Posts Tagged ‘human-rights’

A Heart for the Homeless

Posted: March 30, 2013 in Bright Spots on the Border, Christianity, Ministry, Missions, Tijuana, Video
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Pastor Leo & Gloria meeting with Janet Lambert at the YWAM center

Pastor Leo & Gloria meeting with Janet Lambert at the YWAM center

This week I introduced Christian and Liz Castro to Janet Lambert in Rosarito Mexico. While there we learned of a great story of redemption, a wonderful testimony of God’s mercy.

Homes of Hope

Janet shared more about their ministry called, Homes of Hope. Janet and her husband Sean head up the YWAM ministry in Tijuana. They have a burning passion for the poor.

While we were with Janet she shared through tears about one of the families that they built a home for. Eric & Josephina Ochoa not only were homeless, but they had to scrounge for food. They were digging through the garbage to find food, clothing and other items of value.

Can you imagine the humiliation and desperation of having to dig through garbage to live?

A Story of Redemption

The Ochoa family connected with Janet and the YWAM staff, and they put them on the Homes of Hope list. Eric and Josephina’s story was heartbreaking, and it touch those with YWAM. The Lord moved and now the family has a home. Janet said the last time she saw the family they were so happy and grateful for all that YWAM had done for them.

Eric & Josephina share their story in this video:

Paying it Forward

The Ochoa family are paying forward the blessing given to them.

After they got their new home they didn’t forget the families and children who were looking through the garbage with them. They wanted to care for them, and reach out with the love of Christ.

In a future post I will write about when the family actually received their home, and more about their response.

A Side Note: Leo & Gloria’s Ministry with YWAM

Since we introduced our friends, Leo and Gloria Nevarez to Janet last summer they have been ministering together. Every time I’m with them I come away encouraged by the ongoing story. Leo and Gloria go out each week with the YWAM staff to reach out to drug addicts and those caught in sex trafficking. The testimonies I hear from them are amazing. God is so good!

In His Grip, Dave

DiasoLifeOnTheBorder.org

Praise for the Person of Peace

Posted: March 8, 2013 in Bright Spots on the Border, Christianity, Church Planting, Ministry, Missions, Prayer, San Diego
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Here's our group having some fun interacting and passing out flyers this week

Here’s our group having some fun interacting and passing out flyers this week

Each week as I go out to take Jesus to the streets, and promote our ESL class. I’m so encouraged by the people we meet. It’s wonderful to be in the community of City Heights! Even most of the people who already speak English are so willing to help out. It’s truly heartwarming.

Short-Term Group

This week we’ve had a short-term group from Mobile, Alabama here to help us. I had so much fun with them. Lately, it’s just been Vicente and me going out to meet people and pass out flyers, but this week we’ve had extra help. I enjoyed the energy that they brought.

When we got together to debrief our experience after we went out, it was evident that the Lord used their efforts. I could tell that the group had a good time, and it also blessed me!

The Person of Peace

I decided to take the group to a different area, about a mile or so from where we usually hand out fliers. This enabled us to go to a new school. Unfortunately, the school let out early the day we were there, bummer!

We didn’t meet many parents, but we did meet a few. I told one of them what we were doing, and she introduced me to the administrative/social worker for the Parent Center. The social worker was unbelievably nice. I explained to her what we were doing, and that we were offering free English classes. She asked me if a I could come back next Friday to speak to the parents and make an announcement at the parents’ meeting.

Wow! I couldn’t believe it.

Unfortunately, I’m going to be out-of-town next week, so I will try to find someone else. If that doesn’t work she said I could come to another parents’ meeting in the future.

Short-term team of college students from Mobile, Alabama, ESL, English as a second or foreign language

Short-term team of college students from Mobile, Alabama

A person of peace is someone who is connected, and can open doors for you in a community. You find an example of this in Luke 10:5,6,

“Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you.”

The Lord has connected us with some person’s of peace. We met the principal of another school who opened the door for us there a few weeks ago. God is blessing and we are so encouraged.

Keep Praying

Thanks for standing with us in prayer. I believe we need to pray for the Lord’s blessing on these new friends, our person’s of peace. Pray also for the huge need we have for childcare, and we’d like to improve upon our teaching structure. This will enable us to do a better job teaching.

God is so good!

In His Grip, Dave

DiasoLifeOnTheBorder.org

God Uses Little Things to Build His Kingdom!

Posted: January 19, 2013 in Bright Spots on the Border, Christianity, Church Planting, Ministry, Ministry Partners, Missions, Prayer, San Diego, Tijuana
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dinner, Lo Mejor del Trigo

Hannah, Dawn, David and Dave having dinner with Leo and Gloria and other friends

This past Tuesday our friends, Pastor Leo & Gloria Nevarez invited us for a wonderful dinner at their church in Rosarito, Mexico. They also invited Pastor Marcos Gomez and Pastor Bennie and some other friends from the church.

Leo and Gloria wanted to thank Dawn and me for encouraging them in their ministry by introducing them to Janet Lambert and Youth With A Mission (YWAM). The Lord also used this blog to connect Leo and Gloria with a family in Oxnard, California that wanted to make a difference, and minister to people in need. All of these people and ministries have begun to work together and God is moving in Rosarito in a powerful way.

I really didn’t do that much, but I’m glad the Lord used the little I did to bless Leo and Gloria and their church Lo Mejor del Trigo (The Best of the Wheat). It reminds me of how the Lord takes the little that we have and multiplies it. He took a young boy’s lunch, five loaves and two fish and fed 5,000.

I think the Lord takes pleasure in using the weak things of this world.

I wrote about some of the latest things God is doing in Rosarito in the post: God’s Blessings Keep Rolling Down in Rosarito! I like that title, because I think it accurately describes what the Lord is doing there.

I would have never connected the Nevarez’s with Janet and YWAM, if a friend of mine in Scottsdale, Arizona wouldn’t have suggested that I introduce them. Eric Tooker gave me Janet’s contact info, and it all began from there. Thank you Jesus. Thank you for faithful friends. Thank you for bringing all the loose ends together.

border, Tijuana border, San Ysidro

The San Ysidro Border crossing going into Tijuana

Leo told me that they now have about 60 people coming to their church. The church is growing!

I also enjoyed getting to know Pastor Marcos and Pastor Bennie better. They are pastoring churches that aren’t too far away from Leo’s church. Dawn and I pray that the Lord will use us to be a blessing to them. We hope their ministry and outreach into the community will grow for God’s grace. Please join us in prayer as we engage in dialogue with them and explore how best to encourage and strengthen them.

Thank you Lord for using the little we have to offer to expand your kingdom! May your rich and powerful blessings continue!

In His Grip, Dave

DiasoLifeOnTheBorder.org

A Heartwarming Christmas Story: Al and the Widow’s Mite

Posted: December 23, 2012 in Bright Spots on the Border, Christianity, Church Planting, Ministry, Missions, San Diego, Video
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One of the many things I love about Harbor church is the love for hurting people that is demonstrated from week to week. The church bridges cultures and people from different economic backgrounds. Some of the people in the church are struggling to make a living.

One of the people who has fallen on difficult times is Al. He is a big, loving and caring guy. You might even say he’s like a big teddy bear.

Every year Harbor has an outreach to the city called Christmas in City Heights. Through this ministry low-income families have the opportunity to purchase at a very reduced price gifts for their children. The goal is to allow for the working poor families to have a dignified and financially affordable Christmas. Over 100 families were touched by this outreach. Many non-Christians helped serve, and were served.

My friend Danny Kim put together a video of Al’s testimony. He felt like the church had given him so much that he had to share what he had. God touched him and put it on his heart to give about 20 teddy bears for the Christmas in City Heights outreach. He had collected these for about 20 years. Al was making a big sacrifice in giving up his teddy bear collection. It reminds us of the widow’s mite that Christ said was the greatest gift. An awesome testimony of God’s grace!

Rejoice with me over how God is reaching down and changing lives! Rejoice in the Christ of Christmas!

Merry Christmas, Dave

DiasoLifeOnTheBorder.org

Giving Thanks For The Birth of a New Church

Posted: November 17, 2012 in Bright Spots on the Border, Christianity, Church Planting, Ministry, Ministry Partners, Missions, Prayer, San Diego, Tijuana, Video
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Wow! It was so encouraging to be part of building the Lo Mejor Del Trigo church in eastern Tijuana. I wrote about the birth of the new church in earlier posts. God is so good!

Check out this video that shows the progression of the building of the church. More than 70 people participated in this project over two weekends. Now they are worshipping in the community of Pipila, which is in eastern Tijuana.

The church is off to a good start. Join me in prayer that it will grow, and that the Lord will give Pastor Rodrigo and his family his grace and wisdom as he leads the church.

When we are involved in kingdom work, in working to see new churches raised up it’s important to remember who is building the church. Jesus gives a wonderful promise in Matthew, 16:18 when he’s speaking to Peter and the disciples,

“And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Isn’t that a wonderful promise? Even the gates of hell, our fiercest foe and enemy shall not defeat Christ’s church. Stay the course my dear friends, and keep your eyes on Jesus. We are on the winning side!

In His Grip, Dave

DiasoLifeOnTheBorder.org

Good News Out of Tijuana!

Posted: November 8, 2012 in Bright Spots on the Border, Christianity, Tijuana, Video
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I just came across this encouraging video report about the decrease in drug violence in Tijuana. In general I believe things are improving throughout Mexico. This news is in line with some of the other reports on Tijuana that have come out recently.

I read a report earlier this week that said that things in Juarez have improved dramatically. Juarez was considered the murder capital of the world just a couple of years ago. An example of the changes in this city that lies across the border from El Paso, Texas is that there were less murders in Juarez last month than there were in the city of Chicago.

This is big news, because a number of churches and ministries have shied away from the border and Mexico in recent years. Maybe now the tide will turn, and people will start coming back. The border obviously still needs the gospel!

“O Lord, continue your healing work in Mexico and bring renewal to the border and beyond! Please guide and lead us. Make even more clear to us the part we should play in this work of transformation and renewal. Amen”

In His Grip, Dave

DiasoLifeOnTheBorder.org

Good News, Mom! Hope Found in Tijuana: It’s a Model City

Posted: May 26, 2012 in Bright Spots on the Border, Christianity, Church Planting, Ministry, Missions, San Diego, Tijuana
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Tijuana

I’m on a layover flying back from the San Diego – Tijuana border, and I just read of the increasing safety in Tijuana. I know some of the risks I’ve taken have caused my mom and other concerned parties some anxiety. It’s great to get news that may calm your fears.

I was at Covenant Presbyterian in Bakersfield this last Sunday, and I told them that I feel alive when I’m in Mexico. It gives me energy, and I just love being there. I noticed as I said this that a number of them smiled at me, but it appeared they were smiling because they thought I must be crazy. Well, be that as it may, things are looking up on the border!

Nathan Jones just wrote an article that appeared in InSightCrime.org on the increasing safety in Tijuana. He stated, that Tijuana has actually become a model city in Mexico, because the crime has been reduced to pre-cartel lows. The article is titled, Tijuana’s New Calm Shows Benefits of Local Policing in Mexico. Jones goes on to say,

“Tijuana is the only place in Mexico where drug-related violence has surged and subsequently fallen to pre-conflict levels. While the government response cannot take full credit for the reduction in violence, it most certainly played a role, and that effort was not led by a federal police force.”

Hannah, Dawn and Dave in TJ

About one month ago I took Dawn and Hannah down to Tijuana and Rosarito with our friends, Daniel and Yolanda Nuñez. We had a great time, and I never felt threatened.

So come on down to the border and labor with us. The need for Jesus is just as great, but it’s a safer place to be.

This is good news for all of us! Praise the Lord!

In His Grip, Dave

DiasoLifeontheBorder.org

Is There Hope for Juarez, Mexico?

Posted: May 15, 2012 in Christianity, Church Planting, Family Happenings, Ministry, Ministry Partners, Missions, Prayer, Team Members
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Mexico Border Crossing

Mexico Border Crossing

After a busy and fun-filled weekend celebrating my daughter, Hannah’s graduation I find myself in El Paso, Texas ready to go into Juarez, Mexico. My dad flew back to Fresno, California about the same time I got on my plane for my journey to El Paso.

Tuesday morning we will kick off two days of meetings for most of our BEAMM workers. Border Evangelism and Mercy Ministries (BEAMM) spans along the 2,000 mile US/Mexico border. We have people working in such cities as: McAllen, TX; Reynosa, Mexico; Laredo, TX; Nuevo Laredo, Mexico; El Paso, TX; Juarez, Mexico; Nogales, AZ; Nogales, Mexico; San Diego, CA; Tijuana, Mexico. The BEAMM ministry began over 20 years ago in Juarez, and it’s grown over the years.

Our prayer is that God would so ignite the border that we would see a church planting movement started that will transform the border, socially, culturally and spiritually. Please join us in this prayer. We realize that only God can change a person’s heart. Only God can bring true and lasting transformation.

We are meeting in Juarez, Mexico. A city with a bad rap. A city in need of the gospel. This bad rap has been earned over the last few years with all the violence and crime. Yet things have gotten better, and we do have teammates that are regularly ministering in Juarez. I don’t mean to minimize the great needs of the city, but it is not a city without hope.

“But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”  — Jeremiah 29:7

Ray and Dave at Border Crossing

Ray and Dave at Border Crossing

God calls us to seek the welfare of the city. I pray that not only will the Lord bless our meetings as we discuss vision, and how the Lord is leading us to minister on the border, but that we will bless the city. Stand with us in this prayer.

Do pray for our safety, as well as unity. “O, Lord, give us your eyes to see. Give us your ears to hear. What are you calling us to do? What are the specific needs that you are calling us to meet? Fill us with boldness and the power of your Spirit.

What do you think, is there hope for Juarez?

In His Grip, Dave

DiasoLifeontheBorder.org