It was exciting to attend Church on Sunday & see that Jaime & his family were already there & entering in on the songs & the service!  After Church, Jaime & Angie made a very delicious meal of two kinds of fish, salsa, rice and more.  They brought it over to the Pastor's back yard under his palapa, where another family joined us!  In Mexico, you must always plan for more guests, so it's always a fun surprise!
     We had plenty of time hearing stories of the past  & present, and Pastor Marciano was great at encouraging our friends to continue to attend cell groups & Church services in order to grow in their Christian lives.  We are still praising the Lord for all HE has done this entire time here in Playa Azul!

Here is part 3 of "Only God" !  After eating a delicious meal, Luna had her experience of working with the children!  We had more kids & parents than EVER at Jose & Adelaida's home!  We had at least 100 who showed up to receive shoes & Bibles!  After the crowds left, I asked God to please give us an opportunity for Luna to speak with our friends about Jesus. Not only did she witness to them, but Jose, his wife, and a friend all wanted to pray to God & invite Jesus into their lives & live for Him!! There were more tears of joy, hugging, & thankfulness as we told them that even the ANGELS in Heaven were rejoicing with us! (Luke 15:10)  Thank you all so much for praying for us and these dear people God has placed in our lives!
James 5:16b says:"....The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."   GRACIAS!!

Yesterday, we asked Luna to come with us to give shoes & Bibles to the children who live in the town "Acalpican" where our friends live. She always feeds us, so we brought fish, &  I had fun making tortillas on her stone oven. Luna brought her mom & a niece & nephew.  They soon found out that Luna's grandparents were friends of  Jose & Adelaida!!  God sure works in mysterious ways!

MUST READ!! Our 2nd "Only God" miracle is that the family we have prayed for, for 6 years prayed to receive Jesus into their lives right after Angie's birthday party! We were all praising God & hugging & crying for God's marvelous answers to prayer.  PLEASE pray for this family.  They are not used to going to Church & need much teaching and opportunities to grow in their new faith!  That very evening, the father, Jaime, took his whole family to Pastor Marciano's Church & we all were rejoicing!

I have 3 "ONLY GOD" stories for all our    prayer partners!  When Matt & John left here to go home, I asked God to please send us someone bi-lingual to help us talk to two families who we have known for 6 & 8 years. The very next day, I was at the Hotel desk, & was introduced to a girl I hadn't met before. She was telling me about her sister who lives in the USA.  Then she left & I worked on the computer for awhile in the lobby of the Hotel. About 10 minutes later, this same girl arrived with the sister she was trying to tell me about!  She came right to me, sat down, & told me she is a Christian & is visiting her family here for two weeks.  On the plane here from California, God told her she should do some kind of ministry with children, and asked what WE do. I knew immediately that God had answered my prayer, and had sent "Luna" to us!! I invited her to come to a birthday party for my friend in 30 minutes, and the whole family needed to hear about Jesus. PRAISE GOD, she could hardly wait to go with us!!

Peter & I are so thankful for the week Pastor Matt & our friend, John, gave us to help in many ways.  Matt was in great demand, as he preached at two Churches, men's Bible study, counseling with the Pastors and spending time talking with all he came in contact with! When they had to leave, there was a void, that we asked God to fill. The day Peter drove them to the airport, I had the opportunity to have 6 of the "cleaning girls" from the Hotel come to our camper & watch the video "Who Is Jesus", and talk to them (in my best Spanglish) afterward about how to have a relationship w/Christ.  They each received shoes for their feet, & Bibles for their souls.  Please pray for these workers that we have enjoyed spending time with for several years.

 This set of pictures is to thank all our friends who donated shoes for these precious children here in Mexico - especially the kids from the Bible Release program in Clover, S.C.  We wish you were here with us to see the smile on their faces, and hear them thank us for giving them this special gift.  We thank God for all the work you did to help us in this mission God has called us to.  We are wearing the shirts designed for your team of kids who put Christ FIRST in your schools.  God bless each of you for sharing your love to so many.

The crowd of over two hundred people say "Thank You" to all who Prayed for them, and for sending 4 American Christians to
encourage them to walk daily with Jesus, and read His Word.  The shoes were also appreciated, and they send their love.

The families waited patiently outside for their turn, as the Church members served cold drinks, and talked with the newcomers.  The three Pastors: Marco, Marciano & Matteo are thrilled to partner together in Christ in spreading the Gospel in Mexico & the USA.  What a great team!!

Each family was given a # in the order they came, and John gave every family a Bible.  There were at least 27 adults & several children who came forward to receive Christ after the showing of the video & a short message from the Pastor Marco.  Kali, & her aunt & uncle know English, and were a super help the whole night long.  We thank God for a very successful day of ministry sharing Christ and God's Word.

Lots of work, setting up all the shoes in order of size & sex.  Many helping hands.  Matt spoke to Jose & found that they attended the same high school in Charlotte (only a few years removed). It was great to have Matt circulating among the crowd & welcoming all the guests.  As soon as the shoes were all placed in order, the people came inside to see the Billy Graham DVD on "The Cross"

All 500 shoes are ready for the first distribution in Petaculco at Pastor Marco's Church. Thanks to Matt & John, the work was much lighter for us!  These are two friends we have made through a waiter relative in Lake Wylie.

Goat anyone?  This little fella is ready to barbeque.  I won't tell you what the Dr. here in Playa Azul diagnosed Matt with, but thank God for his father-in-law who  knew from a picture that he has "shingles". Please pray for Pastor Matt, that God will heal him quickly.  He has an incredible schedule & is being a real "Marine" serving the Lord even in alot of pain.  We love him & are so thankful for his willingness to serve here.

On Tuesday morning, Pastor Marco invited all of us to his restaurante in Lazaro Cardenas for breakfast.  He gave us an extra special greeting, and also sat with us awhile to make some plans for the rest of the week.  Matt is explaining about the importance of "cell" groups, which is what Marciano is trying to start in his Church here in Playa Azul.

In the evening, Matt was the guest speaker at Pastor Marciano's Church, and the Church was FULL!!  Everyone had a good time and many responded to the message.

While Peter, Pastor Marciano, & his two sons were picking up Pastor Matt & John from the airport, I was back at the campsite entertaining 10 of our friends who live nearby!  When they got back, we had a great time welcoming them to Playa Azul! We have a very busy week planned for them, starting with Matt speaking at Marciano's Tues. eve Church service.  Everyone is giving them a warm welcome, and we are all thankful for a safe trip, and their willingness to help all of us bring the good news of Jesus to all who are seeking the truth!

Peter & Pastor Marciano are making plans for the week when Pastor Matt & John will be with us. Today we told the whole Church about them arriving tomorrow, and everyone clapped & are excited to have them come. We encouraged everyone to invite friends, so please pray that many will come to hear God's Word from Pastor Matt on Tuesday evening.

Praise God!  We arrived in Playa Azul late Thursday afternoon, after completing 2,313 miles of driving in 8 days!  The last part of the journey was "hair-rising", to say the least. We left Patzcuaro, in the mountains, where it was 37 degrees & arrived in Playa Azul in 80 degree, muggy weather. The entire trip was on a toll road with road repairs the whole way!  An 18 wheeler truck came into our lane & almost ran us off the road, but missed us by a couple of feet! Peter did some incredible driving, & we were thanking the Lord the rest of the way.  The next day, they closed down the toll road so they could finish their work, & we were grateful to have made it here before this.  Today the Church people invited us for a relaxing day at the beach, and treated us to a barbeque.  When we told the people that our Pastor Matt was arriving on Monday with another friend of ours, Pastor Marciano was so happy & surprised, he just kept thanking God for this gift!  All the people clapped, and are anxious to meet them.

 

Dear Amigos, Tonight we are at our 2nd overnight stop in Zacatacas.  This "Hotel Hacienda Baruk" has many nice parking spaces for trailers, and we are allowed to use the facilities here if we wish.  Our "wish" is to let you know we are having a good time meeting people here, and the sweet Mexican people are welcoming us to their country!  Zacatacus is 8,200 feet above sea level, and presently is 42 degrees.  During the day, it almost reaches 70.  Our son called to tell us that in SC, it will be all of 10 degrees tonight!!  We gave one couple, who warmly greeted us in Spanish, a Gideon N.T., and they were thrilled!  Our waiter is a Mexican man who just moved here 3 years ago from Utah.  We were glad to have an English N.T. to give him, and he told us he needed to have this, because he went further away from God as he grew older, and he needs to get back to God.  Please pray with us for these people God puts in our path, & for each copy of God's Word that many would come to Christ, our Savior.  

PRAISE  GOD!!  This morning as we crossed the border, we knew many of you were praying for a smooth crossing, and God answered in a marvelous way!  The "inspector" was a young man, who was more impressed with the inside of the camper (it's 14 years old), than asking about what we were carrying IN it!  No one even asked us to look inside the truck, where all the boxes of Bibles were packed, but it might have to do with two doberman pinchers glaring at them, along with our little "Pancho" poodle who wouldn't stop yapping.  But we are giving God much praise for getting about 500 pairs of shoes, & about 600 New Testaments on their way to reach people for Jesus!  When we arrived in Saltillo, where we park behind a Hotel, there were about ten Indian young men who were playing "Cricket" in our camping spot.  We apologized for the inconvenience, but had a wonderful time speaking to them, & three of them accepted a Bible!  Pray that they will READ it, because God's Word never returns to HIM void!!  We may not be able to get back to the internet until we reach Playa Azul in 4 or 5 days.  Thanks for praying for us!