Good morning!

Tomorrow at this time we should be in the air between Edmonton & Phoenix, but between now and tomorrow morning, there are still many things that need to be taken care of not only for me as the team leader, but also for each team member, and as we approach the final 24 hours in Edmonton, many distractions will grab for our attention.

This morning as I was finishing up my quiet time and beginning to think about the day and the to-do list that I have, I was drawn to the song Everlasting God.

CCLI Song No. 4556538 ¬© 2005 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) Brenton Brown | Ken Riley For use solely with the SongSelect Terms of Use.  All rights Reserved. www.ccli.com CCLI License No. 500152

Each mission trip, we give our team members a journal.  We want them to spend time each day reflecting on what happened and to write it down.  We do this so that they can look back in 2 weeks, 2 months, a year, etc. and remember the lessons they learned on the trip.  The commitments they made, the way they saw God move and work.

As I was working on this years journal, I began to wonder why it seems that we reserve this type of questioning and reflection to just mission trips.  What would it look like in our daily lives, if we looked at each day as if we were on a mission trip and expected things to happen?

So since you are a team member with us, here is your trip journal.  I'd encourage you to join us and journal your experience.  You don't have to wait till July 17, start today.  Take time each day to go through these questions and write your answers out.  Don't worry if at the start of this journey you don't feel like you have much to write.  It'll come, and you'll find yourself thinking about these questions as you walk through your day.

Blessings to you as you begin your journey with us.

Terry


Today's Date: __________________

What was the weather like today?


What was the highlight of your day?


What was the hardest about your day?


How did you see God at work today?


Who did you appreciate most today?  Why?


What made you laugh or cry today?


What's something new or different you experienced today?


Did anyone say anything "quote-worthy" today?


Prayer requests:


Answered prayers:

Hello MOBY Mexico Team friends and family.

Since this will be our primary means of communicating with all of you at home, we thought we'd give you a few instructions on the blog if you're new to blogging/internet.

We'll be doing our best to try and make a post most days, in it will be news of what we've done for the day,  how the team is doing, and prayer requests.  And if technology works for us, pictures too!  We may not have time or access every day, but we'll try.  This will be the first year that I am "with" the team not staying at home, so we'll be blogging on location in Mexico.

Sign Up - You can sign up to be notified of updates, it's the box in the top right where it says you can Subscribe to Receive Updates.  Put in your email address there, click "Subscribe Me", then you'll be sent an email and you will have to confirm your subscription by opening the email and clicking on the link it gives you when it gets to your inbox in your email box.  This will update YOU in your email when we've updated the blog.   This generally works right away, but if it doesn't in a day or so, try it again.  I find that sometimes it's wonky.

Or if you do a lot of blog surfing and have a blogger id or want one, you can like me be a "Follower" in the next box down.  By clicking "Follow" and following the instructions.   Make sense?


Comments - Unknown to us we were having some issues with the comments, now we've fixed it and you should be able to comment on each post.  Please do!  It's such an encouragement for the team to know we are being prayed for and so nice to have messages from home.  So friends and family you can gush all over us on the blog in your comments, and we'll all love it.  All you need to do is click on the word "Comment" on the bottom of the post you want to comment on and it will open up a new screen, type in what you want to say, tell us your name we we'll know it's you and click publish or send.

Easy peasy!

Thanks again for your support and most of all prayers.

Prayer Requests -  Tomorrow starts Vacation Bible School here for the HS Students on the team as they are training at our VBS first before we go.  They are Crew Leaders with groups of kids, , Leaders of Opening Session doing drama and singing or Chatter's Theatre doing stories.  Pray for a spirit of unity and cooperation especially as tomorrow is the first day and it's always filled with excitement and details getting sorted out.

Blessings Everyone!

Pastor Christine

Tomorrow morning we will be commissioned by our church to go to Mexico City as ambassadors of the Gospel of Christ.  What an amazing opportunity - to be prayed for, sent out and then to experience the hand of God at work and the powerful presence of your prayer covering.

What I also love about this service is how it brings two parts of the mission trip trilogy together.  Each short-term mission trip has three participants.  The senders, the goer-guests, and the host receivers.  McKernan Baptist Church and all of you who are praying for us, and have supported us financially, are a part of the "senders" of this MOBY Mexico 2010 Mission Trip.  Thank you for being a part of this team, we need you.

"Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years.  He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.  In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David." - 2 Chronicles 34:1-3a

As I read about Josiah, and his commitment to follow God, not turning aside and really seeking out God, I starting thinking about each team member, and how they are seeking God and what God would want them to do with their lives.  Going on this mission trip is a huge step of obedience, and for many, it is quite scary, as it is really outside their comfort zone, and their lives will not be the same.  They will have experienced God in a new way, and it is our prayer that this is just the beginning of a lifetime of following God and experiencing amazing things with God.

Thank you again for partnering with us on this great adventure.

Blessings,

Terry

This morning as I woke early (again), I was swamped with the thoughts of all the little things yet to be completed before we leave and I began to get anxious.  But before I allowed all of these ideas to consume me, I sat down and had my quiet time.  I am tempted to do things in my own power and strength and then wonder why I am frustrated at the end of the day.  I'm slowly learning that it is always better to start my day with God and seek His direction for my day.

As I was talking with God, one of my prayers was that He would reign in our team, and also in me, which led me to this song - "Reign in Us" by Starfield.

CCLI Song No. 5207587
¬© 2008 Fieldstar Music | Birdwing Music | Screaming Norman Music | WB Music Corporation (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) | (a div. of EMI Christian Music Publishing) | Ben Glover | Jon Neufeld | Tim Neufeld For use solely with the SongSelect Terms of Use.  All rights Reserved. www.ccli.com CCLI License No. 500152


I've underlined some of the lyrics that really spoke to me this morning, and are part of my prayer for myself and for our team.  That we would truly allow God to lead us as a team and individually.  We will be lost otherwise.

This mission trip is all about what God is going to do, not what I hope will happen.  Yes there are details yet to take care of, but with God's leading and guiding, the right ones will get done, and the ones that aren't needed, will be left for some other trip.

 Will you join with me as we pray that God's work will be done, and our selfish ambitions will be set aside to allow God to do immeasurably more than we can ever think or imagine?

Thank you.

Blessings,

Terry

I just finished a two-hour Skype conversation with Pastor Jaime and the reality of our trip hits home more and more each time we speak.  As we talked about what we will be doing while we are in Mexico City, the lyrics of the chorus from an old Steven Curtis Chapman song goes through my head.  (The Great Adventure)

Saddle up your horses

Started out this morning in the usual way
Chasing thoughts inside my head of all I had to do today
Another time around the circle try to make it better than the last


I opened up the Bible and I read about me
Said I'd been a prisoner and God's grace had set me free
And somewhere between the pages it hit me like a lightning bolt
I saw a big frontier in front of me and I heard somebody say "let's go"!


CHORUS
Saddle up your horses we've got a trail to blaze
Through the wild blue yonder of God's amazing grace
Let's follow our leader into the glorious unknown
This is a life like no other - this is The Great Adventure


Come on get ready for the ride of your life
Gonna leave long faced religion in a cloud of dust behind
And discover all the new horizons just waiting to be explored
This is what we were created for


(Chorus)


BRIDGE
We'll travel over, over mountains so high
We'll go through valleys below
Still through it all we'll find that
This is the greatest journey that the human heart will ever see
The love of God will take us far beyond our wildest dreams


Yeah... oh saddle up your horses... come on get ready to ride


(Chorus)

Our days are going to be very full and I just keep thinking - Saddle Up and get ready for the ride of our lives.  It is my prayer that as we continue to prepare for our adventure, we will not limit what God has planned to accomplish with this team in Mexico City.  I pray we will have the flexibility to go and do what is needed.  To not be offended when plans might change - if there are more or less children than we were expecting, etc.  

Thank you again for your interest in this mission trip.  In the next few days we will be posting our prayer guide for our trip, and we would covet your partnership in covering our team in prayer.

May you have a blessed day today.

Terry

In two weeks from today, we will be in Mexico City.  For me personally, the time can't go by quick enough on the one hand, and it seems like way to soon on another.  I can't wait to see the Becerra family and the others from the Monte Sion & Huixquilucan churches that we have met on the past two trips.  I can't wait to see how God has been working in the ministries that Pastor Becerra has been leading, and I can't wait to see how God will use this team this time around to encourage the Becerra's and touch lives.