May 22-26, Tim and Maryl have been in Puebla, Mexico with Pastors Phil and Judy Jaquith in Fountain for the World church (Fuenta) for a great worship conference with many churches in attendance as well as ministering at the Youth service Saturday night, preaching Sunday morning (which happens to be their 34th wedding anniversary!!!!) and sharing with the church leadership Monday night. This will be the third nation in six months that the Lord has sent them to facilitate and release worship in churches everywhere they go. Uganda was a stretching yet rewarding time with orphans, widows, boats, goats and chickens; followed by a much colder time in Kamchatka Russia, releasing brand new songs in Russian, Ukranian and Keriak languages as well as braving a snow bank in a swimsuit, dancing authentic Keriak dances, speaking 51 times in two weeks and visiting state-run orphanages.
Now we had the joy of returning to Mexico after 28 years to the wonderful Mexican people in Puebla, Mexico. We enjoyed the adventure of worship with this great church and all the other groups joining us in His presence. Thank you for praying and supporting us during this significant time in our ministry. Jesus is truly moving among us and keeping us on our toes.
We love you all. Be thrilled in His presence today.
Your Worship Missionaries: Tim and Maryl Smith
- Update, May 21: we arrived safe and sound in Mexico City International Airport and got picked up by Jamie Hess (formerly from City Church in Seattle) and had a great time getting to know her on the two hour bus ride to Puebla. The church here has put us in a beautiful hotel in downtown Puebla and we are going to catch up on our sleep tonight (only 3 hours last night due to packing with our eyes closed). Thanks for the prayers. More tomorrow.
- Update, May 22: Jamie told us today, that she witnessed to the taxi driver that drove us to the hotel last night, and he accepted Christ right there in the taxi! Praise God! He’s everywhere, and He never goes off the ‘clock’. The weather here is warm but not bad. Pastors Phil and Judy Jaquith took us to lunch today to fill us in on the church and God’s goings-on. They are looking to expand right in the heart of Puebla – big vision, great people. The conference started with a bang. The worship leader, Armando, lead a strong enthusiastic set of songs I had never heard before (they had no video so we couldn’t even read the lyrics, lots of la-la-la’s) but the spirit was infectious. They have some good choreographed dances that the youth do to a lot of the songs which adds a unique dimension to their worship. Their main keyboard got caught under a leak in the roof and drowned into silence, so we ended up with an old Korg M1, but worship goes on. Their musicians are an array of talent running the whole gamut from professionals to normal people. Delightful to worship with them. I shared my ‘Aloha’ song with them, which always gets a great response wherever we go. Aloha is such a universal word, but with it’s great spiritual significance (Alo: in the presence of; Ha: the breath of Life) it sings beautifully. I then shared some of the vision of worship that I see for the church in Puebla. Actually only got through my first point before I had to close, but their response was incredible. One third of the congregation came forward to be released from bondages and guilt and to receive the forgiveness and grace of Jesus Christ. Powerful start to a great week. More tomorrow, stay tuned.
- Friday, May 23 (two days until our anniversary!) Had a powerful game of golf with Pastor Phil at El Cristo, a beautiful course where every hole has an incredible view of Mt. Popocatepetl (they call it ‘Popo’) an active volcano that spews ash occasionally (we hope to see some ‘spew’ before we leave). The service in the evening was exciting from beginning to end, starting with their youth team doing some high-powered songs with dancing again that continues to boggle my mind on how they get their bodies to do those steps and in unison no less! i have some video i will share when i get back. I was able to finish up the vision notes from the first night focusing on the vital songs and living words in worship, the changing process of the Holy Spirit and the importance of healthy relationships in our worship teams. Good response afterwards as most came forward receive forgiveness and start the change process with Jesus. This is a very responsive group. Tomorrow is the big day.
- Saturday, May 24 – What a great day. I ministered at the worship conference from 9am to 3:30pm and then the Fuente youth in the evening. A long, tiring yet greatly rewarding day. After another rousing session of worship in the morning, I spoke to the worship teams on flowing together in the spirit and truth of worship with a lot of interaction from the conference members. in the afternoon, I met with leaders and pastors for two special sessions on leading the flow, organizing a choir and worship team and releasing the new song in worship. The response to all of this was overwhelming and exciting to see. In the evening, the church was packed out (5-600) with youth from Puebla. The worship was electric with most of them dancing and very involved. I shared on 1 Peter 2:9, declaring the youth to be chosen, royal, and holy. I got to illustrate my amazing dance techniques learned in Uganda and Russia. I think I saw a lot of cellphones taking pictures but I hope I was mistaken. This was a very responsive group. When I gave the altar call, hundreds of youth responded to the call with about a dozen young people giving their lives to Jesus for the first time. There were hundreds recommitting their lives and calling as well as a renewed commitment to guard their conversation and relationships. Powerful time.
- Sunday, May 25 (our 34th wedding anniversary!) We received a beautiful bouquet of flowers from the church at both services. We shared briefly in the first service and then went to the Arcadia campus to enjoy the second service there. This facility while much more open and beautiful, has a dome that makes the sound nigh to impossible to fully enjoy or understand half the time. But the worship team did an admirable job and the dancers were in rare form with lots of younger kids joining in the fun. I shared on the importance of a song of faith in our lives. In the middle, I was illustrating the need for ‘real men sing real loud’ and having men join me for a choir, and all of a sudden Pastor Phil joins me at the front followed by about 30 more men from all over. Then we sang ‘How Great Thou Art’ in Spanish, real loud of course, and it was powerful filling up that sanctuary with the passionate voices of real men for the first time. I shared the story of Chuck a friend of ours who came out of his ‘grave’ of over 3 years when the Lord came to him and asked: ‘Are you through?’ The response was fantastic with the scores of people responding, many for the very first time receiving Jesus into their hearts. Powerful! Finished our anniversary day with a great dinner, a nap and a movie (Prince Caspian).
- Monday, May 26, 2008 – slept in! then we had a great lunchtime with Pastors Phil and Judy. Their faith, wisdom and passion really stirs us and they gave us more insight into how to be more effective missionaries in what God has called us to do. They’ve been doing this missionary-thing for 21 years, so we were listening. God has been so faithful to them, in some pretty dire situations and seasons of their lives. That night, we met with the leaders of the worship ministry for some Q&A and final thoughts as well as strategizing for the development of the whole ministry (starting a choir and maybe an orchestra). After that, Maryl spoke to the whole leadership team of the church (app. 250 people!) on personal devotions and abiding. Great word, great ending to a great week!
- Tuesday, May 27, 2008 flew home (got diverted and held up in San Antonio for 3 1/2 hours) and came home exhausted in an exhilarating kind of way. What a thrill to be a part of such an incredible work down in Puebla. Join with us in prayer for a great church with a great vision for all of Mexico.