MexicoAG.org

The Mexico Missionary Fellowship Retreat will be held at North Texas District Lakeview Conference Center. Arrival has been scheduled for 4PM on October 9th and the retreat will extend until 1PM on October 13th.

Linens and towels will be provided and meals are included. For more details about the Lakeview Conference Center facilities you may consult their website: http://www.lakeviewconference.net/

From January 10th until January 13th the Kazim and the Godzwa Families with assistance from the Mexico Missionary Fellowship and several students and ministers from the Yucatan District took part in a medical brigade to help some of those affected by the November floods in Tabasco. This post, written by David Godzwa, recounts some of what they experienced while they were there:

“Leave if you can!” That is the translated name of Salsipuedes one of the two towns that we visited on our medical relief trip to Tabasco. The village of Salsipuedes is situated on the Grijalva River in the Centla of Tabasco, a wetlands region of the state that’s three hours from the capital, one hour on good roads and two on what many would consider “off-road conditions,” but even more overwhelming than the distance to reach this place was the need that we met when we arrived. Sandy Kazim, the organizer and one of the medical providers of the trip told us that for much of the time she felt as though she was running an ER instead of a medical clinic. Four children in the same home with bronchitis and a woman who had recently miscarried were some of the most difficult cases, but case after case of skin infection and other diseases kept the medical providers working long past sunset, the time that we were told we had to leave for the sake of our personal security. Equally as tragic was the spiritual condition of the site. There were reports of active witchcraft taking place and a general look of hopelessness on the faces of many. “Leave if you can” –the name seemed to fit.

Still, that’s the funny thing about the God that we serve. Of all of the needy places that we could have gone, He sent us to the town of Salsipuedes. I think perhaps it was because, even though others had given up on that “Godforsaken” place, He hadn’t. He sent us there as an extension of His love in a tangible way.

I had the chance to enter into homes with several of the students of the Bible Institute while the medical team treated the sick. And as we passed from house to house, entering into their world, I thought of what Christ did for each one of us. He left His glory to live among us, to experience what we experience and to give us the hope that comes from a relationship with God. We in turn were serving as his representatives, offering the same hope that we now enjoy in a place where hope seemed for many to be a distant memory.

I spoke to many and told them that, although they might not have expected it, God had sent us to them specifically to let them know that He had decided to stay in Salsipuedes and that he was looking for hearts in which he could live. We prayed with many as they wrestled to take those first steps toward a relationship with their Creator.

What will happen is hard to determine. The routine of the life poverty has a grip that is relentless. C.S. Lewis once said it this way:

Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

So is the work in Salsipuedes; the population is run down, too tired to hope, too tired to dream of something better, and perhaps easily placated with the counterfeits that false religions or momentary escapes like drugs and alcohol can provide. Still, I believe that something began in the heart of those that we touched on that Friday. They received a taste of the love of God, and I believe that through the persistence of the pastor and the congregation that is serving that town, together with the regenerative power of the Holy Spirit, the very character of that town can change. In fact, I’m looking forward to the day when they invite us to the official name changing ceremony.

If you have not had the opportunity to see the images of the Mexican state of Tabasco that CNN has been broadcasting, please understand that the inhabitants of this area are dealing with a true disaster. Due to unseasonable heavy and continual rain, several rivers have flooded their banks inundating businesses, homes, schools, and churches. News reports put up to 80% of this low-lying state currently underwater. Calls to church leaders in this district have returned reports of lower lying areas completely underwater, of many homes and churches with more than five feet of water in them, and of flooding so high that even people who live on the second floor of a building have found shelter elsewhere because there is no access to their homes.

They need drinkable water, powdered milk, towels, diapers, canned food, and lots of other basic items. However, what the church leaders have asked for specifically at this time are medical personal with medicines and vitamins to come and offer care. This is extremely important as the floodwaters begin to recede and diseases resulting from contaminated drinking water and inadequate services begin to appear.

For this reason, we are appealing to you to consider sending a one time offering to provide the finances necessary to buy the medical supplies and pay for the trip of several Christian doctors from the Yucatán to Tabasco to provide front-line relief as well as the peace of Christ in this critical situation. An on-line giving form is accessible through this link.

Note: Funds are being channeled though the account of Missionary Paul Kazim. Be sure to enter “Tabasco Relief Class 50″ in the comment section of the contribution form.

To mail in your contribution please address your envelope to:

Assemblies of God World Missions
1445 N Boonville Ave
Springfield MO 65802

Make the check out to:

Assemblies of God World Missions

Enter “Account #243357 Class 50″ on the memo line.

The Mexico Missionary Fellowship is made up of three teams, Builders, Equippers, and Compassion. In this “In Focus” article we’re reporting news from the Compassion team.

The words of Steve Shoop, leader of Engage Ministries, are full of excitement as he describes what is happening in his team’s feeding program in Guadalajara, Mexico:

“Every week, we see anywhere from 50 children and mothers to as many as 150 individuals. It has been incredible to see how God has enabled us to not just open the door slightly, but He has flung the doors of opportunity wide open.”

Basically, the students go to a very poor area of the city and give a meal to the children and the moms that gather around for the event, but as Shoop adds, “we believe we are feeding not only their stomachs, but also their souls.”

The feeding program provides the essentials in order to satisfy physical hunger, but the aim of this ministry is to give them something that will last much longer than a sandwich and bag of chips. Every week children and their moms are presented with the Word of God. It is in this part of the program that the Engage in Missions team believes that they are presenting spiritual food that will be of eternal value. In addition to the meal and the message, children are taught the scriptures while playing uplifting games, utilizing puppets, dramas, and skits.

The vision for this ministry began because Engage in Missions wanted to have a way to share the love and message of Jesus to unreached souls in the Guadalajara. Beginning in January of 2007, students began to go out the colonia of El Coli with one mission in mind: to demonstrate the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. Through serving the community in this manner, they have seen anywhere from 50 children and mothers to as many as 150 individuals, and they have seen many lost souls come to know the Lord as their personal Savior.

Currently Shoop and his team are working with Julio Ceasar Andrade, the pastor of “La Smyrna” in order to plant a church in this same location. He adds, “We believe that our faithfulness in the small opportunity that God gave in January has led to His outpouring of blessings in this new opportunity for a church plant. It is our prayer that this church plant will serve to reach even more lost souls, and we look forward to the next location that God would have us feed lost souls that we might continue the mission to which He has called us.

Steve and Amy Shoop are Missionaries in Guadalajara, Mexico. Having served as a youth pastor for 22 years, Steve had a burden to see young men and women grow in their relationship with Christ. As appointed missionaries, Steve and Amy have developed the Engage in Missions program which connects university students with practical experience in a missions setting. Amy adds her medical training as a nurse to the team as they use their unique gifts and talents to see youth reached in Mexico and throughout Latin America.

Santa Rosalia, Baja California Sur–The Santa Rosalia church, Comunidad Cristiana “El Faro,” (Lighthouse Christian Community) damaged by Hurricane Marty that struck Santa Rosalia in September of 2003 is on being repaired through the efforts of Arkansas MAPS workers. Workers from three churches in Arkansas donated funds and labor in order to repair the ruined roof and walls of the church. This effort, along with the additional help of the Disaster Relief Fund, a fund set up by Assemblies of God World Missions, has enabled the congregation to help return the church back to its condition when the church originally constructed in 2001.

Missionaries Ed and Jeanette McCallie report that Pastor Enrique and the congregation expressed their sincere appreciation for all the help:

“It was beyond their ability to complete the renovation by themselves. God supplied the need through His people. The job is getting done. Thank you! Praise the Lord!”