SWINE FLU ? I HAVN'T SEEN ANY SWINE!!!

Because of the the outbreak of the flu, I thought about last Sunday when we were at the Rio Grande River baptizing new believers and remembered taking these pictures as we sat around eating lunch. Paula thought it inappropriate to put them on the blog, but I couldn't resist. These pigs just wandered up to us and were looking for a meal I guess. They walked around for a while and then took off. We are trying to heed the travel advisory, but I'm going over to the coloinia today to take one of our interns car to get fixed again. Julie is serving at an orphanage in Reynosa and staying here with us until the flu thing is gone. The orphanage is not letting anyone in or out, so she is stuck here with us. I'm sure I'll get the medical warning again at the border, but God hasn't given me a spirit of fear, but of peace.We are looking for opportunities here on the U. S. side for ministry because we have had every team that was schedualed to come this May and June cancel because of the violence in Mx and now the flu. We depend on teams coming to help in our efforts to fund various ministry needs and with no teams, there is no revenue. But we really enjoy watching God provide instead of trusting in the natural. We try to encourage the teams that have cancelled to still provide the funds for the house they were planning on building and we will build it, so we'll see if thats how God provides for these six families that were going to get houses and I had to tell them that it won't happen as we had planned but God will make a way AMEN!!!

BAPTISMO IN THE RIO GRANDE'

What a great day of celebration, when four churches in and around the colonia we work in, had 20 followers of Christ decide to get baptized and the best place to that in Mx. is the Rio Grand River. There is a great spot to enjoy a large group gathering and there were probably 100 people in attendance. The cliff you see in the back ground is our border and we were sure glad to be on the Mexico side to share in the joy of these mostly young believers. The current was pretty strong so the kids enjoyed the cool water close to the bank. We sang songs and clapped our hands as each one gave thier testimony about how Christ had changed their lives and then they walked into the river for the Pastors to baptize them. We brought chicken to share with the other great food others brought. We played volleyball for a while before we took everyone back home. The swine flu is getting some real airtime on the news and we don't know if we'll stay out of Mx or not. Thursday is the Day of the Child celebration and we need to make some final plans to bless the kids in the colonia. Our goverment has said to curtail unnecessary travel to Mexico, so I figure that leaves us doing that which God has called us to do. The good news is that the value of the Peso is going down, so I can buy more Pesos with fewer dollars, which allows us to buy more food for the people in Mx. Violence, Pestilence, and today also an earthquake in Mx, it kind of sounds like the end time prophesy playing out right here in Mx. ARE YOU READY?

Sorry about no updates this week, internet was down off and on all week. Last monday we purchased several hundred dollars worth of rice, oil, sugar and other foods to go along with all the beans we have. Some new friends from church, Dennis and Sandra Morgan helped us distribute all the food on Tues. We gave at least 100 families enough food to last a while. We are also giving out netting to families with kids to keep mosquitos from eating them up at night. They are treated with insecticide and cost about $22.00 a piece. We need to buy at least 300 more for every family to have one. They work great and as you can see in the photos, they also add a nice touch to the decore of the houses. Little Michelle turned one and her Mom Lupita invited us to the party in the colonia and we had a great time. Today is an exciting day. Pastor Victors son Daniel and his wife Carmen are getting baptized today along with another couple we built a house for last year Clemente and Gloria. We will go after church here this morning and spend the rest of the day on the banks of the Rio Grande river praising God as people from four different churches obey God and get baptized. I'm sure at some point today, I'll be standing in the Rio Grande River holding onto a rope to keep from getting swept away and praying over some friends as they get baptized.

THE PICTURES TELL THE STORY

As the week came to a close, Soria has a new house, we got to know John Meek from Houston and really enjoyed having him here this week, the church in Progresso finally has a new roof and we might actually get caught up on paper work.