Crossroads Church - March 4-11

Thank you Crossroads Church for the contribution to build yet another block church here in Chiapas. We appreciate the support you have been for many years with the work in Mexico. Bud, Vance, Eddie and Mike - we are grateful for all the hard work you did last week and for the great time we had together! Thank you Bud for the very kind words! We appreciate you taking the time to give us a summary of the week in your own words.

On March 4, four of us from Crossroads Church in Lafayette, LA traveled to Tuxtla, Chiapas, where we spent the week working on completing a church building in the village of Saclamantojtic north of Chenalho as well as other smaller work details that needed completion in another area called Santa Marta.

We were greeted by Russell Linscombe at the airport in Tuxtla on Saturday afternoon, and from arrival to departure, our stay was both productive, enjoyable and a great blessing to us as well as those we were there to serve.

Any trip to a foreign country with interior travel and hands on work requirements usually has its own challenges and problems. However, we are pleased to say that this trip was void of problems due mostly to Russell and Charlotte's planning and organization of the itinerary for the entire week. When we arrived, food had already been stocked for the week; our rooms were clean and ready for occupancy, and a hot meal was waiting at the mission center. After approximately 16 hours travel in the day, that hot meal was a major blessing!

Each day started with a hot breakfast, then off to meet the warm greetings and smiling faces of brothers and sisters of the Tzotzil Indians that were getting their own place to worship the Lord. Their hospitality and love shown to us could not have been more genuine if we were relatives of their own natural family, but the bond we have in Christ will never be forgotten should we not meet again on this earth. Again, Charlotte had a wonderful meal cooked each evening upon our return. As a special treat, our friend Pastor Alejandro and his family had us in their home for dinner on Thursday evening. We enjoyed a very special time of fellowship with music and laughter. Mrs. Rosa presented us with gifts she had hand made. We will always remember the love and honor extended to us as we were made to feel like the family we are in Christ.

We left Mexico full of many memories experienced in a brief encounter of being used by the Lord, but with a sense of the reality that we received as much from the family of God in Mexico as we could have ever given to them. There is not enough room to describe our experience, as anyone that has been there would agree, but we thank the Lord and his servants: Russell, Charlotte, Pastor Carlos, Pastor Alejandro and all the other believers in the Chenalho region for making our time in Mexico such a rich experience that has impacted our lives for eternity!

God bless you all abundantly!

Bud, Vance, Eddie and Mike

--update--
Answer to Prayer! Crossroad team, we wanted you to know that the mother of little Mariano gave testimony in service last week of the healing her son had received the day you prayed for him at church. Pastor Alejandro had called forth the family and asked the American team to pray for Mariano, a 2 1/2 year old boy. He no longer could walk without pain and his legs would give out from under him. They were all frightened by this but knew to go to God for their source of healing and strength. You laid hands on him and prayed at the alter during the Sunday morning service according to the Scriptures, and now he is walking completely normal. We thank God for His faithfulness to do what only He can do and also for your willingness to come ready to be used of God in any way needed. Mariano is enjoying life with the ability to walk normally and without pain. To God be the glory!