The Godzwa Family Thanksgiving 2008
Expressing our gratefulness from Mexico on Thanksgiving and throughout the Christmas Season.
Love,
Dave and Kelly
Rebekah, Joseph, and Jonathan
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Tags: Family, Thanksgiving
The streets of Izamal
Using the passage as a jumping-off point, I remember expressing an idea that came to my mind: “Being released from the bondage of sin, we are now free to humble ourselves and serve one another. Although the external circumstances would suggest a different reaction, we are free to love when before we were tied to serve only our own passions and interests.”
Little did I know, however, that what was then theoretical would become suddenly very concrete.
As we were leaving the city after the meeting, we had stopped at a stop sign and were beginning to continue when, unseen by us, a motorcycle carrying 3 teenagers attempted cross in front of us. They struck the front of the truck and fell against the curb of the opposite corner. All three weren’t wearing helmets.
Immediately, I got out of the truck to tell the boys to stay where they were. Soon, those that lived near the scene were out of their houses, and before long, the police and ambulance arrived. Those that were hurt were taken to the hospital, while we were escorted to the police station where I was detained for 33 hours, first at the station, and later at the Public Ministry building in Mérida.
Now, in the US, when an accident occurs, rarely does a person go to jail, but in Mexico, when there is doubt about payment, the person who causes the accident is detained for 48 hours until the situation is settled. If it is not settled in 48 hours, the driver goes to jail. Unfortunately, although we had Mexican Car Insurance it took the adjuster one hour to reach the scene, and it wasn’t until later that night that the lawyer arrived in order to begin the process to post bond so that I would be released.
Nevertheless, being placed in detention didn’t mean that I had been placed on a shelf. The words that I had spoken just hours before came back to me during my time alone. So I prayed. I prayed for the injured boys. I prayed for Kelly and the kids, and I prayed that God would use me. I knew that, even though I had been detained by the authorities, I was free to serve.
Merida Public Ministry Building
He had once had a vibrant relationship with the Lord and had been an active member of the Christian community, but his work had isolated him, and in his isolation his bad choices multiplied. The crash was the end of a slippery slope that had left more than his car in a wreck, but sometimes it takes hitting bottom before we begin to look up.
José told me his story, and I told him mine, but I didn’t end it with the story of the accident. I told him that although God hadn’t caused my accident, that my meeting with him was certainly more than coincidental. I told him of the Father that welcomes home all who return to Him, and I invited him to start the journey back. We prayed, and in that detention center, we felt the presence of God. We knew that even though it seemed that our immediate future was out of our hands, we knew the hands that held our eternity.
José wasn’t the only one in the room with me. There were two youth who had been detained for driving drunk, and two others who were in the middle of a dispute between their respective insurance companies. While we waited for news about our situation, we formed a community: we talked about our families and our faith, we shared everything from the food that was brought to us to the floor that we slept on, but what filled me with the most joy was our last moments together.
When word came that was to be released, I asked if they would mind that I prayed. Given permission, we all bowed our heads and I began. I prayed for their safety and the resolution of their situations. I prayed for their families and their future, but, most of all, I prayed that each one of them might know Jesus, the only one who, in whatever situation, can set us free.
As I walked out of that room and into Kelly’s arms, I was thankful to be reunited with my family. I was thankful for the beginning of the resolution of circumstances surrounding our accident, but I wasn’t thankful for being set free. Instead, I was thankful for being taught the true meaning of freedom–that, no matter what the circumstances say, Christ has set me free, free to follow Him and free to serve others in the hope they they too will taste the freedom that I have been privileged to
experience.
In wrapping up this lengthy post, I want you to know that we are well. Although the accident has certainly left a mark on us, with God’s strength we are returning to “normal life” here on the mission field. We have definitely been the beneficiaries of the blessing of the Body of Christ in action through it all. From the prayers of the saints to the selfless help of our church friends and district officials, we have been cared for throughout this entire situation. Blessings on all of you who have been a part of this comfort that we have received.
Furthermore, it has been reported that all who were injured will make a full recovery. They have received the medical attention necessary and are now receiving spiritual care on behalf of the local A/G congregation. It is my prayer that this temporary setback will serve to redirect their lives toward a relationship with the one who can guide them through their eternity.
As for José, we were released together and are planning to get together soon to celebrate our freedom, freedom that God redefined for us in the middle of our captivity.
Photo of the Public Ministry building from Yucatan Living.com. You can read about their experience here: https://www.yucatanliving.com/yucatan-survivor/yucatan-license-plates.htm
Tags: Freedom, Mexico car accident
Following our series on the Muna Missions Trip, things have been pretty quite here on disciplemexico.org, but that is not to say that we’re without things to write about. If you’ve been watching our sidebar events calendar, you’ve seen that the Godzwa family has been busy. We’d like to catch you up to date on all of the information with a round-up post:
Evangelism Series
To start, Dave has been teaching an ongoing evangelism series at the Golgotha Christian Center in Mérida. Each Thursday night for the past month, we’ve been meeting to discover the God’s heart for evangelism, returning to the Bible to discover the guidance it gives to those who would join in His search for the lost.
Beyond the teaching, we’ve also been offering opportunities for the members of the church to involve themselves in practical forms of evangelism. The last Saturday in March, we joined with the children of the church to celebrate the arrival of Spring. In the 90 degree heat, the evangelism team handed out bottles of water along with cards that read, “Do you feel dry? Jesus is the Water of Life!” We also handed out copies of Luke’s gospel to those who received the water. It was quite a site to see so many neighbors receiving and reading the information.
Preaching Engagements
Our family was invited to three separate preaching engagements. The first was Palm Sunday with Pastor Natanael Ku. We traveled about 30 minutes outside of the city to spend the day with his family and celebrate the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, the official start of the Holy Week. We were able to share with the congregation as well as spend time with many in the community, Christian and Non-Christian, coming face to face with many of the needs that Pastor Natanael faces on a daily basis.
Beyond our time in the country, we were also invited to discuss, at Golgotha Christian Center, an interesting teaching of Jesus during the traditional Tuesday of Controversy. This evening we considered the passage in Matt. 22:15-22 where Jesus displays the conflicted righteousness that man uses to justify his actions in contrast to the freedom that following Jesus brings.
In addition to these events, we spent time in Mount Hermon Church, which sits to the south of the city. There we were able to observe Good Friday with the members of the congregation, observing the work that Jesus did for us on the cross.
Water Baptism
This past Saturday, a highlight of our busy weeks, we were able to witness the baptism of 6 members of our home congregation. With the whole church traveling to the Gulf of Mexico to to take part, the baptismal candidates received their charge, waded into the waters and one by one were dipped below the waters, symbolizing death to their old life and their rebirth with Christ to life anew. We’re including a video attached to this post to for those who visit the site.
Of course, none of this activity would be possible without your prayers and support. Thank you for being involved in what God is doing here in Mexico!
With my running commentary on the state of my health here and here, one can get the impression that we have been shut down for a while on the ministry front. However, although I’d lost a few days in my recovery, we’ve also been active, planning for an upcoming missions team to work in Muna, starting a new semester here at the Bible Institute, and serving in our local church.
One especially noteworthy event was our Carnaval service. Every Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, the date that marks the beginning of the Catholic season of Lent (Cuaresma in Spanish), the city of Mérida hosts Carnaval. This event, which is very similar to Mardi Gras in New Orleans is one big day of “sinning” before the purification of the Lenten Season begins. Of course, as Christians, we don’t believe in this binging and purging habit when it comes to living a Christian life, so our church offered an alternative Carnaval service.
During the service, there was an atmosphere of celebration for what God had done in the lives of the believers, participation in games and singing, and a wrap-up teaching before we sat down to experience the culmination of the event, sharing some great yucatecan food!
I was in charge of the afternoon’s message. It was an opportunity to share with the people my message on the tongue. (You can read the message in Spanish here.) I was able to share that it is not only sufficient to avoid the apparent sins of the world (e.g Carnaval), but that it is necessary to subject our entire self, all the way to the unruly tongue, to the power of the Holy Spirit.
During the course of the message, I was able to utilize Kelly’s pink dish washing glove as an example of being filled with the Spirit, as well as invite others to try and refill toothpaste tubes as an example of the difficulty that we have in taking back the words that we say. The picture above is of one of the church members, Joel, as he attempts this impossible task. The wonderful payoff, though, was seeing several of the church members come forward to pray for a new experience with the Holy Spirit.
So, yes, we’ve taken a few steps backward due to illness, but we’ve also seen God taking a few steps forward utilizing His power through us. Thank you for your continued prayers on our behalf!
They say, all good things in life must come to and end, and life in language school is no different. There were a several things that came to an end in the past week that we’d like to fill you in on.
First of all, the trimester of school finished this Friday when we said goodbye to 13 graduates and 1 instructor. Fellow Mexico Missionaries David and Carolyn Huneycutt, Ryan and Christie Thomas and Terisa and Fredy Vasquez were among those who said goodbye to Costa Rica to head to their appointed destinations in order to begin their ministries. We wish them well. Also leaving the school was 13 year veteran grammar teacher, Iris Chavarria (pictured in this post from last year). She was our teacher for our two trimesters, and we owe all of our knowledge of the functioning of irregular verbs and the uses of the subjunctive to her. Gracias por todo Iris, será extrañada.
Second, the end of the trimester also means that we received our evaluations from our Oral Proficiency exams that I mentioned in this previous post. Both Kelly and I finished well, scoring above normal for our group. Not that language school is a competition, but the ability to advance more quickly here will mean that we will have an easier time adapting to the language in Mexico when we arrive. We want to take a moment to say thank you to our teachers (pictured above),thanks to you for your prayers on our behalf. Without those, we are certain that we would not have made it this far.
Finally, yesterday meant the end of my 31st year, and what a year it was! We finished our itineration by speaking in over 55 services, travelling by car to each one, participated in the first ever commissioning of new candidate missionaries at the 51st General Council in Denver, CO, moved twice, arrived in Costa Rica in August, and survived a couple interesting trimesters which saw us through sicknesses, and accidents, but also has brought us closer to ministry in Mexico. Through it all, we have to marvel at the faithfulness of God and His people as we have received the help of so many that they would prove too numerous to mention. My 31st year is over, and, if it served as any indication, 32 should prove to be wonderful!
Wrapping this post up, we realize that good things do come to an end, but as we finish one thing, we find that God continues to offer us new beginnings, which bring rewarding challenges and opportunities to view his faithfulness.
Last Saturday, we had the opportunity to visit the volcano Irazú. This volcano, located directly east of San José is most generally known for it’s eruption of March 19, 1963, the day the President Kennedy visited the country. At the summit of this now dormant volcano, one can find a strange, cold and almost moon-like surface. As well as a temperature has been known to create frosts in this tropical country. However, few of the group of students that traveled to visit this natural wonder were expecting to see this placard of US culture waiting for us when we arrived.
It appears that the US Department of the Interior once had an earthquake monitoring station here at the summit of Volcán Irazú, and this metal plate was a remnant of their operations. What at one time may have served as a tool for scientists served on Saturday as a reminder of the thoughts and prayers of family and friends back home for a small group of missionaries. And to those who continue to show their love and support we say, “Thank you!”
We felt no “temblors” while we were exploring the terrain, but we did get some great pictures. Take a look at them now by clicking on the picture to the right or by clicking here.
How does Jonathan, our almost three year old, celebrate a birthday in Costa Rica? By having an operation of course! Tuesday, November 8th is Jonathan’s third birthday, and we spent the last week and a half preparing by spending a lot of time in the hospital.
It started with some symptoms that we found earlier in October that necessitated minor surgery. However, the day after we scheduled the procedure, Jonathan fell and cut his face, requiring emergency surgery as the cut was very close to his eye.
Now all of this is difficult enough to deal with in the states, but try navigating through the emergency room in a foreign language! We were helped by a terrific team, however, and we want to take a moment to thank our doctor, Dr. John Longworth, Jay and Nancy Dickerson, the directors of CINCEL for providing translation and taxi services, as well as the entire school for their support, prayers and concern. Thanks goes as well to those who continue to hold us up in prayer. Your prayers do make a difference.
In this picture Jonathan is preparing for the final surgery, and, as you can see, the injuries haven’t dampened his spirits. Hey, he’s rough and tough right? The surgery went wonderfully well and the stitches in his face were removed at the same time. He’ll be able to celebrate his third birthday injury free!
That’s right friends! You’ve read correctly. We have received the final clearance necessary for us to leave for the field. This means that we will be leaving for Costa Rica on August 3oth in order to study Spanish. We will be living in San Jose and studying at CINCEL, the Assemblies of God language institute for all Missionaries headed to Latin America.
Thank you to you who have helped us with your support, and especially your prayers. Without you none of this would have happened!
It’s been a bit since I have added to the blog, but that does not mean that there hasn’t been activity in the Godzwa household. In fact, we’ve been busier than ever, and we have seen God do some wonderful things. Since our last budget update, we’ve moved to 90% in our monthly support. Adding in the commitments that have yet to be recorded, we have received 97% of what we will need in order to minister in Mexico. We need only $170 to complete our budget. On top of that, our cash is nearly raised!
Although we’ve not received official clearance, we are getting things ready to leave the states by August 28th. We have our house up to rent, and we are beginning to weed out the stuff that we have accumulated through our 13 years here in Missouri. It’s amazing to see how many T-shirts one can collect in that time!
We want to thank everyone who has been instrumental in making this happen. Thank you to all who have prayed for, supported and continue to stand together with our ministry. You are deeply appreciated!
A quarter of our budget that is! Yesterday, following our service @ Highway Assembly in Brighton, MO we reached the 75% milestone. Thank you to Highway Assembly and to our the latest supporters who joined them in helping us make it to this point in our fundraising:
Leaman & Angie Geosling of Springfield, MO
and
First A/G of Tipton, MO
