Sembradores de Cristo Fiesta Zacatecas 2010

Sembradores de Cristo Fiesta Zacatecas 2010

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” (Matthew 5:6)

“The poor and needy seek water, but there is none, their tongues fail for thirst. I, the Lord, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.” (Isaiah 41:17)



The two weeks of dire hard work at the border getting the Christmas backpacks crossed for the very needy kids of Zacatecas were soon forgotten when we saw some 200 precious children come together for a true “fiesta” in Monte Escobedo, Zacatecas. Satan didn’t stop fighting us at the border. Our “Paloma” Safari’s battery went out, the “Ballena” van’s brake pads went out, the church trailer’s lights shorted out, our singer who had to bus down from Acuna’s bus got delayed and almost didn’t make it, and if it couldn’t be worse the sisters that had committed to making the 1000 tamales had to back out at the last minute on us. Our team of 13 never gave up but fought the fight till the very end seeking His face at every turn. God had heard the cries of His people in Monte Escobedo, Parral, and even Zacatecas, Zacatecas. God heard your cries as well my friends, your constant prayers for our team and for the very needy people of Zacatecas.

Ranchitos historicos de Sembradores

I definitely didn’t think we would have time in our program to get to our historic high mountain villages near our base in Palmas. First we went to Villa Hermosa on Tuesday and then to Monte de los Garcia. Our team clown, “Payaso Rollin” was a hit with the children and adults alike. We were going to get the people together outside a certain friend’s house instead of the volleyball court due to the past opposition by the catechist and his cohorts. Our friend said, “Oh don’t worry about them, none of them are even here right now.” Sure enough, praise the Lord, we saw a group of about 20 children and some 15 adults come to our mini-service. It’s exciting to see that the seeds we’ve sown in people’s lives over the areas are beginning to give fruit in these areas. The Lord is awakening a hunger for God in our area like I’ve never seen before-hallelujah! In Monte it was exciting to see Brother Luis and his entire family at the volleyball court. You may recall that his daughter and son-in-law had given their lives to Christ this past summer. Luis’s wife was there for the first time ever! Her whole countenance appeared to have changed. Luis’s whole family is coming to Christ just as did Cornelius’s whole household in Acts 10.
Christmas backpack distribution

Of the 388 counted backpacks we were able to get 300 to fit into the Ballena and trailer with all of our stuff. The remaining 88 will be distributed at various mission churches in Cd. Acuna. You may recall that the folks who had helped us get the backpacks imported at Mexican customs had stolen our manifest copy. Diana called on one of her friends in Mexican immigration who helped us pressure these folks in giving it back so we wouldn’t have trouble in the interior. We didn’t get it back till Christmas Day at around 5:00, just a few hours before our departure. In the interior checkpoint we got a green light but one of the officers stopped us anyway. He simply asked what we had with us and waved us through without even asking for the manifest just like we thought he would-ha! Satan even tried to hinder the actual backpack distribution. Just as the last folks were going through the line for food the lights went out in the auditorium. You can imagine, 200 children screaming inside a dark auditorium! My wife calmly took charge and we filed them outside to a lighted area. We know now that the Lord had allowed it to happen because as we led them towards this exit we ran into the local police officers. The Lord told me to offer a backpack to their children. We didn’t only get to offer them a backpack for each of their children and a hot meal but were able to pray over them. They allowed us to join with them in a circle and pray over them in front of all the on-looking local citizens in the main plaza! God did some amazing miracle with these backpacks my friends! Let me tell you, we had put them in big trash bags-some 25 bags. We only used some 7 bags for all the children, youth, and police officers. I don’t understand how that happened because supposedly we only had 300 total and here we ended up with the majority of the backpacks still in our possession! Just as the last “ninos” came through the line the lights came back on! That was really good because we still had to clean the whole gymnasium and gather together our stuff-hallelujah! When we got back to Palmas we divided forces and sent half of the team back to our historic villages to bless them with a backpack while we headed to Parral for our New Year’s Eve service and party on Friday. We still had a lot of backpacks left as we still do so yesterday, Saturday, the Lord told me to call up a friend in the capital city of Zacatecas, Zacatecas and to take him backpacks, Bibles, and some treats for his church since we were going to be going there for our “tourist day” anyways. That was of the Lord as his pastor had been praying for Bibles. This brother opened up his restaurant after hours yesterday just to prepare us a special meal before our long trip back to the border.

Fiesta Monte Escobedo Ministry

Our dear friend and brother in Christ, Jose Bonilla, from Monte Escobedo helped us the whole way to get this fiesta set up. He even tried to get Thursday’s great event announced on a loudspeaker. Jose, his wife, and oldest daughter are three of our baptismal candidates for this March. My wife and I were able to spend some special time with their family to teach baptismal doctrine. They are more than ready to make that decision. Three of our folks in Parral are also candidates for this March’s baptisms. The “auditorium” for the fiesta was more of a huge indoor gymnasium, perfect for kid’s ministry! We found the placed pretty trashed out so when we left it, we left it spotless so as to guard our testimony for future events-oh yeah! As far as the food goes we found a woman in the area to make “posole” instead of “tamales” which was a blessing for our team as it freed up all of our team for ministry. “Posole” is a stew with chicken, chile, and hominy and topped with chopped up onion, chile, and lime-definitely a Mexican favorite! We made huge centers-kind of like a mini-American small town carnival-face painting, balloons, painting, soccer, and basketball. All the planned ministry went well: clown ministry, music, folkloric dancing, and preaching. Our dear sister in Christ, Ana Urteaga, of Del Rio included my wife and daughter Shalom in the folkloric dancing which was a great blessing for me. Diana and I even did a drama together that we hadn’t done in a long time. The children really responded to the songs and message. Some 20 appeared to have made a decision. This shouldn’t surprise you that of the 200 only 20 received Christ. Remember these kids live in the most idolatrous part of Mexico and maybe even of the world and are very indoctrinated in the local false religious traditions. The fact that they were there shows that they are hungry for something more than what they have now. Even the adults responded. We asked a random girl what was her favorite part of the party-she didn’t say the backpacks, nor the games, nor the food but “the word of God.” Everybody, the children and adults alike said “Gracias” for the hot meal as they passed through the line. You would be amazed if you were to accompany me someday to Monte Escobedo. It’s not a joke that almost every other person is white and has blue eyes. I have traveled over much of Mexico and Zacatecas state itself and never seen that before. Some of the people just supposed I was a local-ha! This is due to one of the wars with the French in the area in the 1860’s-random fact for you. One of the most exciting things for me was to recognize local faces of folks we had shared the gospel with through evangelism and preaching this past summer. The folks of Monte Escobedo are beginning to see that we are there for the long haul, not just to preach but to disciple and church plant.

New Year’s Eve Party Parral de las Huertas

Our team’s second favorite day was this Friday. We had planned a New Year’s Eve service and “convivio” (fellowship) to receive the New Year with our local disciples in Parral de las Huertas. A few of us started a service in the bitter cold while the rest were distributing backpacks in the other villages. As always, we had a great worship service as the people there always worship the Lord in spirit and truth. After the service we had a great time around the fire singing songs and breaking bread with the brethren. Diana and I had prepared a special present for the believers there and in the other villages and Monte Escobedo-some Christian cds. This was exactly what they had asked me for before I left in August-Christian music to listen to in their “casas.” One of the sisters wanted to started dancing for joy when I gave her her present because it was “Exactly what she had asked God for.” Christian bookstores in our area are few and far between. My small team had also stopped in Guadalupe Victoria village on the way and invited two sisters from there to our service and party and they came as well. All these folks are beginning to see that we as Christians are all members of ONE body-not just of the Christian church in Parral, Guadalupe, Villa, or Monte but of ONE body in Christ. They were many drunken parties all around us going on at the same time but none were as full of cheer as ours was-ha! And as I told those present-those folks will be in pain tomorrow, suffering the consequences of their New Years Eve party’s decision but we would be rejoicing tomorrow with new strength to serve the Lord in 2011!

Great ministry need

We barely made it back to the border today as the brakes appear to have almost went completely out on “La Ballena” as we went over an unannounced big “tope” (bump). We have that great need which I don’t know how much will be yet and the funds to nationalize “La Ballena” and “La Paloma” so as to no longer have to hassle with the interior permits, insurances, etc. To nationalize both of them we will need approx. $3,000-a good sum of money but money WELL invested in our ministry.



Happy New Year 2011 brethren!



Special thanks!

Backpacks-New Covenant Church Woodward, OK, Lincoln Avenue Baptist Church Woodward, OK, Hillcrest Baptist Church Stillwater, OK, Esperanza Del Rio Community Church, & Many Hands of Christ Ministries

Monetary offering for trip’s needs-Monthly supporters, & many special individuals

Trip participants-We couldn’t have done it with you!-Daniel Stephens, Jesse Chaffen, Urteaga family, Eric and Itzel Garcia, Joanna Magana, and Rodrigo Segovia

Thanks again for all your prayers and support, Sembradores de Cristo family



Tax exempt giving



% Sembradores de Cristo

Esperanza Del Rio Community Church

603 E. 17th St. Del Rio , TX 78840



www.sembradoresdecristo.com



Phone: (830) 719-9731