Looking back...

There is nothing too big for our God...

How do you measure a life or a ministry? Has the measurement already been set in place for these things? Is a ministry defined by one's willingness to "take care of widows and orphans" (James 1:27) is the measurement of a man's life in his ability to believe in Jesus, the One sent by the Most High God? (John 6:29) I would submit to you that these are exactly the scales by which we, as Christians, measure ourselves and the world around us. However, is that really the ideal motivation for us as believers in Christ?

Or does a life deserved to be measured for something so much more special than just its own ability? Does a ministry begin in action, or has its beauty been placed in it already by a third party? The Bible does command us to take care of orphans and widows and to believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior- there is no doubt. These things, however, are not what give us worth.



The truth is that GOD gives us worth! When John tells us in the Bible, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life," (John 3:16) we understand that when we are on our own, away from God, we are worth nothing. Apart from God, there is nothing and no one that truly values us nor values our lives. The Lord made you and me to be beautiful and valuable, and even though we sometimes live lives that are openly offensive to God, He saw through it from the beginning! He sent His Son, Jesus, to die for our sins, and the Bible says He did that because He LOVES US!

Now I would like you to look at the pictures of these children that are on this page- they cannot give you anything in return for your ministry and time and prayer, but with all of my heart, there is nothing more valuable! In the same way, we have absolutely nothing to give God- the only Being who ever placed any true value in us while we were filthy sinners, stained with hatred towards Him. Let me ask you some questions, "Did the fact that the Lord would never get anything comparable in return stop Him from sending His son to die a bloody cross?" "Does anyone think that it was anyone other than all of mankind pounding nails through the hands of Jesus- the very same men and women to whom He came to give eternal life?"



When you think of how much God has loved you and loves you, what is stopping you from loving everyone else in the same way? I would ask you to stop valuing yourself and others by your abilities; start looking at yourself and others through God's eyes! Don't just think about the children and the families and the poor in El Salvador, look at your coworkers! Do they know that the Almighty God places value on them? Do they know that He gave His Son with the purpose that they would be cleaned from all sin and stain? Think of how freeing that would be for them. Think of the millions of lives that coworker could touch with that same message!

Now we see the worth of ministry does not begin in action, but in the realization of the extreme worth that the Lord places on ALL people from ALL places in the world! There was one time here in El Salvador when we visited the hospital, and it was especially horrific. I remember one of the young women who came with the missionary team was experiencing frustration because she couldn't see how God could allow it. I couldn't believe that someone could go through that entire experience without realizing one thing: we WERE the hand of God on those children's lives that day! It might have seemed so small to us to have decorated cribs and beds, to have praise and worshiped the Lord with them, or to have prayed with each and every one of them for health and peace for their families. Nothing is too small for our God, because NOTHING IS TOO BIG FOR OUR GOD! To whom do you represent the hand of God? How are you allowing the Lord to work through you in another's life?

My prayer today is that you would know that God loves you SO much, unconditionally. Let all of us pray together that the people of the world would know the same- the salvation of God is available regardless or race, class, background, or anything else! Pray a prayer next time you think of the people in El Salvador, but let us constantly be falling on our faces at the remembrance of our Heavenly King's great love for all us! He took our place and gave up everything that He had for our wellbeing; slowly but surely, we are fighting to do the same for the others in our world.

Prayerfully, I would like to let you all know that I have been given the opportunity to return to the United States for some more ministry training, and I'm very excited. There aren't words to describe how much I will miss this country.

I thank God for each and every one of you all! Thank you SO much for all of your prayer and support!

For more information on what's going on here in El Salvador or on the missions training course that I'm going to be taking, please feel free to email me at brennandavis@ccsv.net

God bless you all! I pray that the Lord would give you all the gift to be able to see the people of the world through His eyes! I know that the Lord will bless you all in return for all of your prayer and support in a way that you can't even imagine!

May He to whom belongs all of the power and the glory be forever praised by His people!

Amen,


Brennan

Look What the Lord has Done!

I promise that you won't forget a beautiful face like this
as long as you live!

How do you think she and her family feel about what God's doing in La Angostura?

The truth is that the Lord has turned a church that was once forsaken into an oasis in the desert. A pastor moved his six-person family from a comfortable life in San Salvador into a shack made out of aluminum; he is now father to hundreds of children and pastor to a people that only the Lord cared about before. Let's ask ourselves- would we have even heard of the people of La Angostura if the Lord had not purposed in His will to do a miraculous work in their lives? Would we have invested our time, prayer, and finances in this village of fishermen and farmers if the Lord had not invested His love and amazing grace into that community first? Most of us can't even point out its general area on a map- God knows the count of every single hair on the head of every single man, woman, and child there!

The story is actually really funny if you think about it; of course, it's only after you imagine the despair of the people who were involved in the church from the beginning- getting kicked around, forced out of meeting places, being abandoned by former leaders, persecuted by various cults in the area- that's not funny. The thing that makes us all laugh is the fact that even when there were only seven people left in the church, the church was still praying, and the Lord sent us good-old American citizens! So often we as human beings can be so focused on our own little world that we forget God's warning: "Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me."- Matthew 25:41-43.

Even though the Lord used us (and that completely blows our minds!), I beg you with all of my heart to come and meet the people of Calvary Chapel: La Angostura! Look in their faces... do you see extreme poverty? hopelessness? hunger? Nope... what you will see are two eyes beaming with love and excitement! I promise that when I first arrived here most of the children who you see in the pictures below were reserved, some of them were beggars, some of them would mock us and laugh at us. Now they are our guides when we hand out tracts in the community! Now they try to offer what little they can to bless US! Now they practice the few words and phrases that they've learned in English with us! The Lord is powerful to save people, to change lives, and to exceed everything that we could ever ask for or think of in His complete power and goodness!

We forget sometimes that, by nature, we don't deserve even to have a roof over our heads or food to eat. That goes for the people of La Angostura as well. Without the Lord's intervention, they are sinners just like you and me. The fact that they now praise the Lord with shelter over their heads from the rain should bring us to tears! Do you remember the last time that you were forced to sit out in the torrential rain or blistering sun- not because man had forced you to- but because you were compelled by a heart that wanted nothing more than to praise and worship the God that created you?

So far, a complete sanctuary has been built and is the largest and tallest building around for miles. I foresee that in only a few months we will see a big sign on top of it during the service that says, "Standing room only". Praise God!

There are also restrooms on the facility now. From the back of the bathroom, they are planning to build classroom after classroom until they can build no more! In time, we'll see a beautiful children's program open up that will minister to hundreds if not thousands.

Calvary Chapel Spring Valley from Las Vegas, NV had the honor of being the first missions team to minister in the new building.

Wouldn't you know that this baptismal was built even before the sanctuary itself!!

David and Edwin... best of friends! They forced me to take this picture of them... but I doubt they ever imagined that it would end up on the world wide web :-)

Thank you so much everyone and God bless!

Please remember to pray for La Angostura, Pastor Manuel and his family, and healings in the church.

Love you all!

Brennan