Archive for January, 2021

Remember the Goodness of God
The Beautiful sunsets where we live remind me of God’s love and care for us

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
Some of the pastors we are working with 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 Familia – The wonderful pastors we minister with on the Big Island

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.

One of the young church planters, Yeisel with with wife, Liannys and their son, that we’ve been able to help on the Big Island

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!
Our little princess, *Zoey (*not her real name)

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.

Click to Donate

In His Grip, Dave

DiasoLifeOnTheBorder.org

The Secret of Happiness
Stand with us in crying out to the Lord

One of my favorite authors over the last few years is Shawn Achor and his books on the happiness. In his books, he gives a number of suggestions based on his exhaustive research regarding how staying positive can fuel success. One of the actions that has proved advantageous is to take some time each day, and think of three things that you are thankful for. Three positive events or experiences during the day. I think that is great advice for all us, especially during this time we are living in. I mean it’s biblical to give thanks, right? “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!” (Psalm 100:4 ESV)

I do believe if you take time to give thanks each day it will change your life!

Here’s Shawn Achor’s Ted Talk on YouTube, which is one of most popular Ted Talks.

Shawn Achor – The Secret of Happiness

You can also listen to a longer version through the Entreleadership podcast – Shawn Achor: How Happiness Fuels Your Success.

Be Thankful – Choose to be Happy!
Dawn & I are on this journey together seeking to give thanks each and every day

As I was writing this I realized that I posted Shawn Achor’s talk when we were transitioning from 2015 to 2016. That ended up being the hardest year of my life. Our daughter, Hannah moved to heaven on October 18th of 2016. I would say that 2020 was the second hardest year of my life. Both of my parents died in 2020, and then of course we’ve been dealing with COVID-19 and so much craziness in our nation and world.

Anyway, my point here isn’t to relive my worst years, but to remember things that I’m thankful for in 2020. In my last post I wrote about the good things God did in my family last year. In my next post I’d like to write about what the Lord did in our ministry in 2020. There’s much to be thankful for!

I do want to encourage each of you to choose to be thankful this year, and to remember all the good that God is doing in your life. He is a good God, and his love never fails!

In His Grip, Dave

DiasoLifeOnTheBorder.org

Goodbye 2020!
Happy New Year from the Diaso Family!

We’ve crossed into 2021, and I’m sure that for many, maybe most of us it was with a sigh of relief. 2020 was painful to live through. It gives me hope when I think of God’s goodness and his undying love for us. I think ever since my daughter, Hannah, died one of my favorite verses is Genesis 50:20. “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good…” The Lord uses even the worst of circumstances for good. He isn’t the author of evil, but he can and does work in and through the darkest of times.

There are things to be thankful for as we look back on 2020. Yet, I don’t want to ignore all the hardship that we’ve suffered. On top of what everyone has been through I also lost both of my parents in 2020. My son, David has nonpermanent brain damage. We aren’t sure what the cause was, it could have been Covid, but it was never diagnosed as such, so we don’t really know.

What I’m thankful for in 2020

Despite all of these challenges there is still plenty to be thankful for.

Dad & Mom with our three children, David, Jonathan and Hannah

I give thanks that both my dad and my mom lived long lives. They were both 84 when they died. My mom had a strong and sure faith. She was not only ready to go, she was anxious to meet her savior. I wrote a tribute to my mom that you can find here…

My dad made a profession of faith with my brother, John just three days before he died. The timing reminded me of Christ death and resurrection on the third day. The Lord in his love and grace showered me with hope after my dad passed away. I wrote more about this in the tribute I posted for my dad.

My mom left a legacy of prayer and love. My dad’s legacy was always being there for our family. He showed up. Both of my parents were quiet. I suppose they blended in, because they didn’t like to draw attention to themselves, but we knew they were there at the important life events. They set a great example for me in that. I hope to pass that on to my children, and grandchildren.

It is sad for me to no longer be able to call or visit my mom and dad. It was hard to go through the holidays without them. Yet, I’m grateful for the life they led, and for the relationship we shared.

A few months ago I feel like the Lord gifted me with a dream. It was a special dream. I saw a parade and a celebration. The odd thing was that the parade was at the cemetery. I felt like the Lord was showing me what it was like for my parents when they left this life and moved on into eternity with their savior. Just think one breath they were here, and the next they were in heaven. They saw Jesus, the angels and their loved ones who went before them. That is something to celebrate!

Celebrating New Life
Serafina Grace Diaso

Another wonderful family event was when Dawn and I learned that we were going to be grandparents. When David and Emily told us that Emily is pregnant with their first child, and our first grandchild! Her name is Serafina Grace Diaso.

David and Emily told us this good news just a few weeks before the four year anniversary of Hannah moving to heaven, which is always a hard time of the year for us. We felt like it was such a gift from the Lord in a season of much loss, that he is bringing new life into our family.

We love Serafina’s name. It was also my great grandmother’s name on my dad’s side. Serafina is an Italian and Spanish name for the Seraphim angels. The Bible mentions them in Isaiah 6. Also, Serafina’s middle name is Grace, which reminds us of God’s unmerited gift for those who believe. Hannah means favor and grace. We love the thoughtful name that David and Emily chose for their daughter.

These are some of the highlights for our family for 2020. I was going to include our ministry highlights here as well, but I think I will save them for my next post, which will be either later this week or next week.

The Ron & Virginia Diaso Memorial Church
I love this photo of Mom & Dad, makes me think of them dancing on the streets of gold.

Let me close by mentioning as we look forward to 2021, one of the things we are excited about is helping to start a new church in Tijuana/Rosarito, Mexico. This church will be built in memory of my parents, Ron and Virginia Diaso. Our goal is build the church this summer. You can give towards this project, and help us to make this dream a reality. Click on the link below to make a donation today!

Click to donate…

In His Grip, Dave

DiasoLifeOnTheBorder.org