Puebla, Chiapas & Oaxaca...

The past couple months (since our last blog post) has been filled with ministry in the Center, travels to Chiapas and prayer for Oaxaca. Last Dec. we were involved for about a month with a family from our little town. An older son was critically injured in a bicycle accident and was hospitalized in a coma in Puebla. We took family members to visit him many times. Finally because of costs he was transferred to a local clinic in a nearby town where he died within a week. Dan was in the clinic at the time and was asked to help dress the body and help search for a casket (a first for him!). The father and two other brothers travel around the country looking for construction jobs but his mother visited our little church for the first time last Sunday.

Angelica's crafts co-op has spawned another women's group in our town. They buy material from us and are teaching some new crafts to our women. They recently asked the president of our town for money to buy a sewing machine and he offered to give them the local business tax from the stores in town if they would collect it. When asked by the storeowners who they are working with they replied the Centro Cultural Tlaixpan. Word is getting out about us and our reputation is growing. Sergio, our p/t adminstrator and computer techy has also launched a dance/exercise class led by a woman friend of his who sells natural vitamins. It is a joint business venture between her business and our Center.

Dan spent two weeks earlier this month in the mountains of Chiapas with a friend who is a prof. of social psychology (and former Pres. pastor) and two of his students. We interviewed family members of the Evangelicals who were sentenced some 10 years ago for the massacre that killed 45 people. For the past 10 years JEM has visited the families of the victims of the massacre and have been inspired by their ability to forgive and move on while at the sametime demand full justice from the govt. Tensions have erupted once again now that some of those sentenced have been released. We hope to be able to provide a listening ear to both sides in this conflict and help move the situation toward a peaceful resolution.

After spending a week last Dec. at the Rocablanca mission base in Oaxaca for their annual preaching and medical Festival, we were saddened last month to hear of the early death of Lupe. She was an indigenous young lady from a mountain village who Laura took under her wing funding her nursing degree and accompanying her over the years of her illness. We continue to lift up Laura, the clinic and the whole Base as they transition in many areas.

Last week Dan met with two board members of Palm Missionary Ministries, our sending agency, in Mexico City. We talked about how best to support national missionaries in Mexico without creating dependency that cripples the development of both donor and recipient. Pedro, a Mexican Presbyterian pastor, has launched a ministry of Bible teaching among indigenous churches in Chiapas. Dan has been an encourager to him over the past couple years and even with partial support over the past months. We talked about ways to increase his donor base even while he works to raise his own level of support.

Well, this is a long post but we hope it brings you up to date of our activities. We give thanks to each for your ongoing partnership with us.