I hope you all had a great 4th of July, it was just another day here in La Paz. No fireworks, no picnics. . . Anyway, it's been another exciting week here in Mexico.
Mark preached at Crossroads last Sunday on John Chapter 4. When we arrived at church, we were greeted by not only Mark's bald head but 3 other bald heads! In order to show Mark support in his taking charge of his baldness David Reed, Milton, and Rueben all shaved their heads!!! We were shocked. One man in the congregation asked what kind of shampoo they used. Mark made it clear to the newcomers that this was not a cult, but followed it up by saying, "of course that's just what a cult would say".
Mark has been working with David at the seminary. They have continued working on the library by covering the walls with textured cement. Mark is learning yet another Mexican trade of whipping the cement onto the walls to make them look less like cinder blocks and more like internal walls. He has been working with Pastors Francisco, Braulio, Guillermo, Hernando, and David in addition to another Pastor Francisco from the mainland. Fortunately, the weather has been a bit more bearable with cooler mornings (low 90's) with less humidity. The plants we planted in the garden in February look great!
I have been enjoying participating in women's ministry with Joyce and getting to know the other women of Crossroads. One woman Barbara is starting a breakfast program in one of the colonias of La Paz called Vista Hermosa (Beautiful View). Currently, the children have to pay 5 pesos (about $.50) for a government assisted breakfast which includes beans, meat, fruit, and milk. Although this may not seem like a lot of money to us, the families also have to pay 5 pesos to bus their children to school otherwise they must walk about 30 minutes into town to the school. Since most families have an average of 3-5 children, this can be financially overwhelming. Barbara is working on getting a free breakfast plan started by this October. While she is waiting for clearance on the program, she is spending time getting to know the families. Most of the families from Buena Vista came from mainland Mexico in search of a better life for their families. We met one family who owned a hardware store. They are doing very well for themselves supporting their children. Other families are not doing so well. One family we met - a family of 8, live in a very small home (smaller than a single car garage in the states). The father is unable to work, so the 17 year old daughter is burdened with the responsibility of providing for the family in the best way the family knows how. Please pray for this family. The decisions they are making are hard for us to understand.
This week we also had the opportunity to get together with the other pastors in the convention for a breakfast. During the breakfast (which was very spicy for my American tongue!), we discussed ministerial strengths and downfalls. The Reeds have been extremely instrumental in forming a partnership between the Mexican Baptist Churches. Before they came on board as missionaries, the churches were separate entities and wanted nothing to do with each other. Now it is not uncommon to see them studying together, working on the seminary together, and participating in each others services. While it is important to acknowledge how far the convention has come in regards to working together, they still have a long way to go. It was a great meeting/breakfast, and it was great to spend time with all of the pastors and their wives.
Our friends Ruben and Carolina (I enclosed a picture of Ruben playing worship music on the malecon) are leaving for mainland Mexico along with about 15 other leaders and members of First Baptist Church for a mission trip and evangelism conference. Pastor Alejandro and his wife are also going, so Mark and the Reeds will be filling in his pulpit over the next few weeks. Please pray for this group - for safety, growth, and for God to use them in a mighty way while they're there.
I think you're caught up to date for now. Keep the comments and the e-mails coming! You continue to be in our prayers!
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