Posts Tagged ‘Issaid and Mie Arechiga’

God’s Amazing Work Over the Years!

Posted: August 29, 2016 in Christianity, Church Planting, Family Happenings, Ministry, Missions, Reflections & Musings
Tags: , , , ,
7

This weekend Dawn, Hannah and I enjoyed going through the pictures from our first 10 years in Mexico, before we moved to Colorado. It was fun reminiscing, and reflecting on the many good friends the Lord gave us while we lived and worked in Mexico. I thought I would share some of those pictures here. I’ll start with our first term in Mexico from 1990 – 1994.

The Diaso family at the end of our first term. Hannah was born in April and we left for our Home Ministry Assignment in May of 1994

The Diaso family at the end of our first term. Hannah was born in April and we left for our Home Ministry Assignment in May of 1994

David Jr. newly born with Esmeralda while we were still in language school in McAllen, Texas. David was always a hit with the high school girls we were working with.

David Jr. newly born with Esmeralda while we were still in language school in McAllen, Texas. David was always a hit with the high school girls we were working with.

Dave & Dawn with David Jr. and Bruce Thompson and friends from Language school in the Zocalo. Mexico's center - town square

Dave & Dawn with David Jr. and Bruce Thompson and friends from Language school in the Zocalo. Mexico’s center – town square with the cathedral in the background.

Dave & Dawn with David Jr. in our first few months in Mexico City visiting Angel & Celia Cisneros in Xochimilco

Dave & Dawn with David Jr. in our first few months in Mexico City visiting Angel & Celia Cisneros in Xochimilco

Enjoying a ride on a canoe with Armando Cisneros in Xochimilco

Getting ready to enjoy a ride on a canoe with Armando Cisneros in Xochimilco

Dawn, Dave, David Jr. & Jon with the Arechiga family from our first church plant in Mexico City

Dawn, Dave, David Jr. & Jonathan with the Arechiga family from our first church plant in Mexico City

Sinuhe Arechiga, with Dawn, Andrea & Leo Ruggeri, Fernando and Leo's friend. We worked with a lot of young people in those days. Our house was always fall of activity.

Sinuhe Arechiga, with Dawn, Andrea & Leo Ruggeri, Fernando and Leo’s friend. We worked with a lot of young people in those days. Our house was always full of activity.

Ernesto & Vivian two of the young people we worked with in our first church plant.

Ernesto & Vivian two of the young people we worked with in our first church plant.

Issaid Arechiga with David Jr.

Issaid Arechiga having fun with David Jr.

Dawn with some of the women that were involved in our first church plant

Dawn with some of the women that were involved in our first church plant

David & Jon trying to figure out what they thought of the clowns in Coyoacan

David & Jonathan trying to figure out what they thought of the clowns in Coyoacan

I like this shot of me working at night on my Mac with my son sleeping. The Mac dates me - it was one of the first models that came out in the late 80's.

I like this shot of me working at night on my Mac with my son sleeping. The Mac dates me – it was one of the first models that came out in the late 80’s.

A group picture of all the missionary families we worked with in Mexico City with Mission to the World! A fun group!

A group picture of all the missionary families we worked with in Mexico City with Mission to the World! A fun group!

I don’t want to overwhelm you with too many pictures, but this gives you a glimpse of what we looked like and some of the people we worked with in our first term in Mexico. If you would like to see more pictures, I posted more on my Facebook page, David Diaso Sr., including a slide show video.

I hope to post more pictures from our second term in Mexico, which takes us up to the year 2000. My goal is to get them up later this week. Enjoy!

In His Grip, Dave

DiasoLifeOnTheBorder.org

Hear Our Prayer in Osaka!

Posted: September 12, 2014 in Christianity, Ministry, Missions, Prayer
Tags: , , , , ,
8
Open Doors in Osaka
Mie's brother, Hideaki (on the right) at their family run restaurant

Mie’s brother, Hideaki (on the right) at their family run restaurant

The Lord opened up a great door for me here in Osaka, Japan. I’m here visiting Issaid and Mie Arechiga, who are friends I’ve known for over 20 years. They were in the first church plant Dawn and I worked at while we ministered in Mexico City.

Osaka is a city of more than 17 million people, and less than 1% call on the name of Jesus!

Mie’s family lives here, and I’ve had a couple of chances to meet her brother, Hideaki. He doesn’t speak English and I don’t speak Japanese so our communication has been limited. Mie has been kind enough to translate for us.

Komachi and Takayasu Disease
Issaid & Mie Arechiga

Issaid & Mie Arechiga

Mie and Issaid shared with me that Hideaki’s daughter, Komachi has Takayasu disease, also known as aortic arch syndrome. It’s a condition that affects the arteries and it mainly affects women of Asian descent. Komachi is only ten years old, and she’s been in the hospital since July, because of this disease. The latest news is that she is expected to be in the hospital until November.

No one in Mie’s family believes in Christ. She feels burdened for her family. While Issaid and Mie are living in Japan they have the opportunity to share the love of Christ with their family.

The Gospel in Japan
Osaka, Japan

Osaka, Japan

I asked Mie and her brother if I could go to the hospital to pray for his daughter. He said yes! So this morning Issaid, Mie and I went to the hospital and we met Hideaki there. We went up to the floor that Komachi was on, and we shared Jesus with them.

We didn’t have much time, because of the schedule they keep at the hospital. Mie translated for me as I shared how sickness and death entered the world through Adam.

Our hope is in Christ alone. He is the answer to man’s sin.

Japanese people are on the shy side, but I felt like it was a good first step.

Then after Mie and I shared the gospel with her brother and her niece we prayed for the Lord’s healing touch. I’m praying that God will hear our prayer and she will be healed.

Lord, Hear Our Prayer!

O Lord, that you would show your mercy to this family and bring healing. As they see you work in a powerful way that they would also recognize that you are the true Lord and Savior. That they will bow the knee to you O Lord. Give Mie and Issaid wisdom and open doors to share the love of Christ with Hideaki, Komachi and the rest of the family.

Dear friends, please join us in prayer for this family. Japan is one of the most unreached nations on the planet. God often uses small things, so we pray he might use this testimony. Holy Spirit be poured out, and wake up this family and this slumbering people.

In His Grip, Dave

DiasoLifeOnTheBorder.org

The Paradox in Japan!

Posted: September 10, 2014 in Christianity, Ministry, Missions, Prayer, Reflections & Musings
Tags: , , , , ,
2
The Lord’s Special Gift!
Issaid & Dave with Issaid's English class

Issaid & Dave with the students Issaid’s English class

The Lord has blessed me with a special gift. I’m in Japan for a few days with our friends, Issaid and Mie Arechiga who Dawn and I first met in Mexico City. Next week I will be involved in Mission to the World’s (MTW) leadership meeting in Cambodia.

It seemed like the perfect time to visit Arechigas as I’m on my way to Cambodia. After we left Mexico City Dawn and I caught up to Issaid and Mie on the border. They were involved in our first church plant in Mexico, and then a church plant we are helping with on the border.

Last year they moved to Japan, where Mie is originally from. They are working on returning to the U.S. We’ve missed them a great deal. It’s a real gift to be able to spend this time with them.

The Beauty of Japan & The Need for Christ
One of the temples in Kyoto, Japan

One of the temples in Kyoto, Japan

Japan is a beautiful country with good people. It’s one of the safest places in the world to live. There’s only one problem, very few of them know Christ. Less than 1% of the population call on the name of Jesus Christ.

This is the paradox of Japan. On the outside things seem just fine, but when you lift up the hood you realize that it’s not as healthy as it first seemed.

It breaks my heart to see such a wonderful people lost. They are doing well in many ways. They are a moral people. For these reasons and more they don’t see their need for God.

There is not the poverty here or the violence that one finds in Mexico. Yet, there is a profound spiritual poverty that they are blind to.

MTW has a large missions force here, and the Lord is using them to make a difference, but it is slow work. Pray for their strength and that the Lord will encourage them as they labor.

The only hope for Japan is found in Christ!

O Lord, would you open the eyes of the people here so that they would see their need for a savior. Work in their hearts so that they might realize that they are poor in spirit and in need of a great Savior, Jesus Christ!

In His Grip, Dave

DiasoLifeOnTheBorder.org

A Call to Prayer – Will You Join us?

Posted: January 17, 2012 in Journey, Ministry, Prayer
Tags: , , , , , ,
2

Ray and Michele Call

One of the goals I have for this year is that the Lord would raise up at least 200 friends who would pray regularly for our San Diego – Tijuana BEAMM team. My hope is that we will have people sign up to pray for us each day, and others who will pray with us at least once a week.

Ray and Michele Call are on this team with us, so we want to work together in asking all our friends to commit to praying for us. Another friend with Mission to the World, Jim DeWitt is helping us to recruit prayer partners as well as implementing a plan to let people know how they can pray for us.

Dave with Jim DeWitt in Tijuana

We not only want to share our prayer needs with you, but we want to celebrate what God is doing. In my last post I shared how the Lord is working in my friend, Issaid’s life. It makes me tear up when I think of God’s faithfulness to Issaid and his family. It also gets me super excited to see how the Lord is using our friend and ministry partner, Stephen Phelan in Issaid’s life.

I asked you to pray for Brian and Anna Peterson. Well, God answered! Anna is now home with her family. She came close to dying while she had complications giving birth. Then there were concerns about brain damage, but the Lord has intervened and shown his mercy to the Petersons in healing Anna. They could use your continued prayer as it will take some time for Anna to fully recover.

Here’s how you can help!

If you would be willing to commit to praying daily, weekly or monthly for us let me know. I first post on my blog, and then broadcast it on Facebook, Twitter and our Facebook group “Pray for the Diasos“. My plan is to use all these social media networks to send out updates, and let friends know how to pray for us.

You can let Dawn, me, Ray or Michele know that you would like to pray for us by sending us a note. We appreciate any and all type of prayer. If you could specify whether it’s a daily, weekly or other that would be a tremendous help.

You can find our prayer requests on the prayer page on this blog. I will also send out prayer requests on my posts, and email updates.

The border in some ways is like a war zone, at least on the Mexican side. We need friends to intercede on our behalf. Our enemy wants to discourage us, and distract us from doing our work.

Dave & Dawn at the San Diego Harbor

Please pray for both our family and the Calls as we have experienced constant trouble with our cars recently. We had two cars die in 2011. The Call’s had to replace their transmission while on a long trip in October. Since they’ve returned both of their cars have continually been in the shop. They also had a car accident over the holidays.

Thanks for joining us on the journey, and standing with us in prayer.

In His Grip, Dave

DiasoLifeontheBorder.org

God Doesn’t Give Up On Us

Posted: January 13, 2012 in Bright Spots on the Border, Journey
Tags: , , , ,
7

Issaid & Mie with their children

It’s so encouraging to see how God works and doesn’t give up on our friends. Over twenty years ago I met Issaid Arechiga and his family in Mexico City. Issaid has been one of my best friends over the years. I wrote of him in an earlier post.

I used to meet regularly with Issaid to study the Bible and encourage him in his faith. Then Issaid married Mie, and Dawn and I discipled them. Mie was from Japan, and she had never studied the Bible or heard the gospel before. She came to faith through our ministry. Issaid was growing in his faith.

Then we moved back to the States, and Issaid and Mie moved to Tijuana. I lost touch with them until we began this ministry on the San Diego – Tijuana border. I first found Issaid on Facebook. Then when I figured out that they lived in National City, in the same area that we would be living and working in I couldn’t believe it! It was so good to reconnect with Issaid, Mie and their family.

Issaid had a bad experience in the church in Tijuana, which discouraged his involvement in the church. He stopped going to church which affected his spiritual life. He wasn’t as close to God.

Stephen Phelan leading worship at Harbor Mid-City

When Dawn and I started going to the border Issaid and Mie would always go to church with us when we were there. It was good to see their interest. Over the last few months Issaid and Mie have gone to Harbor Mid-City when we were able to attend, but they wouldn’t go when we didn’t. In November my good friend, pastor Stephen Phelan started meeting with Issaid. They are studying the Bible together. Issaid is starting to grow in his faith again. He’s been taking his family to church even when Dawn and I are not there!

Thank you Jesus for not giving up on my friend, Issaid! I’m so thrilled that God has brought Issaid and his family back into contact with us, and that they are now growing in their faith!

In His Grip, Dave

P.S. I know a number of you have prayed for our friends, Brian and Anna Peterson in Fresno. Anna is still in the hospital, but she is doing better. Her mom said that Anna’s sister-in-law’s blog has received 27,000 hits, and there are over 600 that have subscribed to the “prayer for Anna” Facebook group. Thanks for keeping them in your prayers.

DiasoLifeontheBorder.org