Small Groups Starting this Week!

We wanted to start our small groups 3 weeks ago and were planning to do so, but my wife was told that she needed a root canal and the same day she came down with a bacterial infection that turned out to be the worst illness that she has had since a bad bout of pneumonia about 30 years ago. Getting a root canal meant driving to Mexico because it would save us over $2,000. (Last year I got two root canals and two crowns for a total of $1,000 and in Oregon it would have cost me $6,000.)

We immediately decided that it was better to go before we started our small groups rather than to start and then have to interrupt them just to go to the dentist. Unfortunately, Jerilyn’s illness meant antibiotics and a period of healing before such dental work could be done. Thus, the three week delay. Alas, after working on Jerilyn’s root canal for over 3 hours in two days, the dentist decided that the roots of that tooth were too far gone to save and that extraction was the only option. It took a different dentist over an hour to get the remaining pieces of tooth out of her mouth. My poor wife suffered quite a bit through all of that. In the end, the suffering would have been no different in the US and the whole thing actually saved us over $3,000. Three hours of root canal and one hour of tooth extraction cost us a total of $250.

Enough of dentist talk! We are starting our small groups this week and we need you to pray for us. We will be having our first Jefferson small group meeting on Monday night at 7pm and our first Salem small group meeting on Friday night at the same time.

Each time we get together in our small group we will be spending some time in fellowship, some time in Bible study, and some time in accountability. Our Bible study will start out by digging a little deeper into what we are studying in church on the weekends. We just began to study 1 Corinthians. We have asked each person in the small group to meditate on the scripture that we just studied and come prepared to share how else God is speaking to them through the passage. We will also be sharing other scriptures that God has used to speak to us this past week.

During the accountability time for the first several weeks we will take turns sharing our “life maps” – our testimonies of how God has worked throughout our lives to bring us to where we are in our lives today. This testimony will last 20-25 minutes followed by a question and answer time followed by prayer for the individual sharing his life map. This week, I will be sharing; next week Jerilyn will be sharing, the following two weeks our lay leaders in each church will be sharing- Luis and Jessie Zavala in Salem, and Juan and Remedios Alvarez in Jefferson.

Please pray for us that we will have meaningful fellowship, interesting Spirit led discussions in Bible study, and a deeper understanding of each other and how we can pray for each other during the testimony times over the next few weeks.

Thank you for praying!

Small Group Meeting Update

Eight days ago I asked for prayer for two meetings that we were going to have – one last Sunday at our house and one today in Salem. The meetings were for those interested in participating in our two small groups that we are starting, one in our Jefferson Church and one in our Salem church.

Both meetings were very successful and both left me very encouraged. However, the first meeting at our house did not at all go as planned. I had no idea how many people to expect. I asked people to show up at our house any time after 2 and said that we would be eating around 3. One family arrived a little after 3 but we did not eat until after 4, ¡with just the one family! Another family told me they had a meeting in Portland but could probably arrive by 3. I texted them after 4 to see if they were coming and they texted that a massive accident left them stuck in traffic. They finally arrived a little after 4:30.

While we were waiting, we played a friendly game of Farkle (don’t ask). When they arrived we invited them to grab a plate of food and they could watch us finish our game. When they sat down at the table the family we were playing with informed us that they had to leave soon because they had another appointment. So, we quit the game and started our meeting while the new arrivals were eating.

I originally anticipated that the meeting would last about 1½ hours but I had to condense it down to about 25 minutes. We were able to cover most of the basics and we were all in agreement as to how to proceed. Most of my concerns about this meeting were alleviated by the fact that the young people I was expecting might come didn’t. It was an easy decision that we will only have one small group to start with in Jefferson, made up of the most mature people we have – the core group of the church.

Our meeting today went much more as planned. We had a great meal together. Afterwards, the adults huddled in the living room while 9 children played together outside. Our meeting lasted about the 1½ hours I was expecting. We had some great conversations, good questions, and agreement that we are in this thing together.

The plan right now is to launch both small groups the week following next Sunday. Everyone is on a steep learning curve but right now all systems are go. Please pray that these two launches will go well. We need the Holy Spirit to guide us, because, as Joshua told the people of Israel, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it… that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before” (Joshua 3:3-4).

We are also walking in new territory so we need your prayers.

Small Groups Getting Closer

On Sunday, September 16, we will be hosting a dinner and meeting for everyone in our Jefferson church who is interested in possibly participating in the small group we will be starting in 2 or 3 weeks.

Pray that everyone who should be there will be there. Pray for wisdom as I share a little about what the group will look like and answer questions.

Pray that we can find a day that everyone can meet faithfully and that we can agree on the length of time the meetings will last.

We also need prayer for wisdom as we decide if we should have one group or two as we have both younger and older people interested.

We will be having a similar gathering the following Sunday for people from our Salem church meeting at Juan and Vicky Herrera’s house.

Update on Emanuel

Emanuel’s surgery went very well.  The new kidney is working great and Emanuel is recuperating quickly.  I brought Emanuel home to Luis and Jessie’s house and Jerilyn and I are taking care of him there.  Ema is very much enjoying eating all the things that he couldn’t eat in his very restrictive kidney diet.  On the way home we had pizza and frozen chocolate yogurt for dinner… YUM!  Emanuel cannot go to school for a month and has to go back to Portland twice a week for several weeks for checkups.  Those checkups will gradually be reduced until he only goes once a month.

Emanuel’s father is now in Oaxaca, Mexico with the rest of the family.  This weekend they will all travel to Ciudad Juarez (across the border from El Paso, TX) where Ema’s mom has an appointment with the US consulate.  Hopefully, the consulate will give her papers to immediately be able to come legally to the US.  They have been in this process for 16½ years.  Once in the US, the family has to find affordable housing. 

Please pray for Emanuel’s continued recovery and for his family to be reunited after what has been over a 2½ year separation.  The appointment with the US Consulate is on November 1.

Good News for Emanuel

Over two and a half years ago we Emanuel’s kidneys stopped working.  We brought him to the US as fast as possible and when he arrived he spent a few days in ICU and then another three weeks in a regular hospital bed.  We thought Emanuel’s mom would be able to come up soon due to his bad condition but she is still in Mexico awaiting legal papers.  Her husband applied for her back in 2001 and so she has actually been waiting for over 16½ years. 

Emanuel finally received the good news that his mom has an appointment (her second) with the US Consulate on November 1.  Hopefully she will be able to come to Oregon with her two other children – finally!

MORE GOOD NEWS.  As I am writing this, Emanuel is in surgery receiving a donated kidney.  He went in at 8 pm (Pacific Time) and will be out around midnight.  Please pray.

Pray for Juan and his Doctor

Juan Alvarez is the key leader in our Jefferson church.  Almost two years ago he was diagnosed with leukemia.  Not very many years ago his type of leukemia was fatal within 4 years.  Some 15 or so years ago new medicines were developed that gave hope.  Juan started taking one of these medicines in January of 2015 and it seemed to be working well for him.  At the time the doctor said that this medicine helped about 80% of all patients taking it and as long as he took one pill a day for the rest of his life he should be fine.

A little over two months ago the doctor was unsatisfied with some of the blood numbers and he changed Juan’s medicine to something different.  After two months on the new drug the doctor decided that the new drug was damaging Juan’s digestive tract in some way.  He asked Juan to stop taking the medicine for three weeks.  At the end of the three weeks the doctor will decide whether to start Juan on the original medicine or resume the second medicine.  I don’t know if there are any other options.  We are half way through those three weeks.  Juan has an appointment with the doctor in a week and a half and we will learn what the doctor’s decision is. 

Through this whole experience Juan has been a model of peace and confidence in God.  He has said that no matter what happens, God is in control.  The worst that could happen is that he will go to be with Jesus a lot sooner than he originally thought. 

Please pray for the following:

• Wisdom for the doctor,
• Continued peace and confidence in God for Juan and his family,
• For God to glorify his name and continue to use Juan in the lives of many people to draw them to Jesus.

Celebrating a Milestone

A couple of weeks ago Jerilyn and I attended a retreat for missionaries serving with InFaith.  While we were there we were presented with a plaque acknowledging 30 years of service as missionaries with InFaith.

Jon served as missionary pastor of Westwood Community church from 1986 to 1993.  Since mid-1993 we have been serving as missionaries to Spanish speaking people in the mid-Willamette Valley of Oregon. 

Jon is pastoring two churches, one in Jefferson and the other in Salem.  Jerilyn teaches children’s church in both.  We also are lead evangelistic home Bible studies and have had various outreaches during the year.

One of our main goals in our remaining years of ministry is to see some of those within our ministry actively leading ministries of their own.  We will be sharing more about that in the coming months.

The plaque commemorates our faithfulness, but we know that our faithfulness would not be possible without the faithfulness of many who are praying for us and supporting us in this ministry.  We thank you.  Please continue to hold us up in your prayers.

Emanuel’s Mom Denied Entrance to the US

Emanuel’s mom, Vicki, had her appointment with the US Consulate in Ciudad Juarez on June 3 and the officer denied her immediate entrance to the US.  She will have to apply for a pardon.  US law states that when a person is in the US illegally he or she has to go back to their country of origin for 10 years.  The pardon is from the 10 year ban.  What is hard to believe in this case is that Vicki has already been out of the country for 10 ½ years.  Why does she need to be forgiven the requirement?

This decision means several things.  It means that the family will have to continue to suffer a difficult separation for another 4-6 months.  Emanuel was devastated when he learned that his mom would not be coming for another few months.  He has never been away from his mom or his siblings.  He and his dad are living with people he never met before (our daughter and her husband).  They have been separated now for almost a year and a half.

The decision also means that it will cost us another $2,350 in application and lawyer’s fees.  It has already cost about $850 more in transportation as Vicki and the children had to fly back to Oaxaca to wait for the pardon to come through.  It will probably cost yet another $2,000 more in travel and staying in Ciudad Juarez again.  That is over $5,000 of extra expense just for a pardon that seems unnecessary.  If you would like to help with these expenses you can send a tax deductible donation to: ICDV, PO Box 240, Jefferson, OR   97352.  Designate the gift to Benevolent Fund.  Do not put Emanuel or any other name on the check as we cannot give a tax receipt for any gift to a specific person, only a ministry.  When we see Benevolent Fund, we will know what it is for.

The decision also means that Jerilyn and I will have to continue to transport Emanuel to his dialysis 3 times a week for several more months.  When we first brought Emanuel from Mexico to save his life we thought that his mother would be granted an emergency visa to care for her son and that our involvement (and that of Luis and Jessie) would only last a couple of months.  Yet, here we are a year and a half later looking at another 4-6 months.  If you would like to help take Emanuel to dialysis from time to time or on a regular basis please call me at 541-905-5255.  We are now finally getting mileage reimbursement so at least there is no cost involved.  Whenever we cannot take Emanuel to dialysis his father has to lose a day of work.  When he misses a day it really hurts the already stretched family finances.

Thank you for praying for this situation and thank you for your help.  Side note: Emanuel's birthday is this coming Friday.

- Jon

Emanuel’s Mom is in Juarez

Last December we posted a financial need to help Emanuel’s mother and siblings to come to the US.  For over a year we have been taking Emanuel to Portland 3 times a week for dialysis.  He and his dad have been living with our daughter Jessie and son-in-law Luis.  We have been doing this because someone needs to care for Emanuel.  If his dad had to take him to dialysis, how could he earn enough money to care for his family?  If they lived alone in an apartment, who would care for Emanuel while Dad is working?  The Bible says we need to love others as we do ourselves.  That is what we have been doing here.

Right now they need prayer.  After applying for legal residency in 2001 and waiting over 15 years Emanuel’s mom (Vicki) is now in Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso.  Tomorrow, June 3, she has an appointment with the US Consulate.  Please pray for her to get permission to legally come to the US.

We believe that we have everything in order.  We hired a lawyer to make sure everything was done right.  We recruited someone to sponsor her.  As required by law, Vicki has stayed out of the US for more than 10 years (after her father brought her here illegally as a teenager). 

In spite of all this, everything depends on who is sitting across the desk from her in the Consul’s office.  He could grant entry; he could deny entry; or he could decide that Vicky must request a pardon, which our lawyer says could take another 6 months.  The “pardon” would be a pardon from having to spend 10 years out of the country – which, of course, she has already done.  She will be taking several proofs that she was out of the country this whole time but the person could still ignore them.  So PRAY that the family will be able to come up to Oregon right away!  They could be here as early as a few days from now if things go well.

We want to thank everyone who has prayed for Emanuel’s situation and for those who have so generously donated to the cause of both saving Emanuel’s life and bringing his family up here legally.  In all, we have received and spent over $6,000 in donations.  This includes bringing Emanuel up here in February of last year, the lawyer’s fees, application fees, and now the cost of getting the family to Juarez and home.  If Vicki and her other two children can come up now, we believe that we have enough money on hand to finish the job.  Pray for a happy ending!

A New Name for our Salem Church

After praying and talking and brainstorming and narrowing down our choices for over a year, our church in Salem decided last fall on a new name for our church.  Just this month it has become completely official.  We are now Esperanza de Vida, which means: Hope for Life.  Thank you to Linda Van Voorst for the suggestion during the brainstorming faze.  We have registered with the state, received our EIN from the IRS, and opened a new bank account with our new name.

Our old name did not convey that we are wanting to present ourselves to Hispanics as a non-denominational (neutral) church.  Below is our new logo that emphasizes seeking God together.  On our business cards and other material we also add Jerimiah 29:13 which says, “And you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart."

Pray for Esperanza de Vida as we begin to reach out to the community to let them know that there is Hope for Life.

Pray for our continuing efforts to help Emanuel

As you know, last February we helped to bring Emanuel from Mexico to Oregon to save his life.  He was very close to death when Jon brought him over the boarder at Tijuana and took him to an emergency room.  After three days in intensive care and another week in the hospital he and his father Juan went to live with Luis and Jessie Zavala (our daughter and son in law).  Since March we have been transporting Emanuel to Portland three times every week for dialysis.

We thought in the beginning that it would be no problem getting special permission for Emanuel’s mother to come up from Mexico to be with him and care for him.  Unfortunately, such permission is only granted for very short periods of time and her history as a former illegal alien made it impossible.  Fortunately, Emanuel’s father, Juan, had applied for his wife to get legal papers almost 15 years ago and her long wait in line is finally over.  The law also says that in order to get legal papers, an illegal alien must be out of the U.S. for 10 years.  Vicki’s 10 years are now over and she can come legally to the U.S.

The problem is that it costs a lot of money to do so.  Please click on the following link to read more of this story and pray that God would help us raise the necessary funds.  Ask God what he would have you do to help.  Please post the link to your Facebook page.  Another think you can do is Email the link to your friends, allowing them the opportunity to participate as well.  As of this writing, we only have 10% of the necessary funds to bring Emanuel’s mother and siblings to the U.S.

The link is: https://www.gofundme.com/x4cwnrdc

New Evangelistic Home Bible Studies

This weekend we just completed a 3 day training seminar on how to use Bible Storying in evangelistic home Bible studies.  Jon did the teaching and our primary students were three couples from our churches in Jefferson and Salem.  Our plan is for Jon to teach three Bible studies – one in Salem, one in Jefferson, and one in Albany – with one of the three couples involved in each one.  The idea is that after teaching them how, they could watch him do it in a real life situation.  As weeks pass they will have opportunity to teach parts of the Bible study until, by the end of a 37 week progression of Bible stories they will be well equipped to lead Bible studies on their own.

Our goal is to teach the same seminar in 10 months, next time with each of these three couples having their own learners watch them as they lead new Bible studies.  Hopefully, next year we will be able to identify 6 new couples that want to teach Bible studies.  We can take three couples and our current three couples can take one couple each under their wings.  That is the plan now.  We will see how God leads and blesses.

Right now we are in the process of finding homes to have these new Bible studies.  Two new studies are on the calendar.  On Wednesdays we will be in Albany with co-leaders Juan and Remedios.  On Sunday evenings we will be in Jefferson with co-leaders Baltazar and Herlinda.  We want to find two more homes to have Bible studies in.  We want one in Salem with co-leaders Luis and Jessie.  We also want one more in Albany or Lebanon that Juan and Remedios will teach on their own.  Juan and Remedios were in a Bible study Jon taught for a year and a half in Lebanon and Juan also taught that Bible study when Jon was not available.  So… we actually want 4 new Bible studies.  Jon will teach three and Juan will teach one.

In the next few days, Juan will be visiting prospects in Lebanon and Albany and Jon will be visiting prospects in Salem.  Pray that we can arrange these two Bible studies quickly.  Pray for us as we teach them; and pray for the people that are going to be attending these studies.  If you would like to pray for these people by name Email Jon at sousaj@bauercom.net as we do not want to share their names here for privacy reasons.

Just a brief note on Emanuel’s condition (see previous posts):  We have been taking Emanuel to dialysis three times a week.  He is slowly getting better as he is learning to eat the right kinds of foods.  Emanuel has had to spend a night in the hospital from time to time because of high blood pressure.

Latest Update on Emanuel

Things have moved along with Emanuel’s care that we can now give you a full update.  Emanuel spent three days in ICU in San Diego and another three days in a regular room.  He received another blood transfusion and 5 dialysis treatments in 5 days.  On Thursday afternoon, I took Juan and Emanuel to the San Diego airport.  They flew directly to Portland, Oregon where our daughter Julie picked them up and took them to OHSU where Emanuel was direct admitted to Doernbecher Children’s Hospital.  

At Doernbecher doctors are continuing to monitor Emanuel’s situation.  He is now on a schedule of receiving dialysis Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  Meanwhile, on Sunday at our Salem church we discussed Juan and Emanuel’s situation.  They needed a place to stay where Emanuel can be monitored while Juan goes to work.  Emanuel needs transportation to Portland (the only place where pediatric dialysis is available in Oregon) three times a week.  In the end, Luis and Jessie (our son-in-law and daughter) decided that they could host Juan and Emanuel for now.  Jon, Jerilyn, and Esperanza are available for transportation to Portland.  The doctor and social worker at Doernbecher agreed to the arrangements and so Emanuel will be released from the hospital on Wednesday afternoon after his dialysis treatment.

There are still two other arrangements we have to make and then the hard work of Emanuel’s regular care begins.  I am already in communication with an immigration lawyer looking into what it will take to bring Emanuel’s mother and sister and brother up here.  Having mom as a caregiver is much preferred to anyone else.  A few years ago Juan applied for legal papers for Vicki so she is already in the process.  What we need to do now is hurry up that process.  Pray that Vicki can come up sooner rather than later. 

The final detail is schooling.  How does a straight-A student continue his education when he can only attend school Tuesdays and Thursdays?  On Thursday I will be taking Juan to the local middle school and seeing what they have to offer.  Fortunately, there are tutors available during dialysis to help students with their school work.

Thank you very much for praying.  If it were not for quick action by everyone involved this BLOG would be about a memorial service rather than a medical treatment plan.  God is good.  Pray for Emanuel’s extended family.  They do not know Jesus and they believe that the saints are punishing Juan and Vicki for leaving the worship of the saints.  Juan’s faith is very strong.  He has been through a lot since he gave his life to Jesus.

Update on Emanuel

God is certainly taking care of Emanuel and answering your prayers.  The boarder crossing was faster than I ever thought possible.  I called ahead and talked to two supervisors who later met me at the door and led me into the facility.  When we got word that Juan and Emanuel were close I went out to meet them and brought them past the extremely long line to the supervisors who took us to the exit and passed us through so fast that I was amazed that we didn't get a speeding ticket.  They also had a wheelchair waiting for them and both supervisors stood with them while I went to get my car.  Talk about VIP treatment.  The President doesn't get over the boarder faster than that. 

Emanuel's doctor in Portland had called me and strongly urged me to take him immediately to an emergency room in San Diego.  We are very thankful that we did that.  From the emergency room at UCSD he was transported by ambulance to Rady’s Children’s Hospital where he spent the night in the Intensive Care Unit.  This morning the nephrologist (kidney doctor) told us that he was in very serious condition.  While he looked pretty good on the outside his blood was so messed up on the inside that he literally could have dropped dead of a heart failure at any moment.

Emanuel has received a blood transfusion and other treatments.  Today he will have surgery to put a catheter (not a port) in his chest to facilitate dialysis.  When he gets to Portland they will start looking for a transplant donor.

Speaking of donors, today we received the good news that someone is donating the money to fly Juan and Emanuel to Portland so that they will arrive quickly at OHSU and so that they will not have to suffer my driving for two days.  I and my car, unfortunately, still have to suffer my driving.

Pray for the ability to fly to Portland sooner rather than later.

Pray for Emanuel’s health and eventual kidney transplant.

Pray that Emanuel’s mother will be able to get a visa to come and care for her son while dad gets back to work.

Pray for Emanuel and his Family

Emanuel Herrera was diagnosed with a serious kidney problem when he was just a couple years old.  In December of 2005, the doctors at Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) told his parents that his kidneys would eventually fail but that they would give him medicine that would postpone that failure as long as possible.  Faced with this prognosis and the possibility of a cure in Mexico, the family moved back to their home in Oaxaca in early 2006.

Emanuel showed good progress and about two years later his father, Juan, told me that the doctors thought that he was cured.  Emanuel had regular check-ups through the years, but about a couple years ago he again started showing symptoms.  His situation has gotten worse and this last Monday the doctor told Emanuel’s mother Vicki that his kidneys were failing and that there was nothing more he could do for Emanuel.

Vicki immediately called Juan, and Juan immediately called Jon, and Jon immediately told Juan he needed to go back to Mexico (immediately) and bring Emanuel back to OHSU.  We bought Juan a plane ticket and he flew do Oaxaca on Tuesday.  On Wednesday he visited the US consulate in Oaxaca and they promised to give him a Passport for Emanuel Thursday morning at 9:00 am.  Unfortunately, Juan was told that he would be able to fly himself because his own Mexican passport had expired.

So… the plan is that on Friday Juan and Emanuel will fly to Tijuana, Mexico.  They will take a taxi to the border and walk across where Jon will meet them and drive them back to Oregon.  The Mexican passport is only needed to fly internationally.  Juan’s permanent resident card is sufficient for a boarder crossing.

Please pray for:

      Emanuel’s health

      Peace for the whole family, especially Juan and Vicki

      No problems getting the passport

      Safe travels all the way to Oregon.

If you would like to help with the transportation expenses, you can send a donation to: ICDV, PO Box 240, Jefferson, OR  97352.  Juan has spent all his money on treatment for Emanuel so we are paying for this entire trip, trusting that God will provide the funds.

Thank you for praying for Juan

In my last update I asked you to pray for Juan Alvarez who has CML (Chronic Myeloid Leukemia).  There is no cure short of a bone marrow transplant but there is medicine that will keep CML in remission.  The problem is that the medicine costs $6,000 a month.  Our prayer request is that Juan could get aid to provide the medicine he needs.  

Thank you for praying!  This week Juan received his first month’s supply and is taking the medicine.  He has experienced no side affects which is great.  For the first three months Juan will be getting monthly blood draws to see if the medicine is working.  After that, assuming that it is, he will be getting blood draws every three months.  We just saw the doctor today and Juan’s next appointment is in April.

Juan wanted me to pass on his gratitude to you for your prayers.

One piece of bad news that the doctor gave us today: this medicine does not work in about 20% of all patients that receive it.  On the other side of news is the good news.  In a very small percentage of the people who receive this medicine the disease actually goes away over time.  So now you know what you can continue to pray for.  

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.