Zachary Lyman from Medina, Texas was part of the group that joined True Path Ministry Inc. to help deliver hundreds of Christmas gift boxes to the kids in the mountains of rural northern Mexico.
“I joined True Path Ministriy on a mission trip to Nuevo Leon, Mexico. After loving every second of it, I decided I simply had to come home and make a documentary to share what TPM does and the impact they make,” said Zachary.
On Saturday, January 11, 2020 True Path Ministry and Iglesia Getsemani from Galeana, NL, Mexico took the gospel of Christ, gifts for kids, shoes, clothes and blankets to a meeting of three small, very remote churches in the mountains of Northern Mexico. The three churches came together at Pastor Seldonia’s house church near Refugio. Many rode donkeys for an hour or more to get there and some combined their resources so they could ride in the back of trucks to get to the meeting. Gasoline is the equivalent of over $4 USD per gallon and these people have very little money.
Worship
with these Christians was especially sweet with moments of humor,
deep felt prayers, uplifting songs and a powerful message. There was
a shared awareness that the Holy Spirit was at work among the hearts
of all who came. It was a memorable time shared with the Lord and His
people.
During
the adult service the children had a song time, lesson and craft
time. The craft was a message-disk when rotated revealed each of the
seven “I am” statements of Christ one at a time. These kids
seldom have the luxury of owning such an item, plus getting to color
it was an extra special treat. But, on top of that message-disk was a
gift box, candy and for some, new shoes.
After Evangelist Ramiro’s message the adults were treated to clothes, shoes and the few blankets we had brought. The Galeana crew was met with many saying “gracias” (thank you). Pastor Charo brought a melon and sweet pastries for missionaries Tonyia and Stephen and Pastor Seldonia’s family fed the Galeana crew.
It was a day filled with smiles, gratitude and a reminder that we share the hope of Jesus through the bond of love, regardless of our language or life circumstances. Praise the LORD!
Note: Click on a photo to see it larger.
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Visitors from Texas came to help True Path Ministry (TPM) with its Mexico Christmas Gift Box giving adventure from December 26, 2019 through January 4, 2020. Eleven Christians from various Churches and cites in Texas, joined the Mexico-based group, to become a close team with a common goal, to share the love of Jesus with the people of rural Mexico (especially the children).
TPM has been giving out gifts each year
in Mexico for a number of years. We give in areas where other similar
programs do not reach, usually small, rural, remote and economically
poor villages. “This year stands out because of the team who gave
up their holiday time at home in Texas and Mexico to come together
and help,” said Tonyia.
A tremendous amount of work went into
the gathering of presents, transportation, final packaging, and
delivery of the gifts. We are a small ministry with limited
resources, but the Lord has provided what we needed for this season.
Mexico team: Reynaldo, Lulu,
Mariia, Daniel, Ramiro, Jose (and wife), Ruben, Ruben’s son Rene and
TPM Missionaries Stephen and Tonyia.
Here are a few of the special moments
that stood out:
Pastor Ruben, age 87, went with us to Bueno Vista. There he saw the family that he had prayed with to receive Jesus over 40 years ago. He had been a pastor in this tiny, remote mountain village. Several generations later they are still following the Lord. He was all smiles as he came face-to-face with his lasting legacy. It was his first return visit to the village in decades.
Jenny from Medina, Texas who attends church in Kerrville donated her child’s coat. It went into a huge group of other clothing that was piled on a tarp to be donated. She noticed a young girl close by who picked up her donated coat and witnessed the joy it brought. She met the girl and shared a special moment of Jesus’ love with her.
Donna from Medina, Texas United Methodist Church had made and donated a hand-made blanket. It was placed together with many others. In Palmito she took on the challenge of handing out blankets to each family. She was able to personally give her own carefully prepared blanket to a mom of a family there in the cold, high mountains of Mexico.
Stephen & Tonyia were asked to pray for Pastor Israel who drives over six hours each week to serve the needs of the people in Bueno Vista. He was in tears as he praised the Lord for answering his prayers to bring blessings to the extremely remote village. No missionary group had been up that mountain for many, many years – if ever.
Rene, spoke at one of our services about the importance of what we were doing. He is in his 60’s and as a young boy had been on the receiving end of missionaries who gave him a gift. It left an impression from the love of Jesus that lasted a life time.
Robert, and his teen age son Zach, were especially drawn to the children and helped with kid’s time at every opportunity. “I loved seeing the kids go from stand offish and a bit afraid at first, to fully engaged with broad smiles by the end of our interaction,” said Robert.
Faith, who is a young adult, was struck by how much we Americans take for granted. How all our stuff does not make us any happier than the Mexicans she met who have nearly nothing in comparison. “I will never look at the excess I see in our lives in the USA the same way. This experience has changed me.”
James was struck by the sparse living conditions of the homes in mountains. He noticed the unheated houses, lack of running water and basic outhouses that are the standard.
Jeanette and Lori who have come to help for the last few years. Their experience on how all this functions and how to make it all come together were invaluable. Lori had a very serious automobile accident earlier in the year (she had over twenty broken bones) and it is one of God’s miracles that she was able to join us with all her youthful strength. She was able to share her testimony in Bueno Vista of her healing.
Finally, I want to thank our Lord and savior Jesus the Christ. It is in His name and for His glory we do what we do. It is my prayer that as folks reflect on this adventure that they ask themselves “what kind of love drives Christian followers to give so much of themselves to those around them? Can this Jesus change me to do the same for my neighbor?” He can and he will change you into the person he designed you to be.
https://i0.wp.com/truepathministry.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/hrseriderruben.jpg?fit=1565%2C136913691565adminhttp://truepathministry.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/2TPMlogo-300x110.pngadmin2020-01-05 19:30:192020-01-05 20:32:45Behind the Scenes: True Path Ministry Christmas Gift Boxes Tour
Texas visitors with True Path Ministry and volunteers from Iglesia Getsemani made our way to Los Adobes, a small desert village a couple of miles off a main highway, on January 3rd. We knew there would be a lot of kids show up so we put in a few extra gifts in the van. As it turns we had exactly the right number of boxes, thank you Jesus!
So
many people showed up, both adults and children, we had to hold the
service outdoors. It was a cool but sunny day. Pastor Reynaldo
introduced us and started the service with prayer. Lulu and Jose lead
us in some great songs and Evangelist Ramiro preached a powerful
message.
During the adult service the kids were lead to an area by a shed and began to have fun with songs, a short lesson, a craft project and finally we began to hand out gifts. We did not know if there would be enough, we had not seen this many kids at any of our other services. As we handed a box to the last kid in line we sighed in relief there was just enough, 120.
We
also had shoes, clothes and blankets for the adults. Shoes are
especially needed in this village and we were able to match several
folks with some new footwear. We also left some Bibles with Pastor
Norma. She and her church come to the village from another town each
week.
It was the last service for the Texas group before they had to return to the border. They were worn out from the day after day grind of ministry, but filled with a new deep gratitude for Jesus love we shared.
Note: Click on a photo to see it larger
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It is the New Year, 2020, and the first True Path MinistryMarcos 10:14 Kids Club meeting of the year was tonight. The kids had tons of fun singing, watching the clowns, learning about Jesus, enjoying a special meal and most of all getting gift boxes packed with love and care in Texas. But it was very different for me, all the years before I just packed gift boxes for other countries and now I actually get to help deliver them.
There’s something special about packing a box. There’s a special feeling before sending it off to another country. But being the one who carries the gift into that country, and brings it to the final destination, is even more rewarding.
I have packed boxes before. It’s a good feeling. Seeing all the gifts a child will receive, watching toys pass through my hands, and knowing that I helped in some way gives me much joy.
This new year I have discovered a new joy. The past few days I experienced riding for hours to secluded villages to meet with fellow Christians. It is so enriching. Worshipping in another language opened my eyes to new ways to praise and draw closer to God. Hearing the stories of others and how God is working in their lives makes me realize just how powerful He is.
After all of this, delivering the gifts to others becomes the icing on the cake. My favorite part of each day is watching excited children play with what you brought them. Tonight at club I once again got to witness the joy of watching excited kids open their gifts. The Lord is good.
Guest written by Zachary Lyman
Note: Click on a photo to see it larger.
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