more on Matthew

Matthew 5:31-32

“You have heard the law that says, ‘A man can divorce his wife by merely giving her a written notice of divorce.’ But I say that a man who divorces his wife, unless she has been unfaithful, causes her to commit adultery. And anyone who marries a divorced woman also commits adultery."

Does anyone else see the line here that says 'unless she has been unfaithful"? I always thought divorce was wrong in God's eyes, no matter what. Not sure where I got that but I am glad I am able to read the words for myself straight from the mouth of Jesus!


Here is another one I thought I knew but had twisted in my mind:

Matthew 5:42

Give to those who ask, and don’t turn away from those who want to borrow.

Give to those who ask??? Like the guy standing on the corner who might use my money to buy cigarettes or alcohol or drugs? I always thought I was being a good steward of my money by NOT giving to those people. A friend and I were talking about this verse and she asked me, "Who are we to judge who is worthy to use our money, since God gave it all to us anyway?" OUCH!!! I think she was right.

Sometimes it hurts when I find out I have believed something incorrectly for all these years. My first reaction is to try to blame someone else...maybe a former teacher. The truth is it is MY responsibility to read it for myself. But, I am thankful that God is correcting me so I can try to follow these not quite so easy guidelines.

Wow what a day!

ok i will start this by saying God is awesome and all this was because of Him. we have had a crazy couple weeks of prep and prayer (and enemy attacks) for today...the start of a 4-week series on marriage at COF Cancun. Lots of anticipation of what God is going to do through this series...here is a quick rundown of what we saw today.

• three theaters, simultaneous worship in two service times. 10:00 - 2 spanish rooms, 1 english; 11:30 - 3 spanish
• 74 students in their new venue at the other end of the plaza (middle school, high school age)
  
• 200+ kids in the kids area
• 820 adults in the theater between the two times and three rooms
  
• total ~ 1,100 people (about 650 more than the week before)
• lots of volunteers stepped up to help (greeting, kids area, students, tech setup)
  
• 2 worship leaders singing in different rooms accompanied by the same band (the third room filled after the message had started)
  
• a great message from Marco
• lots of positive feedback from first-time guests. always exciting when they come because of problems with their marriage and then they learn that the real answer is Jesus
  

thanks again for your prayers...now we get to do it again next week!! and thinking about that makes me want to go to bed right now. :)

Retaliating with Love

Matt 5:7,9, 21-22, 39-42

God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.

21 “You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’[d] 22 But I say, if you are even angry with someone,[e] you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot,[f] you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone,[g] you are in danger of the fires of hell.

39But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

I have read those verses and others many times recently in the book of Matthew. These were words that Jesus taught. We are told to be merciful and to work for peace. If we are even angry we are subject to judgment. Do no resist an evil person. I don’t know how I have read those verses so many times and not actually chosen to apply it to myself. I was a supporter of the war the US is currently in. I had a gun and learned how to use it for self defense. Engaging in war, no matter what the motive, is not merciful or peace-making. Me being ready to shoot an intruder is resisting an evil person- which is exactly what Jesus said not to do.

These are the things we have been reading lately. We don’t have it all figured out, but we do know this is how we are told to behave as Christians. I know it sounds crazy but since when does anything Jesus said make any sense to us mere mortals?

More on this soon.
~Kaycee

Baptism Pictures

Nathan and Miguel filled up the pool the night before. It took two water trucks called Pipas to fill it up.

This picture is a couple from the US that live in the area named Ed and Connie. It was so sweet to see them get baptized together!

This was me and a guy named Tomas. We got baptized at the same time. The water was REALLY cold!

This was a friend's brother and sister. It was only Mario's second time to visit the church. We were all so excited for them.

Luis, the other pastor here, got a chance to baptize his mom. It was such an emotional time. At the end of the last service he also baptized his daughter, Renata.

We had 71 people baptized on September 21.

Mexican Ingenuity

The Mexican people are amazing. Nothing stops them. Nothing gets them down. If they want to do something, they will find a way. Here are a few examples of things I have seen here over the last few weeks.
Entire families on one scooter...mom, dad, six year old and baby (all with helmets of course)
-A man riding his bike while carrying a large box fan.
-A man riding his bike while carrying a pizza.
- Bicycle taxis ready to take you anywhere you want to go
-A bicycle taxi stacked eight feet high with furniture
-A man standing on the street corner, making churros and selling them while you wait for the light to change

My favorite and the most impressive:
-A man riding his bike while carrying a six foot ladder!!!

WOW! I would sit at home thinking I couldn't go to work today because I didn't have a car. Not the people I saw...they work it out!

Baptism Sunday

Happy Sunday all!

Thank you for your prayers this weekend...God answered them in a strong way! We had a great morning as we celebrated communion and baptisms today. With a pool set up in the back service driveway of the theater, we baptized 71 PEOPLE throughout the three services.

We had planned for 50 spontaneous, so had to make a quick run to the store to prep extra packages before the last service when we saw we were going to be short. Even the rain during the last service paused exactly long enough for us to baptize and then restarted. It was an unforgettable day and a life-changing experience for so many. Special thanks to Kaycee (event coordinator) and Marco for the awesome sermon.

Exciting things at the Cancun campus, as God continues to amaze me. :)

-nw

El Policia

Today was my first time to be pulled over by the police! I was in the car alone...which NEVER happens. I turned left at a place where the sign says not to but I couldn't see it because of the huge bus in front of me. I was also on the phone with Nathan which is not allowed here. My license is also expired which matters here too. After the guy took ten minutes to explain to me what I did wrong (I finally understood with LOTS of patience on his part), he told me I had to go to the police station to pay one hundred and fifty dollars. They take your license here until you pay your ticket.
I said that I could go in the morning and pay my ticket. He said if I paid him right here (bribe him) he would not write me a ticket and it would not go on my Cancun record. We went back and forth for a long time. After about twenty minutes it finally ended. He gave me my license back with out a ticket and invited me to go dancing with him sometime (with Nathan if he wanted to come too). HAHAHA It was so funny but I got away without bribing or a ticket and it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. :)

Baptism

This week we are working on spontaneous baptisms for CDF Cancun. I am in charge of making sure everything goes well and is planned out perfectly. I am really excited about it. There are several ladies helping me put everything together. We are providing clothes, undergarments, towels, anything you could possibly need to get baptized so people have no excuses not to go ahead and do it that day. I am getting baptized in the English service. I was baptized when I was little but I don't remember anything about it. Now it has a whole new meaning to me. Nathan is going to baptize me...I am just a little nervouse that he might try to dunk me before my nose is plugged or something. ;) You know he would be serious at a time like this though. I wish all of you could be here to celebrate with me.

Our cable to hook the camera to our computers has been missing for a few weeks. I used it when Bethany and Charity were here so I know it is in our new house. As soon as we find it we will post some pics of the kids. Thanks for keeping us in your prayers.

I Like To Move It Move It

Check out our kids moves! They are ready for the clubs in Cancun.

Emmy's spanish

Happy Birthday!

video blogging

fifth test with this...and just to clarify we are only moving a few streets away here in Cancun.

Just a typical day in Mexico :)

The last few days have been so interesting. We are really getting a taste for what it means to live in Mexico. Yesterday morning we had the most awful smell in our house after I fixed breakfast. It took several minutes before we saw black smoke pouring out of our laundry room. When we opened the door we saw that our tankless water heater had exploded in flames! Thankfully Nathan was back from Costa Rica or I would not have known what to do. He turned off the gas and put the fire out with a damp towel.

Today the men came to replace our water heater. After the water heater was in place they turned it on to check it. Something was not connected correctly because water was spraying all over the ceiling. They got that mess cleaned up and finished what they could with out the piece they were missing. The men will return tomorrow to finish but they didn't tell us that they did not connect the water line to anything. Nathan turned on the bath for Davin and I heard running water coming out of the laundry room. That room is now flooded! again! The men are supposed to return in the morning (always mañana) so hopefully they will get it right this time and we can have hot baths tomorrow. :) Just a small sample of life in Mexico. From what I hear this is pretty typical.

Flying solo

Nathan is in Costa Rica for 6 days with a group from Houston and a few people from Cancun. I am alone with the kids for 6 days. It is only day two and I think I could sleep for the next four days. Apparently Davin and I do not sleep well with out Nathan here. I think Emmy could sleep through anything so she is fine.

My friend Ana took me to look at houses today. I found three that were nice options so I will bring Nathan by when he gets back.

If you read this before tomorrow, please pray for me. I am singing all the services by myself (including Spanish!) because our other singer is visiting Houston. I am nervous but prepared so it should be fine.

I am getting the kids ready for bed now so I will blog more later. :)

Freakishly huge kids!

We decided to measure the kids today just to see if they are really as huge as they seem or if it is just because we compare them to Mexicans. They really are giants! On the pediatric growth charts, Emmy is in the 100th percentile for her age height at 39 inches tall. Davin is not even on the chart for 15 month olds. He is 31 inches tall which is the 100th percentile for 18 month olds!!! Crazy tall kids. I wonder where they would get that gene from? ; )

Just thought I would update you on our kids.
-KC