August-September 2023 Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations…from everlasting to everlasting you are God. Ps. 90:1-2

August-September 2023 Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations…from everlasting to everlasting you are God. Ps. 90:1-2 

Moses, the “Man of God” continues in verse 10 of his Psalm 90 prayer to say that we may live to be 70 or even 80, but even the best years will be filled with pain and difficulty; then, like a vapor, they will be gone. This fallen world groans with corruption, but more importantly, our God abides from everlasting to everlasting. 

Praise God that the past couple of months in Tepic attest to the truth that from before the foundation of the world, from everlasting to everlasting, there is hope.

In my unlikeliest dreams, I never would have imagined myself celebrating my 71st revolution around the sun last week by kicking off an 8-week OANSA series based on the Insect World, comparing the Everlasting’s marvelous creation with His faithful promises in His Word. We learned that there are an estimated 10 quintillion bugs in the world and that if placed on a scale together, they would weigh 70 times more than all living humans if they were positioned on the contrasting pan. Ten quintillion is a VERY big number (10 with 18 zeros following it). We also learned that God called Abram to leave his home, his family, and his comfortable life in the idolatrous city of Ur to go to some mysterious place. He told Abram that He would make of him a mega family (like more than all the stars in the universe, kind of like all the bugs in the world), that He would provide them with mega lands, and that he and his descendants would receive and be a mega blessing to the whole world...especially through his everlasting, saving, hope-offering Descendant, Jesus, the Messiah. Lots of bugs, lots of descendants, lots of blessings. 

Nor would I have imagined making my own “birthday cake” (90 cups of dirt with gummy worm “candles”) to share with the OANSA kids and leaders. Leaving country, kindred, and father’s house, metaphorically or literally, is unsettling for sure, but the Everlasting’s resulting legacy is unfathomable. And being a part of His special family is a big deal for all generations. 

 In the Sierra Madre village of San A (actual village names redacted for security), the Huichol family is suffering persecution from a sin-cursed world in bondage to corruption, rejection, and hatred. Placing their faith in the true and everlasting Kakaɨyari and His provision for their forgiveness is not without cost in their slice of this fallen world. The emancipation of seven San A families from their former slavery to the enemy is a miraculous story of the Everlasting’s election, sacrificial and faithful evangelism, and their personal acceptance and obedience. 

 *(Spoiler Alert: You’re going to need paper and pen to diagram and make sense of the participants and geographical villages of the next paragraph of this story, the details of which only the Everlasting could have authored.) 

Pablo from the village of C, first heard the liberating Truth from the faithful missionary heart and mouth of José. Pablo believed and shared his faith with Raul, also from C. Raul, a friend of Nicolasa from San A, shared the Gospel with her. Sometime after Nicolasa from San A believed, she was visiting the distant mountain village of San MH when José “just happened” to be there on a missionary follow-up trip, and she chose to be baptized, publicly declaring her faith in the Everlasting Savior (The “publicly” part is very easy to say!). Together, Raul and Nicolasa carried the Good News back to Nicolasa’s village of San A. Now, there are seven believing families in her village. Raul, along with Marcelino (Pablo’s son), both from C, alternate every Sunday, trekking four hours through the mountains to preach to the little body of believers who were known and loved by the Everlasting in eternity past. This glorious story doesn’t end here. The unbelievers who are worshipers of the traditional Huichol gods and the prince of this world, are enraged. There are far too many details to share here, but the essential part is that they have fiercely persecuted the little body of San A believers, threatened them with confiscating their fields and crops, and banished them from their homes, church, and the village. 

José Guadalupe and Francisco came this week from San A to ask for prayer and counsel from José and Huichol pastors from La Bendición, Vizcarra, and Picachos. They ask prayer from you, my friends, as well, as in the next couple of weeks, they will be having an audience with the tribal judge and council, who are not known for justice. This is certainly not the first case of intense persecution of Huichol believers, and there’s no doubt, it won’t be the last, but it’s the most current and urgent. From everlasting to everlasting, there is hope.