04 Nov A Report from South of the Rio Grande
Gary Brooks (right), Retired UB Minister and Missionary
Sent November 4, 2011
Denis Casco and I were in Mexico for a Pastors’Training Seminar this week. I flew to Mexico City on Thursday, October 20, and was met by Denis Casco, Bishop of Mexico Conference of the United Brethren in Christ. After a bite to eat at the airport, we boarded a bus for the three-hour ride to Querétaro. Security was tight and efficient. Once passengers were seated, he went through the bus taking a photo of every passenger, just in case.
A couple hours after we checked into our hotel, Brother Guadalupe picked us up and took us to the site where the first session was about to begin. Denis preached on Thursday night. There were over 50 people in attendance.
The next morning, I began a series of messages from I and II Peter, and Jude, dealing with a pastor´s preparation to confront the false teachers who had secretly worked their way into the early Church.
Denis began teaching about the dangers of the G-twelve movement, many of whose false teachings have been embraced by evangelical pastors seeking fast numerical growth in their churches. This movement is very strong in Spanish charismatic churches. It was a subject that was very close to the participants in the seminar. Those who attended did not miss a single session. Our average attendance during the 2.5-day seminar held steadily at 25-30 church workers.
After the last session on Saturday afternoon, Denis and I returned to Mexico City. Sunday morning, we walked along the Avenida (Paseo) de La Reforma, the broadest avenue in the city. We never felt in danger at any time during the four hours we spent on the streets of this huge city. The government closes off the avenue to motorized traffic on Sunday mornings, leaving the length and breadth of the road open for pedestrian and bike traffic. We saw hundreds of entire families riding bikes along the way.
EXCEL students can now email their work to the OWL to receive suggestions and feedback. The submissions are reviewed by EXCEL instructors with English/writing teaching backgrounds.
“Making festival pieces was one of the goals we set for ourselves when building the digital media arts program,” said Steve Leeper (right), associate professor of Digital Media Arts. “It has taken a few years, but we’re finally starting to see films like ‘Refresh’ reach a wider audience. This is a significant milestone for us. We tell our students from the beginning that being an artist and finding an audience is what we do now, not just something to think about off in the future. Sean, Ben, and Matt are making that statement true. We’re very proud of them.”
Rocky Spear (right), Senior Pastor, Mongul UB Church (Shippensburg, Pa.)
On Sunday, October 30, Morocco Church (Temperance, Mich.) surprised Pastor Todd Greenman (right) and his wife Eva by honoring them for Pastor Appreciation Month. There was a reading in their honor, and a fun skit was performed by several church members.
September was a month of rest. After a year of studying, speaking, and working, I was able to take some time to slow down and recover from always being on the go.
