Travel With Travis

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posted by travis spencer @ 11:14 AM 0 comments

Boston Wrap Up

Eight days in East Boston and reading a very challenging book called Irresistible Revolution has got me evaluating my life as a follower of Jesus.

I think we live our lives as "Labeled Christians" but live like most other people. We call ourselves Christians, and we believe in the Christian doctrinal truths, but our living patterns are very different from Jesus and his teachings.

I'm not just talking about sex, drugs, and other sinful behavior...Although we may struggle in these areas as well. I'm talking about living out Jesus in the place we live. Whether we live in Mattoon, Charleston, Springfield MO, Ft. Lauderdale, Boston, or Colombia... we have to live out a life of love and service to people around us. We need to be active in serving and not just do it when someone approaches us for help. Taking the initiative to serve WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

So, after a week of cleaning, talking to people in the park, playing with children, participating in a very diverse church service, helping our team work out life issues, and just being the person God created me to be....I'm ready for change.

I'm ready to be pro-active in a life of service and good deed. I need to be the good Samaritan all the time. I need to love God, love my church community, and love everyone around me.

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SOME MORE PICS

posted by travis spencer @ 9:05 AM 0 comments

Saturday - Sunday

The past two days have been great days for team ministry. Saturday was filled with morning prayer stations across the community, a few hours at the beach for a small get-a-way, then a Summer Blast kids outreach in the park in the evening. We have many new families we connected with, many children who had fun and played many games, and many parents who met Pastor Dave and people from the church. All in all....A great day.

Sunday we gathered for church. It was the first time we actually met most of the people who attend Central Assembly. It's an incredible city church. More than 12 countries are represented, every skin color (most of which were different than us) and so many accents it was hard to understand many of the people. Wonderful people. Wonderful experience. Wonderful glimpse of God's Kingdom with such a diverse make up of people.

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BLAST FROM THE PAST.
We were in East Boston in 2000 for the first mission trip I'd even led as a youth pastor. On the trip Jeremy West (for the first time) prayed out loud with someone at the park who had a hurt knee. That week she came to church with us and her knee felt much better. Her name was Rita.

Today I ate lunch next to Rita. She was water baptized a year after our trip. Now, she faithfully attends Central Assembly. When she saw our team and found out we were from mattoon, she immediately asked if Jeremy was with us. I explained he was now a full-time missionary. I called Jeremy on my cell phone and he and Rita talked at lunch. Although Rita had never used a cell phone, the two talked and it was a very cool mission trip moment.

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Tonight we play Uno at the kitchen table. The full week of ministry and experiences have nearly ended. The team has done wonderful. We stuck to our mission statement: We served Pastor Dave and his family, and we served his church and his community. They set the schedule and ministry, we simply stepped in and served to the best of our ability.

It feels good to serve. In fact, we are wired to do good things. God, who lives in us, has designed us to do good. And when we do, we feel good because we have accomplished our purpose God has established. God is good. Our reflection of him should be good. Our actions should be good. And when we do it.... it will feel good.

I saw a Christian t-shirt once.... be the moon, reflect the Light.
I really don't like those type of shirts...but i liked the message.

moon.

posted by travis spencer @ 8:01 PM 0 comments

pics from the day

Today was a great day.
-Summer Blast kids outreach
-Prayer Stations
-Joy and Deanna Arrived
-Powerful Team Service late at night

The weather has cooled down....thank you Jesus.

And for the pics....

posted by travis spencer @ 8:02 PM 0 comments

stuff I've learned so far...

- Crusty is not a good clown name.
- You can drink 10 bottles of water and not go to the bathroom.
- Hot weather messes with your mind. (Like people crawing around in Pastor Dave's house and walking around out side with 4-inch heel and shorts...Kacy)
- In boston, tonic is pop. But pop is soda. So I have no idea how to order a Diet Coke.
- You can accidentall walk into a stranger's house when passing out flyers.
- Our team doesn't mind playing in fountains with 6-year olds.
- Phil looks good in pink shower sandals. (This is his foot, and he did pull a muscle....and he does wear these at the YMCA for showering.)
- And peanuts do not grow on trees, but underground...according to our AirTran pilot.

posted by travis spencer @ 6:12 PM 1 comments

EAST BOSTON

TUESDAY: fourteen of us from church land in Boston. Joy and another team member will arrive on Thursday.

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WEDNESDAY: The bank digital sign reads 104. A heat advisory has been established in Boston. The mayor has asked everyone to check on their elderly neighbors from time to time throughout the day.

We were going to do a work project, but because of the heat, we are changing directions. We believe bottles of cold water to neighbors is the way to show love to the community. So as I type, we sit in the basement of the church, quite with the echo of circulating fans, and we get ready to share water.

I just have to believe Jesus would give out cold water on a day there is a heat advisory. No loud preaching. No tract distribution. Just a nice bottle of ice cold water to bring refreshing. And through it….may their soul be refreshed as well.

posted by travis spencer @ 5:46 PM 0 comments

I'm Home

Getting home and completing the story of a trip is no easy task. After experiencing 11 days of God moments, memories, and incredible situations, it's difficult to sum it up. I'll bullet point a few stories and events.

• We distributed approximately 22,000 books to students in Choloma, Honduras.
• More than 4,000 people attended our GodMan presentations throughout the week.
• We sweat more than 15 hours a day.
• We ate at the same buffet 8 times. (the owner was so happy he gave us t-shirts and clocks)
• I swam through a cave in the Caribbean Sea.
• I watched US students fall in love with missions.
• We saw incredible miracles take place in front of us.
  
• Here's A Story from Liz McMahan's xanga http://www.xanga.com/LittlegirlinHiseyes "God had been called upon in that service for salvation, for healings, for repentance, and for the return of a grandson, that had been kidnapped on June 7, the felons requesting millions from the poor family in return. The pastor asked me to pray for them. I have no children of my own, and I didn't even have the words to say, so I remembered in Romans 8:26 to pray in a way that only the Spirit understands. God will hear. For a half of an hour, I prayed with the grandparents of an 11 yr old boy named Richard. I fully expected God to cause those men to carry that young boy through the church doors at that moment. So much so, I kept looking to the entrance. Nothing. After a while, we got off of our knees, stopped crying, and it was as if God said now wait. But the Pastor wanted me to pray more. I was frustrated with God at that moment. We have all authority in heaven, what about the power of Jesus' name? This could not be God's will for that boy to suffer harm. We stopped praying and waited. Nothing. Meanwhile, an old lady asked me to pray for her right leg which was in grave pain. She moved with a walker and cried out it hurt so bad. No wound, just unexplainable pain. God did not heal her then. Why not? I went to bed asking the team to keep praying for Richard and went to bed, not questioning God's power, just asking about His motives for waiting. I couldn't sleep much. The next day we went to the same church, danced and praise God with more energy and when it was all done ( 8 kids scattered around me ) the Pastor said someone had a testimony to tell. He pointed at the Grandparents that were in my row of seats and said that Richard had been found last night!!! I kid you not, I stood up and shouted, "Sweet Jesus, that is so exciting!" Then I sat down because everyone was looking at me. They went up to the front, and started telling how he had been tied up and blind folded to the back of a non moving bus. Someone in the town had found him and returned him to his parents LAST NIGHT!!! They called me and we hugged and cried and praised God more! Amazing, God is simply amazing. He had indeed used His power to return the boy to his parents as we wept for his life.

I thank God for his faithfulness during the entire trip. Again and again I lived in his faithfulness, survived by his faithfulness, and ministered by his faithfulness.

posted by travis spencer @ 3:00 PM 2 comments

Update# 3 Honduras

Today was a teacher's strike in Choloma. We could only do three schools. Although a few schools missed out because of the strike, our team got some needed down time from the heat and hard work.

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Friday is a very full day. We have 15 school assemblies and three GodMan presentations scheduled. We will be with more than 7,000 students tomorrow, as well as all the people who attend the three GodMan presentations.

posted by travis spencer @ 6:09 PM 2 comments