¿My brother.... My responsibility?

 ¿My brother.... My responsibility?  ¡My brother.... My responsibility!  In church this morning Pastor Santiago preached on Isaiah 58:1-12 and the importance of our faith being accompanied by actions.  (Jas 2:17) He stressed the importance that we are responsible for our brother, and that action will be the natural result of a true and living faith.  What a blessing to be able to be able to be able to worship and learn in the congregation of Paz de Dios.

 

Saturday evening, German and I had a couple of the guys from the church over to sleep outside under the stars (i.e. with no tent).  We had a wonderful time together, and had a lot of fun.  During today's message, Santiago used one of my pictures from the previous evening as an example of irresponsibility.  I'll include it with this post.

 

What about you?  What is your motivating factor for helping your brother?  Is it a true and living faith in Jesus?  The Bible tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God.  (Heb. 11:6 Isa 64:6)   As you look around you, what do you see?  Do you see people "playing with fire" unawares? What are you doing to warn them?  (Ezek 3:18, 19)

Sleeping out under the stars

Here are a few more pictures of the time we had sleeping out under the stars with Esteban, Cristian, and Abram.  Undoubtedly, we had a fun time together, as you can see from the pictures.  I've really appreciated the many opportunities the Lord has given to share and encourage the youth down here.  They are open, growing, and ask some excellent questions.  Please keep praying that the Lord would protect these young men from sin, and prepare them to be mature leaders founded in the Word.

Electrolysis

This week's experiment was electrolysis.  I went over to the Parra's house and we split water into oxygen and hydrogen.  To speed up the process we added salt to the water, so we ended up splitting it into sodium and chloride as well.   By the end of the experiment, the water that remained was green/blue and had a distinct smell like a swimming pool.

 

What a joy to see Oljer and his three daughters learning together.  This family has really been growing and has caught the vision of homeschooling.  The last time I was went over to their house, I made soap with the mom and daughters.  Please pray that the Lord would continue to encourage them and give them grace to continue on.

Work project

This Saturday, we had another service opportunity with the youth of the church.  Here are a few of the pictures.

Scorpion

I took this picture just for you, Dad.  I have a scorpion in the freezer for you to add to the insect collection.  OK, well maybe it's not an insect, but you should be able to add it to some kind of collection.

The manger scene

One of this week's projects was making a manger scene at the church with the homeschool kids.  I think I many connect some of the lights for the manger scene to a PLC.  Here are  a few pictures...

Fruit of the week....

Here's a picture of a granadia.  I hadn't had one for years and years.  It's delicious!

A trip to Nabon

I lived in Nabon from ages 5-8.  We still have many friends in the town.  Here are a few of the pictures from the trip.

A church work project

Last Sat. we had a work-be with a bunch of people from the church.  While we ate lunch together outside, I was so blessed watch and listen to Pastor Santiago.  He would direct the conversation ever so gently and tactfully, but very soon, we'd be talking about spiritual things, and the next thing you know, even though you didn't realize it, he's teaching practical, basic Biblical principles with his flock.

The project we were working on was putting on an addition to the house of a family from the church.  They live in a tiny house in the country.  It's current size is 12x24' and we're hoping to double its size.  An architect who attends the church drew up the designs and a bunch of us arrived at 9:30am to start clearing the ground for the addition.  We cleared the area for the new addition with pick and shovel.  At about 2:30, the youth group arrived.  They helped finishing off leveling the area, and then helped move rocks.  It was a total of about 20 youth who came.  It was a bit of a challenge organizing them all.  Especially  since some of them seem to have only come to talk with their friends.  Things moved along well, and Pastor Santiago decided we had time to pour some of the cement.  The youth made a long sort of human chain, and moved all the gravel and sand in short order.  By this time, I wasn't sure what more the youth could do since there was no way 40 hands could help pour cement for a 12x24 addition.  I talked to Pastor Santiago and suggested I lead a time of singing and Bible study with the kids while the adults poured the cement.  He enthusiastically agreed and that's what we did. We sang some songs and then I shared on 1Cor 15:58.

Thank you so much for your prayers and fellowship in the gospel.  God's grace is sufficient!