Dear Friends,
God bless all of you! I am finishing up my time connecting with
churches and individuals in Minnesota. It has been a
rejuvenating, fruitful time and God has done many amazing
things! It has also been a blessing to spend time with most of
the family and I will see my other brother, Lord willing, on the
way down to see Sylvia and Josh. It has also been nice to
connect with many friends and supporters of the ministry as
well! The plan is to head south October 11th. Please pray for a
safe trip, for my truck to run well all the way down and for
abundant funds for the trip.
We are currently getting prepared to load the semi-truck from
Four Winds Trucking that will bring many ministry supplies
down to two warehouses in Laredo, Texas. Some of the ministry
supplies that will be in the semi are 200 – 300 chairs for
churches, 3 pallets (7500 pounds) of beans for us to distribute
to needy people after our outreaches, blankets and quilts,
Blessing Bags and Joy Boxes for our children’s/ family
outreaches, tools, housewares and much, much more. Once the
ministry supplies arrive in Laredo, Texas the fifteen pallets of
Gospel literature will be crossed into Nuevo Laredo, Mexico on
a permit and it will begin to be sent around Mexico and into
Central America for churches and individuals to distribute to
people who do not know Jesus as Lord and Savior. Some of the
Gospel booklets are discipleship booklets such as “Intimacy with
God” which, besides sharing the plan of salvation, helps people
to develop an intimate relationship with God! There are also
booklets on prayer, freedom from shame and depression and
many more. Please pray for safe travels for the semi and driver
and for no mechanical problems on the semi during the trip.

Many of you may be wondering if we were able to get the van
for the Cora pastor to use to minister more effectively to the Cora
and Huichole Indians in the mountains near Tepic, Nayarit,
Mexico. We were able to get it, praise God, and we thank God for
his provision through His people! God is amazing as are His
people!

The Spanish church in Ashby, Minnesota that GCOM has been
helping is doing well and God has called several people to be
ministers in the church. A core group – 6-8 people – of the 20 -30
church attendees come an hour early to the church to watch a
Bible College class through our International School of Ministry
Bible College. Our goal is to train up Spanish speaking leaders to
be able to send them to start new Spanish speaking churches in
towns or cities with high Spanish speaking populations. With all of
the immigrants currently coming into the United States there is,
and will continue to be, a need for trained ministers of the Gospel
to go and start new churches as the Holy Spirit leads!
As we begin doing ministry again in Mexico our plans are to, in
the first two weeks of November, cross in to our warehouse in
Nuevo Laredo, non – literature ministry supplies such as beans,
blessing bags, Joy Boxes, blankets, clothes, tables, etc. to bring on
our next ministry trip to Tenancingo, Tlaxcala, Mexico.
Tenancingo is considered the “Sex Trafficking Capital of Mexico”
and many say of the “Sex Trafficking Capital of the World”. Young
girls get kidnapped from the area and are sent throughout
Mexico, to the United States and to various parts of the world to
be sold as prostitutes in the sex trafficking industry.
It sounds like there will be a group of us going on this trip and we
will also do children’s/family outreaches in Poza Rica, Veracruz, as
well as graduate thirteen people from our video Bible College.
Please pray for God to use these outreaches in Tenancingo to
bring change to this evil area of Mexico, for people’s hearts to be
prepared to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior in both of these areas
and for the sex trafficking to be stopped not only in this area but
around the world. We know that this is God’s will!!

Thanks for your support of GCOM through your prayers, financial
support, encouragement and donation of ministry supplies to GCOM
to bless the people of Mexico. We do our part, you do your part, as
God leads you, and God is glorified. People come to know Jesus as
Lord and Savior and become disciples of Jesus Christ! We are a team
working together to impact lives for eternity! A month ago, we
received a letter from one of our most faithful and generous
committed monthly donors that, due to circumstances, they would
have to reduce their monthly donation by $500. Between this loss of
monthly support and the death of another monthly supporter, our
committed monthly support has dropped by $700. We are praying
for God to raise up new committed monthly supporters to make up
for what has been lost. If God leads you to help in this way please
drop us a note, along with your donation, to let us know that you are
going to donate on a monthly basis, quarterly basis, etc. We know
that God is our source but He chooses to work through His church and
individuals in the church to meet the needs of His ministry. Thanks for
all you do to impact lives for Christ through partnering with GCOM.
You are in our prayers faithfully! May God bless all of you and your
families as you continue to seek His face!!

Ministry Needs

• Body Life Ministries in Omaha, NE produces millions of tracts and
  hundreds of thousands of books of Johns for GCOM. They are in need of
  $4,000 for the covers for 50,000 Spanish books of Johns.
• Mission groups to come and minister in Mexico using their gifts and
  talents

Prayer Needs
− For a safe trip for me to Texas and Mexico
− For Sylvia’s complete healing – headaches to go and ringing in the ears
to stop
− For God to prepare hearts in Tenancingo and Poza Rica to hear the
Gospel and receive Jesus
as their Lord and Savior. Also, among the Cora and Huichole Indians
where we will minister in January
− For God to set people free from the sex trade in Mexico, the United
States and around the world
− For wisdom in every ministry and personal decision
− My mom and dad are greatly involved in the ministry. Please pray for
strength for them to continue to be used by the Lord in their respective
areas of ministry
For protection while traveling in Mexico and for vehicles to run well

Praises!

The months go by so fast! Because we are required to submit a report for the 501c3 (yes still working on it!) I decided to go ahead and do another P&P. With so much going on there isn’t a shortage of photos or something to share.
You might remember the last one that we had a lot of volunteers at FMLK for the month of August with a few stretched into those first couple of days in September but a lone soldier until mid month. One of the things I probably inaccurately stated is they were all from Spain.
We did have someone from Greece, one from Brazil, one from the Netherlands and Allen our last guy is from Andorra. Andorra is a tiny little independent country between Spain and France. He lives in France and rides his bicycle to work a short distance to Spain. After looking at Andorra I think I would love to visit as it is quite mountainous, sparsely populated and I have always wanted to visit Spain since that is my mothers heritage.
Allen stayed behind and seemed content to do things on his own. I’m sure he missed the group of all these volunteers which I don’t think he knew well. A friend of a friend situation but again I think we will see many of these young adults back, including Allen. At least I hope so.
Bill & I had him join us for lunch more often since he was alone and the rains were coming more frequent which makes it a little more difficult to get around on a boda boda (motorcycle taxi). You will see some of the photos of his continued work at the school but I’ll try to recap here.
He had iron sheets added to the girls dorm showers, and the toilet area updated where some of the iron sheets had deteriorated. They added a clothes line under the eve that was extended at the shower area so the clothes there might be able to dry even with some rain. He had shower curtains added and had the doors to the toilets repaired.
He brought out a guy to change out all the broken window panes which the count was under 20 but close to that number. He was going to buy chickens but ended up buying the feed and Clare purchased the chickens. Definitely the better deal for Clare.
He also brought a strap with him that has a large ratchet on it that you can chinch between two trees for the kids to learn to walk and balance on it. Probably about three inches wide. Of course there are always too many kids on it and not used as originally as designed but the kids are on it often and enjoy it anyway. He also chose to distribute rice to a few of the guardians in the village and left some for the school as well.
So that was Allen’s projects and we delighted in the visits with him and glad that we had that extra time as well. He too seemed open to spiritual conversations which we had with him. It always hard to say if things change for anyone but I believe that is not my work, that is Gods. I share, God changes hearts and lives.

So onto other things now. BSF started for me mid-Sept so just in time since prior to that I was a little too crazy and I think we all, the ladies, feel like it is overwhelming right now. Always a little difficult to get back in the grove. Bill is still in the trenches with training and conferences being discussed and possible dates being considered. His horizon looks like December I might be alone often since that month is the month that many can book activities with Universities and schools closed.
Other things coming quickly; a sweet friend is getting married in November so helping with that a little bit. She & I are headed to Kampala on Friday to attend a ladies bible conference. I’m excited, the theme is “Abide”. She and I are also working the craft for the conference with a card making activity. I’ll share pics next time. It’s a well welcomed relief for me to have that opportunity to relax and focus and have fun all at the same time with the last three months of over the top crazy busy. I think Bill will probably be working away here and doesn’t get the break as he says the furball kids are always a little whacky when I’m not here.
I just started with some scriptures with P7. I’ve run out of time so will focus on them only and the other classes can wait. They’re sitting for the candidate exams in November. Today, Saturday, I left them with John 14:6 and the question of who is Jesus to you? I will keep the time short so they can focus on their studies, however I want to encouraged them through scripture and prayers as they prepare. Mentioning to them today that it is not unusual to have fear and anxiety, they were receptive to that with a couple of the kids confessing struggling with it. So I’m looking for ways to help them cope with that and point to Jesus all the way.
They have a lot to think about. Because we don’t have a Secondary School we can’t place them in the next traditional learning space. So their choices are limited with FMLK. Some of our Naguru kids are in this class. Then two others in P6. They all call me their Jaja (?) or grandmother. And it feels like each time we have the children graduate up, get rejected because of behavior, or sometimes we don’t know why they don’t return, it is like grandchildren in my heart as it breaks for these kids.
I am working with the teachers and giving them ideas for the Christmas program as well which is just a little to close for comfort. Then I’ll help with the costumes once that is decided. A couple of unfamiliar songs for them too are being considered. Here we go, life is like that here. It keeps us busy and going for sure, just like you!

Prayers
 Pray for Bill as he prepares for sharing truth at these conferences and that the leaders and the students would be engaged and understand the gravity of their choices and that likely, the current status is not a pathway to heaven.
 Pray as we settle in. Pray for our health. I still have a cough from the bout with covid I’m managing. Bill is also having some testing done so we will keep you posted. As you very well probably know or heard, getting old is not especially fun when we think of health!?
 Pray for another couple of streams of funding for FMLK. This is an ongoing prayer, and we hope that with some of these young adults that there might be some help coming in the future. WE continue to trust God in all things!!
 Please continue to pray for the families I gifted photo sessions to, the sessions haven’t been scheduled yet. I haven’t had time to follow up with one family and the other I’m holding off for focus on the first.
 Please pray as we prepare for FMLK NGO renewal THIS month. Always rough!! Still working though this so hopefully we are pretty close and will have little stress at last minute. It is October!!

Mission to the Children

“Changing our World one Life at a Time”

We had a major earthquake on Monday.  Hundreds of houses were destroyed, but numbers of death and injuries were small. Thank you, Lord, for your protection.  Several churches have been destroyed. Thankfully the ranch did not have any damages. However, our church In Villa Alvarez was damaged. We will have to replace several walls, and fix the roof. We Had the civil engineers come out and inspect our church and they found all our cement beams crossing the sanctuary have many cracks and will have to be repaired.

They did say we can continue to have services, but there are some places we will have to close off for fear of falling concrete. They are also sending our results for a further study to determine how to best repair the structure.  We have a lot of work to do so please pray God send us support. We have to get the church repaired before the damage worsens.

Let me explain my Church situation. When I married Lis, she was in Charge of three churches that her father started. (Suchitlan, Coquimatlan, and Villas de Alvarez). We oversee all the churches, and we have a pastor in Suchitlan.  Our pastor in Coquimatlan, just left, so including the ranch we will preach in three churches each week. We also have some more good news; on Sept. 3rd We took food to the hospital to feed those in need. We fed around 50 people and it was a real team effort.  We also set up an area and prayed for all those who wanted prayer. Also, thanks to a Donation we were able to buy three carts of food to feed four families.  We also helped feed another thirty people at the Ranch. People in our churches are suffering and they work so hard, but they have so little. Times are tough here. Me and Lis celebrated our One-year anniversary on 9/11. It has been a wonderful year, and I am so blessed to have her. We went to Guadalajara to celebrate. While we were there, Lis’ brother, who also pastors a church started by their father, had a Christian block party to Celebrate the New year.  It was awesome; They fed around 350 people, and Lis was the featured singer.  She sang several Christian Mariachi songs; she did a great job and has a wonderful voice.

Also, Last week at the ranch I led a young man to Christ. Please pray for him.  We are also starting a new ministry to help feed the needy people in our churches and community, and it is named a “Box of smiles”. The Idea is as we receive designated donations, we will buy boxes of food and give it to needy families. My heart was broken last month when a Lady in our church prayed for the offering and said, “help us to be generous and strong when our money runs out on Thursday and we get paid on Saturday”. Here people buy food each day, and do not store food in their house. What broke my heart was that she didn’t pray for food; she prayed, help us be strong and generous when we have nothing. Please support this new ministry by designating a donation to “Box of Smiles”. We are also starting an earthquake fund to repair our church so designated your donation  to EARTHQUAKE. Thank you so much for supporting my ministry, and helping us “Change our World on Life at a Time”. Please make checks to Mission to the Children PO BX 211322 Bedford Texas 76095 or https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/missiontothechildren

A few lessons we learn as we read through Acts 12. One of the most powerful: sometimes God start working with the first words his people say in prayer. Peter’s deliverance from high security Roman prison occurred at the same time when the church was praying. The church is Jerusalem was grieving the recent death of James. That was a big blow for the believers because he was one of the pillars. They prayed but no answer. And this prompted them to think that this might be not the time. We prone to think that God’s work is always slow and long. But we have to realize that sometimes God does it with the first word we utter. He needs his Body – the Church, to co-work with him for the kingdom goals. And when his church does great things happen.

ESL ministry

Please, welcome Start Language School! We’ve finally come up with a neutral name for our language courses. We hope it will keep us safe and unharmed as we’re trying to preach the gospel in our limited abilities. Pray for new people come to us and existing get closer to us and to the Lord. Continue to pray for wisdom and creativity in this endeavor.

Harvest Days

Harvest Festival is coming up in October. Historically, it’s one of a big celebration for evangelicals in Russia. Every church or a group makes its own arrangements as for when this day will be marked. The secondary goal for that is to make it easier for believers from different churches to visit each other. It will be on Sunday, October 2nd in our fellowship this year. Then, we are going to visit a few groups. Pray for those special days as for opportunity for outreach. Pray for those who close the kingdom to step out and come to service. Pray for services to be bright and the message powerful.

Men’s Club

Please pray for this ministry to resume. And when we resume we could see everyone healthy and in good spirit. From our experiences, Satan often uses summer recess for stealing the sheep. Pray for all new folks to come and the new ones. Our first meeting will be on October 1st.