Our staff just came off of an incredible week of meetings.  We join together twice a year to discuss ministry and to unify ourselves as a group.  Will and I post many entries on this blog about what God is doing here on the island.  We truly do love writing the stories of the happenings here, but I wanted to take a moment to go in a little different direction.

Our staff has grown by leaps and bounds since we joined the ministry 8 years ago.  We have grown in numbers as well as maturity in our own personal faith journeys.  I look at our staff sometimes and just giggle.  God has this crazy group together for His purpose and His glory.  The reason I giggle is because we are a rag tag bunch for sure, but a bunch who is committed to serving Christ, loving others and growing The Kingdom.  We are committed to growing in our personal walks and allowing Him to work on us in the process, and we are committed to doing God's will for our lives; which just happens to be serving with G.O. Ministries.  God is still working on all of us through our faults and through our humanness, but He has no doubt brought us together to do some major damage (in a good way) in Jesus' name.

We come from all different walks of life, and this is why we make a great team.  We're a powerful force.  We use each others experiences and wisdom to learn and to grow.  There are many of us who come from brokenness.  There are many of us who battle our own demons of selfishness and pride, and many who struggle with trust and forgiveness.  But, the beautiful thing about it all is that we recognize we have all been redeemed by the blood of Christ and we are works in progress. We use our stories for His purpose.

We ask that you pray for us as our fullest season of ministry approaches.   We are humbled that we have the opportunity to be even the smallest part of this life changing experience for team members.  If you find yourself reading this and you are coming on a short-term trip to the DR this year, know that we are praying for you and we will be welcoming you with open arms!

He ruled the world with Truth and Grace

 

 This past year Audrey and I received blessing after blessing as we watched Ruby Ann change and grow into a beautiful little toddler.  We continue to learn so much from such a sweet, little child!  I've heard over and over that big, incredible gifts can come in small packages and we can bear witness to that through the gift of Ruby Ann in our lives. 

 

During this past Christmas season, I found myself celebrating the birth of Jesus differently than I ever had in the past.  I'm sure a lot of it had to do with having a child of our own now, but some of my new found feelings were sparked by a couple of books I read several weeks ago called The Grace and Truth Paradox by Randy Alcorn and Simply Jesus by N.T. Wright.  The idea of the Alcorn book is that Jesus walked this earth displaying a perfect balance of grace and truth.  The part of the Wright book that impacted me is the way he explained what Jesus was getting into when he road into Jerusalem on a donkey.  Rome was claiming that Caesar was divine and in charge, the Jews were living as though the law of Moses ruled the earth as they waited a messiah, and then God sends Jesus into Jerusalem on a donkey announcing that He is the son of YHWH and things are about to change!

 

So here's this little baby born to a virgin that many have come to celebrate and many are soon to hate.  He has now become a man and will change the world forever.  Amidst the political heat, the power struggles, the pride and confusion that was present when Jesus rode into Jerusalem, He still seemed to live and teach with an incredible balance of grace and truth.

I have come to realize (it took a while :) that we have the most incredible story and example in Jesus to share with the world.  How differently would people respond if we presented truth with grace?  How would people change if they received grace partnered with truth?  What if the world was still ruled with truth and grace?  God has placed it upon my heart to seek His guidance in practicing the grace and truth that Jesus lived out every day.  In 1 Corinthians 9:16, Paul says, "Woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel."  If I am not busy preaching the truth, with grace, then what am I busy doing?  We are asking that as move forward in ministry this year that you all please pray for us as we continue to learn the gospel, receive God's grace and share it with everyone we come in contact with. 
 

 

 (Ruby wanted to say  hello!)