May Update
I am doing a “read the Bible in a year” plan which guides the reader through four different parts of the Bible at the same time. It is a great help to have it split up because there are some books of the Bible, like Leviticus and Numbers, that are just plain hard to read. I was recently plodding through the book of Leviticus when I read about the “Feast of Tabernacles.” The feast was to be a remembrance of the way in which God traveled with the Israelites through forty years of desert wandering, while the Israelites themselves lived in “booths”, or “mini-tabernacles” of their own. According to the book of Leviticus, the Israelites were authorized to observe this festival by building small shelters and living in them for one week out of the year. God did not want them to forget their sins of the past which left them wandering in the desert, living in tents with no home to call their own. Nor did he want them to forget his own faithfulness to them through that time, as he accompanied them with his presence and dwelled in a tabernacle of his own. In His own words, God did this, “So your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in booths when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.” Leviticus 23:43
I can imagine that the Israelites, who experienced wandering in the wilderness for forty years, would have been delighted to trade living in a “booth” day after day for a home on land they could call their own. When the feast was first commenced it must have seemed like a small thing at the time to set aside one week out of the whole year to live in tents to “remember”, as opposed to living in them year after year. Perhaps they fulfilled this command from the Lord with gladness for many years. But I have to imagine, as the years passed, the memory of the desert faded and did not seem so harsh. Life was much easier in the land flowing with milk and honey. Blessings were upon the nation, food abounded, and their enemies were subdued on all sides. The whole purpose of the feast and the booths was for the Israelites to remember God’s faithfulness to them. However, as we well know, God’s chosen people found many ways to forget God’s faithfulness and stray away from Him.
My job and location has changed over the past few years. I used to live in Mexico, now I live in Pennsylvania. But I will always remain a missionary, wherever I am, whether I am working on building projects with Totonac Indians or working on engineering projects with my co-workers. Even if God permits me to settle down for decades in Elverson, PA, I hope never to forget God’s faithfulness through the hard times and the blessed times in Mexico. But how easy it is to forget! I am not exactly going to Mexico to do what the Israelites did and go out and build a hut and live in it, in the same way they lived in the years past. But I am going to return to Mexico and be strongly reminded of God’s faithfulness as he dwelled with me in Puebla, Mexico for two years while I “wandered” in a foreign land that was not my own.
I will be working with a team of 15 from our church. We won’t be living in “booths”, but we will be living, eating, speaking, working and worshiping in a culture that is foreign to many of us. In the past few weeks, I have had so much going on. From deacon work, to missions committee, to a new job to various other commitments. I realize that I have already begun to look at Mexico with the excitement of perhaps someone who is looking forward to living in a “shelter made with branches” in their backyard for a week. Yet I know that is the heart of one who is quick to forget. God has been faithful for the past 10+ trips, blessing them mightly. He traveled with me from Elverson to Puebla to San Andres, to all over Mexico… and back. And now he is sending me again. It is truly a privelage and a joy.
Like any short term trip, this can’t be done without your prayers and financial support. God has moved in the hearts of so many of you in the past to be used as his vessel to send me to Mexico, and I am sincerely thankful. I realize this is the time of year when short term mission trip letters abound and every one of them requires financial support. Please prayerfully consider whether this is an effort you can support. $1700 is the goal of each team member. This includes all expenses from travel, to food to building materials for the project. Checks can be made out to “CEFC” with “Jon Mountz Mexico” in the memo line.
Here is a quick rundown of the two weeks:
- I will arrive in Puebla early in the second week of June to begin preparing for the arrival of the group.
- Steve and Verna Estes will arrive on Thursday, June 12th
- The Group will arrive in Puebla on Saturday, June 14th. Steve will preach at the dedication Cristo Victorioso on Sunday and the whole team will travel to San Andres the following day.
- The goal of the work project is to take care of all the maintenance needs that the medical clinic has and to advance as much as possible on building a retaining wall and preparing a small plot of land for a future church building. We also hope to visit two other churches in nearby villages to encourage and bless them with some maintenance work or perhaps just a visit.
I will be calling some of you specifically to ask you to pray for me each day I am in Mexico. If you would like to make that commitment now, and don’t want to wait for a phone call please tell me, or email me at jon.mountz@gmail.com. I cannot do this alone, I must have at least five people committed to praying.
Well, this letter is getting long and I didn’t cover half of what I wanted to. Please visit my website at www.joninmexico.com and you will see this posting and any future ones as well. If you are not already on my email “reminder list” for my blog, and would like to know when it is updated, please email me and let me know.
Blessings in Christ,
Jon Mountz