#DR2015

This is the view from my favorite hammock in the DR.

Dear Friends and Family,

In Matthew 28, Jesus commands us to “GO and make disciples of all nations.” The Lord has given my family and I many opportunities to be obedient to this call. In June, I have the honor and privilege to return to the Dominican Republic, along with a team of 12 others.  We will be partnering again with my friends Julio and Mercy (local missionaries), who serve the poorest of the poor in and near Santo Domingo. They are school teachers who have surrendered to the call of gospel-centered living.  Most of their work is with the Haitian immigrants who live on small sugar cane farms, called batays. Most of them struggle daily for clean water and their next meal.  

Our team will be flying from Dallas to Santo Domingo, DR on June 17th and returning June 23rd. This will allow us a week to serve the local church in Santo Domingo. During the week, we anticipate serving in several ways.  We will be caring for special needs children at orphanages and helping equip local churches to share the gospel. We will stay in the home of Julio and Mercy and get firsthand experience of the culture. I’m humbled to get this opportunity to share in Christ’s work in the Dominican Republic.

I am inviting you to partner in this journey. How can you partner?

• 

  One of the sweet kiddos in Santa Alicia.

  Partner through prayer. Commit to pray while we serve in the Dominican Republic. You can subscribe to and follow this blog for daily updates on our experiences throughout the trip.   
• Partner through financial support. The estimated cost for the trip is about $1460, which is due in two parts ($700 due by May 1st, $760 due by May 17th). Your donation can be made tax deductible by sending it to The Branch Community Church, P.O. Box 307 Bullard TX, 75757. Please designate the gift: Snow DR Mission Fund

I would love to sit down and talk with you more about what the Lord is doing in our family and this trip. So, if you have any questions, please call or email me. Thank you for taking the time to read about the opportunity I have coming soon and for prayerfully considering your involvement in my support team.

Charis Dia Pistis,

@ZachSnow

903-258-1130

jzacharysnow@gmail.com

Cease...Ceasing...

I have been giving a lot of thought lately to the mindset that I feel has invaded a lot of what we consider "Christian Culture".

Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still, and know that I am God."

I believe in this text whole heartedly and know there have been times that this was like a warm blanket of grace to me. However, I do not feel this is the end all and be all of an individual's faith journey. I believe in this, as a moment of worship. I see this as a moment that should make you feel alive and loved and safe and cherished and never forsaken.

But...

I think I've seen this used as an excuse to not actively pursue. Not actively serve. Not actively give. Not actively lead. Our faith should be active. There should be a constant longing for your sanctification to be moving more rapidly than it is. And yes, sometimes that means to stop and worship. But sometimes it means to chase harder and more ferocious than ever before. I want to stop being okay with just "being okay". I podcast Matt Chandler (The Village Church in Dallas) every week and I've heard him say many times (and I believe this to be true), "It's okay to not be okay...it's not okay to stay there."

Now, I want to be clear, I think there is a place for both. I think both are even required of us. This is when worship becomes a life style.

I guess I've been praying more about what it is I need to be about. What areas of life do I need to be more actively involving my faith in? Am I leading well, by example, for the sake of the Gospel and to make Christ more famous? I would never want to be known as complacent and uninterested because I "ceased striving" for longer than I should have. I've decided that it's time to cease...ceasing. It's time to be actively involved in the work that Christ is doing all around me and inviting me into.

So, what is it that you feel you're being drawn into? It may be the greatest adventure of your life and you may even be stirred to a greater level of worship than even when you are being still [and knowing that He's God].

Like Peter, being asked by Jesus to push out into deeper waters, I want to be ready for the catch.

Struggling To Be Still,
ZS






Image from: http://www.billmarshjr.com/tag/use-action/