Guerrero trip report...

We had a great, safe trip. God gave us opportunity to show his love to many people. The night before leaving someone came and told me about all the violence in the area and suggested we postpone the trip. I let them know that we were very aware of the tension, but that we had a very specific purpose in mind and were trusting that God was going before us and He would take care of us. After spending four days in the area, had I not known there had been recent skirmishes, I would have had no idea the area was violent. God´s peace was in our hearts the whole time.

a 6 minute video summarizing the trip...

Our Tenancingo team spent time with kids. The first night it was just 7, but Friday was over 110, then Saturday over 50 and Sunday over 70. I´d figure perhaps close to 150 different children with whom we played, sang, shared the gospel (yellow, black, red, white, green fingered glove), laughed, did some fun dramas and shared a Samaritan´s Purse gift (this last one through the Mexican Baptist convention with whom we are affiliated). We used a multi-colored glove to share God´s gift of salvation as in the wordless book. Yellow - God has a plan for your life and it is good. Black - Sin keeps you from that plan.  Red - The blood of Jesus, takes care of your sin. White - Accepting Jesus´ gift makes our hearts clean. Green - We need to grow and learn more about God´s plan for us.

I was encouraged by the believers we met. Adiel Pineda who is a missionary pastor in the state of Morelos (two hours east of Tenancingo) has relatives in many of the small towns in the area. And has been leading many to the Lord Jesus in the last year and a half, some of whom he´s just met within that timeframe.

I was also encouraged and blessed to see Baptists and Pentecostals and others come together with the purpose of worshiping the Lord in a public place and proclaiming the good news. After some division and bickering in the past year, this was a good step in the right direction. There was a lot of talk about unity as Jesus prayed in John 17 so that the world may know. Some of this bickering was between relatives who were in leadership of two different pentecostal churches. Non-believers were aware of the bad testimony and I pray this is something they noticed as different.

Our team was healthy even with abundant mosquito bites and being fed beef all three days for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They killed a cow to honor us as their guests with healthy, good food. Almost reminded me of Forrest Gump and the variety of ways to eat shrimp. I can asure you we didn´t eat the horns, eyes, brains or hoofs, but most everything else. 

We definitely felt the love and prayers of so many. It was a blessing to be the goers. While there, we often remembered the senders, our Tenancingo church and so many others from many parts of the globe who covered our time in prayer. We want to continue joining Adiel in future trips - he goes once a month!   He requested help for purchasing an overhead projector which he uses to show movies as he shares the gospel and disciples new believers. His home church has one which he has used off and on, but each time he does, it leaves them without their own. If interested in helping Adiel with this specific need, please let me know.

One more round down south...

On Friday, September 5th we took off on a 10 day journey through Peoria, Atlanta, Columbia...


C A M P I N G

We left Chicago after picking up Samuel from his school (first grade) and found a campground near Ottawa, IL. This was the first time we had spent the night in a tent as a family and we had a lot of fun and realized we were not fully prepared for camping. Now we know that having a working flashlight is very handy. We also learned that when you bring a stove and propane, its also good to bring matches. The best part was looking up at the stars as we lay on our sleeping bags in the tent where 80% is net (we didn't put on the rain/wind cover). The next morning, Rebeca and Matthew were the first to get up so they took a walk and got this picture.




Then Samuel went for a bike ride and we got this one.

P E O R I A

Stayed with our friends Jeff and Kristine Davidson for a few days while we visited their church and shared with them about Mexico. We also had opportunity to briefly share at a "mommy" group that Kristine is involved with as she is looking to broaden their focus on missions both local and global. On other big news, God's timing would have it so that our van would completely become unsafe for driving, right when we were there. Through a set of circumstances, we were able to trade it in and get a seven-year upgrade on our Dodge Caravan. The new 2005 van is a safer and sturdier vehicle for our trip to Mexico and for ministry use while we are down there. Praise God for His generous provision!

C O L U M B I A

After picking up my mom at my grandmother's place near Atlanta, we drove to Columbia where we stayed with John and Bethany Reed, my younger brother. That night we put up the tent again in John's back yard and my older brother Jamie brought his two oldest kids and the two of us spent the night in the tent with the four kids. Fun memory-building times with the cousins.

We had an opportunity to share about Mexico with a few of John's friends in an informal setting right in their living room. We were also able to see my mom sing with the Columbia International University 60th anniversary Ambassador's choir, where she had been the pianist during college days in the late 60's, early 70's. My brother Tim and Craig and their families got together with us for supper and then the next day we had a picnic with Fran (my dad's sister) and Judy (my dad's brother's wife) who were in town.

A T L A N T A

The group who had gone to Ecuador in July had a picture party and we were able to join them on Saturday to reminisce. It was great to see over half of the 23 who went and great to introduce them to Lina and the kids. They also were gracious to let us share our vision and heart about Mexico and an opportunity to invite them to join our support team. We stayed with Kirk and Connie Johnson (she's running a marathon in November, so the next morning ran 12 miles!!). We then went to Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, which had sponsored the Ecuador trip and met my aunt Joan and Chuck and the family for a quick lunch before heading on our trip to Chicago.

Ecuador?

Between July 11 and 20th, Matthew joined a team of 22 others from Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, near Atlanta for a weeklong trip to Ecuador. There, we joined missionaries Steve and Carol Thompson and their team at Camp Chacauco where we were able to help in three main areas. First, a medical team of nurses and prescription drug helpers spent time in a town called Montalvo, helping diagnose and assist with basic and common ailments as well as sharing about God's love for the people. The rest of us were involved in a three-day Bible school right on site at the Montalvo church for around 70 kids on the largest day. Finally, in the afternoons and all day Thursday we helped in construction back at the camp with building some roofs on a new building for housing the camp staff (which currently stays in dorms).
A few highlights:

• Being one of very few fluent Spanish speakers, I played guitar, taught verse and lesson for VBS all three days. I also got to interact in a small group format with the kids as they rotated from games to crafts and application time.

• On Wednesday, 7/16, played guitar and preached at a weekly service in a tiny village 8400 ft high. The full group was 50 or 60, but the locals were about 15 to 20. Got to sing songs from my childhood and have folks sing along



• Met a believer who owned a shop next to the equator and asked me to pray for her family right then and there in the store. The HCJB radio program she was listening to was an instant giveaway. She was thankful that I was able to pray for her husband who has only recently begun attending the Evangelical Church in the "Middle of the World" (what they call the equator, since the actual word for equator is the same as the counry's name).

• Went to a university function to support the daughter of one of the pastors as a foreign contact who might be interested in supporting a business idea she and a team created as a project. I discovered that I'm actually a british investor seeking to assist in the exportation of Ecuadorian fruit to the UK (and USA).

• Daily view of an active, ash-spewing volcano called Tungurahua and occasional glimpses of how it has impacted, climate, culture, topography and even religion in this area.

• Learning to use a nail gun w/ the two-by-fours and sundry pieces of wood.Seeing 50 ecuadorian youth divided up into four teams have a talent night with skits, songs and special numbers.

• Getting to wear a patch on my right eye for 24 hours due to a few pieces of sawdust getting stuck behind my eyelid. I noticed it when they came in but it was one of those things you figure they'll come out on their own. The second morning after, my eye was swollen and red and it was decided a doctor should review it. He flushed it out with saline and I felt immediate relief. However, he wanted to make sure all inflamation was gone and eye was fully healed, so I got a shot on my behind and a patch on my eye.

• Having opportunities to share about God's goodness and plan for each life with a number of people in my travel back to Chicago: on the plane from Quito to Atlanta, on Atlanta's railway (MARTA)...

Now it is off to Mexico. Stay tuned!