This week I have learned a lot about laying tile! We have just finished my last Mission trip as a Mabel White pastor. Working for Missionaries in Nuevo Progresso, Mexico we laid about 1000 square feet of ceramic tile. I have hauled tiles, and bags of grout and cement. I have swept, filled buckets of water, mixed who knows how much cement and grout, busted cement floor by hand, cut tiles, and cleaned floors with dry rags by hand. My thumb developed a nice bloody blister and tile chips flying off of a saw blade bloodied up a perfectly good work shirt... and it was great! I don't have a lot of Heroes - that's wrong, I do have a lot of heroes, just not like a lot of people. Missionaries are my heroes. And what was great about this week was hearing and seeing the joy of 2 of my heroes when they saw our work at the end of the week! After years of people promising to get the medical clinic floor tiled, Judy was thrilled to actually see it happen. And What a joy to see Rea admiring the somewhat intricate cuts that were made in the tile floor where it joined some of the wood work in the clinic. Their smiles, and the smiles of the 2 men, Jose and Antonio, who we worked with made this week worth it!Missionaries are my heroes - all missionaries... men and women, boys and girls - Jesus lovers who have been transformed by the gospel and are willing to do what it takes to see the gospel go forward and transform the lives of others! What a joy to talk with Rea and Judy about their vision and desire to see the gospel transform the culture in which God has placed them - and to share their vision. Though our cultural contexts are vastly different, our drive, and desires and passions are the same, seeing the gospel transform everything within our reach.
I look forward to being home - seeing my wife and children, and digging in to help New City Church be a church that is more than a building, an organization, a man, or a service - helping the NCCd people be a group of missionaries living out Gospel transformation, and seeing that same Gospel transform everything within our reach!
