Congratulations to three Honduran brothers: Astor Henriquez, Mario Beata and Mani Suazo. Their team, Marathon Sports Club, were crowned as 1st Division Soccer Open League champions in Honduras this past November 26! The whole city of San Pedro Sula was celebrating their victory. And, of course, so was the church!
For the rest of the story, in Spanish, go to the San Pedro Sula Church website.
On October 31, while most of the Los Angeles metro area was celebrating in costume parties and trick-or-treating, a group of 11 missionaries was preparing to leave for El Salvador on a special journey of faith. These were members of the Turning Point ministry of the Los Angeles International Church of Christ. For one week they would join the members of the San Salvador Church of Christ in sharing their faith, serving the community, and celebrating the church’s 12th anniversary. The group was led by Jay and Traci Minor.
The missionaries stayed at the homes of local church members. They went sightseeing, they shared their faith at the University, they helped a few needy Christians from the church, they visited and served the schoolchildren at a very needy community (Suchitoto), and they participated in the church’s midweek and Anniversary services.
Here is a post from Jay Minor’s blog:
We drove into San Marcos, a neighborhood in San Salvador, where one of the families in the church lives. The famiy was a single mom named Gladys, with her two kids, Tato and Ana, with their grandmother Maria. The level of poverty that they lived in is hard to describe. The house was two rooms, and their kitchen, bathroom and laundry room were combined outside behind the house. It was the most shocking thing I have experienced in my life. I have, of course, heard about situations like this and seen things on film, but nothing compares to the experience of seeing it first hand. I was overcome with emotion and didn´t quite know what to do. So, I started watching the people we were visiting. They were so incredibly happy and grateful that we were there. I know this sounds like a cliche, but I can´t help it. We gave Tato and Ana each a stuffed animal, and their faces lit up in a way that defies description. They insisted on serving us soda that they had, and were so happy to do it. Josue, who leads the church here, was visiting their house for the first time as well, and he was just as shocked and overwhelmed as we were. We were all in tears afterwards.
Later that week the group went back to Gladys’ house, and they did a makeover of the whole place. You can see the video at this link. A tourism company had been hired to drive them around. The driver was impacted to find out that Gladys had been his teacher in elementary school! The other tour guide, a young girl, was so impacted that she decided to visit church and study the Bible. The Department of Tourism also provides armed security for tourist groups. Something inspiring happened with one of the armed guards, Armando (whom the group nicknamed “Batman”)…
One of our policeman, was telling Mariela and Teresa how, when he was given this assignment, he thought it was only going to be protecting a group of rich Americans. He never thought that he would actually feel like a part of the group himself, and be having so much fun with us and talking about God. He said that yesterday when we went to serve the disciples families, he was embarrased and humbled because his people are killing each other, while this group of foreigners is coming to his country to serve his people. He was so impacted, and he told his wife that they need to come to church with us this Sunday.
And on Sunday, he and his family were all in church! And so were four college students that the group had met during their evangelistic day at the University!
Upon their return back to L.A., Jay and a few of the missionaries shared about their trip. Turning Point members were deeply impacted by the group’s experience. Several thousand dollars were collected to send to El Salvador to help with various church and community projects. But, most importantly, a deep connection has been established, at a heart level, between the brothers and sisters of Turning Point and the church in San Salvador! Praise God for that!
You can view and hear Jay’s sermon at this link.
You can also read the rest of Jay’s blog beginning here.
You can also see photos here.
For the mission group’s visit to the Suchitoto community school, go to this video link.
J De Anda
Roberto and Rocio Martinez had been members of the Puebla (Mexico) Church of Christ for many years. Also for many years they had faced strong economic challenges, at times not even having food at home. Roberto finally got a stable job washing cars at the parking lot of a company, Johnson Controls. Meanwhile he continued pursuing his studies and obtained a Bachellor’s degree in Chemistry. The company offered him a job, and so from car washer in the parking lot, Roberto was promoted to plant supervisor! Besides a good salary, he now had multiple employment benefits such as insurance, retirement, and even scholarships for his two sons. God had blessed the Martinez family!
In July of 2009 the Puebla Church had to face a difficult situation: the mission church in the city of Tlaxcala didn’t have a ministry couple to lead it. Planted in 2003 in this city of about 100,000 people, the church had a small membership of about 47 Christians. The former ministry couple had gone to lead the church in Veracruz. The Puebla leadership approached Roberto and Rocio, who had just begun to lead a small ministry group, about moving to Tlaxcala and leading that church. If they accepted the call, Roberto would have to resign from his high-paying job to earn 60 % less as a minister.
Roberto and Rocio responded in a manner that inspired everyone in Puebla. They said that God had had given them many blessings, and now it was time for them to give back. About a month later the Martinez family moved to Tlaxcala. In their first two months there, the church has seen four people get baptized!
J De Anda
One cannot speak of the mission work of our churches in Mexico and Central America without highlighting efforts to help meet the physical needs of our people. The majority of the MCA Missions-associated churches participate in outreach programs, many of them in partnership with HOPE worldwide LTD., a global charity organization.
PrevenSIDA
This educational program teaches young people about the HIV virus, AIDS and its prevention, as well as helping teenagers make responsible decisions about their life. The program counts with the support of the Secretary of Public Education. It has been in place for 9 years and has reached over 250,000 teenagers and their families.
Health Center
The Health Center is located in a very needy community. It provides general medical attention as well as some specialized care (pediatrics, dermatology, gynecology among others.) The clinic offers some lab procedures such as women’s cancer screening. And it also provides dental care, including orthodontics. About 7,000 patients visit the clinic every year.
Medical-Dental Brigades
HOPE Mexico has 17 medical-dental brigades that visit 8 communities in Mexico City and surrounding cities. The brigades provide free medical and dental checkups, over-the-counter and prescription drugs, and workshops on prevention of contagious diseases. Around 5,000 patients are seen annually through this program.
Children’s Nutrition Center
This program is located in a community just outside Mexico City. It provides breakfast daily for about 250 children. A survey of the community had shown that there were about 5,300 families with an average of 6 children per household, many of whom were in varying degrees of malnutrition due to the extreme poverty. Children served by the program have shown remarkable improvements in their overall health and in their mental development.
Very inspiring work, indeed. May God continue to bless the efforts of HOPE worldwide Mexico.
J De Anda
This past Sunday, October 25, the church in San Jose, Costa Rica, celebrated its 13th Anniversary with a weekend full of activities. Guest speakers were Javier and Kelly Amaya from the Los Angeles Church. The Amayas gave a marriage and parenting workshop on Saturday and Javier was the main preacher at the Sunday service. Over 200 were in attendance for the service, where eight people committed their lives to Christ in baptism.
The San Jose Church was planted in 1996 by Victor and Sandra Nava, who are now in their native Mexico City leading one of the Mexico Church’s ministries. The San Jose Church now has 110 members. Jose Luis and Elizabeth Estrada came from Guatemala a year ago to lead the church.
J De Anda