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