Meditations

As I was driving down here to Texas, I had plenty of time to think - well, 13 hours to be exact! I reflected on this past year, praising the Lord for what He has done. As I said goodbye to friends in Missouri, several people shared with me how the Lord had used me in their lives. As I was thinking, a song came on my mp3 player that puts words to what I am feeling:

Grace Alone - by Scott Wesley Brown & Jeff Nelson
Every promise we can make
Every prayer and step of faith
Every difference we can make
Is only by His grace.

Every mountain we will climb
Every ray of hope we shine
Every blessing left behind
Is only by His grace

Every soul we long to reach
Every heart we hope to teach
Everywhere we share His peace
Is only by His grace.

Every loving word we say
Every tear we wipe away
Every sorrow turned to praise
Is only by His grace.

Grace alone which God supplies
Strength unknown He will provide
Christ in us, our Cornerstone
We will go forth in grace alone.

It is only by God's grace that I am anything. And, it is only by His grace & Him working in me that I can be of any good to others. I know people look up to me or admire me because I'm a missionary, but I know what is in myself - my weaknesses, my timidity, my selfishness. I'm nothing special, I just have a super powerful and gracious God that can take this worthlessness and make it of use to others.

As I was driving through OK City, I switched to the local Christian radio, and a song came on that I had not heard in a long time, but it mirrors the sentiments of the song above and echoes what I've been meditating on in Philippians 3:8 "Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him."

In Christ Alone - sung by Brian Littrell (I don't know who wrote it)
In Christ alone I place my trust
And find my glory in the power of the cross
In every victory Let it be said of me
My source of strength My source of hope
Is Christ alone

In Christ alone do I glory
For only by His grace I am redeemed
For only His tender mercy
Could reach beyond my weakness to my need
And now I seek no greater honor than just to know Him more
And to count my gains but losses to the glory of my Lord

A Video Ministry Update

Woohoo! I'm catching up to technology. Here's my first ministry video. Hope it gives you a better perspective about what's ahead. Enjoy!

A little language lesson

Nahuat is the language spoken by the people of Las Moras.
Did you know that you can speak some Nahuatl (NAH-waht)?
Let's see...

What is this?

Yep, chocolate! The Nahuatl word is xocolātl. (The "x" is pronounced "sh.")

Give up yet? The Nahuatl word is tomatl.

This fella is called coyōtl.

In Nahuatl, this is a āhuacatl.

This one may be a hard one if you don't know your types of cats. In Nahuatl it's called an ocēlōtl.

These are just 5 words that we've borrowed from Nahuatl. Here are some more... cacao, cocoa, chayote, chili, guacamole, mesquite, quetzal, shack, tamale... and Spanish, especially Mexican Spanish has many more.

A Visual

This is a video my partners, Tom & Teresa Elkins made for their church. It has some photos from several trips that Tom & Ron made into the village doing community development projects for the people. Hopefully it gives you a visual of what it will be like... :)
Unfortunately, one thing that has changed since these trips were made is that flying into the village is no longer an option for us. For several reasons, that is no longer feasible. We will be driving in and out each time we travel unless God works several miracles.

The people of Las Moras

The people of Las Moras are one group in 30 that form the Nahuatl language group in Mexico. They are the descendents of the ancient Aztecs that used to rule central Mexico.
They are friendly, hardworking people and have been very receptive to our visits and desire us to live among them.
The people in and around Las Moras number around 1000 people and live in villages scattered in the mountains.
This is part of the village where we will be living.
It is right on the edge of a cliff! Makes for gorgeous views!
This is the road that we will be using to travel into & out of the tribe. It's a long, bumpy drive!
Here's some more pictures of the people: