The Time Machine

This week, Pastor Rey prepared us for the new year with the week long series- The Time Machine. He took us into Proverbs, challenging us to be wiser- to step into the Time Machine- as we begin 2014.

It’s never good to have favorites when it comes to kids.  While I was a teacher in Honduras, I would always say, “They are my second favorite.”  Everyone was my second favorite. But really I did have a favorite.  It’s a young man named Douglas.

I met Douglas a kid in 2004.  He worked in the garbage dump with his parents and older siblings.  I was at his sixth grade graduation.  And this December, I was at his High School graduation.  I invested more in him than in any of the others because I sensed something in his heart.  He is a bigger boy with the tough guy reputation but he has the most sensitive, generous, and pure hearts. I was so proud of him at his graduation.  You can probably tell by the picture.  Maoly, the girl pictured next to him, also graduated and is another one of my favorites.

Douglas and Maoly are witnesses of God’s wonderful grace.  Living martyrs. They are devoted followers of Jesus.  They have escaped the garbage dump.  They have escaped the many temptation of their communities.  They have fought, and with God's help, have overcome insurmountable odds.  Now they are both on their way to university.  They are already agents of transformation in their communities.

The cycle of poverty has been broken.  The power of sin has been broken.  It’s complete.  It’s done.  It’s finished.  This is the abundant life Jesus promised.

After graduation, I found pictures of that sixth grade graduation of the senior class.  Their class was three times as big- but only Antonio, Douglas and Maoly made it through High School.

One is a gang member, currently in jail.

Another works as basically an indentured servant.

Two are single parents raising their kids.

So although I rejoice with these two, part of me is broken for the ones who have fallen.  All of them had the same opportunities.  Some made wise choices.  Others made unwise choices.

I wondered, what if there had been a time machine back at their sixth grade graduation?  What if they could have gotten inside, gone forward, seen their High School graduation, college, future possibilities?  Then go back.  What choices would they have made? Anything different?  Of course.

You see, wisdom is a time machine.  Wisdom grants us access to God’s will.  Wisdom shows us which is the best path.  Wisdom leads to life.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6yXyJaLJug]

Wisdom is a time machine and the wise make decisions based on the end.

It’s easy to see where these children in the garbage dump went wrong.  It’s not so easy to see where we go wrong in our own lives.  Which is why we need wisdom.  All of us need wisdom.

I have challenged the church to get into the time machine by reading a proverb everyday during the month of January.  On January first, we are all going to read Proverbs 1.

Will you join us?  Will you get in the time machine with us?

Like what you hear, but want more? You can check get more information by checking out our website, or you can email us if you have more questions.

What’s the Appropriate Response to Witnessing a Miracle?

By Pastor Rey Diaz

Last week a friend of mine asked me, "What is the appropriate response to experiencing a miracle?" Shout? Jump? Scream? Cry? My friend experienced a supernatural healing from a cyst in his left vocal cord and his reaction (You can read about it and see the before and after pictures here: www.michaelpatz.com).

That same night, I experienced a miracle. And it was my turn to write - 'God is amazing. There are not words. I'm stunned. I'm shocked. I’m utterly overwhelmed.'

It's not an easy thing to witness a miracle. To see pure beauty. Relentless grace. Unending love. What's the appropriate reaction? I want to cry. I want to shout. I want dance. I want to fall on my knees.

A life permanently changed. A child finds their Heavenly Father's love and experienced his grace. Rescued. Redeemed. Transformed.

This is Dulce when I first met her near the garbage dump.

Dulce means "sweet." But Dulce's life has been anything but sweet. She was raised in the garbage dump by her siblings. No father. An absent mother. Her grandparents took her in but they had to continue working in the garbage dump to have food for their grandchildren.

So Dulce and her siblings learned to scavenge in the garbage dump. Last year, Dulce's brother, Kevin, was run over by a garbage dump, dying instantly. She grieved. She cried. But life continued. So it seemed her name was a cruel joke. There was nothing sweet about her life. 'Bitter' would have been more accurate.

 Psalms 68:5 - A father to the fatherless…

But God intervened. It's His modus operandi… To offer hope when it seems hopeless. To rescue when it seems impossible. To give life to the lifeless.

God intervened through AFE. Through people who were willing to serve. Dulce's family received a house. Her siblings started school. The family found support at church.

The AFE nursery took in Dulce. They loved her, protected her, and fed her while her grandmother and grandfather were at the dump during the day. Dulce then started kindergarten. And she has just graduated. She is on her way.

Why can't she be a future leader in Honduras? Why can't she bring about the change the country so desperately needs? Why can't she be an example to all the other thousand of children who are still captured in the cycle of poverty? So I ask again, what’s the appropriate response to witnessing a miracle?

Like what you hear, but want more? You can check get more information by checking out our website, or you can email us if you have more questions.