Christmas Report Christmas Photos

What Kind of Boomerang do You Use

Dear Friends,

As children of God, we are blessed to be a blessing. God told our father of the faith, Abraham, in Genesis 12:2-3 NKJV … And I will bless you and make your name great. And you shall be a blessing. … And in you shall all families of the earth be blessed.

I Peter 3:9-10  instructs  us, Not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. He who would love life and see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips from speaking deceit.

We inherit blessing by speaking blessings upon others. We can’t afford to render evil for evil or insult for insult. When we engage in gossip, backbiting, murmuring or verbal attack upon another, we pass these curses back to ourselves. It’s the boomerang effect. That is clear in Galatians 6:7 – Whatever a man sows that he will also reap.

Blessing arrives by refraining from speaking evil and speaking good to and about others. It’s a good time to remember the old saying, If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. God has deemed blessings to come to one’s life only as we say and do good to others.

Proverbs 16:21 tells us that, death and life are in power the tongue.  Spoken words are creative. The book of James compares the tongue with the rudder of a ship. Our words determine, not only our destination, but they also affect the world around us. What are we saying about ourselves, our family, our church, our nation? Consider not only the words we speak but also what kind of words we allow into our lives – what we read or listen to on radio, TV, and movies.  We also need to refrain from hanging out with people who are full of negative words.  Those words become seeds of future actions.  Pouring toxins into our hearts could gradually destroy us, our relationships, and ultimately our culture and society!

Luke 6:45 tells us that, A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth the good.  And an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth the evil.  For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. 

Ephesians 4:29-32 instructs us, Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, but whom you are sealed until the day of redemption.  Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor (turmoil) and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.  And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you.

Are our words and actions edifying? Are they kind? Are we forgiving? Are we going to add to the problems by speaking destructive words?

On the other hand, Romans 10:9 in the Message says, it’s the word of faith that welcomes God to go to work and set things right for us.

God’s Word is full of instruction about how we use our words and the power they wield.  We also learn by observation.  Some years back a popular author wrote many negative things about Bible teachers he disagreed with.  His words were extremely sharp and even using names in his book he made them look like the devil himself.  Bro. Kenneth E. Hagin was one of those mentioned in that negative rhetoric. When asked why he didn’t respond to what was said against him, he replied, “I’m too busy preaching the Word.”

What a great lesson for all of us.  If we stay busy preaching and teaching truth, we’ll not have time to speak evil of others or worry what they say of us.

We love you and value your partnership.

Blessed by you,
Calvin and Barbara
   

Christmas 2010

The Christmas programs were a time of joy and laughter. We never tire of watching the expressions on the faces of the children during the programs. They are captivated, reverent, delighted and at times burst into hilarious laughter.  When the invitation goes out to invite Jesus to be born in their hearts, they earnestly repeat the salvation prayer.

This Christmas Faith Ministries reached 9,500 people with the good news of the Gospel. Hallelujah!

This year’s outreaches have been more of a challenge than ever before. Some of the areas where we usually go to minister were closed, as the drug cartel is in control and not allowing entry to anyone they don’t know. It is a time of darkness and violence is some parts of Mexico. Yet most of the country is safe because of a strong presence of law enforcement. Christmas offerings were lower, candy was higher, but the biggest challenge is how difficult it is to cross toys into Mexico.

Because of the difficulty of getting toys into Mexico, we bought some Mexican toys. The only toys available in our budget were sling shots and tops.  After we had already packaged 350 sling shots we found out new laws have made sling shots illegal, so we had to replace them with little cars. And the few boys who received a top instead of a little car were disappointed.

In the end, we are working to import the remaining 3,500 toys legally. It is a huge, time-consuming process. Each toy has to be individually described and inventoried. Absolutely no toys made in China are permitted and only new toys can be imported. There are lots of little cars made in other countries now, but almost all stuffed animals are made in China.

Working through non-profit tax-free channels requires numerous trips between the border and Hermosillo, the state capital, not to mention the many hours involved. It would actually be cheaper to buy toys in Mexico if we could just find them. Pastor Juan De la Parra has done most of the legwork and his legs are very tired. As of this writing in mid January, many toys are still waiting on the customs permit. We were planning to do late Christmas programs, but at this point, the toys will probably be used next year.

We are not sure at this time how we will handle next Christmas but we are sure that: We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about His power and His mighty wonders.  Psalms 78:4 NLT

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