Let us not grow weary or become discouraged in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap, if we do not give in. So then, while we [as individual believers] have the opportunity, let us do good to all people [not only being helpful, but also doing that which promotes their spiritual well-being], and especially [be a blessing] to those of the household of faith (born-again believers). Galatians 6: 9-10 (Amplified Bible)
We ended our last blog in the little village of La Parada spending the evening fellowshipping with José Santos and his family at their home. Javier was scheduled to preach the following day in the village of La Cuchilla in one of the churches in which José pastors.
The following day, as it turned out, La Cuchilla was a grueling drive from La Parada. However, since José does not have a vehicle, normally he must walk there, a hard three hour walk up the side of a mountain in order to preach to his congregation. After the service it is another three hour return walk home again. However, this is not the only church to which he ministers, and each of the three churches that he covers require hours of walking to reach. That is commitment! Again, as so often happens when faced by grassroots Christianity, my own lack of dedication makes me ashamed.
At La Cuchilla a wonderful thing happened. We had found out the evening before that we would be meeting a team of visiting pastors on Saturday. In the morning we made our rendezvous with them along the road with José and lead them to the village of La Cuchilla. Upon getting acquainted we found that they were pastors from the region south of Cd. Valles who also had a church planting outreach into the mountains somewhat south of where we were. Some weeks back they had met Pastor José and had promised to visit him, desiring to be able to serve among the Pame tribal people.
When one’s spirit recognizes true Christian fellowship with someone it doesn’t take long to become knit together in genuine love with them. That is what very quickly happened with this group of brothers, and a couple of things became apparent. First of all, I believe that they are the beginning of an answer to prayer for more laborers for the Pame harvest. As I have so often stated, Javier and his little team cannot do it unaided – the harvest is too huge and the job simply too immense for him alone. I believe that these brothers are the first of others who will come alongside Javier to help to shoulder the load.
Secondly, because of the absolute newness of the gospel into these isolated regions there is a tremendous need for mature local spiritual leaders to be able to shepherd those new in the faith within their community. However, some already even established into spiritual leadership, themselves need to receive fuller and more complete sound doctrinal training. In fact, because of the desperate need for Christian leaders, although some may already even be pastoring churches, sometimes their own doctrinal foundation is not fully adequate. This is the case with both José and his brother Catalino. Both of these faithful brothers are pastoring churches and doing wonderful work among the Pame villages where they serve. Still, they also need to be more fully trained themselves in sound biblical doctrine. Although Pastor Javier is joining with, and shepherding these brothers, again, he cannot do it alone. I believe that this group of pastors that we met will also become a part of this training ministry among the Pame people.
Then finally, one of the ministries of this whole group of pastors back in their home communities is working with drug and alcohol addicted men to free them from their bondages, and to transform their lives into men of God. One of the pastors, Brandon Watson, is an American missionary who has a small ranch in Xilitla, about a two hour drive south of Cd. Valles where they minister to addicts. It quickly became apparent to me that this may become an excellent link with the Casa del Obrero farm in Cd. Valles. Both Javier and I spoke at length with Brandon, and there was excitement and interest all around. This is still in the inquiry stages, and many things will have to fall into place before it can happen, not the least of which will be acceptance and cooperation from the Board of OUpC. Please pray with us that God’s will will be accomplished. If He is in it, it will work out. It would be wonderful to see the Casa del Obrero farm being utilized in this way to transform the lives of men for Christ. The purpose for the farm has always been that it would be used to revolutionize lives for the gospel. It has just become bogged down of late. Please pray with us on this.
At any rate, whatever happens, it was obvious that our meeting with the brothers at La Cuchilla did not happen by chance or accident but that it had been God-ordained.
Sunday involved a service in the little church in La Parada pastored by Catalino Santos, and then the return trip across the mountains to Cd. Valles in the evening.
Upon preparing to return to Texas the following day I got a message from a sister ministry at the border asking me if I would be able to train a group from their church in the use of the eyeglass clinics. I was happy to do so and after driving from Cd. Valles on Tuesday I spent the evening in a little ejido on the Mexican side of the border training a wonderful national team on the use and implementation of the Global Vision 2020 eyeglass kits, and how to set up and run a clinic. The training went well, and I have no doubt that they will find the eyeglasses to be a very useful evangelistic tool in spreading the gospel in their region of Mexico. This was now my third training on how to establish and run these clinics.
It is always so difficult to try to place intensive times of spiritual blessings and weeks of labor into some kind of concise order. It is very easy to become verbose (as is my tendency). So, having admitted this I will try to wrap this blog into some kind of a conclusion:
First of all, it was a wonderful and intense ministry trip to Mexico, and I was happy that I could share it with my grandson Jude. The clinical times went extremely well and I was very impressed with Javier Salazar and his wife Carmen Margarita in Misión, Mexico. I am totally confident that the optical clinics will become an important ministry tool in their hands. I was also blessed to be able to train a third team of clinicians for a sister ministry along the Mexican border. It is a joy for me to see this ministry tool being used for the spreading of the gospel, and it seems as if perhaps God is setting something up in which Theresa and I will have an ongoing role in this clinical ministry. I don’t know what that will look like or what it even means, but please pray with us that His plan will become clear. Also, obviously, if this ministry of establishing eye clinics is to continue there will need to be the funds to do so.
The five-day ministry trip that we made with Javier Santos and the team into the Pame region was both intense and very spiritually rich. I am always humbled and blessed to see the Book of Acts being walked out in front of me in grassroots church planting with the transformation of men and women from paganism into the true light of the gospel. I am never unchanged when I leave. Please continue to hold up this work in prayer. Please remember to pray especially for Javier and his team. The labor is difficult and extreme. The enemy is not giving up without a fight. However, our promise is that in Christ we are always more than conquerors.
Also, please remember to pray for God’s mercy in the form of rain for this region of Mexico. The drought is now extremely intense. Once-ample rivers and wells no longer exist in many places. The devastation of extreme heat is only intensified by the years of inadequate rainfall that they have been experiencing. Cd. Valles and the mountains to the immediate west are now entering into their fifth year of crop failure and drought. What recently looked like green jungles now appears a dry and barren wasteland. Even the trees are leafless and burnt. Please pray for God’s mercy and that rain will come soon.
Then finally, please remember all of those who are laboring so faithfully for the Lord. The harvest is ripe and the fields are ready to be gathered in. Please plead with the Lord of the harvest that he will send laborers, and that he will strengthen those already working in the fields.
Your friends and fellow servants,
Steven and Theresa