Christian Youth Worker Speaks - Mexican Flu ... May 3, 2009
Hello Tim, How're you doing?
As you may know by the news we are in epidemic alert, so classes have been suspended as well as service in public spaces such as movie theaters and malls. Even restaurants all over the city are just selling "to go" orders and church meetings have also been canceled, from every religion or denomination. We have been watching our church's services through the Internet.
Our last youth meeting we had was on April 24th and I hope activities are reestablished soon enough so that we may have our Bible Treasure Hunt as soon as possible. See International Bible Treasure Hunt.
By the way, we used the Easter play "The look of love" from your book and it was very instructive in Jesus resurrection and fun, fun, fun ... we use some scarves and veils to get into the characters, and ended the meeting with comments and reflections using candles to get more deep in the times of Jesus, when he gathered with the disciples. As the 20 youth were sharing their special needs to be prayed for, the play was a nice and intimate lesson for all of us. The play is found on pages 297-302 of the book Not the Same Old, Done-it-before Youth Meetings"
In the midst of these times of sharing, it's hard to describe in words the feeling of going out and seeing lot of people with mufflers, and a lot of closed or empty places but we, as Christians, are sure in the Lord that no plague will come to us or our families, as stated in Psalm 91. However, we must attend to local authorities orders and follow government instructions and recommendations. As we do, we must keep on praying for our country and the world to turn their hearts to JESUS. At this time with all this things happening I feel like God's people did in the middle of pagan countries where people rejected God, like Lot in Sodom or Jonah in Niniveh. Unfortunately Mexico City has been invaded by lots of New age places, filled with oriental doctrines. In addition there are drug wars, kidnappings, homicides, and even prostitution is commonly seen in day hours in some places. Child abuse is like as never before and lots and lots of kids are living in the streets. But the things that most grieves my heart are those altars built on the streets, huge ones, worshiping that figure with a skull face and a black or red garment that are spreading quickly among low class neighborhoods, where a lot of people have illegal activities.
Anyway, amidst this we must stay firm in our Lord Jesus and keep on spreading His word and salvation. Behind all these epidemic news there are political issues and media influences spreading fear to the people, that we can best resist through our shield of faith.
Finally I want to share that last Wednesday was our 3rd wedding anniversary and, as we couldn't get anywhere out to celebrate, we stayed home and rented "Fireproof", which I've heard was a good movie for couples. We simply loved it and God made a deep impact in our hearts, encouraging us to keep on forgiving and caring for each other.
Blessings for you, your family and the youth group
Jose Carlos, Mexico City, Mexico
If you wish to respond to Jose, please write to TimFerguson@Christianyouthgroup.org. Jose will be happy to hear from you and will be contacted with your message.
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Find the play that Jose said was a "nice and intimate lesson for all of us |
Pray for Mexico".