An Amazing Testimony

Juan, Sandra and Patricia are starting a new ministry to feed the elderly.

Juan, Sandra and Patricia are starting a new ministry to feed the elderly.

We had guests scheduled for this week’s dinner at the ministry house, but the Lord changed who the guests would be. He had a better plan. The original folks we invited had things come up in their lives and postponed their visit.

Martin called Juan, a Christian brother,  whom we had met once but that Martin knew. Juan is a musician and often makes visits to remote places/farms to play his Christian music. We have been interested in working with him to visit these remote farms.

Martin asked Juan if he wanted to come for dinner and discuss all of us going to a farm on Saturday.  He agreed and we were happy to have his family, Sandra wife and daughter Patricia, come eat with us at Casa Cristana El Alfarero for our weekly Wednesday night meal.

Amazing Testimony

Juan told us his family’s testimony. There were eleven of them in his family when he was growing up and his father was a hard and stubborn man. His dad did not know the Lord. One of his sons had a disorder where he had seizures. They took him to doctors who told them the boy has a serious condition and said he would surely die soon and there was nothing they could do.

One day their words came true. The boy of about four years old collapsed on the play ground – he was dead. They picked up the body and placed it inside their home and covered him with a blanket. The family began to mourn their loss.

When the father heard the news he went around to the back of their house and for the first time in his life cried out to the Lord. “If you will somehow give me my son I will serve you all the days of my life.” Still deep in despair the father entered the house to see his dead son. But, just as he entered the room where the body lay the boy sat up — he came back alive!

The father honored his promise to the Lord and used the balance of his life to spread the gospel into many parts of northern Mexico. He has since gone on to be with the Lord. But many in the family continue to minister in the name of Jesus, including Juan.

In fact Juan was the boy in the story. He never had another seizure and has lived a normal life. Everyone in the room had tears in their eyes as he told us his very personal testimony. He was also proud to say that on this Wednesday, June 1, 2016 it was daughter Patricia’s birthday. We sang the happy birthday song to her.

A New Ministry

Juan, his wife Sandra and daughter Patricia are totally committed to serving the Lord. Juan has a truck and makes a living hauling material for local folks. But, he is always looking for ways to honor Christ. Sandra told us they had seen some elderly people going through the trash looking for food and it broke their heart.

The family has set out to ease the hunger they observed in the elderly. They are about to start a new work called “Ministerio Nuevo Corazon – Galeana” (New Heart Ministry, Galeana Branch) with a little help from the Monterrey organization with the same name.

The elderly in Mexico get no more than $1,000 Pesos each month (about $60 USD) on which to live. These days not many families are willing to take in their older relatives, even here in Mexico. A hot meal at least once per week will be a great blessing to these older folks. But they were not sure where they would cook and feed them.

It is always amazing how God puts this stuff together.  Casa Cristana El Alfarero is close to being setup for such a meal and it fits into the vision the Lord gave us when we came here. We are still praying about this, but we will likely partner with this worthwhile ministry as part of our work here.

Music into the Mountains

Juan and his family have been all over the Galeana area as they all grew up here. They also have a heart for the poor who live in remote, seldom visited villages in the mountains. Juan plays the accordion and leads singing. We all agreed we would make a trip Saturday to a village they knew about, but it is one we never visited. The adventure with the Lord continues. We’ll let you know how it goes.

We all acknowledged that the Lord had brought us together for this meal and discussion. Praise the Lord, it is He we serve!