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Join us today in praying for our good friends and missionaries, the Valenzuela family, as they serve Jesus in Madrid, Spain. You can learn more about the missionaries and church plants that we support by visiting our global missions page on our website (https://redemptiondb.com/missions). We hope you enjoy this update from Pastor Esteban!
God has called us all to love Him and love people, and part of loving people is SERVING them. If we are going to love people well, we need to serve them.
Part of maturing and growing in your relationship with God is doing what He says and walking in His ways. The more we get to know God, to more we will find ourselves wanting to apply His Word to our lives because we love Him. And even though we cannot expect to do this perfectly, we should be striving more and more to be like Jesus through the help of His Spirit living in us!
One way we can ask the Holy Spirit to help us grow to be more like Him is through SERVING OTHERS. And as in all things, Jesus is our example of what it looks like to truly serve as He wants us to serve one another. We are going to look at just a few things that we can learn from Jesus about serving in the story of Jesus washing His disciples feet in John 13:1-20 (READ HERE). We are Jesus’s followers, and followers of Jesus need to learn to serve like Him (our Master). And when we do, we are so blessed.
First of all, it is important to notice that the story of Jesus washing His disciples’ feet took place during the week of the Passover. This would probably have felt like a good time to just enjoy a meal with one another. It was supposed to be a celebration and would be exciting to see everyone all together. But Jesus chose to serve others even when it wasn’t the most convenient time. He chose to use a teachable moment that could easily have been missed—because He valued the chance to serve someone more than His own comfort.
John tells us Jesus “loved them to the end.” Many times when I think of Jesus’s love for me I think about the cross…it was the great display of love. “No greater love has one than this: that he lay his life down for his friend.” But Jesus didn’t just serve His disciples once on the crossHe was serving and demonstrating His love for them over and over again. Many times we think we will serve God and others with these huge actions, but it is important we serve others in the little things as well. Jesus loved his disciples until the end…in both the small things and the little things. At this time, Jesus had not yet gone to the cross, but John knew he was loved by Jesus. You could almost say that the little acts of service prepared Jesus to step into the big acts of service.
It must be said…the disciples weren't perfect! Nathanael questioned where Jesus came from, James & John fought for power, Peter rebuked Jesus, the disciples rebuked the little children and would continually not understand Jesus’s teaching, and Judas was a betrayer! These guys weren’t perfect, BUT Jesus had loved them in their everyday life and served them anyway. If we want to serve like Jesus, we need to be consistently showing love by serving imperfect people—not only those who deserve it.
Serving Jesus can be a lot of fun and very rewarding, but other times it can just be hard. Washing feet was a degrading job and not a fun thing to do. In their culture, seeing the bottom of people’s feet was offensive and the job of washing feet was saved for only the lowest of servants. I am sure that raising the dead or healing was very fun, feeding the five thousand people with a few loaves of bread was fun, BUT not all of that Jesus did was fun. He didn't serve for the fun experience but rather to obey and love the Father. This required Him being uncomfortable at times and doing hard things that didn't just please Him.
Jesus washing His disciples’ feet shows us that He saw a need and did something about it. Jesus and the disciples didn’t have any servants to wash their feet, and their feet were dirty. This is refreshing because most people see a problem and just complain. But I have found that if we see a need, it is probably because God wants us to do something about it! We are gifted in a certain way to identify certain needs and serve others in that way. What needs do you see in your family? Your community? Your church? Can you do anything about it? What can you do about it? How can you serve?
The text tells us that Jesus knowing His identity allowed Him to serve others. “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God…” Jesus knew that His identity wasn’t in what He did but whose He was. This enabled Him to humble Himself and serve His disciples because He was concerned with pleasing God over man. He was able to do this because He already recognized that He was God’s servant! If God wanted Him to serve people, it was the best thing for Him. Humility is having a right recognition of one’s self, and if we truly realize we are servants of God Almighty, it will help us serve others. I have found that when I am walking in humility before God, experiencing and receiving God’s love and grace, it helps me to serve others! And ministry becomes more enjoyable because I am doing it for God and not others.
Jesus wanted the disciples to know what just happened…He wanted them to follow His ways! He told them, “For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.” Jesus commanded his disciples to do the same as he had done. I love that Jesus not only gives us words to live by, but lived those same words out so we can see them. He doesn’t leave us in the dark to figure it all out, but He lived His life openly for us to see and understand what it looks like to serve. When we serve as Jesus serves, many people will be able to follow our example as well.
Remember, Jesus not only gave us a great example of how to serve, but He enables us to serve others by the power of His Spirit. So, may we walk in the ways of Jesus and apply these lessons of serving to our own life! When we do, we will be blessed just as Jesus told His disciples in verse 17: “If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them!”
We are thrilled to be introducing the Vargas Rodriguez family: Nieves, Karen, and their 2 beautiful children. Nieves is the son of Pastor Luis Vargas—Pastor Luis is the pastor of the church in Bachiniva, Mexico where we have visited as a church while serving at the House of Blessing Orphanage. Nieves and Karen have been serving Jesus at their home church in the small town of Bachiniva as well as serving along with Jason Sanchez at the orphanage in Bachiniva. Several members of Redemption Church have been able to meet and become acquainted with this sweet family on our missions trips to Mexico over the last several years.
On our most recent trip, Pastor Daniel and his family were able to reconnect with Nieves and Karen and learn of their new calling to pastor a small church several hours from Bachiniva in the Sierra Madres mountains. They are taking a huge step of faith in leaving their families and home in Bachiniva to follow God’s calling for them to minister to the community there.
We are now partnering with Nieves and Karen through prayer as well as financial support for their family and ministry. Please take the time to read this brief update from Pastor Nieves below, and join us in praying for their protection, provision, and to be used greatly by Jesus in this new season!
On October 21st of 2016, the Lord spoke to my wife and I telling us that we were to follow his leading to take over a small church located in the town of San Juanito. San Juanito is a town of 10,500 people that is located on one of the highest points of the Sierra Madre Mountains of Chihuahua. Since November of last year, we have been drying from our home in Bachiniva to San Juanito every weekend to minister to the church and community. After many trips of hauling much needed stuff to San Juanito, praise the Lord! He has one again faithfully provided and set things in order for us to move up indefinitely to San Juanito. So on Saturday, April 22nd, we packed up the last of our stuff and set out to San Juanito. We are very encouraged and excited since we have a place to stay and will be able to engage even more in ministry! Although leaving our house, family, church, and commodities behind is a little scary, it cannot compare to the joy or excitement of serving Jesus. Despite our fears and anxieties, we are more than confident hat all things will work out for good and most importantly for the honor and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
As we enter this new phase in our lives, we are in need of much prayer for protection and guidance. We are extremely encouraged and excited to continue in this adventure of faith.
In Jesus,
The Vargas Rodriguez family
We’d like to introduce you to ESTEBAN & TIFINY
Laura and I first met Esteban and his wife Tifiny at the Calvary Bible College in Murrieta, California in 2011. We spent one month living on the Bible College campus with 12 other church planters and their families. We were preparing to come and plant in Florida, and Esteban was feeling called to plant a church in Spain. It is now 5 years later, and he and his wife and 3 beautiful children have seen the Lord provide and move them to Madrid, Spain where they are now living. They are at the beginning stages of planting a church, and we could not be happier to be supporting them as a church in our prayers, encouragement, and our finances. We hope you will take the time to read a little bit of their story and begin to pray with us for them as they are following Jesus in Spain.
In 2011, about a year and a half after God began to stir our hearts toward Spain, during a month long Church Planting intensive at the CC Bible College in Murrieta God began to carve out and communicate a clear and simple vision. This intensive was abundantly rich in content and encouragement provided by the Spirit of God and experienced pastors. The vision God spoke at that time was clear – CHURCH PLANTS PLANTING OTHER CHURCHES. Prior to this I had never heard such an idea. Church planting wasn’t on my radar, so needless to say neither was this simple vision. Over time God has stirred my heart beyond simple discipleship toward raising up leaders and laborers for the harvest. I am passionate about it before having ever really done it. That seems to be the pattern in my life.
Over time the vision has been brought slightly into greater focus, as God has put the urban center of the country of Spain on the map and on our hearts….Madrid. The phrase “start at the heart” has echoed and resounded in my heart and mind. With Madrid being the heart of the country of Spain, we’ve discerned God’s continued revelation to be instruction for planting a church in Madrid and a hub to train and equip saints for the work of the ministry, and then send them out to other cities and beyond, to plant other Jesus centered, Bible teaching churches.
We had the amazing opportunity to serve the Lord in Mallorca Spain, at the Santa Ponsa Community Church and extension campus of the CC Bible College under an experienced pastor who is a Spanish national that has been faithful to serve Jesus in Spain for over a decade.
As of early 2016 we've been in Madrid getting acquainted with the lay of the land, adopting to both the city and suburban life that are so closely woven together in Madrid, and taking care of all sorts of practical matters that have taken a boatload of paperwork to get through.
As we wait for the Lord to open the door for a Bible Study we are setting our sights on getting the Spanish language down as a family. We've recently enrolled all our kids into Spanish school with the hope they can learn Spanish and we can connect with the community and other families. We are making it a priority to connect with locals by meeting them where they go, such as parks and other family gathering spots. I've been working with an amazing evangelism ministry called "on the Redbox" in central Madrid. They take their work amazingly serious, training and equipping their volunteers, praying without ceasing for the work God has called them, and teaching others to do the same. They are out in the city center six nights a week. I am going through their evangelism certification process now, and hope to work with them for years to come.
We are eager to plant a church and start a Bible study, though we realize that it's the Lord who opens doors and build his church. So in the meantime we want to be faithful to his calling by cultivating relationships all around us, connecting with him sharing life with those we have an open door with. We have recently spoken with a few people that have expressed interest in joining us in the work the Lord has called us to here in Madrid. A future volunteer/intern program is not beyond the realm of possibility.
It is our prayer and hope that the Lord will call more servants and labors alongside of us here in Madrid. I am no apostle Paul. However as we see in scripture that the city of Ephesus was a hub for the gospel and for people getting trained and equipped for the work of the ministry. If I summarized all the call and vision I believe the Lord has spoken and communicated, I would say Ephesus. That one day there would be a hub in the central city of Madrid where a Jesus centered, gospel preaching, Bible teaching church would greatly contribute to all who dwell in the region hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ.
His word - His Spirit - His glory!
My wife and I have been in the process of church-planting for about 5 years. We didn’t officially open the doors for Sunday services until much later, but the process of planting began much earlier. We still look back to those first days of when God told us to get ready to leave, the morning I heard His voice tell me where to plant, the visions He gave in the early days, the first person we shared Jesus with in our new city, the families who have come and gone, all those we’ve been so blessed to baptize… miracle after miracle of God’s provision, His goodness, His unexpected favor, His comfort, and His presence. It is these precious stories and moments of God working that remind us of Who God is and why we are here. And we all need that. We need to remember Who our God is and why we are doing what we are doing. God knows that, and that is why over and over again He tells us in His Word to REMEMBER.
Why is it that we need to be told to remember such incredible things in our lives? The nation of Israel had to be told again and again not to forget the work of God. They were even told not to forget God Himself! Throughout the Old Testament, we see men building alters from piles of rocks as a place to worship and commemorate an encounter with God. It is almost funny that in order to remember a work of God, they would build a physical structure that people would have to walk around or literally trip on to force them to remember something special that God had done.
Even in the New Testament, the Apostle Peter wrote about the importance of remembering. He said that he was writing to REMIND them of things they already knew (2 Peter 1:12-15). We need that! You know God is good. You know He has called you. Yet, we all need to be reminded of what God has done so that we do not forget! This has become one of the most important things about our church planting journey—choosing to look back and remember. Creating these alters of stones reminding us of the faithfulness of Jesus.
It is very easy to get so caught up in the business of what planting a church involves, that we can forget what God is doing and has done. There is certainly much practical work to be done, and it is not unimportant, but the practice of looking back at all God has accomplished ALREADY will strengthen and spur you on in those moments where it does get tough! The urgency of this moment’s tasks will always be there, but the spiritual importance of creating this habit is immeasurable. You know the God stories you tend to tell over and over again? The people who you’ve seen God save and transform? As time goes on, you will forget these precious stones that God has given you to pile up for yourself to REMEMBER. We do not choose to forget these things, but we MUST choose to remember them.
As we do look back and see the faithfulness of Jesus over and over, our hearts become full again of worship and trust in our Savior. Alters were not just a place of remembering, but a place of worship to God. And this makes so much sense when you’ve experienced God’s goodness and provision. The memories of all He has done creates such a sweet sense of true praise in our hearts. And as a church planter, this MUST be who we are! Before door hangers and connection cards, before worship sets and strategies, we need to have our hearts full of love and worship for our God for all the good things He has done for us.
Making this a priority in your life does take time. It takes discipline. Building an alter from heavy rock was hard work! But once completed, it was a testimony to what God had done. This is also something that can become a habit for you as you do it more and more. You can get creative in the ways you choose to record and remember God’s work in your life and your church planting journey.
One of the things I see working best is keeping a written journal of God stories as you go. Remember, the things you think you’ll never forget will be forgotten if you don’t write them down! Write down the person you saw come to church for the first time and get saved. Write down the money that came in at the last second when God provided. Write down the scripture that God gave you when you first felt Him calling you.
Another great way to remember is to make it visual. Pictures and videos are an incredible gift from God that allow us to literally look and see the people and places God has moved. I started making short baptism videos ( http://www.redemptionindelraybeach.com/baptism) of each person we’ve baptized from the beginning, and though it seemed silly at first, I am so thankful now to have these to look back on and watch life after life that God has redeemed here again and again. It’s beautiful and moving to have these things that stir us so deeply when we remember them.
Whether you are just beginning your journey to plant a church or are simply in the midst of daily life with Jesus, today is always the best time to start remembering the goodness of God. It is never too late to write down something unexpected that God did for you or a miracle when it happens. I hope you will experience the joy that comes from looking back at these things months and years from now and will rejoice and find comfort in the faithfulness of our God.
Be blessed,
Pastor Daniel
We all want to see God do amazing things, but we can forget about the hard work it takes to see the fruit. Hard work is just that: hard work! And it can be very easy to become uncomfortable and even overwhelmed by the mess of ministry to the lost. Remember this scripture from last time:
Prov 14:4 Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.
Ministry gets messy when there are people involved! And the gospel is always the answer. Only Jesus has the power to save and to truly change a person.
As we continue to do ministry and reach out to the lost in our community, I have seen a few things that have become invaluable as we learn to minister to those far from God. So, here are just three things that I have found to be helpful and some practical ways to disciple people through the mess of life.
1 They won’t know much — We have to understand that many people have never heard the gospel and have never been to church. This may seem hard to believe in certain cultures, but in our community we are dealing with people who didn’t grow up in Christian homes and haven’t been to church much—if at all. So they don’t understand many terms that are found in the Bible because they have never read it. They don’t know what a church service is supposed to look like because they have never been. They don’t know much about Jesus; and if they do, it is usually is skewed because they learned from culture, media and friends—not from God’s Word.
So, how have we practically dealt with this? We explain what we are preaching. I take the time to explain a lot of what I preach and don’t assume that people have heard any of it before. You would be surprised to know how often we assume that people already know the things we know. But listen, many people have never heard that God loves them and that they can have a relationship with Him. Or that they can personally know Him and have their guilt and shame forgiven. So, we tell them! We explain the uncommon words like “justification, sanctification, propitiation, atonement” etc. We explain what we are doing in the service and WHY. Things like why we sing, why we study the Bible, why we give, why we take communion, etc. We have also given hundreds of Bibles away because most people we interact with don’t own one. So we explain the story of who Paul is when referencing Him. We also put the page number of the text on the screen so people know where to find it in the Bible we gave them. We try to EXPLAIN what we are preaching and WHY and what we are doing because most people don’t understand the things we do. We want to communicate clearly.
2 Their values won’t match yours — We must understand that non-believers won’t have all the same values as a follower of Jesus because Jesus isn’t their Lord. A few examples of this could be parenting or language. It is quite common for there to be people that use inappropriate language around us. The Bible tells us that what is in our hearts will come out, so if you are ministering to non-believers you should expect that their language with represent their heart.
Proverbs 28:19 says, “Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.” We must preach that there is a better way in Jesus and let them know where we stand on issues. It is ok to call sin “sin” and to have requirements to serve. For example, we always have people that work with our kids go through background checks, and they must be walking with God. We understand that everyone in our church won’t fit those requirements, but to ensure safety and make sure the kids during service are being discipled, we have placed a standard there. We also take a large portion of our service to preach God’s prophetic vision from the Bible which is our primary authority and standard. We want to teach the heart of God and what He values as right and wrong. We understand that it is not about morals, but we must also understand that we can please God through obedience by the power of His Spirit. They must see that the law of God is perfect and good. And that our faith has works. We want people to observe the commandments of God; and when people become born again, they are able to be transformed and no longer slaves of sin. So, we preach though the Bible in order to help people understand the person of Jesus and His ways.
3 They won’t be mature in the faith - It has been so amazing to see so many lives transformed by Jesus at Redemption Church. But just because you say a prayer doesn’t make you mature. People are immediately forgiven from their sin, but the consequences are still with some people. So we have seen saved people still fight addictions, still serve time in jail, still go through a divorce, still live with the sin that bought death in their lives. I have seen a heart change immediately, but understanding and maturity come more slowly. Some may not give finances immediately or sign up to serve or even be in fellowship. So, many of the people that call Redemption Church their home don’t come every week because they never grew up with that discipline. Most of them have never read through the Bible. So what are we to do about this?
Preach to them with our lives. Set an example! We have to show them a better way. Many of us learn by example and are more visual. The Bible tells us we aren’t to merely love in word but also in action (1 John 3:16-18). It has also been said that vision is caught not taught…so we must show them what it means to walk with God with our lives. It is our responsibility to walk with others and to disciple them. This is one of the main reasons we are to have patience with others because this process takes time. So, give time to non-believers to ask questions, to pray with them, and to teach them. Include them in your life even if they aren’t “acting like Christians” yet. Include them even if they haven’t accepted Jesus into their lives yet either!
The Bible tells us that the strong are to help the weak, and we have come to find out that many people need us to help them. They need to see what a godly marriage looks like or how a single person is to live in purity. They need to see the vision we so often preach to them so they can understand it better and follow our example. We know we are far from perfect, but this is also a good thing. People need to see imperfect people, leaning on the grace and mercy of Jesus, following after Him with their whole lives. So, we try to have people in our lives as much as possible during the week—not just on Sundays.
We are all in the business of making disciples, and we need to get messy with people right where they are in order to see the fruit of God working in them. This takes a lot of work and patience, BUT it is totally worth it. May the Lord bless our efforts in reaching people far from Him and may our church always be messy!
When you are a part of a church plant, having the right expectations is one of the most helpful things when it comes to overcoming discouragement and maintaining a right perspective. There is nothing so sad as seeing someone who starts out excited to go and preach the gospel give up because it was more difficult than they expected. I don’t think anyone thinks starting a church will be easy, but sometimes we can be caught off guard by exactly why it is so hard. Jesus tell us we are to count the costs and follow Him. I believe that as we have a heart to reach nonbelievers and unchurched people in our communities, we need to also consider the mess that will bring. What do I mean by that? Ministry is messy!
I want to share something with you that I have come to expect when ministering to those that aren’t following Jesus yet…they act that way! I have come to a place where this doesn’t surprise me and I am not offended by it. I have seen first hand in my own life that the only way to overcome this is to be changed from the inside out through a personal revelation of who Jesus is and then accepting His grace by faith. This is what Jesus means when He talks about being spiritually born again (John 3:3-8). I was spiritually dead before I accepted God’s grace and lost in sin (Eph 2:1-5) and so is everyone who has yet put their faith in Jesus. Paul would even tell people that if they think Jesus Christ didn’t rise from the dead, they should be sinning as much as possible because this is the only life they have! (1 Cor 15:13-19). So I have come to expect people to live what they truly believe. And for those that don’t believe in Jesus as Lord, I expect them to be living in sin. The Bible teaches us that sin brings death. And that death is messy.
I have to remember that the mess of ministry is actually an answer to many of our prayers. We prayed for many people to get saved and find life in Jesus Christ. And God has sent us to preach the gospel to people so they would have hope. I have had to understand that we are called to love people right where they are, and they don’t need to clean up their lives before they come to Jesus. God sends us into the brokenness, hurt, pain, and mess of people’s lives to shine the light of Jesus into their darkness. The Bible warns us that if we are to make disciples, this will take work and things won’t always be neat and tidy like we tend to like.
Prov 14:4 Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.
The more you serve people that are far from God, the more you will start to see that if you want to see life change around you, you are going to have to work in the messiness of people’s lives. Remember we are to love people, and that love makes a real difference in people’s lives. It was the real love of God that changed our lives when we were still in our mess of sin. The Bible tells us that Jesus died for us while we were still enemies of God, and because of that great love we are now able to know Him. God wants us to be His ambassadors not only with our words but our deeds as well. We have been given a true love that the world doesn't offer. We have the great chance to love people right in their mess of sin just as Jesus loved us.
This is the answer for true life change. PREACHING THE GOSPEL! Paul believed this was the very power to save, so he needed to be preaching all the time! I have taken this to heart and have seen God work in people’s lives in ways I never could dream of on my own. This is one of the main reasons we have communion every week at our church. This allows me to explain the Gospel and the implications of it every week. I believe if we can’t point people to Jesus through His Word every time we meet, we have failed. Jesus said that all scripture points to Him, so it should be very easy for us to use Scripture to bring people to Jesus and His heart. It is the only hope that truly satisfies and we need to be preaching Jesus every week as we gather as His bride. Not only is this good for our hearts as children of God, but for those that are far from God because they see it is only God’s grace that can truly change their lives. This is why we highly prioritize preaching the gospel: because only Jesus has the power to save!
So, over time, I have come expect and the messiness and the difficulty that comes from pouring our lives into the lost and broken. And also to see that the only answer is always going to be Jesus. I hope you can join me in learning to embrace this beautiful of this side of ministry.
In part 2 of this article, I will address 3 very practical ways I have found to love people through the messiness of life and reaching those far from God.
Once you have known the love and mercy of Jesus in your life, there is no greater joy than sharing His love with someone. Jesus commands us to go into all the world and make disciples, and nothing brings greater fulfillment than stepping out and helping a person grow in their relationship with Jesus. (Matthew 28:18-20, John 20:21) I want nothing more than to obey my Savior and tell someone else about how much He loves them and what God has already done for them! But have you ever found yourself feeling ill-equipped or maybe you just don’t know where to start when it comes to discipling someone or even sharing Jesus?
When my family came to Florida to start a church, we did not know anyone. We had no team, no church to invite people to, and wanted a way to form relationships and share Jesus with people who so desperately need Him. We had always loved having people over to our house to eat, and we decided to continue using this approach to building relationships and see what God would do through it!
Jesus used meals as an opportunity for ministry throughout His life. Robert Karris said, "In Luke's Gospel Jesus is either going to a meal, at a meal, or coming from a meal.”
Luke 7:34-35 says, “The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by all her children.”
God is constantly using the everyday world around us to show us things about who He is. So, it makes sense that Jesus used every opportunity to teach those around Him, including meal times. It is amazing to note the number of times we hear some of the greatest teachings of Jesus come from a time sitting around a dinner table.
The act of inviting someone into our home is becoming more rare as people are busier and connecting more and more through social media and texting rather than face to face. We have had many people tell us that our home was the first “real home” they had been to in years! Tim Chester wrote a book on this subject called “A Meal with Jesus.” “Few acts are more expressive of companionship than the shared meal….someone with whom we share food is likely to be our friend, or well on the way to becoming one.”
It is a reasonable and attainable goal to plan out 1-2 of these meal times each week to connect with someone for the sake of discipleship! In a natural setting, eating a meal is an intimate and comfortable environment for real conversation.
So be encouraged that this is something you can do! Sometimes we may feel like what we are doing is not enough, or we feel at a loss in how we can better pour into someone’s life. This is a great starting point. Just as Jesus used meal times to pour into those around Him, we can begin to look for ordinary opportunities to do the same!
Be blessed,
Pastor Daniel
Recommended Reading: “A Meal with Jesus” by Tim Chester
Listen to a message I taught at Redemption Church on this subject: “Be On Mission with Meals”
