BROTHERHOOD FELLOWSHIP

Once a year our National Mexican Brotherhood gathers to spend time in worship and Bible study. This usually implies a considerable effort by our laymen as they seek for the lord to lead us collectively as a National Association. This year it was in Chiapas, just a few miles from the Mexico Guatemala boarder. That is a very long way for most of us to travel. I was honored once again to be one of the speakers. I was asked to speak about community penetration, the influence that men can have on their communities through social organizations, their own occupations and volunteer service. I spoke of the importance of going to where the people live and take our Christian influence with them. The ability we have to take the witness of our church to our community.

 

It is always a blessing to spend time with our brethren better preparing for our Savior’s work. We trust every effort will translate into souls saved and churches planted.

THINGS WE TAKE FOR GRANTED

There are many things that we take for granted. Some of them are as simple as running water or constant electrical service. In Mexico, especially in the mountains, easy is rare and almost nothing comes easy.

 As our mission work grows the need for places of worship grows as well. Most of the buildings that we have built over the last few years are not completed. We are constantly putting up roofs or installing windows or doors in churches that are in use but not finished. I raise monies for the materials and our brethren provide the labor. Our people are content with what they have, always aware that nothing comes easy.

This day we worked on pouring a floor in the mountain mission of Cochis. The building has been used for worship for some time now even though the floor was only dirt. Being true to form pouring the floor was a difficult task. The church is halfway down a mountain and all the gravel and cement had to be carried down. As I mentioned, inconvenience is expected and accepted. Our brethren know. Years ago the only property the village would let them have for a church was the side of a mountain. So they cut the mountain by hand to have a level place to worship. Carrying 90 lb sacks of concrete and buckets of gravel is simple par for the course.

 The result of our partnered effort both from the BMAA in partnering with offerings and our Aztec brethren with labor is a worthy place to worship. May God be glorified through his people’s faithfulness in his church. His Grace is granted!

Our brethren are elated to worship in a church with no doors, no windows, but a brand new floor!

NATIONAL PASTORS CONFERENCE

Last month we had the privilege of organizing and hosting our first National Pastors Conference in the coastal village of Paso Doña Juana, Veracruz. Pastors from all over our association were invited to the Youth Campground of the state of Veracruz to hear Bro. Buddy Johnson the Director of Hispanic Ministries of the BMAA and Bro. Phil Knott the Operational Director for Latin America.

On the appointed day 29 pastors arrived to study the Dynamic Church Planting International (DCPI)module taught by Bro Buddy and Bro. Phil during this three day retreat. As the Lord blessed and touched hearts we were all refreshed and encouraged by the teachings that God’s plan is unchanged. We are to evangelize the world by churches planting churches. The DCPI teachings will help us continue to do so in a more efficient and organized way. Our Mexican Pastors are grateful to Bro Buddy and Bro Phil for investing their time in our work here in Mexico. May great things come from this time spent together.

QUITE AN ADVENTURE

We have been preparing for the last couple of weeks to travel to a mission point in the village of Embocadero. This village is in the state of Veracruz. To get there we would have to travel to where the road ends and then hike for about an hour down the mountain the back way into Veracruz. There are two families that have accepted Christ in this village and we wanted to encourage them and show an evangelistic film to the village. On the day of the visit we drove to the village of Tecacalax where we left the vehicles. The road was in pretty poor condition and we had to cross several creeks to get there.

 Thunder was rumbling in the distance as we began the hike down the mountain toward Embocadero. We were excited about the prospect of pioneer mission work and reaching people who had never heard the gospel before. The trail we were walking wasn’t really a trail at all but a deep gully that had been cut in the mountain from flooding water. The scenery was beautiful. It is amazing to see the work of our father’s creation.

As we arrived in Embocadero about dark it began to rain. Bummer. The mountain people don’t move around when it is raining. We rested for a few minutes and presented the message anyway in the town center. About 20 people came out and a couple accepted Christ as Savior. After the service we began a 50 minute forced march back up the mountain. We had to get back through the “flash flood gully” before the water began to flow. Our guide set a killer pace to the top. For the next 50 minutes all I could see was the back of his head. After about 20 minutes there was I was only aware of two things, the falling rain and the horrible burning in my legs. The guide simply would not let up on the pace. It did help my ego to see our guide gagging from the exertion when we finally did reach the top.

On the way back there was one other incident that really scared me. We drove across a portion of road that I am sure has slid down the mountain by now. It is true that God protects his children especially the dumb ones.

Pray with us for the village of Embocadero that many will be saved and we will soon plant a church in that village.

MEDICAL CARAVAN A GREAT SUCCESS!

We just completed a great medical caravan. After negotiating with the government at three different levels we began operating. Hundreds of people showed up for consult and 80 of them received cataract surgery.

We were working in the operating room of a government hospital and were concerned about being able to freely evangelize. Our local pastors took turns preaching and our brethren worked with personal evangelism. More than 25 people received Christ including several nurses! What a blessing!.

There were other obstacles as well. On the second night the hospital flooded and we had to stop working for half a day but overall the caravan was a success. Everyone worked very hard. Denise in the kitchen, Amanda translating, Eric evangelizing and Alan, Alison and I worked the operating room logistics. Dr. Robinson and his entire team went the “extra mile” to serve the Aztec People. I thank God for such a hard working family and great friends that love the Lord! Friends and family that show God's love through the work of their hands and their support! We built strong relationships with the hospital and state officials, people received Christ and God was glorified in His Church!

MEETING AT LONG TABLE

Mesa Larga, This means long table in Spanish and justly represents the name of the village. It sits on top of a mesa high in the mountains. Years ago we had begun a work there that was suspended because of conflict between two indigenous groups. It was a bitter land conflict between the sponsoring church’s village and the missions’ village. Although Christians were not involved it was unsafe to visit the mission. As things changed and the conflict was resolved we began to visit again. Last Monday we drove up the mountain to have church at Mesa Larga. During the invitation a man stands up and in a loud voice said “I want you to pray with me, I need forgiveness” . This is rare because the Aztec people are usually shy and quiet in public situations. I asked him his name and said if he would repent and accept the gift of eternal life. The weeping man replied yes! We have high expectations of what God is doing and will continue to do among the Aztec people as faithful men continue to carry the saving message of Jesus to those who most desperately need it.

50 saved in Evangelism Explosion Clinic

Eric, Josué (pastor of FBC Huejutla), Jose Manuel (missionary in Huautla new mission) and I just returned from a week long Evangelism Explosion Clinic in Coayuca, Puebla. Eric and I went as teacher traineres and our pastors were trainees. The clinic was hosted by two churches The Church in Coayuca and the Church in Axochiapan. When we arrived to teach the first class we were surprised to see almost 50 people present. The good news is that all but 16 were not there for certification training but wanted to learn to evangelize the EE way. The bad news was there were only four trainers Ricky Williams, Jorge Mesa, Eric and I. We were going to be really busy all week long. The clinic is part of the ongoing education program that Bro. Ricky manages in conjunction with the Jacksonville Theological Seminary. As a part of the training we go out and look for the lost all over. We find them at hospitals, bus stations, business and their homes. The churches in both towns had arrainged visits in the homes of church contacts in about. So, we had one class a day and “ground pounded” visiting people and sharing the Gospel with them. The idea is that the trainees can observe the Gospel presentation for a week and be able to participate by the end of the week. God blessed in a great way with 50 solid professions of faith. The remarkable thing is that we only presented the gospel about 36 times. In many homes we led both the husband and wife to the Lord. We are tired but glad to be home. In the end we had trained 16 people for certification and about 20 more in an informal manner. Help us pray for these two churches, the 50 converts and the new soul winners that are continuing to work in these towns.