John 15:16 says "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name."
These verses speak to the heart and souls of the 21 youth and adults who travelled to Tijuana, Mexico, June 13 - 20. What an amazing group of people.
Colossians 1 says "And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light." These verses accurately depict what they did and how they lived their life on the trip. Let me share a little about each one of them so you can know their hearts and souls too.
Galations 5:22-23 says "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."
Love - Jessica Edwards - What a lovely young woman filled with the love of the Lord that just shines through her everyday!
Joy - Jon Dolan - We were challenged to let the joy of the Lord come through us also and Jon, in my opinion, has an amazing enthusiasm and zest for Life in Jesus.
Peace - Laura Goble - She has an inner peace that gives her strength through difficult situations.
Patience - Blake Goeman - He was always patient when it was sometimes hard to be.
Kindness - Caleb Zehnder - He was kind to everyone he met. His servant heart was amazing.
Goodness - Vicki Zellmer - Beautiful inside and out!
Faithfulness - Brenna Ehster - She was determined to live out the calling God had on her life.
Gentleness - Karen Thompson - What an amazing gentle spirit!
Self Control - Jason Bartsch - What an amazing young man that always put others first.
James 3:17 "But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere."
Pure - Laura Stephenson - This is someone you need to get to know. She has an amazing witness of her faith.
Peaceloving - Joe Perry - Always there to make peace and serve others.
Considerate - Dan Neis - Literally one of the "Neisest" guys you would ever want to meet.
Submissive - John Perry - Chose to do things sometimes he didn't want to do.
Full of Mercy - Mike Long and Kirsten Huber - Both have amazing gifts of compassion yet in different ways.
Good Fruit - Dan Zehnder and Sandi Dolan - Who feed us both spiritually and physically! We love you both!!!
Impartial - Claire Schuerman and Chelsea Saari - Both had a heart to reach out to all people and include them in our community.
Sincere - Pete Heintz - Mission heart through and through.
And so we bring the mission home with us. We continue reaching out to people with Jesus love right here in our neighborhoods, schools, jobs and families. We thank you for your support. We thank you for your prayers. We thank God for the amazing work He did in each of us this week!
Romans 5:3-4 "Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope."