Your On-Mission team; Ken and Lisa Jones (FBC Arnold)  and Paul & Glenda Warren (Heartland BC), left on their mission journey to The Timothy Project campus in Palmillas.  There they joined our missionaries Jack & Sheri Thomas to do Gospel saturation and an eye glass clinic in the village [...]]]> Saturday – August 7, 2010

Your On-Mission team; Ken and Lisa Jones (FBC Arnold)  and Paul & Glenda Warren (Heartland BC), left on their mission journey to The Timothy Project campus in Palmillas.  There they joined our missionaries Jack & Sheri Thomas to do Gospel saturation and an eye glass clinic in the village of Cinco de Mayo near Tula, Tamps.

The team arrived safely as expected on Sunday afternoon, Sheri had been busy since our arrival on Friday preparing for the team arriving and the upcoming eye glass clinic in Cinco de Mayo; I had spent the day-and-a-half since our arrival mowing the waist high grass on the Timothy Project Campus. Once the team arrived we prepared gospel packets with invitations to the eye glass clinic and Thursday evening activities that would be distributed during the gospel saturation portion of our project.

Ken on the Autorefractor

Monday morning found everyone excited and ready to begin the project.  After transporting our Mexican brothers and sisters from Tula to Cinco de Mayo,  time was spent explaining the project, preparing spiritually and then we formed teams with our Mexican brothers and sisters to prayer walk the muddy and rocky streets of Cinco de Mayo.  We passed by each home praying for the families residing inside and were blessed to intercede for each person living in the village of Cinco de Mayo.  Living within the village is a witch doctor, and the residents of this village fear angering him, we asked God to release them from this bondage and we prayed that his heart would be softened and that he would come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Cinco de Mayo is a village of only 70 families, after our time of prayer walking and sharing a lunch with our brothers and sisters from Tula, we were able to completely saturate the village with the Gospel – taking a copy of the Gospel of John and Romans to each house in the village, speaking to them personally and inviting them to the eye glass clinic and evening activities – then we moved on to a neighboring village, Las Cebollitas.

We are confident that each person in Cinco de Mayo and the neighboring village of Las Cebollitas who desired to have their eyes examined was seen, but more importantly, each person had the Gospel clearly explained to them in a way that they could understand, and had the opportunity to respond to that message.

During the two days of the clinic a total of 97 patients were seen, 42 pairs of prescription eye glasses were fitted and 49 pairs of “readers” were given out.

Brother Modesto and Alysia shared the Gospel with each person served in the clinic.  Of the approximately 60 people who came to see the movie shown on Thursday evening, five made professions of faith, and several more requested additional counseling regarding how they will spend eternity.

The team wasted no time while here on campus;  taking on some of the many small projects that there never seems to be an end to. Thursday afternoon, Paul and Ken accompanied me to the river to experience firsthand all that is involved in collecting water with the new trailer system we have been blessed with. On Friday afternoon after lunch in Jaumave, the team worked on campus mowing, pulling weeds, clearing rocks, and cleaning up inside and around the campus.  Many thanks to Paul, Glenda, Ken and Lisa for the blessing you were to us this past week and to First Baptist Church of Arnold and Heartland Baptist Church for your support of the Timothy Project.

In His Care,

Jack & Sheri Thomas

The seminar is over and God was glorified.  In spite of the continuing rain and, except for brief moments, being without electricity and running water, the training continued as scheduled.  Brother Ben did a fantastic job demonstrating to [...]]]> First Baptist Church Arnold sponsored a Church Planting Seminar at The Timothy Project Campus in Palmillas Mexico.

Sunday July 4

The seminar is over and God was glorified.  In spite of the continuing rain and, except for brief moments, being without electricity and running water, the training continued as scheduled.  Brother Ben did a fantastic job demonstrating to the students how to identify and nurture new leaders and how to facilitate Bible studies.  There was an amazing amount of participation.  The students left with enthusiasm and excitement anxious to put their new skills to work. 

The sun finally came out Sunday morning as we were preparing to leave, but the electric was still unreliable, therefore no water could be pumped into the pipes.  On our travels back the boarder we saw a lot of hurricane damage.  We had one detour because of a washed out bridge and that put us behind schedule almost 2 hours, but, even with that detour, Jack and Sheri were able to get Ben and I to the airport in plenty of time.

Thanks so much for your prayers.  Without your prayers discouragement and frustration may have set, instead God’s purpose was carried out.

Please continue to pray for our Mexican brothers and sisters that, as they apply their new skills, new leaders will be identified and more Bible studies will begin.  Please continue to pray for Jack and Sheri Thomas who are now serving as faith based missionaries at The Timothy Project Campus in Palmillas, Mexico.

Friday July 2

This week First Baptist Church  sponsored a Pastor / Church Planter seminar at the The Timothy Project Campus in Palmillas Mexico.   Brother Ben Hess, church planting strategist for the Missouri Baptist Convention, is leading the seminar.  Ben has spent several years as an IMB missionary/church planter in Kenya Africa.  I know of no one who has a better understanding of how to plant church and develop church planting leaders.

Getting here on Wednesday was a bit of an adventure, our plane was the last one allowed into Harlingen, TX before the airport was shut down because of Alex.  Our drive from Harlingen to Palmillas was a challenge as well, the wind was fierce and the rain was torrential.  By the time we hit the mountains, about 1-1/2 hour from the campus, we had gotten ahead of the storm but that would not last.  We arrived in Palmillas at about 10:00pm and the storm hit here about 1:00am on Thursday and the wind and rain has continued ever since.  About noon on Thursday we lost electricity and we were not able to get reach of all the brothers to tell them not to come until further notice; about 3:00pm some of them started to show up.  With only brief discussion we decided to proceed with the seminar without electricity.  Without electricity; no lights and no pump, no pump=no water.  We have been pulling buckets of water out of the well for washing and “bucket-flushing”. 

Some of the other brothers arrived about 9:00am today (Friday); others are not able to make it because of rain and flooding.  The seminar is running a little behind schedule, it was supposed to start yesterday afternoon, but God will get done what He wants done.

It was a little exciting about 1:00pm, the electricity came on but that thrill was short lived, just now, 1:50pm we lost it again.  The local brothers tell us that we may not get reliable electric until next week.

Please Pray that despite difficult conditions that God will be blesses and these dedicated men and women leave with an excitement about what they have learned and an enthusiasm about getting back to their villages and applying it.

We are back in Festus, Missouri after a long and tiring week in Mexico. 

Sunday morning began with a hot breakfast and then even more nourishment through singing, prayer and studying God’s Word.  After our morning worship service at the Palmillas camp, [...]]]> A Timothy Project Partner on mission with God in Mexico’s Heart of Darkness

Hello Praying Friends,

We are back in Festus, Missouri after a long and tiring week in Mexico. 

Sunday morning began with a hot breakfast and then even more nourishment through singing, prayer and studying God’s Word.  After our morning worship service at the Palmillas camp, we were able to help the local missionaries prepare for a pastors conference this week, by cleaning the meeting area, weeding the grounds and clearing out a storage area.   Several of us had picked up a quick moving stomach bug (less than half a day), so we took a day of rest and decided not to go on a planned excursion.  We did wind up visiting a town about 30 minutes away for ice-cream and then had a wonderful treat of grilled burgers and hotdogs for dinner with brownies for dessert. 

We left Palmillas this morning, at a little after 5,  to begin our road trip to the border.  We got through the several police checks and border crossing without incident, ate a quick lunch at Whataburger in Brownsville and boarded the plane in Harlingen.   We made a quick change of planes in Houston and after the pilots determined a change of routes, because of some bad weather, we arrived in St Louis about 6 pm.

God did a tremendous work in the short time we were in Mexico.  Obviously the area we worked at had already been prayed for as more than 25 people surrendered to Christ as Lord and Savior and many we visited were open to hearing the Gospel message and having Bible studies in their homes. 

One thing I failed to mention in the last update was we met a Mexican pastor Saturday night, who recently arrived from Canada (as a missionary), to serve at a local Presbyterian church.  He is very interested in working with Pastor Mateo  and his church.  This is a great help, and it is encouraging to see how other churches from nearby towns are participating in what God is doing in the “Heart of Darkness”.  God is preparing a mighty work in Ciudad del Maiz and we were honored to be a part of the entire process.  

During this journey the Lord was glorified, the church was encouraged and the town, missionaries and your mission team were  blessed.  Please pray for those who have made decisions to follow Christ, those who want to know more, and for your mission team to continue allowing God to be first place in their lives.

Thank you again for your support.

In Christ,

John, for your Mexico mission team

Day 5 update

Over 160 people were at the crusade.  9 people asked Christ to be their Lord and Savior and are being counseled.

We have a few that are having some stomach issues.  The pepto is starting the coating process and we hope to bring back healthy, but tired young people.

God bless and keep you.

In Christ,

John, for your Mexico mission team

 Day 5a

We won’t have internet access until we get back to Palmillas tonight (sometime after midnight) so I wanted to share a quick update about our last day in the City of the Corn (Ciudad del Maiz).

After breakfast this morning we had a quick refresher training for the youth on how to share their faith and helped them mark a few key verses in their Spanish New Testaments.  Soon after our training, a group from a sister church in a nearby city joined us to go door to door witnessing.  We broke into about 9 small groups and went through the town.  Some of the students spent their time praying and/or inviting people to the Crusade.  Others, through the help of translators shared their testimonies and Gospel presentations.  In a 2-3 hour time-frame, more than 15 people  prayed to receive Christ as Lord and Savior and/or asked for a Bible study to be done in their home.

After lunch at the hotel, we loaded our suitcases on the trailer, rested for a bit and then walked to the center of town where we visited the local catholic church, went into a few of the local shops, and tried some hand-dipped ice-cream.  We returned to the hotel for about an hour and then we were off to the restaurant for our “last supper” (in Cd del Maiz).   After dinner, it was  time to set up the chairs for the crusade.

The music has begun and over 130 are here already.  As the night goes on, more people continue to come in.  Most of the youth are taking care of the children while the parents are outside on the patio.

God has certainly opened many doors here which had previously been nailed shut.  The power of prayer, the faithfulness of missionaries and pastors, the Bible and primarily the Spirit of God has given life to many who were dead in their sin.  We thank you for your prayers and other support while we have been here.  It is always exciting to see God changing/transforming lives.

God bless you!

John, for your Mexico mission team

Day 4

We got an early start on the highways and byways today and we quickly finished distributing packets to the remaing mapped out sections by lunch time.  After lunch, we enjoyed an opportunity to rest for a while before setting up chairs for the crusade.  The 2-day crusade is taking place in an outdoor patio area with an indoor option in case of rain, about 3 blocks from the hotel. 

Because the sun was so bright, we were only able to set the rows of chairs after the shadow from the sun came overhead.  While waiting to finish the chair set-up and for our dinner reservations at the restaurant , the group became creative.  After a game or two of human chess (I’m still not sure), a few other games and some Bible trivia we walked to dinner.

I suppose I should mention that we have walked substanially these past 3 days.  Many of the people we have met here do not own cars and their sandaled feet are their primary transportation over the rocks, hills, dirt, concrete and broken roads.  Life moves at a slower pace because of this and the constant heat.  Our team expierenced a small portion of this type of lifestyle and after being pretty exhausted, we certainly have an appreciation for the nationals who do it on a daily basis.

Dinner was wonderful and abundant once again and after a brief stop for water at the hotel we returned to the event center for the crusade. 

I won’t go through all the details, but the band that came plays a distictive style of music that is very popular here. (An accordian is involved).  They sang Christian lyrics and really shared the Gospel throughout their performance.  It was well received by the crowd.

A pastor from a First Baptist Church in Veracruz shared the message.  He spoke from John 3 and the story of Nicodemus and how God wants to make a change in our lives.  God’s Spirit was working in the people there (over 80 adults)  and at the end of the sermon, 7 people came to the front of the crowd to commit their lives to Christ.  According to the local missionaies this type of invitation is not common, and the pastor would only normally ask to see hands.  Their walking and standing in the front was significant for the commitments they were making.  The local pastor and members from the church have already made contact to start discipling these adults.

We returned to the hotel by 10:35, had a quick devotion and were in bed by 11 pm. 

Some of the neat things about today:  Many of the youth were able to share more as they went door to door distributing Gospel packets.  At the crusade, several of the youth were able to understand much of the context of the message by the delivery style of the pastor and the passionate way he allowed the Holy Spirit to move through him.  Many of the youth basically babysat the 35 or so children that were at the concert and sang songs, played interesting games and took lots of pictures despite a language and cultural barrier (This turned out to be a “God sighting” for several of them during our devotion time).

 Day 3

Hello to the “other side” (a common expession used for the US here),

 e have finished our third day in Mexico and the Lord continues to show His faithfulness and grace.  This morning, we finished prayer walking the remaining sections Pastor Mateo (the Mexican pastor we are working with) had laid out.  There was a lot of walking today with many hilly roads that were rocky and difficult to pass.

We arrived back at the hotel for lunch and a short break and then began our door to door Gospel distribution with local church members.  This was a difficult task for many of our youth as some felt so inhibited by the language barrier (as shared in our devotion time). One of the young ladies said, “all I was able to do was pray” which prompted the local missionary to enthusiastically say that was exactly what needs to happen as it shows our continued dependance on the Lord and is usually a weapon many Christians forget to even use.

After lunch we returned to another one of the sections which had been bathed in prayer earlier that day, and distributed Gospel packets and personally invited everyone to the crusade on Friday and Saturday.

At 6 pm or so we had another grand feast at the restaurant with fried fish, salad, french fries, rice, vegetable soup, hot sauce (on the table for flavor), crackers and bread and a jello cup for dessert.  The youth are doing very well at trying the new foods and doing pretty much everything without complaining.  This has been a blessing to not only the trip leaders, but also to the local missionaries.  They have all been a great encouragement to the pastor and church members, as well as a great witness to the local community.

 As mentioned earlier, we had our devotion time at 9 pm and all of the youth were encouraged to share where they saw God work that day and any frustrations they may have had.  It was a good time of discussion and prayer.  One of our translators, Josue, had one of his uncles die and be buried today.  He comes from a close family and though it was difficult for him to not be there, he feels strongly that the Lord wants him here with us.

We begin early tomorrow morning on the street with the invitations and Gospel distribution.  The first night of the crusade begins at 7 pm.  Please keep this event in prayer as many will hear the message of Jesus Christ for the very first time and still others will be at the point of surrendering their lives to Him.

Thank you again for uplifting us all before the Father.

 God bless you all!

  John, for your  Mexico mission team

There is much more to share, but my fingers are getting a bit arthritic from typing on a keyboard on a phone.  We continue to practice flexibility and we continue to see God’s protection.  Please continue to pray for the barriers that exist in the hearts of this city to be broken down, and that Christ will be proclaimed as Lord and Savior here. 

We return to Palmillas tonight after the crusade and begin our trek back to Missouri early Monday morning.  We look forward to seeing you again soon.

God bless you all,

John, for your Mexico mission team

Day 2

Hola,

We are settling in for a warm night here in Ciudad del Maiz after a long and tiring day.

 We left the town of Palmillas at 10 am today after enjoying a delicious breakfast and loading up the trailer with our suitcases, Gospels, mini-fridge and 5 gallon water bottles. The city we are working in is about two hours away, so after unpacking, eating lunch, preparing Gospel packets and waiting for the pastor and some volunteers from his church it was about 3:30 when we began  prayer-walking  through the city.  We broke into 3 teams of 4 – 5 people with a local Christian, and a translator in each group.   What I mean by “prayer-walking” is we basically walked down streets that had been mapped out into different sections and prayed for the Spirit of God to break through the spiritual darkness that is present in each home and business we passed and that lives would be eternally changed through Jesus Christ.

Our groups finished their designated sections and returned to the hotel after about 2 hours.  We then walked to a local restaurant which is owned by a believer, (she is staying open just for our team this week) and had dinner there.  We ate a hearty heaping of Mexican food including rotisserie chicken, tortillas, salad, pasta, soup, nachos, salsas (red and green), some type of dressing which had steamed cactus and a dessert cup.  I think she is prepaing a fish dinner tommorow evening.

 After eating way too much food, we returned to the hotel and finished preparing the Gospel packets for distribution tomorrow and Friday (1,800 packets).  The youth and leaders really knocked this process out quickly and efficiently.  I have been extremely  impressed with the hearts of service and flexibility  this group possesses.

 At 9 pm we had another brief orientation by our local missionary partners and had a tremendous time of testimony, Bible study, and prayer.   It is now 11 pm and everyone is asleep and preparing for a busy day tomorrow.   We appreciate your continued  prayers and we praise the Lord for His protection, guidance and peace throughout this trip.

 May God continue to be glorified in and through your lives.

 In Christ,

 John, for your mission team in Mexico

They Arrived!!!

After a long two legged flight the team arrived at the Harlingin Texasn airport where the were greeted by The Timothy Projects missionaries, Jack and Shei Thomas.  After a brief stop for the traditional WhataBuger lunch they crossed the border into Old Mexico.  All went well at Mexican Immigration, which can sometimes be a bit of a challange, except one of the team, somewhere in route, was seperated from his passport.  You can get into Mexico with out a passport but…  You can’t back into the US without one.  So the poor lad (mentioning no names) had to return home where he is right now frustrated over his misfortune.  But, remmember, God has a purpose in all things.  

The above photo is proof that they crossed the Tropic of Cancer, which is less than an hour from their first destination at The Timothy Project campus in Palmillas, about 6 hours from where they crossed the border.   They did, infact, arrive safely in Palmillas in time to have evening devotions and a great meal, both of which was much needed.

Left to right, Bob Grempler, Michelle & Connor Laratta, Diane & Jim Berberich, Keith Jean, Jim Nicolls

 I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone. – 1 Timothy 2:1

Please pray with your missionaries as they go through their daily activities.

Today, Sunday they will worship at The [...]]]>

Left to right, Bob Grempler, Michelle & Connor Laratta, Diane & Jim Berberich, Keith Jean, Jim Nicolls

 I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone. – 1 Timothy 2:1

Please pray with your missionaries as they go through their daily activities.

Today, Sunday they will worship at The Timothy Project campus, prepare their ministry supplies and load the trailer getting ready for an early start on Monday.

Monday: Pray with your team as they Prayerwalk the village of Palomas.  Pray that God will prepare the hearts of the people of that village.  After Prayerwalking your team will, again walk the village, placing a Gospel in every home.  Pray for divine appointments.

Tuesday-Thursday they will setup and begin an eyeglass clinic.  At any given time during the clinic there will be dozens waiting to be seen.  Pray that as your team, the Pastors and Missionaries begin to share the Gospel with them that ears will be open to hear and hearts will respond.

Thursday night they will show a gospel movie.  Please pray that this film will be a great testimony of those attending.

Please pray that Gods harvest will be great this week.

On Friday your team will return to Palmillas, unload the trailer and prepare the equipment and supplies for the next team.  Time available they may have a little R&R.  Early to bed and ready for an early Saturday.

The team will leave The Timothy Project campus at about 5:00am for a seven hour drive to the border and to their flight home, arriving here after 8:00pm.

Thanks for your Prayers,

Your FBCA On-Mission Team