Week 7: Come Holy Spirit

Week 7: Come Holy Spirit
by Jeremy Nice

This week was all about life in the Spirit!  

Is Jesus enough? That is the question! 

The tabernacle and crucifix in the Chapel here at Big Woods Mission

Most of my Christian life, focused on a relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ my savior, my brother. I have been reflecting on this relationship, asking is it enough to develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?  Some may say yes, others say no. 

This past week we were encouraged to reflect on the lives of the disciples as well as our own lives. This reflection and meditation on Jesus' eleven disciples, greatly impacted my decision. The disciples walked with Jesus nearly everyday for almost 3 years of His public ministry. I assume these men established a personal relationship with our Lord Jesus. However, when the passion and death of Jesus took place, most of the disciples were scared and in hiding. Then after 3 days, Jesus rose from the netherworld. He rebuked the eleven disciples, His close friends for their lack of belief and hardness of hearts (Mark 16:14). 

I empathized yet also wondered: why were they afraid, why did they not believe in Jesus and his teachings, why were they not willing to die with the only begotten Son of God? After all, I knew from Scripture and historical records that all but one of the original apostles boldly died a martyrs death. What changed, how did the disciples go from cowards to heroic martyrs? Was it stronger commitment, more discipline, greater obedience?

The end of each gospel specifically Luke and the book of Acts spoke to me with clarity. Luke 24:49-53, “And behold I am sending the promise of my Father upon you, but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high." The preparation for the Christian Mission: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses!” (Acts 1:8). This was the compelling event, the moment that changed, and emblazoned the apostles. The Apostles now boldly, joyfully shared the gospel, the kerygma with all creation, nothing deters them! The book of Acts enlightened and confirmed my own walk with the Lord and the Holy Trinity.

I reflect on my life and how the Word of God has transformed my life, sending His knowledge from my head to love in my heart becoming my Lord.  I recall moments in my own life, I have been too afraid to boldly share the love of Christ with others. However, the Lord has been so faithful and gentle with me and my family. His merciful, patient love slowly, consistently asks me to surrender more of my life to Him everyday. Each time I feel like I have fully surrendered to Him, He provides another more radical request, empowering me to again surrender and trust more fully in HIM. Each step taken to surrender, dying to the flesh, enables more life in the Spirit, building more confidence in Him to provide our radical, yes powered by the Holy Spirit!  Come Holy Spirit, fill us with the infinite, unexplainable, unfathomable, unending love of God!

Come Holy Spirit beloved of my soul, I adore You. Enlighten me, strengthen me, console me, give me Your orders, tell me what I should do. I promise to submit myself to all that You desire of me and accept all that You permit to happen to me. Let me only know Your will.

Love you ALL in Him, through Him, with Him!

jmn

First Six Weeks-The "No Matter What" Love of God

First Six Weeks-The "No Matter What" Love of God

by Jeremy Nice

Our first month at FMC has been jam packed with amazing, insightful prayer, teachings, and healings with simplified evangelical teachings of the Church.  The first week slowly drifted by as we deflated from the busyness of the world and spent the whole week learning how to intimately communicate with our Heavenly Father. Oh how Jesus Christ longs to hear our voices, desperately seeking to hear our voices as we share our worries and our joyous moments. Week 2 continued with more intimate prayer, focusing on inner healing. We dove off into the darkest corners of our hearts to find our worldly wounds, only to welcome Christ into those moments for proper healing. We are so broken yet so loved by Jesus! I am learning the more we accept and embrace our brokenness, the more Christ can use us with his overwhelming "no matter what" love. 

The first 2 weeks of intimate dialogue (through prayer and reading scripture-God’s Word) with Jesus laid the foundation for our lifelong journey of evangelization. Knowing and resurfacing the intimate love Christ has for ALL his people has deeply convicted and compelled us to share this news with all of creation, every living, breathing soul. Praise Jesus!

Week 3-6 focused on the mission of the Church, led by the Holy Spirit as the principal agent of evangelization, to build God’s Kingdom. We studied the beauty and simplicity of the kerygma and five point catechism. These tools along with a loving, merciful heart and mindset provided by the Holy Spirit equips us to readily and quickly share God’s love with others. The toolset and skillset also provide simple, practical ways to personally KNOW Jesus and to give our lives completely to HIM. 

We feel so truly blessed to have this amazing opportunity to bathe in the love of Christ. A love that overflows our cups into the lives of others empowering all to know, love, and serve Jesus more intimately. 

Thank you for your prayers and your support!

Blessings of peace, love and joy!

jmn

Our Day to Day/Weekly Routine

Our Day to Day/Weekly Routine

by Lisa Nice

Today, I thought I would share a bit of specific information about what our typical week looks like in Abbeville, LA for missionary training.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday begin with breakfast with the community in the community house (aka “Big House”). Breakfast is followed by praise and worship and community prayer. On Fridays, we say an intercessory rosary for community prayer, and on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, we say the Liturgy of the Hours morning prayer. After morning prayer, the kids get to go to Kids Ministry where they participate in Sunday school types of activities for the morning and Jeremy and I attend our classes. We have two classes each day including  Si Señor (practical, philosophical, and biblical information for missionaries), Acts study (bible study on the Acts of the Apostles which is the “guidebook” for the Family Missions Company missionary community), Teaching Workshop (learning about how and practicing giving talks), and the Mission of the Redeemer study (the encyclical by St. Pope John Paul II educating the Church on the central importance of evangelization/spreading the Gospel everywhere). Lunch and dinner are also eaten in community on these days. In the afternoon, the men and single women have work projects assigned to them (the moms are given much smaller tasks that are not required daily). 

Community meals at the Big House

Thursdays are the community apostolate day. Our family was assigned to a nursing home and we have enjoyed getting to know the residents through visiting and praying with them. Meals and morning prayer is with our family only on Thursdays.

Fridays after dinner is Praise and Worship night (my favorite night of the week).

Saturdays begin like Thursdays with breakfast in our own house and prayer with our family followed by work time either as a community or in household (this rotates weekly). Lunch is picnic style followed by Desert Day which is extended prayer time in nature. Parents rotate caring for the kids to allow each other to have this prayer time. Then on Saturday evenings, we have the Lord’s Day Meal which consists of a beautiful prayer service followed by a celebratory meal.

An alligator spotting a few miles from Big Woods Mission

Sundays are our days off which we spend going to Mass, doing something fun with our family, and also communicating with our families back home. There are several commitments we have been required to commit to for the first year including limiting personal communication and internet time to two hours on Sundays.

We are also required to spend time daily in personal prayer in the chapel. Even though I have known for a while that spending time with Jesus is critical for my mental and emotional well-being, its amazing how tempting it is to skip it when life gets busy and overwhelming. Being required to form the habit of prioritizing this as it should be is a huge blessing to me.

Jaylyn and Jeremy leading the song before breakfast.

Our Intake class (the group of people here training to become missionaries) is divided into Chore groups with each group responsible for prep before and clean up after three of the community meals each week. Additionally, we are then responsible to lead the song and prayer before each meal. Jaylyn has been thrilled to have the opportunity to lead the song with her beginning ukulele skills a couple of times so far this fall.

The kids have had lots of time to play outside. Lately the weather has been beautiful. The first month and a half, outdoor play meant getting wet and muddy which didn’t bother them at all either. We are basically in “extended summer” as far as any formal school is concerned. School is anticipated to resume for us as we are settling into our new mission post in January/February. I’m grateful to the many veteran homeschool moms who have reassured me that taking time off/starting late in the early school years is in no way detrimental to my kids’ educational future/potential.

Our home here is named St. Lazarus. It is very simple but just enough space for us with two bedrooms, a kitchen/living room and a bathroom.

We begin our next phase of training on Friday this week as we depart for General Cepeda, Mexico. Please keep us in prayer for a safe and uneventful drive and continued growth and formation as missionaries.

May God bless each of you.