A New Direction in Life...

Many of you have already been down this new road we tread.  You've already sent off or left your son or daughter at college.  Well, it's a new path for us...and it has been hard.  While we are not really physically THAT far from our Jesse (some nine to ten hours by car), there is a border separating us...she seems a whole world away!  Yet, we are surviving...even if we do have a hard day now and again.

Letting our baby go??  Well, when we sit back to think, we realize that, in fact, we spend the whole first 18 years of their lives raising them to be independent, self-sufficient...I guess you could say, "adults."  But, that didn't necessarily make it any easier for us when we left Jesse at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas.

We have been able to be in contact with her via e-mail and Facebook, but that is not the same for this family that spent so many hours sitting around the table, hanging out as a family.  But, this is the world we live in, and we're going to get used to it.  If you have experience and any good wisdom to share with us, feel free to leave us a comment!!

Pray for us, please...for all of us...as we get used to this new phase of life.

Here's the last picture of the whole Herrin Family...the day we left Jesse at college.  We look forward to when we are all together again at Christmas.

 

A Wonderful Visit!

Over 6,000 miles, seven states, and a lot of wonderful people later, we are now back in Monterrey...and life in ministry goes on!  We do thank you all so much--those of you who housed us, helped us, met with us or even simply prayed for us--thank you so much for your love and your encouragement during our too-brief "home visit."

We did get to spend time with family in Alabama, Georgia and Kentucky...and after two years being away, that was great.  We got to eat our favorite foods, float down a mountain river, and just do "nothing" for a bit with our family.  And, that was just what the doctor ordered.

Then, we were able to meet with wonderful friends and churches and others who have walked beside us over the years.  And, we got to make some new friends around the South.  We are so blessed to have so many friends!  Here are some of the folks we got to spend time with:

Coosa UMC - Blairsville, GA

Devereux UMC - Devereux, GA

Poplar Springs Baptist Church - Webb, AL

Calhoun First UMC - Calhoun, GA (Here presenting Jesse with a scholarship for college!)

Winslette Chapel UMC - Newton, AL

We are so, so grateful to you all for your love, your support and your encouragement.  Thank you for the grand welcome, for the time you gave to us.  We go forward in ministry here with greater confidence know that you are praying for us and walking with us...spiritually!  May the Lord bless you all, in every way...!

Hurricane Alex...DISASTER!

When the reports came in that a hurricane had passed through the lower part of the Gulf of Mexico and was making landfall east of Monterrey, we imagined that there would be some left over winds and a good drenching of rain by the time it made its way inland to where we were.  Little did we know what was coming to Monterrey.

Monterrey, a city of some 6,000,000 people, serves as a major conduit for US/Mexico commerce.  In fact, a tour of the city will reveal that companies and corporations from around the world--Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Japan, China, Korea...just to name a few--make their home in Monterrey.  The main "interstate" for the eastern part of Mexico runs through Monterrey as well, making it a transportation hub for much of Mexico.  When something happens to Monterrey--which produces some 60% for the nations GNP according so some estimates--it happens to all of Mexico.

On Thursday, July 2nd, Hurricane Alex arrived in Monterrey.  Thankfully, the winds were all but gone, however, he was still full of water.  In just 30 hours, the city received more rain that it usually receives in a year.  And, as the city is not used to a lot of rain, the drainage system is not the best.  The resulting deluge of rains swelled the dry river beds to capacity and beyond, taking out many bridges, erasing the two many high-ways through the city, flooding homes and businesses, taking our power and water...and leaving the city a disaster. 

Due to a planned and necessary leave, we left the city on the Tuesday after the storm.  At the time of our leaving, power had returned to most of the city, but many areas were still without water, including our own area of Santa Catarina.  We estimate a year or two for the repair of the highways and bridges.  In this time of desperation and seeming hopelessness, we pray that the Church will be a light in the darkness, a voice of hope and renewal.  Even more, we hope the Church will be there alongside for the rebuilding and reconstruction of this city.

 The Santa Catarina River the day before it crested.  It rose another 8-10 feet!

Once a road...now a river...

 One of many bridges washed out in the storm.

Rocks, river stones and silt just washed out of the mountains and down in the city.

Many roads became rivers...and the destruction was amazing.

You will find more photos on our FaceBook accounts in the days to come.  We're in transit right now, so we're updating accounts and blogs as we are able.  Please pray for Monterrey...and that the Church will be a voice of hope and a hand of help.

God is Good--A New Direction in Ministry!

God is good, and His Grace incomparable. The Lord has confirmed our call to ministry and missions time and again through the passing years...and He has done so yet again. This week, the John Wesley Methodist Seminary named Jon as Academic Dean of the seminary! We give thanks to God for this incredible opportunity as God has once again "enlarged our borders" of ministry, and we give thanks to God for the great confidence that the leadership of the seminary and the Eastern Annual Conference of the Methodist Church of Mexico has placed in Jon. We ask for your prayers--that we will continue to serve with grace and love, and that Jon can provide the guidance, stability and leadership so important in this position.

We give thanks yet again this day for all of you who support this ministry through your prayers and your gifts. Again, the Lord has decided to multiply the bread and fish...in that your gifts and prayers for our ministry now affect and touch even more lives--the more than 300 students at the Seminary! God is good...and His Grace is incomparable!

 

L-R: Former Director, Pastor Antonio Aguiña, Jon and New Director, Rev. Marco Antonio Martinez

...And Back Again!

I know, I know...SOO confusing!!  When will we just stay in one place...virtually speaking.  Well, there were things we wanted to do with this blog, but couldn't do.  Now, Google has made it easy to do what we wanted to do in the beginning, so we're BACK to this page! 

Thank you for your patience...and we hope to never move again!! ha, ha... (Virtually speaking!)

More later...

Don't Miss This!!!

Here is a wonderful video that was produced by one of the churches we work with.  You'll be able to see and enjoy a bit of the Youth Camp that we did in May.  You'll catch glimpses of the J.A.M. here and there through the video...and there is even an interview with Megan towards the end.  Enjoy!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1llETx3fS8s

Jon, Jeanne, and the J.A.M...

Communion Sunday -- June 6th

Yesterday, Sunday the 6th, we were with the people at La Roca Methodist Church in Monterrey.  This is the congregation with whom we worshiped when we first arrived in Monterrey almost two years ago.  The pastor, Mari Gonzalez, was off to her annual conference, so she asked me (Jon) to fill in for her.  Since it was Communion Sunday for this congregation, I decided to preach on "communion"...that pesky little passage in I Cor.11 that talks about taking the Lord's Supper "in an unworthy manner."  There is a lot confusion on this passage...on both sides of the border!

We had a lively service...almost an hour of music, testimonies and Scripture readings.  Then came time for the sermon.  After reading the passage, I talked about people who have been considered worthy or unworthy in various settings.  One example was how the Methodist movement was birthed in part due to people being deemed unworthy (dirty, uneducated, lower-class) to enter the clean church of the privileged and well-educated.  How did Wesley respond?  He took the Gospel to the people...in the streets, in fields...wherever people were. 

As we moved towards as understanding of who is worthy or not worthy...or who comes to the Table in a worthy or unworthy manner, I told the story of the Greek philosopher, Socrates, and his encounter at the Oracle at Delphi.  Upon asking the Oracle who the wisest man is the world is, Socrates was amazed to hear the Oracle respond, "Why, you are the wisest of all."  Socrates returned with, "But I know nothing...,"  and the Oracle responded, "Ah, but you are the only one who is aware that you know nothing!"  So, the wisest person is the one who is aware he really knows nothing.

And, you may have already made the leap for our situation in Scripture.  To be sure, the church at Corinth had some messed up practices when it came to celebrating the Lord's Supper.  But, how do we apply this passage in the here and now of today?  How do we understand what it means to come to the Lord's Table in an unworthy manner?  After some 17 years of  ministry, and after a LOT of discussions and personal research and reflection, I think I might have hit upon an answer.  We come to the table in an unworthy manner when we approach the table thinking we're worthy!  If we think we're worthy, if think we are "in"...we are instantly unworthy and undeserving.  Only when we recognize that we are completely unworthy, only when we see clearly that we are absolutely undeserving...only then can we approach the Table in a worthy manner.

After the service, as I was speaking to people as they left, a young woman has hanging back a bit, obviously waiting until the crowds had passed.  She stepped up to me with tears in her eyes, took both of my hands and told me, "I had not taken communion for over a year because I have never felt worthy.  I even planned at the beginning of the service to sneak out during the prayer after the sermon.  But, you spoke to me today.  Today, finally, I understood and I received communion.  Thank you, Pastor, thank you so much." 

A whole year??  Can you imagine feeling so completely cut-off from God?  So worthless?  So unacceptable?  In recognizing her unworthiness, she was able to come to the Table of the One who had paid the price for her sins, the One who wants more than anything else to reconcile us to God.

I, for one, am so glad that we are part of the Wesleyan tradition...a tradition in which we recognize that the Lord's Table really is the LORD'S Table--not mine, not the church's...the Lord's.  I don't have to protect, guard it or anything...it's not mine.  My task is to provide the bread and cup...remind those present of what it is we are doing and why (remembering the Lord's death until He comes)...and to serve it to all who come to receive.  I know...I know...I have a lot of good friends from other traditions and denominations that have various..."ideas"...about how it ought to be done--only certain people, only people of a particular age,...some even go so far as to say only people of a particular denomination or only the local church.  However, in all honesty, I can find no where in Scripture where there is any regulation or limitation more than this--"in an unworthy manner."  Would the same Jesus who rebuked his disciples for keeping away the children really keep those children from the food of His Table?  Would the one who shared His bread with the very one who would betray Him really say to any other sinner, "Stay away!"?? 

One young lady went away rejoicing on Sunday...because she was welcomed home after a long time away, because she realized that above everything else, the Lord hopes to see in us a humility that recognizes our need for God and our reliance on Him.  How did the psalmist put it?  A broken and contrite heart?

I hope you had a blessed day of rest and worship this weekend.  Take care...and may you know God's blessings each day!

~Jon~