Challenge EXCEPTED!?!?

Someone noticed! And the one who noticed first, are at least the first to comment about it on Facebook, doesn't surprise me one bit!!! Who, you might ask? A man with an exceptional vocabulary who often interjects words into everyday conversation that fly over the heads of his co-workers. A man with a degree in philosophy who is very articulate. A man who probably reads the dictionary as a pastime.....Pastor Michael!!!

A recent blog post written by Jessica TenHaken about Saturday, titled "Challenge Excepted" was being heckled on Facebook because of the title name - Although; grammatically correct, this mistake is called malapropism. But in this case, it was intentional! Hear me out. 

Excepted: verb (used with object) 1. to exclude; leave out: verb (used without object) 2. to object (usually followed by to or against): to except to a statement; to except against a witness.

Definition part 1: If you study the definition of "excepted" you understand what it means: to exclude and leave out.
Saturday, we were challenged, no doubt about that! We were asked to step out of our comfort zone to interact, embrace, and pray over people we would consider excluded, poor, dirty, and lazy. Why were we asked to embrace them? Because God's grace (like water) flows from the top and pools at the bottom. In our eyes, we strive to be on top and we belittle those on the bottom (I mean the very bottom). But if God's grace is most abundant at the bottom, why aren't we showing more grace to the "excepted"?

Definition part 2:  When we pulled around the corner and saw the people we were about to interact, embrace, and pray over - I (maybe I'm speaking for everyone, maybe not) thought, this is crazy and I don't feel comfortable doing this at all; they're reeeeeally dirty people on a scary street. I "excepted" to the idea of witnessing to children of God. I "excepted" to pouring grace to a handful of people I thought were scary and gross. I "excepted" TRUST in my Heavenly Father. 

"Exception" is a foothold we give Satan. He wants us to think "everyone except me" can do this. When faced with a challenge, like we were on Saturday, I believe we all wanted to "except" this challenge. The worst part was, we knew it was a challenge God was putting us through - and yet, we still wanted to except. We had the option to Accept, or Except it - I feel terrible for wanting to except this challenge, but once I accepted it....we got to talking and it was getting easier. It really wasn't that bad! And when we got to praying, it was one of the most rewarding and peace-filled moments in my/our lives. 

Which one will you choose when God asks you to do something? Accept or Except? 

We tend to think highly of ourselves - this is why God warns us to humble ourselves. "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you" (1 Peter 5:6) 

I know this "Challenge Excepted" blog title sounds like a brilliant idea to remind us to not think of ourselves so highly and also be reminded that God's grace; which, flows to EVERY nation and peoples. But in all reality, I (Nick Hoffman) didn't have it planned out this way at all :P I'm the world's worst speller! I ABSOLUTELY used the wrong word.  But..... God used my little malapropism error to teach us a bold lesson to not forget the forgotten and to embrace, encourage, love on, and pray over the "excepted". - Who is He putting on your heart?

This morning we were surrounded at the breakfast table by 7:00am to order breakfast and go through our morning devotions together. Today’s action word is Discipline: the work of growing, learning, and following. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts…Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…whatever you do, whether in word of deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus. (Colossians 3:15-17)

We packed up the bus and took off for El Tineco by 8:30am. We were greeted with excited students & firecrackers. We spent almost two hours in El Tineco as we shared excited welcomes, prayers, and speeches of gratitude back and forth. We handed out the school supplies, gave each child a Colors of Faith bracelet, and many hugs before we took off for Monte Margarita. Monte Margarita and El Tineco are neighboring communities so it didn’t take too long to get there from El Tineco. Once in Monte Margarita, we heard the National Anthem again – except this time it was played by the middle school band! That was a first!! We shared more greetings, prayers, supplies, bracelets, and encouragement with the Monte Margarita children before having lunch at Feliciano’s home. Feliciano is the principle of Monte Margarita and pastors the church at the Finca. The local pastors joined us as well! Lunch was AWESOME!!!! Nothing special, just chicken, mixed veggies with mashed potatoes – but….. IT. WAS. EPICALLY DILICIOUS!! If vegetables tasted like that every time, I would definitely get my suggested daily serving of them. I don’t know if it’s because they were so fresh or because they were made from love; probably the latter.

Guatemalan National Anthem in El Tineco

Monte Margarita

Sharing the CCS books

5th grade 

6th grade

A Thank You gift from Monte Margarita

After lunch, we broke off into teams. Terri Baas and Patty (Interpreter) taught the pastors how to approach on studying the Bible, called the Discover Method. It’s based on learning how to ask questions on the passage. What does it say? What does it mean? What does it mean for my life?

The pastors were afraid Terri would be teaching them Doctrine, so they were refreshed to learn a new way of looking at approaching a Bible passage. The Discover Method really gets the congregation involved. The goal here is to value the interaction rather than JUST hear from a pastor.

Bruce DeVries & Linda Droogsma visited four homes to pray.

Down at the soccer field, we broke into four groups:

Julee Moorlag & Terri DeVries played games with the children: Red Light, Green Light. London Bridge is Falling Down, Duck Duck Goose, & Simon Says.

Julie Goslinga & Kelly Snell did face and arm paintings.

Nick Hoffman & Tom Kiel played soccer with the kids – yes, we both fellJ #humbled

Jessica TenHaken & Kristi Kiel taught and sang songs and read Bible Story books.

4:30pm came rather quickly today! Time to load up the bus and head back to the hotel to debrief, eat dinner, and finish our day with devotionals, praise, and prayer.

Sunday's volcano eruption made the newspaper!

God is Good! El Gibhor (a characteristic of God) - it's Hebrew for Strong & Mighty God