My buddy Stu and I will be headed to Lee’s Ferry, AZ from February 29th - March 3rd. We’re going to try our hand at a little fly fishing in the Colorado. This will be a nice break before hitting it hard with the Short Term Team season.
Posts for February, 2008
Quick post…we are now headed for week 3 of no dirty diaper accidents here in the Dyck household. Max and Clay have for the most part figured out the basic mechanics of utilizing the toilet. Even while we are out and about, they still are able to use public restrooms to take care of business. This is a new era for Melissa and I. Thank you so much for your prayers and advice! Thank you Jesus!!!!
I have returned from a week in Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico. It was an excellent week filled with challenge, joy, love, suffering and victory. Our team in Tepic is doing an amazing job of re-imagining what the church could look like. Instead of hosting long services, they challenge their members to get out of their seats and into the community. They are working ecumenically to bring the love of Jesus to so many. During my time there we visited a nursing home and spent time just listening and loving the people living there. We gave them juice and listened to poetry and heard stories from Tepic’s past. I spoke with one 94 year old woman who just held my hand for an hour, telling me that all of her family was dead and that no one visited her any more and how special that moment was for her, that we were there to visit. It’s so amazing how something so minuscule can be such an incredible blessing to people.
In addition to visiting people at the home, we took food to people waiting at a local hospital. We served more than 70 sandwiches to people who had been waiting, some for days without food, just to see a doctor. We hosted a free hugs campaign in the city center. This was just a time to use the language of touch to bless people. It was amazing to watch so many families run forward to receive a hug from a group of strange gringos and Mexican citizens. God is amazing!
During my time there I was able to shoot more than 6 hours of video and my friend Stuart, (www.eyes2see.com) who is one of the greatest photographers I have ever met, took more than 5000 images. In the upcoming weeks I will post some of those images, but for now they are being professionaly edited by the hand of an expert. Thank you Stu for all of your hard work!
And thanks to each of your for your prayers and messages of support. I was able to accomplish all that I had set out to do during this trip. Our team in Tepic is ready for their inaugural short term team season this June. I am excited to see students mobilized this summer in Tepic, serving a community they don’t even know and being challenged to return home and continue serving those around the. This will be an exciting year for our burgeoning ministry in Tepic. Continue to pray for workers and constant creativity as we search for more ways to love our neighbors.
Just wanted to post a quick update from Tepic. We (myself and my friend/neighbor, Stuart) arrived safely in Puerto Vallarta on the 10th. We stayed in Puerto Vallarta for a day, collecting photos, video and information to assist us as we finalize our short term outreach plans. On Tuesday the 12th, we hopped on a bus and headed to Tepic. We met with the staff in Tepic that afternoon and mapped out our schedule for the remainder of the week. Yesterday morning, Stuart and I awoke before sunrise and headed out into the downtown district in order to collect more photos and video. We encountered many people and were faced with so many needs along the way. Today we will be meeting with the staff again to finalize details related to our summer team schedule and to discuss further developments of this particular ministry.
This trip has been a real eye opener in the area of how I interact with those in the greatest of need. I have been faced daily with the question of how did Jesus interact with everyone He encountered who had need. We read in scripture about the many encounters he did have and how he dealt with those situations, but I know that there are too numerous encounters for the scriptures to even record. How did Jesus interact with each one? Was there ever a time he passed by the person begging for money without even a glance? What would he have done if he saw the old woman sifting through the trash downtown in order to find her next meal? The challenge for me is to come face to face with how I interact with those people and what or how am I going to handle those situations as they arise?
God is good and we are accomplishing a lot during our time here. I look forward to sharing the amazing photographs that Stuart is capturing here with everyone and sharing with each of you how you can become involved in this ministry. There are so many needs and we are looking towards our amazing partners to help us as this ministry develops.
Be blessed and thank you again for your prayers. I want to be sure to wish Melissa and Happy Valentines Day as I am away. You are the love of my life Melissa! Again…thank you!
I will be traveling to Tepic, Mexico, along with my neighbor Stu in order to prepare our newest location for the arrival of short term outreach teams. I will be meeting with the area directors of the Movement and putting together marketing and promotional material to assist int he expansion of this ministry.
I wanted to post a quick blog and ask for your prayers for my upcoming trip to Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico. I will be leaving on Sunday morning for 7 days. I will be traveling with my dear friend, Stuart Thurlkill who is a professional photographer and a church planter here in Phoenix. Stu and his wife moved here from Chicago to help establish the new Crossings Church here in the West Valley. Stu is an amazing photographer and I have had the privilege to travel with him before to Washington DC. This will be our second outing together and I am very excited!
During our time in Tepic, we will be shooting a great deal of photos and video as we compile footage for new marketing materials. In addition, I will be meeting with the staff of The Movement to discuss the further development of their short term outreach program. We plan on hosting several teams in Tepic this summer and this will be an awesome opportunity for me to finalize a few details prior to those teams arrival.
Please pray for:
- Safety as Stu and I travel
- Safety for our families here in Phoenix
- Wisdom as I meet with the staff in Tepic
- Creativity in helping to plan summer outreaches
- Divine appointments all along the way
Above all of the things we have planned, I want to be sure that my heart and eyes are open to Gods plans as we travel. I have always found that one prayer God will never ignore is the prayer to lead someone to Christ! I’m excited for that opportunity again in Tepic! I’ll be sure to post more when I return!
- Jeremy