We have now been back from Mexico over a week and coming back to a busy work schedule always delays getting a report out immediately, But then again it gives us bit of time to digest all that God accomplishes. Judy and I agree that this was one of the best teams we have ever had the pleasure to serve with. All but two of the team members were from Heart of the Father Ministry in Lakeland, and one couple was from Victory Church. Everyone came prepared in the Lord to do ministry to the people in the churches and serve and ‘bless’ Pastor Bill (Dream Center) anyway they could! We so blown away at their hearts for worship and ministry….basically love for God and people!! We arrived in Mexico on Friday afternoon and had a 3 hour drive to the Dream Center base in Tizimin (Yucatan). About 30 minutes from the base a rain storm hit and all the bags on top of the vehicle got soaked, but we got no complaints, they just unloaded and we took the wet things to the lauder mat to get dried. Friday we shopped for food, settled in and had a ministry time praying over Pastor Bill as he had been feeling ill…it was powerful and began a healing in his body. Due to the heavy week schedule ahead of us we went ahead and did our team fun day Saturday and visited the Mayan ruins and got a history/culture lesson from Pastor Bill…..he is a wealth of knowledge having been in these areas for 20 years. Saturday night we began our ministry to the churches of Tizimin. In all we visited 7 churches and had one night on the base with 50 Strong, the citywide youth ministry and meets at the base. They are a catalysis for the movement of God going out in the city and have been a real blessing to watch grow up and in the Lord the last six years since I began coming to Tizimin. Our first night (Saturday) we went to Calvary Family of God Methodist Church, Pastor Jorge and Anita’s church where I have ministered several times before and did the last marriage seminar. WOW! It was completely new, floor, walls (was open walled before), ceiling, stage, etc. They had received a special blessing to redo the church and we were actually the first church meeting this completing it! It was a night of special ministry to the congregation and Pastor’s. Two of our team members, Mac and Brandon, gave a word and then we began praying for everyone. WE then were blessed by a dance team performing a dance they had prepared for us and some prepared food and drink. At this point I just want to insert a little about Allyson and Jimmy the worship leaders. I MUST say that they are not be exalted above any other team member as everyone had a role (His role) and everyone moved in it for his glory. But I did want to say how blessed we were to have Allyson (worship leader at Heart of the Father) and Jimmy (also on the worship team and of whom I stated was multi-talented) lead worship at each event and take us into the presence of God in preparation for ministry. They had taken the time to learn a few worship songs in Spanish which I know spoke a lot to the people there (both their efforts and the music itself). Everyone who stood before a church a shared did a tremendous job and spoke what God had given them; it was always on target and received well. On Sunday we ministered in two churches. Sunday morning we visited Christian Family Center with Pastor Antonio. They were such a warm and open church. Their worship was great and hearts ready to both receive and give. We learned about a prophetic word given to the city of Tizimin that it would be ‘a land of milk and honey’….they had a large yellow banner with bumble bees symbolizing this…so ministry was wonderful that morning as blessing were spoken over them and they prayed over us. Sunday night we went to a new church I’d not been to before. It was small and they met in a thatched roof building, but their worship was wonderful and our ministry time powerful! Monday we began three days of concrete/plastering work (Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday) on some bathrooms Pastor Bill was building for Magdalena Saldaña who runs an after school program for children in a poor area of the city. While many of us did the concrete work several others cleaned up/weeded the yard area, and still others did ministry to the little children. Highlights of these days were when we led Edgar, the foreman of the crew Bill had hired, to the Lord, and also a family next door that came to the Lord. Magdalena has given her heart and soul to make a safe haven for these children to come to and get fed, literally and the Word! Her efforts are changing the lives of these kids and we were privileged to play whatever role to help her in this work! Monday night we hosted 50 Strong, the citywide youth movement at the DCI base. Allyson and Jimmie led worship that night, Pastor Bill gave a powerful word, and then the team again prayed for the youth…it was a great time of ministry! Tuesday night we visited Encounter with Christ Church with Pastor Eloina Sansor…. . We met outside so the community could hear the worship and sharing. Several of the guys went and played some basketball across the street with some neighborhood kids prior to the service. This night Jared (one of our teenagers) gave a word about a dream he had and did a tremendous job delivering the message! God used everyone on this trip in so many different ways. Wednesday night we drove about 45 minutes to the city of Valladolid for a service at a church we called ‘The Happy Church’ This was another church that Pastor Jorge and Anita took over to keep it from going under and were releasing it to a new pastor and wife. One cool thing that happen this night was since Pastor Bill was there (he was sick Sunday night when we were at Pastor Jorge’s church) Pastor Jorge and Anita asked him to come forward and spoke some amazing words of honor to him for his love and work he has put into their lives and Tizimin. He also expectantly spoke of what I had meant to them for the years I had come and given out to them and the churches. It was a priceless moment. Marlene Bishop gave a ‘visual’ message sharing her story and being a teacher her use of props was creative and amazing! As normal the team participated in their normal ministry and I personally had the opportunity to pray for a man named Louis. The Lord gave me word for him that he was a man full of compassion for others which brought tears to his eyes. Later I was asked to come to the back where Louis was standing with another man named Mario. They told me Mario had some questions, which ended up being about salvation, so I answered them and led him in a prayer to accept Christ! Praise God, the word he gave me for Louis was so true, his compassion for his friend Mario led to his salvation. After ministry a couple of young ladies performed interpretive dance for us. Thursday we worked at Bill’s base completing some projects some earlier teams had started including painting the chairs and finishing walls for a storage room. Josh and Jason had stayed on the base Wednesday and did a lot of the work on the storage room walls and Thursday I put Josh in charge of directing the team…he did a great job and everything got done. Thursday night we went to Prince of Peace Presbyterian Church (Presbyterian congregation Prince of Peace)…there was 3 different Presbyterian churches there. Jason gave a ‘specific’ word that night about a school coming forth from them, but nobody responded to it THEN. Later after ministry and man came to Josh and confessed it didn’t respond but the word was definitely on target! Also, our interpreter Moises Balam told us that a school had been discussed in the past and many felt it was something for the future. Friday was our last day. It was actually a ‘free day’ and the team did some shopping and indulging in culinary delights in the morning, but we decided to do an outreach that afternoon. Bill has flip flops and sandals donated to him that have ‘Jesus Loves You’ imprinted on the bottom. We took a bunch of these and went down the city square where the junior and senior high kids are dropped off by the busses. Allyson and Jimmie played and sang as the kids gathered around. I then shared why we were there and the gospel and then we handed out the shoes, prayed for anyone who wanted and took pictures with them. It was wonderful hour or so of connecting with a generation needing the love of Christ…and they got it! That night the final church we visited was just a block down the road from the DCI base. Church of God of Prophecy had just celebrated the night before the denominations birthday (I believe 104). They started the night with a dance team performing for us. After the church did some worship, Allyson and Jimmie led us in some more worship which led into ministry/prayer time. Brandon and Mac then shared words and finally the church prayed for us being it was our last night in Tizimin. Highlights of the trip were many: First we have to give kudos to Pastor Bill for being such a great missionary/host to work with! Although he was under the weather most of the time we were there, his presence, stories, grace and trust given to us was felt and enjoyed by everyone. Next, the team from Heart of the Father Ministry. Unity, love (of God, others, each other), ability to minister, hard workers, and non-complainers…just a few of the words that comes to mind. They were open and willing to do anything asked, but also some of the BEST GIVERS (bought a new refrigerator for the DCI base) we have been around. Thanks to all of them…Tizimin was different when we left because of their great hearts. The growth and spiritual condition of the churches in Tizimin. From the youth (50 Strong) to the climate in each church we visited the people are hungry for more of God and revival continues. As humility and unity reigns so does Christ and He can do much in that kind of atmosphere. Philip and Jack….a father and son from Virginia that came on their own to join our team not knowing anything about us. Their church background was different but they worked alongside of us and came to every church meeting. They were a blessing to be around with true servant hearts and we hope they join us sometime in the future as he takes his children to the mission field when they ‘come of age’. Leaving a great heritage! Finally, we cannot forget Moises and Haswey (sp) who traveled and interpreted for us. Moises has worked for Bill for 20 years and is one of the most humble men I’ve ever been around. His servant’s heart is one of a true bond-slave for the Lord. It actually set up our schedule for the week, worked his teaching job during the day and took us to each church every night. Haswey is in college and while on summer break works for Bill. He is a joy to be around and was there during the days to interpret for us in whatever we did. Last and not least YOU! Are friends and family and pray for and support the work we are blessed to do. Coming back from a trip like this where we got to see God move in such tremendous ways just excites us more to continue going and doing as He leads and allows. All of this would of course not be possible without the support we get from all of you. I have been stuck in I, II, and III John lately. In III John he is writing to the church exhorting them for their love and support of those doing the work of the Lord. He writes, “Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the brethren, and especially when they are strangers; and the bear witness to your love before the church; and you will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. For they went out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore, we ought to support such men, that we may be fellow workers with the truth.” You are our fellow workers! Your faithfulness to us allows us to go and GIVE, not expecting anything in return other than the joy we receive to see others get His love and grow in Him. THANK YOU!!! WHAT’S NEXT – we leave July 17th for Albania. We will be working with CRU (Campus Crusades for Christ) attending a few days of an English Camp for High School students and working in the summer long outreach to teenagers in Tirana. In between we will be sharing at Tirana Evangelical Church and attending and sharing at a Youth Camp for the kids that have been coming to church from the area of town and Judy and I went and worked with Julian and Erjola Cela (youth leaders) last year on our trip. This will be a special time for these kids who come from a poor area to go on a retreat and get loved on and poured into! We know God has something special for them. Next, though not set in stone yet, it appears we may be going to Okinawa, Japan sometime in October. Allyson and Jimmie from the Mexico team are going for a youth conference and invited us to come and participate. Details will come in the next few weeks but we are excited for new opportunities! Finally, we have begun talks on going to Rome in March next year to do a marriage seminar for the CRU staff there. Dave and Keda Clady is a couple from our old church in Tampa (The Crossing Church) that are now serving on the CRU staff in Rome. They are actually how we met Altin and Diane, are hosts/friends in Albania we work with (Altin is the CRU director in Albania/region). Please pray with us about these opportunities, that we may hear His voice clearly and go and do as He directs….thanks! Special prayer request for Pastor Richard Ntim and his family in Ghana! A few weeks ago his car engine caught on fire in the garage of their home. Thank God they were able to get the car out so that there was no damage to his home or family, but the engine burnt up! Needless to say this puts them in quite the bind. He is going to try and get a new engine and wiring for the car and have it cleaned, small body repair, etc. but until then is without transportation except for taxis. Please lift them up in prayer and if the Lord leads to help you can send a check to our ministry designated for this and it will get to them. Please check out this You Tube video of our trip youtube/watch?v=rCXdKpfaXZA&feature=youtu.be For support please make checks out to World Partners and mail to us (address below) or visit our website: lookingforwardministries.org and click our contribution tab to give online via Paypal. Once again thanks and may the Lord bless each of you. Grace and peace… Planting seeds of hope in life and relationships Scott and Judy Phipps Looking Forward Ministries lookingforwardministries.org 1800 W. Granger Street, #911 Broken Arrow, OK. 74012 317-403-6768 813-751-9734 sdphipps5@gmail judyphippslifecoach@gmail
Posted on: Fri, 28 Jun 2013 04:47:50 +0000