Missionaries to Mexico

As I am sure you are aware of Peggy and I along with Ezra had the privilege to travel to Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii. We had a great time and enjoyed our time there. This will be the first update of many as I will take the trip step by step.

SYDNEY

Our invitation to be in Australia came from Canberra but we started our stay in Sydney. We left Bullhead City after Sunday evening service and flew from Las Vegas, Nevada arriving in Sydney on Tuesday evening. We were scheduled to be with Sherwood Hills Baptist Church and Pastor Don Stewart. One of the men of the church picked us up at the airport and took us to a motel for a much needed rest. Wednesday we spent the day with the several of the church folks and then were part of the services that evening. God had given me an unusual approach to a "missionary" message but the folks were able to understand the thought of the reality that how we witness defines what we really believe about God.

Brother Steve Thomas generously took off a day of work and took us into Sydney proper on Thursday to see the quintessential sites of Sydney. We toured the Opera House, the Royal Botanical Gardens, the Governor's house, walked under the Harbor Bridge and other parts of the downtown and harbor area. Brother Thomas is a photographer and I am sure that many wondered who we were as we evidently had our own paparazzi. Brother Thomas was a great blessing and I thank him for his desire to be a help to us. The pictures in this selection are taken by him.

We had a great time in Sydney. We enjoyed getting to meet the kind folks at Sherwood Hills Baptist Church and were blessed of God with a great service there on Wednesday night. On Friday Pastor Ian Stevens of Emmanuel Independent Baptist Church in Canberra drove down to pick us up and we spend the next week with them but we'll save that for the next blog update.

Riding the train into Sydney

Harbor Bridge

Opera House

Royal Botanical Gardens

Governor's House

Taking a break

I have asked Pastor Don Randall and Brother Rich DePrez (Mohave Baptist Church) to write an update of their experience in being in Mexico with us recently. Pastor Randall had come down about a year ago with Brother Kuhn and we had focused on sowing in the field. I think I about walked their feet off but they endured. Pastor Randall had asked if we could focus this time on shelter for the fold and we spend the whole time building. We worked right up to when they had to leave and Brother DePrez did not even get to see any "sights".

Thank you Pastor Randall and Brother DePrez for sharing your thoughts on the work of the ministry here in Magdalena de Kino, Sonora, Mexico and for willingly sharing your time and strength with us. We look forward to your next visit.

Missionary Steven Harris

Pastor Don Randall says:

“How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” Romans 10:14-15. Both times I have gone down to Magdalena, Mexico, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time there. Pastor Harris and his family make you feel right at home. Thank you Abigail and Anna for graciously giving up your room for us to sleep in. If you leave the Harris house hungry, it won’t be Mrs. Harris fault as she is a godly hostess.

It is always a blessing to go and help Pastor Harris. I enjoyed the time of fellowship while building a wall and working on the plumbing. I went to Magdalena to be a blessing to the Harris family, but instead they ended up being a blessing to me.

“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Mark 16:15. Looking back to the many times Pastor Harris has preached for me, I can see his love for missions is very evident. His love for the souls of Mexico shows through in his preaching. He is busy reaching folks for the Lord. Not only does he have a heart for the Mexican people, but they have a great respect for Pastor Harris. Pastor Harris is not just a missionary in name, but he is a missionary in practice!

Bro Rich Deprez says:

Back in the early spring last year, Pastor Randall asked the men of the church if there was interest in going to Mexico to help Brother Harris with his missionary work. He and Brother Darrell Kuhn had been down there delivering a truck purchased in the states that Bro Harris was donating to a pastor for his work of saving and winning souls to Christ. Pastor Randall came back from the trip excited to share the trip with the church. They spent time handing out tracts to the locals and were very pleased with the repore Bro Harris had with the locals.

So another trip was put into the works to go back down to help with some construction of the church building. I decided that I wanted to go. My children had spent a couple of weeks in Mexico with the Harris family when they had a work farther down in the country. One thing that I learned many years ago about the Harris family is that there is always going to be some kind of adventure or excitement when you are in their presence. One of the highlights of their trip had Brother Harris showing them “up” on a three wheeler ATV and outdoing them by riding faster, farther, and finishing with a spectacular spill going end over end on the trike and breaking his leg.I could not wait for the adventure we would have on our trip to the mission field.

Pastor Randall and I were to meet Bro. Harris in Green Valley around 12:30 pm on Monday afternoon, back tracking our time to arrive in a timely fashion 4:00 am would be the departure time from Bullhead City. Packed and ready to go Pastor arrived just a little after 4 am, so far so good. The trip down in his little pickup full of our luggage which by the way seemed like a lot for the five days for two men to take for a 3 day adventure.

We arrived before schedule and in the right place – we had specific directions given to us by Merlynn, pastor’s wife, knowing just how easily we could get lost and not make the appointed destination.
Brother Harris called and said that he would be there about 12:30. We sat in the parking lot and made steak sandwiches . Bro Harris and family met us at the Walmart so they could do their shopping for the week. We were then on our way to Magdalena, Mexico. Across the border a stop to get Visa’s for the week and we’re back on the road.

We were traveling through some rolling hills on a section of highway under construction with one lane of traffic going each way. As we come up over the top of one Bro Harris looks over to the left and sees a car broken down, recognizes the man as a member of the church. We find a place to turn around to get back to them. They were heading to Nogales to shop, the entire family of six in a very small Geo Metro car designed to comfortably seat two small occupants. They had a flat tire and he was it in the process of fixing it. After watching for a couple of minutes we realized that he had brought “2 spares”, one flat, the other, a tire, without a rim. Neither one of them any better than the flat one he was taking off of the car. A trip into town heading back towards the US we find a tire shop (by their standards) to take the flat tire off the rim and replaced it with one very slightly better. The tire shop consisted of a small brick building approximately 10’ x 15’ and 20 bald badly worn tires in their entire inventory. Tire repaired back on the car and we were heading back towards Magdalena slightly behind our anticipated schedule.

We arrive in town, Bro. Harris drives us by the church which happens to be within walking distance to their home. Pastor Randall had been to both, I was seeing for the first time. When I saw the home God graciously provided for them I was rather pleasantly surprised. I have been in homes in Mexico which were built out of unfinished concrete with dirt floors and the families were very content to have them. Pastor’s home even by our US standards is a beautiful home, entirely fenced in on a small lot. Mrs. Harris told us the way that Br.Harris has to “surgically aligned their cars so they fit behind the fence. We watched in amazement, Br. Harris would have put any valet parker of fine autos to shame. With speed and agility and driving like a “pro”, he put the truck so close to the wall that Pastor Randall had to move his hand out of the way to keep it from being caught between the car and the wall, (two inches to spare) yes, the adventure has arrived.

We walk to town to an outside dinner venue. Mexican food is one of my favorite foods and this place had some the best tacos I have ever had! Each meal had stories and ventures, reminiscing of things of the past and future. Mealtime was always something to look forward to. Mrs. Harris, Abigail, and Anna did a tremendous job of preparing excellent meals and making us as guests feel at home in their home. Pastor and I “took over” Anna’s bedroom while we were there. She graciously let us sleep on her beds – one with polka dots, the other with butterflies.

We were forewarned on many occasions that the home in the winter time would be on the “cool” side, I know that to be absolutely true after waking up in the morning, climbing out of my sleeping bag( I came prepared for the cold) and putting my feet on a very cold tile floor. This led to many second thoughts of staying in the warm bed till after the house warmed up a bit.

One of the adventures we had look forward to was the shower in the guest bedroom. Mexico does not have an abundance of pressure to start with and hearing about the sprinkling of water ( a baptism in some cultures) that came out of the shower. I had heard of the “showers” from the previous trip to Mexico, waiting for the cup to fill so you could eventually get soap off. My turn to shower and they were absolutely right, a misting shower. The hot water at the sink did not have much pressure either so I decided to remove the shower head and voila, HOT WATER!, and lots of it, enough to steam up the mirrors.

Bro. Harris’s goal for the week was to put up a partition in the church building to separate the church from the playroom area the children used before and after the services. Bro. Harris had all ready installed the walls to create a nursery and he had taken another section of the church to build a one room apartment for a family from the church. We spent time measuring, laying out the wall and snapping lines to insure the location Bro. Harris desired. Bro. Harris is one of the most talented men I have ever known. He skilled in so many areas that I always I look forward to spending time with him gleaning bits of knowledge and “tricks of the trade”. This trip was no exception. Putting up the walls and installing the drywall, Pastor Randall and I learned (or re-learned) many step and labor saving methods in the construction of the wall.Pastor Randall and I were given the job of plumbing a drain line between the bathroom and an area under a set of stairs set aside for a small manual washing machine. We spent hours drilling through a wall, then, had the “Mexican Experience” of building and repair with a very limited set of replacement parts. Bro. Harris gave us what he had and told us we needed to make “it work”. I have complained in the recent past about having to go between a couple of stores in our area to chase parts down. I will no longer complain and be thankful for all the choices we still have here as compared to the extremely limited availability of supplies that Bro. Harris deals with in Magdalena on a daily basis. On the last work day we rearranged the other half of the church. Bro. Harris wanted to move a vehicle from the front to the back of the building. The challenge was getting it to roll around the wall we had just built and other miscellaneous items in the path of choice. It was decided to move the car by using a car jack with wheels to pivot it around a corner. Pastor Randall and I were pushing in the front and Bro. Harris was pulling with a great deal of effort till the handle of the jack came out sending Bro. Harris very to the concrete floor hitting his head and landing on his back and shoulder. We thought he was done for the day and that the next day he would be very stiff and sore. Thankfully he was not hurt too badly and he was not too sore the following morning. We got the rest of the room cleaned up and called it a day. We got many of the things Bro. Harris wanted to get done for the week but the list is long and there is still a ways to go. I thank God for the strength and ability I have to still be a help to those whom I can help. I look forward to another time, another trip to be of service and to be around those that God has called out to some very difficult mission fields. It is such a small part and I am thankful to know these men and families of God share some of their time in the Lord’s work.