From the Pastor's Desk

I hope you've all had a blessed week and are looking forward to the Sabbath rest and the weekend. The reality of mission trips has been a fundamental part of our church's focus for years. It has always been an irreplaceable aspect of our ministry and a way to reach and impact the world with the light of Christ. This Sunday, most of our team will fly out to PNG and embark on another quest to be the hands and feet of Jesus in Mt Diamond. 

Mission trips are much more than opportunities to travel around the world and see new sights. Mission trips are a way of accessing an exceptional dimension of the Christian experience. By spreading the love of God to people who have never heard the gospel, we become extensions of Jesus' love in a way that only mission trips can do. Therefore, mission trips have immense value and significance in terms of allowing us to shelter those that are extremely vulnerable and in desperate need of love, compassion, and support. When we participate in mission trips, we are also able to grow and refine aspects of our faith that we may not have been aware of previously. This is a chance for us to put into practice our faith. We go to areas where the culture may be different or where people may speak a different language. But in these differences, we see how all these people share a common humanity and bond in Jesus Christ. 

This year's Fly & Build and Week-of-Prayer Trip to Papua New Guinea promises to be another opportunity for our church to reflect Jesus' love to the teachers and students of Mt Diamond. We will have the opportunity to share the love of Christ by facilitating a physical need in the community while still spreading the gospel. Even more exciting, we pray that our Week-of-Prayer will inspire the Mt Diamond community to seek Jesus more. 

I want to encourage the church to keep this mission trip in your prayers. Pray for the safety of our team; that God would protect us in our travels, our work, and our interactions. Pray for open hearts and minds among the people of Mt Diamond, may they be receptive to the gospel. Pray for our team's unity and harmony. May we work effectively together, serving and supporting one another. Pray for the physical and spiritual needs of the people we will serve. May our work and witness bring healing, transformation, and new life to those who are in need. Pray for our shipping container, which is still stuck in the port, my God work a miracle. And most importantly, pray for the Holy Spirits guidance and empowerment in all that we do. May the Holy Spirit lead our mission. As we take this journey of faith together, let us never forget that, ultimately, every individual we encounter is a soul for which Christ died and whose life can be forever changed by our message of hope. 

May God bless us mightily in this work and may we all embrace this opportunity to share the love of Christ in Mt Diamond.

Blessings, David Peñate.