuous running water and is about an hour away from any semi-civilization.

The other day I walked the dirt roads with Tamara and Carmen, our ministry translator, and witnessed the seemingly deprived land.   Most houses there are made of rusting aluminum pieces that are hammered together with dried palm branches functioning as a roof.  There, I’m pretty sure close to none own clocks or watches so the village functions on it’s own time scale.  This week we started hosting sewing classes for the woman of el paraiso in hopes to generate some income for the woman to help them support their families.  The sewing products will be brought back to the States with Tamara to be sold.  I can see how the Lord will use this income generating opportunity to create a strong community amongst the women in the village.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4055263454532.160141.1070450373&type=1

There are many children in this village; most all very innocently sweet.

The Lord asked Tamara and David Price with Jesus Centered Ministries to build a building to bring the church family of this village together.  And today I attended my first church service in el paraiso.  The Price family has two sons who are very much into music as I am.  God presented this opportunity for me to lead the community with the boys in songs and praise before the message was given.  I am privileged to have the Lord ask me to use my voice to usher His Spirit in to minister to the people.  I thoroughly enjoyed exercising my voice for this purpose.   While here, it helps that I’m learning more praise songs in Spanish.  I plan to continue this tradition of singing on Sundays until my departure date.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4086522115979.160782.1070450373&type=1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(About to sing Como Dijiste)

Another BIG thanks to all my family and friends who helped make it possible for me to share the love of Jesus here.  I bless you in the name of Yeshua (Jesus)!

It’s okay to…

It’s okay to struggle, even wrestle, with God.  Struggling in relationships is normal, remember? Why do we think struggling with God is different than struggling in our most intimate relationships with people?  I believe it’s because we forget God is alive!  God has feelings, just read the bible and you’ll see who God reveals himself to be.  If God revealed His entire being to us, it would disqualify Him from being God.  Don’t you see?   God cannot be broken down fully into human understanding.  We are natural.  God is supernatural.  We are created.  God is the creator.

Here is when faith is required.  Because God isn’t visible to our human eyes and He is Spirit we have to believe in our hearts, trusting He is who he says he is.  This concept seems easy on paper but when kicked into gear requires monstrous amounts of surrender.  Surrender without fear.  Surrender without fear because it’s not into a tyrants hand we are yielding our lives but to a compassionate, just and merciful God.

I’ve come to a place in my life, maybe you already have too, when I’ve realized that the only reason I have breath in my lungs, and the only reason I’m still existing on this is earth in this day, in this hour, in this moment, is because God is allowing it.   I believe that means there is a purpose to why I’m still here.  There is something I, only I, exist to be in the world that only I can be. God has something in mind for me.

It will take a lifetime of seeking to know who God is and even then this lifetime won’t be adequate to fully understand.  I have hope because although my flesh will die, my spirit, living forever, will have the opportunity through my relationship with God’s son, Jesus Christ, in eternity to know God.  And still….still then, He will always be a beautiful mystery to me because I am creature and He is creator.

Oh Jesus, how sweet your love is….

(Kevin on right at age 8)

Kevin.  Kevin is a nine-year-old boy.  This afternoon with Kevin, amongst others, I played soccer with some local adopted children from the ministry.  There came a point in the game when Kevin approached me with arms open wide motioning for me to embrace him.  So, I bent my knees for a full embrace, welcoming his hug for as long as he desired.  Too much of my loved surprise this hug lasted as long as one would if one truly loved another.  As much as Kevin needed that embrace, I did too.  Maybe I needed it even more than he could ever understand.  My heart melted after his sweet, “I love you” came.  More hugs and even kisses followed this embrace as the afternoon went on.

This love is rare.  This love is the only kind Jesus can offer.  The love I have for Kevin is the type of love that causes me to want to take care of him.  God is watering many seeds of desire he put in my heart during this mission.  One of them being adoption.  In the meantime, I’ll keep loving the children as best as I know how to with the love Jesus extends to me.

We never truly know how our actions will affect someone’s life.  With this said, striving to love people in every action will always have a big positive impact on their life.

Acting in love inspires growth.

http://www.jcmmissions.com/jcmnica.html

Good bye America, Hola Central America!

The flight time from Orlando, Florida to Managua, Nicaragua was shockingly brief!  Only about a three hour flight with a time difference of two hours, a two hour truck ride and I’m in Leon, Nicaragua.

After arriving in my lovely room in Harvest House Nicaragua sleepiness made my eyes feel heavy. I settled in a little, washed up and hit the hay.  Being two hours behind here in Leon helped my body adjust to the time difference.

Sweet Issayana, a house tenant here, took me around central Leon for a quick peek of what goes on beyond the walls of my home during the day.  Issayana walked me by San Juan Park, a few outdoor markets and we journeyed to exchange dollars for cordobas.

The weather here is in Leon is HOT! It feels like summer in Florida with a cool breeze here and there. Nevertheless, I feel at home here.

Tamara is the mother of my next door neighbors who reside as ambassadors for Christ with Jesus Centered Ministries here in Leon.  She and her husband David have four sons and a cute three year old daughter.  Tamara has been kind in welcoming me and helping me adapt.  I look forward to work alongside her and her family in Kingdom work.

God is here.

Rediscover our History!

An act of rebellion is one of God’s definitions for sin.  

Isaiah 1:2 says  “…I raised and brought up children, but they rebelled against me.”

Rebellion as a noun means: An act of violence or resistance to an established government or ruler.

This act of rebellion is ancient.  It started against the Ruler of the Kingdom of heaven and then spread throughout His family, us; those who are of God, sons and daughters of the King.

Knowing the history that preceeds this alienation from the Kingdom of God is crucial to understand what is happening to the human race today and to understand what this life is all about.

I’d like to a take a few moments to talk about the word “sin” because in this day and age “sin” tends to be be avoided due to various reasons.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  I am not saying that sin isn’t a big deal, it’s a huge deal! This is why I’m attempting to define the word “sin” properly in order to clear up any misconceptions and make the concept clearer.

Sin as a  noun means: an immoral act considered to be a serious offense against divine law.

We have all seen and heard what sin has done; we have come to see ourselves as sinners, and have even experienced the guilt and bashing that’s associated with the word sin to the point where we are avoiding the entire subject.  I’m sure many of us, including myself, only new it was bad and we didn’t want to be labeled by it.  We need to know the truth about sin and understand the history of sin is in order to better appreciate why Jesus is SO important to us.

Sin is the betrayal of the family– God’s royal family, those of us who are in it.

Sin is the alienation of our citizenship in the Kingdom of God, our family!

Satan, the devil, the enemy of God’s Kingdom first tempted Adam and Eve with betrayal and since then has persisted and worked against the children of God throughout the centuries.  See, Adam and Eve were the first of God’s created family. They were also the first to buy into the lies of the enemy of our Kingdom

Let’s stop believing our enemy, right! It doesn’t make any sense to believe an enemy, does it?  We would never choose to do that…if we knew we had an enemy.  Well friends….we do.  

The word sin has been played around with too much! So much that it has lost it’s severity, lost it’s history! The rediscovery of our history as children of God, as princes and princesses of the King and  as the rightful rulers of the earth will lead us all to the Truth!!

The cross is the ultimate proof!   

Pastor Nick helped me understand that at the cross, Satan killed the One who had no sin. All along Satan claimed the right to kill people due to their sin; but Jesus had no sin! So what was satan’s excuse then? His cover was completely blown and he was exposed for the lying, killing beast that he is. A true liar that he is. 

 This is a great revelation to our identity, folks!  If we are in Christ and His Spirit is in us that means that Satan has NO RIGHT to be oppressing us!  Let’s kick him out!  This means we no longer need to be afraid of Satan, he needs to be afraid of us! We have the power living inside of us–that conquered death itself! Praise the Lord. And more importantly, by kicking satan out of our lives we can once and for all get rid of sin since sin is the product of the sin giver–the devil! He is the cause of every sin. 

 SEEK TRUTH! Seek Jesus! He is the truth that our hearts are yearning; our bodies are thirsting for… And when you think you’ve found it, KEEP PERSISTING! whatever you are seeking–it is the Law of Heaven–you will find. 

Pastor Nick Zamfir, with Abiding in Christ Ministries, has written a powerful book on dominion, teaches in the school of ministry, and speaks regularly about our Kingdom and its history, the Kingdom of God. The teachings of this ministry are biblically based. One of the School’s lesson’s teaches the chronology of the war in heaven before earth was created.  If you would like to learn more, check it out at www.abidinginchristministries.com