Saturday, May 31, 2008

My Books for June & July


I went to the Family Christian Book Store today and spent entirely too much money. Oh, wait a minute, I did save $25.20 with my Pastor's Perks Card, so I guess the damage could have actually been worse.
My goal for this year is to read a minimum of 4 books a month, so as you can see from the picture, my reading for June & July is ready to go. Oh yeah, by the way, it is May 31st and I am one book ahead of schedule. (There is one good thing about longer layovers)

Friday, May 30, 2008

Immune Builder Shake

I was traveling through the Houston airport today and decided to buy an Immune Builder Shake from Smoothie King. When I finally made it to my gate and sat down to enjoy this yummy treat, a thought came to me: This Immune Builder Shake is a lot like my devotions for my spiritual well-being. Please let me explain. There are tons of places to grab something to eat in the Houston airport, but the majority of the things they offer aren't the best for our physical well-being. So instead, I chose something that was full of vitamins and minerals, something that would help strengthen my body. So it is with our spiritual well-being as well. There are tons of things that we could do with our time, energy, and resources, but they are not all good for our spiritual immune system. (our spirit man) We could opt for things that would be fun, entertaining, or exciting, but that would ultimately leave our spiritual immune system in a weak and/or vulnerable state. Or we could choose to spend time praying or reading the Word and ultimately build our spiritual immune system. It is a simple choice that you and I have to make everyday.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Raining More Than Cats and Dogs



Nicaragua is being inundated with rain at this present moment. If you look at the picture on the far left, you can see the storm clouds coming in and literal walls of rain coming down. The news stations actually say that of the Latin countries, Nicaragua has been hit the hardest since this storm arouse in the Caribbean.
I took the other picture when I arrived at office this morning. At 7:15 am, the time of this picture, part of our recording studio was already several inches under water and it hasn't stopped raining since. Now our problem is trying to repair the roof in the rain. It's a catch-22 situation, but at this point we don't have any other choice. We can't afford to get more rain on the radio equipment.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

A Leadership Thought to Always Remember

Okay, I may have broken the law by posting someone else's picture on my blog without their written consent, but I think that my blog is obscure enough that the photographer won't really mind.

As we all know, leadership is influence. And because a leader has influence, he or she will be out front leading the way, just like this picture depicts. However, there is something that we, as Christian leaders, often overlook in our efforts to become better, more effective leaders. Many times we fail to recognize that we are Christians before we are leaders. In other words, we often put so much focus on being a leader, or on our responsibilities, position, and ministries, that we fail to focus on the fact that we are Christians, or as the word signifies, followers of Christ. Hey, I know that I'm preaching to the choir here, because I am as guilty of this as every other John Doe. We, as leaders, tend to listen to scores of teachings on leadership, devote hours a week to reading books on leadership, and even attend leadership conferences throughout the year. Now as important as this may be, how much time do we actually focus on becoming more like Christ? I'm not saying, "How much time do we devote to becoming better Christian leaders," but "How much time do we focus on developing the characteristics of Christ in our lives." Remember, we are Christians before we are leaders. Sure, I may be the Senior Executive Pastor of a church with the average weekend attendance of 7,500 people, so you could say that I am a leader because I have an influence over a large group of people. However, if you take me out of this position I may no longer have a title or position or the influence of a leader, but I will still be a Christian. So regardless of how far I climb on the ladder of influence, or what title I may one day carry, if you took it all away, I would still be a Christian. That my friends, should be the foundation of our leadership. Our leadership should be a reflection of our relationship with Christ. As important as it is to study and learn, our ability to lead should not come from a book or a class, but come from our relationship with Christ. If we want to be a better leader, we need to spend time in prayer. If we want to be more effective, we need to spend more time in God's Word. If we want to experience breakthroughs in our leadership, then we need to spend time fasting and seeking the face of God. It is when we get back to the basics of Christianity and focus on God and glorifying Him, as opposed to trying to reach some new level of leadership, that all the things that we heard, studied, and read regarding leadership, can then truly be put into practice. We need to remember that we are Christians first before everything else.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Monday Night Leadership

Despite the rain, we had a good crowd tonight for our once-a-month, church-wide leadership meeting. Here are a few photos of Pastor Spencer leading the congregation in prayer. The photo at the bottom is Pastor Spencer's famous "blessing the people" stance. As you can see from the picture, our leadership was open and ready to receive!

Men's Retreat



Last night, to close out the service, a few of the 100 men that participated in this weekend's men's retreat, shared about what God did in their lives during the retreat. It is incredible how "on fire" people come back from a retreat. May the Lord keep those flames burning.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Parasite Medication Distribution



We've been blessed with the opportunity to partner with Operation Blessing to distribute parasite medicine. Today, we launched a campaign to begin distributing 250,000 anti-parasite pills. Each campaign will include dramas, musical talent, a doctor's teaching/instructions, and the presentation of the Gospel by distributing salvation bracelets.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Leadership Dinner-Women's Ministry


This evening we attended a leadership dinner for Hosanna's women's ministry. Wow, I must say, I was quite impressed. Pastor Edel and her group did an incredible job. Over 200 ladies (all part of Pastor Edel's leadership) came out to Rosti Pollo for a time of worship, prayer, teaching, and fellowship. Oh yeah, each lady also received a little gift. What a nice touch! I spoke on "3 Things that every leader should understand," then Pastor Spencer closed-out with a prayer of blessing.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Why Can't I Have a 30-Hour Day?


This is the exact reason why I didn't want to start a blog in the first place. I just can't find the time to dedicate to it. As much as I love to write, I just don't have the time to do so. For example, I am using the 5- minutes I have between meetings to write this simple blog. Ooops, by the time I posted the picture of the clock, it left me with two minutes and counting...........Well, my fine feathered friends, until next time; Keep your chin up and knees down, the best is yet to come. Blessings.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Shall We Negotiate?


This past weekend, I received all the information regarding the two churches that we are interested in assuming. (See blog from two weeks ago: Good idea or God idea) I believe that the buildings and land are worth the price they are asking, however, we are not in a position to pay what they are asking. You know, I never thought I would find myself wanting to negotiate over the price of a church. Sure, a building or land that we desire to use for a church, but never actually negotiating over the price of two exisiting churches, that actually have faithful congregations.
How is it that two ministries can begin to barter and negotiate and try to "get the most that they can" from each other, when they are negotiating over something that belongs to God? I know business is business and I try to be the best steward of God's resources that I possibly can, but something seems wrong with this picture! Shouldn't I want the best for this other ministry? Shouldn't I desire that they are blessed and prosperous? Shouldn't I treat them the way that I desire to be treated? If that is the case, why am I trying to pay the absolute mininum that I can for these two churches? To be continued.......................................................................................

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Latest Pictures From China




This is the 3-year old girl that was rescued from the rubble and some pictures of what our missionary friends in China are digging through. The area has experienced 4000+ aftershocks, plus there have been many mudslides, making matters even more difficult. Please keep praying because the latest concern is that the local dam appears that it is about to burst.

Which Do You Want First?

Good News: The public transportation strike is over! The government decided to lower the gas prices for the taxi and bus drivers by $1.oo per gallon. Now everyone can get to work again and the country seems to be able to function once again in a semi-normal capacity.

Bad News: To compensate for the $1.00 a gallon discount for the taxi and bus drivers, the normal folks, like us, are now paying $5.30 a gallon. Isn't that special!

Would anyone be willing to send me a mountain bike with a bike seat for 3 children? Oh yeah, I guess I would need a side-car for my wife too!

Students of the Week




These beautiful children were the "Students of the Week" at the orphanage. And beause they behaved so well, they were honored guests at Bismarck's and Adriana's wedding. Way to go guys, we are so proud of you! You are all doing such a terrific job and learning so much.










Congratulations Bismarck and Adriana


This morning Bismarck Ocon and Adriana Vasquez tied the knot! As you can see from their picture, they were all smiles and were enjoying every minute of the ceremony and post-ceremony celebration. What a blessing it is to have such pleasant, dedicated people in our church. Congratulations guys, may the Lord continue to bless you and keep you as you start your life together in this sacred covenant. Oh yeah, just in case I forgot to mention it earlier, the premarital counseling was free, but everything from here on out is going to cost you big time. (just kidding)

Friday, May 16, 2008

And Fridays Are My Days Off?


You know, I just don't understand how my Fridays, which are my "Days Off," always end up like this. From 7:15 am to 8:30 am Shanna and I met with the students in our Pastor's School, then from 8:30 am to 10:30 am we met with individual students from the school and signed checks. From there we did make it to Rosti Pollo for breakfast, but guess what, we talked about ministry related stuff almost the entire time. After breakfast we drove around looking for a desk and bookshelf for my office, but unfortunately everything was too expensive. From there we picked Ariana up from school (12:00) and headed home. Shortly after arriving at the Ferguson residence, we had a visit from our intern. Believe it or not though, no more work took place (okay, there were a few text messages and emails on the blackberry) until we dropped the kids off at a birthday party (3:00 pm) and headed to the church to pick up a few things. Once at the church, we talked to a few pastors and signed more checks. From the office we headed back to the party and after the party, we headed to Tae Kwon Do (5:00 pm to 7:00 pm). On arriving home from Tae Kwon Do, I managed to slip upstairs and get some good prayer time in, because at 8:30 pm I was going to minister to a group of leaders form the Young Married's group at church. So from 8:30 pm to 10:30 pm I found myself in a work-related situation again. Of course I actually love ministering to people, so I didn't actually perceive it as work. However, for Fridays being my "Day Off," they sure never seem to be a "Day Off!" The crazy thing is that today was actually a fairly work free Friday when compared to other Fridays. Maybe I should have said a big ole TGIF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PS-The picture was taken from my phone at the close of the meeting. Aldrin Reyes is closing the meeting with a prayer of blessing.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

More News from China

Here is the latest update from our friends in China.

Keep praying!

Yesterday my husband traveled with a group up closer to the epicenter to help dig people out of the rubble and do medical assistance. They had special permission to go past road blocks, but no way to get there. It took a long time and many conversations to finally find transportation. It seemed one thing after another was trying to keep them from being able to go. We were praying like crazy. Finally, they were able to rent a car, after the 3 or 4th try. I don’t know all the details, we have only been able to talk for 10 minutes. He said it was devastation like you could never imagine, completely unreal. I hear it was horrific, as they dug through rubble in homes and a middle school and well, you can image. Apparently they were working with a medical group from the city and there were no foreigners back there for a while, not even the media (who snuck in later). At midday, the army came in mass. They were in groups to digging people out. My husband’s group dug out 7 survivors!!!!!!!!!!!! One of the survivors was a little 3 year old girl, who was as cute as a doll. She didn¹t have a scratch but had been trapped in rubble for 3 days.

Please pray for him and for the other volunteers to be able to stay!

Please pray that those who will be rescued and even those who won¹t would have visions of Jesus!

PS-I am so thrilled to know that on my 9th wedding anniversary, my husband helped rescue 7 lives...please Lord, let there be more!

A Josiah Generation


2 Kings 22:1-2 Josiah was eight years old when he became king.....He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.......not turning aside to the right or to the left.

Last night our children's pastor, Adolfo Manzanares, preached a very encouraging word. However, the most powerful part of the entire service was when the children's discipleship group(ages 6-12) began to pray and minister. It was awesome to see 100-plus kids laying hands on adults and praying mighty prayers of faith.

The discipleship programs that Pastor Adolfo (children's pastor) and Pastor Ditmara (junior high pastor) started last year have really taken off and we are seeing a lot of fruit. There is a powerful generation of young people being trained and equipped to take the Gospel around the world.

Mark 16:20 The the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed His word by the signs that accompanied it.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Crusade Postponed for Jinotega

This is the view I was planning on having this Saturday in Jinotega, but we decided that it would be best to postpone the crusade until a later date.

I'm not one to live in fear, and I'm certainly not afraid of dying for my faith, but we just couldn't take the risk on sending 300-plus people from Managua to Jinotega in the middle of a nation-wide transportation strike. With two people killed already, and many cars and trucks damaged or burned, I didn't want to take any unnecessary risks. I know that Reinhard Bonnke might be a bit disappointed by our decision, but dying because of your faith is one thing, however, it is another thing all together to die in the hands of an angry taxi driver who just wants a better wage.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

News from China

I was thrilled to receive an email this morning from two of our very good friends that are missionaries to China. Up until this morning, we hadn't heard if they were okay or not. So the email came as a huge relief. I have cut and pasted part of their email, but have changed out their names for their protection.

We are fine! Praise God!

The earthquake's epicenter was only 60 miles from us a place we go through all the time and near an area we work in quite a bit, so we really felt it. It was strong (7.9) and lasted 3-5 minutes. Itwas like a scene from a movie where everyone started running and screaming! My daughter and I were downtown with friends on the 3rd floor of a mall. We were talking about trusting God with kids and how you think you really are trusting Him and then something happens and you realize how much more trust you need. Then the earthquake started! We didn't realize the quake was going to last so long so we stayed sitting where we were for awhile and were praying like crazy. When the crowd had passed and the quake was still going and stuff started falling from the ceiling, we grabbed the stroller and ran for the stairwell and then outside. It was still going. Everyone was outside on the sidewalks and in the streets. We got on a bus to head home but were in it for 1 hour when it should have taken 10-15 minutes. The bus was packed! Finally we got out and walked 2 hours to get home. Once home, everyone in our apartment complex was outside in the courtyard till dark. They were being told not to go back indoors because of more after shocks. By the evening, the gas was turned back on, and it was nice to take a hot shower.

My husband was with a friend also on the third floor. He and his friend were talking about how we need to see a move of God with power. Ten seconds later things started to shake and they both thought, "It's a sign!" thinking it was just a shaky building. Then it got really bad & they realized it was an earth quake and were like "wooohhh" and they started to run with everyone out of the building. A piece of wood/ceiling fell between he and his friend as they were leaving!...He was quite excited...God definitely protected us and we are so thankful.

Thank you for your faithful prayers for us! You never know when they will be needed the most!

Monday, May 12, 2008

A Double Blessing on Mother's Day

It was a great Mother's Day weekend. We went out to eat, not only with my mother, but also with my grandmother. And even though it was Mother's Day, my grandmother (G-Ma) made me her famous, old-country recipe Apple Strudel. Wow, I should come back to visit more often!

It was a tremendous blessing being with family, but God also had another blessing in store for me. On sunday, I also had the opportunity to share about our orphanage at Allison Park Church, which is pastored by Jeff Leake. Jeff, by the way, is my brother-in-law, and was also my pastor when I lived in Gibsonia. I knew that Pastor Jeff was going to interview me during the services, but I didn't know that the church was going to present Metanoia with a $10,000 check to help support the orphanage.

Thank you Allison Park Church for your prayers and continual support. And thank you mom, dad, and G-Ma for a pleasant weekend.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Da Burgh

I arrived in Pittsburgh Friday night and will be headed back to Nicaragua early Monday morning. It is nice how God worked it out for me to be with my mother on Mother's Day (tomorrow). I don't think I have been in Pittsburgh and able to celebrate Mother's Day with my mom since I was senior in college. What a blessing this is for us as a family. And the really cool thing is that we don't celebrate Mother's Day in Nicaragua until June, so I can buy my wife a Mother's Day card on sale tomorrow! Hopefully she won't read this blog and find out how cheap I really am. Actually, I hope she is reading this because I bought her two very nice gifts when I went shopping today. Hey I might be cheap, but I'm not stupid. We didn't write Discovering Your Way in Marriage: A Practical Guide for Young Couples without first living out what we wrote. It didn't take too many nights sleeping in the dog house or on the couch for me to finally get a clue. Gentlemen, whether your wife's love language is receiving gifts or not, every lady loves to receive them. ....It shows that you care and were thinking about her.

Disclaimer: In almost 13-year s of marriage, the author of this blog has never slept in the dog house or on the couch and never plans to. This statement was used for literary purposes only.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Communion Night and a Breakthrough


When you are living in the second poorest country in this part of the world, inflation really hits the people hard. For example, rice and beans are the staple of the Nicaraguan diet, however many people can't even afford beans now because they are just too expensive! And gas or diesel, forget it! I just filled up my truck last week and paid $140.00. It has been crazy here ever since Daniel Ortega was reelected as president. And now, to make things even worse, we are experiencing a public transportation strike. So you can imagine the stress and heaviness that the Nicaraguan people are living under right now.


As we started our communion service last night, the burdens that people were carrying was making it very difficult to enter into worship. The heaviness so thick in the sanctuary that you could literally feel people's worries and fears. However, when our children's pastor (Adolfo) got up to pray, the Holy Spirit begin to move and immediately the heaviness was lifted and hands began to go up as an act of worship all across the sanctuary. As always, God's timing is perfect....."come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28

The service ended up great. We had about 2,000 people in attendance and our administrator, Ottoniel, brought forth the Word.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

In the Hands of the Father


We are back in Managua now and I am trying to figure out how to post these pictures. As you can see, this is only my second posting and I'm still in the learning phase. Hopefully I can catch onto blogging a lot faster than I did the Spanish language. :)

The churches look great and have a lot of potential. In fact, that is why this missions organization wants to sell us the churches. They said that they have reached their limit as far as leadership training and staff development goes and wants a ministry to take the churches to the next level. So the question arises once again, "Good Idea or God Idea?"

The director of this missions organization will be sending me a detailed sales proposal within the next couple of days. Their desire is to sell the two churches to us, then reinvest the money into another project they have here in Nicaragua. I guess a few days of fasting and seeking Godly counsel will help bring some revelation to the previously mentioned question.

Good Idea or a God Idea

Right now I am walking out the door of my office and driving about an hour from Managua to visit two churches. We have been presented with an offer to "take over" two existing churches in what would be considered the "country" here in Nicaragua. Taking over existing churches is not really part of our vision, but this does sound like a great opportunity. Sure, the churches are small (30 -40 people), but each one does have a simple church building, a parsonage, and even 1 1/2 acres of land. So the question arises, is this a Good Idea or a God Idea? There are a lot of dynamics involved in this particular question, however, for times sake, we will leave it at that. If you know me, then you know that I am not interested in God's permissible will, but interested in His perfect will.............Good Idea or God Idea?