Today I taught the first class of MJ 140 to Israel, Rigo, and Huberto in Starbucks. I am teaching it early to try to get finished in time to go home in April. We had a good talk about camps and retreats and also about youth ministry in general.
After class, I came home and took Janell to Costco to buy some things for our Superbowl party that we will be having tomorrow with the youth group from Dios Es Amor. I also worked on some homework for Jonathan Edwards class.
Oh…by the way…I’m really happy to hear that Dan Marino was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame today.
Here’s an update on my Master’s studies at Columbia Biblical Seminary. I am currently studying “The Theology of Jonathan Edwards.” It is perhaps one of the most difficult classes I have taken so far. The books use a font size that is unbelievably small, and Jonathan Edwards makes you think. He was a genius and had a great impact on American Christianity. I’m learning a lot, but please pray that I’ll have the time and diligence needed to complete the class on time.
Okay…I knew this before today, but the last week especially has reminded me a lot about how difficult ministry is. We have been dealing with a lot of “situations” lately. None of them have been personal problems, thank God, but nonetheless, we are involved in them through relationships, and we have seen numerous people hurt. I know that God is in control, but ministry is a difficult calling. It’s a good thing we’re not alone and that God is in control of it all.
After Thursday and Friday’s difficult times with the family of Roman, the weekend just picked up steam. On Saturday morning, we had a leadership team meeting for the youth ministry at our church, Dios Es Amor. We had fewer people there than expected, but we went on with the planning for the next 4 months of youth ministry activities. It was an exhausting but productive day.
Sunday morning we went to church and then we had youth group on Sunday night. We had a sort of “individual worship experience” at youth group. We set up 4 stations that dealt with the Tsunami, Sickness, Death, and Personal Problems. The idea was that each young person could reflect on what they thought about each and what God says about each, as well as giving them the opportunity to pray for their requests and the requests of others. It went well, but it was a lot of work. Please continue to pray for the family who lost their son and also for the rest of the youth ministry at our church.
Last night, around 5:20, pastor Josue called me to let me know that “Romancito”, a 15 year old boy and son of active new members of our church, had died of Leukemia. We went to his funeral service at 6 pm and 8 pm. There are a lot of things to comment on about this.
First of all, the number of young people that were at the services was amazing. I couldn’t help but think that this young man, through his death, was sharing the gospel with more people who needed to hear it than he had during his lifetime. I also couldn’t help but thinking that these young people were so desperate for Jesus last night. No event that we would have programmed could have brought the gospel to all of them, but the life of their friend did just that.
Secondly, Patti, his sister, is only 14 years old. How difficult it must be for her to go through this. She didn’t want to leave the casket. She stood up there with her brother the whole time during the 6 o’clock service. Please pray for her during this time.
Thirdly, Roman and Patti have recently accepted Christ and been baptized. God’s working in their lives allowed the funeral to be in a church where the Truth is preached, allowing many people to hear the gospel last night and in the days to come. We didn’t realize this was taking place in the “Master Plan” of God a while ago, but now I can see His fingerprints all over it. Roman was the one singing praises the most to God last night, with his trademark wide smile. What a testimony.
Lastly, it shows me that we as Christians are not guaranteed a posh lifestyle or a life free of suffering. I have been thinking about that a lot lately. God doen’t guarantee us that following Him will be easy. He does guarantee to be with us through our trials.
Please pray for Roman, his wife Patricia, and their daughter Patti during this time. Also pray for their many friends and relatives who will no doubt, in the next few weeks, be pondering their eternal destination and beliefs about Jesus.
