Samaritan's Purse 2012

One of our main functions here as missionaries is to just "help". Isn't that really everyone's calling? Colossians 3:23 says "Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men."

As part of the Body of Christ, we should look for opportunities to serve and help and encourage the other parts of the body. If you're really looking, it won't take long to find something that needs doing!

The Vida Nueva Children's Christmas party was a great example of the body working together to achieve great things! The church was able to participate in Samaritan's Purse Shoebox Gifts this year. We were very excited to be able to see first-hand how the shoe boxes, packed in the U.S., impact little ones in other parts of the world.

One requirement of Samaritan's Purse is that all the congregations in the area strive to have their "Festiniños" (Kids' Party) on the same day. There are lots of reasons why this is a good idea, but it does make it interesting for pastors who have congregations in several villages or for leadership teams who are accustomed to sharing resources (like sound systems, instruments, even Crayons) with other congregations. This is where having a large family comes in really handy!

Rather than trying to be in 3 places at once, the leadership teams for the churches in Tamazula, Tecomate and Alamito decided to divide the youth into three groups. Yadira quickly snatched Caleb to work with Alamito and Eugenia just as quickly grabbed Sarah. The Petits were claimed for Tecomate and the only thing left to figure out was how to get three groups to three different villages at the same time with only two vehicles. Caleb solved our problem by choosing Andrew to be his only helper -- they rode Andrew's motorcycle to Alamito.

Singing time!

My God is so BIG!

Love God! Love your neighbor! Ya! Ya! Ya!
(Some songs just don't translate to English very well!)

Game time!

Golf ball races

Golf ball relays

More golf ball races...

That's using your head!

Races involving citrus fruit

More races involving citrus fruit --
we missionaries are really good at using what we have on hand!

Story time!

Sarah shared the parable of the talents. The kids were tickled that they got to keep the U.S. pennies that she gave out as visual aids.

Caleb shared the story of Jonah -- complete with rain and thunder
(see the spray bottle in his hand?)

A whole bunch of good listeners!

Gift time!

We were blessed to be able to have boxes for every single child who attended the parties in all three locations. Praise God!

While we realize that the shoe box gifts aren't the most important part of the Festiniños, we also realize that they definitely attract the children. Thank you to everyone in the US who participated in Operation Christmas Child this year. And praise God that we have something to share with these precious little ones that will last longer than a plastic toy!


Psalm 136:1 -- Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
His steadfast love endures forever!

Doing Hard Things: 2010

On January 3, 2010, a team of young adults came down on what we hope will become the "first annual Do Hard Things mission trip". Although this trip was not sponsored by the organization, the team was comprised of members of The Rebelution: a group which encourages young adults to rebel against the low expectations which our society has of them and to step out and do hard things for God. That was their goal and, in our opinion, they more than surpassed it!!!

I could write several pages about how this mission team came together. I'm not going to. It was just a God thing. God put the idea in the heart and mind of a couple of young people to travel down here and put a roof on the upstairs of our house. Then He laid it on the heart of several people to give toward that project. Along the way, He raised up a couple of young ladies who have a heart for children and who wanted to do something special for the kids down here. They put together duffel bags full of toys and candy for the children and sent them down with the team. It was amazing, and it was something that no person could have orchestrated. It was simply a God thing.

Youth from 6 different states met in Tucson to travel down by bus. Doug and Sarah traveled up to Tucson to meet them. After a long-and-not-terribly-comfy 16 hour bus ride from Tucson, the gang arrived at our house mid-day. This is what they saw:

We told them that we had planned to take it easy the first day so that they could get rested up, but they wanted none of that. They rolled up their sleeves (actually, I think most of them put on T-shirts!) and dove in!

The girls, not to be outdone, jumped in with as much enthusiasm.

Lest you think that all they did for a week was haul concrete...there was much planning to be done...

And one must eat!

And clothes must be washed...

...and gift bags made for the children's outreach...

and cookies!!! We really must have cookies!!! Lots of cookies!!!!!

God worked it out so that not only was the team able to take gifts to the 25 or so kids at the migrant camp, but they were also able to be present for Samaritan's Purse: Operation Christmas Child at the church in Boca. What a blessing!!! One of the young ladies is from Nebraska and was sitting next to a little girl whose shoebox was from...Lincoln!!! Wow! She was able to take a picture of the little girl and send it to the church who sent the box. Unexpected blessings!!!

Did I mention that we had to eat? Yes, we ate a lot.

At the migrant camp, the team shared a drama which Sarah taught them.

Jesus is the Key to Eternal Life!

At church, they shared their hearts and sang Amazing Grace...in 8 part harmony. Wow.
And on their last day, everyone mounted the ladder to stand on the roof to say..

By the power of God, we did hard things for Christ!!!!!

And then they left. And that was a really hard thing.

The Coult Family, The Powell Family and our Hard Things Family

Christmas Shoeboxes

Pastor Ricardo, Karen, Cheryl (from Oregon) and I drove to a neighboring city to pick up the Operation Christmas Child boxes. I just stood in awe of the sheer number of boxes there! What was so awe-inspiring, was not the boxes really, but rather the thought that each shoebox represented a Mexican boy or girl and an American family who was reaching out to that boy or girl in a very special, personal way.

Never in my life did I think I would be able to visit a distribution point for OCC. This was an absolutely wonderful experience! We saw pastors from every church in our area and from as far as 200 miles from the distribution point. WOW! The men and women who manned the storage building did their "job" with such joy! I didn't see any of the "frazzledness" that might accompany such a crazy project!!! God's Spirit was evident in the peace that permeated the warehouse and the parking lot, too!

So, we brought 300 boxes home to Boca and unloaded them "bucket brigade style" to the upper room of the church...

Then we waited until the appointed day! When the children arrived, the excitement level was high!!! Really high! In a town the size of Boca, nothing remains a secret for long. Even though we tried to bring the boxes in quietly, several of the youth saw us unloading (and a couple actually hopped in the line and helped!) so all the kids knew that this party was very special!

Each child held his gift aloft and followed Pastor Ricardo in a prayer of thanksgiving to Jesus for this special gift and for His great love for us -- that Jesus has given us the most precious gift...Himself!!!

You can read more about the party at Sarah's blog.

To me, though, the most precious time of the whole day came after the big party. We realized during the festivities that none of the children from La Pitaya had come. Why? The family in the village with a car was visiting family in Guasave, so no one came. OK. Now what? If the kids don't come to the party, let's take the party to the kids!!!

Doug ran over to La Pitaya, quickly wrote down all the kids' names and ages (there are only 20 or so) and then ran back to pick out boxes for each child. Then we loaded up with Pastor Ricardo, Cristina and a few others to head for the village.

La Pitaya is a tiny village. All the inhabitants are related in some way. All the men of the village are fishermen and all of them live in what most Americans would call abject poverty. No running water, no electricity, no grocery store, no school, no church, no prospects, no hope. Just a river and dirt. Small tar-paper huts with dirt floors. Outdoor firepits serve as kitchen and dining room.

Pastor Ricardo shared the gospel message, and while he spoke at first to the children about the meaning of the gifts and the gift of Jesus, soon he was speaking to the moms about the hope that Jesus can bring to our lives. Several of the women wiped away tears as Ricardo finished sharing.

Please pray for this village! We believe that God wants to do a mighty work in the hearts of the men and women of La Pitaya. Pray that hearts will be softened and that they would be open to hearing about Jesus' love and plan for their lives!

Here are photos from our time in La Pitaya...

The moms took the gifts for the two 14 year old boys who were out working with their fathers. Much like life in the States in the 1800s, young men of 13 or 14 are expected to pitch in to support the family. In a farming community, that means herding cows. In a fishing community, it means tending nets.

We stayed for a while to see the kids open their gifts. Talk about appreciation!!! This little boy said, "Wow! Gloves! They'll fit all year and next year, too!" The other little boy (red shirt above) had 4 or 5 Hotwheels cars in his box. He was so happy, he was almost crying. His mom was crying.

So we left and headed home -- singing worship songs and praising God. Spirits were high indeed!!!

Then suddenly...we got our van stuck really well in about 18 inches of silt. We prayed and some folks drove by who helped pull us out.

Why did God "allow" us to get stuck in the mud? Who knows!!! We don't believe in luck -- good or bad -- so we tend to believe that everything happens with a purpose. We may never know that purpose here on earth, but if we believe that God is truly working all things together for His glory, then we can rest in the fact that He really does know what He's doing! Maybe we were spared an accident or perhaps the car who stopped was spared. Maybe they needed to hear about the small village that we had visited or maybe they just needed to see that Christians get stuck in the mud, too. Whatever the reason, we were stuck firm and wouldn't have gotten free without help. These guys helped us out, heard a little about Jesus and then were on their way. Maybe we'll see them again someday?

Thanks again to everyone who participated in Samaritan's Purse -- Operation Christmas Child this year: the thousands who sent boxes, the thousands who shipped boxes, the thousands who distributed boxes and transported boxes and prayed for boxes. I don't know how many shoeboxes were shipped to Mexico, but these 300 found good homes...and Jesus came with them!!!