Welcome 2019: Feeding the Sheep

As we welcome 2019 and close out 2018, it was nice to reflect on the goodness of God, life, friends, family, and the many encounters that have taken place over the last year. In the same moment of feeling blessed and overwhelmed with love and support from our families, our friends and our team of benefactors, I was reminded of how wounded, broken and lost I am without Christ as my focus and singleness of purpose.

We experienced a lot of joy this Advent with friends and family blessed by many wonderful conversations and visits. It was beautiful to witness the Holy Spirit moving in the lives of so many, praise you Jesus! Our faith continues to be enriched by our vibrant community of Christ-centered loved ones. Among the midst of many great moments, a few encounters contributed to added prayer with sleep disturbed nights, eventually prompting this post; I now better understand why Jesus recklessly leaves the 99 to find the 1.

In these few encounters, I recognized a few signs of fear, despair, anger and bitterness; all feelings that I have often felt when confused in my identity or misunderstanding God’s love. I reflected deeper on the plank in my own eye, evaluating the obstacles that hinder my understanding of God’s unconditional love, which can then minimize joy. 

I recalled the moments of my life when I think the most about myself, my desires, my goals and the lifestyle I want to live. This major plank revealed the narcissistic me god, showing my lack of trust in the God that created me. My self reliance and lack of trust in God’s plan ultimately stems from a fear of change, knowing that His living word and teachings can radically transform my life. Instead of surrendering to Jesus, the hope to change His teachings into my likings lingers on into a life lacking true joy, blocking HIS heart filling, warm, deep love.

Another obstacle that minimizes joy is the dominating thoughts of money, wealth, comfort, sport, career progression, prestige. None of these items are bad until they dominate my thoughts becoming false gods. These false gods then provide a quick high, with false identity of importance and success. The pleasure is always a short lived high that thirsts for more, faster, bigger, better fixes which eventually leaves me feeling empty. I create a lie that others will love me more if I become more worthy, more successful, more important, etc. My efforts and worldly desire to create success is really a distraction from the fervent seeking of HIS true unending, unconditional, no matter what love! Today the transformation of knowing and believing God the Father’s LOVE continues to progress from my head to my heart. Each encounter experienced through the Holy Spirit strengthens what is true and real in a more profound way.  At times, I find myself becoming self righteous which again blocks a joyful life, which leads back to a rut seeking to self medicate in a sea of stuff and busyness to numb the pain. Again, I surrender calling out to the Lord for help as He gently reaches out, takes my hand, healing my wounds with HIS compassionate, sincere love.

These life experiences of silent, hidden despair have increased my awareness of this subconscious death spiral. I realized others like me who are wounded and broken can also confuse pleasure for joy when desperately thirsting for the Father’s unconditional love. I asked the Lord how I can help heal others that are broken like me. The answer I heard was: “feed my sheep” (John 21:17), share my love. His answer as usual is simple, yet not easy.

In effort to “feed the sheep” (John 21:17), I offer my struggles with hope to bring light and awareness in case you or a loved one are in a spiral of despair. I confidently testify to the words Jesus spoke “take courage and fear not, I am with you” (Mark 6:50).  He awaits our consent to trust and accept His unconditional love. The more we pray and reflect on God’s love, the more it moves from knowledge in our head to what is true and real in our hearts, filling us with joy and peace. The joy and peace encourages us to wade deeper into His love, enabling us to give more of our love and our control to HIM. Each step helps remove the distractions of our sins, offering full communion with HIM and in HIM.  This progression transforms us as we fully realize and accept our true identity as unique, special, loved sons and daughters of God. We can love God because He first loved us(1 John 4:19). He loves us with our broken imperfections, in this exact moment exactly where we are!

In 2019, “proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord”: feed His sheep, sharing His love each day. “If we love one another God remains in us, and His love is brought to perfection in us” (1 John 4: 12). As Christians, we can be a safe person with a non-judgmental, empathetic, listening ear, nurturing real conversation. We can offer acceptance to the angry or confused, wounded person in front of us, loving and accepting who they are as a child of God. We can seek to empathize with their struggles and seek to find and affirm their great God-given gifts.

To a blessed 2019 in HIM with much LOVE!

Jeremy 

"It is more blessed to give than to receive” Acts 20:35

Our kind, gracious, loving Father in Heaven can never be outdone! We experienced this first hand as we spent the last three weeks in Mexico serving the poor and sharing the Gospel. We departed for our 18 hour drive into Mexico looking forward to opening up the flood gates, pouring out the love Jesus built up inside of us over the past few months. We were excited to experience a short-term foreign mission trip: loving, serving, and befriending our brothers and sisters in Mexico.

When we arrived to the small town tucked away in the beautiful desert mountains, it felt like we stepped back about 50 years in time: cobblestone paved roads, horses ridden down the street, life was at a much slower pace. We immediately felt at home and at peace. Our time in Mexico provided several opportunities for almsgiving and works of mercy with prayer encountering Jesus. We played soccer with the local kids, sharing His love with our first words of evangelization: "Dios le vendiga" and "Jesus te ama" (God bless you and Jesus loves you)! Simple yes, but the first seeds of God's love were sewn in youthful energetic young boys.

We also divided up into work project teams. Some put a roof on a home and others cleaned up a living area for an elderly man. Lisa, Jaylyn, and Simon joined a team that visited the elderly in their homes and the sick in a homeless shelter sharing the love and Jesus with them offered shared the love of Jesus with them and bringing them bags of staples (flour, sugar, coffee, etc.). Lincoln, Zane, and I helped provide material and labor for the luxury of an indoor toilet to one of the ladies (and her family) that cooked food for our intake group of 60+ people. It was so gratifying to see our team exude with joy as we provided this gift of a toilet room to a family with a two month old baby.

Digging the trench to plumb a bathroom

Outside of the service projects, we experienced a few impactful encounters that were life changing. Early in our trip, we met a hard working man with a young family similar to the ages of our four kiddos. We ate with the gentleman and shared commonalities in our broken Spanish. This man, at the time, had a very sick daughter that suffered from seizures. With tears in his eyes, the well built, hard working man dropped his head in shame as he asked for financial assistance (approximately $100 usd) and prayer for his daughter's medical needs. He was broken and ashamed to ask for help, but praise God, this was an easy task for our team of missionaries. One of the local missionaries stayed in contact with the man, and we kept him in our prayers. Another week went by before we saw him again. The gentleman lost his little girl, yet he came back to share his gratitude. He was grateful for our love and generosity. Although he had lost one of his children, he was at peace trusting the Lord. Confidence exuded through his pores as one of the missionaries shared a vision he had in prayer concerning his little angel. The thought of losing my little girl terrifies me, yet this takes place over 25,000 times a day in our world. Over 25,000 kids die everyday due to lack of food or medical attention needed. We are so eager to get into missions full-time to do all that we can to take part in Jesus' Great Commission serving the poor and sharing the Gospel. I am eternally grateful to the support team we have at home that will allow us to work full-time in missions!!! The heartbreaking encounter we had was difficult, yet this family knew Jesus and trusted in Him, with Him and through Him bringing hope, salvation, and eternal life! I mourn for the people and the families that do not know Jesus. Yet it energizes and invigorates me to zealously share His love and salvation with a world full of hurt, sickness, and brokenness; a world longing for an encounter with Jesus Christ our living God. 

Prayer and praise & worship at a chapel in one of the ranchos near General Cepeda

Another impactful encounter included incarnation of the Word during my morning prayer time in our last week in Mexico. The mission trip started to wrap up as we embraced our final week. I felt like we had been very generous with our time, our talent and our treasure. In my reflections, I felt like God was pleased with our yes to Him. While I still believe God was pleased with our daily yes, I feel He showed me just how to go deeper with Him as I so desire and ask of Him. The Lord spoke to me through the daily Gospel reading on Monday, Nov. 26th: Jesus said, "I tell you truly this poor widow put more in than all the rest; for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth but she from her poverty has offered her livelihood" (Luke 21:1-4). I shamefully admit I did not know what it was to give out of poverty. Most of my life, I have been very selfish and narcissistic. I thought when Christ called us into missions it would be an opportunity to give, to be life-giving, to share with others what Jesus has given to us. I thought it was time for me to stop receiving and to start giving. However, the sons and daughters of Jesus allowed His Word to become flesh one evening in a rancho allowing me to witness Jesus' unending, immeasurable love of generosity and giving out of poverty. The rancho we visited on Tues. night was a very poor village with little to no means to make a living. One of the local missionaries befriended many of the people in the rancho and taught them to make and to sell their crafts, while sharing the love of Jesus with them. We were invited to the rancho by the local missionary family to share testimonies and to join them in praise and worship music. When we arrived, a bell at the small chapel was rang loudly, signaling the missionaries' presence. Soon women and children were running and hustling to greet us with warm joyous smiles. They were elated with joy to pray, sing and worship the Lord. When they noticed the local missionary family had brought company, the villagers quickly gathered supplies to feed all of us (~20 people). The local villagers probably didn't have rations to feed themselves for the week, yet they gathered what they had to generously, joyously give to us all they had that evening! The local villagers helped me realize in my generosity, I give out of my surplus. These loving sons and daughters of God gave out of their poverty. They trust 100% in Jesus; they were filled with joy to share what they had with us as we praised and worshipped Jesus Christ together.


My heart is overwhelmed with joy and love for our family of supporters back home. We are so blessed and so grateful that they have made it possible as we journey together serving in His Great Commission! We hope you have been greatly blessed by the outpouring of God the Father's love! If the Lord is tugging on your heart to experience more of His love with a short-term mission trip, we excitedly welcome you, your family, your church, or your organization to Mexico; or we would love to provide information to you for mission trips to other locations that encounter Jesus serving the poor and sharing the Gospel.

May the peace, love and joy of Jesus Christ fill all the days of your life!

God will never be out given in generosity.

Jeremy

Our Mission Post Assignment: General Cepeda, Mexico

We are really excited to be returning to General Cepeda, Mexico to serve as full time missionaries beginning in late January.

Our family following a desert day (prayer time) at the end of our trip to Mexico

What is the need for missionaries in the General Cepeda, Mexico area?

Mexico has one of the highest priest to parishioner shortages in the world; one priest ministers to approximately 7,000 people and in General Cepeda we’ve been told its 1:12,000. There are more than 50 ranchos (villages) in the desert surrounding the small town of General Cepeda with very limited access to a priest, the sacraments, and Christian community.

While Mexico is historically and culturally catholic, the lack of access to sacraments and other issues have led to many falling away from the church and not practicing their faith. The need for a personal relationship with Jesus is real and urgent. The majority of those who are practicing their Catholic faith are women.

Additionally, there is a need for material resources. It gets cold in the winter in the General Cepeda area and homes and buildings are not heated except for those who can afford space heaters. Many people need blankets, coats, hats, gloves and warm socks to not only keep comfortably warm during the day but also to keep from literally freezing to death at night during the winter. Many people cannot afford medication when they or their family members become ill. There is great instability and lack of jobs paying enough for people to consistently feed their families.


Why are we excited to be going to serve in the General Cepeda, Mexico area?

Our mission is to serve the poor and share the Gospel; there is a great need for spiritual and material resources. While we are unworthy, we are still eager to allow the Holy Spirit to use us to feed people spiritually. Thanks to our many supporters, we are eager to share wealth from the US and give directly to meet the physical needs of the poor. The needs are honestly overwhelming and we hope to help people in a way that is sustainable rather than moment to moment. We will rely on the Holy Spirit to guide and inspire us and specifically ask for your ongoing prayers to support us in this.

One of the first tasks in a new mission post is to inculturate and embrace the customs of the culture you are in. General Cepeda is a country town with lots of people wearing boots and hats, and even riding horses down the streets. When we felt Jesus calling us into foreign missions, one of the hardest factors was letting go of our horses and imagining our kids not growing up around horses (this was such a large part of our life). In being assigned to General Cepeda, it feels like God gave that gift back to us. Our kids fit right in wearing their boots to walk around town, and we hope that Jeremy will be able to build rapport with the men by working with them in the fields and with the animals.

May God bless each of you and your families!

Peace in Christ,

Lisa

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.