Check That Baggage
God is Faithful
Life here in Puerto has become very busy for me. I have a new wife, Soco, and a large extended family to go with her. I love them all, and they are all wonderful. Sometimes the responsibility can be a little overwhelming. God has faithfully worked out all of our problems and in the process, is working on my patience and my reliance on Him.
We are currently building a house. It should be finished near the end of March. God provided a man, Mike Albutt, to manage the construction, and I could not have done this on my own. I am very pleased with the outcome so far and expect to have a wonderful house for Soco in a few weeks.
Yesterday, my step-grandson Mario fainted in worship time at school. He is ok, but it caused a stir. His parents are in another state, 12 hours away, and he is staying with his grandmother and me. God is helping me learn how to deal with the unexpected. I know I need a lot more work in this area, but I see His hand in almost everything. That word ‘almost’ is still a problem for me. But He is faithful and true to His word.
School is going reasonably well, praise God. The sixth graders are doing better in math than my previous years of teaching the subject in the middle school. I think part of that is because more of them speak English fluently because they have been in our school longer. And the other part of that is due to God growing me as a teacher.
God is faithful in showing Himself to students in school. There are a few students that are obviously struggling with God. That is good because we can see Him working in their lives.
God is also faithful in my personal life and my life in school and to the students that we are serving. I am so thankful that He has put me here. I will keep struggling with turning everything over to Him, but He will faithfully keep pulling me through.
-David Coulter, GEM Missionary
Are You Listening?
Once Upon a Memory
Pursuing Manhood
So I am on a Paul Washer kick right now. If you don’t know who Paul Washer is, I recommend him. (Disclaimer: He is a bit intense. But I believe he is a true lover of Jesus, and if you stick with Pastor Washer, I think you will be edified and glad for it.) Just Google him. There are tons of videos and sermons from him on the world wide internet. A lot of times Washer talks about authentic, Biblical, manhood, something in which I am really interested. My recent attention that I have paid to Washer has gotten me thinking lots of things about masculinity and my own claims to be a man. Also, Paul Washer recently had a heart attack in March, from what I can gather it appears he is recovering and doing okay. So let’s pray for him and his family.
Washer has stated that American men, “live in a culture that wants to keep you a boy until you are about 35.” I think he is right. Our culture does seem to promote just staying boyish until you reach the maximum critical age where you need to get busy being mature and responsible to ensure the survival of yourself and those who depend on you. I don’t see anything in secular American culture that promotes getting boys to more quickly become mature, responsible, strong, tough, tender, caring, wise men. Instead, our culture is replete with things that keep men being boys for longer and longer. Instant availability of smart phone games, mind numbing social media posting, technology, and trinkets that are marketed as things for grown ups but are really just more sophisticated toys etc. etc.This, the “
This, the “boyification” of males who ought to be men given their age, is a relatively recent feature in our culture. It hasn’t always been this way in the USA or at least hasn’t been as universal as it is currently. For example, Johnathan Edwards started preaching when he was about 20. In the Lewis and Clark expedition, Merriweather Lewis was 30 and William Clark was 34 when they set out in 1804. Jacklyn “Jack” Lucas was 14 when he enlisted in the Marine Corps and was 17 when he performed actions in the Battle of Iwo Jima for which he would later be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. John Piper was 34 when he became pastor at Bethlehem Church. My own dad, John, was operating bulldozers and heavy equipment from an age which he can’t remember but was formally employed in such work at 18. I believe I am in very good company in making this observation. I am by no means the first or even close to the first person to make it. Paul Washer, John Piper, Tom Harcus and lots of others have spoken well and at length about this phenomenon.
I believe I am in very good company in making this observation. I am by no means the first or even close to the first person to make it. Paul Washer, John Piper, Tom Harcus and lots of others have spoken well and at length about this phenomenon.I am 31. I am
I am 31. I am now and have been for a considerable amount of time, acutely aware of my own need to grow up and be more of a true, humble, strong, conviction filled, loving man who does things for the benefit of other people. I think about the men in the above paragraph and I can not help but compare myself to them. When I was 21 I didn’t know how to do anything. I couldn’t open the hood of my car. If I ever did, I couldn’t find the hood prop to keep it up. At 21, Jack Lucas had already fought in Iwo Jima. At 21 Johnathan Edwards was leading believers and teaching them from God’s word. At 20 Merriwether Lewis was in the Army. William Clark did the same at 19. In his 20s John Piper was on his way to becoming a pastor.
The Bible is filled with exhortations and encouragements for men:
Joshua 1:9- (spoken to Joshua) “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified do not be discouraged for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
1 Corinthians 16:13- Be on your guard stand firm in the faith be men of courage be strong
Ephesians 6:4 – Fathers do not exasperate your children instead bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord
Colossians 3:21 – Fathers, do not embitter your children or they will become discouraged.
1 Timothy 2:8 – I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer without anger or disputing.
1 Timothy 6:11 – …pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.
So from these verses alone, and they are certainly not exhaustive of verses directed towards men in the Bible, one can see that a man is to be: loving, courageous, strong, gentle, prayerful, righteous, godly, filled with faith, and enduring. One sees also that men are to lead and train their children but be patient with them and not discourage them. They are to not passively ABSORB noble traits but rather PURSUE righteousness and other virtues. Men are meant to pray and be concerned for others. They are meant to stand firm for the Gospel and not be flimsy in their convictions for Jesus. Men are not to give in to fear but rather be carried by an unshakable hope in God.
You can’t be these things or do these things if you are addicted to Facebook. You can’t do this if you post selfies 5 times a day. You can’t become a real man if you spend 10 minutes trying to decide what filter to use on your photos. One can’t be a strong effective man if he wastes tons of time playing games on his phone.
So by the grace and love of God, I am not downcast and in a puddle of self-pity and self-condemnation. Instead, I sense a full head of steam welling up in me to propel me to pursue becoming this way. I desire to avail myself to the Holy Spirit so I can, through His power, pursue these things so that I become a man who is a blessing to others. I desire to fight my flesh and my propensity to waste time. I want to commit to not wasting time playing like a boy playing games on my phone, accumulating toys, watching TV, staring at the internet and staring at social media.
I do not think I am alone in this. I believe there are thousands of men just like me who sense their need to pursue manhood with vigor and conviction. I encourage anyone reading this to join me in this pursuit and to apply themselves to living a life that matters for things that are truly important. I exhort them to analyze the endeavors of their lives and ask, “What is this accomplishing for my children? What is this accomplishing for my wife? What is this accomplishing for lost people? What is this accomplishing for the church?”
So take these words from one overgrown boy who wants to be a man and join the struggle. God is with us, and He has given us everything we need for life and godliness. We can be made more into the image of the greatest Man who ever lived, Jesus. There is none superior to Him, and he promises to make us like Him and conform us to Him. He promises to work in us what He alone can accomplish.
God is awesome.
-Jason Faircloth, Director of Mission Advancement
Meet Lamuel
New Project: Pakistan
Two Years with GEM
I leave Mexico to move back to the United States in a couple weeks and I have so many emotions stirring within me. I’m in a tension of being overjoyed at the thought of getting married in 2 months and then deep sadness to say goodbye to Mexico. God has made Puerto Escondido a home and the people that fill it, family.
In moments I take to be still and reflect, God’s faithfulness overwhelms me. I could write a list and never stop over the ways that God has been faithful in the last two years here. In the relationships he has blessed me with, the way He has sustained and grown Brett and I, the way He has given me the skills, wisdom, and strength to teach on the hard days. The ways He has protected the school and given it incredible growth. He has provided the most quality people to teach at the school. I could go on. It is so humbling to reflect on the faithfulness of God because it shows you His sovereignty and proves true that all is for His glory.
When I moved to Mexico, I was excited but I was honestly asking God how I was going to love these kids well. I had been working with children the entire year before and it was a struggle to enjoy it. God had gifted me with being around children and relating to them, but I did not love it.
As I moved here, I compared myself with the o I was working with who had a real passion for teaching and a passion for children. I would have days where I had no desire to be at school. Through the struggle, I heard God whispering, “keep going.” God was doing a work and it is only now at the end of my two years teaching that I can look back and be amazed by what God has done.
God has let me enter into the cares and depths of His heart. As you seek the Lord, He 
transforms your heart! My expectation coming here was that I would fall in love with teaching and with children. Instead, I have fallen in love with Jesus. I have joy to wake up and go to school now because I know that I will meet Jesus there. Children are a gift from the Lord and they are made in His image. Getting to spend all of my days with them is incredible. I have not only learned most of my Spanish from these cuties, but I have learned unconditional, pure love.
And teaching them is now something I enjoy because God has opened my eyes to the opportunity and the mission. He has crushed my pride that said, “You do not have the passion and skills to be a teacher.” He has replaced that with, “My love is better than life and you get to show these children that.”
Now I do not have to strive after attaining some joy, passion, or skill because when seeking the Lord, He gives me everything I need to do whatever it is He has. He doesn’t only give us the strength, but He gives us His joy, peace, patience, all of it. I can truly say that I love teaching at Manantial because the love of Jesus has overcome.
I’m amazed. And I will carry this into this next season. I feel so comforted and secure because I know that wherever the Lord leads me, whether it’s into a job where I feel completely inadequate or into a circumstance where I do not feel fit to be in, He will meet me there and He will overcome every expectation and every fear. His love is truly better than life!
Over the last two years, in many of the seasons that have come, I have prayed that these verses would be true over my life, and God has and is faithfully making it so.
“You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.
Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.
I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your right hand upholds me.” Psalm 63: 1-8
–Annie Hindin, GEM Missionary
Grace and Galatians
Follow me
One gift of a Monday with no school, thank you Mexican Independence Day, I met with a friend for a run on the beach. With the sun on our backs and the sand sliding into our shoes, the miles and conversation passed quickly. We arrived to our destination, catching our breaths in a shady area. The ocean was filled with surfboards and tourists, and we watched as joyous and shaky riders conquered waves and face planted into others. Yet always willing to paddle back out and try again.
I’m sure many messages have been and could be written about the connections between surfers and following Jesus. The unknown of the waters, the determination and ability to take risks…but, I’m not going to talk about those topics. For off to our other side were 5 men. Five men that had nets, simple clothes, and no shoes. Fishermen.
I’ve never had much interest in fishing. After seeing a hook get stuck in the palm of my big brother’s hand, I stayed away from the sport. If I’m honest, maybe I just don’t have the patience. Regardless of the reason, I had never really watched the process. I was mesmerized as the men worked together, casting out the net, pulling it in, each with his own purpose (one seemed to simply keep the others laughing).
We watched them pull in a big load, the birds loudly protesting from above, and my friend turned to me and made an unforgettable observation, “Just imagine Jesus walking up to these men and saying Follow Me.” And I realized that I had never truly paid attention to that part of Scripture. I always took for granted that of course they would follow Jesus. Of course, they would understand what was to take place by leaving everything to follow Him. But they didn’t.
So, I thought about what that meant for them to leave their nets. In Matthew 4:19 it says that Jesus simply states, “Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” He doesn’t say, “Don’t worry, you will always have enough to eat” or “With me you will see amazing things of God.” Jesus only says, “Follow me.” He doesn’t entice us with beautiful views, delicious food, or amazing coworkers. He just wants us to follow Him.
I will never forget a quote which states, “When you delay obedience, doubt and excuses creep in.” For the next verse says, “At once they left their nets and followed Him.” They were the first ones. They didn’t have the gift of seeing others already following Jesus. They didn’t read books about missionaries or watch inspirational movies. They heard His call and simply obeyed. And I think in many ways if God did show us His plans…well, in our humanness, we would freak out a little bit. So, in His graciousness, He shows us one step at a time. One day at a time. One moment at a time.
Sarah Quigg is serving her second year at our school in Mexico as the 5th-grade teacher. We are so blessed to have her on our team, and our students are INCREDIBLY blessed by her God-given talent for teaching and loving them so well.