Juan and His Family Facing a New Challenge

Please pray for Juan Alvarez and his family.  Today I went with Juan to his doctor’s appointment.  The doctor confirmed the worse case scenario – that he has CML (Chronic Myeloid Leukemia).  What this means is that he has to take a single pill every day for the rest of his life.  That one pill a day costs $6,000 a month.  The prognosis for CML with the one pill a day is a normal long life.  The prognosis for CML without the one pill a day is 3-4 years of life expectancy. 

Juan baptizing his daughter in 2007

Now for the good news:  there is an organization that helps with the purchase of this medicine.  Juan talked with a representative two weeks ago and tomorrow we need to call them again.  Apparently this is a process that takes a while as the doctor said that if he didn’t get the medicine by the first week of January to call him.

Can you guess what the main prayer request is?  Pray that he gets the financial aid he needs!  Such a cost is almost unfathomable to me.  If Juan lives to the age his father is now he will go through a million dollars worth of medicine.

Juan, through this whole process (two weeks so far) has been the picture of peace and joy.  As we left the doctor’s office I said, “I am sorry, Juan.”  Juan answered with a smile, “God knows what he is doing.  We just have to trust in him.”   

“Perfect love casts out fear.”  It is fully resting in God’s perfect love for us that results in peace and a lack of fear.

A New Pastor in our Salem Church

Last week Pastor Pablo resigned as the pastor of our Salem church.  They have named me (Jon Sousa) as their temporary pastor.  I have agreed to pastor the church for 2 or max 3 years.  While this is not something I was looking forward to, it was something that we have been expecting for a while.

Continue to pray for Pastor Pablo and his family.  He is continuing to recover from a very rare cancer that was producing hormones that were killing him.  The cancer has been removed and no further treatment is necessary.  While his body is slowly recovering and gaining strength it will never be fully restored to its pre-cancer size and strength.

Septic System In

In my last post I wrote how Lupe, Leti and their 4 children were into their new little house (550 square feet) but had no drinkable water, no septic system, and a totally inadequate electrical supply.    

The septic systems here are totally different than in the US.  Instead of having a septic tank and a drain field they dig out a room under the ground.  They build the walls with cement block and it has a cement floor with a hole, 1½ feet in diameter, in the middle.  They also build a cement roof for the room with a cement lid for access.  The drain pipe dumps into this room and everything that goes into it has to escape through the 1½ foot hole in the floor.  I was told that all of these “systems” stink.  The whole process is very time consuming and expensive.  It might be months before Lupe could get it done.  I explained to Lupe how a US septic system works and that we could install it in a couple of days.  His main concern was that it would stink.  I assured him that it would not. 

Digging Trenches (notice their view)

Having received permission to proceed, I made a shopping list and set out to find the ingredients to build a septic system.  Since no such thing exists here it was harder than I thought.  I had to make do with what I could find and it took more than a day to find everything.  It took us two days of work spread over three days but the job is done and they now have a working toilet.  The only problem is that they have no water to run the toilet.  As soon as the job was finished we tried to fill the family water tank with the brownish water from the community reservoir but we could not get the pump to start.  Alas, we were disappointed.  The toilet is now working with the “bucket of water” method.

Covering the "septic tank"

We had to drill our own holes in the pipe for the drain field.
Levi (10) manning the drill and Daniel (7) holding.

Speaking of water, I was able to find a good price for 300 meters of 1” supply line to bring city water to the house.  The supplies to do this project are bought and at the house.  Pray that Lupe can get the water people to make the tap into the 2” main this week so that he can lay and bury the line that he now has and that they can have clean running water soon.

I also bought 120 meters of #8 wire (two individual wires, no ground) and conduit to bury it in.  Later today I hope to put the wire into the conduit and install it tomorrow morning.  Lupe will have to bury the wire after we leave. 

The cost of all the materials that I bought came to a total of about $665.  As I mentioned in my last post, you can help with these expenses by making out your check to ICDV for whatever amount you choose; write Negritas in the memo and send it to: ICDV (Iglesia Comunidad del Valle), PO BOX 240, Jefferson, OR   97352.  All moneys designated to Negritas go to support Lupe and Leti as missionaries to their home town and the surrounding communities.

It became the TOTALLY cool thing to do once I told the
boys that they could fill in the ditch.  Within 5 minutes
there were "experts" telling the others the right way to do it.

We are safely in Mexico and Working Hard

We are safely in Mexico and have spent the last week visiting with and encouraging Lupe and Leti.  We had a lot of setbacks at the border and had to spend an extra day there.  In the end, we had to leave the car we were driving in storage and take a bus the rest of the way.  The bus ride took a day and a half but we finally arrived safe and sound.

A couple of nights ago Jerilyn and I had some interesting moments.  While I was in bed and Jerilyn was sitting in the dark, a poisonous snake climbed up on her bare foot.  (It was just a baby.)  She kicked it away and called for help.  I jumped out of bed and took the snake outside.  In the morning I found out that my glasses had fallen on the floor and that I had stepped on them and broken them.  The rest of the trip is being made with only one ear piece on my glasses.

We are hoping to leave on Sunday for Oaxaca to visit Teodoro and Modesta.  Everything depends on three things.  We need rain.  As I write this it is Friday night.  If rain comes in the next 24 hours we can go and if not, we will have to take two days to water Lupe’s small field by hand.  Tomorrow morning (Saturday – before you read this) we will start to irrigate the field.  (Saturday update: we are irrigating.)  If the rain comes at any time we can stop and prepare to leave.  The hope is that we can water the whole field in only two days and be able to leave for Oaxaca on Monday morning instead of Sunday.  Any delay is a major setback as Teodoro’s window of opportunity to visit with us is limited.  Please pray that we can leave Sunday morning as planned.  Today I talked with Teodoro and he says that they have the opposite problem.  He has too much rain.  I asked him to pray that God would send it our way.  Lupe and Leti also need someone to house-sit and someone else to take care of their two cows and their calves.  So far, no takers for either chore as everyone is busy working right now.

When we arrived here we found that Lupe and Leti are in their new house – a very small but nice two bedrooms and a bathroom along with a kitchen, dining room, living room combo that the government here built for them on the land that they own and farm.  The government is done with their part but they had to move in before it was finished because someone broke in and stole their water pump (that cost about a month’s salary) and a few other things. 

They are living without running water.  They go to a friend’s house to fill two 5 gallon jugs with water for drinking and cooking.  They use brownish water from the community reservoir to wash their clothes, to wash their dishes, and to bathe themselves.  The reason they do not have running water yet is because the water is about 300 yards away and they need to buy the tubing to bring it to their house.  While they have a nice bathroom, they have no septic system.  What they have are two pipes that leave the side of the house – one for the toilet and one for the sink and shower.  Today I went to town with Lupe to look for what I could use as a septic tank.  We finally found something that will work and we ordered it.  I also bought an appropriate pick so we can dig the hole and trenches for the drain field.  We will attempt to install the septic system when we get back from Oaxaca.

Another great need is for adequate electricity.  What they have now is #12 wire running 100 yards over the ground across their corn field.  To have a minimally adequate supply they need 115 meters of #8.  So far the best price I have found for two wire (no ground) is $2.11 per meter.  Another minor need is a washboard sink for Leti to wash her clothes on.  She is washing them in a wheelbarrow with a rock in it.

We view all of these things as needs and not frills.  Their house is not wired (anyone want to drop everything to fly down and help us starting August 4?)  They have two extension cords running from a box in the front wall that serve the house.

Do you want to help?  The old saying, “Wish you were here” rings true in more ways than one.  You can be here in prayer!  We need God’s wisdom to figure out how to do things we know we can do but with materials that have never been used that way before.  You can drop everything and come!  Fly into Queretaro airport a week from Sunday night and we will pick you up and give you a meaningful way to participate in this work.  You will get some good food, too.  Of course I am not expecting anyone to be able to drop everything and come, but if you are a miracle and want to, you can let me know by calling Jefferson Baptist Church and asking them to Email me. 

You can also participate in the costs of these needed works.  The cost is a lot less than you might think.  The total may be only about $800.  (Imagine being able to get running water, a septic system, and electricity to your house for only about $800!)  If you would like to help finish Lupe and Leti’s house, make out your check to ICDV for whatever amount you choose; write Negritas in the memo and send it to: ICDV (Iglesia Comunidad del Valle), PO BOX 240, Jefferson, OR   97352.

Thank you for reading and thank you for praying.

I have been posting shorter updates more frequently on Facebook.  If you want to see those posts you need to friend me on Facebook.  My Facebook name is Jon Sousa.  

Pray for Our Trip to Mexico

Last summer we went to Mexico for almost a month to encourage two families that are trying to live for Jesus and lead others to Christ in their small home towns.  Both Lupe & Leti and Teodoro & Modesta have been back home in Mexico for a little over 5 years.  Teodoro put his faith in Christ in 1995 and Lupe & Leti did the same in 1999.  Teodoro led his wife Modesta to Christ several years ago.  Life has been very difficult for all of them as they have suffered persecution and many roadblocks.  They have all been very discouraged from time to time.

So, last summer we took Lupe, Leti, and their four children in north-central Mexico to visit Teodoro, Modesta, and their three children in southern Mexico, thinking that they could encourage each other.  In that respect the trip was a great success!  All four became fast friends and they spent a week visiting non-stop.  At the end everyone was raring to go again.

When we made this trip last year we thought it would be the only time we would go for an extended trip in the summer because of the heat we have to travel through in the southern US.  But, when we were about to leave last August, Itzel (Lupe and Leti’s daughter) asked us to come to her 15 birthday – a very special event in the life of a young lady.  The small but important celebration will be this Sunday.

Because of that invitation we decided to go for round 2.  We will once again take Lupe, Leti, and the family to southern Mexico for a week of encouragement and instruction.  Another goal we have is to locate Eugenio, another man from our ministry in Oregon, who – rumor has it – is trying to do the same thing in shining Jesus’ light to his small community.  Eugenio is an unknown entity as he professed faith in Christ during a Good Friday outreach but never came to church and never expressed further interest.  We were told he is trying to teach a Bible study in his home.  We want to find him and find out what he is teaching.  He may be another that needs encouragement.

We need this trip to be covered in prayer as last year we were met with so many obstacles we often wondered if we were going to accomplish any of the goals we set out to do.  This year discouraging and troubling things have already been thrown in our path that threatened to cancel the trip before it even started.  Monday, as we were packing to go, out transportation to Mexico all of a sudden was in total limbo.  It seemed like someone threw a stick of dynamite into our box of plans to completely blow it up.  Plan B was drawn up and within an hour the trip was back on. 

Another problem was/is on Teodoro’s side.  He was “volunteered” (legally forced) to serve without pay as part of a security force for the annual town celebration.  The celebration starts just before we can get there and ends the last day we could possibly leave.  Teodoro asked for a couple of days off to visit with us and he was told that he would have to find a replacement and pay him to take his place.  He could not find a replacement so things looked grim.  As we talked on Monday he looked at the schedule of the celebration and found a couple of days that he was “less needed” and we will try to visit during this time. 

We are taking a car down to Mexico for a friend and flying back from Mexico City.  This really helped us out as the friend is paying for a lot of the expenses of getting us to from Mexico.  We will have to pay the cost of getting Lupe’s family to and from Oaxaca and the costs of finding Eugenio (also in Oaxaca).  If you would like to help with these expenses you can do so by following these steps: go on line to InFaith.org and click on the Donate button; Click on Donate Online; designate your gift to Jon Sousa's ministry fund.

Please pray for God to accomplish his goals for this trip.  I will post updates on this blog as the trip progresses.  Also, I will post shorter updates more frequently on Facebook.  If you want to see those posts you need to friend me on Facebook.  My Facebook name is Jon Sousa.