Dear Friends:
It was such sad time when we met in Palomas in October because our beloved housemother and local Alas Director, Anita Montoya died suddenly and went to be with the Lord. She became very sick and it appears that the doctors never figured out what was wrong with her. We are thankful that the Bible promises that those who have made Jesus their Lord go immediately to be with Him on their death and that heaven is an amazing place with incredible beauty, a place where there is no sorrow, sadness, pain or other affliction.
When we met with the families in our Alas program, Angel & Ceci started off our meeting time with a beautiful song of remembrance for Anita, then I reminded people that the Bible is clear that our Creator wants to have fellowship with us, wants to guide our lives as a perfect Father, and promises that if we will seek Him with all of our hearts, He will reveal Himself and His plans for our lives that will bring blessing both during this life and in eternity.
Anita was not perfect (none of us are), but she clearly made Jesus her Lord. I recounted how I watched her struggle with life-plans, and how she eventually settled into being a big-sister or mom to our girls in the orphanage (she was only 32 when she died, so many of the girls called her their big sister!) and also the local person who kept up with all of the issues and problems of the kids and families in our Alas program, making sure that no one was going hungry, sorting out all of the problems with distribution of school clothing and shoes for them, making sure their school fees were paid, and so on.
The immediate good that came out of this is that when the parents and students went to their various teaching lessons, a number of them realized that they needed to be ready to meet their Creator, and prayed to receive Him as Lord and to seek a close relationship with Jesus through Bible reading, prayer, worship and fellowship. We stressed that religion would not save them, going to church would not save them, only a relationship with Jesus would. So, it was a sad and yet wonderful day.
We also continued to follow through with our theme verse for this year: Josh 24:15 “But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." NIV
Our next ministry meeting in Palomas will be Nov. 8!
We are already planning our Christmas Fiesta, and we expect to have between 350 and 400 people in attendance! We will be getting information out soon, asking you sponsors to prepare your Christmas gifts for your students, and we also will need about 40 additional gifts for young family members (siblings) of students in our program. We are working with the Pastors to create a fun, Christ-centered program!
Here are some prayer points that we hope you will pray for our families and the ministry in Palomas!
That the power of the cartels will be broken.
That the Believers in Christ will be able to stand up against corruption.
That the Pastors and church leaders will have the full gifts and fruit of the Spirit manifested in their lives
to lead their congregations into God’s Holiness.
That the congregations of Palomas will both grow and grow stronger in the Lord!
That the parents will raise their children in love and obedience to the Lord.
That the children will be able to resist the deceptions of the devil that are all around them!
That the teachers in the schools will have a passion for teaching the children well!
That we will be able to implement well all that the Lord is showing us to do—Youth Pastor training,
special training for students who are behind and for those getting ready to take college entrance
exams, and growing God’s kingdom!
May the Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.
Jim & Pat