Sharing The Sword - 2017

Hello again from the Borgmans!  We are preparing for our 12th missions trip to Mexico, and wanted you to know that we are planning to leave by Jan. 1st, 2017, and Lord willing, we will stay through the end of March.  We have several Pastors in Mx. that are praying for us, and we would love to have you join us in prayer as well.  Sometimes we question our ages (72 & 76), and our old "equipment" to get to Mx. & back, with over 7,000 miles to travel, but then we are reminded that God is our guide, & He says in Jere. 32:27 - "I am the LORD, the GOD of all the peoples of the world!  Is anything too hard for ME"?  We would love to have you journey with us by following our blog, and we will give you as much information as possible as we have access to the internet. Thank you for your faithfulness.

As Peter & I are almost about to leave Mexico, we want to thank all our supporters & prayer partners who have followed us on our journey.  This year, we have seen a new wave of believers who are stepping out to reach people for Christ.  More & more Christian Churches have been started, and young men are preparing for the ministry.  One new Christian man was pleased to accept a whole box of 50 new testaments that we had left over, and as "mayor" of the last town we stayed in, one of his jobs was to give out paychecks to all the policemen & women.  He handed out all the Bibles to each one, & told them to be sure to read the insert on the back page which tells them how to have Christ in their lives, especially because in their line of work, they need to be ready to go to Heaven!
  This reminded us of Isaiah 9:2 - "The people who walk in darkness will see a great light.  for those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine."  
   Are YOU ready to step out of your comfort zone & tell the good news of Jesus to others?
                                            We love you,  Peter & Carole

We will be leaving our last big stop here on Wednesday the 6th.  On Friday, the 8th, we should be crossing the border in the afternoon.  Our big news is that we will be bringing a 16 year old boy home with us for a few months, and we covet your prayers for safety, a smooth border crossing, and a nice welcome for our guest, Carlos.

Many Christian Churches in central Mexico joined together to make this 5 day camp possible. Each Church was challenged to reach out to invite unchurched kids, and the results were rewarding!  Many prayed to receive Christ into their lives, and many more stood up to share how God was leading them to change things in their lives & to let God lead them concerning their future plans.  Peter was happy to be a small part of this week.

Peter was considering trading trucks for the ride home, but decided to leave this with the camp!

 Every camper or tent was given a job to do - like the dishes, and guess which bunch of kids had the last meal to clean up after, & put it all away?  You guessed it - the campers from our Church in Villa Corona!

When there's no horse to ride, a metal drum will have to do!  It's tied up with 4 ropes & two people rocking the "horse".

Here are some of the pictures of the camp sign, set up of tents to house over 240 campers, and 100 staff & counselors.  One of the vans overheated on the way up the mountain, & this shows the Mexican way of cooling off a hot engine!

Peter offered to help bring some young people (13-20+ yrs. old) to a youth camp in the mountains a couple of hours away. There were over 200 youth who attended, with their youth leaders, & camped out in tents in freezing temperatures! They are all returning today, so when Peter gets back from his second trip up & back, I will let you know how it went!

One Saturday we were invited to a "pot luck" luncheon and a time of "practice" for some students from an Institute where the men are trained to be pastors.  After a wonderful meal of many different varieties of food, several Churches banded together to hear these young men speak. After two hours of sermons, Peter & I couldn't sit any more, & had to leave because they were talking about a couple more speakers yet to come!  This young man standing up spoke for the first time before a crowd of people, and in ten minutes, got his message across! How different it is between Mexican & American expectations.

We had a wonderful time meeting Jorge & his family, & enjoying a visit to his raspberry farm.  We gave them Bibles, and a couple of days later, brought them a pie.  We also had a good time giving 3 more pies to people in Jesse's Church who needed a visit!

Jorge & his family were so nice, and we had a great morning with them.  We gave Jorge a bi-lingual N.T., & more Bibles for the workers.  We hope to see them again before we leave.

This is Jorge & his two little children. "Diego" is holding a pet monkey.

Here is Jill, inspecting the black flies & worms that are caught in this trap, which can actually kill an entire crop of berries. (I'm sure there must be a lesson we can apply here in our witnessing to others)!

A couple of days after meeting Jorge at the restaurant, we came to the berry farm, & brought Pastor Jessie & his family to eat as many berries as we wished, & to learn some very interesting information about raising raspberries.

Peter & I ate at a Mexican restaurant, & I was struggling over the menu, as what each item was.  The waitress/owner, went to a nearby table & brought a young man to us to explain, in perfect English, the menu & his time in the USA. He works at his father-in-law's raspberry farm & when I told him my friend & I were going to be making raspberry pies for people in their Church, he invited us to come & he would show us around!

We praise God for all the men & women who go to the prisons to teach about salvation through Christ. Peter calls jail time "God's Hospital".  Both of these pastors promised God they would walk with HIM forever & spend their lives preaching the Good News to all in their path!

Our first Sunday here, Pastor Miguel is preaching (he became a Christian in a prison in the USA & dedicated is life to teaching others about Jesus). His interpreter is the son, (Rey), of our Pastor friend & wife who we've known for many years. They all are so welcoming to us when we visit!

On our way to our last big stop near Guadalajara, we drive out of the mountains to the valley below with this huge cathedral. It always reminds me how much we need to pray for those who are engulfed in idolatry, and leaning on their own good works to receive eternal life.  During this Easter season, we pray that the people will realize it is ONLY through the shed blood of Christ & HIS resurrection that we have salvation.

We've had alot of great times witnessing to the vendors and passing out Bibles. This young guy was selling "tuba" - a drink made from palm trees. When we gave him this N.T., he was so excited & eager to have it & thanked us several times, walked down the beach & kept holding it up & looking back at us, & even stopped to talk to some fellow vendors, showing them his special gift!! His name is Aiden Christopher, & we pray that he reads this & gives his heart to Jesus!

This young couple are expecting a baby in September, and we had the priviledge to have them over for supper & talk about Jesus.  We met them last year & gave them Bibles.  This year we  gave them a copy of the Christian movie, "War Room". They need prayer as they begin their lives together.

We were able to have two of the kids spend an afternoon with us at the beach, and they had a great time with us - even with the language barrier. We pray for God's protection over them and the rest of the family.

These past two weeks here in Guayabitos have just flown by, and tomorrow we leave for Villa Corona just south of Guadalajara. We leave here with heavy hearts for this dear family we have known for the past 4 or 5 years.  The husband has left them, the two oldest kids are living with a neighbor because the Mom can't support all 4 of them, and is not physically well. And there are many problems connected to this family that only a miracle from God will change their dire circumstances. We have done what we could for them, and we pray that God will send others to help them so their family can stay together, and their faith will be restored.

After 4 very full weeks of ministry in Puerto Vallarta, we have now moved on to our next to last stop in Rincon de Guayabitos.  We mostly do one-on-one evangelism, and give out many New Testaments. We have kept up with several families that we re-visit, and encourage them to walk with Jesus.

Two of our Bible study ladies came with us to and "outreach" event & a local Pastor came by to invite them to his Church where they have Spanish & English services.

Here  they are !!  To all my Christian friends back in the USA, who have been praying, 8 more sisters in Christ, PLUS my two dear helpers who also love Jesus!!  Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Each of my Bible study women received a Whole Bible (NIV)in Spanish, an ice cream treat, matching blue shirts (donated by our soccer coach, Lou, from home), a few other treats from our translator Mom and lots of hugs!!!

For the past 4 weeks here in Puerto Vallarta, we have had 8 very faithful women come to my Bible study on the book of John.  We've had a "connection" and wonderful time of discussion that was absolutely of God. Seven lessons total and this was the last day - with a 30 min. DVD of Billy Graham's talk on "THE CROSS", I asked the women if anyone was ready to receive Jesus and follow Him, and ALL of them raised their hands!   I can't praise God enough for answering prayer concerning these precious women, and I'd just appreciate your prayers for them to grow in their faith!

This odd picture is a sea turtle  laying her eggs in the sand near the place where we were honoring the Pastor for his incredible work at making the Salvation Army bldg. possible.  
    When this happens, she is immediately "protected", by ropes around her so no people can bother her.  When she buries the eggs & returns to the ocean, a protection agency comes to carry the eggs to safety until they hatch & are able to go into the ocean. (otherwise the birds will eat them)

The couple on the right are the Captains of the Salvation Army, and the other couple were Pastor & wife of the English speaking Church for many years, and were the driving force to collect the funds for the beautiful S.A. building. We were invited to a dinner honoring them!

Peter's main job of scraping plates & handing them through the opening to the dish washers at the S.A.

Joanne & Don giving out their gift of mid-year school supplies.

Showing off their new school supplies!

My friend Joanne & her husband bought school supplies for all the children at the Salvation Army on this day. (standing in the back)

Getting a "thank you" hug & a "good-bye" !  Even though we're tired, we are so blessed!  What's NOT to love about these dear people?

Believe it or not, this man actually was walking with these flip flops on & was thrilled that he found a pair of "new" sandals that fit him!  Each of us that help tries to bring something to give to these needy people, and WE receive the joy to see their happy faces.

Carole, working with the children.  They love to try out the English language on us, and we love trying to communicate to them.  One thing we know is that they enjoy all of us coming and showing an interest in them, and their need to follow Jesus.

This little one is showing off her craft of Joseph & his coat of many colors.  The fun part of all of this is that the parents & grandparents all do the crafts as well!

This little boy read his "Jesus" tract as soon as he received it, and all the children were excited to have this little gift.

This group is checking out their New Testaments we gave them.

Pastor Isac had a contest to see who was listening to the lesson, and these are the WINNERS!
   The balls were donated by our friend, Lou Pantuosco, from SC, & you can see the happy faces & "Thank you" from them!

After Church service, the families all line up for a delicious meal.  NO food is wasted here!

This mama pig got out of her "hole" long enough to accompany us with her loud "grunting" !This place is such fun!

Last Sunday, we loaded up the truck & two other vehicles, and 10 of us drove 2 hours south to Mapache for Sunday school/church in Augustine's back yard!  That's Isac the preacher & guitarist, who is great with the kids!

FLASH!!  a new change in updates on "Casa Conner" !  A man who owns a couple of the Hotels here in PV, has donated $100,000.00 , has offered to furnish ALL the kitchen equipment, and the Huge walk-in freezer, and has loaned some of his "contacts" and men to getting this place operable by the fall!  How awesome is our GOD?  Everyone involved in this work is just praising God for His unmeasurable grace and mercy for these dear little ones who will benefit from this!

On the way to "Casa Conner", I saw this HUGE bull (I think it's a Brama bull)!  He looks magnificent!  This baby calf may OR may not be his offspring.

A small scale of the finished product, with the front of the bldg.to the left with plenty of parking, and the rest to house many more children in dire need of help.  Anyone who wishes to contribute to this amazing work, could contact us & we will be happy to connect you to the right people. Most of the staff are Christians, who are so loving, and have such positive attitudes with the children.  A beautiful home for the "forgotten" ones.

Some views of the inside, & strong doors to each bedroom, with good views to observe the children.

A very strong driveway is being built for delivery trucks & heavy equipment that will service this place.  The workers are incredible, do excellent work, and are working hard each day. Two men live in the "Castle", and guard the place, take care of the two horses that are used for the children, and so much more!

"Casa Conner" is located in a beautiful & serene area where from the 2nd floor, you can see a lake, the mountains, and beautiful scenery.  They hope to finish this second floor by the fall, which will be used mostly for offices, and other necessary things.  An elevator is one of the building requirements, and already has that plan in place.

We went with our friends to see the progress on a huge building project outside PV, for severely handicapped children, who have been served daily for many years in a crowded small house.  ALL the Doctors, nurses, & therapists are all volunteers, who provide incredible amounts of their time helping these many children.  They must go home each evening, and carried back the following day.  But when this beautiful facility is completed, they will have many bedrooms, updated equipment, therapy rooms, Doctors offices, etc. This place will be called "Casa Conner", after our friend's 13 year old grandson, who died about 4 years ago.They need another million dollars to complete the work.

Enjoying a Valentine's Day - Mexican style - after 50 years of marriage!

Carole helping a young girl read a Bible story before craft time.

These little ones are so sweeet, & they always greet us with hugs!