[About the photos: What a wonderful trip! Down a river and through a forest of rubber trees, camping in unfinished churches, and building in most unlikely places. All for the glory of God!]
Dear friends of Mexico Ministries:
I have just returned from an incredible trip to Mexico. We were able to finish a church that was started on our last trip, and we also built two new churches, both in very unusual locations in the state of Oaxaca. The first church could be reached only by boat. All the building materials - the steel, cement, blocks, sand, gravel - had to be transported by boat! The second church was in the middle of a forest of rubber trees. We had to travel through cane fields, then down a small dirt road that went through thousands of rubber trees, and then to the end of the road where a congregation of people was waiting for us. In the same area lived a pastor and his wife who labored for 25 years to build a church, until his death five months ago. We met with his widow and people from the church, and promised to finish what they had begun on our next visit.
Pastor Carlos and his wife Barbara were with me the first week of my visit, but both tested positive for the Coronavirus and had to return to Chiapas. Please pray for them, they are of utmost value in the ministry there. Before leaving, Carlos and I were able to select a site on the Tuxtepec church property to build an outdoor stadium where our many remote congregations can come together for fellowship, worship, training, and teaching. Twenty years ago we built a similar stadium in Chenalho, Chiapas that seats 4,000 people. It has been a blessing to thousands of believers who walk for days from the surrounding mountains to worship Jesus together. This new stadium will seat 2,000, with room to expand in the future. I hope to finish this stadium and more churches before year’s end, and we welcome your help and partnership. I have never begged for support in the letters I write, and I am not doing that now, but I do rejoice that God has never failed to bring men and women alongside this ministry who believe in the work and help make the vision become a reality.
I appreciate all of you so much. In closing, I would like to ask you to pray for Mary Lou. Her health is not the best, and I will be in Mexico much of this year. And please continue to pray for me, that God’s favor will be with me and all the Mexico Ministries family on both sides of the border, and that we can answer to his call in this exciting year of opportunity. St. Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” and I am confident that we can say the same today.
God bless you,
Larry