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.

Trip to Guerrero, Michoacán

Tomorrow I (Matthew) will join a group of just over 20 mexicans on an evangelistic trip to the states of Guerrero and Michoacán. at a location about four to five hours away from Tenancingo. A pastor from an associated church in the state of Morelos (south of Mexico City) is leading folks from three churches, seven of whom come from our church. We will be doing a number of activities with children and also house to house evangelism. This is a rural and remote area and also a place with heavy drug trafficking and violence. Please remember us in your prayers as we travel and minister. We want to show God´s love in a tangible way. Here´s the itinerary view in Google Maps.

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!