Lay missionary, Francisco, began outreach to families of kidnapped victims in Tijuana. He also takes trips twice a year to visit the Yaqui tribe, an indigenous people in the interior of Mexico.  He takes them words of encouragement and hope from God’s word and also blesses them with providing some clothing, school supplies, basic food items …. and even some packaged underwear from the “Undie Sunday” effort!

It was great to visit our supporters in the great state of Iowa.  It was warm … unusually warm for Iowa for this time of year…..and harvesting time in the corn fields.  I visited a small beautiful country church in Garner at a LLL rally organized by Ronald Bratmiller (thanks Ron!) on Saturday. 

The next day I spoke to the people of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Denison.  They have a wonderful Kingdom focused pastor, Rev. Loeschen (I’ve probably misspelled his name…..all I remember is it rhymes with “Lotion”!…..) We then went to visit Zion Lutheran Church in Denison also.  There is a large chicken processing plant and beef slaughtering house in Denison……so, there is a hispanic congregation!  The hispanic people I talked to enjoy living in Iowa because they say it is a great place to raise their children.  I am so proud of this congregation (and district…IDW and President Sieveking) and the efforts of their pastor Rev. Vogel….that many of these hispanic children have scholarships to attend the local Lutheran school.  That blew my mind and made me so proud.  How critical this is for the raising of the next generation of hispanic leaders and pastors!  I had some great questions from one little boy (he is defintely pastor material…..I am praying!) I think I was an encouragement to them….they certainly were to me!

Everywhere we went, we traveled through beautiful corn fields……I don’t really remember where the next stop was but it was a beautiful reserve where they have a great banquet room.  There I got to see volunteers from the IOWAY group…..friends I have met throughout the last four years that Ioway groups have come to Tijuana.  About 100 people came for a reunion and talked about the work they have done together …. a special work of blessing!  Dr. Porter of the inner city Nehemiah project in Los Angeles was their speaker last year and this year it was me!  My update of the ministry in Tijuana was dotted with blessings from the IOWAY group….from new ministry starts, to daycare/community center support, to evangelism support……to the puppet ministry that started as a creative idea from the IOWAY group on how they could use a puppet to teach the children in Tijuana about dental hygiene.

It was great to be able to hang out with friends Kathryn Sprecher, former IOWA LWML District President and Lynn and Ellie Menz, who lead the IOWAY efforts….more than efforts, IOWAY is movement of God!  It is such a blessing to me to talk to people that are always thinking about how to serve others as a blessing from God and for His glory!  We are brewing up some creative and continued parnterships…..pray with us for God’s direction.

They grow tall corn and tall people in Iowa!

Jose Antonio, the son of Tere M., CPTLN staff member works through his trauma with a visual account of what happened when they were in a Burger King that was held up recently.  CPTLN friend, collaborator and therapist from one of our supporting congregations in the Pacific Northwest  who has come to Tijuana on yearly mission trips, encouraged Tere to let her son express himself as much as he could through the visual record.  He was quite prolific and sent 5 drawings.  Please pray for Jose Antonio.

In today’s paper we are told that Tijuana grows by 2 1/2 hectares every day! That’s about 6 1/2 acres!   The growth of this city has not slowed down.  This presents many challenges for Tijuana’s infrastructure and economy as well as many opportunities.  Please pray that we can leverge opportunities for the Gospel in Tijuana!

Here is a link to the Fronter newspaper which carried the article.

http://www.frontera.info/EdicionDigital/EdicionImpresa.aspx

…. this is a never ending petition, I know. Two Sunday’s ago, Legna and Jhoselyn walked into a Walmart  for just one thing before heading out to church…..the next thing they knew there were automatic weapons shot at the glass cases in the Electronics Department.  They hit the floor and thankfully the assailants left the building shortly thereafter.  We are thankful no one was hurt.

Last Saturday, after Tere took her family to help distribute school supplies to a shelter for children, little Ivan had been asking for a time to go to Burger King so the family went.  Little Ivan was enjoying the play structure that is attached to the Burger King.  Tere’s husband Sadoc got up to go to the bathroom and an young man entered with a gun.  He told Sadoc to hit the ground and pointed the weapon Tono, Tere’s 12 year old son, said he had the gun pointed directly at him.  He froze but Tere pulled her son down and they crawled under the table bench.  Tere could see little Ivan through the glass playing happily and prayed he would stay there oblivious to everything going on inside.  Tere was worrying that the assailants would collect purses (she just finished replacing her Ids and documents from when her wallet was stolen in the office a month ago)….but money was taken from the register and they were gone in just a few more minutes.  Please pray for Tere and her son who have had some physical reactions to the scare and trauma.  In that case, the weapon was not discharged and the 7 young children that were playing out in the play structure stayed there the whole time.  We are grateful no one was injured …. and that Tere got to keep her purse this time!

Tere said the gunman was about 16 or 17 and unable to communicate very clearly.  Pray for those who are lost in drug use and in the drug trade. That they may be freed from these terrible addictions and everything that seems to accompany drug addition!

Thank you for praying for the youth program and Proyecto JOEL as it reaches out to youth in the toughest neighborhoods! Here is a video of the sports field that they are building.  These youth people have a BIG VISION.  They are building their own adobe bricks to construct a safe place for young people to grow and learn about Jesus.  Not only are they saving money by building their own adobe bricks but they are going green and protecting the planet that God has entrusted us with, which is also important to these young people.  They have collected more than 100 rocks from the same property which will go into the building of their foundation.  Their running track and soccer field are already in use!  Pray a blessing on them and their leader, CPTLN Proyecto JOEL staff member Legna Lanza.

UPDATE:  Pastor Abdiel reports:

Abner was the youngest student….and very dedicated….at 8 years old and the oldest student was Estefania at 68 years old! Estefania used to pray to the dead and now realizes that it is through the Scripture that you learn about God. That was a true revelation.  She is anxious to take Pastor’s class on the Cathecism because she wants to receive HOLY COMMUNION!  Pastor reports that other students say they have learned to have communication with God through this course and that he is not far away as they thought before.

We thank the Lord for His mercies shown on the students of this class under the faithful teaching of Pastor Abdiel.

Eager students have finished their 8 booklet bible course and CPTLN staff Tere Montoya is on hand when Pastor Abdiel and Alicia give out their end of course diplomas!

……or not!    Life is fragil.  Even in our comfortable surroundings…..we know this to be true.  Traffic accidents, cancer…….we can be here today and gone tomorrow.   This is even more true in third world countries, add to that countries that suffer poverty, corruption, drug fueled violence, as in the case of Tijuana and much of the border region.

This is why we work and serve the cause of Christ.  We serve because we know people are living and dying without knowing the love of Christ, the extreme and extravagant love of a Savior who paid the ultimate price to give us a life that goes on forever and is not affected by bullets or disease.

On Saturday a woman was gunned down in a neighborhood where we work…..the details are not clear but it appears that the gunmen were looking for her drug gang son or maybe his mother was the target for some failure on the son’s part….no one is sure.  What we know is that she was a casualty of this drug war….she was a victim by association….she paid the price of her son’s involvement in the evil world of drug fueled violence, turf war and drug money.

She was a new attendee at one of our Lutheran churches.  During one of the recent workshops she had lit up with excitement because of the Gospel and the joy and privilege of following Christ because of His great sacrifice for her.  Maybe that day just two weeks ago during the workshop that was just for women, she thought of her son and maybe her heart held out hope for him that day…..hope was probably in short supply over the last several months.  Although this is conjecture, I know a mother’s mind and heart and I bet she has these thoughts as she participated in the women’s workshop on that day in the little Lutheran church on a bluff in Tijuana……. I bet she thought about her son and how Christ could change her son’s heart and He had hers.

That day she was filled with hope and excitement about the possibilities Christ offered her family…..7 days later she was caught in the middle of  a shower of bullets. Was she on her way home from the store? Maybe.  She was crossing in front of an empty house that was riddled with automatic rifle bullets from killings the year before, that I wrote about on my blog HERE…….now she would be taking her last breath of earthy oxygen.

But…..she would wake up in heaven and breathe the “air” of heaven……because the Savior brought her to know Him just days earlier in a little white church on a bluff overlooking the city of Tijuana.  What a generous God we serve.  Please pray for that son…..that his mother’s sacrifice may cause him to reflect on another sacrifice…..one that could put him right with a righteous God.

Psalm 90:12-17

^12-17 Oh! Teach us to live well!
Teach us to live wisely and well!
Come back, God—how long do we have to wait?—
and treat your servants with kindness for a change.
Surprise us with love at daybreak;
then we’ll skip and dance all the day long.
Make up for the bad times with some good times;
we’ve seen enough evil to last a lifetime.
Let your servants see what you’re best at—
the ways you rule and bless your children.
And let the loveliness of our Lord, our God, rest on us,
confirming the work that we do.
Oh, yes. Affirm the work that we do!

Highlight of a youth participating in the martial arts program of Proyecto JOEL Tijuana

Brandon is 13 and in junior high school. He does not know what he will do when he grows up but for right now he enjoys soceer and he accompanies and helps his father sell paintings.  Brandon and his parents and three brothers live in one of the poorest areas of the city in a neighborhood known as Maclovio Rojas.

When Brandon first heard about the martial arts program he was very interested and attended the first class just to see what this was all about.  After six months of training with Proyecto JOEL Brandon is preparing for his second level. Brandon says: “I have fun and I better my physical condition.”  su examen para su siguiente grado. Le pregunte qué era lo que más le gustaba de entrenar con nosotros y respondió, “Me divierto, y me ayuda a mejorar mi condición física”

Many youth and children who participate in the Martial arts program here in Maclovio Rojas come from very modest means and Proyecto JOEL has offered them the opportunity to participate in a quality sports program without an investment which would be a burden to them or their families..

Proyecto JOEL not only makes an impact on their physical life but on their emotional and spiritual life which Brandon demonstrates in the following question:  Brandon, what have you learned during these months of classes?  ”I have learned to respect others, to defend myself and to control my anger and strength.”   What have you learned about God?  ”I have learned God is good and as I learn from martial arts, I know I can learn much from God.”

Our desire is that more youth and children can learn of the amazing things that God has for their lives and that they can learn this through the Martial Arts program of Proyecto JOEL.

Proyecto JOEL and Legna has begun a martial arts class for parents.  Both Pastor and Mrs. Perez are students along with another two parents of children who are studying with Legna.  They are using the classes for exercise and Legna is leading them through TaiChi and principles of self defense if they are attached in the street (a common occurrence).