After spending a week in El Salvador, I realized once again that there is no place better than home. Thank God that I can enjoy AC, a hot shower, clean water, great food and my own car to drive around. It was a good reminder that I have so much to be grateful for. Although I enjoy going on missions to different countries, I have a hard time getting used to different food, culture, language barrier and especially unsanitary conditions of certain countries. It was no different this time in El Salvador. I tried my best to eat the local food without any grumbling and get used to the unsanitary surroundings but it was very difficult. I’ve never used sanitizer so often in my life until the past week in the mission field. If you ask my wife, I am certainly not the most sanitary and clean person, but somehow I get paranoid when I go overseas. However, as much as I tried to avoid getting infected, I wasn’t able to escape the power of a stomach virus. I have no idea where I picked it up but one thing I know is that I was literally rolling on the ground in pain on the last day of the trip. It wasn’t a good ending to an amazing week but the care from other members helped me to keep going.
As many of you heard, I wasn’t the only one sick during missions. Most of the team members were also sick throughout the trip. The nurses and doctors on our team were busy not only for their medical ministry but looking after our own team members. By the grace of God we were able to successfully finish our missions. God’s divine strength and His perfect will led us to overcome our physical limitations.
If you ask anybody from the El Salvador team what the highlight of the trip was, he or she will definitely talk about rescuing a lady from attempting suicide. When we were hiking up the mountain called “The gate of the devil,” we just wanted to enjoy our day off from doing ministry and enjoy the beautiful scene. However, God had a different plan for us. He brought us to the right place at the right time to minister to this woman. We held our hands together on the top of the mountain crying out to God to save her life as two of our members were ministering to her. God heard our prayers and there was no doubt in anyone’s heart that God used us to save a soul. God has moved her from the gate of the devil to the gate of heaven through us. It’s a testimony that all members will remember and cherish for the rest of our lives.
I was personally challenged by the way El Salvadorian Christians worship God. Their love for God that was expressed through their worship, the way they listen and respond to the spoken Word just blew my mind. Although I did not understand 99% of what was said and done, I knew clearly that these people had the joy of the Lord in them. I pray and dream about our church congregation worshipping the Lord with the same passion and joy like the El Salvadorian Christians.
Today, we set aside a special time to hear great testimonies of how God worked through our church people in the different missions fields. God has done great and amazing things through us.  Gloria Dios!

From Pastor Brian’s Heart
July 14, 2013

Life has thrown a few lemons into our lives.  Some are very very bitter and sour!
Even as I am writing this column, Ruth and I are in the process of making some lemonade from those awfully sour lemons.  Over the years, since we have collected some recipes, I would like to share with you “How to make cool lemonade out of those sour and bitter lemons life dumps on you.
First, we ask WHAT rather than WHY...
Once we start asking, "Why Lord? Why is this happening to us", then we go into blame mode.  We blame God.   We blame the people involved.  We blame the difficult situations.  The lemons get more bitter and more sour.  So it is better to ask “What Lord? What can we learn from this” Then we can gain energy to cope.  
Second, we have a 100 year law...
We try to look ahead 100 years from now.  100 years later, are we still going to struggle with this same problem? Most likely not... No absolutely not!  No matter how big the problem is: it too shall pass with time.
Third, find humor in them while we are squeezing the lemons.  When we found out Ruth would need a tummy tuck for reconstructive surgery, even though she was struggling with the terrible pain after the mastectomy, she said "Yea! tummy tuck, no more 똥배.  I am going to be forever sexy!" We had a real good laugh.
Last, remember God's rich truth often comes in a beggar's cloth.  Initially when they show up at our door, we used to slam the door on their faces.  But now we may not eagerly welcome them, but at least we let them in even though they stink horribly.   You see, slowly as they shed their stink they actually turn into something valuable and wonderful.
My dear NCFC family, since we have this truly unexpected lemon thrown in midst of our lives, it left a strong sour and bitter taste in all our hearts.  However let us just not taste bitter and sour lemon.  Let us cut it, and squeeze it.  Then add some sugar to make delicious lemonade to refresh our souls and enrich lives.

From Pastor Daniel’s Heart
July 7, 2013