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God’s Gift To Eachother

God’s Gift To Eachother

by | Sep 27, 2016 | Blog, Missionaries

God’s Gift To Eachother

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:1-3 ESV)

What do you think of when you hear the word unity? Do you see a group of people acting as if they like each other simply to keep the peace? Everyone wearing the same t-shirts as they file through the potluck line? Far too often when I think of unity I think of what could be, not what is. The word unity itself is interesting because it is something that each individual must work towards, but you have to have a group to be able to have unity. This is something that can be difficult to navigate because each and everyone of us have our own thoughts about how things should be done. I have my own ideas of how a people should be unified and I unfortunately assume too often that my way of getting there is the fastest way to do so. I want us to be there now, forgetting that there is work that God is doing in each of the people around me individually that in turn affects the community of people here.

img_1843Last week at El Faro we decided to have “La Semana De Unidad” or Unity Week among our staff and missionaries. Our kitchen was closed, we had no groups, and we asked everyone to clear their schedules so that we could work, eat, have fun, and spend more time together than is normal for us. We began the week with our Monday night devotion where we started a new study taking us through the book of Hebrews. Tuesday we all gathered in the parking lot and headed out into the village to construct the outside walls and kitchen for one of our very own cooks, Sebastiana. Wednesday we had a morning full of games and in the afternoon we all cooked and threw a dinner for one of our own who is saying goodbye to us this week. Thursday found us taking a boat ride up the river to Finca El Paraiso and we all had lunch together in Rio Dulce. Friday morning we got our work boots back on to pour the concrete floor in the house that we built on Tuesday. The goal of the week was not to simply work and have fun, rather it was to get our entire team together to work and do things that we normally never get to do altogether.

Since everyone works in different areas of El Faro it was nice to have a week where we all came together to work and play. I really enjoyed seeing everyone’s unique personalities and talent come out in different ways each day. And to be able to have the whole El Faro community serve one of our own was awesome!

Katey Erickson

I felt really great…and happy! What I enjoyed the most throughout the week was the construction because I found out I can help in a way that I had never done before.

Mirza Santos

As I was praying for us and thinking through the different ways that we might be able to be more unified as a body here at El Faro it was as if God slapped me right in the face through several different conversations with people and one class lecture I was listening to…The Church (universally) and more specifically the people in close proximity to me are all a gift from God helping to sanctify me, or make me more like Jesus. I love when God smacks me in the head with a truth that I have known for a long time but had forgotten.

Are you living in community with other Christians? What is your relationship with them like? Do you see the people that you go to church with as a gift from God to help make you more like Him?

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God’s Gift To Eachother

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I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace....

A Team Together

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Brittany Dozier is raising up future leaders in the girls she trains on a weekly basis in the soccer academy at El Faro. She not only invests in her players through the physical training of soccer, but she also is invested in their lives through her relationship with...

Reaching The Nations

Reaching The Nations

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In 2012 the founder of El Faro, Phil Ephraim, presented a challenge to the staff of El Faro. A missionary had recently traveled to his church in Chicago and shared about the issues the local church faces in Cuba. Because of the oppressive government, the churches’ are...

Reaching The Nations

Reaching The Nations

by | Nov 6, 2015 | Missionaries

Reaching The Nations

In 2012 the founder of El Faro, Phil Ephraim, presented a challenge to the staff of El Faro. A missionary had recently traveled to his church in Chicago and shared about the issues the local church faces in Cuba. Because of the oppressive government, the churches’ are regulated by the government and are very limited on what they can speak about. However, if a church service takes place in a “home” that is owned by a pastor, they are free to do what they want and speak about. This missionary presenting the project explained he was helping pastors purchase “church homes” with the support of churches around the world.

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Each ‘casa pastoral’ cost around $3,000 and so we made it a goal at El Faro to take up offerings during our Monday night services and also raise money through “Pacas”,  garage sales, to go specifically toward the church in Cuba. This year we finally met our goal and actually surpassed it and we had the opportunity to send one of our own all the way to Cuba to give the money to the pastors. Jonathan Lopez has been an employee at El Faro for four years and works in the office alongside his wife Brenda. Since being at El Faro his life has been transformed and God is doing amazing things through him especially with young men in the villages. We chose him as our ambassador and he traveled with a pastor from Guatemala City to meet with various Cuban pastors to hear their stories and provide financial assistance to help with their churches. Over the course of five days he met with six pastors in different areas within Cuba. Before going Jonathan really didn’t know what to expect. “I thought Cuba would be similar to Guatemala with a lot of churches and also a lot of Christians”. Jonathan was shocked when only after a couple of hours of being in country he saw the oppression. “Many of the pastors are in a constant struggle and it is hard to be a Christian there.” One pastor, Armando Lezcano, has a very small and shabby ‘casa pastoral’ and has 50 members in his church. The day that Jonathan arrived he was able to listen to the needs of the pastor and also learn about the Church in general of Cuba. The pastor had no idea that Jonathan was going to give an offering from El Faro and when Jonathan was presenting the donation he was in shock. He shared with Jonathan that God’s timing is perfect because it took him two years and a lot of money to receive the legal papers to construct a new pastoral house and he had only five days left to begin construction. He had no money to start and with the donation he was able to break ground.

It took some time and a lot of garage sales, but we are so thankful that our goal was met and we were able to bless the church in Cuba. Thank you to those who also gave clothing for us to sell and also gave in our offering box during a service at El Faro. We see this as just the beginning and we look forward to coming together as a community at El Faro and help our peers around the world.

We have so much and yet do so little…the people in Cuba do so much with the little that they have

Jonathan Lopez

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The Missionary Experience

The Missionary Experience

by | Aug 16, 2015 | Full Time Staff, Get Involved, Missionaries, Short Term Missions, Volunteer

The Missionary Experience

In 2011 when Luis Pedro first came to El Faro to serve as a missionary God put on his heart to begin a project to prepare missionaries for their work around the world. That same year he designed a 10-day “missionary group experience” program that he was able to present at different churches and missions conferences in Guatemala City. Much to his disappointment there was little response and the project fell through. However, two years later when he least expected a church in Guatemala who remembered the presentation contacted Luis Pedro to bring a group from his church who were interested in missions so they ended up coming for four days. The following year the same church came again for four days but this time brought 80 people with them.

Luis Pedro realized that’s God timing for the project had finally arrived and just a few months later two youth with missionary callings who had come with the church arrived to El Faro to start their missionary experience.

The purpose of the missionary experience is the give a person the experience so that they can be prepared spiritually, intellectually and emotionally for what is ahead by having different scenarios of what the mission field will look like and be able to solve problems that will happen when they are abroad.

“I think God is about to do something with this project because we haven’t done any publicity and He is sending the people.”

What Luis Pedro is most excited about is that Guatemala is sending out their own missionaries to different parts of Latin America for a short period of time to do missionary work and this will open up spiritual doors for them. “I see this project coming alongside churches, colleges, and missionary agencies for them to send us their missionary candidates for 3-6 months so they can prepare themselves not only in a classroom, but in a field where they will encounter situations that they will have to face in their mission field: a different culture, a different language, a spiritual challenge, disciple making opportunities, living in a close community, live with roommates, etc.

Raquel

11187156_1061683873859857_51261225975924589_oI went to El Faro because we believed it was wise to have a time of separation from my family before I traveled all the way to Cambodia. I had never left home before and I am very close to my family. I also went to learn from the different missionaries at El Faro through seeing and listening about their experiences, work, troubles, and spiritual life.

During my time that I was at El Faro I was able to help in different ways with my gifts that God had given mi through education (tutoring and library), hospital visits, Crafts, sports, bible clubs, and most important to me being able to share with young girls and encourage them to grow in their faith.

In reality it was an important time for because God prepared my heart, body, soul, and spirit to be able to serve in Cambodia. It was a time of preparation where God equipped me in the areas that I needed help.

Juanito

10923511_1017215864973325_3821761379133487055_nIt was in El Faro in a youth camp where I decided to follow Christ with all my heart and changed the way I was living my life. It was also in El Faro where I had my first experience getting into missions as a volunteer beginning the first stage of becoming a missionary. I was able to take what I learned in El Faro, a place where the presence of God is present and a place where there is opportunity to serve God in the communities . I can’t think of a better place being surrounded by missionaries and people that love Him and encourage you to serve Him.

During my time that I was at El Faro I had the great opportunity and blessing to help the already existing ministries that the missionaries work in. That included being with kids, bringing food to the elderly in the village. It was time of a lot of work and service to the community where you can see normal people reflecting God’s love to people in need. If I could sum up my time in three words they would be love, service, and friendships

I can’t imagine how difficult my transition to Israel would have been without the preparation that I had in El Faro. They opened up their doors for me to be a volunteer and wanted to help my spiritual life as much as much as for the people in the villages. I experienced times of good advice, teachings, and missionary work that have remained with me during my time in Israel.

Who is the right person for the missionary experience?

Someone who has a calling from God to go to the nations and make disciples, that is strong in his/her faith, and that already has a plan to go to a specific mission field even if they don’t have all the details sorted out yet.

If you are interested in coming down to do the missionary experience or have a calling and want to explore more what that means, please contact Luis Pedro at misiones@fundacionephraim.org

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Manning-Up With Our New Missionary

Manning-Up With Our New Missionary

by | Jun 28, 2015 | Missionaries

Manning-Up With Our New Missionary

El Faro is an amazing place and that lasts an impact on many people that come to serve. One of the reasons that El Faro is special is because of the people that live and serve here. This year John Keehn came and has already inspired many of us at El Faro through his servants heart and the beautiful projects that he is beginning.

 

How did you get to El Faro to serve as a missionary?

By plane, bus, and boat. Haha! But seriously, that’s a long story. I was first able to serve at El Faro in January of 2014 when I, along with the other youth pastor at our church, brought 17 students and adults for a week-long short-term missions trip. It was during that trip that God opened my eyes and allowed me to notice some things in the local villages as we were out working with the people. I returned home after that trip and was completely heartbroken. After about a month of prayer I decided to reach out to El Faro and see if it were possible for me to visit over the summer of 2014 for one month to see if there really was a need for what I had seen. While here for that month, God opened my eyes even more to the problems of fatherlessness and the lack of men taking responsibility in their families. It was during my month here that I began to feel God nudging me towards having a conversation with the leaders of El Faro to see if something longer term might possibly work out. I returned home that summer and after a short conversation with Peter Rios in Chicago in September, two more week long visits in November 2014 and January 2015, and much prayer and seeking God’s will we made the decision that I would come serve at El Faro as a missionary.

What ministires are you beginning at El Faro?

I am beginning two ministries here at El Faro that revolve around the men in the villages specifically, and the pastors of several local churches. The first ministry is a Men’s Discipleship Program. This ministry consists mainly of me building relationship with men that live in the village and then spending time with them in different ways. I visit them in their homes. I spend time with some of them where they work (several work here at El Faro) In the coming month I am beginning a bible study with two of the men. Several others I am doing one on one English lessons with because they have a strong desire to learn English. In all of this I am being intentional in the questions that I am asking and the conversations that I am having with these men. The reason that I felt that this ministry was needed is because this is the main thing that God has continually broken my heart over every time I have been to El Faro. I know that with the Gospel nothing is impossible and even if one or two men in the village come to know Christ and truly see that their first call as a Christian is to make disciples, that these communities could be changed forever. The other ministry that I have begun is a Pastor’s Training “Program”. I put program in quotes because it is more of a natural relationship type process than it is a program. I am currently meeting weekly or once every other week with 3 pastors (at different times) from several different villages and spending time with them at their home and visiting their churches to see what some of their greatest needs are as pastors and how I can best serve them. During my time with them I am and will be offering pastoral care for them, hands on practical training, and theological training as needed.

What challenges have you seen so far?

Two of the greatest challenges that I have experienced thus far are how closed off many of the men here are and my inability to fluently speak Spanish. As far as the men being closed off, this is not a surprise to anyone. Men everywhere are closed off. However, as I have been introduced to more and more people they are seeing me in a pastoral light as well as seeing me as a foreigner. These two things coupled together are challenging because I can see how many men are putting up walls and not allowing me to see the real them. They are showing me who they want me to think they are, not the real them. This coupled with only being able to speak what would be considered a low-intermediate level of Spanish can be very frustrating. I am learning more everyday and all of the people that I am working with are very gracious towards me and are helping me learn more but it’s absolutely a challenge at this point.

How can people help you?

People can help number one by praying for me. Pray for me that I, in all that I am trying to accomplish, love my Savior more than the ministries that I am serving in. Please pray for my learning skills as well. I want to learn more Spanish every day and this can be one of my biggest frustrations at times. People can also partner with me in these ministries financially. As I grow closer to men and their families there are specific needs that arise that I feel called to help with. As well, talking with many pastors, there are families in every church that do not have the resources to buy a bible in their own language. I have currently delivered 45 Spanish language bibles to two different churches for the pastors to give to their congregations but there is a need for more and when buying bibles in bulk there can be a considerable cost. Lastly, I always enjoy encouraging notes and corresponding with those that have similar desires and passions that I do. If anyone wants to write back and forth with me my email address is keehnj@gmail.com.

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We are excited about what God is doing in the life of Jon as well as through it. If you would like to financially support him, please click here 

More Stories

God’s Gift To Eachother

God’s Gift To Eachother

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace....

A Team Together

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Reaching The Nations

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In 2012 the founder of El Faro, Phil Ephraim, presented a challenge to the staff of El Faro. A missionary had recently traveled to his church in Chicago and shared about the issues the local church faces in Cuba. Because of the oppressive government, the churches’ are...