Tonyia and I have moved a lot in our lives, but moving to Mexico has been the most challenging. In the middle of all the uncertainty we have seen the hand of God move in some of the most unusual ways. Prayer warriors, its working the Lord hears you, thank you.
I rented a 20’ U-Haul truck but when I picked it up it was a 26’ at the 20’ price. I needed the 26’ as we filled it all the way up – thank you Jesus.
U-Haul does not allow its trucks to leave the country so we used our friend in Mexico, Chuy, to make a deal with a company in Galeana who said they could get all our things across in one load once we get it to McAllen, Texas. They said they would have a crew there by 8 AM.
I drove that 26’ U-Haul over eight hours from Ennis to McAllen stayed the night and was at the meeting place along with Tonyia and our missionary friend Jesse Rowe at 8AM. We unloaded half the truck to make the transfer easier.
About 10:30 a van pulling a 16’ open top utility trailer showed up. My blood pressure shot up – there is no way all that stuff would fit! What on earth are we going to do?
We called the company owner and told him to send his men back to Galeana. He was not happy and we were furious! Once we calmed down we made a deal at a lower cost and loaded as much as we could on his 16’ trailer. Jesse drove behind them to the border crossing.
The proper way to cross when moving is to declare all ones possessions through an agents and pay taxes. The amount varies depending on the mood of the inspector. Mexican natives can usually get by paying much less. We did have to pay but it turned out to be less than we expected – thank you Jesus.
What about the rest of our stuff? It turns out U-Haul had a special deal when we rented the truck we also got a month free month of storage at one of their facilities – thank you Jesus.
We stayed in Galeana over the weekend. Sunday pastor Francisco we know from Reynosa (across from McAllen) called and volunteered to help us get the rest of our stuff Monday morning and he would not charge us anything- thank you Jesus.
Tonyia, Jesse, Chuy and I left Galeana at 4 AM with my 8’ utility trailer in tow. We met up with Francisco and his wife, Estella, at his church in Reynosa. He had a well made trailer and his Dodge truck. We did get all the stuff loaded on both trailers – thank you Jesus.
We started praying about the border crossing. “Lord in the past you made blind men see, but now Lord we need you to make seeing men blind.” A strange thing happened at the border not only did we get a green light, but they assessed no taxes! Wow- that never happens with so much stuff. Jesse said he has never known it to happen – THANK YOU JESUS.
The drive from the border to Galeana takes about five hours. We left about 6 PM and while there is some rough road the trip was uneventful until we got in the mountains. The last 45 miles involves a big altitude change, steep mountain grades and well over a hundred curves.
We were about half-way into the final push when pastor Francisco pulled over on the edge of a sheer drop-off. His truck was overheated, his radiator was leaking. We used all the water we had and made it a few more miles. We then used mountain spring water that just happened to be beside the road.
It was about mid-night, our destination was still miles away, his truck was leaking badly it looked like an impossible situation. Perhaps we will spend the night on the side of the road on the edge of a Mexican mountain. We began to pray more “Lord will you some how fix his truck?” He did, the leak quit the truck ran cool all the way home – thank you Jesus.
Now I have to admit I did not really think God would fix a Dodge truck, but He did. Pastor Francisco and Estella drove it all the way back to Reynosa the next day and never had to add water. Amazing.
There is still much to do but I have to say it is a joy to feel the presence of the Lord as we marvel at how He is working. Our faith is being boosted – He has some work for us to do here. Please keep praying.
Blessings all around,
Stephen and Tonyia Williams,
missionaries for Jesus in Mexico