[News] 2-20-2010 update

[Berkshire Mission]

Feb. 20, 2010,

 

Happy, joyous Sabbath,

 

The Lord is on His throne and all is well with our souls.

We left for the Central church this morning at 8;30 ready for an abundant
blessing and we were not disappointed.  One of the theology students name is
John and he has been a blessing to us in many ways.  He helped the local
Pastor this morning by translating for him.  Bob spoke for awhile as pastor
Rigo translated  then  Pastor Rigo translated as Pastor Bill taught in
English  the weeks Sabbath school lesson. and then  the sermon  At one point
we all turned to the book of Lamentations 3:23 and the Americans sang the
well known verse in English and when we finished the Mexicans sang the same
verses  in Spanish.  It was very touching and it went very smoothly,
especially as it was just an impromptu moment.  The church was absolutely
packed, with 175 souls inside and probably 75  standing outside the church
listening.  Also on one side of the church  there were some benches under a
tree and people were gathered there along with many children.  This weeks
lesson as most of you know was on  faithfulness  and Pastor Bill  brought up
the fact that people today love themselves more than God and it was agreed
upon that this was the case in both  our countries.  Pastor Rigo spoke of
the upcoming meetings that will start Monday night and once again stressed
the importance of being on time, :Pronto" being the key word here.  He said
he would start the program at 7p.m. exactly, with or with without them.  He
went on to say that now he considered  himself their friend that they needed
to make sure he did not look foolish preaching to an empty church!  There is
a carnival starting this week on the  same line as Mardi Gras and is mixed
with a lot of satanic influence.  He asked the people today, "do you know
what the word carnival means?"  They said no, He asked once more, "do you
know want to know what the word carnival means?"  Again they said yes and he
responded with "then come here Monday night and I will tell you!"J  After
services all of the Pastor's and Richard stayed in Jitotol and went to visit
families that have shown and interest in learning of Jesus.  They visited
with 17 families, all very large families.  Some consisting of 8 or more.
There were several who are longing to be baptized.  There was one young
couple who were very interested but they are living together and have a
baby.  The mama is only 15 years old and the policy of this area is that you
can not be married until you are at least 16 and then only with parental
consent.  What a sad predicament they are in.  Oh if youngsters only knew
the heart ache they are in for when they put the cart before the horse.
Jesus can work this out, but it is certainly not what He had in mind for
their lives, so He is has to turn too plan B for their life when the first
plan would have been the best for everyone involved.

The local church members went out door to door handing out the 1,300 flyers
that were printed for the meetings Monday night.  They were faithful in
their duty and now the way is open for them to gather souls for Christ.

Two of our team members were not able to come with the group and were
scheduled to come in early Friday. But you know the saying, about the best
laid plans of mice and men. Doctor Mark flew out from Boston and in to
Mexico City and after going through Customs he decided to just close his
eyes for a bit while he waited for his flight to Tuxila.  Well are you ahead
of me already as to what happened?  Yep, you guessed it, he fell asleep and
missed his flight.  Once he realized it he went to the agent and tried to
get the next flight out.  They were going to charge him another $500.00 for
the ticket.  His reply was wonderful, he told him he had to go talk to his
supervisor about this first and then walked away.   So he talked with the
Lord about it and  told Him how he had only budgeted for a certain amount
for this trip and the rest of his money was to go to some sort of donation
down here in Mexico.  He then made a covenant with the Lord and said that
what ever money you save me on this flight Lord I will put towards a worthy
cause here. After praying he then went to a different agent and she put him
on the next flight for free.  Ah, when you work for the right boss all
things come together for good.  Now he has an extra $500.00 to bless others
with. Don't you just love hearing those kinds of stories?  They just lift
you up  so much and cheer you on when things don't always go just as you had
thought they would.  Audrey had flown out from Hartford and had trouble with
her tickets right from the get go.  Somehow the person checking her in had
deleted her tickets instead of verifying she was there and on time.  She
finally managed to get that cleared up  but not before they had told her she
had no ticket for Tuxila and that the police would be waiting to arrest her
in Mexico City if she couldn't find that Tuxila ticket.  She was able to
reach Ellen Butler our dear travel agent who got it all sorted out.  But
even after all of this the flight was delayed and she got into Mexico City
late making her miss the connecting flight to Tuxila. Six hours later than
planned she was able to meet up with Dr. Mark and Maria our Maranatha worker
who came to pick both of them up.  You might think that was the last of
their woes but no, the car broke down on the way to Jitotol!  There is much
more to it but she will have to tell you the rest when she gets home.  The
good thing is they are here safe, happy and laughing about it!   And with a
story to tell that will last a life time in the adventure categoryJ

 

This afternoon after lunch many of our group went on a hike with our new
friend John the theology student,

Others decided to stay back and catch up on some well deserved siesta time.
Those that went had a great time.  It was divided into 2 parts and those
that had enough of the fast paced walk and wanted to turn back could.
Others went on to explore caves and such.  Well Courtney wasn't too happy
about the bats, rats and spiders the size of her hand  or the bat that flew
through her leg.  But she made it through and was still a happy camper  even
with the bat poop on her shoes! Amy, and Dillon also were with the group, I
am sure Amy didn't care for the bat poop but  I doubt it would bother
Dillon.  Jeff was just showing me some pictures of the rats.. I thought it
looked rather cute but am certain I wouldn't have thought that had I been
there.

 

Tonight's worship time was heavenly.  So much so that when some of the
students here heard our singing they had to come down and join us.  I think
there were about 10 young men who stayed through out our worship time and
also gave some beautiful testimonies. One fellow said how much this event
has meant to him and how happy he is to have people learn of Jesus.  He also
added that even though we might be together here for a short time we will be
together for eternity at the 2nd coming of Jesus.  Another fellow also said
he felt we were in the last days   and encouraged us not to forget to pray
and not to forget the Father.

One of the local Doctors has been working with us and he stood up and with
tears in his eyes. he told how his family is very against the Adventist and
how his wife tried so hard to stop him from helping at our clinic.  He said
God won and he has been so blessed being here with us.

 

Keep on looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.  He is
looking at you with love in His eyes, waiting to bring you with Him to your
new forever home.  Oh how is He loves you!

And when trials seem hard remember the words that were in the song we sang
tonight.  Because He lives we can face tomorrow!

 

Smiles to you my friends,

Jennifer Young, Mission Reporter

 

"When we have faith in God, we act in faithful ways."

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