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Praises from Puebla Journal
From
Puebla,
8/27/2002 Well, Saturday the same three people came out for soulwinning as well as two LOST people! One left SAVED but the other one listened, but did not accept. Praise the Lord, she was saved after church on Sunday morning! Sunday we had over 30 again and my SS class was "full" with 9 kids! 9 kids plus Rachel and Japheth is A LOT! LOL!! Fortunately, Rachel slept through the class!!! Sunday afternoon we went to give a marriage class to a new couple and that was interesting! Sunday night we had over 15 again and after church a lady who has been coming asked what she needed to do to become a member. Well, I started talking with her and come to find out, she is not married to her "husband". They have 2 kids and have been together for 10 years but he does not want to get married!!??! This is very common in Mexico. Apparently it was/is a custom 10 years ago that the mother of the boyfriend has to go to the parents of the girl and ask permission for the son to marry their daughter. The mother did not want the son to marry her, so they ended up just living together! The mother STILL does not want to go to her parents so they are STILL not married! (It does not make sense to me either.) Anyways, my husband said at least the man wants to come to our church and that eventually he will either marry her or leave the church because of the preaching. I counseled her on a surefire way to make him want to marry her and she said she tried that and he said if she was going to do that, then she could leave! Uuuuggghh! I am starting to feel like a PW!! LOL!!! Well, Sunday night as I was in the nursery, a family walked by the window. They saw the kids playing and the mother stopped and asked if they could talk with the pastor. I told her we were having a service but they could come in and talk with him afterwards. Well, they came in and after church the husband and wife accepted Christ! Also, one of the ladies who has been coming from the church where they have dreams and revelations - apparently she has had a dream about our church and it is very good!!! LOL!!! She did not come Sunday night but her friend did and she told us that we should go visit her friend to hear this wonderful "dream"! Will let you know what happens! From Puebla, Nicole
8/27/2002 Well, I remember this because it happened on Sept. 11th. The way you get water into your house in Mexico is that it runs through a pipe in the street to your house. If there is enough pressure, it goes up the pipe to the top of your house where you have a water storage container. The container will last us 2-3 days, and if there is enough pressure, it will constantly fill up and you will always have water. On Sept. 11th I ran out of water while washing our clothes in the washer. There was a little pressure in the street, almost enough to come out a garden hose, but not enough to get to the roof. My husband connected the hose from the faucet that is connected to the street and ran it to the washer in the room downstairs. (About 40 feet away). There was not enough pressure for the water to go into the washer, so he left it turned on (unbeknowest to me!) so that when there was pressure, the washer would fill up with water. After doing this, he went upstairs to check his emails. It was then we found out about the attack. He went to our neighbors house to watch the news. I went upstairs to read on the internet about the attack. (Japheth was sleeping so I could not go to the neighbor's house.) About an hour or so later I went to check on Japheth. It was then I heard the sound of water running in the house! I ran downstairs to see a 2 inch flood of water covering the downstairs! Fortunately it is all tile! Unfortunately, we still had/have things in boxes and the water was very close to the boxes! Worse, the neighbors phone was not working so I could not call my husband to come home! First, I did the logical thing, I turned off the water. Second, I did the womanly thing, and I started running around for a mop, towels, and anything to stop the water from reaching the boxes with all my things in them! After pushing the water away from the boxes and into the living room by the couches and even more boxes (making an even bigger mess LOL!) I decided it was time to go for help. Japheth was still sleeping so I did not want to leave him and it was starting to rain. I looked outside and there were about 5 men working on the neigbors yard (digging a hole for a water tank) and they had to momentarily stop because of the rain. I went outside and in the most calm (NOT!!) voice I asked if they could help me because I had a flood in my house. They just looked at me like I was crazy! So, I did the only thing left, I ran in the rain to the neighbor's house for my husband. (about 2 blocks away). When I got there, I tried to explain to my husband that he needed to come home NOW because all my things in the boxes were about to be destroyed by the flood in our house! He just looked at me like I was crazy to think I had a problem in comparison with what was going on in NY. Well, he finally came home and we cleaned up the mess, and thankfully, nothing was ruined by the water!! From Puebla, Nicole
9/2/2002 The Lord is so Good! Yesterday in the morning we had 35 people attend! 5 were first time visitors and 1 man came that was invited on Saturday soulwinning! He was saved Sunday morning and came back Sunday night. He told my husband - Thank you so much for stopping by my house and inviting me. He also said that he had written his name on the tract where it says "I, --------, have accepted Christ as my Saviour!" Sunday night we had 17 people too! The family that accepted Christ a few weeks ago has been coming faithfully. Last night the wife told us that her aunt has forbidden them to come to her house (that is right across the street from them) as long as they keep coming to church with us. There is so much family pressure here in Puebla for people to not become Christians. The family would prefer that the person be a drunk (like this husband), than a Christian. From Puebla, Nicole
Our First Date Last night was our first date out alone without kids since Rachel was born! It was sooo fun. My husband took me to see some property we are praying about buying to build a house and then we went to a nice Italian restaurant. The dessert was SOOOOOOO good! We came home at 8:30, happy and content. The kids were upstairs with the babysitter (a lady in her 50's we have known for over a year now). When I went upstairs and opened the door to their room, I about had a heart attack! Oreo cookie crumbs were all over the floor (We don't allow Japheth to eat cookies in the first place!), a whole box of baby wipes had been taken out one by one and were scattered all over the floor, ALL his toys were everywhere - you could barely see the floor - and the smell of spilled, (deliberately poured out) lotion permeated the whole room! Not to mention the clothes from the dresser that had been all pulled out and were strewn everywhere! I said, "Honey, your son deserves major swats!!!!" I thought for sure, Lupita had left him alone in his room for a few minutes and he had gone crazy! Apparently, right after we left, Rachel started crying so Lupita (the babysitter) shut Japheth's door and went to get Rachel to bring her in the room with them. When she came back to the room....... the door was locked! The doors here are built so that they can only be opened with a key (and she did not know where the key was). I had left the number of a neighbor so she called the neighbor to come over to help. The neighbor and her could not get the door open so they went to get another neighbor and her husband. Finally, and hour and a half later, they broke the knob (with a hammer and a drill!) off the door and rushed inside...... to find Japheth laying on the floor in the dark with a blanket on top of him and drinking a bottle.... almost asleep! Lupita said she was never going to babysit ANYONE's kids again! From Puebla, Nicole
We had a booth at a fair here in Puebla. Three boys that live in a Catholic orphanage were at a booth there as well. They had a booth directly in front of ours during the fair. When the people in charge of them left them alone for a few minutes, they walked up to us and asked us what true peace was. Praise the Lord, the three boys accepted Christ. 47 people accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour during the 5 days! Thank you for your prayers. From
Puebla,
9/16/02 Guess
who fell down the stairs!!! From Puebla, Nicole
9/18/2002 Prayer
request... Thanks to all, Nicole
9/23/2002 Thank you for all your prayers! We had a safe trip to and from the mountains of Tlapa these last few days. We left around 9am Thursday morning and arrived about 1pm. Tlapa is a little "pueblito" built into the side of a mountain. The only flat areas there are the riverbed and the area used for growing things! The pueblito was built in a time when no one there owned cars - so you can imagine the roads! (There were not any roads really!) Well, there was one paved road that went through the downtown area. The rest was dirt up very steep hills and the side of the mountain. That made interesting driving! The church had its 8th anniversary and my husband had the privelege of preaching both nights. He preached first and then his dad preached. The services were from 5pm till 9pm - but we got home between 10 and 11pm! It was VERY hot! Thankfully the church was AIR conditioned! It only had one wall!!! LOL!! They are in the process of building (like most churches in Mexico) and they have a roof and one wall done. They have another building with three classrooms and they are already building up above the church for more room. The pastor is a national who started the church with just his family. Now they run about 100. He had a carpentry business to help with finances that his son now runs. The church was very generous with us putting us in a hotel and letting us eat in members homes each day. The first day we went to a home and as the wife came out to greet us - she was American! And from California (where I am from!) I thought - what are the chances of me going to a small pueblito and meeting another american from Ca?! That was a blessing to be able to fellowhip with them. They will be coming here to Puebla in October when my husband goes to NY for a conference. Well, we had spent the money we were going to use to go to Tlapa on the fair two weeks ago so we filled up the gas tank - and left on faith that the Lord would provide for our return trip! Well, He did - isn't the Lord good!! Sunday was a good day in church with over 30 in the morning. So glad to be serving the Lord here in Mexico! From Puebla, Nicole
Where
are your children right now? He said that a few years ago he went to a pueblito (a little town) to go soulwinning. The town was a very poor, small town. There was no Mc Donalds, no grocery store, no Office Depot, no mall, just a few homes built out of cement and bricks and the small "tienditas". (Small stores that people put in their homes.) As he was going door to door he met a lady who was the kindergarten teacher for the town. She gladly listened to the plan of salvation and accepted Christ. Before leaving, she asked him if she could ask him a question. She said she had been teaching kindergarten for the last 15 years. She said over the last 5 years she had noticed a change in her students. She said the students used to be respectful, obey their parents, obey their teachers and dress modestly. She said over the last 5 years she has noticed that the children now do not obey thier parents, much less her, their teacher. She said they have discipline problems like they never had before. That the children have a harder time paying attention and learning as well. She asked him if he knew why there was such a drastic change in the children over the last 5 years. He looked at her and said, let me ask you a question. He said, "Where are you children right now?" She said, "They are in the other room watching television." He said, "Exactly! That is the problem with the children today. Television." You see, this pueblito was so small, they had not had tv till 5 years before. So, where are your children right now?
9/26/2002 Just had to share about a visit tonight. On our special day a few months ago, the Mendez family came out. They are a VERY large family. The first time we went to visit them was two days before Rachel was born. This was our third visit and what a blessing it is every time we go. The parents are in their late 80's. They cannot move around much anymore. They had 8 children. Only 1 son was married. He too had 8 children. The other children are in their 50's? and are still waiting for the right person. They did not want to marry anyone that was not a strong Christian... so they preferred to stay single and serve the Lord with their talents. They are ALL still living in the same house!!! Every time we arrive to their house, we sit at the table and visit with different family members until ALL the family members can come. They have a mechanic shop they run out of their home and the first time we visited, they closed the shop to come visit with us. Well, not only do they all come, they all bring their Bible's and expect my husband to teach them something from the Word. After a short Bible study, out come all the hymnals! Boy can they sing! They know by heart all the same songs we sing in our Baptist hymnal. They have an organ and a guitar that they play while we sing as well. I was thinking - what if all families were like this. That when the preacher comes to visit - we automatically went for our Bibles expecting the preacher to teach us something. What a blessing this family is to us in just their attitude in being willing to be taught from the Word of God. From Puebla, Nicole
10/1/2002 Just had the most wonderful blessing! A few hours ago a girl knocked on my door asking if I taught English. I said no but that I would be glad to help her. A few minutes later she showed up with her books and her younger sister and boyfriend. (Ages 18, 17, and 15) I spent about an hour helping her with her English homework and right before they left I said something about being a Christian (wish I could remember what!) and she asked me what religion we were. I told her and she asked what religion was the biggest religion in the states. I told her Baptist and she asked, "What do Baptists believe?" I said, "Let me ask you a question. If you were to die today are you 100% sure you would go to Heaven?" Of course they all giggled in embarrassment not knowing really what to say. I then asked, "If there was a way to know how to go to Heaven, would you like to know?" They all said Yes and so I had the wonderful privelege of showing them the plan of salvation and seeing the three of them accept Christ! Isn't the Lord good! From Puebla, Nicole
10/8/2002 Well, Sunday was a good day. We had 30 in the morning service. In the afternoon service we were afraid no one was going to come. We decided to have a practice session with Japheth. We put him in the front row (arms length of daddy! hehe!) and started church like normal. He learned pretty quick that the ONLY thing he could do was sit still! He is sooo cute though. When we sing, he sings too.... more like yells! He sings louder than daddy too! Well, slowly everyone started coming. 30 minutes before church started there was a terrible downpour of rain so everyone was running late. About 15 people ended up coming! Today in soulwinning my dh was able to lead someone to the Lord too! From Puebla, Nicole
10/13/2002 Had a great weekend! .... even if my dh was not here! LOL! The guest preacher and his wife came Saturday afternoon. They have only been married 2 months and it is sooooo cute to watch them! They are staying here with me, the kids, and a girl named Elena who is here to help me this week. Well, this morning we had 35 people in church! What a blessing! One family came that had visited once before. Well, I talked to the mom after church and she said she was coming back for night services. She did and so did her two children! After night church, I talked to her some more and she said that she will be coming on Wednesday and that she wanted to keep coming with us. We also had about 20 for night church as well. One more exciting thing is that a family we usually pick up came themselves! Before now, if we did not pick them up, they did not come. Because my dh is not here, I could not go pick them up by myself, so I could not offer them a ride. What a blessing that they came also! From Puebla, Nicole
What the people said they want in a Pastor's wife… from Shelly A
Lady of Bible Study and Prayer
From Puebla, Nicole
11/3/2002
Well, Saturday I FINALLY got to go out soulwinning with a lady in our church. It was so much fun. I enjoy going so much. No one accepted Christ but we were able to present the plan of salvation to a lady named Carmen. She said she would visit the church sometime but that she would never change because her family has been Catholic ever since they came to Mexico from France. Sunday morning and Sunday night we were blessed with over 20 faithful people. We are excited because we are seeing real growth in these people. Attendance has dropped but the people that stopped coming were people that we thought might try to divide the church with their weird beliefs. Another family that has a sister in a good IFB church in the states is asking a lot of questions and have told us that they are now planning to stay with us. They come from a good church but a church that did not teach separation from the world. They are now seeing the consequences of this in the lives of their teenagers. Slowly they are seeing how they can make things different in the lives of their younger children!
November 8, 2002 Just got back from soulwinning this morning... three teenagers accepted Christ today and we were able to clearly present the plan of salvation to another. Today was exciting! Three adults came to soulwinning today. Eric and Ines, and Talia. Talia and I went soulwinning together for one hour while my dh watched the three kids with Eric and Ines. (We could not leave the kids with Ines because she is blind... so the three of them watched the kids while we went out, then we came back and they went out.) It was Talia's first time and she was VERY nervous but she even started witnessing to people today. She has been saved a long time and her sister goes to a IFB church in Elgin, Ill. When her sister came to visit she brought her family to our church. Well, the first door we knocked on was a young teen girl that just moved here four months ago to work. She listened to the whole plan of salvation and then promised to come to church tomorrow. A few doors down was a row of "apartments". It is an open hallway with about 12 rooms. In the center there are two toilets... like outhouses. The rooms do not have showers. The people rent the rooms there. The first door we knocked on, a lady came out and said she was Catholic. Talia tried to witness to her... which was really exciting since it was her first time. A few rooms down we met an 18 year old girl named Jennifer. She invited us into her room and then her sister and friend also came. The ONLY thing in her room was a very old mattress. I think she had just moved there as they were cleaning the floor when we got there. Well, we spent about 30 minutes sharing the Bible with them and then all three prayed to receive Christ. Their names are Jennifer, Angeles, and Margarita. I told them that if they come to church tomorrow that we will take them out to eat afterwards. So please pray that they will come tomorrow. From Puebla, Nicole
January
12, 2003 Today was an exciting day. Just about all of our regular attenders came today. Wouldn't that be great if they all were faithful to all the services!! Only one regular family did not come and we had a new lady and her son come for the third week in a row. The husband of another member also came for the first time today. We were a total of 34. We had only 12 nice chairs and 12 plastic chairs so my husband asked the people if they would like to each buy a nice chair. The chairs cost about 24 dollars and that is about half a weeks salary for the average worker. Praise the Lord, the people gave enough so we could buy 5 chairs today and three more people promised to buy three more chairs next week!!! It is so exciting to see the people learn to give to the Lord.... it will also help them to be more committed to this church... plus they will want to sit closer to the front so they can sit on the nice chairs that they bought! LOL! Tonight we were 17... that is a big increase since last Sunday night. I started a new promotion for the kids where EVERY time they come to church they earn a sticker. After so many stickers they will earn a prize. I made it be EVERY time so that they will try to encourage their parents to come to church more faithfully. I think it worked because four of my ten SS kids were at church tonight! Glad to be serving the Lord in Puebla, Nicole
Today we had a great day soulwinning! We hired a teenage girl who attends another Baptist church to watch our kids today so I could go with my husband. Eric and Ines also came. We went to some apartment buildings close to our church and and had the privelege of leading 4 people to Christ. Eric and Ines also lead 2 people to Christ! Now if we can only get them to church tomorrow! From Puebla, Nicole
January 26, 2003 We passed our highest attendance record yet of 39 and had 41 people in church today! 9 were first time visitors and it was the second time for one other!!!! HOOOORRRAAAAAYYYY! We were sooooooo excited after church! Please pray for one of the visitors. Her name is Conchita. She has been have Bible studies in her home with the JW's for one year and has been to their "services" three times. She is the neighbor of Eric and Ines and they brought her today. She has three kids and my dh said that when they got out of my SS class, they ran up to their mom and asked if they could come back next week! Please, please pray for her salvation and that her kids will bug her all week to come back to church next Sunday! LOL! Oh, we also took up Faith Promise cards (to support other missionaries) today and our small church promised about 170 dollars a month!!!! That is really exciting! From Puebla, Nicole
January 31, 2003 Today an amazing thing happened! My husband was at the church this afternoon picking up some things when a teacher dressed in a suit and tie knocked on the door. This in of itself is amazing because we do not have a sign in the front. He came to ask what time we had services and if he could talk to the pastor. He had seen an announcement we had put out in the front area on our "Grand Opening" day in June! Well, my husband told him what times the services were and then asked if he could help him in any way. The man said that he had been raised a Catholic but he had never felt peace. He said that he had been studying with the Jehovah's Witnesses for several years but he was tired of how they keep telling him what he needs to do. He said that he now wants to try a Christian church to find peace in his soul. My husband asked him if he would like to know how to get saved. He did, and a few minutes later accepted Christ as his Saviour! From Puebla, Nicole
February 10, 2003 Yesterday we had a good day at church. We had one visitor in the morning and four of my SS kids received Christ as Saviour! We have a young lady named Margarita that attends our church. Margarita has an unsaved sister named Yolanda that now lives with her and has been coming to church with her. Yesterday afternoon we took Yolanda, Eric, Ines, and Margarita to a government office to finally name Yolanda's baby. Her baby is 8 months old! On the drive there we were still picking out the name! He finally ended up with Joshua Javier. In Mexico you do not have to name your baby until you want to. So, sometimes when parents still haven't decided, the baby could be almost a year old before actually having a name! Well, after we registered the baby and got the birth certificate, we went to Eric and Ines' house and had a nice Mexican meal with birthday cake to celebrate! We were celebrating that Joshua now had his name! While there we also were able to meet Eric's unsaved mom for the first time. She is a very nice woman and promised to visit our church one day. Over a year ago she made the curtains for our church yet she is not a Christian and has never in her life even visited a Christian church. Sunday night we had two ladies come to church that had not been in a long time. Their names are Carol and Manola. They do not believe in eternal security and want us to change our beliefs. When we told them that we are Baptists and that wasn't going to happen, they stopped coming. My husband called Manola last week just to say hi, and now they have come to visit us again! Well, that about covers it for today! From Puebla, Nicole
3/7/03 From Puebla, Nicole
3/8/03 From Puebla, Nicole
I forgot to mention that a man from NY sent 200 dollars for chairs, and the man who just came back from NY also gave 100 dollars for chairs.... They are 23 dollars a piece so that is about 13 more chairs! From Puebla, Nicole
5/03/03 Well our campaign is going well. Many of our church members are reading their Bible's and praying every day.... and some are even fasting once a week. Last Saturday we had one new lady come out for soulwinning and today another young lady came for the first time. Another woman and a man have also promised to come out next Saturday! Today I went with 15 year old girl named Rosa. We had the privilege of leading a 14 year old boy and a 20 year old girl to the Lord. We were also able to give the plan of salvation to a lady named Juanita. Juanita promised to try to come out for Mother's Day! Last Sunday we also had a first time visitor that accepted Christ! It was the first time in his whole life that he had visited a Christian church.... and my dh said that he was paying a lot of attention and very excited! During soulwinning I sometimes ask the person if they have ever been to a Christian church....90% of the time they answer no. Then I ask them if anyone has ever invited them to a Christian church before.... a little less than half can say yes..... ususally it is by a friend or a relative. The harvest is great but the laborers are few..... From Puebla, Nicole
5/5/03 Well, yesterday at church we had 42!!! It was the second time we have had 42 and it is also the hightest number of people we have ever had. Please please please put us on your prayer lists this week..... we would like to set a new attendance record next Sunday! Today we are taking 15 church members to a church about 2 hours away to listen to a preacher from Texcoco, Mexico. (We are going to the city of Tehuacan.) We will be coming back late tonight and then Tuesday morning we will be leaving early to go to Oaxaca.... also taking about 4-5 church members...... to listen to a preacher that is flying in from Monterrey. We will be staying the night there and then coming back in time for services here on Wednesday. Another praise is that two families that had stopped coming for about a month came again yesterday! Oh, and yesterday afternoon we took a teen girl named Rosa out to lunch and then we took her to her house where my husband was able to lead her uncle to the Lord! From Puebla, Nicole
5/08/03 Well, Monday we took 23 church members to a church that is about 2 hours away to hear a guest preacher..... it was the church anniversary and they were having a conference on the family. BOY was it good! The preacher used the verse Deuteronomy 22:8, "When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon thy house, if any man fall from thence." Because many people here in Mexico use the roofs of their house to wash clothes and hang laundry.... he used the illustration how that God sees it as important to put protections around the areas in our lives to protect our children from falling into sin. He then gave a lot of very practical examples of areas we sometimes don't feel are important but if we want to have good kids.... we need to see them as important and protect our children.... music, books, magazines, movies, tv, clothes, etc. We were very excited because we have about 46 people that we would consider "members" and 23 of them went with us! We came home around 1am Monday night/Tuesday morning and then left at 8am Tuesday morning for the city of Oaxaca..... 4 hours away. We took 4 church members with us. We got there in the afternoon, had lunch and then went to see the oldest tree in the world. It is supposed to be 2,000 years old and it is HUGE. We heard to preachings from two different preachers that night.... the theme was "separation from the world"..... so it was very good as well. One of the ladies who came in pants said that she wanted to talk to my dh later.... she looked very happy.... like she had made a decision! Wednesday morning we went to see the ruins of some pyramids in Mount Alban. They are huge and very interesting. They were built from a few hundred years before Christ all the way till about 800 years after Christ. So sad to think of all the Indians who lived all those years and never heard the true gospel. Amazing too to see what they would do for their false gods..... it makes me think how little I do for the Living God! The church there in Oaxaca also have a Mixtec ministry for the Indians that do not speak Spanish. A group of about 6 elderly people sang a special in Mixtec and that was very touching as well. We made it back Wednesday night for services here in Puebla. Now we are busily preparing for our special day this Sunday! From Puebla, Nicole
5/11/03
You won't believe how many people we had today....84!!! 84 Souls that heard the Gospel! We did not have enough chairs or room in the building so 10 people were standing outside! We had to divide the kids up so I had 16 kids and there were another 6 or more in another room for babies! Afterwards we had a potluck that the men prepared and then we finally made it home about 3 pm. We are now getting ready to go back tonight! Isn't the Lord WONDERFUL! From Puebla, Nicole
5/12/03 Is anybody's house smaller than this? (Well in width at least?) Last week my dh and I went to look at some new "houses" that are being built. The government has a program here that pretty much is like "project housing" in the states. The Mexican workers that pay into their social security can take a loan out and buy these federally underwritten houses...... Well, there were signs all over the city for these new houses so we went to go see them. When we arrived we found out that they were building a small city practically! They are building 10,000 houses, schools, daycares, a small shopping area etc., in this new area. Well we went to see one of the houses. The entire property was 3 meters wide by 17 meters long! Now 3 meters is 10 feet. The ENTIRE width of the house is 10 feet! There is no space between the houses, in fact they all share common walls... so your wall is actually your neighbor's wall as well! The 17 meters includes a parking space for your car (About 6 meters), the living room(4), dining room(3), the stairs(2), a half bath(1), the kitchen(3), and back patio (1) where you can fit a washer and maybe a dryer. The upstairs had two bedrooms and a bathroom. Our house is 4.5 meters wide and I thought it was small! From Puebla, Nicole
5/23/03 Just found out some exciting news! Sometime in January we will be adding a new addition to our family!
5/28/03 Our trip to Texcoco Well, we left Saturday morning and met the pastor and his family at their home about 2pm. We then went to lunch with them, their five kids, and the pastor's brother. After lunch they took us to the hotel and that evening my dh went to the church to preach to about 200 teenagers!!! They came from 2 churches. Sunday morning my dh preached for the Sunday School and the church service. There was about 400 people there total and people were saved.... not sure how many right now. There were first time visitors in all the services... results of the many church members that run their own "bus" routes to pick up people for church. Sunday afternoon we went to a buffet lunch with two families from the church. The food was the best I had tasted in Mexico..... BUT we won't be going back to that restaurant (Read on). Sunday night my dh preached again and after church two assistant pastor's and their wives took us to eat taco's. It was then the trouble began. I started to feel naseous... and I thought it was the pregnancy... so I did not eat anything. After three trips to the bathroom I realized that I had gotten sick from the buffet that we ate in the afternoon. We went home early and I was sick the rest of the night. At 4:30am I woke up and was sick again and because I had lost so much fluid I broke out in a very bad sweat and I literally thought I was going to die because the pain was so bad. My dh took me to a clinic where the doctor gave me an injection to stop the symptoms and a perscription to take when I could eat again. I was so scared that I was going to lose the baby..... we lost our second baby because I was sick from food poisoning...... Well, we ended up staying another day so I could get my strength back and by Tuesday I was feeling a lot better. We saw another doctor Monday afternoon to check on my progress to see if I needed to be hospitalized.... but my blood pressure was fine. Well, that was our eventful trip! Now we are home and thanking the Lord that me and the baby are doing fine. From Puebla, Nicole
5/29/03 Last night we had a visitor named Carmen and her 8 month old baby. Carmen goes to an IFB church in Chiapas and she just came to Puebla on a 18 hour bus ride so she can witness to her family. She came to church last night and we took her home and met her parents. My husband will be going over today to talk to the dad and Carmen is staying till Monday so she can try to bring them all to church on Sunday. This is the first time Carmen has come back to visit her family since she left to live in Chiapas 4 years ago. Isn't God good! Please pray that her family can be saved and will come to church this Sunday! From Puebla, Nicole
6/1/03 Well, it has been a very busy weekend. Here in Mexico when a girl turns 15 it is the custom to throw a big party for her. Friday one of the teen girls in our church turned 15. Her mom had been talking on and off with us about doing something small.... well Thursday we went to her home and discussed the plans for the party. They decided to do a dinner at a nice restuarant Friday night and then the "ceremony" in the church on Sunday morning. Saturday morning we met at the church and decorated the church with flowers and balloons. That night we showed up at the restuarant at the appointed hour.... 7pm. We left the kids with some neighbors. At 7pm there was one other family there. By 7:30 pm one other family showed up. At 8pm the guest of honor and her mom came. (We were getting a little hungry by now LOL!) By 8:30 the rest of the family had shown up. (The rest of the guests kept coming even later than that!) They had rented a room in the restaurant and it was decorated like a wedding reception in blue and white colors. They even had a dj. (Fortunately he played mostly classical and some light jazz.) (This is a new family in the church.) At about 8:45 people started giving speeches about the girl.... mostly thanking God that they were allowed to be an influence in her life. At 9 they asked my husband to say a few words and to pray. At about 9:15 the first sign of trouble began..... the waiter started filling everyone's glasses with wine!!! We politely declined. Then everyone stood up and toasted the birthday girl.... we toasted with our coke glasses! At 9:30 they served the salad! While we were eating the salad the four friends of the birthday girl went to the front with her and they started singing some songs with the help of the piano player. UGGGGHHHH! LOL! At 9:45 I was still very hungry but we decided that it was time for us to go! We politely said our good-byes! Sunday morning we are doing all the last minute details when the cake arrives! We bring it into the kitchen and my dh asks what flavor it is..... the mom says it is WINE flavored! (OH NO!) Well, we begin church and then after the song service my husband put on some classical music and the mom and the birthday girl walked into the church and sat in the front. After my dh prayed for her and said a few words, she passed to the front and gave thanks to God for allowing her to reach 15 years old. (In the Catholic church this is a ceremony presenting the girl to the world.... saying that she is now old enough to date and have sex!!!!.... we do it as a ceremony to present the girl to God and for her to promise to remain pure till she is married!) Well, my dh preached a sermon about being pure and also gave the plan of salvation. A first time visitor that was brought by one of our new members was saved!!! She was so excited too! After church we serve the cake..... come to find out the cake people made a mistake and it was only filled with strawberries!!!! (Sigh of relief!!!) Well, we don't anticipate another 15 year old birthday for at least three years.... and now we have learned all the things NOT to do! My husband is going to make a list of requirements for the family if they want to have it in the church/ or have us attend so we don't have any surprises next time! From Puebla, Nicole
6/5/03 Last night we had a first time visitor.... He came to pay his rent at the building next to ours and saw our sign. He came to ask about when our services were and ended up staying. He had attended a Baptist church for five years from 87-92 but has stopped. Well, last night he accepted Christ as his personal Saviour and left a very happy man! We find it VERY common here that people can attend Bible or even Baptist churches here in Puebla.... for years..... and never have actually accepted Christ. From Puebla, Nicole
6/5/03 Well guess what happens when you misplace the electric bill and forget about it for two weeks....... oh yes they actually come out and turn off the electricity!!! This afternoon.... right before I was about to cook dinner..... they came and turned it off.... No mercy! I had got the bill two weeks ago..... they slip it under your door as we don't have a mailbox..... and I showed it to dh and then I put it on top of the fridge. To pay bills here you have to actually go to the electric company and pay it.... no checks in the mail! (For the phone bill we actually pay the money at the bank!) Well, after they turned it off, my dh went to pay the bill. They said they could not turn it back on till at least tomorrow so I called up my neighbor and asked if I could put a few things in her fridge. My husband took the things over and when he did he talked with her husband. He then came over to our house and showed us how to turn the electricity back on!!!!!! He said he does it all the time! Don't worry.... the meter is running so we are paying for all the electricity we are using.... we just saved them a trip. He did show us how to make it so the meter didn't run... but we declined! Well that was our eventful day! From Puebla, Nicole
6/10/03 Well Sunday was a very busy day for us! After church we were invited to go to one of the members houses for tamales. What we didn't know is that they intended to invite the whole church! About half of the church ended up going.... a little over 20 people. Their house is a good 45 minute drive from the church so when we did get there we were all hungry! It was a great time of fellowship and the tamales were good too! One cute story..... Last week in Sunday School class I was teaching a little bit on manners.... how kids should stand up when an adult enters the room and offer their seat as well as how they should wait to be served till last and not try to always be the first one in line. Well, one of the mom's told us that that morning she had sent her 5 year old daughter to the corner to buy tamales for breakfast. When she got back her mother asked her why she took so long. She said, "Well, mom, there was all these people that kept coming and getting in line and Sister Munoz told me that I should always be last!!!" I guess I need to be more specific! From Puebla, Nicole 6/11/03 Well pray for my husband today..... From Puebla, Nicole 6/16/03 If I hadn't seen it I wouldn't have believed it..... so I won't mind if some of you doubt what I am about to write! But this really happened to us today.... Saturday night we got a phone call from one of the young ladies in our church. Her name is Margarita. She was raised in a Christian orphanage, saved at the age of 18 and is now here in Puebla going to school. Her cousin Yolanda and her two children live with her as does Ester, her 13 year old niece. Well, Margarita called us and told us that she was at the hospital with her niece Ester because Ester was acting crazy. Thursday night Margarita tried to witness to her niece and since that moment, her niece started behaving like she was demon possessed. She would faint and start talking while she was sleeping. She began to hear two distinct voices in her head that told her to kill herself and she also saw a monster that wanted to kill her and a man that said all sorts of things. When she called us we thought that maybe the niece was faking it all or that MAYBE she was demon possessed. We told her to come to church today (Sunday) and we would talk to her then. Well, they came to church today. They had to inject the niece with medicine to keep her calm until church. They sat in the nursery and then after church we began to talk with Ester. After about 30 minutes we felt pretty sure that she was fine and that she was already saved.... then my husband was going to go through the plan of salvation and have her pray.... to be sure..... when she started to manifest the demons. She started to faint then started to say a lot of crazy things. She was trying to pull her hair out and we had to restrain her from hurting herself. My husband and another man in the church started to pray and a real spiritual battle began. For about 40 minutes this went on until finally she calmed down and fell asleep for 30 minutes. When she woke up she did not recognize us and did not know where she was. (While this was going on we were so confused! We believe that a demon cannot possess a saint... and here was a girl that claimed to be saved being possessed! We or at least I, was tempted to change my theology by all that I saw!) Well, we called two pastors and asked them to come to the church and to bring any other men as well. Four pastors came. After explaining the situation to them.... Ester was now in her right mind.... I took Ester out of the room while the pastor's talked. They called her back in and asked her a lot of questions. After that they gave her the plan of salvation and my husband asked her to pray in her own words. She did.... and DID SHE PRAY! I have never heard a more sincere honest prayer. She prayed for about five minutes and was gloriously saved! The pastors then laid hands on her and prayed for her. When she left the room she went up to her aunts and started crying.... thanking them for helping her to be free. She had a smile that showed a difference and she said that she no longer felt the same and the opression she felt earlier was gone. We were planning to put her in a hospital for a few days to have her observed.... she did not hurt herself or anyone else.... but instead her aunts are taking care of her and are going to call us if something else happens. Tomorrow we are going to take her to a "Christian psychologist"..... (now normally I wouldn't give 2 cents for a "Chrstian psychologist".... but one of the pastor's runs a women's clinic where they deal with a lot of women that have serious problems...) and so we will see what she says. She will also be examined physically to see if there is anything "wrong" physically as well. (Just to cover all bases and do the best we can for this little girl!) Now, if she was 15 or so or from the city.... I would say she made the whole thing up. She is a girl from a very small, poor pueblito and that has not been exposed to tv or movies that would show her how to act like she acted. This was our best judgment of the situation.... and we could be wrong..... but in either case.... Ester needs your prayers! Our church is praying and fasting this week for her.... each member is taking a day to fast... Well, that was our day! From Puebla, Nicole 6/17/03 Our day yesterday was very eventful. In the morning my husband took Ester and her aunt to the women's clinic where they talked to a psychologist. They will be going back Wednesday. Ester hasn't had anymore of the problem speaking through her.... but yesterday she said the house smelled bad.... like rotten eggs.... for three hours and that she was still seeing things. In the afternoon we were supposed to pick up two people from the church and go to an elementary school and pass out flyers about VBS. As my husband was on his way to pick me up.... he got pulled over by the police. They asked him for the papers to show that the car is legal.... which it is.... but they said it wasn't and said they had to impound the car! OR Arturo could "buy" a permit for about 50 dollars!!!! He told them that he was a pastor and did not do that.... but they said fine, follow us to the impound place.... so he had to give them the money!! UGGHHHH! Well, we were late to the school.... the kids were already dismissed and leaving, but we were able to pass out about 500 invitations. One mother called us for information. The Catholic church was also there... they had a little class for an hour and then gave out posters to all the people that stayed the whole time. The lady in charge of it came over to me and asked about the flyers we were handing out..... but she did not tell me she was there doing a Catholic "Bible" study!!! I saw her later with her clipboard taking attendance! Finally, the healthcare system here for the poor makes me so mad! A good friend of one of our church members was 7 months pregnant and went into labor. Instead of trying to stop the contractions, they did a c-sec. and delivered a baby a little under 2 lbs. The baby then died. Please pray for the salvation of the parents.... Brenda and Freddie. From Puebla, Nicole 6/17/03 Ok... I am a little nervous now! LOL! Please pray for me! I am VERY nervous! Please pray that I won't stumble over my words in Spanish. From Puebla, Nicole 6/22/03 Our trip went very well! We left about 11am Thursday morning.... an hour later than we wanted to .... and we arrived in Iguala around 3pm. We had lunch, and then got settled in the hotel. Church started at 7pm. Pastor Ezekiel Salazar from LA, CA. preached. He spoke on the Holy Spirit. Friday morning the classes began at 9am with my MIL. At 10 am Mrs. Salazar gave a class.... and at 11 am it was my turn! I was VERY nervous! Fortunately.... there was a last minute change of plan and Mrs. Salazar did a class for all the wives of people in full time service... and her daughter did a class for all the unmarried girls..... so there was a little over 40 women left with me! I was so glad! That was so much a better number for my first time than the 100 or so my FIL told me would be there! The class went well and a few ladies came up to me that night and said that they were talking about the class during lunch.... the things that they learned! Well, at 12pm there was a "modeling show" put on by the church members.... modeling clothes that we should not wear! They locked the doors and banished all the men of course first! My MIL came out in a miniskirt and very low shirt! It was such a good example.... because all the people that modeled dress modestly all the time... you could see how them just putting on different clothes changes your perception of the person. One good thing.... the teen girls were so embarrassed that they did not want to come on stage! Then Mrs. Salazar taught the last class. Friday night we had another preaching session with Pastor Salazar. Saturday we spent the morning with the family and came back at 3pm.... but it was raining so it took us 4 and a half hours to come home! Well, that was our trip! Nicole 6/22/03 God always provides on time! Praising the Lord from Puebla, Nicole 6/22/03 Well, today we had a good day at church! We had two visitors that have been coming for a while that have said that they are now going to make our church their church! They are an older couple and he used to be an assistant pastor of a Bible church.... not sure why they are not there anymore.... but they seem to be a very sweet humble couple. We asked another pastor here if we could borrow his church van for a week when the visitors come from North Carolina.... they are coming this Saturday.... he said sure..... for $200!!!! Well, this older couple will be loaning us their van for free! Another lady in the church named Sandy brought a visitor named Nadia.... it was her second time and both of them looked so happy! Sandy because her best friend is now coming to church with her.... and Nadia because she now knows the Saviour!! We also had a visitor from Wisconsis. Her name is Gina and she is here in Puebla taking a course in the college for her Master's degree in linguistics. She and her husband teach at Maranatha Baptist Bible College in Wisconsin. Well, Saturday a group of 10 people will be coming here for 10 days. Next Monday we will have VBS with them helping us and the following Sunday... the 6th of July will be our FIRST ANNIVERSERY as a church!!! The church members have all signed up to bring meat, salsa, tortillas, beans, etc.... and I will be cooking all the meat... 25 lbs.... on my Extra Large George Foreman grill! We will also be doing baptisms next Sunday.... it is almost finished and looks really nice.... we just have to see if it will hold water! In between all this is our fourth marriage anniversary and my birthday! WHO said summer time was vacation time! LOL! From Puebla, Nicole
6/30/03 Well our group from North Carolina arrived Saturday. My husband met them at the airport and they took a bus to Puebla then taxis to their hotel. Sunday was a wonderful day... We had 55 people..... not including the group of 10, about 8-10 first time visitors.... and six baptisms! So aside from Mother's Day when we had 84 (which we don't anticipate beating in a while!), this was our highest attendance day! Sunday afternoon we took the group to a family's house and they made pozole, tamales, mole with chicken and rice. Talk about a meal.... I think we all rolled out of there! Sunday night the preacher from N. Carolina preached again and my dh translated. We had two more visitors for the Sunday night service as well as the last baptism. After church we took them out for some good old McDonald's hamburgers.... they liked that! Today they are going to see the pyramids in Mexico City and I am staying home with two sick kids.... and I will be trying to beat this cold as well! From Puebla, Nicole 7/2/03 Well, we sure have been busy! Monday our visitors went to see the pyramids in Mexico City. They rented a van with a driver and the pastor was able to lead the driver to the Lord! I will introduce you in Heaven! Tuesday we ran around and finished buying the supplies we needed including a 10 foot by 20 foot tent like structure. We set up for VBS and at 4:10pm we started. At 4:10pm we had no kids at all but by 6 pm when we ended there were over 65 people including all the kids, workers, and parents standing around. Wednesday we went to the pyramid here in Cholula.... it is the largest pyramid in base in the world. Then we went to have lunch at one of the church member's houses. Four ladies had gotten together to help make it! How exciting when we see our own church members getting close to others in the church and organizing themselves! Well, we had a delicious meal and they surprised me with a banner, balloons and cake for my birthday. They also gave me a book. We got to VBS and set up and there were people waiting for us this time. During the preaching time there were over 100 people total in attendance!!! (Including all the workers and babies.) One real blessing is that I met a lady there who ending up bringing her two children. She had gotten saved in another city a few years ago and since she had moved here to Puebla she had not been attending any church. I gave her a gospel tract and she sat down and read the whole thing. I went over to talk to her to make sure she was saved and when I went there my husband had just finished saying a prayer. When she opened her eyes, she had tears in her eyes and she told me that it was the first time that she had prayed in she didn't know how long! Well, she promised to come to church on Sunday and she let us store the chairs and tent in her house so we don't have to keep bringing it back and forth to the place we are doing VBS. I also met a blind teenage boy that had a friend who is a Christian. The friend had taken him to church and led him to the Lord already! When it was over at 6pm my husaband dismissed the kids and no one moved! He had to tell them three times that the class was over and that they had to go home and they could come back tomorrow!! Praising the Lord from Puebla, Nicole 07/05/03 Thursday we had 110 people total and Friday we were 100 again. Thursday afternoon the lady that is allowing us to keep the things in her home asked my husband a question. She asked, "How are WE going to bring all these children to church on Sunday!" She has never even been to church but she is already including herself in the WE and thinking about Sunday!! Well, my dh said that we were going to see and we hadn't worked it out yet. She said then that her husband and her own three buses! (The buses are on city bus routes and that is how they get their income.) She asked if we wanted to set apart those three buses to bring all the kids to church on Sunday!! My dh said three would be too much but we sure could use one!!! Isn't God good! All we have to do is pay the gas for the bus and the lady will drive the bus to church! Today we had a minor problem. A group of people who believe in healing and casting out demons came right up to all the mother's standing around the VBS and started handing out invitations to all of them for a healing service the next day..... tomorrow. I was in the car and could not get there to stop them and my dh was teaching the class so he couldn't do anything either. Well, about 20 minutes later they came back and I was there so I asked the man what they were doing and politely asked him to leave and not to bother the people we were working with. He kept insisting that he had every right to pass out his flyers and we should let the "spirit of God" show the people what to do!!! Finally, not so politely I asked him if he would like it if we came to his event tomorrow and started passing out our flyers. He finally agreed to leave. Please pray for tomorrow.... they have their event tomorrow from 3 to 4:30 and we start our VBS at 4pm. Please pray that they won't cause any more problems or try to "steal" the people we are working hard to reach. On a brighter note, my dh gave a clear presentation of the gospel today and most all of the children prayed to accept Christ. For an honest number we would guess that about 30 looked very sincere. We can only do our best and leave the rest to God! Some of the mother's were praying as well. Well, my FIL and family are here and tomorrow we will be giving out 8,000 tracts for Sunday. Sunday is our anniversary. We would sure like to beat the 84 we had for Mother's Day but we will be happy with anything over 55. From Puebla, Nicole
7/07/03 Well, Saturday went well. In the morning we went to breakfast then we went to the church at 11am. We spent an hour cleaning the church and we even found a vacuum to buy for only 20 dollars! At 12 noon we went to a very busy marketplace and passed out about 4,000 tracts. At 2 we went to lunch with the whole group as well as my dh's family. We had ribs at Tony Roma's..... one of my favorite places to go! We held the VBS at 4pm and there were about 80 people there. Meeting at the same time was the Boy and Girl Scouts so at least 15 of the kids that had been coming were with them. After that we went to the church again and finished the last details and then everyone came to my house for sweet bread and coffee. Sunday morning everyone came to my house again and we made sandwiches for the kids. We went to the place where we were having VBS and 30 kids and 5 parents were waiting for us. They all got on the bus that the lady loaned us and we got to church about a quarter till 11. Another pastor had sent us a HUGE arrangement of flowers for the front to help us celebrate our first anniversary! Well, in total there were right around 100 people!!! We had so many first time visitors.... at least 12 adults..... At two adults were saved. I was busy in the kitchen cooking over 20 lbs of meat for the tacos..... I am SO thankful for my George Foreman Grill!!! Then every time we used the microwave all the power went out..... so we had to wait till church was over and turn off all the lights and electronic things so we could use the microwave to heat up the other things! Everything worked out wonderfully and somehow we were able to feed all those people! At night church we had about 30 people so that was a blessing as well! This morning we took them to the bus station and pretty soon they will be back home in North Carolina. Thanks for all your prayers! From Puebla, Nicole 9/7/03
From Puebla, Nicole 9/27/03 Today was the first Saturday I have been able to go out soulwinning with my husband since I got off of bedrest. A teen girl came to the church and she stayed with the kids so I could go with my husband. We were able to lead one elderly lady to the Lord, Praise Him! After soulwinning we went to visit the family of the girl that fell out of the window. The whole family will be coming tomorrow and the husband and wife have agreed to be baptized! Now it is time to get ready for tomorrow! From Puebla, Nicole 9/29/03 My husband just caught three mice in about 15 minutes! This afternoon we found evidence of mice all over the sink and clean dishes so we just got back from seeing the doctors and other errands and my dh put out the mouse traps about 15 minutes ago! I hope that is all of them! In the room downstairs that we use as a laundry room my dh jerryrigged the vent to go out the window... and then put cardboard over the window to keep the rain and such out.... it has been there for two years now and has gotten loose... so that is how they are getting in! Tomorrow he is going to fix the window! From Puebla, Nicole 10/05/03 Our trip to Tlapa went very well! We left a little later
than we wanted to. We left around 10am Thursday morning and arrived
four hours later. It is only 140 miles but because of the roads it takes
four hours. I will post some pictures we took of the potholes and huge
rocks that have slidden into the middle of the roads in my webpage later!!
Tlapa has a population of about 50,000 and is your typical Mexican town.
There are no "Stores" or malls! Families open up their mom
and pop stores and you buy your meat in the open market. Most all of
the streets are dirt roads... which would be best traveled with a 4
by 4! Well, we arrived at 2pm and went to the pastor's house where they
treated us to a nice mexican lunch. We were able to rest in our hotel
for a few minutes and then we headed off to church for the 5pm service.
My husband preached first and then his dad preached. We then went to
eat dinner at the house of one of the church members.... or I should
say the house of half of the church members!!! When the pastor was new
in town he put a speaker on top of his car and started announcing that
there was going to be a VBS for kids. About 10 kids came out of a house
and asked if they could go. Turned out the whole family of aunts, uncles,
parents, grandparents, etc., live on a huge piece of land that encompasses
a city block... they have the land all divided up between the families.
They are all very humble families with cement floor houses and some
with curtains for doors. Well, the whole family ended up being saved
through those 10 kids starting to come to church and now the whole family
comes to the church every Sunday! Well that is where we ate the first
night. The next day we went to the pastor's house for breakfast and
then to the church for the noon preaching service. My husband again
preached and then my FIL did. The church is open on one side so it provided
a nice breeze.... the only inconvenience was having to duck out of the
way of a two inch big WASP that was flying around my head! YIKES! We
had lunch at the church and then headed back to the hotel to rest. The
next day we had breakfast with the pastor and then headed back home
to Puebla! 10/27/03 Praises from Puebla!!! Isn't it great when people call you asking you how to be saved!!!!!! Praise the Lord for another name written down in glory. We will be picking her up for church on Wednesday. From Puebla, Nicole 11/03/03 Well Friday my dh was able to go to the cemetary and pass out about 500 tracts. On Saturday 8 church members were able to go and on Sunday the whole church went after a shorter than usual church service..... in all we passed out about 12,000 tracts!!! All of the church members were excited and praising the Lord for the opportunity to serve Him. We had one church member say that she has now passed out enough tracts to make up for all the times she never passed out tracts! One man was so excited that he asked for more and went out even after we were finished..... my husband also went out a little later and saw him there and he was still working hard! All of them had stories about people who had refused tracts and others who thanked them for the work they were doing. One common question we were asked was, "How much is it?" When told that the tracts were free most people did not believe us! One lady insisted on giving 10 pesos (about 1 dollar) to help with the costs so that we can print more tracts! Another lady read the tract she received, prayed to receive Christ and then filled in her name and address at the bottom of the tract and gave the tract back to the person who gave it to her! Even some nuns asked for some tracts! Praising the Lord from Puebla! Nicole
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