Monday, July 14, 2008

Mexico Pics




Here are a couple of images from mexico.


Thursday, July 10, 2008

Last Ministry Day

Hey Everyone,
  This will be my last post since we are leaving tomorrow morning.  We will be heading for the border at around 9:00 am so if you think about us during that time pray that everything goes smoothly.  Tomorrow we are heading to south padre Island to spend some time on the beach then we are heading to Houston for the night and I am anticipating us being back around 8:oopm on Saturday.  

  Tuesday started with more frustrating rain showers.  We were unable to go into the colonia for the 2nd straight day.  Instead God had us here at the Gateway where we did some much needed repairs and construction helps.  We patched holes, put beds together, and did a bunch of small tasks.  God reminded me especially today that he is in control and he knows what he is doing.  My expectations of how I thought the trip should go and what we should do were getting in the way so we all released those to God.  We had a great group time of sharing and lifting each other up which we were blessed to have that.

  Wednesday.  GLORIA DIOS we finally got to leave the Gateway although we were still unable to go into the colonia we were supposed to be working with we did manage to get to some local villages where we did a prayer walk/home visits in.  We got to play with the kids and spend some time inviting children to our VBS later that day.  We prayed with some families and handed out some Bibles.  That afternoon we had a VBS where we had around 35 kids come out. It was so great to be able to do that.  We played some games, sang songs, learned a bible verse, had a skit, a testimony, an invitation, and a craft.  The group was so much fun and it was hard to say goodbye to the children.  
That night I signed our group up to do some work on a local school that has been shut down for a couple years and they want to re-open it so the children don't have to bus to a different part of town.  We bought some supplies and started the process of making a walking path from the road to the school.  We stopped working around 9:00 pm we were tired, and sweaty but it was great to spend our left over energy on that.

Thursday was so amazing.  We made it to our colonia and our group got to see God at work in some really incredible ways.   We started with A.T.L. which stands for Ask The Lord.  We sat for about 15 minutes and just waited on God to speak to us and direct us as in what to do (something we should do everyday but never do).  God gave us some specific pictures.  We split up and some picked up trash and visited two homes that came into our minds.  We were able to witness to a Jehovah's witness who was very confused about his faith and had a lot of questions. We ended our conversation with him connecting with our local pastor.  The other group got a chance to pray with a man that had been in a coma and has show little signs of progress.  He just recently moved his head.  During prayer the man gripped Will's hand something he had not done before.  Will had a picture of a kid that was hunched over like an old man and didn't know what that image meant.  Then they were talking with a family and the boy had just had surgery in his intestines and he was not able to stand up straight but was hunched over like an old man.  How incredible is our God.  
We also got to play some soccer and visit a hospital and pass out water and pray for people.  Tonight we will continue to work on the school and say our goodbyes.  God is working in each of our lives in very specific ways and we are so thankful to be called his.  

Grace and Peace
See you soon


Tuesday - patched walls, put beds together
Wednesday - 
Thursday

Monday, July 7, 2008

Sunday & Monday In Mexcio

Greetings From Matamoros,

   Sunday was a great day.  We spent some time in the market where the students got a chance to barter for the prices.  We then met with the Pastor whose name happens to be Jesus.  The church is being built right now and doesn't have a roof so we had to meet in his house.  He shared his testimony and we sang songs and enjoyed some great food.
   It has been non-stop rain since we have arrived in Mexico.  Today we woke up to rain showers which has caused a lot of flooding throughout Matamoros.  We were unable to go into our colonia (neighborhood) because the roads are flooded and transportation would be difficult let alone dangerous.  We had to improvise a little so our group headed to a huge super market where we stood outside and made balloon animals, ushered people to and from their cars with umbrellas, and passed out fresh water to people.  
Every night we have our group meeting where we brag on each other about things we saw other doing that we were inspired by.   During the meeting we had an amazing sharing time where we looked each teen in the eye and reminded them how loved they were and that God reminds them to be strong and courageous in the Lord and that he is with them.
I am continually asking God what he wants to do in us and through us here and trusting that in spite of the rain God has a great plan.

Lord willing we will minister in the colonia tomorrow
Grace and Peace

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Arrived In Matamoros

We have made it here safely in Mexico.  We crossed the border today at around 2:30 pm.  We had no problems with customs.  On the way here there was really bad rain which made the road conditions pretty bad.  A car not more than 100 yds in front of us hydroplaned and flipped over a couple times landing in the median.  We were the first on the scene and were able to safely get the husband (the driver) out of the truck.  We had to wait to move the wife as she had some pain in her side.  It was a miracle no one was severely injured.  We were glad to be there so quickly to help calm them and call for help.  

Tonight we have a training and dinner - the day starts tomorrow as we go into Matamoros and have church in our local colonia.  We can't wait to start the week and are eager to stop the driving and start the loving.  

Grace and Peace
ERIC

Friday, July 4, 2008

Arrived Safely In San Antonio

Hello All,
The team and I have arrived safely in San Antonio. We are staying the night again tonight (july 4th). Today we toured the city: we walk the river walk, saw the Alamo, and had lunch in the market place. We even had a Mariachi band dedicate a song to us. We will be leaving tomorrow morning to go to Brownsville, Texas where we will cross the border. I hope to update this blog at least 3 times while on the trip.

Dios Le Bendiga
God Bless You