God’s Handiwork (Love Without Borders Ministry)

Friends! Hi, so many great things happened after quarantine that I am so excited to share. My team and I have been jet lagged with many emotions as we are to leave Guatemala in less than 2 days! Sharing what God has taught us during this time is so important, and so, I want to start with that. This journey God is taking us through is for His glory, for our transformation…  and for those around us. This love and grace is for everyone!!!

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:8-10

After quarantine, we met our ministry partner, Love Without Borders Ministry,run by father and son missionaries, Fernando and Luis Misteco. By the power of Holy Spirit, Fernando and Luis along with their family, ministered to our hearts with their words and actions/works.

Through words – we were taught: 

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  that every good word spoken and every good work done is because of God, and not because of ourselves.

•  that everything that we do is to be done for the glory of God. It is a teaching that many have heard but many have not grasped, staying in an, ”I have to do good works to be saved” mentality
• the reason for doing good works isn’t to earn your salvation, but because once you have been saved, you were created in Jesus to do good.
• doing good works is in the new nature of the believer, because,
• just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works. James 2:26 
• believers are to be light in their community (Matthew 5) and to bear fruit

Through actions – we were taught:

• how it looks like to be Spirit-led even when it doesn’t make sense humanly speaking, for example, choosing a humble lifestyle to stay true to the calling of God to reach out to your community
• how it looks like to have unconditional love for those around you by actively assessing the needs in your community and completely depending on Jesus to supply every need 
• being ready to preach about Jesus even when it may be inconvenient
• to guard your heart from pride and deceit when receiving praises from those around you for your good works.
  

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On our last night with the Mistecos, Fernando told us that we are called to be like a lamp in the center of the table. The lamp lights up the whole house, and just like that, Christians are to be light and to light up their community. 

My team and I, as missionaries, thank Jesus for reminding us of these truths. It is all about His glory, and never ours… and so, because we are saved, we will bring glory to Him with what we think, say, and do. 

Until next time, what was the work done in partnership with Love Without Borders Ministry? Stay tuned! I pray you were impacting through this blog. If you want to be more impacted, feel free to check out Fernando and Luis’s stories below by pressing on their names. 

     Luis Misteco    &    Fernando Misteco 

With much love,

J