Posts Tagged ‘ensenada mexico’

Give Thanks for the Lord’s Mighty Work!

 

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Young Children learning about the Creator of the Universe!

The Lord gave us another wonderful week this year with our friends from Skyview Church and our friends from Renuevo. We came together for the fourth year in a row to bless the city of Ensenada with Summer VBS. Many lives were touched, and many families took steps towards Christ!

 

Renuevo – Skyview Summer VBS Ensenada 2017 Video

Here’s a video that shows some of the highlights from our time together.


Thanks so much for praying with us, without faith and an army of friends praying with us none of this would be possible.

In His Grip, Dave

DiasoLifeOnTheBorder.org

Stories of Grace Through the Camera
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Pastor Victor and his wife, Sol with their son, Abraham serving the Lord in Rosarito and Tijuana, Mexico

Last week a film crew came out to take photos and video shots of the ministry on the border and throughout our work in Mexico. It was an exhilarating time as we met with and interviewed our partners and church planters. We started out in Ensenada and we got some beautiful shots of the city and our church planters Petri & Yudy Petrikowski. Then we headed back up to Rosarito and Tijuana to interview Pastor Victor Bravo and his wife, Sol.

 

I wish I could take you with me to meet these wonderful friends. Every time I’m with them I come away encouraged. God fills me up because they are fun to be with, and also because of the way the Lord is transforming lives through their ministry.

God Breaks Through in Rosarito
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Victor and Sol shared with us about a ministry to an orphanage called Nueva Generación (New Generation). They formed a partnership relationship with Luis Salinas, who leads the orphanage a few years ago. The partnership has grown as their church has grown. Now on average 17 orphans attend their church every Sunday.

 

Sol is a psychologist and she has worked with the children and the parents. She ministers the love of Christ to these parents who are caught in addictions, prostitution, and poverty, which has kept them from being able to care for their children. The children experience the love of Christ and hear the good news of the gospel and they are transformed by God’s grace. The goal is also to see their parents break free from their addictions and destructive life style.

Brokenness and Healing
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Raul reunited with his two sons!

We met one of the father’s, his name is Raul. He has an amazing story. Sadly he was caught in a cycle of addiction, which led to poverty and an inability to take care of his children. Raul’s wife left him. Through the work of the orphanage and the love shown to him through Victor and Sol, he came to Christ. He eventually was set free of his addictions and began to work again. It took him more than 10 years to break free, and now he is back in his two boys life.

 

Raul shared through tears about his struggle with alcohol and drugs. He felt sad that he had let his boys down, and not been able to take care of them for so many years. But God broke through! This brought more tears as he reflected on the Lord’s great love and grace.

A life transformed!

A family reunited!

Wow! So good to see God’s grace set the captives free.

When we talk about planting churches we pray for transformed lives and transformed communities as the love of Christ shines brightly in dark places.

Unfortunately, there are many Raul’s in Tijuana and Rosarito. There is much work left to be done! Yet, we are seeing progress as the Lord works in and through the churches and ministries on the border. Thank you, Jesus!

I give thanks for faithful servants like Victor and Sol who are not content just to hold services on Sunday. They desire to see the gospel penetrate and make a difference in the community. My prayer is, our prayer is that the Lord will raise up an army of ministers like Pastor Victor and Sol. He is doing that through ministries like, Ministerios Transformación who have planted 31 churches in 11 years and have a vision to plant many more! Hallelujah!

In His Grip, Dave Diaso

DiasoLifeOnTheBorder.org

 

VBS Outreach in Ensenada
The Skyview group at the New Jerusalem church in Ensenada

The Skyview group at the New Jerusalem church in Ensenada

We are all excited as we gear up for the arrival of our friends from Skyview Presbyterian Church. They arrive this Saturday, July 11 from Denver to go down to Ensenada to partner with Iglesia La Nueva Jerusalén (The New Jerusalem church). They will work together on reaching out in the community through VBS.

Last year the majority of the children that came were from families that don’t attend the church. Some of them continued to attend the church after VBS.

That’s one of our goals to make a difference in the community. To reach families that aren’t connected to Christ and his church. Pray with us that these goals will be realized as we seek to honor Him through this ministry!

Lord, Grow Your Church
Skyview and Iglesia Nueva Jerusalén in Ensenada

Skyview’s group from last year and our friends from Iglesia Nueva Jerusalén in Ensenada

A longer term goal that we have is to see the church and the kingdom expanding and growing in Ensenada.

Dawn and I feel very encouraged by the relationship we’ve been able to build with our friends at La Nueva Jerusalén. Skyview’s visit last summer helped open the door for our relationship with the Ensenada church to begin.

We desire to see churches planted throughout the Baja. Ensenada is one of the cities we have our eye on. We pray that we will be able to open up a new work there soon.

Join Us In Prayer

Tim Berglund, who is the leader of Skyview’s group mentioned that they don’t have any Spanish speakers coming, which makes them feel a little uncomfortable. We do have some good young translators lined up for them. Pray with us for the Lord’s peace, and for good communication between all the participants.

Join us in prayer for a successful week filled with the joy of Christ. We look forward to sweet fellowship and effective outreach that makes a difference. Dawn, Hannah and I will be going on this trip. Please pray for us as we give leadership for the week that Skyview ministers with La Nueva Jerusalén church.

In His Grip, Dave

DiasoLifeOnTheBorder.org

 

Medical Missions In Ensenada

I hope you are still living in the afterglow of Easter!

Kathie Kim & Sarah Oh from Redeemer SD in the middle surrounded by the leaders from iglesia Nueva Jerusalén

Kathie Kim & Sarah Oh from Redeemer SD in the middle surrounded by the leaders from iglesia Nueva Jerusalén

It’s because of Easter, because of what Christ did on the cross and through his resurrection that we are heading down to Ensenada, Mexico today to lead a medical missions outreach. A group from Redeemer Presbyterian Church San Diego will be ministering this week with the Nueva Jerusalén church. Redeemer and Nueva Jerusalén put in a lot of time preparing for a successful outreach.

Three Sites for Medical Clinic
A group we learned from performing dentistry in Ensenada

A group we learned from performing dentistry in Ensenada

Although I’ve led many short-term missions projects this is the first medical missions trip I have led. We are thankful for the wonderful group from Redeemer that is giving up their time to minister to the needs in Ensenada.

We will hold the medical clinic at three sites. On Monday we will be at the mother church (La Nueva Jerusalén). On Tuesday and Wednesday we will serve at one of their mission sites in a community called, Morelos. Thursday we will minister at another mission in the community of Maneadero.

Outreach to Children & Families
The Skyview group at the New Jerusalem church in Ensenada

The Skyview group at the New Jerusalem church in Ensenada

The church we are working with in Ensenada (La Nueva Jerusalén) is the same church that Skyview Presbyterian from Denver worked with last year. The Lord gave us an amazing time with them as we used VBS to reach out to children and families in the community. I recently heard from Skyview and they are planning on coming back this summer!

Dawn and I have grown to love the people in this church. We are thrilled that they are so eager to share the good news of Christ.

Join Us In Prayer!

Dawn, Hannah and I will be going on this trip. We’d appreciate much prayer for the group that is going down, as well as for our family. Pray that the Lord goes before us and prepares the hearts of the people we will be working with. Pray as we minister to people’s physical needs that the Lord will open the door to their hearts, and that they will welcome the good news of the gospel.

Pray also that many people will come to the clinic, and that we don’t have any trouble getting things across the border.

Thank you for holding us up in prayer. This is an important week for the ministry here on the border as we seek to see people’s lives transformed.

In His Grip, Dave

DiasoLifeOnTheBorder.org

 

A Prayer Meeting That’s Lasted 21 Years
Prayer meeting in Ensenada

Prayer meeting in Ensenada

This weekend I had the pleasure of attending a pastoral alliance prayer meeting in Ensenada, Mexico.

I wasn’t expecting much before I showed up. After all, prayer meetings are usually poorly attended, and frequently they aren’t organized all that well. This was definitely different! There were a number of pastors and leaders at this prayer meeting.

The prayer alliance meeting began 21 years ago, and the pastors meet weekly to pray for their city and the work of the gospel. That’s a wonderful testimony to the faithfulness of these men and women to come together and meet with God on behalf of Ensenada.

Worship & Prayer: The Celebrant Singers
The Celebrant Singers

The Celebrant Singers

The other surprise I received at this prayer meeting was that the Celebrant Singers were there performing. I could tell it was an American group, since they needed a translator. I asked them where they were from, and found out they came down from Visalia, California. Visalia is only about 45 miles from Fresno, where I grew up.

The church we met in for prayer was on a hill that overlooked the city. It reminded me of the church being a city set on a hill.

The view of Ensenada from the church site

The view of Ensenada from the church site

I do believe God honors the prayers for his people, and he loves it when believers and leaders and from different churches come together to cry out for the city.

I ask the Lord along with these pastors that God would give them Ensenada. That the gospel will go forth powerfully, and that the city will be transformed in Christ.

May God’s Spirit Move in Ensenada

These praying leaders reminded me of how the great preacher Charles Spurgeon used to have people praying for him before and while he preached. He called it his boiler room. I’m sure that it kept the place warm, and full of the Spirit.

In His Grip, Dave

DiasoLifeOnTheBorder.org