Poor in the world, RICH IN FAITH!

James 2:5

“Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?”

Saturday was a big day! We were invited to the communities church on Saturday to preach and sing a song. Laurie did a very very heartfelt speech on John 3:30 “He must increase, but I must decrease”. She had to write a sermon in English and of course translate it into Spanish (with the help of our lovely friends here!) and praise God it went really well!! The Lord spoke through Lo, there were many “Amens!” from our Mexican brothers and sisters! : ) I sang one of my favorite hymns, “I Surrender All” in Spanish! It was fun, its awesome to have an opportunity to sit in the front and listen to the voices of the people sing to our awesome God! Although it makes the heart jump a beat being in front of people, ultimately its all for His glory and that’s hopefully what the people will remember….not the song or the singer. Love that church, after many of the people gave hugs and kisses…many “Bienvenidos” and “Dios le Bendiga’s”….I’m pretty sure I was more encouraged than an encouragement, they have such beautiful hearts.

Later in the evening we met up with the young people from that community church at the park to hang out. We FINALLY got to play soccer!!! It was sooo fun! It was tough because it was dark, so it was difficult to not only see the ball but also the people! Haha A few times Laurie, being the amazing aggressive soccer player she is, accidentally stole the ball from someone on our own team….haha….like I said it was difficult to see faces, and we had juussst met most of them. They were very nice and encouraging new amigos! Also, another very special thing happened this night, we were invited to join in celebrating Samuel’s birthday at his house (Samuel one of our students from last week, and the photographer of most of my pictures haha).

We were welcomed into the house with lots of hugs, kisses (from little Daniel, such a doll!!) and a delicious bowl of mole with pollo y arroz (chicken and rice). Their house was half dirt, half concrete with a couple rugs to cover the dirt part. They had a one room house with two twin beds squished together for their four kids and a double bed for the parents, a microwave, an oven, a small spot in the back for their chickens, rooster and hens, and blankets hung up to separate their house from the neighbors (this actually came in handy!). The next door neighbors kept playing pop/rap music, and little Daniel was dancing for us…he started flashin’ some Michael Jackson moves, sooo cute! (ask me to see the video I took of him, its priceless). And of course, Samuel took my camera and took lots of pictures and videos. Such a beautiful family, they interacted with each other so lovingly, and joked around a lot. In recognizing their situation, it was very generous of them to invite us over for a meal, I am so grateful! Like the verse above expresses, although this family is poor in the world they are definitely rich in their faith. When we came back, I was so sweaty and dirty, I showered immediately and realized what a privilege it was just to be able to shower. I have been praying that the reality of poverty and the humble hearts of these parents we hung out with today never fades with the lifestyle I have back in California.

I’m so thankful for the Serrano family too! They are so sweet, one of my favorite things (if I haven’t mentioned this before) is how they are always giving God the glory. Whenever we thank Tia Betty for a meal, she always replies, “Gracias a Dios”.  Fabby is always smiling and so encouraging! Tio Miguel went on a trip for the last couple of days and came back with coffee for Laurie and I to take home! Sweetheart! I’m so blessed! Gloria a Dios!
With Love and Gratitude-
Chels