Piedras Negras Mexico Day 1

By William Shaw:

For any who may have missed out on some of the activities of Freedom for the Nations this fall (2007) here is a brief update.

For its very first time Freedom for the Nations launched out on a discipleship and evangelism training class called AMMO. With over twenty people in attendance, a six week class was held where topics such as evangelism, Father heart of God, and hearing the voice of God, etc. were all presented and talked about. For each topic a different speaker was held, thereby, helping foster both diversity of thought and excitement over what was being taught. AMMO turned out to be a success with its dynamic teaching, great fellowship, and the favor of God clearly resting upon it. Moreover, for the end of the class a mission trip was the only proper form of graduation. Off we went to Piedras Negras Mexico.

The trip was a fruitful time with the whole team (of seven people) equally involved in the work of the ministry. Not only did it provide the opportunity for us to grow in the Lord but it was an excellent tool for pushing everybody out of their comfort zones and to do or experience things that perhaps had not been encountered before. We arrived in Piedras Negras at the church La Puerta Hermosa on Thursday night, which was where we were to stay for the next several days. The church building was itself a very nice and well kept place in the midst of community filled with poverty. The building in which we stayed though (which is an attachment to the church), did not partake of an equal elegance, for its insulation made us feel like we were staying in a refrigerator. No matter what one did to try and stay warm it felt like the building had a way of counteracting all such attempts.

Day ONE

The first entire day that we had in Mexico began on Friday morning. We started out with some toast and cereal plus coffee, and then moved on to planning and praying for the rest of the day. At about 11:00 A.M. Pastor Samuel Mancha scheduled for us to visit two drug & alcohol rehabilitation centers that have been founded through his ministry (he has planted six total). At the first rehabilitation center there were about 8 men living in a very small and humble little house. The man in charge was one whose life testified of the power of God to set one free of the chains of chemical addictions. As he, in times past, was set free and redeemed by Christ from the power of drugs. He later attended pastor Mancha’s Bible School were he graduated with a passion to help other men living in the same situation from which Christ had set him free. It was evident that he has really given his life to helping other people in bondage. Most of the men living there have lost all they owned or had to the slavery of their addictions, and so for them to have the opportunity to stay at the rehabilitation center, to have food to eat, clothes to wear, and a message of hope was just an awesome thing to see. Most have even lost their families, but in Christ have been given a bigger family and a bigger concept of what a family really is. During our time with them all of us had the opportunity to speak into their lives. Whitney and Shannon led the group in a worship song, Alva and Andrea shared their testimonies, Jim shared some great encouragement, Bob preached an awesome message, and William did all the translating which made him feel like he was really the one doing all the sharing. Afterwards, the men shared with us their fears and needs and all of us got to pray with and for them.

The second rehabilitation center that we visited, which was only about 10-15 minutes away from the first had a different situation occurring. Unlike the first that had men living there in consistency and really working to change their lives, the second had not had any success since its opening (about a year ago). The director (whose name is Boris) has faithfully been evangelizing, praying, and feeding those who are living on the streets without much of a response. His area is a tough one since it is a prime gathering area for prostitution, drugs, fights, and so much more. The center, which is also his house, is literally just a stone through away from the Rio Grande. Thus it makes for a high traffic area in terms of sin and all its depravity. It was a real privilege to be able to encourage Boris by praying for him and just speaking into his life. The remainder of the donated clothes we had brought with us we gave to him to distribute as necessary. We truly believe that God is going to honor his faithfulness and do amazing things in the time to come. Men like Boris who have given all they have to serve the Lord will not remain barren forever. The harvest is plentiful and it is God’s will that men/women be saved in every part of the earth.

Last, but certainly not least for Friday night we had a children’s program. Pastor Mancha’s daughter Reyna (who studied at Christ For The Nations) is the children’s Pastor at their church. And on Friday nights she has children services that primarily reach out to children of unchurched/non-christian families. With over eighty kids in attendance we had a blast worshiping Jesus with them and then doing some clown acting, dramas, and giving of gifts. It was awesome to see children raise their hands to give their lives to Christ.

Piedras Negras Mexico Day 2

By William Shaw:

Day TWO

It was pretty hard to get out of bed on Saturday, as we had all been almost paralyzed by the cold. But we overcome its temptation to just hide under all the blankets and pressed into what God had for us.

About mid-day we got to go to a mission that the church had established. It was a small church but it packed a pretty good crowd of children. Just as we had done on Friday night we taught the kids the word of God, using as our guide a word-less, picture-less, but color filled book. Both we and the children really enjoyed the time we had in interaction together. At the end of the service some of the girls did some face painting for the kids and the rest of us blew up balloons and made swords, turtles, and other fun little figures for them to play with. We also got to bless the pastors of the church—Alma and Jaime—by praying over them and their ministry. One of their prayer requests was that God would give them children of their own. We prayed in faith and feel confident that for our next visit, there will either be a baby on its way or one being carried in their arms.

Later that evening, we got to minister in the usual Saturday night service. We were tied to a 1½ hour service schedule where we compressed as much as we possibly could. Whitney and Shannon got to minister through song, Mr. Bob testified a great many truths, and then Jim preached his Scottish heart out. During the altar call, two people came to the front for salvation and a few more later came for prayer. Of the people who came up for prayer there was one young man in particular who had never been to the church before and it was awesome to see Holy Spirit minister to him.

Piedras Negras Mexico Day 3

By William Shaw:

Day THREE

Sunday turned out to be a fun yet very busy day with three different services that we were scheduled to minister in. For Sunday school the men and the ladies on the team got divided up. While the ladies gave gifts to the children in the different Sunday school classes, the guys hung out in the service. Jim preached on God’s relation to us as a Father, and our relation to Him as children that have been adopted into Him through Christ. It was a dynamite message through which the Holy Spirit started some fires in the cold, shivering crowd.

At about 2 P.M. we went and visited another mission. This mission was one that the pastor’s wife, Reyna had/has been leading. We were there to minister to the children and we had to do some improvising since Jim wasn’t able to go and because the electricity cut out on us. Bob ended up learning Jim’s part of the acting/teaching and did it almost verbatim, word for word. It was a bit awkward doing human videos without music but in the end it was actually kind of funny. During Sin Seat, Shannon started laughing so hard that she almost couldn’t finish the drama. It was a lot of fun, and about twenty children came out to hear and see the gospel as we presented it.

For the final service the biggest crowd we had seen thus far decided to brave the cold and join us in fellowship. No sooner had the service begun did they start having problems with the sound equipment. The mixer ended up mixing its last electrical wave and died. Most of worship had to be done acapella style until we were able to set up the sound equipment that we had brought down with us. It turned out to be a good thing that we had brought our own sound equipment, due to the amount of people present and the structure of the service. Our team got to sing some songs, perform a drama, and preach the Word. For the altar call many people came up to receive prayer for healing and we did see several miracles—praise God.

Funny Moments

Perhaps one of the funniest moments of the trip was when several “members” of the team stepped in dog poopoo. What made it so funny was that when a certain gentleman stepped in his second pile of poop, everybody else started laughing, and two of the people that thought it was so funny didn’t think so anymore when they realized that they had also stepped on the forbidden turd.

Hard Times

Aside from the cold the trip wasn’t too rough. Probably, the person who suffered the most was Mr. Jim since he had to share a bed with William. The trip made it very clear that when William sleeps, he does not practice certain fruits of the Spirit. As a result Jim had to spend many a nights being woken up because all his covers had been taken from him or because he was slowly getting pushed off the bed.


Good Times

Without a shadow of a doubt, the food was amazing. Mrs. Reyna (Pastor’s wife) and a few other ladies did such an amazing job feeding the team. Very acutely, Bob confessed, that it was really hard to suffer for Jesus when the food was so good. Amen to good food.

The End

The mission was a great way to end the AMMO class. We are so thankful to everybody that participated in helping us prepare for the trip, and also, for everybody that gave both of their prayers and finances for us to go. We look forward to future trips in Piedras Negras and to really see God do great things there.

Family!

We have been going through some more state accreditation classes to continue as a rescue family. The class is not the most exciting that you have ever been in but it is necessary and opens the door for effective ministry.

When you hear the stories of some of these babies and what they have already endured in their young lives, it really gets to you.

I want all of you that are read ing this, to consider getting involved in rescuing babies from the streets.

I think of those of us who are Christians and we know what it is to be adopted into a family of love. Ro.8:12 talks about the value that God has placed upon us as his children, to be adopted into his family and have the right to call him Abba, Dad. He is THE Dad of all Dads. You may have never worded it like that for fear of irreverance or misundertanding his loftiness. He is indeed The Most High God, but he is also our Dad, in heaven. He has compassion on us and sets the lonely in families. "How great is the love that the Father (Dad) has lavished on us that we should be called, the children of God, and that is what we are." (1Jn.3:1) We know what it is to be recieved and loved by one that quite rightfully should have rejected us. We were brought in when we didn't deserve it. We have been loved by one that we despised and rejected.

God wants us to pass on that love and that spirit. I am asking you to recognise and share the same spirit as your heavenly Dad, that is in you, the spirit of adoption, and to rescue or foster, or foster to adopt, or to adopt.

Perhaps you can buy diapers or formula to give to those who are rescuing kids, or you could do weekend babysitting for those foster families who need a helping hand and a break. You could buy baby food or toys or clothes or other neccesities for those who have newly taken a baby into their home and don't have everything that they need.

There is a lot to do for a lot of babies that have not had a good start into the world. God is good and it is his desire to help them, through us. The church of Jesus has the resources. People, money, gifts, skills, etc. etc. The question is whether or not we will make the commitment to do something with our resources. Many of you do. For some you have been looking for that opportunity. This is it.

I can put you in touch with the YWAM leaders that provide this ministry to the children in Houston and get you going.

There are a lot of kids in need right now and they need you. "God sets the lonely in families, and is a Father to the Fatherless."

Let me know.

Thanks

Jim

Black Rocks

Black rocks is English for Piedras Negras, where we will be going nex week. We will be there for 5 days to share some gifts for Christmas and to do some ministry with a local church there.



It is so named because of a history of coal mining there.



We have been there before to do some minsitry but this is the first time that we will take a team with us. We have the oppoertunity to minister to some men in rehab and also to the children of the city particularly.



We are looking forward to going and we have been collecting toys, and clothes to give away to the poor. Some used and some new. If you want to contribute some toys, clothes, candy (The candy cannot be used!!) or Chistmas wrapping paper and tape, you can do that beore Sunday 9th. You can drop it off at Bethel Temple, Freedom Fellowship, The Journey, or Lifewell. It would be much appreciated and you will be blessings some families in need. Thank you.