Last Update for 2009

     Hey everyone, this is the last update for 2009.  We have have had a great year of preparing and being sent out onto the mission field.  So much has happened in 2009.  Cathy and I are still trying to figure out where the year went.  Thankfully God has prepared us and provided wonderful friends and family like you to lift us up in prayer.  God has used you all to provide so much for us this year in financial support and most importantly through your prayers.  Your prayers are felt daily and I believe that it is those prayers that give us the push to keep going when our own energy, patience, and endurance gives out.  We know that we always have people back home pushing us forward when we are too weak to do it ourselves.  God has planned it that way from the beginning. We have to have a on going relationship with Him to make it through and we have to have an on going relationship with those around us to complete His will.  It is a beautiful, synergistic dance of love and humility.  It is our privilege to serve with you all.
     We have just wrapped our time on the island, where God poured out His provision and blessings in a most opulent fashion.  Cathy and I have been here at the border for the last couple of weeks recuperating and preparing for the Christmas trips.  Over the next week or so we will be travelling to several villages that we work in to bring Christmas Love Packs to those who need them.  We want to thank all Lighthouse Worship Center in Purcell, OK and True Vine Church in Goldsby, OK for all their hard work in gathering supplies for and preparing over 1500 Love Packs to be given out this Christmas.   These Love Packs contain everyday personal items like soap wash, wash clothes, combs, etc. and also have some fun stuff for the kids like a small toy and stickers.  They will be handed out at children's services all over Mexico.  While we have what we need for this year, we already are preparing  for next year.  If you are interested in helping out with these love packs, just let us know by emailing us at justjoshandcathy@gmail.com.
     We will end the year somewhere in Mexico.  I am not sure exactly where we will be for sure.  When we return in early January we will turn right around the next day and head back in to La Haciendita to prepare for the Dayspring Missionary Training that begins the 20th of January and ends in mid August.  Please continue to lift us up in prayer.  We are praying for you as well. In fact right now I pray that you have a blessed time this New Year.  May God usher in 2010 with a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit in your life.  May you focus more daily on glorifying God in everything you do.  Let this next year be blessed with your denial of your own flesh for the embracing of His Spirit more than ever.  Only you Christ, are worthy to be praised.  We love you and we love each other because of you, God.  Bless your body and draw in those who aren't a part of it yet.  Together God we give you all the glory, honor, and praise.

Adoration

      Hey everyone! It is Christmas time! (like you hadn't already figured it out.) We just got back into the states a week or so ago. It was nice to miss the big commercial push for christma$ that you usually have dredge through each year. It is always a struggle for me to really stay excited for Christmas, frankly because christma$ always got in the way. The places we have been in Mexico for the last several months didn't have much started yet for Christmas. It was nice. It was nice to come back and be able to get into the Christmas spirit. I haven't had the pleasure in many years. It reminds me of growing up. When I was a kid it didn't seem that Christmas took up so much bandwidth. We didn't even think about it until after Thanksgiving when dad would take us all out to go look for a Christmas tree. (Well that is except for a Christmas when we didn't get a tree till just a little over a week before!) It was a magical time, a spiritual time. Somewhere we lose that in the shuffle of growing up. I probably held onto it longer than most. I made a point of decorating the family tree and always looking for a way to bless someone for no reason. Through the years though I had lost my edge and just became another lemming charging headlong over the edge into christma$ burn out. This year it is like I found the reset button and everything is new again.

      I believe that there are many things that contribute to this reconnection with my long lost Christmas spirit. First of all this year will be the first year that Cathy and I will not get to spend Christmas with family and in their absence the heart feels the void. We have both grown to appreciate our families and networks of friends more than ever. We miss our moms, dads, brothers, sisters, extended families, pastors, church families, friends, and just about everyone else. This makes us remember how much our loved ones mean to us. Then there is also the fact that we won't be running around crazy this year to go to parties, to brave the malls, or to pick up that last thing that we promised to bring or supply. Instead of focusing on getting our list of tasks completed, we are blessed with time to savor this season. Finally I think that the most important contributor to this renewed enthusiasm for the Christmas season is that this is our first Christmas as missionaries. We are realizing more each day what it means to carry out Christ's last commandment on this earth. Christmas is not just about the birth of Christ. For if Christ was the son of God, lived on this earth a blameless life, and then decided to not die on the cross for our sins, would we still be celebrating Christmas? To properly celebrate Christmas, we must celebrate his birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension! To bring the glory to Him that He deserves we don't need another party or holiday, but just to obey His word. Christ told us that all obedience can be summed up into two principles: 1. Love God with all of your heart, mind, and soul and 2. Love your neighbor.

     This Christmas that is my challenge to you (and me). You don't have to be a missionary or live in a grass hut to really be serving God. I believe it is more of a challenge to be right where you are, especially in Western culture, and hold strong to your faith by loving others as Christ would. When you are in extreme circumstances, it is easier to rely on God for everything, to obey His every word, but at home we find it all to easy to limp along on our own terms.  So this Christmas the try this: Don't do some drastic reroute of value driven events, but do whatever you do with love. Go to the office party with love for your coworkers. When you visit grandma and grandpa in the nursing home, don't be rushed. Give them your love in time. Spend less time checking off your holiday task list and more time working on God's task list for your life. It has one item. There is a big number one with an asterisk by it. The task is “Adore Him”. The asterisk is “Adore Him by adoring others for Him, because of Him, by Him, and through Him.” So, I will end this Christmas message in a candy encrusted sentimental but pertinent fashion. O, Come let us adore Him, for He alone is worthy, for Jesus is our Savior...Christ the King.

Thanks for the Prayers

Well this week I wanted to give you an update on the "big" meeting that was supposed to go down.  We were supposed to have a big meeting with the people to decide whether or not if we were going to be able to stay on the island.  The current mayor said it was out of his hands and in the hands of the people.  Then he turned around and try to stir up the people.  He compared us to the French when they try to take over Mexico....seriously.  So even though we knew this guy wasn't playing with a full deck, sometimes anything can happen on the island.  We were blessed enough to have the municipal president step in and tell the mayor that he was out of line and the meeting was illegal.  This happened a day before the meeting.  So in no time God made small what man had blown up to be so big.  He is so good.

We want to thank everyone for your prayers, they were heard and felt.  We know that the video and the news of this meeting has been spread all over.  We were really surprised when we found out so many people knew about our situation.  The island ministry is not out of the woods yet.  They will have a more private meeting in the future with only the parties involved.  This in itself is a miracle.  Please continue to lift up the island church.  They need indigenous leaders to rise up and lead the church, without that it will always continue to struggle.  Keep them and us in your prayers. 

We had hoped to give a video update, but we have been with out electricity for 3 days.  That makes it hard to edit video :).  Well we love you and thank God for you.  We will have more updates to come!

Stop the Boat!

Brother Isaac was a very well kept man. He reminded me a lot of a friend of mine Jim. He wasn't rich or flamboyant in dress, but he took pride in his appearance. The first time that I saw him, we were waiting for a boat and he was sitting on a nearby log engrossed in a book. His baseball hat was clean and crisp. He wore a western style shirt that had been neatly pressed. His pants were wrinkle free and were a deep vibrant blue that only comes with new denim. The boots on his feet were slightly worn but polished to cover up any blemishes and of course his belt matched his boots. My friend Lalo approached him first and inquired him about about the book he was reading. His eyes lit up with a deep burning fire as he told Lalo that it was the New Testament. Isaac was a believer as well. For the next several minutes Isaac shared prayer request, testimonies, and his passion for God.

We had arrived to the dock later than we had planned. All of the public boats were long gone and we were going to have to call a special boat to come pick us up. The price was going to be about double. God had orchestrated otherwise. We found out that Isaac lived in nearby San Pedro and he owned his own boat. He told us that we would drop us off on his way home. We only had to help with the gas. The total cost was much less than the cost of even the public boat fares. God always provides a way.

We loaded all of our groceries, backpacks, and other junk into his boat and we were on our way. The boat ride over was rather uneventful up until about half way. I had caught a glimpse of Isaac several times with a grimace on his face. He had not said much since we got on the boat. He seemed like he was pained about something and he began to rub his chest. Then abruptly in the middle of the lake, he stopped the boat. I thought maybe this poor guy was having a cardiac event in the middle of nowhere. Andrew conveyed to me later that, “I was afraid this was the time when the machetes come out.”. We had not a clue what he wanted. Isaac then silently walked to the middle of the boat. He said that he wanted us to pray for him. So the 4 of us got up and moved to where he was (which it is a small miracle in itself that then and there that we didn't capsize the boat) and we all prayed for Isaac. I am sure it was a sight to see 5 people standing in a boat in the middle of a lake with heads bowed praying. It was after we prayed for him, that I believe his true motives were revealed. When we finished our prayer he launched into his own prayer for us. It was very deliberate and purposeful. It blessed us greatly.

That day we had made a new friend. Before he continued on to San Pedro, we shared coffee and fellowship with him. He is a great guy. What stuck with me was his obedience to the Holy Spirit despite whatever pride, discomfort, or embarrassment he was experiencing. Many times it seems the Holy Spirit tells us to do the strangest things at the strangest times, but in our obedience there lies power. Some might discredit him for being slow to act upon the prodding of the Holy Spirit, but I applaud him for being sensitive enough to recognize the moving of the Spirit. Are we so sensitive to the moving of the Holy Spirit in our daily lives that we would obey like Isaac? Would we even know that God was talking until it was too late? My experience is that we are too easily caught up in ourselves and our world when we are outside of the church walls. In our daily lives we barely even hear God speaking sometimes. I pray that I always have such a daily, hourly, minute by minute conversation with the Lord that if I delay even 10 minutes in doing His will that I know it and are pained as our brother Isaac.

My prayer on the island has been that God fill me completely with His Spirit. I may be emptied so that He can fill me with His transforming Spirit. I have also prayed that the Holy Spirit guide our every step, orchestrate every conversation, and fill every moment with His love and peace. The results of that prayer have been amazing. We see the island being saturated with God's love. When we are out ministering people are finding us and are being compelled by Christ to ask for prayer or to inquire more about our Lord Jesus.  I feel Brother Isaacs prayers, along with yours as we minister.  Let us all be so sensitive to the Holy Spirit and be so humble to His commandments that we are listening to every word that He speaks. Let us be like Isaac and obey when God tells us to “Stop the boat!”.

You Might Be On The Island If...

You might be on the island if...

     We decided to have some fun with this blog entry. Life on the island is well...unique. We have come up with a list of some indicators that will let you know that you are on the island, just in case you were kidnapped, drugged, and shipped to the island with short term amnesia, being forced to work slave labor in an underground embroidery ring. Which if that were the case, you would not have internet and reading this blog would be an impossibility...unless you managed to escape and swim through the several miles of mutant fish invested waters to shore and despite your limited amnesia you remembered our blog and wanted to check it out first thing. Anyways here goes it.

You might be on the island if...

1. 
   
   Due to the dozens of lizards that live in your thatch roof, cleaning up lizard poo is part of your daily chores.
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. 
   
   Being clean is relative. As long as you aren't the smelliest person in close proximity, you are good to go.
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. 
   
   At any one time you can identify more than 4 types dung from your vantage point.
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. 
   
   You have a yard full of barnyard animals, and yet you don't own any of them.
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. 
   
   You never sleep on your back with your mouth open. (See reason #1.)
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. 
   
   You actually are dirtier from returning from bathing then when you left.
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. 
   
   You celebrate letting out all the stops and buying ramen noodles.
   
   
   
   
   
   
8. 
   
   The idea of camping seems like a luxury getaway.
   
   
   
   
   
   
9. 
   
   You wash your dishes before and after you eat. (Once again, see reason #1.)
   
   
   
   
   
   
10. 
    
    You have discovered by necessity over 500 different ways to prepare ham, onions, and cheese on an underpowered 2 burner hotplate and have contemplated making a cookbook containing said recipes. (not only may you be on the island, you have a good chance of being closely related to Andrew)
    
    
    
    
    

We appreciate everyones' prayers and thoughts. God is doing many wonderful things on the island. We are fortunate to be a part of what he is doing. Cathy and I will be here till the second week of December. We will then head north to get ready for DMT (our upcoming missionary training). Part of me is so ready to be back to the land of showers and internet, but another part of me will always be with this work on the island and those who are serving here. Andrew and Lalo, our resident missionaries, serve faithfully in an extreme environment. It is a challenge physically, spiritually, and emotionally to serve here. God is faithful in providing for those who carry out His will on earth. I thank God for this island experience. Please remember us in your prayers and remember the island as well. The church has so far to go. Lift up those who are yoked to this ministry. We love you and will talk to you soon!

Thatch Roofs and Lizard Poop

Blog- Oct. 19, 2009

Hmmmm…. I was thinking about what to say in this blog about the island. My first thought was thatch roofs and lizard poop. Each night as the sun is setting there are creatures just waking up in this tropical land. The lizards happen to be among them. They live in the thatch roof ceiling of our home. They sound like small birds that are singing. They are beneficial creatures that come out at night and eat mosquitoes and other small insects; however, they also like to poop. So, part of the daily routine of life on the island consists of cleaning up lizard dung.

Thatch roofs and lizards are common on the island to most families that live here; though, they can be a bit of a nuisance. The families on the island are made up of many types of people similar to those at home. There are ordinary people here, just like you and I. But, that is the reason we are here. People! You will find people of with various skills on the island. Some are fishermen, boat owners, carpenters, builders, farmers, mothers, fathers, etc.

Jesus said in Philippians 2:5-8, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross.” Jesus humbled himself and took on human form. He did this for one purpose, the restoration of man with God.

As Josh and I have the opportunity to serve the people on this island, our purpose is the restoration of man with God. (By the way, if you pray for us or give to help us be here, you are part of this.) We desire that people seek to know Jesus. We can plant seeds, but the Holy Spirit is the one that draws people to him. This is our main endeavor while we are on this island.

Though after being here for a few weeks, my first thought about the island might be about thatch roofs and lizard poop. But, this minor inconvenience pales in comparison to the people whose live are being changed by the Word of God. (Even though I am still not a big fan of the lizard poop!)

In Christ,

Cathy Vaughn

You Alone

When I drive I think alot.  Not that I don't think at other times.  In fact it is hard to turn my melon off.  I think all the time, which means I don't listen enough.  I probably think too much.  Now this by no means makes me smarter, deeper, or more intellectual. In fact I think part of the reason that I think so much is that I don't necessarily instinctively "know" anything it seems.  My brain has to work two or three times harder just to keep up with par.  I also have a very active imagination.  No not active.  Maybe an ADHD imagination.  Couple that with a brain on overtime and the result is the equivalent of mental pop rocks.  So with that said, try to follow my train of thought....

The other day while I was driving, I began to think.  We are at a weird stage in our missions ministry right now.  We have just left for our first stint as long term missionaries.  We have left all of the people with have spent all of our time with for the last 30 some odd years with, to live full time with people we, in comparative, don't completely know.  Life for everyone back home will go on.  There are plenty of people to distract them.  For us in the future there is the joy of all the new relationships that we will forge and strengthen.  But, right now in this moment I feel a aloneness.  Cathy and I are no longer surrounded physically by a thick circle of friends and family.  Fortunately we have each other to annoy and support.  The aloneness that I feel penetrates my soul.  Don't get me wrong.  This is not a depressive or negative feeling.  It is a sobering reminder that we are being called out.

Cathy used to play in her dad's cow pastures outside of Calumet, OK.  In those fields, she would sing songs to God.  It was in those same fields when Cathy was a small child that she knew that she would be a missionary.  Even though she had not accepted Christ yet, God's Spirit was drawing her into his calling for her life.  His Love was penetrating her life and her future.

I didn't even think about missions until I took a trip to Mexico in 1996.  I went down as a youth leader and returned as a missionary.  God's passion for the nations gripped my heart and life from that point on.  Before I met Cathy, we were both in Mexico at one point only 45 minutes apart both leading mission trips.  In 2003 God joined our passion for missions, when we got married.  The flame has continually burned for over 6 years now, on and off the field.  Long term deployment on a foriegn field was always something we knew would happen.  The when and where were the undetermined variables until recently.  Missions (in many different forms) is and will be a large part of our lives.  We are called to maintain this course.

So there we were blazing down the highway of into our future, fulfilling the calling God in bearing the yoke placed on our humbled shoulders, and feeling this immense sense of being alone.  This didn't seem right.  My mind went off, spinning, like a slot machine on meth.  Why should there be an aloneness?  We have the prayers and support of hordes of friends and families.  We have each other.  God is with us!  The Holy Spirit is here to comfort us and prepare us for ministry!  We have God's very Son in our hearts...we have Christ....oh yeah...Christ...the one whole knew "alone" better than anyone...ever.

The answer hit me this morning somewhere between deciding "Hey I am going to write a new blog this morning" and the above paragraph.  It is of Christ that there be an aloneness in our lives, if we are truly following in His steps.  This is His will.  He does not desire for us to be alone.  It is a fact check it out in Genesis.  There is however times of being called out to a specific work.  This calling out process is unique to everyone.  The feeling of loneliness lies in the solemn acceptance of God's work.  No one knows more of what I am feeling than Christ himself.  There is an aloneness that is proper, that is healthy.  It is part of the mantle of a calling.  Together Cathy and I are alone in God's calling in our life.  No one can finish our task or plow our row for us.  We have a task that must be completed.  Most pastor's can identify this "aloneness". It is the realization of being called out to do the work of the Father.

Now this call a life time of ministry is not exclusive to anyone.  Pastors, missionaries, nuns, monks and the pope are not some religious elite that have a higher calling to a life of service.  It is God's requirement of all his children.  To follow Christ is to follow his path.  His tracks lead to the hill of Golgotha, where He was crucified...where we died.   Christ's trail picks up again at the entrance of the tomb where He was risen on the third day.  It splits into a million trails that reach the darkest corners of the globe.  These are the paths our ministries take as we bring his resurrection and message of salvation to the world.  All who call Christ savior, have their path to walk, carrying the cross and the empty tomb with them.  That means me.  That means Cathy.  That means you.  Have you placed your neck beneath the yoke?  Have you began to plow your path?  Maybe you have yet to sink into the mud of a freshly plowed path.  Maybe you once plowed with passion and endurance, but something convinced you to stop or that you needed a break.  Maybe you believe that you don't have the talent, skill, purpose, or ability to pull your plow.  My exhortation is the same for everyone.  Get up!  Rise up!  Take your yoke and push forward!  You are being called out to do what only you alone can do.  Respond with a resplendent yes by leaning into your yoke with passion for your Lover, Savior, Father, and those who He already gave His life for.  He is calling out to you.  Respond with love.  You alone have a mission that you need to complete.

Cannonball!

Well we are to that seemingly mythical point in the future where Cathy and I are jumping in the deep end of long term missions. We head out in the end of Sept. (less than a week!). Sold the house, found a home for the dog, sold/gave away most of our possession, left our careers, and have struck out in faith into the foggy future of long term missions. Still after giving up what may seem like alot, we only realize now that all that was nothing. God is everything, bigger than all the "stuff" we plug into our lives replacing Him. A veil has been lifted for us. We now see how much these possessions, these trinkets are so not worth the value we place on them. Sometimes it seems that we are paying exorbitant amounts of money on things that will actually place us farther from God.

I really realize the depth of this by the things that I hear God asking from us now. In comparision giving up a nice house, cable tv, high speed internet, your favorite fur face or that "perfect" dining room table (sorry Cathy) pales in comparison when God asks you for your life, your future, and yourself. The sadest realization is that He was always asking for only this, I just could never hear it. Too much was always going on. Too much distracting me. My heart sinks to the bottom of my kiddie pool of sacrifice when I figure out that Jesus compels us to be lost under the humble waves of an ocean of Him.

Christ did not becon us to this level of sacrifice because of some "greater" call to be missionaries. It was His standard call to all who want to part take in His blessings, His salvation, and His resurrection.

Gal. 2:20 - ESV

²⁰I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

From the youngest to the oldest, the lifetime Christian to the death bed convert, the pastor to the lay person, this becon call is broadcast on all channels when we accept Jesus as our propitiation for our sins. It wasn't a one sided deal. We don't have a chance encounter with Christ, he forgives our sins and is on his way yelling over his shoulder "See ya in heaven, holla back now!". When we accept Him into our lives a relationship is forged. The deal is straight up. All of us for all of Him. Our sins, our death, our wretchness for His holiness, eternal life, and forgiveness. That is the start but not the whole deal it is also all of our finances, our relationships, our future, our familes, our friends, our dining room tables, and everything else that we are for His unexhaustable provision, communion with Him, a future in His will, His glory, and everything He is. Put that way, why do we fear abandoning ourselves to Him? What can I have or possess that can outshine the very Son of God? If you are brave enough that really want to know the answer, just look at your hands. What is it that is keeping you from grabbing Him with both hands and seeing where it takes you? What are you keeping a death grip on instead of embracing His abundant life? That "thing" or most likely those "things" are your answer.

We are learning everyday about new things that we are holding on to instead of God. I am doing my best to let go of everything. God, I let go and you must fill my hands and heart with you! Holy Spirit empty me of me and fill me with you! Now watch out as we take a running jump off the high dive to cannonball into the deep end! I just hope in the middle it doesn't become a belly buster... :)