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Hello, my name is
Margaret (Margarita), Mother to A.W. and Kathy and Grandma to
beautiful Deborah Raquel. I relay these observations from a heart of
compassion, eyes and ears that have seen and heard firsthand
Guadalajara and the surrounding area.
In a nutshell
Guadalajara and areas around are quite populous, very dusty and dry
with a high sun intensity right now. The people water down the streets
in front of their homes to cut down on some of the dust. There is a
thunderous and constant traffic flow. Siesta and stay inside during
daytime heat and then at dusk when sun goes down the day begins. Of
course there is activity in daytime early before the sun begins to
heat but not with the later level.
Over the city and
areas is a great heaviness of spiritism. While in the largest outdoor
market area in Guadalajara – San Juan De Dios or St. John of God - I
saw a witch doctor attempting to cast a spell on
everyone. Also there were many voodoo, magic and other spirit
objects in the market for sale (other than God’s Holy Spirit). This
is not just the tourist area that most Americans see advertised. This
is a place of great spiritual warfare.
About 17.5 miles from
A.W.’s and Kathy’s home is the San Augustin Church. People of the
church are very friendly and have grown under the ministry of the
Pastors, Jorge and Rosa. God placed A.W. and Kathy here as servants.
Over the past three years there has been a growth with approximately
70 attending worship, which includes the children. The church is still
growing. There was a new couple and baby that entered last Sunday and
joined. It was a very long
day as we left the house at about 9:00 a.m. and did not return until
around 3:00 p.m.
The people greet
everyone with a smile, handshake and a kiss. Each one assumes their
place of service and leadership in the San Augustin Church with a
respectfulness of God’s house and the other members. These people
truly come to worship with hearts of gratitude and adoration and an
eagerness for more. Most of us Americans expect an hour of worship and
go home or go eat before going home. Ha, ha most of these folks do not
own watches, so they worship until it is God’s time to leave,
perhaps 2.5 or 3 hours or more.
Women here are not
treated with the respect due God’s creation. So many have to survive
on their own in anyway they can to feed their children. There is this
one young couple with two children in the San Augustin Church that I
was especially interested in. The daddy left the family and the mother
and two boys came and were ministered to and received Jesus. The boys
were undisciplined. Now their daddy has joined them in church and
accepted Jesus into his heart and life. He had taken his place of
service in the church and place in the home. There are many other
stories such as this, but quite evident God had and is surely having a
work in progress here.
The children are all
precious and so eager to learn and to be included. The children’s
ministry on Saturday mornings at the soccer field is a true learning
experience for them. They are taught obedience, manners and
punctuality. If they are late or do not listen or do not participate
in the Bible studies and craft time they are not rewarded with cereal
and banana and then candy before leaving. Now all of us have heard the
tune to the “hokey pokey” and these children use the tune but a
different word version beginning with “the kick of the donkey also
the goat, like this, like this, I will praise you……..”. They all
stand in a circle and sing and do the motions with the tune and words.
It is my understanding
that if this priest had so ordered, the children, but not those of the
evangelized San Augustin Church, could have been told to leave (see
note below). They
would have been very obedient and done so, missing out not only on the
fun time, but also on the Bible teaching and Christian people and
atmosphere. Yes, God wants
His Word to go out everywhere unhindered and with peace and grace
abounding.
Much prayer is needed
for these ministries in Guadalajara.
There are many, many
here that work only for tips, as they have no salary. For instance, at
the gas stations, the men, who work for the station, run up to pump
gas into your vehicle expecting whatever tip you give them to help put
food on their table. They,
too, receive a tract from the book of John (St. John).
If you hear a cowbell
ringing it is not announcing the presence of a cow, but the garbage
man is there. The gas service and the water service announce their
presence with a loud call over the speaker. Kind of reminds me of when
we use to get milk delivered to our homes many years ago.
The population of the
city and surrounding areas is approximately 10 million people and of
that less than 1% are evangelized. What a need for the proclamation of
the Word of Jesus there is here! Most of us cannot go and stay and
minister personally, as I too will be back at home in the states by
the time you read this.
My personal plea to
everyone who reads this newsletter is to be involved in this great
undertaking for God’s plans for these people. The “How, When,
Where” of doing this is so much easier than you could imagine. The
needs are “financial, prayer covering daily, from your comfortable
seat at home”. A.W., Kathy and little Deborah’s life is under
constant spiritual attack so they need your daily prayers of covering
for protection. Their only means of support is your personal
contribution to the ministry here. They also seek out support from
churches monthly.
I challenge those of
you who are not now sending financial assistance to begin by sending
$10 a month as a love
offering out of God’s abundant resources available to you.
(It is not until you give your tithe to the church that you really
begin giving to God, as that is His anyway. After that you then begin love
offerings and gifts
to Him.) You do
the math, as 100 people begin sending this, what is the bottom line?
Blessings for you as you join hands with A.W. and Kathy as God’s
workers on the field.
(NOTE:) The
children's ministry in the field is now well established and has been
there for several years now. The priests had been telling the people
that we were evil and not to listen to us. But now the people know
that we are not evil and only want to help them and be a blessing to
them. So if the priest had told them now that we are evil etc, they
would not believe them because they have seen for themselves and know
that we are there to help. There is fruit in this ministry and
children are being discipled at a young age. God
bless.
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