Another reminder, "It's not about us"

I am not sure who sent this verse for us today, but it fit into so many aspect of life and ministry here.

If God doesn’t build the house, the builders only build shacks. If God doesn’t guard the city, the night watchman might as well nap. It’s useless to rise early and go to bed late, and work your worried fingers to the bone. Don’t you know he enjoys giving rest to those he loves? (Psalm 127:1, 2 MSG)

I am really trying to shift my focus while reading the Bible from looking for what the verses have to offer me , to looking for ways God wants us to glorify himself. The Bible is not about us it is about God and His glory. 

The first verse fits right into some of the construction projects we do at Impacto. In the past I have shared some of the stories if families we build  for and the great needs they have. This verse clearly shows us that unless we allow The Lord to be glorified in this, it will have been done in vain. We pray that while a new house is a blessing to a needy family, it will serve as a testimony to God and what he can accomplish. 

Three weeks of VBS ministry is winding up and now we will pause to prepare for the next opportunities to bring glory to  God and even pause to rest and give thanks as a team.

We would ask for your prayers for the Zona Cero youth event coming up. Pray that The Lord will use those coming from the U.S. and Canada. along with the Impacto staff to reach lost youth to draw back to God those that have gone astray and to make disciples of the Christian youth in theses communities.

Thank you so much for your support and prayers!

Fred

 

New Ministry Opportunity

With the help of New Life Church, and Central Church we have acquired books, study guides, and the DVD for the "Purpose Driven Lufe" study. The idea is to begin a small group study beginning in January with individuals we use as translators and other English speakers. This is a diverse group of people, believers, baby Christians, and those that have not yet accepted Christ. This will be an opportunity for discipleship as well as evangelism. Please be in prayer for those that will be invited, that they would accept and that relationships would grow, fellowship would take place, and mostly God would be glorified! 

God Bless You!

My email is:

fred@impactoministry.com

Giving Thanks

As we are in the month of giving thanks, it is very appropriate for us  to pause and and identify things we are thankful for. The blessing of being on the mission field is that we become more attuned to the things we used to take for granted. We did a family visit this week to identify families in need of a house that would be built by a team. We visited three different families each having very unique situations. The last family we visited, we only had a name, and no directions to where they lived. This did not deter us as we ask around until we were able to locate this family.When we found this family of four, husband, wife, 2 & 5 year old little boys, they were living in a three sided tin shack with a dirt floor. The structure they slept in only had 3 walls, it provided very little shelter from the cold and elements. They had one bed that did not have what we would call a mattress. They shared electricity with a neighbor to power the single light bulb hanging from the ceiling. The father did not have a steady job. When he was able to find work in the fields he might be able to earn 800Q ($100.00) for a month. The most amazing thing about this family was their contentment, and the mans determination. The father had been working to prepare his property to build a house. He knew he would only be able to buy a small amount of materials very occasionally when he had money come in, but he wanted to do this for his family, no matter how long it took. A sense of joy overcame him when we told him that his family was receiving a blessing from God and that a team was coming to build his family a house!

How many things like water,and electric do we take for granted, and how does our world come crushing down when the internet is down? Yes we have given up many of the frills of living in the U.S. to be here in Guatemala, but we do get to see just how much we are blessed. We send a huge thank you! to those who support us and to those who are praying for us. 

Dixon Guatemala Update August 2013

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Dixon-Update-from-Guatemala.html?soid=1112875714443&aid=7oissuIa7h0

Goodbye Central Family

This is the hard part, saying goodbye. We enjoyed a wonderful week serving alongside our family from Central Church.

God used this team to bless so many this week, but I know each person on this team is taking home many more blessings that cannot be packed in a suitcase.  Our prayer is that God was glorified, people were blessed, disciples were made, and the Gospel was spread.

For our family it was fun to see our friends and also develop some new friendships. This was a very special group. We did miss our good friend Rusty, and we appreciate his efforts at home that allowed Melody to make this trip. We praise The Lord that we are part of a mission minded Church. We are looking forward to seeing more of our Central family in November for VBS and we hope you are already contacting Anne Clay for information on how you can be part of that team.

Please continue to pray for our family as we move on from a recent loss in our extended family and we battle the devil as he attacks us financially. Thank you all for your prayers and support that allow us to be here in Guatemala serving alongside Impacto Ministry.

God bless you all, brothers and sisters in Christ!

Prayer Request

Please pray for our family. This is Dusty's sister and niece. I just put Tyler and Dusty on a plane back to the States.

Makin' Bread

During a visit from my Mother-in-law a few weeks ago she brought a gift for me, a bread machine! I have really enjoyed experimenting with ingredients and making different kinds of bread. The biggest joy I have gotten is sharing the bread with others. Initially it was just with friends and Impacto staff. Then I began thinking about how Gods Word is the bread of life and realized I could use the opportunity of sharing my bread along with Gods bread. So I made several breads Saturday night and Sunday morning we loaded my backpack with bread and tracks and headed for the street. It was fun to share our fresh banana bread with people and rewarding to know we left a piece of Gods bread of life too. Now we pray that as we have planted a seed, someone, maybe us, will be able to nurture it and God will reap a harvest.

Generous hands are blessed hands because they give bread to the poor. (Proverbs 22:9 MSG)

Building Relationships

Building relationships can be intimidating when you are struggling with a language barrier. Much larger than a language barrier is cutting yourself off from others. I know that God wants each and every one of us to share our lives with each other, even the ups and the downs. We came from a world where we are accustomed to going directly from the car to the house, even avoiding our own neighbors. Here in Guatemala we walk most of the time to conduct daily personal tasks. Being in the street places us in contact with the people in our town, it makes us familiar with each other. Stopping to attempt a conversation in broken Spanish can let someone know you care. Hugs and fist bumps have become a very routine part of walks about town. We receive such a blessing when we are able to invite people into our home for dinner. Discipleship begins with relationships. Relationships begin with opening your heart to others.

                                                                    

1 Peter 2:11-12

The Message (MSG)

^11-12 Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it. Don’t indulge your ego at the expense of your soul. Live an exemplary life among the natives so that your actions will refute their prejudices. Then they’ll be won over to God’s side and be there to join in the celebration when he arrives. 

Blessings

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 (NIV)
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, [17] encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

Why does it seem God blesses us all differently? Why do I deserve a blessing more than someone else? What classifies as a blessing?

The past two weeks as part of my responsibility with Impacto Ministry, I was part of the team sent to interview families that are being considered for house construction projects for short term mission teams. We visited a family that consisted of a father, mother and six children living in a 10'x12' wood shack with one bed. As we sat with the mother and conducted the interview, she offered us tea and bread. This woman who really had nothing to give, gave what she should have saved for her own family, to us. God used this woman to demonstrate to me that blessing are not always tangible things that you can hold or pay for, but true blessings come from sacrifice and love. This is exactly how God wants us to love on another. I pray that this week you will receive a blessing of sacrifice and also you would find yourself sacrificing to bless someone else.

Fred