December 19,
2017 – December 31, 2017
We awoke early for worship and
border crossing. We put all of our
luggage in the passenger vans and trailers and we walked across as a group and
went aboard the bus we had rented in Mexico to transport us. But we sat on the bus a long time – the devil
was at work. Somebody crashed into one
of our trailers. Then the border guards
stopped the trailers and demanded to know why they were carrying all of this
luggage in? We explained it was for all
the people on the bus. They demanded
fees for bringing in so many things.
After 4 hours we finally started our journey much delayed. Most of the families were riding on the bus –
this is good because then there is a bathroom and it is easier to sleep. Halfway through the night someone awakened me
to go speak with the bus driver because we were parked alongside a deserted
road. I spoke with him. He said he lost the other vans and had pulled
over and waited for them for over half an hour but they hadn’t appeared
yet. He wanted to know what to do. We tried to call the group but there was no
cell service. I then spoke with Mr.
Rich’s brother-in-law. We agreed that it
was dangerous to sit alongside the road and so we would continue and let the
others fend for themselves. (there were 4 vans loaded with plenty of
people.) We arrived at the school
compound at 4am and unloaded all of the supplies. Some people went to bed, but we began to
organize and set-up. The rest of the
group arrived at 6am. They had a wheel
bearing go out on them so had been delayed.
We ate breakfast and all went
off to the first church building site.
It felt so good to be in the heat again, holding a trowel and laying
block, and speaking in Spanish. There
was just a warm feeling in our souls apart from the sunshine. We spend that week and the next through
Wednesday and built 4 churches. We also
did evangelistic meetings for the adults and kids in the evenings. One night I translated for the kid meetings
and another night I preached. Rich asked
me to preach on raising a godly family.
I didn’t feel qualified, but I prayed and God gave me words. I used Jeremiah 24:15 as my key text in
regards to leaving the idols behind in our lives and choosing AS FOR ME and my
house we will serve the Lord, with the emphasis being on we must personally
serve the Lord and personally be revived before leading those around us. I spoke on Deuteronomy 6 and Ephesians 5-6
also. At the end people came to me in
tears saying that was exactly what they needed.
I was humbled to be used as an instrument of God.
Serenity shared her testimony at
worship Sabbath evening and many people were greatly touched by it. Several came and told us they had similar
situations in their lives but have still kept in secret and not had the
strength to face it yet. They were
amazed at Serenity’s strength in the Lord. There were lots of testimonies
shared during worship by a variety of people and they were all so
inspiring. Lisa’s Mexican brother –
Victory – and his family drove 12 hours to meet us. That is who Lisa lived with in Durango for 3
months while learning Spanish when she was 12 years old.
The church dedications and
baptisms are always the highlight. The
first church is a church that has been planted from a neighboring church. On the first Sabbath we went door-to-door
inviting people to the evangelistic series.
We walked through an area that was owned by the government but Mexicans
had invaded it 8 days prior, were clearing the land, and building shacks. It is difficult for people to afford land, so
many times they will do this in hopes the government will gift them the land –
which many times they do. The church had
multiple baptisms. The second church is
2 hours away from town down dirt road into a beautiful secluded valley. It’s like the garden of Eden on earth.
(Besides all the garbage laying around and malnourished dogs.) A small group of people came 12 years ago
down into this valley to share the word of God.
But no fruit was seen. Many
people got discouraged and left, but others stepped in. And now they have their first converts – a
family of 3 generations. God is going to
work in this small little village! It
was a reminder to me not to give up. If
we give up, we know there will be no fruit – but if we persevere in God’s
timing fruit will be seen for His kingdom.
The third church has been meeting in their little village for 15 years
in a metal shack about 10 feet square.
There are 30 members and they continue to grow. The 4th church began about 5 years
ago with someone coming to share the gospel.
Their first convert left the group a year ago, but at the alter call
given at the church dedication she came up crying and repledged her life to
God. The never thought it was a
possibility to have a church in their small neighborhood. But our group passed a hat and came up with
the other $1000 they needed to purchase the land and we poured the foundation
for them. (Usually we only do the brick
walls and roof.) They were so
grateful! While we were building the
church I saw the most beautiful horse I have ever seen in my life. It’s entire body was covered in well-defined
muscles and it’s head was held high. I
thought to myself if only this family could get their horse to the U.S. they
would be rich and famous. But it seemed
kind of fitting that out in the middle of poverty stricken nowhere, God had
blessed a man with the world’s most beautiful horse. At the church dedication a man of 70 years
old got up and gave his testimony. He
spent his life raising horses, gambling, drinking, and mistreating his wives
and children. He became gravely ill and
when he no longer had any money, he had no friends or family left. At that moment a bible worker came to his
door. He gave his heart to the Lord –
this was 3 months ago – and has already brought several people into the church
with him. He is truly a new creature.
The first Sabbath I translated
Sabbath School. When I finished a young
Pathfinder girl came to me and asked to see my Bible I had been using. It is a Spanish-English Bible with the verses
side-by-side. She said she really wanted
a Bible like that. Well, I received that
Bible at the age of 17 for a Speech contest in Spanish that I received first
place on. It has been very valuable to
me for many years. But as I thought
about it, I thought would it be better to have a Bible or another soul in
heaven? So I made a deal with her. I told her I would give her my special Bible
IF and ONLY IF she promised me to love the Lord with all her heart, soul, and
mind for the rest of her life and to use all of her talents for the Lord and in
bringing others to the gospel. When I
gave it to her the last Sabbath she was jumping up and down and screaming with
delight. One of my most valuable
possessions is gone, but I am storing treasure in heaven.
It is always hard to leave
Mexico. We love the food, the people,
but most of all serving the Lord.
Mission work is something that fills that hole in the heart that can
only be filled by God. As we must rely
on God for everything, we live with a simple faith – and God never fails
us. It is satisfying to know we have
made an eternal difference, but to know the church members will not take it for
granted. They will continue to work
every day in telling their friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers about
Christ. Next year those churches will be
even fuller, and there will be new church plants that will need new church
buildings. God is so very good!
After the church dedications on
Sabbath we went to a remote village on the ocean and had sundown worship. We drove back 2 hours to our compound and
packed our belongings. At 11pm we
boarded the bus to drive through Mexico back to the U.S. Along the way we stopped a few times for
people in vans to quickly go to the bathroom.
At 8:30 am we all stopped together for breakfast. After about 30 minutes one of the families
who had been driving a van discovered their 13 year-old daughter was
missing. They realized she had stopped
to go to the bathroom at 4am and they had left without her. (They thought she had gotten back in and was
sleeping on the floor wrapped in her blankets.) They turned around in a
hurry. We began praying and talked to a
local Adventist man who went to look for her and found her. Fortunately, she was fluent in Spanish and
had gone to the store nearby. She didn’t
know how to get a hold of anyone though.
So she got on facebook and posted, but to no avail. It was an opportunity to remember how there
is nothing new under the sun. Even
Christ’s parent’s lost him for 3 days and had to go back and find him. We must always be close and trusting
Jesus. And just like those parents tore
down the road to find their lost child, Jesus is attempting to reach us and
bring us back to Him.
It was sad to say goodbye to all
our Mexico Mission friends. Nobody
leaves the same. We are all closer to
Jesus and more on fire to spread the gospel to the world – and for most of us
that means the United States of America this year.
December
31-January 1
We got in our motorhome which we
had parked at the hotel in Brownsville and headed North. We drove all night. Dave was so wonderful to drive until 4am when
he asked me to take over. We discovered
Texas never ends… We also discovered
that Texas can have ice storms. Shortly
after I began driving the truckers all slowed from 80mph to 45mph and put on
their flashers. The sides of the road
were covered with ice and I think the road was also. There was lots of fog too. I thought “Dave is never going to believe
what I drove through.” The wipers were
frozen solid and my window was solid brown from sand whipping up. But when he awoke in the afternoon and looked
at the motorhome on a gas stop he believed me!
We arrived at Mesa Verde in the afternoon and saw the cliff dwellings
from the Native Americans. The boys had
a lot of fun looking through their binoculars and seeing how many they could
find throughout the canyon walls. The
scenery was beautiful all around. And
we hit the road again…
January 2,
2018
We went to Grand Canyon National
Park. It was beautiful, and frigid. We all agreed we would like to come back
sometime and hike from rim-to-rim and raft through the canyon. But we all agreed we are tired for now of
vacations and are ready to be home. We
took a picture on the park sign with us pointing North – and we hit the road.
January 3,
2018
Today is our last day of
driving. I awoke at 2:30 am to begin our
13 hour drive back home. We will have
traveled 16,800 miles in the motorhome throughout the U.S. in the last 4 months. What an experience it has been! It has definitely shaped our characters and
we will never be the same. It has been a
blessing and definitely an educational experience. And to think we went all those miles without
a single accident, a single break-down, and without anyone breaking in. God has truly put his hedge around us and
blessed us immensely. Thank you Lord!
No comments:
Post a Comment