Just The Beginning

Armando and Guillermo got home Sunday afternoon around 1:00 PM. The trip back was incredibly smooth and they even got unusually friendly immigration officers! He has SO many stories that I hope all of you will get a chance to hear sometime.

Armando just had a conversation with his cousin who attends the church and it was a very eye-opening...the kind of moment when you see in retrospect God's plan, and it wasn't necessarily what you had in mind. This trip for Armando was exploratory in nature in terms of how can we partner with them and how can we help in tangible ways. He brought leadership development messages for those in leadership already, which was received with much gratitude and excitement. What Armando didn't anticipate was perhaps THE biggest, most basic need the Acambaro church needed to learn and be shown was LOVE and COMPASSION. The reason Armando and Guillermo were received so graciously was because they actually showed love--they gave people hugs, they listened, prayed with individuals. Yes, other great things happened from the trip, but perhaps God sent them to Acambaro to show the church, "THIS is what you need for unity to happen, for you to flourish as a church! If the members are not even showing love and compassion for each other, why would anyone else want to step inside the church?"

They were all loving people individually, but left and right, Armando and Guillermo kept noticing the lack of love with each other. Armando even had to have a heart-to-heart talk with the pastor to confront him about the lack of the action of love in his congregation. From tonight's conversation, Armando was very encouraged to learn that certain people had their arm around their spouse, people were giving hugs to each other, playing/having fun with the gloves and baseballs Armando brought them (courtesy of a Sports training facility here in McKinney). He even learned that certain people who had stopped coming to church that he personally talked to, listened to, prayed with, were there at church on Sunday, happy and glad to be there! Imagine that!??! Something as simple as a hug, a listening ear, a prayer can change the course of someone's life!!

As the title says, this is only the beginning! Yes, the trip was very successful and lots of great things happened, BUT, there are also an abundance of needs. This is meant to be a long-term mission. There is much follow-up to be done. Continued prayers are needed. So friends, while this may be the end of these reports for this trip, this will not be the last about the Acambaro mission. God is not done working in that area. Spreading the gospel has become even more critical now that they have witnessed first-hand the need for it. Till next time, a heartfelt thanks for all your prayers for the trip. Let's praise God for the outcome! This is only the beginning...