Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Wednesday’s
Breakfast with God


[God speaking] "Do you still want to argue with the Almighty? 

You are God's critic, but do you have the answers?" Job 40:2

Just a thought

Does your prayer life consist of a battle of the wills, yours 

against His? Do you think you need to convince God your plan

is better?

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

The Virus


Christmastime joy can be suffocated by the pressure to have ...
Christmastime joy.


 I like listening to Christmas music more during the year than I do in December. Why is that?


Nagging expectations that the season requires instead of awaiting with expectancy the birth of our Savior. My calendar is full of "holiday happenings", I bet yours is too.


When does more become too much? The more syndrome becomes a virus at Christmastime and we all get  infected.


For a moment let's focus on being well, rid of the disease of more. 
It starts with thankfulness for our past, the memories, good and bad, that shape who we are today. 
I'm thankful for pain turning to joy, 
for relationships that live deep within my heart. 
I'm thankful for the orphanage that reminded me I'm the one that's poor and needy. In need of a Savior to make me well.


It's funny, when I focus on my thanks to God, the more virus goes away.
And expectations are replaced with expectancy.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

The Gift Nobody Wants






























I heard the joy in his voice, the news was not just good....it was great.
Something we have been worried about for years is now finally ended, and ended well. The joy we are experiencing now has come out of a great deal of worry, pain, and fear.


If I look back on my life, I can see that most of my happiest times came out of times of pain. My friend says some of her greatest memories can be traced back to the last few months of her sons life before cancer finally took him at the age of 14.


Is pain our enemy or the opportunity to experience greater happiness?


No one will ask for the gift of pain this Christmas but until we have been through extreme periods of pain, we cannot go to Christ with extreme gratefulness. We may find our greatest purposes out of our greatest pain.


And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:20


"Thank you, Lord, for the pain."

Wednesday, November 30, 2011



 Wednesday’s
Breakfast with God 

"For the Word of God is LIVING, and ACTIVE. Sharper than any

 double-edged sword, it PENETRATES even to dividing soul and

 spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of

 the heart. NOTHING in all creation is hidden from God's sight." 

Heb 4:12,13



Just a thought


What in your heart are you trying to hide from God?




Monday, November 28, 2011

Another Miracle Story

She stood there trembling, wiping her tears as she waited to be seen in our clinic. For some reason this young girl chose to tell Dr. Camacho, our team physician, what she had kept to herself for four years. Her name is Elvira, and she lives at the Casa Hogar Alegra orphanage.







But her story begins many years before this. 

 As a child she experienced a brutal rape. Her attacker threw her into a jungle thicket and left her for dead. She was found some 16 hours later. At the tender age of seven she was brought to the orphanage, a place of refuge and protection. Elvira had managed to hide that one breast was growing significantly larger than the other for four years. Until the day she walked into our make-shift clinic. Finally telling someone her secret took a weight off of her shoulders she had carried far too long.



X-rays were taken and the diagnosis was made. There was a grapefruit size fibro adenoma growing in her left breast and it needed to be removed. Dr. Camacho takes Elvira to a local oncologist. After the doctor explained what procedure was needed in order to remove the mass, Dr. Camacho asked the question he feared the answer to. “How much will it cost?” He was not prepared for what he heard next, 
“I will not charge any fee for my services.” 
Dr. Camacho tells us later, “God was present in that room.”

Now Elvira feels hope and she can smile.  God is working what we call miracles through the mission work of CERI.




Wednesday, November 23, 2011


 Wednesday’s
Breakfast with God




Breakfast with God

Jesus replied, "My Father never stops working, 

so why should I?"


Just a thought

God is working in the very circumstance in which you find

 yourself today. Where is God moving in your life? 

Work with him.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

The Faces of Need







They call her Mama Liz. 

Over 100 children who have been abused and abandoned in


 Mexico call Casa Hogar Alegre (which means Happy Home)


 there home. The orphanage was started 19 years ago by 


Mama Liz 


when God put it on her heart to take in a few children in. 
A few children has grown to almost 100. These beautiful faces are not only fed and clothed, they are taught about the love of Jesus Christ and how important they are to Him. 
This is a private christian orphanage depending completely on donations. Each child here needs a sponsor.




The need is very real,
they are very real.






To donate or sponsor a child go to http://casahogaralegre.org


Today, all over the nation of Mexico. school children celebrate the Revolution of 1910.


These children put on a show for us!







At the end of the day it was time to say good-bye.






Hear, O Lord, and answer me,
 for I am poor and needy.
Guard my life, for I am devoted to you.
You are my God; save your servant who trusts in you.  Psalm 86:1-2

Thursday, November 17, 2011

The Orphanage


We begin the day traveling up the mountain to the orphanage, Casa Hogar Elegra, hitting more pot holes than dodging them. Suddenly our fearless leader slams on the brakes and only by the grace of God we stop just a few feet from plummeting into the gaping hole that once was a street. 



 The road had been washed away and there was nothing separating us from looking straight down the mountain.
Taking a side road we arrive and set up.

 The dental chair.




I teach the small children about brushing and make some new friends.




There are some special children I remember from last year,
like Selena.



 At the end of the day, we meet for dinner. Mama Liz brings out a cake for one of our team members who is having a birthday. She tells us we are going to celebrate Mexican style.


This is what happens next.


Tuesday, November 15, 2011

God Gave Me Special Patients Today


 Day 2 of the clinic at the home of Pastor Carlos and Nellie. He announces over his loud speaker that the free clinic is now open.
 In walks Norma, my excitement shows and I can hardly contain myself. I remember Norma from last year and the story of a child who has seen and been through far more than her years show.
Norma doesn't smile..... ever.

 I got Norma to smile.


 It was 5:00 and I had seen over 30 patients. We were just about to shut down business when we discovered a man had been waiting two hours to get his teeth clean. Tired and weary, we agree to see him. A man with no legs, a false eye, and a total of 3 fingers comes in.
But that wasn't the shocking part. The biggest surprise of all was his kindness and gentle spirit. 
I apologized that we made him wait so long and his graciousness for even seeing him was expressed.
I cleaned his teeth and we talked a bit. It was evident that he was filled with God's spirit so I asked him about it and what his story was.
He said he was born "like this" and for many years he would not go out in public because he could not face how people would treat him.
Then he found a church that introduced him to the love of Jesus.
Now he can face people and be happy.
I asked how I could pray for him. He said he has no job and would like to find work.

 So if you would pray with me.

His name is Mauro.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Day 1 Free Clinic Serving the Need

Pastor Carlo and his wife Nellie open their home to serve as Iglesia Mount Sinia Baptista on Sundays, turning their home  into a sanctuary. But on Monday morning we turned it into a medical/dental free clinic.








Serve wholeheartedly as if you were serving the Lord not men. Ephesians 6:7

Sunday, November 13, 2011





There is a need.


He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well." Is that not what it means to know me?" says the LORD. Jeremiah 22:16

Stories to come...

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

 Wednesday’s
Breakfast with God


...four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.” Mark 2:3-5

Just a thought
Jesus is moved when we pray on behalf of others. 
Who do you need to carry on that roof and lower down to Jesus? Today, stand in the gap for them!


Monday, November 7, 2011

His Hands












The children are waiting.


They know we are coming.


I am leaving this week for  Chiapas, Mexico. Our small crew will be ministering to an orphanage in Tuxtla Gutierezz. Our goal is to treat their medical and dental needs, but our real goal is to show the love of Christ and let them know they were born for a purpose.


God is offering me an opportunity to do this for Him, to use the skills he has given me for His purpose. He is calling me to trust Him. He is taking me out of my comfort zone and into total reliance on Him. You can pray for me,
to be His hands while I treat patients, 
to be His feet when I walk into that orphanage 
and that my smile would speak more than words can say.




Wednesday, November 2, 2011



Wednesday’s
Breakfast with God

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 

Just a thought
How do you view the afflictions in your life? Do you seek to escape them or see them as opportunities to release the strength of God?