Getting the food ready to give away
praying
HIS RESURRECTION POWER STILL MOVES HEARTS
HAPPY RESURRECTION SUNDAY TO ALL!! Yesterday, we were eye witnesses to the Resurrection power of Jesus Christ as two people heard the voice of The Holy Spirit, as Carmelo shared the story from Luke 24. Celia and a man I had never seen before at the monthly food distribution, came forward as Carmelo finished His message with an invitation to experience the same power that raised Jesus from the dead over two thousand years ago. They bowed their heads and received the greatest gift in human history, ETERNAL LIFE IN JESUS CHRIST. One minuet they were held in darkness, and the next minuet, they experienced the LIGHT OF THE WORLD. There was applause on earth and in heaven at that special moment in time. Isaac and Carol Hoeppner from Manitoba, Canada joined us yesterday to help distribute food to over 170 households represented and counting children, there were about 300 people that came yesterday. Every family go the normal beans, rice and cooking oil, but we had a donation of bags of flour and canned goods, so the bags of food we gave were very heavy and full. The kids enjoyed their juice boxes as usual and David and Luz mar provided Easter celebration music. One family had a huge prayer need with one of their children in the hospital with a stomach infection. The people in the colonia responded to the need with their finances and started putting money in a box as an offering to the family to help them with the purchase of medicine for their sick child. How awesome is that!! Some people gave the food we gave them back to the family in need, because they had no money to give. After 5 years, they are starting to get it. A great morning ended with prayer for the sick and those unspoken requests hidden in the hearts of the people, but known to God. In the afternoon, several people from an adult Sunday School class at Calvary Baptist Church, came to bag up beans and rice for the food outreaches at our church that we supply all the beans and rice they need. I think we bagged up almost a ton of beans and 1000 lbs of rice. Many willing hands makes short work of the task of bagging up the food for the needy. Praise God for the help. Phil and Maryanne Chain are here as they prepare to head to Puebla Mexico next week to start filling the thousands of backpacks they brought for the children in Chaipas, Mx. Check out Mexico Missions.org. They are the directors of Mexico Missions and are generous enough to allow us to partner with them. Pray for them as they travel in their R.V. through Mexico, reaching out to the children in the mountains in Southern Mx. Adios
A CRIB GIVEN AND A CRIB DESTROYED
Thursday we took one of the many cribs given to us by our church in McAllen. Calvary gave us 10 awesome cribs that they replaced with new ones. So we have been looking for people needing cribs and one happy family received one yesterday. After delivering the crib, I loaded up a few tools and we headed back across the border to help John and Ruth Williams take down the "crib" they bought in Port Isabel. The house needed to be removed from the property or they would have to pay taxes on it, so we picked up Sergio and Mario to lend a hand. In a few short hours we had most of the house torn down and put in the dumpster. It's a nice lot on a canal that accesses the Gulf of Mexico. So that was fun tearing something down instead of building something.
THE SCHOOL BELL HAS FINALLY RUNG
It's a long process getting two very busy missionaries together to get one common goal finished, but this week, Roy had a welding instructor and a professional cabinet maker at the trade school doing workshops this week. It has the colonia buzzing with all the activity. Steve from Alabama, is teaching the welding and Russ from the U.P. of Michigan is teaching cabinet making 101. Roy got the new welder/ generator over and it's all hooked up and running smooth. We started to build the addition to the addition on the school to have a separate area to weld, otherwise, we will probably burn the place down. We should be pouring the floor by weeks end.
GOD DOES WHAT MAN CAN'T (everything)
Now my last post this morning ended with me saying that tomorrow I would have another example of Gods super natural provision story to tell. Well I'm sorry to say that God is a God of NOW with Favor. I got a call from Power Ministry Founder Louis Davenport while I was working around the house this morning and He said that they wanted to give me several thousand pounds of beans and some flour next week. Now I wanted to buy a load darn it and God won't let me. When you put your faith out there to be tested, and God says' to test me in this and see if I won't open the windows of heaven and pour out so much blessing, that you won't be able to handle it all. I really really wanted to buy a load of beans. I am humbled and amazed at just how good God is and He never, I mean never ever disappoints. We may "feel" disappointed, but the reality is we are just failing to believe that which God has already spoken. When God says " give and it will be given to you, pressed down and overflowing, then why do we hesitate? Why do we question the God of the Universe with our unbelieving, selfish, self absorbed, I phone, I pad , I this and I that. GET OVER YOURSELF AND MOVE INTO THE GOD ZONE!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAULA
Today is Paulas' birthday and our daughter Kellys' as well, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BOTH, and I Declare Gods Favor and Goodness over their lives. It's always a special day in our great adventure, but today Paula wants to do nothing. I don't know if we will even go to Mexico, so the Lords will be done. Yesterday we took some bibles to a family in desperate need of a house, as the termites have eaten through many of the rafters supporting their makeshift house. Tuesday when we first met them, they had never heard about Gods Love for them and Angel, a 8 year old boy was excited to hear that God wanted to have a relationship with Him. We prayed with them and brought them bibles yesterday. We have given out over three hundred bibles since Jan. and are down to 4 cases in the warehouse. Praise God for His word getting into the hands of those that need them. Carmelo and Eliazar put stucco on our block fence and painted it blue and white and it looks great. If we go to Mexico today, I need to get materials ordered for a couple of foundations, the only trouble is, the houses need to come down before we can build them, and that is always a problem when they have no where to live in the meantime. We will try to build them next week with a matching fund grant we received to build a couple of houses. Beans and rice are flying off the shelves as the demand grows in Mexico for food. I'll be ordering a load of beans next week by faith, because we only have $7000.00 of the $13000.00 needed to buy an entire truck load. But, I mean, BUT, GOD WHO KNOWS THE NEEDS, WILL PROVIDE!!! So my next post will tell the great story of how God provided.
THE SEARCH IS ON
Last week we started searching for the next families to have Gods Goodness poured out on. Since we have had people here since Christmas, and have built 8 houses and one addition, we kind of ran out of families that we knew needed houses. It's not that we have to look very far to find needy people, but we like to get to know them and their kids a little bit and ask God to direct our steps. We stopped and talked to a few families the other day, and I bought a wolf puppy from one of the families and gave it to Carmelo, Ruth and the kids. Saturday we had a little surprise birthday party for Paula, I grilled up some chicken and beef fajetas after Paula left for Mx to do an clothes outreach with Ruth. Carlmelo left school early and brought the cake, Pastor Lorenzo came from colonia diez de mayo to pick up some clothes and food so I invited them to stay. Paula was surprised and we all had a great time. Loni and Dave left yesterday and Paula and I got some things done around the house as well as finding 6 kittens that were born and living under some pallets in our carport. We do not need more cats, so I'm giving them to our neighbor, because it's her cat that had them on our property. May you experience Gods ease today. Relax, God has it all in control. He is already working everything out in the conformity of His will.
DAVID & LANI, EIGHT DAYS IN REYNOSA
Beginning on March 8 we were privileged to work across the border in Reynosa, Mexico. This year is our ninth year of ministry to the poor in several colonias of Reynosa. What a joy seeing old friends in the neighborhoods of Nopalera and Lazaro Cardenas as well as making new friends!
Bruce and Paula had prepared a project that was ready for us to begin, building an addition to a home that the Zion Lutheran mission team built three years ago for Jorge and Flor and their children. The house we built three years ago (12' X 24') was quite small now that Grandma Guadalupe was living with them. Grandma had a stroke several months ago and could no longer live in her former home because she is now confined to a wheel chair and has difficulty speaking and seeing. The addition of a 10' X 12' room will improve the living situation significantly.
The dedication of the new bedroom was a very special event. David and Luzma (local missionaries) led worship singing with guitar, and it was a delight to watch Grandma Guadalupe join in singing the songs that were obviously precious to her. A short time of worship included the message of celebration of Grandma's life. She had worked hard to raise eleven children in poverty. We acknowledged the value of Jorge and Flor's willingness to care for Grandma and encouraged them to recognize that they are, in fact, walking in obedience to God as they honor their mother.
The message that was spoken encouraged all who listened to believe the Gospel and believe on Jesus Christ for salvation if they had not already believed. As Luzma led in a prayer of repentance several of the adults and children acknowledged their need of Christ.
David and Luzma offered to pick Grandma Guadalupe up for a worship service that is held at their home each week. Grandma was overjoyed to be able to participate in a worship service again.
Although we could not do much, we were able to do a little to help some very dear people. We leave tomorrow, but we are already looking forward to the time when we can return.
Bruce and Paula make a mission trip much easier than our mission trips in earlier years when we had to get all the materials ready and haul them across the border.
Whoever reads this blog who has not been on a mission trip, consider doing so. It will change your life!
David and Lani Siirtola
Bruce and Paula had prepared a project that was ready for us to begin, building an addition to a home that the Zion Lutheran mission team built three years ago for Jorge and Flor and their children. The house we built three years ago (12' X 24') was quite small now that Grandma Guadalupe was living with them. Grandma had a stroke several months ago and could no longer live in her former home because she is now confined to a wheel chair and has difficulty speaking and seeing. The addition of a 10' X 12' room will improve the living situation significantly.
The dedication of the new bedroom was a very special event. David and Luzma (local missionaries) led worship singing with guitar, and it was a delight to watch Grandma Guadalupe join in singing the songs that were obviously precious to her. A short time of worship included the message of celebration of Grandma's life. She had worked hard to raise eleven children in poverty. We acknowledged the value of Jorge and Flor's willingness to care for Grandma and encouraged them to recognize that they are, in fact, walking in obedience to God as they honor their mother.
The message that was spoken encouraged all who listened to believe the Gospel and believe on Jesus Christ for salvation if they had not already believed. As Luzma led in a prayer of repentance several of the adults and children acknowledged their need of Christ.
David and Luzma offered to pick Grandma Guadalupe up for a worship service that is held at their home each week. Grandma was overjoyed to be able to participate in a worship service again.
Although we could not do much, we were able to do a little to help some very dear people. We leave tomorrow, but we are already looking forward to the time when we can return.
Bruce and Paula make a mission trip much easier than our mission trips in earlier years when we had to get all the materials ready and haul them across the border.
Whoever reads this blog who has not been on a mission trip, consider doing so. It will change your life!
David and Lani Siirtola
DOES IT GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS??
Yesterday, we loaded up the van with hundreds of two pound bags of flour that Rick Caywood brought from New Mexico. We also took a few hundred pounds of beans and rice as well as a single mattress for Flor and Jorges kids. The girls baked a few hundred hot dogs to take over as well. After we repaired the base the mattress sits on, we installed the new mattress and tossed the old nasty one out. Dave, Loni and Paula started hanging curtains, and making the two new double beds we bought with new sheets, pillow cases and blankets. After all was done, David and Luz mar came and we started singing several songs before we prayed over the new addition to their house. A place where Lupita can sleep on her own bed while she recovers from a stroke she suffered from several months ago. She can barely talk, but she can sure praise the Lord. Her daughters have told her she was crazy when she would say that she sees Jesus. Know they know better! She has seen Jesus! And He came in the form of Dave and Loni Siirtola from Hancock, MI, John Van Loo from Zeeland MI, Carmelo and Caleb Avanil from Reynosa, MX, and Bruce and Paula Hepburn, that's us. We shared how Jesus does indeed show Himself to those that believe, How Jesus shows up at just the right time to meet a need or touch a sick body. He even just shows up in the form of ordinary people crossing an International Border just to help a family in need. HE JUST SHOWS UP! As Dave and Loni shared with them how it wasn't Gods plan to build a whole house this trip, but with no one else besides them coming down for a week, funds would be limited at best to build anything, THEN GOD SHOWED UP, when one of Lupitas granddaughters came up to Paula a few weeks ago and asked if we could somehow build a room for Grandma. Paula shared that with Loni over the phone and because they had built the original house several years ago with a college kid team, they were already connected to this family and were on board for the addition. I was able to share with everyone , how God seemed to be moving in a big way in their family, as several of them had accepted Christ over the last few months. Before long, Paula was giving the invitation to accept Christ and Flors sister and her husband prayed out loud to the King of Kings and invited Him to come and rescue them. We dried our eyes and did what all Christians do, we ate!! We probably ate 1/2 the hot dogs right there, and then drove through the colonia and gave the rest out to any one that wanted one, or even two. We stayed home today and took care of many different things, one of which was I needed to take a dept of transportation physical to keep my class A drivers license, in case I have to take one of Rick Caywoods trucks on a road trip to pick up some donated beans or rice, anyhow I passed, but the doc told me I have beginning stages of Diabetes and I have to change a few things, like not eating a whole box of sugar frosted flakes in one sitting, and no more 5 spoons of sugar in my coffee, OUCH!! We're getting older and need to start taking better care of ourselves, or not.
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