BUÑUELOS MEXICANOS

Buñuelos Mexicanos served covered with cinnamon and sugar.

New Year’s Eve celebrations are different in Mexico.  One of the main ways of celebrating is by shooting firecrackers on the streets.  For at least an hour before midnight on December 31st there are continuous explosions and loud pops and crackles.  It almost sounds like there are a few gunshots in the mix.

There are traditional foods served during the holidays and one such food is buñuelos, Mexican fritters. These delicious thin deep fried rounds are generously sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and served warm or cold.  We enjoyed our first buñuelos after a dinner at the church in Nuevo Progreso.

Lloyd and I are on the left side of this group of people. This is just a few of those who attended the dinner. The gift of food is on the altar.

A small group gathered at the church, each family bringing their own special dish to share with everyone.  Pastor Gerardo roasted pieces of chicken over an open charcoal fire, Catalina brought mashed potatoes, Paola brought a rice dish, another family brought grilled sausages and we provided a mixed garden salad.  At the end of the meal, Miriam brought out a large basket filled with buñuelos, crisp and freshly made by Lupita.  They were a real treat!

Later some of the young people brought in a large box of groceries, a gift to the church.  This is another nice holiday tradition, blessing the pastor and his family with food.

It was late when we all said goodnight and left the church.  It was a great night for families and for the keeping of traditions.  One of the highlights of the evening was when we were all served those buñuelos Mexicano.

RECIPE FOR BUÑUELOS

3 cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
2 tablespoons lard or Crisco melted and cooled
2 teaspoons vanilla
vegetable oil for frying

Cinnamon sugar:

1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

For the buñuelos,  mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Set aside. Mix milk, egg, lard or Crisco and vanilla in large bowl until well blended. Gradually add flour mixture, stirring constantly to form a slightly sticky dough. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Incorporate additional flour, a tablespoon of flour at a time, until dough is no longer sticky. Divide dough into 16 equal pieces. Shape each into a ball. Place in bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let dough rest 30 minutes.

Mix sugar and cinnamon in medium bowl. Set aside.

Roll each ball of dough into a 6-inch round on lightly floured surface. Stack dough rounds between wax paper or plastic wrap. Let stand 10 minutes.

Pour vegetable oil into heavy large skillet or saucepan to depth of 1 inch (about 2 cups oil). Heat oil on medium-high heat to 365°F to 370°F on deep-fry thermometer. Fry dough rounds, 1 at a time, for 2 minutes or until golden and puffed, turning once using tongs. Drain on paper towels. Sprinkle each fritter with 1 tablespoon cinnamon sugar mixture.

"MORE THAN A VICTORY..."

“In everything we have won more than a victory because of Christ who loves us.  I am sure that nothing can separate us from God’s love—not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future,  and not powers above or powers below. Nothing in all creation can separate us from God’s love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord!”  Romans 8:37-39 CEV

Pastor Gerardo and his family Christmas 2016.

It has become our tradition to take a picture of Pastor Gerardo and his family every year at Christmas. In this way for the past nine years we have established a record of their growing family.  Not only that, but we’ve recorded the faithfulness and commitment of Pastor Gerardo in the good times and in the bad.

Sometimes the church takes one step forward in progress and then problems come along and the church takes two steps back.  

The Bible tells us that many things will challenge the body of Christ - life and death events,  angels or spirits, things of the present or the future,  and powers above or below.  But it also says in Romans 8: 31 - “What can we say about all this? If God is on our side, can anyone be against us?”

Progress and growth of a tree can best be measured by the fruit it bears.  Many people have been touched and blessed by Bethesda Church of God in Nuevo Progreso, and that makes it very special. Visitors are welcomed as if they are part of the family, the family of God!

Pastor Gerardo and his family nine years ago when they arrived in Nuevo Progreso.

PREPARING FOR CELEBRATIONS!

Cynthia, Javier and Esteban with their gift bags.

Our trip to Nuevo Progreso Tuesday was for several purposes, to visit friends, to firm up plans for our annual Christmas party and to make a stop to give a Christmas gift to the soldiers standing guard at the international bridge.

It felt like Christmas since it was colder than usual and slightly overcast.  There weren’t many tourists in the streets and traffic on the bridge was light.  Lloyd pulled into the open area near the customs lane where the military has their temporary headquarters.  One soldier standing guard with a rifle went to get the officer in charge at Lloyd’s request.  We presented that officer with a large mesh bag of mixed nuts in the shells to be shared with all those stationed in Nuevo Progreso.  It’s our way of saying thank you and Merry Christmas to the young men who keep watch over the town.

Then we stopped at Apolinar’s house to see how they had been getting along.  This was our first visit with them this winter, so it was good to see how much their kids had grown and how well they are. We had Christmas treat bags for Esteban, Javier and Cynthia containing candy, small toys and picture books.  The Christmas books with pop-up pages depicting the Nativity Scene seemed the biggest attraction.

Javier was delighted to see us and he enjoyed his bag of treats.

Apolinar was working in a nearby neighborhood.  He seems to be doing very well since the terrible accident several years ago when he was almost electrocuted.  He had severe burns over most of his body and was in a coma for three weeks.  It was many months before he could use his hands again because of scar tissue and burns.  Now he can once again support his family either by working in construction or by selling food to the numerous trucks that drive through Nuevo Progreso.

Cynthia was fascinated with her Christmas picture book and with her candy cane.

Carla had a cold and the kids all had sniffles.  It was a good thing we had thought to bring them cold medicines including Vicks vapor rub.  The weather has been cold and wet, temperatures are up and down.  Cold medicines are much appreciated by families with small children and Carla especially likes to use the chest rubs.  She says they are safer   for children than strong liquid medicines.

There were even treats for the family dogs!  We always carry a container of dog food in the Jeep so we can feed the dogs we encounter in our travels.  Most of them run loose and are very thin.

We had lunch with Pastor Gerardo and Miriam at the church.  It was a good time to catch up on recent news and plan future events.

Two mounds of caliche and fill material still stood beside the church.  It's a big job to spread this heavy material, but it creates a firm solid surface after a time.

Six truck loads of caliche, Mexican gravel, have already been delivered and dumped in the church yard.  Four loads have been spread out over the driveway where recent rains had made deep ruts and mud.  Pastor Gerardo and his son Nahum have done most of the work to spread the caliche.  Yesterday one of their neighbors named Angel stopped by to lend a hand.  We plan to order many more loads of caliche in order to build up the ground and prevent future flooding when it rains.

Pastor Gerardo told us about a sad situation in Nuevo Progreso involving many of the local churches and pastors and the ministerial alliance.   A popular evangelist from the United States claiming to be a prophet is preaching in many of the churches, causing problems.  Many of his prophecies were that certain people would soon die and he told Gerardo that he was one who wouldn’t live much longer.  It’s a ministry of fear.  Gerardo said he was alerted by the Holy Spirit that much of what was being preached and proclaimed by the “prophet” did not agree with the Bible.  Also there was a big emphasis on money in the services which was alarming.  Gerardo decided he and his family did not want to participate in the group meetings.  He quietly made it known he disagreed with what was being presented as being prophetic.


Please pray with us about this serious situation in Nuevo Progreso.  Almost all the other churches in town seem to be attracted to this prophetic ministry and they are caught up in the excitement and entertainment presented.  But when the excitement wears off and the errors are more evident, there will be disappointed and disillusioned people who will not understand all that happened.  Pastor Gerardo and Miriam will then be like a lighthouse in the darkness - constant and steady - always leading people in the right way.

"I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart and tell about the wonders
    you have worked."  Psalm 9:1 (CEV)

GOD'S UNUSUAL WAYS

Pastor Gerardo Estrada

God’s ways are not our ways, we’ve always heard that but didn’t always understand what it meant.  Now we’re learning that He uses unusual situations, challenging places and imperfect people to accomplish His will.  And we could never think these things up or plan them because they are usually opposite of our own thoughts.  Lately we like to say that God works in the negative to bring about results.

Establishing a church in a new area can be very difficult and demanding.  We always want what looks the best and what will eventually make us proud of our accomplishments.  The project is imagined from beginning to end with very few complications in between.  The envisioned church is seen finished, up and running and self sufficient.

Bethesda Church of God in Nuevo Progreso, Mexico is a different story, possibly because it was started in a place where no church had stood before.  Maybe it was because it was started from nothing except for a strong desire and vision for the project.  The church that has emerged is not exactly what was expected and it’s not about a building.  This is a church on the move, out among the people right where they live.

Pastor Gerardo Estrada pastors the church on the east side of Nuevo Progreso.  There are services held at the church, but most of the time he and his wife Miriam visit people and often they conduct worship services in their homes and outside in yards. Several people have accepted the Lord in these unique services because those visited invite their neighbors to join them.  The church is reaching many people this way, but it's not what we would have planned.

This year Pastor Gerardo’s oldest son Gerson started classes at the university in Reynosa which is over 25 miles away.  Gerardo drives Gerson to school every day and because it’s so expensive to make the drive, he waits there to drive him home.  But instead of it being wasted time, Gerardo has found a ministry on the streets of the enormous old city of Reynosa.  Somehow he was led to a group of homeless youth, some of which spent time in prison and now have no place to go.

Every day they wait for him to share God’s word and to pray with them.  Some days he eats lunch with them in the government soup kitchen so he can counsel and advise them.  He described eight different young people living in makeshift shelters who try to make a little money washing cars or doing other odd jobs.  He has become their pastor.

Gerardo and Miriam traveled all summer back and forth  25 miles to Matamoros where they conducted Saturday evening worship services in the home of  Edgar’s large family.  Edgar got saved while in prison and is now attending Bible School in Sonora.  As a result of these efforts, the district leaders have become aware of the need for a church in that area of Matamoros and they are currently searching for a full time pastor to continue the work of establishing a new church.  Even though Gerardo and Miriam were growing weary of traveling the distance every week, it was their dedication that brought about the birth of another new church.  How did that happen?  How did the Lord arrange all that?
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When we got to the church on a Monday afternoon, we saw that recent rains had made a muddy mess of the parking area. Problems like these were not imagined when we started the church in Nuevo Progreso. Now our first priority was to purchase several loads of caliche (Mexican gravel) to build up the parking area and ground around the church. The first load arrived late in the day, but instead of dumping the load quickly and leaving, the driver was afraid of getting stuck in the mud. His dump truck died and after he tried several times to start it, he announced the battery was dead. It took some time for Lloyd to jump start the truck from the Jeep battery and to finally see the material where it would do the most good. Nothing seems to go smoothly in Mexico, and certainly not always according to plan.

We all watched as caliche was dumped outside the church.  Even the dogs enjoyed the show.

Bethesda Church of God isn’t a beautiful building with well manicured grounds planted on the east side of Nuevo Progreso. Situated in a very poor area of town, it isn’t always an attractive place in very good order. But there have been incredible results from this unusual church and it’s unusual pastor and his family. The Lord has taken a lot of negative things and used them to advance the gospel. Challenges have turned out to be God's opportunities.

“Who can measure the wealth and wisdom and knowledge of God? Who can understand his decisions or explain what he does?”  Romans 11:33 CEV