Brentview Baptist: Serving, Loving & Living!
We had a very busy and exciting time with 20 youth and 10 adults from Brentview Baptist church! We worked with three of our Mexican Partners hi-lighted below:
Pastor Miguel (Merida)
We made 400 sandwiches and distributed them to hungry people waiting outside a hospital in Merida. While we somewhat expected there to be a stampede to get sandwiches, we were pleasantly surprised when people came asking for prayer and a Bible or tract. Alongside Pastor Miguel and his Spanish congregants, we prayed for many people and saw many of them turn their lives over to Christ. One gentleman asked for prayer that the spirit who had been tormenting him, be condemned and sent away. We all crowded around as Pastor Miguel prayed passionately for this dear man.
Our team joined Miguel’s church again to minister to some senior citizens in a Senior’s Home. Most of the people there were abandoned by family members and have not seen their family in a long time. We brought them food, performed part of our program, made balloons and brought a bit of happiness to these forsaken people. We ended our time with some prayer over people while others enjoyed a number of songs sung in Mayan by the administrator of the home.
We worked alongside Pastor Miguel’s church members and some of our translators to clear some land where Miguel will be building his new church. We also purchased some chemicals and a sprayer for them to expedite the process in order to lay the foundation. It was awesome to see the smile on Miguel’s face as we ministered and worked to further the Kingdom and his ministry. His wife says she “has her husband back now” that we have joined in helping to fulfill his mission. Praise God!
Pastor Ricardo (Hunucma)
Pastor Ricardo was thrilled to have us join him again in Hunucma where we performed our program and cleared some land where this church is being built. Following the program, Ricardo invited anyone who wanted to receive Christ to come forward. Several people went forward! We had the privilege of re-connecting with a man who had a tumor removed from behind his ear, thanks to money that a team member on a previous team had given Pastor Ricardo. A highlight was distributing clothes and shoes to poor people at this event. The shoes were purchased by team members with donated money from one of our fundraisers – Fiesta Zapatos!
Gama (Merida and Camp John 3:16)
It was amazing to once again partner with Gama and Camp John 3:16. We spent a day working at the camp painting, cutting grass, planting trees and doing some light construction work to complete their septic tank pad. This work was done with the money some people from our Spring Break team donated. During lunch (delicious Yucatecan salbutes) Gama once again shared his story of how Christ changed his life at a Bible camp, leading him away from a life as a gang member. He gives glory to God for his dream of building this camp so that it can positively affect change in the lives of children, youth and adults alike. He teared up as he shared with us his sincere gratitude for our (and your) partnership. Because of your donations and our involvement, he is seeing his (and God’s) dream move forward at a faster rate than he ever thought possible. Glory to God!
Another day was spent doing programs at two Mayan villages. One was in an outdoor program where many came to hear the gospel. The second program was in a church in a larger town called Motul. When we arrived, there was no one there, so our youth and their leaders went out in teams to invite people. Half an hour later, the church was full and we perfromed our program. The drime that the students performed was very touching and many were impacted by its message of freedom found only through Christ.
We were so encouraged by the many positive comments of how this trip impacted the lives of the teens on this trip and we are grateful for the prayers of His people! Thank you for standing in the gap with us as we serve in the Yucatan, Mexico!
