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Helping The Least Of These

Most of our readers are aware of the mission work we are involved with in the village of Muñoz.

What began as emergency assistance following a devastating fire has developed into a wonderful relationship with the local Pastor and folks in the community.

This is a new addition for which we are also raising funds for supplies. Locals will be doing the work!

Gospel Team Outreach has been able to build four small homes as well as help with reparations on the church. This included a massive cleanup immediately following the fire last year.

Through the generous giving of people and churches in North America and Puerto Rico, we have also been able to support the school and provide essential education for approximately eighty children.

As the current school year draws to a close, Pastor Patrick and I are planning for next year. The children’s needs include supplies, books, uniforms, and shoes. I am asking each of our friends and partnering churches to once again consider getting financially involved with this fruitful endeavor.

The Pastor will be making a trip to Haiti next month wherein most books can be purchased at a discounted price. I can assure you, the kids of Muñoz are “the least of these” of whom Jesus spoke. Our goal is to raise about $6,000.00 to cover all expenses for the entire school year! Imagine: Eighty children receiving a quality education at an average cost of $75.00 per student for the year (including uniforms, shoes, books, and supplies).

Please pray and consider being a part of this great opportunity to bless those who have no way of repaying. God will bring the reward and return on every investment made!

“And the King will answer and say to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me” (Matthew 25:40).

Please Click Here To Help The Least Of These!

On behalf of the village of Muñoz, we'd like to extend a heartfelt "thank you," and may God bless you mightily!

Pastor Emory & Vickie Goodman

Sunday, May 15, 2016

The Hiding Place

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The Hiding Place

For many folks, the above title brings to mind the great book by Corrie Ten Boom. However, for me, it describes where I have been recently. God has brought me to a very obscure place to learn of Him and experience His presence. In this wonderful place I find peace, rest, and restoration in my spirit, soul, and body.

The Psalmist speaks of such a place:

“For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock” (Psalm 27:5).

From both a spiritual and natural point of view, God desires to hide us in His pavilion. My personal “hiding place” just happens to also be a high place atop our apartment. It is here, in my “cave,” that I am able to spend precious times alone with the Lord while meditating upon Him and His Word. Thus, tremendous rest and fresh revelation are experienced.

We believers seem to go through various quandaries at times. On one hand we are called to mature, while at the same time we must “come as a child.”

Perhaps God wants us to become more childlike the older we get. I speak of the simplicity of faith and humility.

As the Lord brings me to this place of hiding and obscurity, there is a deeper sense of appreciation and gratitude for what Christ has done. There is open communication and dialogue as I both speak and listen to the Spirit. Never have I valued the divine indwelling so much as now and at this present stage of life.

As I stand on the rooftop patio of our home, I view the beauty of God’s creation: ocean, mountains, birds, and palm trees. Yet, even this pales when I consider how that Christ has sent His Spirit to abide in us.

Friends, it is so easy to neglect, even ignore, this most precious gift. God of creation has chosen to make mankind His dwelling place on the earth. He abides in us, and we abide in Him. May we consider the words of Paul:

“For in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring’” (Acts 17:28).

May we come to fully understand that in and of ourselves we can do nothing, and there is nothing of eternal value. Yet, because we abide in Christ, and He in us, we are filled with divine heavenly treasure.

Jesus, Himself stated:

“I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me” (John 5:30).

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

Just as Christ maintained a constant relationship and communication with the Father, we can as well. He said and did what He heard and saw . . . for His life was solely dependent upon His Father. Are we greater than He?

I have come to love and value a life of obscurity where I can truly experience the presence of the Lord.

“You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah” (Psalm 32:7).

Grace & Peace,
pg

Friday, June 17, 2016