Late Friday afternoon we visited the director of the primary school to see about doing health classes in the school. As we sat in his living room and began explaining our ideas on what we would like to do his face lit up. Before we could even finish explaining our ideas to him he began to tell us about how the school was going to start up a week of health on Monday. Once again the Lord has perfect timing! He was eager to have us help and invited us to put something together for them on Monday morning. We had already planned a trip to Jalapa all day Sunday and Monday, so we agreed to start on Tuesday morning. We had nothing ready and no time to do it. It would be a miracle to pull it off, but we agreed to go ahead anyway trusting that the Lord would help us. We were testing the promise that says, “with God all things are possible.”

During our travel to Jalapa we searched the stores frantically trying to find all the necessary items to put the classes together.  Praise the Lord we found everything we needed and were able to put together some amazing classes.  Both the students and the parents were able to see the food pyramid and hear a message about what our body was originally designed to eat.  The teachers and the parents are already taking the message to heart.  The director of the school eliminated fried foods and all sugary snacks from being sold at the school.  They are now selling fruit to the children.  We also had many parents asking questions and one parent even asked about having a cooking class.  At the end of the week we were asked to come back next year to do the classes again and the director has asked if we would be interested in doing some English classes throughout the school year.

Once again we prayed and set out for Jalapa very early Sunday morning.  It is a five hour drive from our village.  This was our third trip to the SE (Secretaria de la economia) office. The first time we went we picked up some paperwork to help us set up El Pan de Vida ministries here in Mexico.  The process of setting up the ministry here has been a long one. Different types of paperwork having to be filled out and turned in at different places and many different obstacles that came up along the way of doing this as well.

On our second trip back to the SRE office we were hopeful that it was going to be the last step in finishing the seemingly endless process of getting the ministry established here.  With the forms in hand we marched into the office with smiles of victory on our faces.  We set the paperwork on the counter before the young man that was there, he looked at them and then gave them back to us as he explained that the form was no longer valid due to a recent name change of their office; it was now called the SE office not the SRE office.  Exasperated, we left to head back home with the new form to be filled out and brought back.

 

Many times in life we meet up with obstacles that keep us from accomplishing what we had set out to do, even when we had prayed asking God to help us.  Yet we should never get discouraged, especially if we believe we are doing what God is calling us to do.  Obstacles are God’s opportunities to develop in our characters the quality of perseverance; if we let Him.  We must keep the situation before Him in prayer and surrender the outcome to Him.  The Bible says, “Keep on asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking and the door will be open to you.  For everyone who keeps on asking receives; and he who keeps on seeking finds; and to him who keeps on knocking, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8 AMP

 

The third time we went back to Jalapa with our paperwork we were told, once again, that the paperwork was not able to be accepted.  Fortunately, the man behind the counter remembered us and after talking to him about the situation he had compassion on us.  He showed us what needed to be corrected and how we could have the corrections made in Jalapa.  So we went off on foot to look for white out, a typewriter, and somewhere to make copies of the paperwork.  When we returned he accepted what we had and said that he would have our final documents for us the next time we returned as long as we brought back a set of duplicate documents that were not whited out so he could replace the ones that we had given him that day.  This saved us at least one extra trip since we would have had to come back to pick up the final documentation from his office anyways after handing in our paperwork.  Praise the Lord!

 

Have you experienced obstacles in your life recently?  Don’t give up.  Keep it in prayer, surrender the outcome of the situation to the Lord and let the Him work perseverance in you.  He will bring it to pass my friend, He will bring it to pass.

 

“Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and he shall bring it to pass.” Psalm 37:5