Boys shoes in front of the chimney

April is always the time when the boys 10-14 from Templo Bethania in Tijuana go for a weekend camping trip. Tender Loving Care Children Ministries helps to sponsor this activity. It is an awesome opportunity for some of these boys to go somewhere, be safe, have fun and learn about the Word of God. They also learn discipline and how to help one another. We have an amazing team of leaders that give up their weekend to make this event possible.

The kids left at 1:30 p.m. from the church. In the morning, it had rained in Tecate. When the boys got there the grass was wet and there were puddles of water in many areas. Boys are boys! After putting down their pack-sack they headed outside to play. Wet grass and puddles of water were not going to dampen their fun time.

When they went back inside the cabin for supper, their shoes and some of their clothes were soaking wet. One leader made a fire in the huge fireplace. The kids then put their shoes in front of the fire, so they would dry overnight.

Later that evening the pastors went to the camping ground to check up on everyone. They sent me some pictures of the kids in their sleeping bags or bundled up in their blankets enjoying watching a video.

Among the pictures I received was the picture of the fireplace and the shoes. As I looked at the picture, I did not yet know about the rain, the boys playing outside and the wet shoes.

But immediately, in my spirit, this is what I saw: The beautiful fire in the natural, was not a just beautiful in the natural, but a beautiful fire on the spiritual level. It was the presence of the Holy Spirit coming down as a fire of love and compassion falling on the lives the boys whose shoes were on the fireplace.

Each pair of shoes represented one of these young boys. In the spirit I saw that the Holy Spirit was going to guide, protect, teach and anoint each one of these boys. The fire of the Holy Spirit is going to be their strength and power, so they that each one will be able to complete the race the Lord has for him.

After this camping weekend, these boys will never be the same.

At times we look at a picture and it is a beautiful picture, but other times, it is far more than just a beautiful picture. It is a word from the Holy Spirit to bring encouragement about something very precious to a precious person or in this situation to a group of precious boys such as this group during their annual camping trip.

“How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” Romans 10:15 NIV

Denise

The faithfulness of God!

I love to share the about the faithfulness of God. His faithfulness for my life and ministry. I seriously think that when we share with others about His faithfulness it is a way to worship Him and give Him glory for all He does for us on a daily basis.

Also, when we speak about the Lord’s faithfulness it encourages people around us. The Lord is no respecter of person, so if He is faithful to me, He will be faithful to you. Amen!

I have been saved 38 years and serving the Lord in full time ministry for 29 years. Every day, even in the hardest and darkest hours of my life, I am always in awe of Him.  In awe on how He always takes care of me, my kids, my ministry, my situations, and my every need.

In Deuteronomy 7:9 of the New Living Translation the Word says: “Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love Him and obey His commands.”

The dictionary defines the word lavish as profuse, exuberant, lush and opulent.  So, when the Word of God says that the Lord lavishes his unfailing love on you, it’s not a little bit of love, it is not a second-hand kind of love, it is not a distant kind of love, NO, it’s a first quality love, an exuberant and unconditional love.

In the same manner, as He lavishes His love on us, He daily lavishes His faithfulness on our lives. I’m sure if you all took a piece of paper and a pen it would not take very long for each of you to fill a page of times and circumstances where His faithfulness brought you through a day, a season or a time of great need in each of your lives.

Here are a few examples of how faithful the Lord has been to me.

He was faithful when we could not understand or speak Spanish. In August 1990, after we arrived on the mission field, we worked with an American lady that had an adult ministry in Tijuana. One Sunday we accompanied her to a church service in a very poor shantytown called Canyon del Pato. After the service, our translator came to us holding a little girl by the hand.  She was about 10 years old. Her mom wanted us to pray for her.  Even though there were other people with us, the mother was very specific in asking us to pray for her little girl.

This little one was burning with fever, her face was red and it was easy to see this child was not well.  Neither of us knew any Spanish, nevertheless, we laid hands on her and closing our eyes, we started to pray in English. The translator seeing our determination to pray for this child and not wanting to break the flow of the Spirit did not even try to translate. As we prayed for this precious little one, we felt the fever leaving her. When we opened our eyes her face was back to her normal color and the fever was gone.  She started to hug us and talk to us, but unfortunately we could not understand a word she was saying. All I can say is that the Lord had seen our hearts and the need in this child’s life. Even if we did not speak her language, He had healed her right then and there.

It was a priority for us to learn Spanish. We enrolled in a Spanish Language school in San Diego. After working a full day in Tijuana, we attended school 3 nights a week over a period of 3 months.

Roger was learning much faster than me. In his enthusiasm he would sometimes refuse to talk to me in English or French forcing me to converse in Spanish. A few times it would so frustrate me that I would refuse to speak to him in Spanish. But, every day, I would pray for the Lord to help me learn so I could communicate with the Mexican people. One time, in the middle of the night, Roger woke up because I was talking out loud.  Many of you know that I love to talk, but seriously, in the middle of the night I do like to sleep. Anyhow, after listening to what I was saying, he woke me up to tell me that the Lord had answered my prayer.

In my sleep, I was quoting Jeremiah 33:3:  "Clama a mí y te responderé, y te daré a conocer cosas grandes y ocultas que tú no sabes." or “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”  I sat in my bed and cried. I was so grateful for a faithful God. That night was a turning point for me to learn the language. Amen!

Psalm 36:5 describes the faithfulness of God in a very accurate manner. It says:“Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.”

After Roger died, I often sat in my bedroom discouraged and lonely. But, deep in my heart I knew I could call on the Lord to help me and I did call on Him often. Each time, His peace came over me like a soft blanket that covers a child. He would comfort me until I could get up and do what had to be done. He was faithful then and He is still faithful now.

Do I still have times where I don’t know what to do? Absolutely.

Are there still times where I write letters or contact churches or individuals to get some financial help for our “TLCCM” families in Tijuana, and nobody responds to my letters? Absolutely.

Are there still more children in Tijuana that I would like to help? Absolutely.

Do I still have days where I am lonely and find it difficult to lead this ministry by myself? Absolutely.

But, I have learned to trust on the faithfulness of my God. My eyes are on the Lord and not on man.

After I have done all I can physically do, I pray and I know that my God will provide for the kids in Tijuana, for me personally and for my family, simply because He has always been faithful.

Maybe some of you need something from the Lord, but you are having a hard time trusting Him, you are having a hard time believing that He is faithful. Possibly in your mind your saying, He’s been faithful to Denise, but what about me? Let me tell you this: Everything He does for me, He will do for you.

You must understand, that He will do it, in His own time, on His own terms, but He will do it. Sometimes, His answer is not what you expect, want or understand.  When my husband died, that is not what I had prayed for, that is not what I wanted, that is not what I expected the Lord to do. But every time doubt, fear or even anger stirs my spirit, I remember Psalm 36:5:“Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the skies.”

May I encourage you to read and write down all the scriptures that talk about His faithfulness. In the next few days, study this subject. Read how faithful the Lord was to Abraham on Mount Moriah when He provided a lamb and spared Isaac's life. Also, about how faithful He was to Joseph’s during the years he was in prison in Egypt….and for so many others. He is faithful.

He, the Lord did it for others, He, the Lord, will do it for you. Amen!  And through it all, He has and He is always faithful.  Just trust Him.

My prayer is this: Let the Lord touch your heart and resolve yourselves right now that in your situations, you will see His amazing faithfulness for your life.  Amen.  
Denise