Day 6 in Mexico

Life has not always been easy.  Remedios sent money to buy her mother a TV.  I bought the TV last Friday, tried to install it, found that it got no channels and that the connection for video games was bad.  The next day I bought an antennae, spent several hours putting it together only to find it did not rotate after it was all installed.  I was totally worn out.  I decided that the enemy could win all the battles he wanted to – except the important ones.  Take it down; take it back (without a receipt); take TV back to WalMart in Querétaro; feared the worst – got the best.  No problem at WalMart and no problem at the tiny store that didn’t give me a receipt.  Hopefully everything will work when I get back to Negritas in a couple of days.

Speaking of the next couple days, Jerilyn and I are spending a few in Querétaro with Jesús and Pueblito Escobar.  Jesús is Lupe’s cousin and attended our church in Jefferson for several years as well as all our outreaches.  He also attended my leadership training at church with Lupe and Juan.

We were going to visit Jesús and Pueblito after out trip to Oaxaca but the need to water Lupe’s fields postponed that a few days so we moved up our trip to Querétaro.  I helped Lupe water this morning for a few hours and became TOTALLY exhausted.  No exercise for three months coupled with 7300 feet altitude and being now over 58 years old all worked together to take a heavy toll on my poor little old body.

Pray for a good visit with Jesús and Pueblito.

Pray for a great trip to Oaxaca.

Pray for an awesome harvest of corn, beans, and squash. (You can see them all in the pictures.)

 

Watering is very hard work!  The crop is on a hill.  We started water running on the up hill side and directed it with little dams.  Because it was running at a good clip down hill in each row we had to put little dams all along the way.  We let it run to the end of the row and then stopped it with a dam.  Then we had to stop it farther up with another little dam as the water got to the top of the previous dam.  Lots of emergencies as water would breach the row and threaten to wash out the whole way down the hill!  Pray for rain!  It takes 3 or 4 days to water and they have to do it every week it does not rain.  Also, if it does not rain they will run out of water in the little reservoir they have.

We are in Negritas

We are now in Negritas with Lupe and Leti.  We are also looking for guidance as to when we should go to Oaxaca. Lupe and Leti cleared their schedule so we are good to go from that standpoint.  Their crops look good for now but it hasn't rained for a week and we should probably water before we go... which takes three days!  God knows the best days for us to be in Oaxaca and that is why we are looking to him for guidance.  We have another visit to make nearby that will take a couple of days, and so we could wait for a few days.  I am planning to teach a three day seminar in Oaxaca with 5-9 students. 

Our little car flew past 280,000 miles on the way here.  Pray that it does well to Oaxaca and back with Lupe and Leti’s whole family added to the load.  We will be completely over-loaded.  We have a carrier on top and a carrier on the trailer hitch.  I just need to lose some weight and we’ll be good.

Speaking of Lupe’s crops, keep praying!  (See previous post!)  This could be their best crop by far if God chooses to bless.  (It would not be hard as he has never had a “good” crop).  We want God to make his power known.  The last rain dumped a great amount of water on Lupe’s fields while many fields of nearby farmers did not receive any.  Some people are openly asking, “Why?”

“Glorify Your name in all the earth!”

Lift up your hands on the mountain!

That’s what we want you to do.  When the children of Israel were fighting against the Amalakites in the desert, Moses, Aaron, and Hur were up on the mountain supporting them in prayer.  When Moses lifted up his rod high (an indication that he was lifting up the people in prayer) the army of Israel was winning.  When Moses lowered his rod the Amalakites prevailed.  Noticing this, Aaron and Hur supported Moses’ arms as he lifted up the rod. 

So which battle was more important?  The one on the mountain or the one down on the desert?  The answer, I think, is both!  The people had to fight the battle in the desert… but if Moses, Aaron, and Hur weren’t up on the mountain supporting them in prayer that battle would have been lost!

We are now in Mexico fighting the battle, but we need you to lift us up in prayer.  We plan to return home on August 18.  Please pray for us until then.  A few things you can pray for:

• Safety on the road.
• Success in encouraging Lupe and Leti in their ministry.
• Success is teaching a seminar on how to use Bible storying to teach home Bible studies.
• Success in starting 2 new Bible studies in Santiago Apostol in Oaxaca.  Pray that they would continue after we leave with the ones we train in charge.

We will try to keep you informed with updates when find an internet café.  It is easier for me to type a fast report on Facebook than on this blog.  So, if you like you can friend me on facebook (Jon Sousa) and I will accept the next time I am on.