Committed to Growing in Christ Hey! As you read this I am preparing to leave for a month long mission trip to Mazatlan, Mexico with Back2Back Ministries (B2B). Back2Back is the mission agency that our church has been partnering with for the past six years. We have sent seven teams to Monterrey, Mexico to serve orphan children through hands-on work projects, sharing Bible stories/scripture, relating personal testimonies of what Jesus has done in our lives, financial support for a girl named Gloria Gonzalez, serving food in a squatter’s village, playing soccer with kids on a dirt field and many other opportunities. This summer our youth ministry will send a team of ten people to Mazatlan where B2B has opened up another site…they are currently partnering with three homes (one of them has only special needs – physical or mental disabilities – children and another one serves teenage girls who have been rescued out of the sex trafficking industry) and also serving a poor squatter’s village with hundreds of people. I share this with you because back in February we encouraged people to have a “Tech-Free” Tuesday, where for one hour on a Tuesday we put aside all of our technology and used that time to focus on our relationship with God by reading/meditating on scripture, spending time in guided prayer, doing something to serve others, etc. I also had the opportunity to speak at our worship services and one of the things I talked about was how we all need a “balance check” in our lives. We can all get so busy and have so many responsibilities, deadlines, etc. that we allow the “urgent” to push out the IMPORTANT - spending time with the Lord and allowing Him to renew/refresh us! For me, going to spend this time in Mexico on this mission trip is a “balance check” for me…it allows me to put all the distractions of the world aside and focus solely on serving God by serving others and it opens me up to hear His direction without all of the “noise” that usually surrounds me. I know that most people can’t take an entire month out of their life to go and do something like this (and I’m very thankful for a church that allows me to do this – THANK YOU!!) but maybe for the month of July you can commit to an hour or two a week – just like with Tech-Free Tuesday – where you will give God your undivided attention, where you will put aside all of the technology and turn off all the “noise” in your life and just spend time with Him by reading His word or talking with Him or journaling or finding a way to serve others in a way you wouldn’t normally do…and He’ll renew your spirit as you do these things. Maybe during that time each week you’d even take a few minutes and pray for me while I’m in Mexico…that would be AWESOME!! I hope your summer is awesome…there are some great things going on at UCUMC even though we slow down a little…check them out in the next few pages and when I get back in August you can tell me all about them or maybe you’ll tell me about how you spent your Tech-Free Time and how God spoke to you during that time. I’d love to hear about it!!
Bert Giles, Director of Discipleship Ministries
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Bert Giles, Director of Discipleship bgiles@ucumc.org, 704-369-8020