Greetings from México!
On May 18th we took a
group from Sinaloa up to Cangrejo. For over 5 years Pastor Hector has been
bringing a group of men at least once a year to share food, music, movies, and
God’s love with the Cora communities. On this most recent trip they brought
over a ton of dried corn, beans, cucumbers, and tomatoes. After arriving we
connected with Meregildo and his brother Cirilo who had made arrangements for
our meals and where we would be sleeping. Through the last few visits to
Cangrejo we have been cultivating a deeper friendship with these two brothers
who are both community leaders and have expressed a desire to learn more about
the Bible. For that reason I have been more direct in sharing from the Bible
when we meet for meals or when we are out working. On the second day we met up
with Tom Beytien and Gustavo to help them cut firewood for the boarding school
in the Mesa. Later that evening we set up the projector and screen to show the
Jesus movie in Cora. After the movie, working with the town leaders, we
distributed the food items and shared a message of God’s love for the people of
Cangrejo. Since there are a number of people in Cangrejo who understand little
or no Spanish we invited Meregildo to translate from Spanish to Cora.
On May 22nd,
instead of having our service at the church, we piled into several truck, and
drove over dusty dirt roads to the San Pedro River for a baptism and a church
picnic. We were joined by Pastor Amado and his church from Rosamorada with whom
we often work and fellowship. In the shadow of the freeway bridge, we set up
the generator and sound system right at the water’s edge where Pastor Gollo
spoke about the importance of baptism and living out our faith. Gollo and Amado
baptized 2 people from the Rosamorada church and 7 from ours. Those 7 included
Marco Antonio from Mojocuautla, whom Horacio has been discipling for a couple
of years now and Lencho, father of longtime church members Toña and Gustavo. After
the worship and baptisms, we played in the water and shared food. It was a
wonderful time of fellowship and celebration.
In late May we
assisted Tom and Collette as they hosted a team from their home town of
Gothenburg Nebraska. After a long day of travel and a night at the base they
joined us for church in Cofradía before heading up to La Mesa for the week. All
week the group played with the kids, shared with the kids, ate with the kids,
and served them through work projects with an incredible love and joy. They
tackled two main projects, repainting the 2 story dormitory, the dining hall,
and the security wall, as well as reinforcing and raising the fence around the
lower property. The painting was a huge job. Since the dormitory is so tall
they had to use ladders and scaffolding for most of it. At the beginning of the
week we were concerned that it would be difficult to finish in the limited time
but the painting crew worked diligently and completed the project by Thursday.
The fencing project was one of those jobs that you really need people who have
experience and are hard workers. The fencing crew did such a good job that
right away I realized that the best thing I could do was to explain what we
needed done, give them tools and materials and then get out of the way. As they
replaced fence posts, straightened and stretched the existing wire, and
installed angle iron risers, I worked with another group replacing the two
gates with steel ones we had fabricated in Cofradía. We were greatly blessed by
the people from Cofradía and Arrayanes who went with us and worked alongside us
in the projects and ministry. For me this week was a perfect fusion of the
short term missions team and the missionary work of the long term ministry in
Cofradía. In addition to the work projects the team participated in the twice
daily devotions with songs, stories, puppets and sharing scriptures. Our time
in La Mesa with the Nebraska team, the group from Cofradía, and the teachers
and kids from the school was a blessing for everyone. It is exciting to see how
God connects us and uses us to impact other people’s lives across cultural and
language barriers.
In a few days we will
begin our drive north. We intent to spend most of the summer in Washington, visiting
family and friends. This past year has been a struggle financially so we will be
working on sharing our vision as much as we can in order to add an additional
$500 a month to our support. As is always true, we are looking forward to
seeing everyone. This trip is special though because for the first time our
family has been split up, with Isaiah and Elisabeth in Washington. We are very
anxious to be with them again.
Thank you for your
prayers, support and encouragement. It would be impossible for us to do the
work God has called us to without your partnership. To donate online follow this link.
Jay, Faith, & Kai
TenBrink
