Wrapping up 2014 with a bow~

Merry Christmas from our part of the world!

The holiday season is always busy. It starts with being thankful for the year in November, and then it seems to rush to Christmas. Many people travel to see family, or take time to relax. It is a great time of year. Being in Bocachica makes us miss all the celebrating.
 This is the time of year for reflection and hope for the future as well. New years is right around the corner. When looking over the past year there are accomplishments, and things that could have been better. This will inform the next year, and there is hope for the next possibilities.
 Of course the foundation and capstone for this time of year is the birth of Christ. Sure Christmas is commercialized, but this means we need to celebrate better. Christ as our salvation is the greatest gift, what better way to remember than to give gifts as well. Though is doesn't mean gifts are only those bought.
 Working in Bocachica for 3 years now has taught us a lot. The most revealing thing is the value of relationships. Relationships in hospitality are vital, but I think a greater and harder relationship is purposeful discipleship. More than random acts of kindness or mercy missions and better than FB likes is purposeful discipleship. Discipleship being the example of Christ and the 12 disciples. Globalization and the demand for our attention from various organizations, even the evening news of the world can seem dim. Hopeless. Trying to fix everything doesn't work, but being responsible for what is in front of you can have a big impact.  One relationship that has accountability.
 I have heard two testimonies in particular this year. Both men are retired with a full career of experience and wisdom, one was a pastor the other a mechanical engineer. The pastor told of a village that he worked at when he first started pastoring. The village was tough to work with, and he was supposed to help start a church. After a couple years of work there weren't enough to even have a church. He still went to the houses and visited the families. One woman finally became Christian, and he discipled this woman and her kids the rest of the time he worked in this village. His denomination called him to work in another area, and he kept in contact with the family. The pastor went on to work in large churches, but this story he told impressed him the most. Years later when the kids were grown, one of her boys went to seminary and is now a pastor of a successful church. He said that all that time in the village was just to affect that one woman who affected her children and later bore fruit. It took years to see the fruit though.
 The engineer came to visit us with his son who is grown, and we had lots of time to talk with him over the weekend. He shared how he started out Catholic, but changed to "evangelical" later, one thing he has always done is mentored specific young people. He gave examples, but the best is his son. His son has been to the island several times with mission trips, but this time he came to visit two young boys in particular that he is friends with. Because of the model of his dad, he has put his life into people here. It has required a portion of his life to invest in these young men, and he is continued fruit of his father's discipleship.
 Discipleship isn't something you measure in the short term, but it is something that takes time. It is a purposeful relationship. A popular version of this are the padrino or sponsor programs, but they are usually distant and only require money and an occasional note. They are not entirely wasted programs, but they fall short of what purposeful discipleship can produce. It is not something a church can create a program to make people do. Discipleship has to be a decision on your part to be faithful to another to walk with and follow Christ. It is accountability, communication, time. It is awkward, tiring, confrontational. It produces the fruit of the Spirit, brother and sisters in Christ, a redeemed future.
 In the new year ahead I think a good resolution would be to find someone in particular. It will be someone close to you, you don't need to head hunt for someone. It may be your children, co-worker, nursery kids, neighbor. Then purposely walk with them, more than just a weekly devotional.
Be the person that you can say to them "...you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ". If you feel unqualified to make that statement, then look for someone to disciple you. Purposeful discipleship, this is the mission.

 Merry Christmas from the Ariels, God bless your new year. Thank you to all who work with us and support us here in Bocachica.