Finally Home!

Just a word before we leave Christmas this year.....

In my quiet-time this morning the Lord whispered, JUST LISTEN AND WORSHIP! But isn't that what this season is all about anyway? I made the following notes in my journal this morning..."Stop...Look inside the stable. There lies the Son of God, the Prince of Peace, Mighty Counselor, a baby whose shoulders will rest the governments of the world. The One who the Shepherds bowed before, and the Wise Men fell down to worship and offered the best gifts to Him. The baby that one day EVERY knee will bow and EVERY tongue confess that He, He alone is God; when  everyone who chased after all the other gods will final fall down and worship the ONE TRUE LIVING GOD!"

I had a very joyful heart this morning, yet still hurting for the children in Newton, Conn who will not have the opportunity to celebrate Christmas with their families; for the 3 firefighters killed in New York, and a dear friend of ours who just found out she has stage 4 cancer. Then as the Father usually does, He gives me these words in my devotional for the day:

"The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. Luke 2:20

At the birth of Jesus, amidst the dirt and straw of a stable, lots of promises, prophecies, and hopes were fulfilled. In the birth of a Child, something that happens every single day all over the world, something happened that would change the world. Everything the faithful were anticipating took shape. It was the alignment of all that was meant to be. But the birth of Jesus has that power and significance only if He really is who he said he was.

The Shepherds heard, they saw, and it was all just as they had been told. In a perfect conjunction of heaven and earth, God came to earth, connecting the two for His eternal purposes. Years later, Jesus would tell us in so many different ways, “I have come into the world as a light” (John 12:46); “I have come that they may have life and have it to the full” (John 10:10); “For this reason I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth,” (John 18:37).

So…

When we are sensing the dirtiness of life in this world, we can focus on the purity of Christ.
When we feel weak, we can lean on the power of Christ.

When we are ill, we can remember that He is the great physician.

When we are confused, we can turn to His words to get our bearings.

When we are damaged, we can remember that He said that He would not break a bruised reed nor snuff out a smoldering wick.

When we know we have sinned, we can know His forgiveness.

When we are wayward, we can remember He called Himself “the way.”

When we have been lied to, we can remember He called Himself “the truth.”

When we feel like our energy and our enthusiasm is waning, we can remember that He called Himself “the life.”"   Taken from The Brook Network, A Christmas Story

What did I, you, offer up to Jesus this Christmas? What consumed most of our time this holiday season? Is there anything that stole your JOY lately? Jesus says, I am the answer! The writer of Hebrews sums Jesus up the best; "Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let’s not let it slip through our fingers. We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin. So let’s walk right up to Him and get what He is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help." Hebrews 4:14-16 (The Message)

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We arrived home late Sunday night due to a delay out of Houston. And of all people to have their luggage not make it, Christie was the lucky one! Not only did it not make it to Birmingham, they had no idea where it was. We knew it made it to Houston because we rechecked it after clearing customs, so as Christie explained to the agent on the phone, "There is no reason for this! I know that I saw it in Houston. Let me speak to a supervisor!" When Ms. Christie takes it to the next level, things are not good! :)

After some serious negotiating with the "powers to be" at Untied, and the entire staff at United, the bags finally arrived late Monday night. And she even left the man who delivered them some brownies! She really has a good heart. You just do not want to see her Madea side! :) We will save that for another blog!

It is always hard for to leave Trinidad. I always leave a part of me there so I will have to go back! These people are beautiful people, inside and out, and need to hear about the love of Jesus! The little children are like sponges, they soak of everything you give them! When they really come to Jesus and accept Him as their Savior and Lord, you see a change in their lives immediately...and it is REAL!

But with the excitement, also comes a degree of fear. Accepting Jesus, as a Hindi or Muslim, means they will face persecution and harassment from their family. One young man, who is my little buddy, accepted Christ in Sunday School the Saturday after we arrived. Later that day we were talking about it and he said, "I am afraid to go home." I asked him why, and he said, "My mom and dad are Hindi!" I tried to explain that it was OK, that He does not need to be afraid, or ashamed, because Jesus is now walking with him. That Jesus will give him the words to say, and the strength to stay strong. As encouraging as we can try to be to them, they know what lies ahead. So please pray for my little buddy Kevin.

What an awesome week. It always seems that things are just getting rolling when we have to leave. I guess the only solution is...stay longer! This week of ministry was amazing! God showed up in so many ways, even when we were a bit unsure! Over the four Christmas Treats we saw 175 plus children hear the Gospel thru the Christmas Story, and God planted seeds in these hearts. God turned the indecision about one of our new locations into an awesome victory, with a permanent place and 42 children to start the ministry in that village. We saw smiles on lots of faces, as some children got the only Christmas treat they might get this year! We got some good plans laid out for 2013, which by the way, is going to be an incredible year. Soooo, you need to book your trip with us and come see, and be a part of God's work in Trinidad!

Christie and I would like to thank Suresh, Reena, Amanda and Alicia for allowing us to spend the week in their home. For us this was like being with family. Everything was great! Although Christie is not a fan of hot weather, I think if Amanda and Alicia work on her she will come back! If she does we will have to hide the what...BUTTER! You guys are the best!

While we had great ministry this week, we have a lot of work to do in the coming months; we have two new locations that are starting weekly Sunday School after January 1st that will require a lot of on the ground work; we have a covered building (for worship services) at Suresh's house to get funded and built before Easter; we need to purchase a ministry vehicle for use at the the two new locations (remember, most families do not have vehicles, some children must be picked up); and we need to be sure we have on-going funds for the two new locations. If you would like to help with the work of this ministry please contact me and I can give you the details.

I hope that you have enjoyed the work that God has been up to this week! The next trip is being planned, which will probably be a Easter VBS/Youth Event. We would also love to do a dental mission on the Easter VBS trip. If you are a dentist, or know a dentist, that might be interested please let me know. If you are interested in going on the Easter trip, please contact me!

Thanks for all your prayers and support

Christie & Mike Mason
65 Poindexter Lane
Selma, AL  36701
334-876-9101  Home
334-292-0090  Mike Cell