God is amazing

As the time to leave for Honduras approaches God is preparing my heart. God is cutting away chains that I put on myself pretty much my whole adult life. Only my wife and God know I have struggled with, the feelings of being unworthy and that I am a failure. I have known in my head God says I am worthy and not a failure but it has been a struggle to convince my heart. In the last month or so God has really, for lack of better word, scolded my heart. What I mean by that is God says that he knit me together to be exactly as he needs and who am I to try and knit yarn that he did not make into the fabric of me. I hope that makes sense. That revelation for whatever reason has really started to break those chains off. It really seems like a simple thing but it has really held me back in all aspects of my life. Gods power behind the revelation is producing a miracle in my heart as far as I am concerned. I wrote the part above about 2 weeks ago but did not post but was not sure why, until last nights service and God spoke clearly to me "The new can't begin until the old ends". I am stepping out of old into Gods new!

As I prepare for this trip I am amazed at how it is already changing my heart and how I view the world around me.  I realized last night how my approach to prayer and how I pray has changed without me even realizing it.  I am overwhelmed with the joy that fills my soul as God places these desires on my heart to go into the world and proclaim His greatness.  I am so grateful to Elevate church for providing me with this opportunity and such a great team and leader to share this with!

We had an awesome meeting yesterday for our Mission trip and shared our testemony, thank you  God for all You have given us!

At the end of the day, you are how you treat people, the ones that care about you, the strangers you come across, and the ones that can never do for you.  What good are your self-assessed feelings of “love”, “care”, and “goodness” if not expressed in action?  Even the most perfectly ripened fruit, no matter how strong its protective shell, eventually rots from the inside out if not eaten.  Then, what good was its ripeness? 

As Christians, we are called to love and to serve.  1 John 3:17-18 NLT says, “If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion – how can God’s love be in that person?  Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.”  As we flock together each weekend in church, this becomes a rising conflict in our hearts that cannot be avoided.  At some point, the pew becomes mighty uncomfortable.  We have a decision to make.  Are we going to live out our faith?  Or, are we going to just go each Sunday and spiritually feed ourselves and become that inwardly rotting ripened fruit mentioned earlier? 

These are some of the thoughts that have been swirling in my head in reflection of the fundraising process so far.  What seemed to be a very daunting task, asking for donations, quickly became a joyful process.  All it took was a leap of faith and committing to the mission.  The next thing I know, people are coming to me to donate to the mission, whether it be through word-of-mouth or by seeing something on Facebook.  I feel so blessed and it has really bolstered my faith and helped me with ability to surrender to His will.  It feels like God is preparing me for the mission.  Initial feelings of trepidation has turned to peace and excitement.

God Bless the efforts of our mission leaders and the Grand Commission Church

Aaron N. Mason                

Really looking forward to this years trip. I am really encouraged to see the work God is doing and going to do in my daughter Megan. My prayer for the group is God would open the eyes of our hearts to see him lifted high!

Gran Commision Church in Choluteca

Pastor Geovany Granera and Family

Over the last 30 years, the city of Choluteca has developed a lot, as evidenced by the presence of a Pizza Hut and Wendy’s in a relatively under-developed town. Within city limits and downtown, Choluteca looks like your typical under-developed Third World city. But on the outskirts of town, the poverty pervades the countryside.

While the church meets in the city, it’s compassion projects take it to the outskirts of the city.

There are currently more than 100 children receiving food, education and after-school support at the churches CDI in Limon, an area that didn’t exist before Hurricane Mitch devasted Honduras in 1998. But from that devastation, the Lord has used the church in Choluteca to start a children’s development center, computer and English skills classes, and a tortilla factory that employs many impoverished Hondurans.

On the other side of town, more than 7 kilometers away, is another enormous project the church has undertaken named Casa Hogar Vida. Casa Hogar is a holistic project that will incorporate the building of 100+ house for families who otherwise couldn’t afford such housing, an AIDS orphanage, a cinder block factory, a handicraft ministry for women infected with or affected by AIDS and more. The church has seen tremendous growth over the past decade, growing from a congregation of a few hundred to now more than 500 every Saturday night. What a testament to the Lord’s power in the city!