Visiting the Churches

Since arriving in Chiapas, Chuck Shawver and I have visited a number of churches and communities.

Some of the highlights.

Guaquitepec

• Getsemani Iglesia is a thriving congregation near Ocosingo. Four brothers make up their leadership team with Pastor Alonzo serving as the teaching pastor.
• They are trying to purchase land for a youth activity center/area.

Tacuba Nueva

• Tacuba was heavily damaged by floods a number of years ago. OGHS (One Great Hour of Sharing) helped rebuild many of the homes that were destroyed by the flood.
• The church is trying to finish a new building. They tore down their old structure in order to build the new one so they are worshiping in an open air structure.
• One of the great moments was the girls of the church singing a song they learned from a Mission Team from Illinois. 

Yajalon

• Yajalon is a good size city  near Ocosingo. Their streets would be comparable to San Francisco, just not as wide.
• The Alfa and Omega church has started a number of churches in the area.
• They are currently working with two missions and are planning to build a retreat center just outside the city.
  
  
  
  

The Vehicle Travails Continue

Chuck Shawver and I continue to travel the mountain roads of Chiapas.

I am amazed at how bad the roads are right now. It is always difficult to maintain dirt roads in mountainous areas. The water naturally flows down the road, washing out many areas. This year the roads seem to be worse than I have seen them in the four years I have been coming to Chiapas. At one point yesterday, we had to creep along at less than 5 mph.

It doesn't help that we feel like we are nursing the vehicles along. Chuck is still not confident enough in the repairs to his pickup to take it out on these journeys. Therefore, we are taking the Seminary pickup which is a Chevrolet Colorado. They just had the engine rebuilt in it before I came to Mexico and it from near Puebla to San Cristobal. We had the oil changed on Monday, but today, the mechanic said that it was 2 quarts low. (Ok. He said it was a liter low.) It was also low on transmission fluid. Ugh. But, as soon as it gets back from the mechanic, we will be off to the Ocosingo region again.

One funny story about the roads. Their is one section of the road that had experienced a mud slide at some time. There is still mud coming down the hill and across the road, but not as much. Normally, this section has trouble with water, but not mud. We asked in La Ceiba about this section. The locals believe that their is a hog at the top of the hill who is rooting around in all the mud and sending it down the hill. I almost ask Chuck to stop so that I could hike up and see this amazing hog.

The church in La Ceiba is doing well. They have done quite a bit of work since we left in June. Right  now they are on hold. The cannot get supplies into the work site because the roads are so bad. They would love for us to bring another group down. The options now are April, early June, and late July.

Well I need to get ready to hop back in the Chevy for another day of driving.

By the way, I heard from Chris this morning. In Falcon, it is two degrees and they have a couple inches of snow on the ground. Suddenly, San Cristobal doesn't seem so cold.

One Tired Preacher

It is late, and I am tired, but I feel I should update you.

This has been a busy weekend. After the travails with Chuck's pickup, we managed to make it out of San Cristobal de Las Casas.

Saturday morning we left in the SIM pickup, Chuck's is still not "right." We drove to Ocosingo and visited with a family. Following that we drove to Chilon. In Chilon, we attended the wedding of Victor and Elena. (I am really getting old. They seemed like children getting married.) It was a beautiful wedding in the Pentecostal church that she attended. Following the wedding, the whole wedding party and guests walked from the church to the municipal hall accompanied by a Mariachi band. It was great to see about 100 people walking down the main street with a Mercedes Benz dump truck at the end of the line patiently waiting for us to walk the five or six blocks to get out of his way.

Victor is the grandson of Pastor Manuel. His church is Emmanuel Baptist.

After the wedding, we drove 11 people back home (about 45 minutes). In my efforts to become a part of God's family, I was blessed with a ride in the back of the pickup.

That evening we stayed with Juan and Elivia. Juan is the local Cicim representative and a member of the Maranatha church in Chilon.

Sunday morning, we drove to Yajalon. Pastor Jose of Alfa and Omega  Baptist was the first pastor Chuck worked with in Chiapas. On the way to church, Chuck asked if I would share a word with the church. (What he meant was, would I share THE word with the church. I was thinking five minutes, he was thinking the sermon.) After church, we drove pastor and his family back up the same mountain as the previous night, but we let the kids sit in the back.

After a short visit with the pastor we drove back to Chilon. We stopped to visit with Pedro, a member of Emmanuel, and then back to church. Again, I was asked to share a word. (I really have to work with Chuck to clarify those prepositions.)

After church, we drove back to San Cris. Tomorrow, we will travel to La Ceiba.

Back in Chiapas

Many of you know that I am back in Chiapas. I flew in to Mexico City yesterday and spent the night with Chuck and Ramona Shawver in Puebla. I was able to have dinner with them and with Keith Myers.

I will be in Chiapas until the 24^th of November.

Prayer requests:

• ·         Chuck Shawver. His pickup seems to be on its last leg. The week before I arrived, he put it in the shop to have a head gasket replaced. We picked it up last night at about 8:00 p.m. We left for Chiapas this morning at 4:00 a.m. We had to stop along the way and have the radiator flushed and a new thermostat put in. That did not help. It still overheated. We made it to Tuxtla-Gtz. We left his truck in TG and drove in the Seminary pickup to San Cris. (I drove from about 2 hours outside of MX City to San Cris, 14.5 hours of driving.) Chuck needs to know what to do replace the engine or try to find a new vehicle for his last year in MX.

• ·         Chris, my lovely bride. She always says that something happens every time I leave town, and when I am out of the country . . .  Well, this morning, on her way to work she was rear ended. She is OK, but her car is pretty heavily damaged. She is pretty shaken up about everything. She said that she had not been in an accident in 30 years.

• ·         Eleazar and Dahlia. They were in an accident this summer. Dahlia had to have surgery. She is recovering slowly, but is not back in San Cris yet. Eleazar had severe whip lash and is still not recovered completely.

• ·         The churches we will be visiting in Chiapas. Chuck was supposed to be at a regional meeting tomorrow, but because of the pickup, he will not make it.

• ·       The people of Chiapas. Their bean crop was washed away with flooding. The corn crop was destroyed by drought this summer. And the coffee crop was damaged. This will increase the pressure to immigrate.

Grace and Peace,

Mike