Today kicked off with a 2-mile run with Chris and Craig. It felt really good in this weather, though three gringos running by does merit some double-takes. Granted, the hotel security meant that we were locked out afterwards, but fortunately the owner was up to let us in...we've acquired a remote to get back in next time...
After breakfast, we spent some time together as a team; talking logistics, sharing what God's been teaching us lately and praying. The Aguilar family (that's the church-planting team) arrived and we had a church service in the hotel lobby (yea, that's right, we're so gonna share Jesus with the family that runs this joint). We sang some songs that had popular versions in English and Spanish, then we patched into the sermon from the church in Monterrey (with limited commercial interruption (at least it was the Noah movie...)).
Adrian took us through the Multiplica Multiplicadores training that GCLA is implementing (the link is to the English version). It is a fast-paced evangelism and discipleship method that is very similar to the style that Fellowship's latest Evangelism Training Seminar covered. These new methods that are springing up and catching on stem from the wildly successful church-planting movements in Asia. Essentially, it's training new believers to share the gospel immediately in simple, easily reproduced ways and systematic discipleship that draws them in to a deeper understanding of God. GCLA has tweaked it for their church structure and created what has the potential to bring an explosion of new churches across Mexico. Apparently, the plant here is one of three that are getting started - one led by an old friend from Monterrey!
A brief trip to Walmart (sigh) preceded us going to yet another plaza in front of Convento de la Cruz, which is older than the country of Mexico and has a huge aquaduct (no longer in use) that runs across the entire city. We arrived at the church plaza during Mass, so we didn't get to go inside to see the Árbol de la Cruz, said to have grown from a walking stick that a friar stck into the ground hundreds of years ago. The thorns are said to always grow in the shape of a cross, which has brought the church and convent a lot of attention.
We ate dinner in the plaza at a cafe famous for gourmet tea and pizza. As it turns out, Sunday night are live music nights, so we enjoyed some jazzy jams from a funky quartet while we ate our pizza surrounded by Mexican hipsters...(it was glorious). It was busier than expected, so by the time we were done it was too late (and too loud) to do any evangelism today, so we'll start by hitting the campuses hard tomorrow.
I can sense a growing restlessness in the hearts of team, including Frankie Aguilar, the leader of the church plant. He has a passion and a gifting for evangelism and is eager to see it start. Our team has been learning, praying, talking and dreaming about evangelism since we had our first meeting about this trip. The eagerness, the nervousness, the joy, the vision...the fire that I see in everyone's faces makes my heart tremble with anticipation for tomorrow.
It's gonna be good, y'all.
Pray for all things evangelism-related tomorrow. Pray for us to be in-step with the Spirit, pray for us to encounter ripe fruit, pray for clear communication...above all, pray for God's will to be done.
(also pray for health, we had some stomachs disagree with lunch today (granted, the shrimp did still have faces (I named mine Cameron (that's a Spanish joke)))).
ckc: 5
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