“For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10 (NASB)
In the last post we had just returned to Cd. Valles after having ministered in the Pame region of Mexico and were anticipating a conference in Solidaridad, a little community just outside of the city, and the group of believers which Javier serves as pastor.
Saturday morning arrived quickly.
At 9:00 o’clock Theresa and I accompanied Matt to the Children’s Feeding Program, Hidden Manna in Buenos Aires so that he could visit this particular ministry firsthand, as well as see the little squatter’s village where Cristina works so closely with the small group of new believers before we all returned to the conference in Solidaridad where Fred, along with Marty and Juan Carlos brought a clear Bible message to the church gathered there.
After a shared meal with the believers attending the conference everyone said their goodbyes and Marty and the team with him headed south for the village of Huichihuayán where he and Juan Carlos would preach on Sunday. At the same time Fred, Matt, and I loaded up the Mazda and drove east towards Tampico in order to drop off Matt for his early morning flight back to Canada. After bringing him to his hotel Fred and I returned through the night roads to Cd. Valles, again dodging potholes and other barely visible obstacles along the way. We arrived back in Cd. Valles around 1:30 in the morning.
At 9:30 that morning (Sunday) Fred, Theresa, and I jumped into the little Mazda and left Cd. Valles heading for Tamazunchale where we would visit with a Christian brother that I had met the previous year by the name of Blas. Blas Ramirez Medina lives in the mountainside village of Tepetzintla about a half hour outside of the larger center of Tamazunchale and there ministers to drug addicts, as well as pastoring a church called Iglesia Esperanza Tepezintla which gathers in his little house.
On our way south we stopped at the exit to Xilitla where we had prearranged to pick up Joshua Watson and Ethan who would be our contacts with Blas. Joshua would also translate for Fred as he preached. Joshua’s father, Brandon Watson, is the founder of a larger ministry called Hope Ministries located in the beautiful mountain town of Xilitla. Ethan, a young man who himself has an incredible testimony of redemption and liberation from addictions and the occult serves as a missionary with this ministry. Unfortunately Brandon and his wife were up in the States, but they graciously sent their son Josh with us, and invited us to spend Sunday night and Monday morning at their home and ministry center in Xilitla in order to become acquainted with their mission work as well.
We spent a delightful afternoon with Blas and his wife and family, along with the young men and women which they serve – all having come from past slavery to drug and alcohol addictions. These young people are now being beautifully transformed through the power of Jesus Christ and live and minister with Blas and his family. After a shared meal together we cleared away the tables and set up chairs in preparation for the church to gather. Soon the little living space of Blas’ kitchen and open “living room” was filled with believers. There was a wonderful time of praise and sharing as the Word was preached. After the service everyone continued visiting together before stepping off the side of the cement platform which formed the floor of Blas’ house, and walking the steep mountain paths to their own homes.
We also said our goodbyes and headed out in order to drive up to Xilitla with Josh and Ethan for the night. After a refreshing night at the ranch center of Hope Ministries we spent the following morning to midday acquainting ourselves with their work, touring their grounds with Ethan, as well as meeting with and ministering to the leaders and men at the drug and alcohol rehab ranch (www.hopeministriesintl.com). Their calling, along with church planting throughout the Huasteca region of Mexico also involves working with drug and alcohol addiction rehabilitation. Here we also saw the lives of men being restored and set free from slavery to addictions and sin. We were thoroughly impressed and blessed, seeing God’s amazing restoring work being evidenced here in the lives of these men.
From Xilitla we headed north again to Huichihuayán where we were to meet with Isaias Garcia Muñoz and his wife Sandi. Isaias pastors a church in Huichihuayán, and along with Sandi and other leaders from the church, they also have little “mission” churches scattered throughout the surrounding region. Isaias had arranged with us to arrive at 3:00 o’clock so that we could accompany them to a four year old mission outreach work in the isolated mountain village of Tampaxal. Here were gathered a group of new believers along with many children. A number of the women took the children aside and taught them, while the adults and older children received a message from the Word outside under the overhanging trees.
When the service was over we shared a meal together, all received huge plates filled with delicious, steaming hot zacahuil; one of the most traditional meals of the Huastecan region. As dusk settled we headed back down the mountain roads to Huichihuayán, and from there back to Cd. Valles and our rented “home”.
The following afternoon (Tuesday) Fred and I spend several hours sharing with and encouraging Pastor Javier whose heart was simply ready to be heard and listened to. Both Javier and Cristina live lives of constant ministry and service to others and sometimes they honestly need to have their arms lifted and supported as they do so. Javier’s pastoral heart was burdened by the load that he carries.
In many ways this has now become my role as a mentor and spiritual “elder” in their lives – that of encouragement and spiritual support. Often this role simply involves being open, available and having a listening ear. Thankfully, now with the miracle of technology this can be done both while we are physically in Mexico but also via video chat. WhatsApp has become one of my most useful tools over recent years, and allows me to keep in touch with Javier at anytime from anywhere.
At 6:30 that evening we met with Janny and Mario and other local leaders and Bible School students at the Light of the Nations Bible Institute building in the downtown area of Cd. Valles where Fred offered teaching and directed a discussion time concerning the nature of the New Testament Church as the Body of Christ.
On Wednesday morning Theresa and I, along with Fred, visited the farm site in order to see what has been happening there over the past year. Please pray that God will light a fire and renew His vision for the land to the Board of OUpC who are now the directors and overseers of this property. It is sadly apparent that there is no vision and no plan for this land into which so much prayer, dreams, financial giving, and sweat was once poured. It is truly a heartbreak for us to see it lying barren and without any sense of expectation for its future.
In the afternoon we shared a lunch with Javier and Cristina at our house and had a time of prayer with them after the meal. Since the time in the mountains ministering in the Pame villages the previous week both Javier and Cristina have been under heavy spiritual and physical attack. Cristina especially was experiencing physical symptoms and illness which she felt were directly related to a spiritual battle.
In the evening Fred presented the second part of the teaching and discussion time with the leaders and Bible Institute students. Since this night’s session didn’t begin until 8:00 o’clock we didn’t arrive home until very late.
Thursday morning saw us packing the car and preparing to take Fred to Tampico for his early Friday morning flight back to Canada. Since we didn’t have any other pressing issues to attend during the day we decided to get a fairly early start and to enjoy our day together, perhaps even at the beach, before dropping Fred off at his hotel room and Theresa and I returning to Cd. Valles. Unfortunately, and rather unusually, Thursday in Tampico was cold and dominated by a howling gulf wind. We did try to go to the beach but ended up with fine sand covering every part of our bodies, including filling our eyes and ears. We very quickly abandoned any idea of a gentle beach walk as the waves crashed and pounded their way shoreward. Oddly, only a couple of days before it had been a sweltering 41 degrees Celsius (106˚ F) in Cd. Valles!
Theresa and I returned to Cd. Valles very late, and very much after dark. So, yet again we experienced the breathtaking “thrill” of near death experiences as we careened our way home from Tampico. Only, this time, the anti was made even more exciting by a drizzling rain.
Friday morning brought the inevitable piles of bedding and other laundry which needed to be washed after hosting guests, and a house which needed to be cleaned and reorganized. Our only available access to a washing machine is to invite ourselves to Javier and Cristina’s place in order to use theirs. Thankfully they were at home in the afternoon and we could visit with them and use their machine, taking this time together to unwind a bit with them before the work began in earnest again.
Saturday dawned bright and early with Theresa and me joining Cristina and the other helpers at the children’s ministry, Hidden Manna, in Buenos Aires in the morning. After the children’s program ended Theresa and I walked through the little squatter’s village to visit with a dear Christian friend of ours. She faces multiple hardships and extreme difficulties as she tries to raise her young family. Her husband, a likable enough man, but absolutely irresponsible, has left her time and time again and has multiple women and illegitimate children scattered throughout the area. She, his legal wife, has borne him five children. The oldest son is now grown and has his own child. The other four still live at home. She, along with the family have begun a baking business from their small stick and corrugated tin hovel, making and delivering pan dulce for the neighborhood.
The oldest son works directly with her in the baking business. The second son, still in school, delivers the baked pan dulce to clients in the evenings when he gets home from classes. The thirteen year old daughter washes the baking pans, and the two little girls, seven and five years old play and take care of their little cousin on the dirt floor while his dad bakes with their mother. Life is very difficult for so many people. How truly blessed we are! Theresa and I were able to assist her with a gift of money to help make her life a little bit less stressful and sad, and so that she could have a little more capital to expand the business through which she and her sons are supporting the family.
In the afternoon our laundry had dried on the line and we were able to pick it up and return home to finish the cleanup begun the day before. However, before doing so Theresa and I delivered the sewing machines and parts that we had brought with us for Cristina’s sewing workshop. In all we delivered six sewing machines, and parts to repair three more machines that we had brought down last year and now needed repair, but for which parts were not available locally. Theresa also dropped off several bags of material for Cristina’s work shop, as well as several bags of very lightly used clothes.
These have been two very full weeks in Mexico and Javier has asked me if we are willing to go with him into the Pame mountain region again to minister for five days from the 22nd through to the 26th. This will mean that we return to Cd. Valles with only one day to pack and get completely ready to leave for Texas and the return journey on the morning of the 28th.
Of course we will go with him – that is why we came. However, it will make for a very busy finish to our time here.
Thank you for your love and prayers.
We are so grateful for your faithfulness.
Your fellow servants in Jesus Christ,
Steven and Theresa Frey
