Wire ties and and deep love

Greetings from south of the boarder again. Everyone is doing well and feels healthy.

For a while now we have heard about security concerns along the US boarder. In some places the tension is very real and is a disappointing and unneeded threat. However, our time this week has been a blessing and has been very safe. We have seen no evidence of concern thus far and have 100% confidence in the leadership of Faith Ministries while here. Sure, security is always a real concern no matter where one lives. So there are guidelines that help us and our amigos to be smart and think safe. It is an honor to be among our amigos here in Mexico and everyone on the team has said they are glad they came.

Today we were blessed to work alongside the same volunteers that were here yesterday. We began mixing cement and poured a floor. Later we tied some rebar and prepared a roof to be poured for tomorrow. All the while our amigos worked tirelessly working on their tasks and building bonds with our team. They see teams come and go, so sometimes it's not always easy to bond. The unique thing with our team is members continue to ask about past friends. It's great to see that love build over time and no become short-lived. The current volunteers see that care and we hope will open their trust to us as we honestly seek to become their friends.

In Phillipans 1:9-11 Paul prays this regarding love for his friends, "[I pray] that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much, but love well." (The Message). It's fairly easy to love much- we are good at that in churches all across America and the globe. Thousands of church teams are mobilized around the world as I sit and type this blog. All of them (or at least most) are doing good work and are to be commended. However, I wonder if in our attempt to show love we end up spending more emphasize on loving much and less on loving well? Our prayer as a team and as ministry partners is that our love becomes so deeply connected that we can't help but to love well.

May we all go and love well.