Lil' update

Hey to all... I hope that you are all doing great and hanging in there.  I wanted to give you all a bit of insight into what Juli and I are doing this week, and also some perspective on all of this flu stuff from here in Mexico.  First of all we are doing great and not at all worried.  There are many here in Tepic walking around with masks and many businesses and all the schools are closed, but there is really no reason to worry.  I was up at my home church last week and spoke about going from an attitude of worry to an attitude of worship.  What a great test!  We hear all of the news about the spread of the flu and how it is going to affect the economy and our daily lives and our minds wander all over the place.  WE SHOULDN'T WORRY.  God is in control and we have that confidence in our lives and it is our jobs to share that confidence with those who are freaking out.  Anyway, Juli is off school which is cool for me because she can hang with me as we are currently hosting a group from Oregon who are here for two weeks to help do community outreach in Compostela.  We are going to be continually working alongside them as well as our other ministry stuff.  All is good though, it is getting really HOT, and we are just getting started with the summer.  Anyway, let's all stay encouraged and whenever we begin to feel that worry or fear creeping in, shrug it off and trust in the One who has total control.  God Bless you guys, let me know how you are doing...

I John 4:4 - You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

Sharing the Reward

I Samuel 30:24 - Who will listen to what you say? The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle.  All will share alike.

Whats up?!?  I just wanted to take a minute to encourage all of you guys back in the U.S. All of you who are standing with Juli and I in our ministry need to know how important you all are.  I believe that this story in I Samuel is a great example.  David and his mighty men were going to go into battle, there were a couple hundred men who were too tired to fight, so they stayed behind to guard the supplies of the men.  The others went into battle and won, capturing lots of plunder.  When they returned to the others who had stayed behind, some of the warriors thought all of the plunder was their's, after all they fought for it, but David had other ideas.  He put forth an order than I believe should stick with us always, those who guarded the supplies received the same reward as those who were on the battle field fighting.  Lets apply this to our lives today.

First of all do not misunderstand me!  I in no way want to imply you guys are tired or not in the important battle.  On the contrary, I wanted to encourage all of you who make not think that what you do is as important as what someone else does.  Those of you praying hard up in the states for us and other pastors and missionaries, or those of you who are working hard and able to support financially, you are all entitled to the same reward as those "on the front lines."  We all have a role to play in this family of believers, and all of our roles are equally important.  So lets commit to continue working together!  As a properly functioning family of believers, we are going to continue to see more "plunder" and we are all going to share in the reward!!!!!

love you guys.

Josh and Juli