Just The Beginning

Armando and Guillermo got home Sunday afternoon around 1:00 PM. The trip back was incredibly smooth and they even got unusually friendly immigration officers! He has SO many stories that I hope all of you will get a chance to hear sometime.

Armando just had a conversation with his cousin who attends the church and it was a very eye-opening...the kind of moment when you see in retrospect God's plan, and it wasn't necessarily what you had in mind. This trip for Armando was exploratory in nature in terms of how can we partner with them and how can we help in tangible ways. He brought leadership development messages for those in leadership already, which was received with much gratitude and excitement. What Armando didn't anticipate was perhaps THE biggest, most basic need the Acambaro church needed to learn and be shown was LOVE and COMPASSION. The reason Armando and Guillermo were received so graciously was because they actually showed love--they gave people hugs, they listened, prayed with individuals. Yes, other great things happened from the trip, but perhaps God sent them to Acambaro to show the church, "THIS is what you need for unity to happen, for you to flourish as a church! If the members are not even showing love and compassion for each other, why would anyone else want to step inside the church?"

They were all loving people individually, but left and right, Armando and Guillermo kept noticing the lack of love with each other. Armando even had to have a heart-to-heart talk with the pastor to confront him about the lack of the action of love in his congregation. From tonight's conversation, Armando was very encouraged to learn that certain people had their arm around their spouse, people were giving hugs to each other, playing/having fun with the gloves and baseballs Armando brought them (courtesy of a Sports training facility here in McKinney). He even learned that certain people who had stopped coming to church that he personally talked to, listened to, prayed with, were there at church on Sunday, happy and glad to be there! Imagine that!??! Something as simple as a hug, a listening ear, a prayer can change the course of someone's life!!

As the title says, this is only the beginning! Yes, the trip was very successful and lots of great things happened, BUT, there are also an abundance of needs. This is meant to be a long-term mission. There is much follow-up to be done. Continued prayers are needed. So friends, while this may be the end of these reports for this trip, this will not be the last about the Acambaro mission. God is not done working in that area. Spreading the gospel has become even more critical now that they have witnessed first-hand the need for it. Till next time, a heartfelt thanks for all your prayers for the trip. Let's praise God for the outcome! This is only the beginning...

Thursday, Nov. 27

"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." (Mark 10:14-15)

Thursday was a low-key kind of day. Armando spent part of the day with his grandmother, his mom (also visiting) and other relatives and they had a Mexican food Thanksgiving. The Acambaro church has services on Thursdays and Sundays so they attended church in the evening.

They handed out care boxes to the kids and many were almost afraid to take them, but once they opened up the boxes, they all had big smiles on their faces! Kids here (as well as a big part of Mexico) are not used to getting gifts, so I'm sure it was quite exciting for them. Thank you to those who made all the care boxes...they were received with great delight! There are actually many kids in this church who attend without their parents...a couple of the members would sometimes go around town and ask parents they know if they can take their kids to church.

They had great church attendance today and had some non-believers as well, including Armando's mom and to his surprise, she was actually singing along during worship! The message happened to be on salvation...how fitting!! Armando was able to talk to a few people: one guy has never gone to church before and he plans to keep going; another person left church before, but has now come back...so, hopefully the message made a lasting impact!

Friday will be their last day in Acambaro and they plan to leave early Saturday morning and get to the border at night to sleep before heading back to McKinney. There are some important conversations he feels he needs to have with a couple of people before they leave, so if you have a moment, please be in prayer for that...that the holy spirit would guide those conversations. I may or may not have an update tomorrow, but for sure, I will update you on their travel and safe return...

Wednesday, Nov. 26

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
(I Cor. 13: 4-7)

(Today, they traveled to 2 different cities: Michoacan and a small town near Mexico City. They basically visited with the pastors/ministers of those churches.)

Today I bring you stories of God's servants who demonstrate just what the passage above means. It also confirms the need to support those who are in the trenches, advancing the gospel despite difficult circumstances in areas that desperately need Jesus. They are selfless, humble, passionate, and courageous to say the least.

One minister Armando met was once captured by bandits, made to kneel on the ground, and held at gunpoint along with women and children traveling with him, but because of his adoptive mother's boldness in sharing the gospel with the bandits (while at gunpoint), they were set free. Talk about a WOW kind of story!!

Another pastor, Jaime Alcantara, pastors a church in Michoacan, a very dangerous place teeming with military due to the thousands of drug-related killings this year alone. Jaime went through some agonizing times when his congregation left because he would not compromise on what he was called to do. God has since blessed him and continues to do so because of his faithfulness.

Jaime was once beaten up by another man simply because he was a Christian. One day, Jaime ran into his attacker in a store...apparently, he was trying to buy a tool to be able to do a job in order to feed his family, BUT he didn't have enough money and the store keeper would not relent to his pleadings. Jaime saw this happening, knowing that he was the same guy who beat him up previously, and told the store keeper that he would pay the remaining amount. The guy recognized Jaime and they have since become good friends! Talk about loving your enemy!!

Jaime is constantly sharing the gospel all over town and in remote outskirts of the town. He is so selfless that he refuses to buy new shoes--his shoes are full of holes. Armando has made sure that Jaime has new shoes...

Well, Armando is on a high emotionally, but he is physically tired and has not had a good night's sleep since he left McKinney. Thursday is a more laid back day so hopefully, he will get some rest. He'll spend some time with his grandmother during the day and in the afternoon/evening, they will be handing out the care boxes to the children.

I hope you will take time to really thank the Lord today because we are blessed beyond belief!! Till next time, Happy Thanksgiving to all!!

Tuesday, Nov 26

"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." (Col. 3:17)

Tuesday has been a day of ups and downs, but the not-so-positive moments are simply glitches that should never overshadow the positive moments. From what I gather, there was such a high expectation from Armando that his every step, every move, every word is being scrutinized and basically they expected perfection...so he received some criticism and pessimism, but I am proud of how he handled himself. I guess all those times he's been yelled at by angry clients has been good practice! :-) Nonetheless, there is still much to be thankful for.

This day was dedicated to the men of the Acambaro church. Armando conducted a small group type men's meeting (without the pastor so the men would be more open to sharing) where he shared his testimony, talked about addictions, salvation, convictions, and fruits of the spirit. From that meeting, he helped them establish a men's group. However, the pastor seemed a little pessimistic about it since they have established things like that before and it always died off. SO, something else to pray about...that it would be different this time, that God would make it flourish, and in turn reach others in the community.

Please remember to pray for the Wednesday travel as they visit a couple of churches in more dangerous parts of Mexico. Of course, you'll hear about the outcome of Wednesday's events on tomorrow's update. Till then, thank you to all of our prayer warriors out there who are continually praying for this mission! God hears and he ALWAYS answers!

Monday, Nov 24 Event

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen" (Eph. 3:20)

Today was another amazing day! It was a mini Leadership Summit conference where Armando showed 3 messages (2 by Bill Hybels and 1 by John Ortberg) from Willowcreek's 2007 conference. About 40 leaders attended, one even drove 5 hours to attend! Apparently, everyone was glued to the screen and were like sponges trying to take in all they could...taking notes. By the way, thank you to those who donated small notebooks...they were used to the fullest!

After the first message was shown, they were supposed to break for lunch, but everyone unanimously wanted to hear more and decided to put off eating to listen to the second message. Today was the day lunch was provided. Again, thank you to those who donated some money...Armando says the money is being stretched like crazy for things like food today, help to pay for gas for those who traveled far to come, etc.

The pastor had told Armando about a few of the leaders that were very conservative and might not be open to the message of unity (the churches working together). But their hearts were open and they were very receptive and even excited about everything! Some of them have resources at their disposal and are already talking about doing this conference next year on a much bigger scale, bouncing off ideas of the logistics to make it happen. Unity has definitely started to happen!!

There was discussion and question/answer time at the end and even the people who said they could only stay till a certain time ended up staying. Some even ended up staying through dinner time and they all had bread and hot cocoa! (Acambaro is famous for their bread, very good by the way!)

Here's another really cool thing: one of the things Armando thought about before going was how cool it would be if down the line, we could somehow establish a bible institute where people/leaders can continue to develop their leadership abilities and have resourses to help them grow spiritually. Well, one of the couples who attended just happen to come up to Armando and said they have some land that they want to donate if there was ever a plan to build a bible institute. Just like that!!

Some things coming up and prayer requests Armando wanted me to pass on:
1) A 21-yr old girl named Karina is having a kidney transplant today (Tuesday) and her father, Hector is the donor, so pray for both of them.
2) One of the members in the Acambaro church, 21-yr old Marian was a former drug dealer who is now a Christian, has to leave Acambaro because she is being hunted down by the cartel. Pray for a shield of protection for her as she finds a new home somewhere.
3) Tuesday, Armando is conducting a talk on addictions (for the men only) so pray for open hearts and minds. Wednesday, they are visiting 2 churches in Michoacan, a city you don't really want to be in for very long as it is headquarters to one of the major cartels in Mexico and has had some violence lately.

Thank you all for your continued prayers. God is being glorified in this part of the world and I hope you are just as excited as I am to be "witnessing" His hand at work through these reports! Till next time...

Sunday, Nov. 23

Today, they visited a church in Irapuato, about 1 1/2 hours from Acambaro. Yesterday, the pastor in Acambaro warned Armando that he would be scrutinized by the people in this church--they have been disappointed before by someone from the U.S. who had come, but nothing ever came of the help offered and no follow up. It is a church without a pastor, but is led by several leaders who take turns giving messages.

From Armando's report, he said today went really well and the church is very excited about pursuing the relationship and connection with the U.S.

During the service, when the offering plate was being passed, Armando put some money in it. However, before they left to return to Acambaro, the leaders gave him an envelope (but he didn't open it until they were back in the house they're staying in). Well, when he opened it, they had given him money that was more than what he had given in the offering plate! Wow! Why would they give him money?? Sometime this week, Armando is planning to provide a meal to those who will be coming to hear the leadership development messages he brought and a few classes he will be conducting. A few months ago, he thought there would only be about 10 people coming, but people from 4 churches are now interested in coming so the extra money might come in handy in feeding the attendees! We shall see...check back for the next report!

The Adventurous Travel

The travel to Acambaro was quite eventful, but there is much to be thankful for and praise the Lord for! God is hearing His people's prayers and it is evident that this is God's mission!

Armando and his travel companion and brother in Christ, Guillermo, left McKinney around 12:45 PM and traveled 9 hours to the border,Piedras Negras . They said a quick prayer right before they crossed the border. When you cross into Mexico, getting a green light means you are free to cross without inspection. Well, they got a green light, BUT they were flagged to stop for inspection anyway. They were asked numerous questions and were told they could not go through because they didn't have proper documentation for what they were bringing in. They pleaded with 3 different officers, explaining what their plans were, but it was useless, so they started to re-pack and tie everything down to turn around back to the U.S. side when a 4th officer decided to go ahead and let them pass. That 4th officer happened to be from a small town close to Acambaro, so he knew the state of the towns there and how much outside help was needed.

The whole time this was happening, Armando's brother was watching across the street waiting for them to get through. He told Armando later that he was praying to God as he watched. For him to pray is a BIG deal as Armando has challenged him many times to give God a chance to work in his life through prayer.

They slept for a few hours at Armando's mom's house and resumed the 14-hour drive to Acambaro. They passed through the 2nd immigration stop with no problem. However, 2 hours into the drive, they were pulled over by the police and were told they were speeding...which, of course they weren't because with the trailer they were pulling they can only go up to a certain speed. They were told they needed specific documentation and had to pay a fine. However, they told Armando & company that they can just pay the fine there (with the officers) to expedite the process! Do you smell a bribe or what??!!?? Armando gave them some money and off they went (people inAcambaro told him later that he got off easy with the amount of money he gave them...I guess they normally would have asked for more). Well, literally 5 minutes later, they were pulled over AGAIN and were told they were speeding! When Armando told them their buddies just pulled them over a few miles back, guess what the officers asked..."How much money did you give them??" Just like that!! Armando told them how much and the officers let them go!

That's not the end, folks. They almost got into a major wreck, but God's angels were right there with a shield of protection!

Here's another cool thing to know. Armando brought with him $150 in cash to use for gas, food, tolls, and other things. There happens to be a Citibank affiliate inAcambaro, so he decided to only bring so much and just take money out from the bank in Acambaro. Well, it took EXACTLY $150 to get to Acambaro!!

Like I said, very eventful, but "we know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose" (Rom. 8:28). So, let's "give thanks to the Lord, for He is good" (Psa 106:1).

More updates to come...