Ambassadors for Christ

What is an ambassador? Honestly, we do not hear much of these individuals on a normal, day-to-day, basis. I mean after all, these people are serving on the other side of the world in most cases. I really don't remember growing up in school and learning a whole lot about these guys. It dawned on me, after living in a foreign country, the pledge to which these men must adhere to as they juggle relations between America and the rest of the world. An ambassador represents our entire nation in the highest level of diplomacy. If the ambassador fails, so does the relationship we have with the country they were entrusted to.

2 Corinthians 5:20 says, "We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God." It is amazing to me that 1) God has reconciled us through Jesus Christ (if we so choose to be) and 2) Not only has he saved us, but He has also entrusted us to represent Him, as ambassadors- the highest ranking diplomat, to a world which shuns His Name. 

I can only ponder what kind of Grace and Mercy that takes. To know who I am and who I have been, and yet, "while we were sinners; Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). I am not so sure we realize the depths of our duties here! We are called to represent the Kingdom of God, the depths of His love and mercy, to be living sacrifices Holy and Pleasing to Him, to be reconciled and to show others what it looks like to be reconciled to the Great I AM! Are we doing it? Are we representing Him? Are we fulfilling our obligations to those He sent us to? Are we walking in a relationship which is evident of His Lordship? Simply, are you really His? Have you really been reconciled with Christ?

   

What gets your praise on?

Psalms 98:1 says, "Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him."!(NIV) What an awesome opportunity we have to sing to the Creator of the Skies! Sadly, neither Liz or I can sing. So we require the assistance of those anointed by God to help us "Sing a New Song". They sing loud and proud aloud - we sing loud and proud in our hearts (as to not disturb those around us)! 

So, Liz and I are looking to expand our Praise and Worship music collection. Her iPod crashed and my iTunes crashed, so basically we are at a point where we have the opportunity to start fresh in our music department of life. It is hard for us to get the latest on music, so we were kind of hoping you could help us out! If you have a moment, share with us the Title and Artist of some of your favorite Christian Music. You can do this by posting a comment under this post or by emailing it to: amazonimpact@gmail.com (we will then transfer it back to the blog for others to view). Thank you for your time in helping us rebuild/expand our Praise and Worship music collection!

Thank you for singing with us a song of praise to God for all the great things He has done!

Did that really just happen?!

To be quite honest with you I am not sure if missionaries are even allowed to tell about days like these. But, as most know, I'll share anyway :) Today was one of those days that just did not have a start at all. The Peruvian Missionary who came in to help AVA with the almost end of the year testing, and I, actually didn't go to sleep last night. It sort of reminded me of college staying up all night in the library and catching an hour long nap before your next class. We had to download 1 file that was a couple hundred megabytes and have it installed on the computers for the students to be able to do their testing, not too much of a big deal... ummm yea, we were wrong! Normally, one would start the download and walk away for a few moments to return with the file they needed. At AVA, that would be way too easy! We had to sit with the computers while they downloaded the files for the testing process. If a download began to mess up, we had to be there to correct it. They were still messing up way into the morning.... Needless to say, testing didn't start as planned. Thank goodness that we were finally able to get things up and running, and testing has now commenced!

The rest of the day went pretty normal, until it was finally time to end it. We live off campus, but not far at all. As a matter of fact, our back wall helps to make up the campus's main wall. Liz had been at home for a while nestled safe in our high security prison cell. I on the other hand, was on the way home from hanging out with John (the Peruvian missionary). When I got the gate open I heard our neighbor and his friend screaming bloody murder. To be honest, I couldn't really piece everything together, but just started running towards him. A man jumped in his car and took off. Full grown men screaming, dog snarling and barking. In all of the commotion, I didn't realize that the guy who had just sped off was assaulting my neighbor and his friend. Well, robbed them at gun point. Apparently the men were waiting for someone to come out of their house. When it happened they were ready with their guns and empty sacks to fill up on whatever they could get. We are safe. There is no doubt God had his angels standing watch over our apartment. It just helped remind us how safe you have to be in this world today. Maybe having a dog after all wouldn't be a bad idea....   Thank you so much for all of the prayers for protection. It is evident that God hears them and protects us! I am going to get some sleep in our new bed :)

Yep! Disc Golf in Brazil!

Innova has been officially brought to Brazil by Amazon Impact Ministries! Yes, AVA is the first place in Brazil where Disk Golf is available for your enjoyment! So we brought a set of Innova discs and a "Skil Shot" Disc Catcher down with us when we came in January. Unfortunately, when we arrived in Belem the catcher had not made it. After 3 months of hard core contact with the airport, the catcher was deemed "missing". We were waiting on the reimbursement check to arrive, but to our surprise, an Innova Skil Shot disc catcher was delivered to the guard's gate! Fun Times!

Successful Sunday

"Hippie Fair"
 

Today was a good Sunday. We got up particularly early this morning to go hang out at the "hippie fair" with another NICS missionary who is in town helping AVA with some curriculum direction. Currently he is serving in Peru - keep him in your prayers. Anyway, the hippie fair is nothing what it sounds like. Basically, it could be compared to the Jockey Lot or Flea Market. We were able to get some pictures to hang on our walls. We are trying to do something at our house so we don't feel like we are falling asleep every night in Cell Block 6. Otherwise, it pretty much is with, I mean, cement walls growing mold, bars over the small windows, the sound of cats screeching outside. The art really does add a new perspective to things - at least makes it feel more like a home. By the way, the little puppy was cute but we didn't think it would be a good idea to have to raise support for three (not yet anyways ;) )...

 Missions Service in Cidade Nova

Praying for the 3 new Christians

After hanging out at the "hippie fair", Liz and I caught a quick nap before I finished the final touches for preparing the English Service. It went really well this afternoon. We are doing a 5 week series on the book of James. In a nut shell, we talked about how James was showing us in chapter 2 that, as Christians, we must live our faith out! In the relationships we have with other people and in what we do, our deeds. We had some positive responses after the service, but had to skip out early to make it to a church in a neighborhood nearby called, Cidade Nova. The Church was hosting some missionaries from all over the world. We had an opportunity to share how God had called us from our home in the States to Brazil to help share the gospel of Jesus Christ. What happened later in the service though is what we are here for - to see the Kingdom of God grow! 3 people accepted Christ! How awesome is it when we get to witness the Kingdom Grow!

The children sang a song to open up the service:

Many nations were represented in the Praising of God:

Wilson and I sharing a little bit about our calling to missions: