THE A B Cs OF MINISTRY

  A. always be ready for God to redirect you from your plan.

  B. blessings come from trusting the process. 

 C. commit your ways to the Lord.and He will direct your path.

  Even though we try to let go and let God. We still get in the way from time to time. Paula and I are in the process of allowing God to reveal His will and plan for these last days we believe that we are in. So much is happening around the world,  that we can't be far away from Jesus's eminent return. I know that people have been saying that for years. but we are experiencing some prophetic things here and now that prophecy has foretold. 

   We returned from Chicago several weeks ago,  only to return to assist a good friend dealing with severe dementia in his wife. Paula flew back to help and I went to Oklahoma to get more dental work done. I drove back to Texas in time to unload another load of donated pinto beans,  and then caught a flight to chgo. 

   It's a very emotional thing to watch a friend slip away from everyone and everything they have know. Her husband is beside himself with the decisions he needs to make concerning  her illness. 

   We were able to spend more time with Lea, Kristin and Larry, which was a bonus. Lea is in first grade and she loves school. I enjoyed playing checkers with her. Time is a seed, and I am learning that time with family is always time well spent. 

   The kids at Melodys Orphanage are all back in school. Kristin gave us 2 suitcases of Leas clothes for Gil. Nicole. and Melissa to share. They loved the pajamas. 

GETTING BACK INTO THE SWING OF THINGS

  After returning home, Paula came down with the spike protein that gave her a positive test for a week. You have to call it what it is! It's not Covid 19. She's better now, but still has a lingering cough.

   We've taken a lot of beans, rice and bibles across the border the last few weeks. We hadn't spent much time in the colonia, just unloaded and left while Paula was not feeling well.

   New Life Family Church came and got 2000 lbs of beans and bagged them up for today's outreach. We have another load of beans coming from North Dakota next week. We have to pay the $4000.00 transportation bill, but the beans are free. 44 thousand pounds of beans is enough for 1/2 million meals. God is Good!

    Melodys Orphanage is doing well, Jaime just returned from speaking at a Pastors conference in Tijuana. He took all the kids to shop for shoes for everyone.  Can you imagine having to buy shoes for 16 kids at once? I asked him for the receipt for the shoes, and gave him the money back. Hector turned 12 the other day, and Little Monserott turns 11 this week. 

   We're still asking for prayers for a permanent solution for the orphanage as far as housing goes. It's all in God's hand, He knows the need.

    We have a ministry interested in purchasing the ministry center in San Juan. Nothing for sure, but they have a need for a place like ours. We're not quitting ministry,  just downsizing the work load and upkeep of our place. 

    Thanks for praying for us and the kids at Melodys. Lea stsrted 1st grade last week. My how time goes by. 

I SURRENDER

  Who does that? Who has surrendered all? JESUS!  We can sing as many songs as we like about Surrender but we never will. If we did, churches would be debt free, missionaries would have enough, budgets wouldn't need to exist,  widows, orphans and orphanages would all be provided for. 

  Last Sunday we were given the opportunity to share with the congregation at Moraine Valley Church during Pastor Pat's message from Ecclesiasties chapter 2. EVERYTHING IS MEANINGLESS.  I'll try to put a link, but you can get it from thier website. Our testimony about a surrendered life and how God worked in our life to Surrender "Some" not all. We always hold something back. We all do.

  It was great to see old friends and make new one at our pizza party after church. We were able to share about what has been going on in the ministry. Funding of the Melodys Orphanage was a topic covered as well. Funding Melodys is expensive and God has provided for 7 years through generous donors. 

   Our month long trip back to Illinois ended Monday as we packed the car and headed down the road. Tears 😢 flowed as we kissed Lea and Kristin goodbye. That's part of the Surrender, leaving family to pursue the call of God. But that doesn't make it any easier!!. 

COME ONE, COME ALL

On Sunday July 31st at Moraine Valley Church in Palos Heights, We will be sharing our testimony during Pastor Pat's message. The service time is at 9:30. Immediately following the service you are invited to join us in the Chapel on the south side of the building for pizza and a time of updating everyone on Melodys Orphanage and the other happenings of the ministry. We hope to see you there, and please RSVP me at 708 528 4622 so we can get enough 🍕. If you'd like to bring a dessert feel free. We hope to see you there.

FAMILY TIME IS INDEED FUN TIME

  A quick stop in Horse Cave Kentucky to visit Shawn And Carla Estes on our way to spend time with the family in Monticello Indiana camping and enjoying everything surrounding the 4th of July before heading to Frankfort Illinois where we've been for the last couple of weeks.

    For everyone who gets to spend time with family more frequently,  cherish the moments. We only get to see the kids and grandchildren a couple times a year, so it's really special for us. 

  We've been able to see a few friends and partners in ministry at Moraine Valley Church the last couple Sundays. I'll get the pleasure of giving my testimony at church on the 31st and look forward to that. We are hoping to have the opportunity to meet with people after that service to share about the ministry down in Mexico 🇲🇽. 

   Lea is such a big girl and we've taken her to church with us and will be taking her to Vacation Bible school all this week to learn more about God's love ❤️ for us. 

   We're heading to LaHarpe Illinois next Saturday for a few days to visit some friends and partners before coming back to Moraine for the 31st. We are hoping to share about the needs of Melodys Orphanage and raise some support for the 16 kids currently in their care. The current funding runs out soon with no commitment to continue the support as of yet, but we do and always will trust God to provide. 

   We will be heading back to Texas on the 1st of August, a couple of weeks before Lea starts first grade on the 17th. It would be nice to stay for that milestone and if God allows, maybe we will. It's soo hot in Texas, it might be something to consider. 

   As always, we so appreciate your prayer support and financial support as we continue to walk by faith providing, food, clothes, and support for those in need that we come in contact with. 

SABBATICAL, WE ALL NEED ONE

  This past week, the Pastor of LaHarpe Christian Church Nate, brought his wife Liz and thier two kids Madi and Eli to spend some time meeting the needs of the people in Mexico 🇲🇽 as part of his time away from the pulpit. Even though we step away from," ministry " we never stop ministering.

  They arrived last Thursday night and Friday we took the 100 shoe box gifts that thier church had put together, along with beans, rice and cases of bibles. Saturday we held the monthly food outreach and handed out the boxes to the kids. Jaime Mayorga from Melodys Orphanage came and led worship as Nate and I played the guitar 🎸.  They had a great time giving out the gifts and the food as each family passed through the Community Center. 

  Pastor Felipe brought us fried fish from Tampico, Mx for lunch. Pastor Joel drove 4 hours just to get the bottled water we donated to him as his Community in Monterrey is out of water.

  We took Nate and his family to Melodys Orphanage to deliver gifts to the kids there, and yes, we ate again. We drove to Progresso Mexico to get a few souvenirs and meds. Sunday church in McAllen,  followed by some pool time for the kids. Yesterday was Padre Island day. Not my cup of tea, but the onshore breeze was refreshing. They leave today to continue thier time off. We sure enjoyed our time together, getting to know them better, and really appreciate the support that LaHarpe Christian Church sends every month.

   We all need time away to refresh, and need to take that time,   free from the guilt that often accompanies Pastors and Missionaries when we take time off. Jesus often stepped away from ministry to pray, and just get away.

MELODYS ORPHANAGE UPDATE

   The last several months have been a very stressful time for Jaime, Rosalba and the kids. After moving out of Angel's of God Orphanage that we all thought was the answer to prayer, they moved just a mile away to an old Orphanage that had been vacant for 3years. I knew of the facility and the ministry that owned it,  and the owner agreed to let them live there for several months until they could find a new facility. 

   Long story short, they have moved back to their original place in Reynosa upon the owner of that property encouraging them to do so. We met a Pastor that has possession of a property that has plenty of room to build Melodys a new building or remodel an existing building. Several aand cres and a huge playground on site. We won't be moving forward with this until they have possession of legal papers giving them ownership of the property. 

  We held our monthly food outreach May 28th and met the needs of 100 families or so. This month we will have the pleasure of having Nate and Liz and their kids herch re. Nate pastors LaHarpe Christian Church and they wanted to finish thier sabbatical on a missions trip.  Thier church has been a huge supporter of ours and before Covid sent teams every year to build houses and relationships with us and the people in the colonia. I believe that they are bringing hundreds of shoe box gifts that the people have donated.

   I cant seem to access all my photos to show pictures of the facility in Reynosa,  ill work on that. Thats for the prayers and support.