Let There Be Light...

Proverbs 13:12...                                                                                                             “Hope deferred makes the heart sick...” I read something really encouraging this past week in my devotions.  John Courson said this, in his commentary on this verse...

“God makes a PROMISE, FAITH believes it, HOPE anticipates it and PATIENCE waits quietly for it.”

There is nothing greater, then when you see one of God’s promises fulfilled, especially after you have waited a very long time.  I’d like to say that I always wait PATIENTLY, but that is not usually the case.  Many a times I have tried to make things happen on my own.  This always fails, and usually leaves me more frustrated and discouraged.

There is a reason why Jesus tells us in Matthew 6, “...not to worry about tomorrow...”, and in Philippians 4, “...be anxious for NOTHING...” In those times when your not anxious, your not worrying, and your just focusing on what’s in front of you, that is when the Lord responds, and often answers His promises.

I was going about my day on Thursday, doing my normal administrative duties in my office, when my phone rang.  It was my cousin, letting me know that CFE was there and turned the power on.  I couldn’t believe it, and yet, at the same time, I COULD...because God promised He would do so, and He never fails.  We needed one last piece hooked up, which our Mennonite friends did early Friday morning, and the time FINALLY came....to turn on the power.  One might think its ridiculous to get emotional about turning on a light switch, but not this brother.  The emotional part was not that the lights now turned on without a generator, rather, it was contemplating on the faithfulness of God.  Have you ever had one of those moments, where you are so thankful, grateful, amazed at how wonderful our God is, that it stirs up deep emotions, maybe even some tears?  Saints, take every chance you can to sit in awe, wander and even tears, at how incredible our Lord is.  When you do so, you will only fall more in love with Him!

Psalm 118:24...                                                                                                                    “This is the day that the Lord has made...let us REJOICE and be glad in it”

Friday night is usually family night with the Vargas’ and we all were ecstatic to have it at the orphanage.  The evening was full of food, laughter, rejoicing, turning of all the lights and playing hide and go seek (quite scary trying to find someone in the pitch black, in a 7,000 SQ foot building) and then a time of prayer and worship.  We built a bonfire and spent the rest of our time worshipping and praising our Lord.  It was a glorious day and we are rejoicing in this great blessing from the Lord.  Looking forward to the next one!

Our newly installed meter...the only time it will ever read "zero"...

Planning the final hook up...

Pastor Luis working his magic...

Let there be light...without a generator...!

Prayer and worship by the bonfire...

Habakkuk 1:5...                                                                                                                   “Look among the nations and watch—be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in your days which you would not believe, though it were told you.”

Noah's Ark (Pt 2)...

Do you recall our story of Noah from a few weeks ago?  God looked down from heaven and saw what His once beautiful and perfect creation had become.  Having saved his best creation for last, man...He now saw what man had turned into “…every intent of the thoughts of man’s heart was only evil continually” (Gen 6:6).  It was time to destroy the earth, and start again.  Noah, having been a just, blameless and man who walked with God, found favor in the eyes of his Creator.  The Lord chose to spare him, along with his family. In order to survive the destruction of the world, God made him build the impossible, to survive something the world had never seen before.  Having complete faith and trust in God’s word, Noah spent the next 100 years building the ark.

The day finally came when “...the Lord said to Noah, ‘Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation’” (Gen 7:1).  And so after more then a hundred years, Noah finally saw the answer to God’s word that He had spoken to him.  Indeed it took a long time, a VERY long time in fact...however God, as always, was faithful to His word.

The animals and Noah’s family were all settled safe and sound in their new home, when, “...all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened” (Gen 7:11).  And as Noah gazed out the window, watching the rain began to fall and the waters begin to rise, “...the Lord shut him in” (Gen 7:16).

What would life have been like on the ark.  Besides caring for the animals, sleeping, eating and maybe spending time with family, what else did they do?  How did Noah pass the time during their ark adventure?  Did he pray or meditate or maybe grumble and complain, because he was not hearing from the Lord?  Noah had obeyed every word that God had spoken over the past 100 years, in building and preparing the ark.  But now, probably when he needed it the most, there was nothing but silence...for 377 long days.  There is no record in the bible that the Lord spoke to Noah during his time in the ark.

Finally, we read in Genesis 8 that “...God remembered Noah and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark.  And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided” (Gen 8:1). And then we read, that after 377 days, Noah was able to  “...remove the covering of the ark and looked, and indeed the surface of the ground was dry” (Gen 8:13).  Having stepped onto the ark, leaving a sinful, corrupt and fallen world behind, Noah would now step onto a new earth, with a brand new fresh start.  I love that his first act, in his new place was to WORSHIP the Lord.

Just like Noah, through patiently waiting and ever trusting in God’s word, the Lord too has responded to us.  While Jackie and I were celebrating our 8th anniversary in El Paso last week, I got a call from my cousin Nieves.  The government was there, doing the final installation of power poles and lines to hook up the power to the orphanage.  I could do nothing but say, “thank you Jesus” over and over again.  And then, as if that wasn’t good enough, I got an email from our accountant letting us know that our non-profit paperwork had been approved and finished.  It is ready for us to pick up at anytime.  We will head to Cuahtemoc early next week to pick up our documents and make an appointment with CFE to come out and physically turn the power “on.”  I too have felt like after my long journey in the ark, the Lord is finally removing the covering!

We have been frantically, but peaceably working hard to finish the projects at the orphanage that need to be completed before people can live in it.  Lord willing, we will be able to finish them in 2-3 weeks and then watch what the Lord does next.

One step closer brothers and sisters that we could not have taken without all your prayers, support and commitment to us.  Thank you so much from the bottom or our hearts.  Please know that if you are feeling like your in the ark, and not hearing from the Lord, trust that He is their, ministering to you in a way that you can't see.  Though it may be rocky and you feel like your getting 'seasick', the Lord will bring you through it, a much stronger person!

"This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your Word has given me life" (Ps 119:50).

Noah's Ark...

I am currently practicing my carpentry skills as I try to install frames and molding around the windows at the orphanage.  As I worked very cautiously the other day, measuring, marking and sawing in the dining hall, I suddenly had a glimpse of what life must have been like for Noah.  For the rest of that day, and days to follow, I thought about and meditated a lot on Noah, his life and how that all changed when God asked him to do the unthinkable. Take a moment and think back to Genesis chapter 6, as the Lord looked down on the earth He had once created.  Unfortunately, due to man’s fall and incessant sinful nature, the world had become an awful place.  We read in Genesis 6:6 that “...every intent of the thoughts of man’s heart was only evil continually.”  The chapter continues on in verse 7 and 8...

“So the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created form the face of the earth, both man and beast creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.  But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord”

We know that Noah was far from perfect, yet, he was “... a just man, perfect (blameless, man of integrity) and “...walked with God” (6:9).  Ezekiel tells us that Noah was a righteous man as well as a “...preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5).

Noah was to be God’s vessel and spokesman, to all that would hear, about the soon to come, destruction of the earth.  God’s instrument of death, would be something the world had never seen before...rain and floodwaters.  And for the next 100 years or so, Noah would act in great FAITH and TRUST in God’s word, and do the unfathomable...build a giant boat.

The ark was as about 450 feet long, or, as long as a 30-story building is high.  It was about 75 feet wide and 45 feet high.  It was to hold some 35,000 pairs of animals, as well as Noah and his family (8 persons).

At this point in time, the earth had never seen rain, which would make what God asked Noah to do, all the more crazy.  Imagine all the flak, jokes, ridicule and insults Noah received daily.  How many of us would have given up after a few days, maybe weeks or months.  Could any of us say, that we would have persevered for 100 years? As every board and nail was intricately placed, just as God had designed, Noah had NOTHING else to cling onto, other then God’s word.  It was that defining moment where Noah's faith and relationship with God would be taken to a place it had never been before.

Building a giant ark, having never seen rain before, is kind of like building a giant orphanage, not having any kids.  Or at least it has felt that way this past week.  As I continued cutting wood in the giant 7,000 square foot facility, I felt like I could totally relate to Noah.  I too, have been asked to take a giant step of faith, that requires extreme trust and reliance on God’s word.   I am at a place where there is nothing to do but the latter.  And when you get phone calls, like I did a few weeks ago, saying that the power company has lost our paperwork and we need to refile, I won’t lose heart.  For I know that God’s word is more powerful then anything else, and I can trust in that.

So, in the meantime, or during this 'building period,' we will continue to cut, saw, measure, dig, pour, build, construct, etc...anticipating the day when God too will open those doors, just as He closed and opened the door to the ark.  And we can rest assure that it will happen in His sweet and always perfect timing!

“Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and FEED on His FAITHFULNESS” (Psalm 37:3).