Hello friends,
I pray all are doing well. It has been quite a while since my last newsletter, and I want you all to know whats been happening in the last month. Things have been going well. I finished the semester at PCC, and I have to say that it was nerve wrecking. There was so, much material to cover in all three classes that it was driving me crazy, but regardless I did it, and it felt good. I still have not received my final grades so I’m still a little anxious. Especially about my Psychology class because it was a difficult class, but I managed to survive with your encouragement and God’s help.
There has been a few changes in my academic plan for the coming school year. I planned to transfer to a four year university this coming year, but to my dismay, I was unable to achieve this. I hoped to take three classes during the winter intercession, which would allow me to finish my transfer requirements by the Spring semester of 2004. My math teacher, Miss Davis, told me that unless I was planning on not sleeping or eating during winter, I should probably not take more than one class. Therefore, I’m following her advice by only taking one class. Although, I could finish in the summer semester, my ministry does not allow it because I am so busy with the summer program and the many summer work groups visiting our center at that time. Therefore, I will finish in the Fall semester. God willing.
The Harambee ministry is going well. I had a blast during all the Christmas events. We collected a lot of toys and clothes for our annual Christmas drive for community families. The parents were super happy about all the toys. I could imagine the kids faces when they got their toys on Christmas day. It reminded me of a Christmas a long time ago. This was back in Mexico. I was about 6 or 7. It was just my parents and I. All of my brothers were already in the U.S., except for my sister Blanca. She was spending Christmas with her husband’s family, but back to my story. I remember my parents and I walking back from midnight mass. I remember the toy store where they bought me my only present that year. It was a blue M-16 toy gun, which made firing noise and shot water. It was the coolest thing. The next day, we went to visit a family who were friends of my parents. A single mom with 3 kids, who couldn’t afford to get her kids anything for Christmas. I remember my dad asking, if I would give my toy away to her son, and I did, without crying or anything. I remember that kid’s face. He was happy as could be. Every Christmas that memory sneaks back into my mind, and I could never figure out why.
We didn’t have that many workgroups come during the fall, but I’ve been excited to see some of our summer interns return with the workgroups that came. It has been beneficial for some of the neighborhood kids that live around the center. I remember when I first came down here, one of the first things they asked me, was how long I was going to stay. In ministry, I’ve learned that you can introduce teens to Jesus, provide healthy activities, service projects, abstinence pledges and even worship, but nothing works better than long term discipleship. It takes faith, a lot of faith and prayer. We can see this example in the Bible in the way God reached out to us.
Jesus didn’t fly down in his fiery chariot early in the day and then went back to Dad in the afternoon to get some relief from His emotional stress. And I say stress because ministry can be stressful sometimes. I try to remember what John screamed out, “the word became flesh and dwelt among us.” I believe this is the way that God wants us to do it, by moving in and living our lives with people in whatever community we are led to live in. Presenting the gospel not just in our talk, but also in our walk. But I’m learning all this more each day.
One of the things that I’ve been personally thinking about this last half year is grace, “what we don’t deserve.” Over the last few weeks I have been thinking about my salvation, and how much grace it carries. Also, thinking about love. In a U2 song the opening phrase is “And love, is not the easy thing,” yet God called us to love each other. I allow my imagination fly and try to paint a picture of how our creator must have felt when He sent His only son to die on the cross to cover our sins. As a youth worker, it took me a long time to learn to love. Loving without grace doesn’t work. We must understand it to love the way Jesus did. No matter what kind of person Jesus came across, He loved them to death. Prostitutes, immigrants, tax collectors and widows, His love never stopped. My mom always says “Ay que aser el bien, sin mirar a quien,” which translates into “we must do good, no matter to whom.” It always reminded me of the character of Jesus. Grace is a wonderful thing, “Grace, she takes the blame, She covers the shame
Removes the stain,” Bono.
These ministries have represented grace to me, especially in the past few years: The Center For Sharing, West Side Church, Harambee Center, First Fruits of Brotje Orchards. Thank you so much for sharing in my yoke and making my load easier.
I pray all are doing well. It has been quite a while since my last newsletter, and I want you all to know whats been happening in the last month. Things have been going well. I finished the semester at PCC, and I have to say that it was nerve wrecking. There was so, much material to cover in all three classes that it was driving me crazy, but regardless I did it, and it felt good. I still have not received my final grades so I’m still a little anxious. Especially about my Psychology class because it was a difficult class, but I managed to survive with your encouragement and God’s help.
There has been a few changes in my academic plan for the coming school year. I planned to transfer to a four year university this coming year, but to my dismay, I was unable to achieve this. I hoped to take three classes during the winter intercession, which would allow me to finish my transfer requirements by the Spring semester of 2004. My math teacher, Miss Davis, told me that unless I was planning on not sleeping or eating during winter, I should probably not take more than one class. Therefore, I’m following her advice by only taking one class. Although, I could finish in the summer semester, my ministry does not allow it because I am so busy with the summer program and the many summer work groups visiting our center at that time. Therefore, I will finish in the Fall semester. God willing.
The Harambee ministry is going well. I had a blast during all the Christmas events. We collected a lot of toys and clothes for our annual Christmas drive for community families. The parents were super happy about all the toys. I could imagine the kids faces when they got their toys on Christmas day. It reminded me of a Christmas a long time ago. This was back in Mexico. I was about 6 or 7. It was just my parents and I. All of my brothers were already in the U.S., except for my sister Blanca. She was spending Christmas with her husband’s family, but back to my story. I remember my parents and I walking back from midnight mass. I remember the toy store where they bought me my only present that year. It was a blue M-16 toy gun, which made firing noise and shot water. It was the coolest thing. The next day, we went to visit a family who were friends of my parents. A single mom with 3 kids, who couldn’t afford to get her kids anything for Christmas. I remember my dad asking, if I would give my toy away to her son, and I did, without crying or anything. I remember that kid’s face. He was happy as could be. Every Christmas that memory sneaks back into my mind, and I could never figure out why.
We didn’t have that many workgroups come during the fall, but I’ve been excited to see some of our summer interns return with the workgroups that came. It has been beneficial for some of the neighborhood kids that live around the center. I remember when I first came down here, one of the first things they asked me, was how long I was going to stay. In ministry, I’ve learned that you can introduce teens to Jesus, provide healthy activities, service projects, abstinence pledges and even worship, but nothing works better than long term discipleship. It takes faith, a lot of faith and prayer. We can see this example in the Bible in the way God reached out to us.
Jesus didn’t fly down in his fiery chariot early in the day and then went back to Dad in the afternoon to get some relief from His emotional stress. And I say stress because ministry can be stressful sometimes. I try to remember what John screamed out, “the word became flesh and dwelt among us.” I believe this is the way that God wants us to do it, by moving in and living our lives with people in whatever community we are led to live in. Presenting the gospel not just in our talk, but also in our walk. But I’m learning all this more each day.
One of the things that I’ve been personally thinking about this last half year is grace, “what we don’t deserve.” Over the last few weeks I have been thinking about my salvation, and how much grace it carries. Also, thinking about love. In a U2 song the opening phrase is “And love, is not the easy thing,” yet God called us to love each other. I allow my imagination fly and try to paint a picture of how our creator must have felt when He sent His only son to die on the cross to cover our sins. As a youth worker, it took me a long time to learn to love. Loving without grace doesn’t work. We must understand it to love the way Jesus did. No matter what kind of person Jesus came across, He loved them to death. Prostitutes, immigrants, tax collectors and widows, His love never stopped. My mom always says “Ay que aser el bien, sin mirar a quien,” which translates into “we must do good, no matter to whom.” It always reminded me of the character of Jesus. Grace is a wonderful thing, “Grace, she takes the blame, She covers the shame
Removes the stain,” Bono.
These ministries have represented grace to me, especially in the past few years: The Center For Sharing, West Side Church, Harambee Center, First Fruits of Brotje Orchards. Thank you so much for sharing in my yoke and making my load easier.
posted by Chequelin at
9:30 PM
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