Cross of Glory Church

• Mexico First Trip - LaPalangana
• Mexico 2nd Trip w/El Divino

LaPalangana, Mexico Mission Trip March 18 - 26, 2010

Day 1 – Thursday, March 18, 2010 For some of us this is day one for others it is day three, some drove and some flew. We are here in LaPalangana and had an incredible first day. Thank you Lord – Gracias Senor.

Official business began with a visit to Hope. Hope is key to our ministry in the area. She lives with her husband in Texas near Harlingen. We enjoyed seeing her and her new nephew Evan who is 3 ½ months old. She along with other family members continue to belong to the church in Mexico and they have lots of family on both sides of the border. The typical Wal-Mart run was typical - Lots of supplies and hurry up and wait. Crossing the border was uneventful; that is how we prefer it. We were greeted warmly by the Ortiz family. Pastor Fernando and Rosilia are the pastor family at Imanuel Baptist and have been all the years Cross of Glory has been working with the church. Pastor Fernando introduced us to Jesus right away and explained that he had accepted Christ recently. Praise God for this! We found out later that he came with his wife for marriage counseling and they both found the Lord in the process. Pray for them they are young in the Lord and have lots of struggles still to work through. Thankfully they are part of the church and ended up joining us for supper. Supper was hamburgers with all the fixens’ made on a brand new grill that Pastor Fernando built.

Day 2 – Friday, March 19, 2010 This morning we went on a prayer walk through the community where we will be doing the VBS and outreaches to pray, talk and invite people to the event at 3 pm on Saturday! Some people recognized us and were happy that we were coming back to the park this year. Pastor Fernando is much more upbeat than he was a year ago. Some of you recall he was struggling with low grade depression and had been accused of doing some things that he needed to defend himself in court about. That is all behind him and it is very positive to see him this way. Pastoring in Mexico is a very challenging and draining task, please keep his family in your prayers. We returned to a great surprise of a grilled chicken meal that followed an awesome Friday night service in the church back in LaPalangana. Wow meeting and reacquainting with people was a great blessing. They asked Pastor Ron to share about his time in Haiti and Ethiopia. To see this small church be mission minded is a great blessing.

Day 3 – Saturday, March 20, 2010 Well the event in the park never happened. We went there early and set up the canopies and started the food for the big first day and out of nowhere we got hit by a wind and rain storm. No one was in danger but it was scary for a little while, we had to tear down the canopies and pack up without ever having the VBS. The picture really doesn’t show the wind, cold or rain. As we were doing that Rosilia’s sister was sharing the gospel with whoever would listen. She was “disappointed” that only 3 people came to Christ. We were not sad at all – new people in the Kingdom with a relationship with Christ! Thank you Jesus!

Day 4 – Sunday, March 21, 2010 The day started with prayer in the sanctuary before going out. It was very cold over night in the 40’s to be sure. Dan shared how he thought about the need for blankets in Mexico. We were cold for a couple of hours but there are people who live here and there is no heat – pray for the poverty that continues to be very obvious. The weather was beautiful and we had a large group with us from the church. The event in the park was exciting with lots of visitors joining us. Our theme: One World – One Body in Christ! Nancy’s high as she expressed it for the day was how every person did their part in the body and all the different aspects went very well. The music, the teaching, the crafts, the games, the setup and take down. And Kati’s high (Rosilia’s sister) was that 14 people came to Christ!!!!!!! Three of them were “cool” teenage boys who joined in all the events and one of them Carlos was back this year from last year. Great day – thank you Lord. Pray for their follow-up and others to see how they can have hope in Jesus Christ.

Day 5 – Monday, March 22, 2010 Praise God for another good day. This is being loaded before time to update the day. Pray for us – God is good. Here are a few specific prayer requests: More people to come the next 2 days, open hearts, ongoing safety and salvation of our dear friends in Mexico!

Link to a few pictures!

Day 9 - Friday, March 26, 2010 - Just a quick note to update you all on our trip. The last two days of vbs/outreach went very well. The flyers are at the airport in Harlingen and the drivers are heading north as this is being written. Everyone arrived home safely and the members of the first trip rallied to prepare the craft and teaching materials for the second trip. Thanks to each of them for this. Also thank you to all who prayed and supported us on this first trip. We are so excited to continue to have a good relationship with the church in LaPalanga. Please be praying about how you may be involved in the future.