Day 5: March 25, 2008

This is our team in front of the mission house.

Taco Tuesday

We all had breakfast together at the mission house. Then we sang some songs and shared some verses. That day we set out to flyer again. But this time we decided not to knock on doors. We had a lot of ground to cover. Our goal was to hang 10,000 of the door hangers during the week. We had approximately 1,000 done after the first day. I had one good conversation with a woman. She already knew of the Rio and it’s location. She said she might come on Sunday.

We had lunch at the Nelsons. It was a good meeting point for us since it was close to where we were flyering. It was good to see the kids again. The Nelson kids do lots of chores without complaining a bit. The family is an example of good, solid Christian parenting in action.

After lunch we passed out the flyers for the carnival. We had about 300 of those to pass out. We went to just the neighborhood near the park where the carnival was taking place. We knocked on doors and people seemed pretty interested. We finished that in a couple hours then headed back to the mission house to rest for a little bit.

Then we went to the Nelsons. We decided to fix dinner there. I played some basketball and then some 4-square with the kids. The ladies fixed tacos and it was really good. We played some more 4-square and then all of the teams met up around the fire. The Missouri team and El Paso team all came over. The El Paso team wanted to share how they came to El Paso. They shared how God had brought them there to help plant the Rio church. I was amazed by the stories. A lot of people left good jobs, friends and family in Colorado to come to El Paso. When they made the move they trusted God for everything.


This is the mission teams gathered around the fire at the Nelsons.

The El Paso team followed what God had put on their heart and not the way of the world. Tom shared Acts 1:8 again. He said that verse is part of the vision of the Great Commission Church (GCC) movement. We are directed to bring the Gospel to the world. GCC has planted churches from its beginning and still is today. Tom asked “How much are you willing to give up?” He said, “Will you get comfortable and live the world’s way or will you keep this vision alive?”

Kathleen Nelson shared how the church plant was (and is) a huge witness for her children. They gave up a lot and they get to see the church plant in action. I thought about how much I am willing to give up. I know that a church plant is part of the plan for the Rock. Our House Church model is preparation for that. Would I give up and leave a great job, my friends and family? I would like to hope so. It’s not easy, but if it’s what God wants me for me I hope I would make the move.

After that we went to Cold Stone to get some ice cream. The sacrifices of the Rio team gave us all a lot to think about. After that we headed to Walmart to buy some toys for the kids at the orphanage. It was fun until we went to the self check-out. The scanner wouldn’t scan certain items. It took forever and we were all pretty exhausted.