We arrived at the village of Piñones at 10 am this morning.  The village gets its name from the way they support themselves.  The ladies of the village hand-harvest the pine nuts from the pine cones and the remainder of the cones are discarded into piles.  As we drove up to the village, harvest time was already complete and there were piles of pine cones everywhere.  You can see some the bags of Piñones in the photographs of the children’s service.

(click on a photo to see it larger) The children had a service in the old church building.

We were given a warm welcome by the local Pastor Maximo.  The church building here is in excellent condition and is relatively new.  You can tell that the women of the village have lovingly decorated the walls and made curtains for the windows.

LuLu, Sandra, and Edith sang while Pastors Ruben (from the village of Palmito) and Rey (Iglesia Getsemani) spoke words of encouragement.  Evangelist Ramiro gave a wonderful sermon about how “in the Lord you are made new.”  Several young women renewed their faith in Christ.  At the end of the service, several ladies came forward and requested help in healing various health issues.

The children had their own service led by Edith.  They learned a bible verse, sang, and played games.  After services were over, we distributed gift bags to the children.  The bags were filled with toys, Christian literature (about how much God loves them), and personal care items.  The kids were about to explode with excitement as the saw all the items in the bags!

For the adults we brought clothing donations for all ages.  Pastor Maximo and his family received a “Blessing Bag” filled with non-perishable food items, pots and pans, and some utensils.  Everyone was extremely grateful for the help from True Path Ministry and Iglesia Getsemani.  Until tomorrow, Dios de Bendiga/God Bless You!

Lulu lead a moving song service.

Pastor Ramiro’s sermon was well received by people seeking the Lord.

Several came forward and asked for prayers for healing.

In the kid’s service, the children learned a Bible verse from teacher Edith.

Prayer was part of the kid’s time too.

The kids were so grateful for the gifts.

Many came for the service.

Several who came from Galeana sang a special song.

We had a generous “blessing bag” for the pastor.

The kids enjoyed the soccer ball we brought for the village.

Pastor Ruben shows Lori how they harvest Piñones from Pine Cones.

We also brought Bibles for the church.

Worship was under a cedar brush roof on boards supported by cement blocks (click on a photo to see it larger).

Deep in the mountains and off the beaten path, lies the tiny  village of Refugio.  We started out before 9AM this morning to make the 2 hour drive.  Arriving at the village, we came upon an outdoor church area complete with a cedar thatch roof and benches made from boards and cinderblocks.  The day was foggy, cold (about 40°), and misty but the congregation still arrived.  Many people walked more than an hour to get to the service.  They were truly seeking God.

Our group consisted of Stephen, Tonyia, Pastor Rey, Pastor Ramiro, Pastora Berenice, Sandra, Edith and their families.  The church area was in front of the home of the local pastor, Seledonio, and his wife.  They graciously welcomed us into their home and fed us a meal of chicken, rice, and beans.  As you can see from the photos, their only source of heat in their home is the cooking area and a bucket of coals.

Pastor Ramiro led the service and preached a moving sermon.  After the worship service, we handed out gifts of candy, toys, Christian literature, and personal care supplies to the children.  The photos show how overjoyed they were!

The ride home was eventful.  Most of the road is barely wide enough for one car, and the road was blocked by a large truck that was having engine trouble.  As our group was trying to avoid the truck, the suburban’s parking break handle broke off, stranding the vehicle in park.  We eventually fixed the suburban, and made it past the truck to safely continue home.

Before leaving the church today we received the highest praise we could have imagined from the pastor’s wife.  She simply said, “Thank you for bringing hope.”  May you always have hope.  Until next time, Dios de Bendiga/God Bless You.

Guest written by Jeanette and Lori Lewis (Steve and Tonyia’s niece/great niece)

A bucket of coals provided heat inside the house.

Berenice and Edith sang with the kids and taught them a Bible verse while the adults had a separate service.

The gifts were a big hit.

The girls enjoyed hand made brackets that were included in their gift bags.

We brought them clothing for all ages.

Local Pastor Seledonio welcomed us to the service.

The accordion player had worked in the US and spoke some English.

Lori Lewis expressed her gratitude for the loving reception we received.

Tonyia told them the most important thing in life was to know Christ.

There was an intense time of prayer at the end of the adult service.

Most of the people walked to and from the service.

Many rode in the back of this truck to their trail-head and then walked an hour to get home.

A large group came to worship and share New Year’s greetings with us.

These ladies asked Evangelist Ramiro for special prayers after the service.

The pastor’s wife fed us a great meal of chicken, beans and handmade corn tortillas.

Santiago brought us these Mexican pumkins.

The dirt road is sometimes challenging, but beautiful.

A stalled truck forced us to drive very close to the edge of the road clinging to the side of a mountain.

It was a foggy drive some of the way.