Paco
never ceases to witness the Lord’s presence and work on each of his trips to
the communities of Ixcamilpa. This month,
he testifies that:
-Rains
were especially scarce this summer for this already dry area, and the majority
of the crops did not survive. The villagers of these isolated areas live
primarily on what they harvest- corn tortillas with salsa and peanuts almost 3
meals a day.
Everyone that Paco visited this trip shared their concerns about food
the coming year with so little harvest. The bags of groceries delivered were met
with abundant thanks.
-After
15 years of constant use, the Bible and guitar of the pastor of the 6-family
church were literally falling apart. Pastor Domingo admitted that the
congregation had even been singing acapella for some months without a working
instrument to accompany them. The gift of a new Bible and guitar were an encouragement
to the whole church family.
-Paco
visited the homes of many elderly and disabled to pray and pass out food-bag
vouchers for the evening
movie and Bible message. Sabás, blind with diabetes,
did not attend in the evening, not because of his disability but rather in resistance
to associating with Christians and the Gospel. The next day, Paco took a
grocery bag to his house, explaining it was a free gift of grace, even though
he had not attended the event, just like Jesus’ gift
of salvation.
Sabás, surprised and humbled, actually had
tears as he held the food bag. After many conversations on previous trips, Paco
thinks this act of grace brought him one step closer to Jesus.
-After
presenting the movie “Ben Hur”, Paco shared about forgiveness-
both from God
and for one another.
Carmen, a practically
blind 60-year old woman, approached Paco with tears afterwards, explaining she
needed God’s forgiveness for living her life separated from Him, and help to
forgive others (her bitterness had been an obstacle to her joining the small
church).
She begged Paco to
come to her
house for breakfast the next morning, where she shared her regrets: now that
she finally wants to read the Bible, she is blind; now that she finally wants
to teach her 4 children the Truth, she has lost contact with all but one who is
in jail… After prayer and encouragement, Paco gave her money to visit her son in
jail two hours away
(which would have
taken her months to save for the relatively short trip) and a Bible for him
(which he could read also read to his mother during her visit), and Gospel
tracts for her to pass out on the bus there!
She was so thrilled that she said she wished she could look on the faces
of these men who had brought her so much hope and purpose
(Paco and Javi told
her, laughingly, that she was not missing out on much by not seeing their
faces!).
-During
these months of almost 100° heat, mosquitos abound, and many of them are
dengue-infected. Almost half of the people that Paco visited in the villages this
trip had recently suffered dengue fever (still waiting to see if Paco or Javi
show signs upon returning!)
We
thank the Lord for His love for these people and His work that He allows us to
see.
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