New Ministries

We are completing our first full year in the states. As we near the top of this mountain, we realize that it is only by the grace of God that we have conquered certain aspects of life in Mexico: We now drink the natural well water without illness, we eat in the homes freely without any stomach problems, we are able to converse freely in Spanish with almost anyone, and we are seeing the Lord really work through the ministries that are flourishing.

After the hurricane struck the villages, the children’s ministries came to a halt. This was a blessings, since two weeks before, we were contemplating on stopping the meetings for a while to regroup our focus. The meetings had become more of an entertainment and game time for the children, rather than teaching the Word of God to them. A month has passed since the hurricane, and with the free time that we experienced during that month, we have been able to develop and new and more effective ministry plan. Rather than entertaining the children with Bible stories, we are instilling New testament principles and using the stories only as support-lessons. We are back on schedule with four weekly classes again.

The adult meetings in Toltecas also came to a halt for about two weeks after the hurricane. Alfonzo was having trouble committing to the meetings due to his daughter’s wedding, and the believers were waivering in their committment to meet together because there was not a leader. With little confidence in his own abilities, Joshua was hesitant at first to heed the Spirit’s calling to take on the meetings himself. But after praying for the Lord to empty him of his abilities and power and fill him with the Holy Spirit’s power, he began the meetings again in Toltecas. There are now five adults attending the meetings on Saturdays. The congregation is currently studying through Luke on Saturdays. On Wednesdays, we meet together with food, and have an intimate group bible study around a table. It is an avenue for the believers to get to know each other and renew ties with one another, since this little church has been hit by many tempestuous storms lately. The believers are growing and soaking up the verse-by-verse teachings, and the Lord is mightily using Joshua to teach in Spanish.

More than anything, the most exciting event to see in Toltecas is that the believers have stopped seeing themselves as a mission and are treating themselves as a body of believers in a church. For months, the believers were waivering in their commitment to meet together. It puzzled us how they would come for a while, and then fade away. Finally, Joshua approached two families and gently confronted them about forsaking the meetings. They replied, “We want a church. This is just a mission. The pastor comes, and the pastor goes, and there’s no stability. We want a church that we can commit to.” It was, of course, just an excuse, because the real issue was that they, themselves, were not committed to the meetings. Just the same, in the next meeting, Joshua preached about the importance of understanding that a “church” is a body of believers, even if there are only three. In a church world dominated by heirarchial governments, these believers have been led to believe that they are not a church without 20 or more members. Now that they have negated that idea, they are eager to commit to meeting together.

Joshua is also teaching in Baciroa, a mountain village an hour northeast of us, on Fridays. The pastor there, a 20-year-old boy who barely knows how to commit to his own prayer life and study habits, has been struggling in leading the church. He has brought Joshua alongside him to help him teach on Fridays.

Joshua is also teaching a class on inductive Bible study. This, put simply, is the study of using the Bible to explain the Bible. The results have been amazing. Fernando, an Assembly of God pastor who has been twisting scriptures for years in his congregation, is amazed at the simplicity of Joshua’s teaching method and has asked to learn more. He attempts to mock the teaching method of verse-by-verse teaching, but prefers topical studies more. He and Joshua often converse about ways Fernando can integrate better study habits in his daily life to better prepare him for his messages. It is exciting to see Fernando using the Bible more to preach to his congregation, rather than just using his own words.

Please pray for us as the Lord continues to work in the ministries here. Plesae pray that we would constantly be open to his voice and direction.

Update on the website

We would like to inform everyone that we are trying to get an update out and post pictures to our internet site. However, time on the internet has been precious and very slow lately. Please patiently await our uploads as we are working very hard to get them to you as soon as possible.

This month we will be sending out a new update. It should arrive in your mailboxes within a week.

If you are not a subscriber to our monthy updates, please visit our website at www.webbofministry.com, and sign up to receive our monthly newsletters.

God bless, Lacy Webb

Laying a Roof

Alfonzo Byorkis is a brother in the village of 21 de Marzo. He is not only a village neighbor, but also one of Joshua’s closest friends and one of the few very strong believers in the villages. He attends an Assembly of God church, and feels called to be an evangelist. As a father of five, his seven-person family lived in 10’ x 30’ house – one bedroom with two beds for all seven people, a small living room, and a tiny kitchen. Alfonzo saved and saved for years to begin a kitchen expansion that would make a new living room and kitchen area, thus freeing the current living room to be a second bedroom.

This faithful brother knows that God has called him to preach the gospel. However, that calling was quenched for some time when he went to Tijuana for over a year to earn more money to pay off the house expansion. The move was made against the advice of many discerning voices, who rather advised him to wait for the Lord’s provision. After fourteen months, Alfonzo was brought to an awful revelation that he had forsaken his family and was on the brink of forsaking his own soul for the love of money. So, he dropped his work and everything he held dear in Tijuana, and returned to his family.

The battle was very difficult. With his youngest daughter marrying in just a few months after his arrival, Alfonzo took measly-paying jobs in the villages to finish the house expansion and pay for the wedding. For months, the family sacrificed necessities, but was happy to have their father and husband home again. But Alfonzo was distraught. He had sacrificed all he had to return to his family, and it seemed that there was no fruit coming from his obedience. We encouraged him to wait on the Lord.

Joshua saw a desperate need in the villages after the hurricane; so many people needed assistance. He felt the great burden to help people, so we prayed. The government came and brought some assistance, but not much. Not wanting to stir up any false hope of help coming from the states, Joshua quietly contacted churches in the United States with the plight of the villages. When asked which of the specific necessities were most urgent, he could only think of Alfonzo’s family, who were now living in a 10’x20’ home because the expansion was unusable without a roof or floor. There were several churches who took up an offering that week and sent it to us immediately.

Meanwhile, unaware of Joshua’s burden, Alfonzo dropped to his knees on a Sunday night after church, unable to sleep. He began to cry. “Lord,” he prayed, “I have always been grateful for everything you have given me. I have never complained about my leaky roof, or not having gasoline in my cars, or the little money that I bring home from my work. I know that the leaky roof means I have a house, the little gas in my car means that I have a car, and the little money I bring home means that I am still physically able to work. I have never, never asked for anything, Lord, especially not money. But, God, I need money!” Ashamed of his outburst, Alfonzo tried to pray for forgiveness, but he felt overcome with drowsiness, and slipped into bed.

The next morning, Joshua asked Alfonzo to ride with him to the city. They walked to the ATM machine, and Joshua took out the money that the churches had pledged. He put the money in the brother’s hands, and Alfonzo became distraught. “I cannot pay you back for this, Joshua. Better, you keep this money for yourself.” “No,” replied Joshua, “this money was pledged a week ago to you by churches in the United States. It is not my money. It is God’s money.” Alfonzo was puzzled. “But Joshua, I only prayed for this last night!”

What a joy to know that our heavenly Father knows our needs before we even ask of him! The money that was donated was enough to put a roof over the house, put a concrete floor down, and then Alfonzo used the remainder of the money to help another brother in Christ who was staggering financially after the hurricane crisis. Not only did the Lord provide his necessities, but he provided enough to let him bless someone else with his own blessing!

october 11 hurricane

Photobucket Album

Learning to Love

There is a large group of kids and teenagers in our village. Computer games and free movies in our living room have brought many of them to our home to play for hours, giving us ample time to learn their names and a little about their personal lives. Unfortunately, the cost of opening our home has resulted in spree of robberies.

For example, a boy no older than eight years came to our home regularly, and when he left, money was always missing. One day, his schoolmate showed up at my house with a rubber tie-down. “Rosario brought this to school today and was bragging that he took it from your house,” the boy informed me. The next day after school, the same boy came running into my kitchen. “Lacy, Lacy, Rosario says he’s going to steal your chickens and sell them!” I smiled. “Well, then,” I replied, “he’s going to have a lot of explaining to do with my neighbor because those are her chickens, not mine.”

Another boy came to my house regularly to play with my cats. One day he came to me very worried. “You went to get children for the church meeting, and a woman sent her sons here to steal your white cat because she wanted it.” I thanked him for the information, went to the woman’s house, and sure enough, there was my cat that had been missing for two days! Just three weeks later, my black cat, which was about 4 weeks old, went missing. I searched everywhere, and then went to my original informant. As I rounded the corner to the boy’s house, he saw me, and stuffed something behind his back. I asked him, “I think someone has taken my new baby cat. Have you seen him anywhere?” As he shook his head “no,” a meow came from his back. His face dropped, he bowed his head, and handed me my cat.

I have often asked myself, “How do children know that something is wrong if they are never taught?” Romans chapter 1 tells us that the law of God is seared on the conscience of men, so that they have no excuse in the day of judgment. Here in Mexico, many parents allow their children to steal. The philosophy is simple, really: if you are not with your stuff, then it’s fair game. Parents who have not been taught the right way to live do not have the necessary means to teach their children how to live rightly. So hubcaps are swiped from parked cars, money is stolen from a misplaced purse, and food is swiped from an empty kitchen. Yet still, the children know that the act of stealing is wrong; they do not, however, know a different life.

A proverb by King Solomon states, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” The choice to train the children about the laws of God has left us with much heartbreak. We are one family encouraging them to break the current of a culture that encourages delinquency. Many parents are awed at the discipline we hold with children who visit our home, how the obey us and show respect, but that respect is only at face value, and when we leave the home, we expect the door to be ajar upon our arrival – and it always is. It is difficult to love the children in the morning, and in the afternoon, know that they are lying to my face or that they have only visited my home to scan for something to steal and sell. Still, we fight to love them. If anything, it is the only true Godly love they will ever know.

Rivers of Living Water

Joshua has been teaching adult Bible studies on Sunday nights. The classes range from two-five participants each week. The Christians who come are still grasping the basic understanding of their faith. Subjects such as how to worship and how to pray, which are routinely addressed to young children in a Sunday school class, have been overlooked with new adult Christians. It is assumed that an adult Christian should “know” how to do these things, even though they have lived their entire lives in the world. We have found that these principles are a great need in their lives, including implementing good study habits, so often, the bible studies are set around learning how to study, how to pray, how to worship, etc.

Joshua recently shared in the Bible Study: “You can teach a monkey to do math if you show it to him ten times. Equally, you can teach a man to be a Christian just by plopping him in a church. Even though he doesn’t understand his faith, he will follow the group and close his eyes for prayer, raise his hands, and make handsome prayers. Better that a man is not a monkey, and has faith with understanding.”

After the worship on one particular Sunday, I asked the children and adults to pray together with me before we parted into our classes. Instinctively, the children bowed their heads and closed their eyes, and I interrupted the moment. “Who can tell me why we close our eyes for prayer?” I inquired, and the heads popped up. “In respect to God,” came one reply. “Because we shouldn’t look at God when we talk to him,” answered another. “No,” I explained, “we close our eyes because we do not want to be distracted by our neighbors or companions.” I made a silly face. “If your neighbor is making faces at you, and your eyes are closed, then you won’t be distracted. We want all of our attention to be focused on God when we pray to Him.” We then prayed and Joshua led the adults into the bedroom to study while I continued the children’s class in the living room.

That night, everyone piled into the truck to head back to their villages, and I and Manuel were sitting in the bed of the truck with about seven children. I asked him how the Bible Study went. His eyes lit up and he situated himself excitedly. “I have never been so aware of how little I know of the Bible!” I frowned, puzzled, and he laughed. “Did you know,” he continued, “that I have been coming to church for years, and never thought about why we close our eyes to pray? I did it out of habit. But now, I know: it’s so I’m not watching the cockroach on the ceiling, or looking at the wiggling child in front of me.” I shook my head and agreed, but barely could get in a word as he continued.

“Tonight, we studied about Jesus being born. All my life I was told that the wise men came to the stable when He was born. But tonight, Joshua took the time tonight to explain to me how the wise men knew that the Holy King of Israel would have a star appear over his birthplace because a prophet many years before had been a slave of their land and had prophesied of the coming King. He explained how the star appeared the night that Jesus was born, and it was then that those wise men set out on a journey from their distant eastern land. No one knows how long that journey lasted, but when they finally arrived, the book of Matthew defines Jesus as a small child, not a baby, and says that they were living in a house, not a manger.

“For many years, I read the Bible, specifically that passage, multiple times, and it was just words; it was like I was always standing in a river of words. I’ve been thirsty for the Bible, but the river passed by my feet so swiftly that I couldn’t ever grasp it; it just slipped through my fingers. Now, I feel like I am still in that river, with the water gushing all around me as I try to read the Bible, but when I read it with Joshua, he funnels all that water into a hose and turns down the spicket. So instead of fighting to stand against the water, I can sit down and drink it!”

There are many signs of Christian growth, but one that is most exciting to me is when a person becomes starved for the Word of God and wants to soak it up, not just the words, but the understanding of it. Manuel is a professing Christian, but struggles in his walk outside the walls of our home-church. Still, he has a true desire to know more of the Word of God and recognizes his need for spiritual growth. It is difficult for many Christians to understand how men can walk in repeated sin and yet desire the Word of God. However, that is right where sinful men need to be: their nose in the Word, confronted with the only One who knows no sin. As a man studies more and learns more of the Holy Spirit, the Lord will make the change that is needed in his life. Only Jesus, not the man, can convict a conscience and heal a sinful heart.

Conviction Based Sermons

Many Christians have convictions. But what happens when an entire country of Christians begins to quote convictions as scripture? Many Christians seek Christianity as a religion. They want an alternative to Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormonism, and Catholicism. One of our main ministries in Mexico is teaching the Christians that they are walking in a relationship with Jesus Christ. Faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is not an alternative to anything, it is the only choice.

The preachers in Mexico teach several conviction-based commandments, including, “Thou shalt not drink wine,” and “Thou shalt not dance.” They do not have any clear scriptures to back up these teachings. Joshua and I joke (between ourselves), “You can find that passage in First Opinions Chapter 2.”

The commandments are not completely unbiblical. The roots lie in these verses:

• Ephesians 5:18a And do not be drunk with wine, wherein is excess…Based on this scripture, it is a good act of conscience to not drink wine or alcohol, as one rarely stops at one drink, and it is difficult to not drink in excess. However, there is not a command about not drinking at all.
  
• Galatians 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness...It is a good act of conscience to not dance with anyone else besides your own (future or present) spouse. This is not prohibited by scriptures, but can be dangerous. A good dance time rarely occurs without some of these works of the flesh manifesting themselves.
  
• 1 Peter 3:16 [Have] a good conscience; [so] that, when you are spoken against as evildoers, those who revile your good manner of life in Christ may be ashamed.The scriptures are our guidelines for living, and each man must be responsible to his own conscience and to the Holy Spirit. If he is offended by an action, then by his own conscience, he must not commit that action. Man is not responsible to man, but to God.
  
  

As stated above, these scriptures hold the roots of these conviction-based commands. But if a command as a loose-connection to the word of God, it does not mean it is the Word of God. The ability to study the Bible inductively is a great fault in the Mexico churches. Many pastors do not have sufficient education to learn a proper study method, and some really can’t even read very well. So they often teach from hearsay, gleaning from years of listening to other pastors.

The problem with this method is that, often, a preacher who is not using the text of the Bible will preach a personal conviction as a biblical commandment. This is often where commandments such as “Thou shalt not dance” derive from. The conviction-based commandments cannot be backed up by scripture, but for the pastor, it is a conviction to which he holds fast. And rightly so, for James 4:17 states, “Therefore, to him who knows to do good, and does it not, to him it is sin.” However, many a pastor goes a step further, making his congregation accountable to himself rather than to each man’s own conscience and to God alone.

We have been very careful in delicate situations when we are asked our opinions to not share any personal feelings or convictions. We have simply pointed out to all the Christians that there are no definite scriptures regarding the issues of dancing, drinking, playing cards without gambling, having parties in church meeting halls, going to musical functions, etc. The people get very frustrated with us, because they have been taught by word-of-mouth that something was biblical for years, by a sanctified pastor no less, and the realization that a pastor as a man can make a mistake can be devastating. I can have great empathy for them, for I also once did not know how to study the scriptures for myself.

As a young teen, I was prophesied over by a woman pastor that I would be a great preacher of God’s word. When I met my husband, I was a applying to a school of ministry where I would study to teach the word of God. I wanted to be a missionary and pastor a new church. I told my husband of my plans. He smiled, kissed me, and said, “Hon, I’ll go with you wherever you want to go, but we need to get one thing straight – the Bible says nothing about allowing women to pastor a church.”

I was so angry that I could have spit. He sat patiently for over an hour as I searched the scriptures, spouting out scriptures I had in my mind as memory, but when I found them, I found my own memory verses to be twisted from the true passage. Finally, I gave up that day, but later in my own quiet time, spent many hours searching through the scriptures. I cried as a realized what the Bible really DID say. Women were gifted to share in the church under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, and were allowed to teach other women, but to pastor a church would be contradictory to the clear order for a woman not to teach a man. Furthermore, Paul’s qualifications to Timothy of a good pastor included, “A man who knows how to rule his own home,” and the scriptures clearly stated that the man was the ruler of the home and the head over his wife. Peter even encouraged a saved woman to show the same lordship-reverence to her unsaved husband, even when he wasn’t leading his home in Christ, and thereby leading him to Christ through her unspoken actions. How, I concluded, can a man be ruler over his home when his wife is usurping spiritual authority over him as his pastor-ette?

Learning the scriptures straight from the Word often brings great torment and many questions to a soul who has listened to the opinions of man for so long that they have become biblical truth. That is why teaching the scriptures is our number-one focus, and we encourage all our brothers and sisters to seek out the scriptures rather than asking for our opinions and personal convictions.