Remember the Goodness of God
This month as we start the new year my desire is give thanks and remember the good that the Lord has done in the last year. No question, as I’ve mentioned various times that last year was one of the most difficult years that we’ve had to pass through. For many, maybe most it was the most challenging year of their lives. Yet, there is reason to give thanks.
One of my favorite verses which has often buoyed my spirit, especially since my daughter, Hannah moved to heaven is Genesis 50:20. Joseph told his brothers who had betrayed him and sold him into slavery, “you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good…” God has a way of turning the plans of the enemy, plans meant to harm us, so that they have a much deeper and greater impact for good. That’s not to minimize the real pain, and sorrow that we have experienced. Yet, there is hope. God is at work! He’s always on the move! His plans are for good and not evil.
The Church is Expanding in Mexico
I’ve been reflecting on the good things the Lord did in my family, and I wrote about them in a past post. Today I’d like to focus on the advance we’ve seen in ministry this last year.
All of the restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 crisis forced us to be more creative in ministry. Like many we had to resort to more online meetings. This opened the door for Dawn and me to begin working with more pastors in Mexico and on the Big Island. In 2020 we started partnering with 12 new church planting pastors in Mexico in cities that we weren’t working in before. Now we have partners not only in Tijuana, Ensenada, Mexicali and La Paz which is were we’ve been planting churches for the last several years, but we are now in many other cities throughout Mexico.
The Lord has opened the door for us to partner with church planters in Ciudad Obregon, Hermosillo, Durango, Culiacán, Tapachula, Colima, Oaxaca in Mexico and McAllen, Texas. There are 12 new church planters in all that we are working with. I’m meeting with them once a month to pray together and to encourage them. God is expanding our reach and our influence. We continue to ask the Lord to do a mighty work and to bring transformation to the cities that these church planters are ministering in.
There are many wonderful testimonies that come out of these churches. God is alive and He continues to do a great work. I want to encourage you to not just look at all the bad news out there, but look up and pay attention to what the Lord is doing.
God’s Faithfulness to Our Familia
Our ministry on the Big Island with our familia has taken off this year. We are working with a number of pastors there, who have become like family to us. We call them our familia. These pastors are involved in more than 100 churches, and a number is these are new churches.
I was on the Big Island when the pandemic started. I returned home on March 18 just before midnight, and the very next day my mom moved to heaven.
When I got back home, Dawn and I began to see that our familia was having to deal with the scarcity of food, like rice, beans, cooking oil, chicken as well as basic needs like soap and tooth paste. The lack of so many basic needs was made worse as the Coronavirus crisis wore on. It broke our heart to hear the stories of children crying, because they were having to brush their teeth with salt. They cried because they didn’t have enough food to eat as well.
God gave us an overwhelming compassion for the people and we felt like we had to do something. We began to send out appeals for financial aid, and by God’s grace you responded. At first, I thought we would only need to send down support for a few months, but the pandemic dragged on. The economy worsened.
We’ve sent aid on a monthly basis since March that has aided at least 274 families, and 1,165 people. The Lord has provided more than $10,000 that we gave to help families in need in 2020. Thank Jesus for his wonderful provision.
God is doing an amazing work through our familia on the Big Island. People are coming to Christ and being baptized. New churches are being planted and growing. We have an amazing team of leaders there that we have daily communication with. It’s amazing what we can do through the internet!
Extend Your Hands to Help Those in Need!
We still need your help to continue to send aid to our wonderful familia. The church leaders, their families and those in their churches are struggling to put food on the table. Dawn and I just learned that prices this month in January of 2021 are going up 250% to 300%.
Just before Christmas one of the pastoral families that we are very close to shared this with us. They came to the end of the month and all they had to offer was tea. Their daughter,*Zoey did not want to drink her tea, she was sad and frustrated. They had run out of food, and they gave all of the money we sent them to help other families in the church. She was crying and said she didn’t want to drink her tea. Instead she wanted to move to be with her “abuelos” (Dawn and I) so she could drink milk. It’s hard to hear stories like this about people that we love dearly.
Please pray for these needs and extend your hands to help. Your gifts are being used to bless families. A gift of $25 will help a family for a month. Click on the button below to give.
In His Grip, Dave
Beyond Borders 