Trip to New Mexico

 In December 2008 Pastor Alan sent a group down to Smith Lake, New Mexico to minister to the people and help out with some things around the church. Just before the ministry trip we were blessed with a BIG red ministry van to travel the world.
The BIG red van we affectionately call, "Clifford" departed at about 10:00 pm Thursday night. We drove thru the night joking around, writing songs, and just having a good ole time. With eleven people crammed in one space boredom would be nearly impossible.
 
  We arrived the next day around 5:00 pm and found that the weather was freezing. We met Pastor Pete and got settled in to a mini duplex that had all the amenities! A bathroom, an oven, stove, refrigerator, etc. However, we found out that we had no heat and our oven had no door. We were stealing space heaters thru-out the night; and found it hard to cook when the oven can’t keep heat. One more side note…we shared one bathroom with 3 girls! Yep! That will work some patience. We found it very funny and began to unpack our gear for our worship concert that night. As we set up in the gym you could see the breath puff out of our mouths and nostrils.
 
  That Friday night was an awesome time of praise and worship and the youth were touched. All of the young men on the trip got to speak and it was amazing to see how God used them. We got several youths saved and several filled with the Holy Ghost that night. Afterwards we had the privilege of partaking of their fried bread and honey; it was so yummy and tasted like funnel cake. Afterwards we helped unload a huge 53 foot semi trailer full of goods and Christmas presents they were going to give to the community the following day.
 
  The next day we got to minister again by helping distribute the Christmas gifts we unloaded the night before to the little kids and their families in the community. It was awesome to see all their faces light up at all the stuff they were able to receive. Later that same day we held a service and the 3 ladies had their turn to speak. God’s presence came and several were filled with the Holy Ghost and saved and some received healing in their hearts. It was an awesome experience to see the hunger these little ones had.
 
  Sunday morning rolled around quick. Due to the use of one bathroom and eleven people, showers started early. We rolled out of Smith Lake at about 8:00 and went to Lighthouse Church, located in Fort Wingate, New Mexico; pastored by Mark Thomas. We had a great time. We led worship there as well and many lives were touched as God's presence filled their church. There was a lot of weeping and healing going on in the hearts of the people. Several were saved and baptized in the Holy Ghost again.

  After the service we had a little photo shoot which was fun and impromptu and then hit the road. Before we came back to Tulsa we wanted to enjoy a last meal together. We came to a little town somewhere down south and were on a hunt for a good restuarant. Unfortunately, every restaurant we came to was either closing in 15 minutes or they had reservations for big parties. This led us to a restaurant that was NOT our first choice. It was the first one we pulled up to and no one wanted to go there; hence why we went to all the other restaurants. Needless to say, the best thing about it was the authentic ponchos, not the food or the atmosphere, ...or the bathrooms. We all left alive, some were wounded for a few hours, but we escaped and made it home in one piece. Needless to say it wasn't hard to be inspired to write a HILARIOUS song about the experience and counted it all joy and had a good time. The trip was amazingly fun and it was awesome to see God move on the hearts of the little ones there and to see their hunger for God.

Chris Shaw