EMMC to Guadalajara: Part Two

The second half of the crusade to the Guadalajara area was held in a small town, Milpillas, several hours outside of Guadalajara. We went from a very urban feel to an entirely rural environment.

This is the view from the church where we worked the last three days of the crusade.

This is the inside of the church where the crusade was held.

The church building where the crusade was held was very typical of many of the churches in which we work. It was one large rectangular structure made of brick with a bare cement floor. The roof was made of tin, which makes for lots of noise during a rain! Obviously, the congregation was working on finishing the building because there were piles of bricks and dirt in one corner of the building. There was a bathroom which was a small room with one toilet and one sink, but no running water and no door. We used buckets of water to flush the toilet and an old, rather tattered sheet for a door. All the crusade activities were held in this one room - registration at the door, along with vital signs and a waiting area; evangelism under the windows; pharmacy along the side wall; gynecology near the pulpit area roped off with blankets and tarps to create a private area; optometry next to pharmacy and dentistry opposite from gynecology. The "kitchen", hair cuts and children's ministry were held on the dirt road outside the church building.

The Highlight of the Entire Crusade!!!!!

Martita and Martha leading neighborhood children in a prayer to accept Christ.

One of the last days of the crusade I was inside the church building when Victor signaled to me to step outside. When I walked out, this was the scene before my eyes! Martita (in the red shirt and ball cap) and Martha (in the green shirt) had spent over an hour talking to a group of neighborhood youth and sharing the Gospel with them while sitting on the sidewalk. This was the culminating moment as they led several of them in a prayer to accept Christ! Wow! There is nothing like watching your own children lead others to the Lord! This was especially meaningful because it was Martita and Martha! Both of these precious young women have the hardest time reaching out to others, thinking about others and putting others first. These are the moments that we must remember and cherish! Thank you for your prayers and for your generous financial giving that has provided for us to be able to be a family for Martita and Martha so that they have the opportunity to share the Good News of Jesus Christ that has transformed their own lives with others!

I held twice daily kids' clubs at this second location, also. This setting was a bit more challenging than the first for several reasons: 1) The club was held outside on a dirt road with a dirt pile for construction right next to us, so when the afternoon winds came up we had an interesting time trying to do crafts and regularly got dirt in our eyes. 2) We had small group of pre-adolescent boys who enjoyed showing off their knowledge of choice words and their total lack of respect for females. These boys came everyday and stayed all day long! I kept praying: "Lord, could they at least go home between clubs? Just let them go home for a few hours and then they can come back." But... they didn't go home! We would finish the morning club and they would hang around for hours upon hours until the afternoon club and then would hang out some more until we would leave the crusade site in the evening. I am so thankful that God's word promises us that His word never returns void, but accomplishes His purposes.

"As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."
Isaiah 55:10-11

Lots of seeds were planted and only the Lord knows the fruit that will come from them. I commented with a friend today that sometimes I can't wait to get to heaven to see how all the seeds we have planted in our lifetimes have grown, but on the other hand, I'm glad I won't know until heaven if those seeds bore fruit or not. If they did, I will rejoice alongside Jesus. If they did not bear fruit, I won't even know because there will be no disappointments in heaven.

Kids Sleep in the Darndest Places!

I told you the best word to describe this crusade was "exhausting". Even Daniel agrees! He fell asleep on my back as I have one of the kids' clubs!

Here Caleb is wiped out in the port-a-crib that we had along. This may not seem amazing to you, but take a look at the picture below and see where the crib was located as Caleb snored away!

Here is the port-a-crib in a corner formed by the waiting area on one side and the pharmacy on the other.

"Necessity is the Mother of All Invention!"

That saying is so true on a crusade!

Lacking in someplace to which to tie the tarp to create shade for the volunteer giving free haircuts, we pulled up the pick up truck and tied the tarp to it.

On the day between the two crusade locations we took some time off and spent the evening in the local town square. Some of our younger children enjoyed some big slices of pizza....sitting on the sidewalk!

The church where we worked had no kitchen facilities, so we pulled up the white van and hung tarps between the van and the church building. No kitchen is operable without counter space, so a slab of wood resting on the tire will do just fine!

The counter worked just fine for Josiah to be able to take his turn at washing dishes! How do you get that big cooking pot clean? You use it as the tub for washing the rest of the dishes and by the time the rest of the dishes are done, the pot has nearly cleaned itself!

A rinse basin anyone? Fidel discovered that a 12 gallon pail does the trick just fine.

More Clowns

The last day of the crusade we held, once again, the evangelistic clown show in order to share the Gospel with as many local children as possible in a fun way.

Josiah - he was born to clown!

Ruth follows right in Josiah's footsteps!

We were so proud of Lolis for her willingness to participate as a clown on her first crusade! She did a great job!

Caleb, usually the shy one, practiced hard and did a great job with his part in the skit. He really seemed to enjoy it, despite talking all the time about how nervous he was!

Erika did a great job as the lead in the evangelistic skit! She is a natural at clowning and drama!

The crusade may have been exhausting, but I am so thankful for my children. In both of the following pictures, Ruth and Ana made me laugh and lightened my spirits as we faced so many other challenges!

Ruth getting her bangs cut!

Ana can always find a reason to skip! And even if there isn't a reason, she will skip anyway!