MISSION RECON

Our association has elected a new missionary to start a mission in the city of Aguascalientes. Thursday Denise and I left Huejutla and traveled 9 and1/2 hours to the city of Leon, Guanajuato where we met with pastors from the Missions Board to plan our trip to Aguascalientes. The next morning, equiped with bibles and maps, we rose early and traveled the last hour and a half to reach Aguascalientes. Excited and apprehensive we contacted Miguel (BMAA member that lives in the city) so he could tell us the location of other Baptist works in the city. To our surprise we found almost the entire southern half of the city of over 450,000 people didn’t have a Baptist church. We scouted the south eastern quadrant and 8 neighborhoods of middle class people with no significant Christian work much less Baptist. We chose the center of this quadrant as our starting point and after praying for the souls of Aguas calientes we departed for home. I am excited about the prospect of this new work. There are thousands of un-churched with vacant urban properties nearby and virtually no Christian influence. We couldn’t ask for a better location. May God bless our efforts in this new place that soon there may be a BMAA Baptist Church. A permanent witness fo salvation in Jesus to the people of Aguascalientes.

LIFE BEHIND THE MASK

We returned to class at the Martha Johnson School today. The was a sense of happiness among the children as they began to see their classmates and fiends. Classes have been suspended since April 26 because of the swine flu pandemic. The children were also apprehensive as they saw a line of determined teachers with thermometers, facemask and triage questionnaires waiting for them behind a line of tables. These teachers are the first tier of our screening process to make sure that children are asymptomatic and afebrile before they can enter the school population. We also provide all with facemask to wear during class. Any child with the sniffles gets to wait for mom or dad to come take them to the doctor so they can be cleared for class activity. Life behind a facemask is a little weird and will take some getting used to but we trust the Lord that we may do all we can to keep our students well in a world with a new bug, a bug we are just going to learn to live with.

BACK TO CHURCH

After two weeks without having corporate worship at FBC Huejutla we were able to return to services. To do this we have gone to three services because the health department will not let us put that many people in the same room. Also we have had to establish a screening process to make sure that none of our Church members are symptomatic when they arrive to church. We also sanitize everyone’s hands and sanitize the building between services. Facemask for everyone as well.

This is a blessing because we have needed to go to two services for a long time but church leadership didn’t think two services were logistically possible. Now we have had to have swo services and have seen that it works! There is room for everyone to sit and plenty of room for growth.

Thank The Lord for forcing us into a situation that will continue to grow His church, even if he used a pandemic to do it!!! GLORY!!

JUST WHEN WE THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE TO GO OUT

After working all day to establish a protocol to screen our students returning to school next Monday we have developed a process where we have six lines of kids coming into the school. Every student will be checked for fever and triaged for symptoms, we then will disinfect their hands by spraying alcohol on them and usher them to class where they will make their own mask for the day. (Pharmacies are out of facemask and hand sanitizer). We ordered banners to post outside the school so parents can become familiar with the process. We also drafted a letter stating that we believed the return to school is premature and hold health officials responsible for any outbreaks that originate in our school. WE ARE READY!!

Tonight the governor announces on the official web page that our state of Hidalgo 122 cases of flu, 99 of the cases are A-H1N1 with an increase of 45 new confirmed cases of Type A in the last 24 hours. New cases are alarmingly in the 6- 24 year old age group. State wide there are 23 people in the hospital of which 3 are critical. Two people have died from Type A flu and two others died today of viral pneumonia but not confirmed to be the bad bug yet. We will return to school no sooner than May 18th. Whew!! All that work and no payday. This disease is killing us because if we can’t have classes we can’t get paid. Things are begining to look a little dismal here. PLEASE help us pray for the different aspects of this health crisis.

We will continue to have church services over the radio and being light in a time of insecurity among our unchuched friends.

A DOG'S LIFE

As we live through swine flu, global warming, failing economies, narco-wars, kidnappings and earthquakes I looked at my dogs and desired to have a DOG’S LIFE. See, dogs have no worries, no payroll to meet, no bills to pay or accounts to review. Dogs don’t have to work, don’t have a boss, and could care less if the other dogs in the yard like them or not. They have no deadlines to meet, they prefer to let the day, or their nose, take them where they may. This carefree life makes them generous and friendly always ready to treat themselves to a quick lick, and us too, for that matter. The sun could fall, the dollar could collapse, disease could rule, and the dog’s life would go on unchanged. If the food ran out they would be content to sleep until the very end, always friendly enough to share a lick and tail wag with a friend or passerby. The only problem is that if I had a Dog’s Life I would not have the chance to know Jesus as my Savior. So give me swine flu, global warming, failing economies, narco-wars, kidnappings and earthquakes so long as I can have Jesus too! You see having Jesus makes all of these other things light, making life carefree, allowing us to live friendly and generous lives. Jesus is and always will be the answer.

LAST SERVICE BEFORE SWINE FLU

Nestled in the mountains of Hidalgo is the village of Mecatlan with a population of about 2000 people. This is where the brethren of the Mecatlan church had prepared to host our quarterly local association of the Aztec churches. The church in Mecatlan had worked for days to prepare. One of the local community pavilions had been secured for the service, chairs had been rented and one of our project pigs that dressed out at 180 lbs had been converted into tamales for all of the attending brethren to eat. They had prepared to receive 600 to 800 people that are the usual attendees at this service.

On this occasion the was a rumor was beginning to circulate that there was a new deadly disease that we killing people in Mexico City and people were beginning to be afraid. Our expectations began to drop as to how attendance would be.

Saturday morning we were blessed to see brethren begin to arrive by truck and foot. When the time to begin the service, more than 450 brethren arrived. We worshiped together in song and preaching of the word. After the service we fellowshipped while everybody ate pork tamales and had plenty left over for everyone to take some home with them.

After the service the local church workers and pastors gathered for prayer and to eat a “tapataxtle”. A tapataxtle is giant tamale made from the pig’s head. The ladies had packed the entire head in corn doe and wrap the entire thing in banana leaves. It is all steamed over an open fire. It is considered a real delicacy because the head has the most tender meat cuts.

The news of the Swine Flu outbreak was public that next Monday. We don't leave the house unless we wear a face mask. Our town is almost a ghost town as people are staying off the street. More than 40 people died last week in Mexico city from the flu. There are 8 confirmed cases here in our area and we expect more as hundreds of unemployed workers flock home to the Huasteca from Mexico City. School has been canceled at least until May 6. I think it will be much longer before we go back to school because the pandemic hasn't peaked yet. The health organizations will have to get a handle on this before they let people congregate at school again. The whole town is sold out of facemask. I had a box in storage so we are OK.

After meeting with the men of our church we decided to follow the health recommendations and suspend church services until they give the green light. We are going to broadcast our Sunday sermons over the radio so folks can listen at home.

This is a great opportunity to let people see the witness of security and hope God has given us that believe in Jesus.