RELEASED!

Although we only live five miles from the border, it's never a quick and easy trip getting across the international bridge Lloyd and I sat for over an hour in traffic on the bridge Tuesday before reaching the customs officer. We were tired after having spent all afternoon in Nuevo Progreso; and we wanted to go home. Inch by inch we crawled along in the heat, in a double line of vehicles, restrained and trappd and imprisoned. Bored, we tried listening to the radio and then we had conversations with people in nearby cars. And we thought about getting home and being able to relax.



Finally it was our turn to drive through the narrow gate and up to the uniformed man in the booth. We gave him our passports and he checked them while running our vehicle license number through the computer. Finally he handed back our passports and said, "Have a good day."


A short distance past the vehicle inspection lanes and lots of pedestrian traffic and we were on the open road and were free! What a great and exhilarating feeling of release! It brought to mind being in a country that isn't ours, where we have no citizenship and are only visiting on a mission; similar to our walk in this life as Christians. And how good it is to be set free and going home!

OSCAR AND AXIEL

Two boys came down the road, one carrying a BB gun and the other had a big stick. They were having a good time on the first warm and sunny day in over two weeks. They both wanted to try out the new English words they'd learned in school, so they greeted me cheerfully. When I asked what they were going to shoot with their BB gun, Oscar said they like to shoot ducks on the nearby pond. Then they explained that the ducks are good eating and that there isn't much food in their homes. We shared some snacks with Oscar and Axiel and talked with them awhile, trying to establish exactly where they live. On our next trip to Nuevo Progreso we'll take extra food to these two families. Oscar and Axiel are both twelve years old and very well behaved. We made sure they knew that breakfast is always served at our Sunday School and that they would be welcome to attend. There were three words they had learned well and used over and over, "Thank you, lady!"

RAIN AND COLD WEATHER

It has rained for the last two weeks and temperatures have been chilly. Nuevo Progreso is extremely muddy with large areas of murky brown water covering the streets. The trip through the colonias to the church was a challenge. Even the paved streets were bad. The church grounds were dry because we had put so much caliche (Mexican gravel) around it, but some roads in nearby Colonia Francisco Madera were impassible.

While Lloyd and Marcelino worked installing the new security gate at the church, two pickup trucks got stuck in the deep slick ruts on a nearby road. One truck managed to rock imself out, but the other couldn't. After awhile the drivers borrowed a long cable and Lloyd drove over to help them. With little effort, Lloyd pulled them smoothly out of the mud and onto drier ground. Even then they got stuck again and had to be pulled further up the road. We made new friends helping these neighbors to the church. They thanked us and said they didn't intend to drive through there again until it dried out. We said, "What you really need is a Jeep!"

You can see from the picture how muddy the roads were that day.

BABIES GROW UP QUICKLY!

Apolinar and Carla's baby is now nine months old and is doing well. He's always happy and likes for Lloyd to pick him up and walk him around outside. In Mexico babies aren't always named immediately and this baby's parents didn't at first agree on what to call him. But Carla seems to be winning because we all call him Javier. In the picture Lloyd is walking Javier around their yard on the south end of Nuevo Progreso.

PUPPY COMES TO SUNDAY SCHOOL!

The doors are always open in Mexico! And that means cats and dogs stroll right in and join us in whatever we're doing. No one seems to mind, the dogs are smart enough to stay out of sight under a table or in a corner as long as possible. The scruffy little dog in this picture was discovered by a cute little girl and he became her Sunday School buddy.

The animals in Mexico are sad since they aren't treated as well as our pets in the United States. They run loose to forage for their food, which means little animal control. They aren't treated for fleas because it's too expensive.

It's hard for us to watch the animals suffer, so there are times when we take a bag of dog food with us to share with our animal friends. The Lord loves all creatures and the Bible says He knows when even a tiny sparrow falls to the earth. So it doesn't bother us a bit to share a little space in Sunday School with one of His little ones!

WATER BAPTISM

This is a woman who recently accepted Christ as Savior at the church in Nuevo Progreso. Now she wants to be baptized in water.

Our next project will be constructing a water baptismal tank inside the church sanctuary. Lately several other people have accepted Christ but they have to wait until summer to be water baptized in the nearby city of Reynosa. We can hardly wait to see this priority project finished! It has taken a long time for us to see results, but knowing people are getting saved and want to be baptized means the work is bearing fruit.

This year we are praying for specific things the church needs and some things have been received as quickly as we wrote them down before anyone knew about them. No one but the Lord! Several other things such as children's tables and chairs are practically on their way. Please continue to pray with us for the water baptismal tank and other necessities.

"Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith." Hebrews 12:2

UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN...

The picture is old, many years have passed since we last saw Esteban, Nohemi, Junior and Mario. But they remain very special to us and we love them and think about them often.

About fifteen years ago we were distributing Spanish Bibles in Ciudad Acuna when we saw a young couple walking along a dusty road with two baby boys in their arms. We offered them a ride across town. Our Spanish was limited so we couldn't communicate with them much at that time. The next day we saw the same couple and again stopped to pick them up. After several times of crossing their paths, we all thought it was not coincidence and that we were meant to get to know each other. After that we spent a lot of time in their home and with their extended family. Their family became ours.

Many years later we went back to Ciudad Acuna when Junior was sixteen years old. They had moved and the boys had grown into handsome young men. It was fun to spend time with them and get caught up on everything. But that was four years ago.

There are other families throughout Mexico that we love and miss very much. The current conditions discourage us from extensive travel in Mexico, separating us from many people that we love. We continue to remember Esteban, Nohemi, Junior and Mario and we pray for the Lord to keep His hand of protection on them. One day we'll visit them again in Ciudad Acuna.

"The Lord watch between me and thee when we are absent one from another." Genesis 31:49