OH, MEXICO - Days 1 & 2

We arrived in Yuma on the evening of February 23rd.  That day, and the previous day, David Power and Rene Bustamante set up a make-shift clinic at the Church at San Luis site.  We were not part of this clinic, but what was intended to help provide medical assistance to this very poor community, provided the life changing Hope of Christ as well.  Following is a Facebook post by Rene summarizing the clinic experience:

 

"We had a succesful medical clinic last weekend.  There was a total of 86 families who received medical attention and perscription medicine.  Half of the families knew about God but had drifted away, and the other half were non-believers.  There were about17 people who received Christ as their Lord and Savior. AWESOME! All of these people were planted in the local church of Iglesia de San Luis with Pastor David Power.  As a result, we saw the need of additional medical clinics in the future.  Please maintain us in your prayers."

We spent Sunday, the 24th, attending a wonderful worshp service in Yuma with Rene & Gloria at "Champion Church" (www.championchurch.org), and visiting San Luis for the first tim.  Rene & Gloria drove us around a bit, giving us a flavor of this city.  Rene showed where he and his mom crossed the dried up Rio Colorado when he was 8 (he received his US citizenship this January!).  San Luis is a border town, with the issues that surround border towns such as drug and people trafficking.  Border security is tight, which translated into more than 3 hours of waiting in a line of cars to leave that evening.  We visitedthe city park, where every week locals spend time visiting.  We witnessed a group of young men chanting and dancing around the park, representing the traditional, pagan worship system of these peoples (but mostly seeking to raise money it seemed). 

 

We had hoped to attend the Church at San Luis sevice that afternoon; but the windy, dusty, and cool conditions led most of the regular to stay home and the service was canceled.  This did allow us to visit more extensively with David Power and his family, and hear more of the vision that the Lord has placed on his heart.  We learned that if you want excellent Chinese food, San Luis is the place to be (who would have thought!).

OH, MEXICO church community

Following are eight photographs representing housing in the Reforma District of San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico, and the nearby city landfill housing.  This is the community where the Church at San Luis has been planted, and is developing (75 or so strong so far).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OH, MEXICO intro

What an amazingly powerful week we had in San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico.   and I went to serve in this architectural ministry, and indeed, much was acomplished in this regard, but we left feeling that we were the ones being ministered to, particularly by three wonderful couples.

CAROL & RAY WILLIAMS

We spent our evenings in Yuma, AZ at the home of Ray and Carol Williams, missionaries for nearly 50 years and still actively and passionately serving our King (www.icaretgc.org). They were such wonderful hosts; sharing some life experiences and wisdom that words cannot adequately express.  I hope to write a blog "attempting" to express their experiences in a future post.


GLORIA & RENE BUSTAMANTE

Our daily hosts and guides were Rene and Gloria Bustamante (on Sunday), and Rene on Monday and Tuesday.  Rene's testimony is awesome.  God pulled him out of a destructive life and has given such amazing passion for serving our Lord that it was infectious (and Lord willing, contageous as well). Rene has been mentored by Ray, and is also being mentored by and serving alongside David Power, subject of the next paragraph.

 

 

DAVID & IRACELA POWER FAMILY

David is the Pastor of the Church at San Luis, and initiator of Church Mexico, and church planting initiative (www.churchmexico.com); he and his wife, Iracela, and family live in San Luis, in the Reforma District. His love and compassion for the lost and hurting people of Mexico is evidenced by his families commitment and sacrifice.  He would not likely look at this as sacrifice, but as just being obedient to the Lord's calling.  The Church at San Luis was able to purchase some land in one of the most impoverished parts of San Luis, and presently meets under a tarp, with an outhouse as the restroom facility.  Yet, the people of the community increasingly respond to the good news, are joining in regular worship and Bible study, are being mentored to reach out to their neighbors, and are doing so more and more.

 

There are days (such as the Sunday we visited) were the weather is not conducive for meeting outside for worship (frequently wind, sometimes rain), so a building where this church could meeting would be helpful.  However, rather than building a structure solely for the church, the Lord has laid it on David & Iracela's hearts to build a Community Center for the entire community to enjoy (see David's vision on an earlier post).