|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| The week has gone by quickly and with regret we'll be
seeing my father and step-mother leaving tomorrow morning. But,
we've managed to stay busy and get a lot accomplished. We did
make it out to Nuevo Progreso in Mexico on Tuesday. It was much
as we remembered it, with a LOT of small vendor shops lining the
street, as well as several larger marketplaces along both sides.
We managed to get some shopping done and also enjoy the sights in the
area. We were definitely aware of the Mexican military
presence. As soon as we crossed the bridge into Mexico the
Mexican army was there with fortified positions, heavily armed troops
and mounted machine guns on armored vehicles. But, overall
everything seemed peaceful and quiet. Wednesday my father and I
(just by ourselves) checked the border crossings at Roma and Rio
Grande City. I've driven by them a few times, but never had the
opportunity to stop and cross. We did cross at Roma into Miguel
Aleman. It's an interesting little city, but nothing like Nuevo
Progreso. It doesn't have the streetside vendors or the
hustle-and-bustle. Most of the businesses were restaurants,
clothing shops and jewelers. It did have the same military
presence, including a small Mexican Army encampment along the
river. The interesting thing about their encampment is that they
are using small pop-up tents that look like they came from
Wal-Mart. At the Rio Grande City crossing the border agents
suggested not crossing, since the city on the other side is
over 2 miles away. We spoke with him for a while and he
suggested that we keep to Nuevo Progreso and avoid Miquel
Aleman. In fact, he strongly suggested not crossing at
Miguel Aleman. He didn't say why. Yesterday (Thursday) we
continued work on the property. My dad took charge of the kids
while I was at school, making sure they stayed busy with small
jobs. They did get quite a bit accomplished. When I
arrived home He and I tackled the first window on the garage.
It's in place and about 1/2 way mortared. It took 80# of mortar
just to accomplish what we've done! He leaves this morning, but
I think I can manage to finish the installation and am looking forward
to having them in place. It definitely made a big difference!
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
| The new
window in the office in the garage. The dark at te bottom and top
are the mortar. It took about 1-and-a-half inches of mortar at the
bottom of the window (inside). |
Another
view of the new window. |
Yet another
view. |
From the
outside. Again, you can see the mortar. Outside there is about
1" of mortar at the bottom. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| This
top-right corner outside is our biggest challenge. The block was
taken out quite a ways back, so their is a lot to fill and shape. |
A closer
view of the mortar at the bottom. It will look much different once
it is all painted to match. |
My father
and the kids managed to clean out all of the debris that has been piled up
in the casita. Lord willing, this coming Friday and the following
week I will be working a LOT on repairing this building, as I am out of
school during that time. |
The best
the bathroom in the casita has looked for a LONG time. |
|
|
|
|
|
| Well, my father and step-mother arrived this past Friday and we've
been enjoying our visit with them. They had the opportunity to
go to the Rally in the Valley with us on Saturday (Melissa and I
helped cook/serve food) and then also attended church with us
yesterday at Betania. Today they all enjoyed some time together
(Melissa declared this week Spring Break) while I went to language
school (yuck). Fortunately, I'm only there for 1/2 a day, so
I've got to spend some time with them as well. My father and I
are trying to get some work done here on the property, and that is
progressing. Actually, he and Braden did quite a bit of work
today without me, while I was in school. I'm looking to complete
a lot of work from April 10th-19th, as I'm out of language school that
week and will have all day to work. Lord willing, I will be able
to strip all of the ruined flooring out of the Casita in preparation
for new tiles. I should also be able to either complete, or make
a large dent, in the replacing of the windows (we have new windows
which were donated, sitting in our trailer in the yard). There
are some other things I can complete for very low cost using materials
we already have. So, we are moving forward. Tomorrow the
family is planning a visit to the local Pulga (flea market) in the
morning and then will meet me in the afternoon (when I finish language
school) for a trip over to Nuevo Progreso in Mexico. In other
news, Esther Travis is still holding on and is actually a little
better. The tests are slightly better than they were, and the
doctors are continuing some treatments for the time being.
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Repairs on
the interior doors of the casita. The bottoms swelled and split in
the flooding last year. We are removing the bottom supports, cutting
them shorter (to fit) and then regluing everything back together. It
is working very well. |
We removed
one of the two windows in my (future) office. We are going to
purchase the new windows (there will eventually be two) tomorrow.
Temporarily, we have boarded the opening shut. |
The
exterior where my window was (and will be). It is temporarily
boarded over. |
Looking
into the Casita. Straight ahead is the bathroom, with the newly
fixed door reinstalled. It works great. Just two more doors to
go. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| The front
window of the Casita. The iron grating has been removed in
anticipation of removing and replacing the window. The new window is
about the same height, but is 6' long. It will be a dramatic
facelift to the front of the building. |
The frame
for the window that was removed from my office. It was in pretty bad
shape. |
Some of the
concrete mortar that was around my office window. They had simply
put the window in place and then mortarted all around it for support, so
the mortar had to be broken out to remove the window. |
This is an
interior window for my office. The grating has now been removed from
this window as well. This opening will not have a new window, but
will eventually have a window AC unit with a drain through the side wall
of the garage. |
|
|
|
|
|
| Two prayer requests for you today. First, please
pray for the Travis family. These are missionaries to India that
we met while on deputation at a missions conference in Ohio.
During that week they discovered that their daughter, Esther, had
cancer. They went through all of the treatments and were able to
leave for India last year. Unfortunately, they recently
discovered that the cancer had returned and they returned to the U.S.
for further treatment a short while back. Those treatments have
not been going well and today we were informed that every avenue was
exhausted and that the doctors were trying to get the family back to
Oklahoma as soon as possible, so that the entire family could be
together when she passes. They give her a matter of hours.
Our second request is for a church in West Virginia that is trying to
make arrangements to come and assist us with the repairs necessary to
make our casita available for Bible studies beginning this June.
They desire to bring around 6 men to do all of the repair work
that is needed. They are also trying to raise all of the funds
necessary for the travel and the materials. Unfortunately,
recent economic changes have put them in a bind as offerings are down
and at least two men that wanted to come have lost their jobs.
They´ve asked that we pray that the Lord would provide everything
that is needed so that they will indeed be able to make this
trip. We are certainly in need of that assistance, as our casita
is uninhabitable at this time. So, two things for you to be
praying with us for tonight.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Two prayer requests for you today. First, please
pray for the Travis family. These are missionaries to India that
we met while on deputation at a missions conference in Ohio.
During that week they discovered that their daughter, Esther, had
cancer. They went through all of the treatments and were able to
leave for India last year. Unfortunately, they recently
discovered that the cancer had returned and they returned to the U.S.
for further treatment a short while back. Those treatments have
not been going well and today we were informed that every avenue was
exhausted and that the doctors were trying to get the family back to
Oklahoma as soon as possible, so that the entire family could be
together when she passes. They give her a matter of hours.
Our second request is for a church in West Virginia that is trying to
make arrangements to come and assist us with the repairs necessary to
make our casita available for Bible studies beginning this June.
They desire to bring around 6 men to do all of the repair work
that is needed. They are also trying to raise all of the funds
necessary for the travel and the materials. Unfortunately,
recent economic changes have put them in a bind as offerings are down
and at least two men that wanted to come have lost their jobs.
They´ve asked that we pray that the Lord would provide everything
that is needed so that they will indeed be able to make this
trip. We are certainly in need of that assistance, as our casita
is uninhabitable at this time. So, two things for you to be
praying with us for tonight.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| I'm beginning to think Monday is my day for updates.
This past weekend was good, as usual. I had the opportunity
Sunday morning to sing a special at Betania. I chose to say a
few words before I sang, which proved interesting. What I wanted
to say was clear enough....to me....but what came out wasn't
quite as clear. The congregation understood me, but I had a few
conjugations off, and my accent was definitely off. But,
everytime I try to speak I make myself a little more comfortable for
the next time, so I'll just keep pushing through. Fortunately,
the song I sang went much better. It was "Oh Dios De Mi
Alma" (Be Thou My Vision). I sang all 4 verses in Spanish
and that seemed to go just fine, with no real mistakes (in terms of
pronunciation, accent, etc.) That's the benefit of
READING! We were asked yesterday by the church to consider being
teachers for their VBS program in June. We are both certainly
willing, but unfortunately I will be in Florida with the Latin
American Outreach during the week of VBS and will not be able to
participate. This coming weekend we are looking forward to my
father and step-mother visiting. They left Ohio this past Friday
on their way to Virginia to spend time with my brother and
sister. They will leave there this week and come our way,
arriving here this coming Friday. Saturday morning we are going
to take them to Camp Loma de Vida for the Rally in the Valley.
It's a local evangelistic outreach that Betania is a big part
of. Melissa and I are going to help serve food Saturday
afternoon while the kids spend some time enjoying the Rally with their
grandparents. Speaking of the camp, today I was sent notice that
we received our first donation towards sending kids to camp this
coming summer. The first child is completely covered. We
look forward to receiving the funds for the remaining 13 in God's
time. Not much else to report. I'm behind in getting to my
school work today due to Dentist/Ortho appointments for the family
(everyone except Melissa). Fortunately, no cavities.
Braden also got his braces tightened and August found out that next
month they will begin his brace's (he's not excited at all --
actually, neither am I). Fortunately, Addie still has a few
years before we have to see her get braces (yep, she's going to need
them also). More in a few days....or next Monday!
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Como de costumbre, no tengo mucho a decir. Or, if
you prefer English, "As usual, I don't have much to
say". But, I just made it three sentences longer by using
this space to tell you I have little to say! Okay, well,
this weekend was good. Melissa went to a training program at
Iglesia Bautista Betania on Saturday for all of their teachers.
Since she is regularly teaching a Sunday School class, she decided to
make the trip in. She enjoyed the classes and getting to spend
time with the other folks. On Sunday we drove the bus into town
for the service and then brought the Rosa family home with us for
lunch and fellowship. They spent the afternoon and then we took
them back to the church in the evening. We've gotten to know
them fairly well over the past few months and it was good to spend
some additional time with them. I'm trying to finish up some
printed material we are going to be using, including local tracts that
have our ministry information as well as the Plan of Salvation, and
then some booklets that I'll use when contacting pastors about
presenting our ministry, as well as being displayed on our ministry
table when visiting churches. It's an "extended"
version of our current booklet that has a lot more information about
our field and various ministries. Other than that, the only
other news is about our house Air Conditioning unit. We turned
it on yesterday for the first time since last fall and it doesn't work
anymore. It runs, and runs, and runs, but never gets cool.
Plus, the outside unit is not running at all. So, I called the
home warranty folks and they are sending a tech out tomorrow at
9:30am. The best thing that could happen would be for it to be
unrepairable, since then we would get an entire new unit for only
$60. The current unit is 17 years old, so their is actually a
good chance that they won't be able to repair it. But,
we'd just like to have it working, since we are already often finding
ourselves in the low to mid 90's for afternoon highs. And,
finally, please continue to pray for rain. They were calling for
4 days of rain to begin this Thursday, but now they are down to 2
days, with those only being 30-40% chances of rain. We
definitely still need it, as we've received less than 1/2 inch of rain
this year (we should be over 2") and we were already down from 2
months of drought at the end of last year. Everyone is healthy
though and we are doing remarkeably well down here still. Thanks
for your continued support through your prayers!
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Today was a (another) very good day with Iglesia Bautista
Betania. The church has been holding their 2009 mission
conference, and today was the final day. This morning when we
arrived Pastor stopped me and asked if I would be willing to show our
ministry video this evening. We were not scheduled to be part of
the conference, and Pastor and I had never spoken of our doing
anything like that here before. I mentioned to him that our
video was rather dated (since it was primarily for deputation before
arriving on the field), but he said that was fine, he wanted me to
show it anyways, to help his people understand better what we are
going to be doing here. After the morning service he also
invited our family to go out to eat with his family (all four sons and
their families) as well as the other guest missionaries. So, 37
of us went out to lunch together! This evening during the
service pastor Mendoza brought our family forward and presented us
with several gifts in the form of gift baskets and gift cards.
These had been given to the other missionaries earlier in the
conference, and we were surprised to get one ourselves. We also
did in fact present our ministry video and had an overwhelmingly
positive response from the members of the church, both during and
after the video. We do not anticipate receiving financial
support from Betania, but we had never expected that. Their role
in our ministry is one of local assistance and help with cultural
training. We have also discovered many ways we can cooperate
together in local evangelistic outreaches. We certainly thank
God for bringing us together and look forward to many years of
faithful service together. As the service closed this evening
they have collected the majority of their faith promise cards for
2009, though they expect a couple more to trickle in. As it
stands now, however, their 2009 Faith Promise amount is over
$112,000. This is a sizeable increase over 2008. We
consider that to be an amazing reassurance of God's faithfulness given
the general poor financial condition here in the Valley, as well as
the economic slump the entire country is enduring. God is good!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
