Redirected

After some much needed rest and TLC (how do cabins in the mountains by a lake with a full rainbow sound? :-) ), we headed back to Comitan to work with the Mousers for the weekend. Ron and Ivonne work to train local pastors & church leaders in small villages so they're better equipped to teach and shepherd their small congregations. They have already established pastors in a couple of villages that the GE team visited last year, and are beginning the same work in some new villages with the goal of seeing flourishing churches with local pastors all over the area.Our first stop was Sunday morning in Santa Ana where we accompanied Ron and his son Caleb to visit a church that Ron has never been to before. On the way, we stopped and asked a lady for directions for the last couple of turns in the tangle of windy dirt roads. Turns out she was the pastor's wife and was skipping church that day because she was so discouraged about a few things. She ended up hopping in the van with us and accompanying us to church for the service. Pray for this precious lady, that she would know the very real presence and power of God in her life during this time of discouragement. Being a pastor's wife is a difficult job!As we pulled up we could hear the singing coming from inside the little church. These people love God! We were privileged to sing a few songs as a team for special music, then Kyle, Andrea, and Chris each shared personal testimonies. Finally Ron gave the sermon which was then followed by a time of church-wide prayer and crying out to God. Tears streamed down the faces of many church attendees as they cried out the the Lord in their local language of Tojolobal, and we were blessed to kneel beside our brothers and sisters, though separated by a language barrier, and pray right alongside them. God knows the triumphs and needs of that congregation. He is Lord of the languages! The afternoon was filled with a couple of water filter installations for the pastor and another church family, then we returned to spend the night with the Mousers. Monday morning we headed to Palmira, home of a brand new church. Ron wanted to visit with the church members and schedule a time for him and Ivonne to return and do weekly Bible studies. They are a precious congregation who desire to serve the Lord and are eager for teaching! Since we had some wordless bracelets leftover from our hike, Kyle took the opportunity to share the meaning of the colors and then we passed out bracelets to each person as a tool that they can now use themselves. Many commented that they had never heard the Gospel so simply. Pray that they can use these bracelets to share truth and win many more to Jesus!We had such a great time with the Mousers and enjoyed helping them with their ministries in Chiapas. While we hate that we had to end the hike early, we know that God used the redirection of plans to point us to other areas where we could be His vessels.

Photography by Rose Finley