I’ve been thinking a lot about many things lately, and I’ve had a heavy heart for a few situations that are happening right now. Will join me in praying for these things?
- A family member of a friend has been kidnapped.
- One of our students left the seminary because of personal issues.
- One of our students is in the hospital (she had emergency surgery)
- One of our ex-students has a problem with his eyesight that is affecting him greatly.
- One of our ex-students is looking for a house to rent for his family and is not finding one.
- The dean at our seminary just had twin boys, and one of them is still in the hospital (he’s too little to leave).
We are living a battle. There are so many things that are happening to discourage and destroy. Please pray with us, remembering that the prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.
Here’s a quick video of Benjamin smiling. Janell does most of the work in the video, but the smiles on his face are worth it.
He’s just now starting to smile big and giggle a little bit. He’s growing up so fast, though.
Here’s the video on Vimeo.
This Saturday, Jon and I went to ExpoCristiana, a gigantic Exposition of Christian books, music, and everything else imaginable. We went with Huberto and some of the young people from his church.
While we were there, Jon and I made an incredible cultural observation: Mexican young people love bracelets.
I snapped these pictures on my camera phone for proof. We spent at least 10 minutes standing at this booth looking at the bracelets.
So, I guarantee that this is something I will use in ministry. I need to get some bracelets made up to promote the Seminary program and our website, or, the next time someone invites me to preach at a camp or something, I need to get some bracelets that have to do with the topic.
After all, you have to identify the culture to use the culture to reach the culture.
For some reason, yesterday at Popeyes, they asked me for my name. Actually, I know why they asked. It was because they took 20 minutes to fill my order even though we were some of the only ones in the restaurant.
Anyway, they asked me my name, and I told them Dennis, with the best pronunciation I could. Dennis isn’t a very popular name in Mexico. Denise is a girl’s name, so they always look at me funny when I tell them my name.
As you can see from the picture, the girl didn’t understand me and put “Tenes.” I guess that’s close. I think I’m going to change my name to to Juan Gonzalez.
We’ve been back in Mexico for a few weeks now, and we’ve been pretty busy. The other day someone asked me what I’ve been doing.
I’ve been so busy that I couldn’t respond. After thinking it through, here’s what’s been keeping me occupied in the last few weeks:
- I went to the Dimension Juvenil youth ministry conference.
- A professor from Huntington University visited us. I invited her to teach in February here in Mexico City.
- Our youth group hosted a large concert at church (and a bigger concert coming this Sunday)
- I helped Huberto with the end of quarter at seminary (helping with exam, reviews, etc)
- I preached at a local church last Sunday for Seminary Anniversary
- I’ve been preparing for my class (syllabus, notes, etc)
- I’m finalizing details for class in December (visiting professor, syllabus, etc)
- I’m dreaming about something bigger and better for Youth Emphasis Week this coming February
- I’m putting together details to start a Certificate in Youth Ministry program (hopefully starting in January)
- I’m working with the seminary to begin a Master’s Degree in Youth Ministry (Starting as soon as possible)
Besides having a 3 month old and a 3 year old in the house (which is enough work by itself), I’ve been a little busy. There’s so much to do. Want to come help? We’re always looking for new teammates.
