The Mafia Has Moved: Next Door

As the first two pictures of this update show we have had an abandoned unfinished house behind us every since we have lived here.  Between us and the house is the wall that is our bedroom wall.  A block wall with no insulation.  About a month ago work began on the house and they have basically finished the house.  Last night (Saturday) we found out who are new neighbors are.  No, I did not actually meet them but their M.O. (their mode of operation) stated loud and clearly to the neighborhood who they are.  The local Mafia. 

 

At nine o'clock at night the extremely loud music began with the speakers pointed less than ten feet from what is our bedroom wall.  The extreme "music" lasted till seven this morning and finally all went quiet.  When I looked over the wall this morning only the remnants of their bonfire and the yard littered with their beer cans and trash was all that remained.  This is their way of challenging anyone in the neighborhood to their authority.  Of course no police dared show up and the only thing for the neighborhood to do is stay enclosed inside.  How this affects where we currently rent only the Lord knows - He has everything in control.

 

On a much better note, we have had a tremendous day today despite the lack of sleep.  Both our morning and evening services have gone very well.  Our people continue to grow and arrive each service with a true spiritual hunger.  We have had a man wasted by drugs attending for over a month and it is obvious that God is working in His life.  Pray with us for his salvation.

 

At the end of our morning service this morning a man I know drove by selling pizza's so we bought three and invited everyone to stay for an impromptu pizza party.  Everyone enjoyed the opportunity to stay and fellowship as well as the pizza.  Tonight after service the man mentioned above asked, "Pastor can you invite me to come to your house after church to eat?"  I kindly accepted his offer but instead took him out to a local taco stand and then he went next door to buy himself ice cream for dessert and I paid.

 

Keep us in your prayers!

Over the back wall

 Our bedroom wall between us

 A Growing Stack of Literature 

  Pizza Party!

Trying to Beat the Desert Heat

When we first began our Mexico ministry some eleven years ago I purchased a 1991 Bluebird School Bus to convert as a motorhome for the ministry.  We made use of that Bus/RV conversion personally for several years and put about 25,000 miles on it.  When we left Navojoa we left it with our friend Pastor Ismael for use as their home.  Pastor Ismael and his wife have enjoyed the use of it for the last six years but the necessary vehicle permission was expiring which required that we remove it from Mexico.  Knowing that my body no longer does well with high hear we decided that a trip to Navojoa would be better sooner than latter.  Since Pastor Ismael was up for our Valentine's Banquet we took the opportunity to take him home and prepare the bus/RV for it's trip out. 

It had set for the past two years without being started and one of their dogs had wrecked havoc on some wiring.  It took me a couple of days and a lot of prayer to locate the wiring issue but in the end the motor fired and we returned to Magdalena without a problem.  Once here in town I did a few other repairs and we then drove it on out to Arizona.  Thankfully God sent us a buyer that very week and the bus/RV has moved on to it's next owner.  As always it was hard for me to say goodbye but a decent selling price, an enthusiastic owner and a dose of reality made it all easier.  Who knows we may see it on the road.

Below are some update pictures of your ministry with us here in Magdalena.  The first is of our normal visitation group taken the Saturday before our trip to Navojoa.  On the following Monday we loaded the Toyota with about 9,000 Gospel of John/Romans (photo 2) and headed out.  Standing in front of our church are Pastor Ismael and Lourdes along with their daughter Imelda and son-in-law Martin (photo 3).  In Hermosillo we stopped for lunch at a taco stand (photo 4).  The last picture is of the bus/RV at one of our member's homes where we were enjoying a fish fry.