Christmas Shoebox Delivery 2015

Happy to be bringing gifts to Mexico

On Friday, December 11th, Bill and I met with Pastor Greg and Robin Goza in Del Rio, along with Pastor Jeff and Amy Oliver, from First Baptist Church, Eagle Pass, to prepare for the delivery of 260 shoebox gifts for Tepeyac and the surrounding communities.

We unloaded the U-Haul trailer and reloaded the boxes in our 1989 Chevrolet Van, and Greg's car, and headed across the border with Jeff and Amy joining us.

We went to deliver gifts in Nueva Jarita first, then picked up Lucero, Socorro, Aniceto and Estrella Martinez in Palmira before heading for Tepeyac. We were able to give out most of our gift to children attending a meeting at the Catholic Church with their families. They came over to Yessica's house nearby as we distributed shoeboxes to children and mothers.

After Tepeyac, we headed  for the Children's Home in El Moral, where 8 young ladies were getting ready to go to church in Piedras Negras. We gave gifts to all the girls and the workers that were there, including the pastor's wife.

We stopped at a little store in El Moral for something to snack on, and behind the store, three men were unloading bales of hay, and children were jumping on the bales. We introduced ourselves and Greg gave the men gloves and bottles of Powerade, and we gave the children and mothers gift boxes. It was fun to take their pictures, as the guys posed with their new gloves.

From there, we headed to Centinella, where we first went to the Agua Viva Rehabilitation Center. We gave gifts to each of the 8 men living there, and the pastor, Alejandro Alvarado, his wife, Veronica, and their 7-year-old daughter, Priscilla. Then we went to every house and gave gifts to all the children and most of the mothers. We were able to hand out almost all the gifts, with a few left over for families that were out of town in Tepeyac. I was able to take them to their homes in the week following our delivery.

Greg and Robin and the Olivers headed back to Del Rio to the motel and I took the Martinez family home and delivered more gifts before returning to Del Rio to spend some more time with Greg and Robin. 

It's always a joy for me to have time with friends from the U.S. I miss the fellowship and appreciate every opportunity to spend time with good friends.

We are so very grateful for all the people who made this year's shoebox program a success. We especially want to thank the members of Aspermont Commuity Church, Swenson Baptist Church and the First Baptist Church of Eagle Pass for all the shoebox gifts they sent to the children and families in Mexico. You gave these families hope and love in a special way this Christmas. God bless you as you share Christ's love in the coming year.

Breakfast Saturday morning with the Greg and Robin Goza and Amy and Jeff Oliver and girls.

Ofelia and her brother with her children. Sweet family in Tepeyac.

Greg Goza and the youngest Oliver

Jahaziel and his regalo.

Our favorite family in Nueva Jarita.

 

Cristian, receiving his gift from Rebeccah

Great guys working unloading hay in El Moral.

With new Gloves and Powerade, we made friends.

 

 

Little Brother and Big Sister!

 

The girls from the Children's Home in El Moral.

A Happy Little Girl with her shoebox.

Expectant Mother and her son

This young man lives in Centinella.

Sweet Kids!

A Happy Family

Proud Boys!

Turkey Dinner At The Agua Viva Rehab Center

Wishing you and your family a blessed Christmas and a New Year filled with the Hope only found in a relationship with Jesus Christ!

Wednesday afternoon, December 16th, we took the van full of friends and food to Centinella. We enjoyed a wonderful meal of roasted turkey, beans, red rice, ambrosia fruit salad, tortillas, and white cake to celebrate the Christmas season with the "muchachos" at the Agua Viva Rehabilitation Center. We fed 20 people with lots left over, and the weather couldn't have been more beautiful.

Giving Thanks

Greetings from Tepeyac in the beloved name of Jesucristo!

It has been many months since our last update and we wanted to let our friends know we are still here, working and helping families in the area.

It is difficult for me to share here in this short update all the things God has done in and through us since our last report. So many blessings and answers to prayer, seeing His hand in our lives through trials and challenges. But He who called us is faithful.

I have driven to visit my family in California twice this year, and enjoyed spending time with all my grandchildren, including two born in June.

Both Bill and I have had some illnesses this year, but we are grateful for God's healing touch and are both on the mend.

We continue to work with the rehab in Centinella, and have been distributing clothing, household goods, medical supplies, wheelchairs and walkers donated from California and Texas for families in need.

Pastor Greg Goza came to visit last week for a few days, and worked on our electricity in the house and installed a hot water heater for the trailer. He also did some electric work on our neighbor's home. We thoroughly enjoyed his visit.

We wish to thank all of you for your interest in our blog and I will try to do a better job of keeping you updated in the future.

We pray God uses each of our lives for His glory, and that we keep focused on the lost and hurting around us, bringing them the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In His loving embrace,
Toni and Bill

"So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
Romans 10:17

Sweet Visit in Corpus Christi

Greetings from Mexico on this beautiful day. What a blessing to get rain in the midst of this drought we’ve had for so long. God is good and we are grateful for every drop He sends us.

After over a year of planning to go, I was able to make the trip to visit our friends at Primera Iglesia Bautista in Corpus Christi, Texas this month. What a blessing to see old friends and new after so long. This church has been supporting the ministry here in Mexico for over three years now, and it was a privilege to fellowship with the saints there. They always make me feel so welcome.

My “excuse” for going was to paint signs for the church, as they had seen many years of weather exposure, which can be harsh in Texas. I brought all my paints and was able to paint in the church gymnasium, with many friends coming by to visit and bring donations for Mexico.

Pastor Jim Garcia and his wife, Brenda, gave me sweet hospitality the whole time I was in town, and I was able to visit with other friends during my visit. The ladies of the Dorcas group asked me to speak on Tuesday morning, and I shared about the ministry in Mexico and my reasons for being there. Pastor Jim also gave me the opportunity to share with the whole church on Sunday morning, along with a photo presentation. They took up a generous love offering to help the ministry.

The afternoon before I left, Ruben and Dalia Hernandez took me to the Gulf on South San Padre Island and I was brought to tears being at the beach, putting my feet in the water and enjoying the beauty of His creation there. What a blessing to be able to experience that while I was in Corpus.
 

Dalia Hernandez at the beach with us

My feet in the Gulf of Mexico

I was blessed to be able to bring a truckload of donations from my friends at Primera Iglesia to the people of Coahuila. Their love and generosity overwhelmed me and blessed the families in our part of Mexico.

I thank the Lord for the opportunity to visit my friends and family at Primera Iglesia Bautista and look forward to seeing them one day soon.

Blessings from Mexico,

Toni and Bill

 P.S. Here are some pictures from Saturday, the11th of April before I left for Corpus. We did an outreach with the children while the moms of Tepeyac had a fundraiser for Cristian Vazquez Hernandez. We played games, had cupcakes and painted figurines with the kids. It was lots of fun.

Musical Chairs

Blindfolded, fishing for rubber duckies

Spectators enjoying cupcakes

Throwing balls into colored water in Mason Jars

Talented Painters

Young Artists

Wednesday's Prison Visit

Greetings from Tepeyac, Mexico in the mighty, all-powerful name of Jesus!

We are in awe of His hand in our lives, answering prayers and opening doors for ministry.
 

This week I gave a family a ride to the prison in Piedras to visit a loved one, and went to visit Claudia, whom I had visited before, with the baby boy, Jorge Antonio. He is 18 months old now, and smiles big with sweet dimples.

She was well and said her family hadn’t been to see her since Christmas, due to the distance. We read the word, prayed and 
visited for about an hour. She has been attending the church services held inside. She was grateful for the visit and I told her I would be traveling this month but hoped to come back in two weeks.

Then I went to see another woman who is a relative of our neighbors. She was surprised when we met, but invited me into her room, and we visited while she held a 5-month old boy she is babysitting for another woman who was working. They share a room with one twin bed, and I asked her how they managed. She said her roommate sleeps in the bed with the baby and she sleeps on the floor. The room had a partition with a toilet and shower on the other side of the wall.

We talked about our mutual friends and about how it has been for her inside. She said she’s been there a year now and at first, her family came every week. But now, they don’t come to visit and it’s harder for her. She is happy she can care for the little boy because it makes the time go by faster.

I asked her if she had ever accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior, and she said yes, a long time ago. I prayed with her and shared my testimony and told her I’d like to come back and visit her if that would be okay. She said yes, and we hugged and said our goodbyes.

The guard took me into another cell where a young woman named Alejandra was living. She has been there 5 months and will be there a long time, due to her crime, the guard said. I had asked the guards working in the office if there were any women who had no visitors. They gave me Alejandra’s name.

Alejandra set the box of hygiene items I had brought her on another bed in her room, and we sat down to visit.

The guard stayed in the room with me, and we talked about the Lord and I asked her if she ever went to church. She said she had gone a few times. I told her a little about my life, and that I lived in a town not far from there, and that I wanted to come visit her on a regular basis, if that would be okay. She said yes, and we talked awhile.  Then I asked her if she would like to pray to receive the Lord. She said yes, and she bowed her head. Angie, the guard, and I prayed and Alejandra repeated the prayer, with her hand raised in the air and tears in her eyes. I was crying, too, and Angie and I both prayed for our new sister, asking God to help her through her time in the prison, and to give her joy in the midst of the trials. Before we left Alejandra, we hugged and I told her I would be back in a few weeks, Lord willing, to visit once again. I asked if there was anything she’d like me to bring her, and all she asked for was cookies.

When I went back to the office to get my ID, the administrator told me she had more names of women who didn’t have any visitors. She gave me 8 names of those women, and I told her this was my ministry, and she said, Yes, it is.

I walked out of the prison on air, feeling like God had given me favor with the authorities there, as I had prayed in the morning on my way there. It was such a blessing to know He’s opening those doors.

Thank you for your prayers, love and support for this ministry and for your prayers for these women behind the bars of the facility in Piedras. They need your prayers, and I know God can be glorified in their lives if they just decide to follow Christ. 

May God use your life in such a way that others question their disbelief. We are here to be light and salt, and to be a living witness of Christ's power in our lives.

Serving Him with joy,
Toni and Bill

Caballos, Cowboys and Kidneys

Greetings from Tepeyac in the incredible name of Jesus Christ. We are encouraged, blessed and in awe of God’s faithfulness in recent weeks. So many things are happening here lately, and we are thanking Him for allowing us to be used by Him here in Mexico.

Thursday evening, after returning from a trip to Piedras, five boys arrived on horseback in our front yard. As I went out to greet them, I saw all of them were kids I knew and had enjoyed teaching here in Tepeyac.

Ricardo, about 14 years old, dismounted and came up to talk to me. He asked if I could drive his mother and grandfather to the doctor on Friday morning at 7 am. I said yes, and asked how many would be coming with them. He said about 5, so I took the van Friday morning to pick them up.

Felipe, the grandfather, is 74 and has suffered a stroke several years ago that he has not recovered from. He is unable to walk and is pushed around on a walker. Ricardo helped his mother, Mari, put Felipe in the van, and we loaded up for Acuña.

Bill went with me and we picked up Mari’s brother and his wife in Palmira. We arrived at the Seguro Hospital just before 8 am, the time for Felipe’s appointment. They finished about 10:30 and we loaded up and took them to the pharmacy and the bank. Then we headed back home.

On the way, as we were leaving Acuña, we picked up a family on their way to Zaragoza. They were hitchhiking and we gave them a ride to San Carlos, about an hour short of their destination. We filled up our propane tank, and then took Mari and her family home to Tepeyac. I was able to bring them a wheelchair for Felipe to use as he was badly in need of a way to get around. The wheelchair was a donation from my trip to California.

Here are some pictures of Mari's grandson, Gerardo. He is 4 years old and loves horses and ropes. He's quite a little cowboy.

I recently went into a parts shop in Eagle Pass to have them check out the “check engine” light on the dash of the Corolla.

They man who came out to do the diagnostic was eager to talk, as I usually am, and we started talking about the Lord and what He had done in our lives.

He said he had lost his wife and children because of his alcohol problems, but several years ago he came to know the Lord and his life is completely changed. He is attending a wonderful church and is being used by God nearly every day to share with people that come into the store. 

We hugged goodbye, and before I left, he prayed for me and for Bill, and was such an encouragement, I felt like it was just the “shot” I needed. His faith was contagious, as all of us believers should be. We need each other to remind us that God has a wonderful plan for our lives and can use us, no matter where we live or what we do.

Sometimes I feel like I am so far from my family and friends and need that little personal touch to keep my faith alive. God has a way of putting people in our paths right when we need them.

The funniest thing happened this morning. When I was getting out of the Corolla to close the gate heading for the house, I heard the fan turn on to cool the engine. That was the reason the "check engine" light was on on the dash of the car. When I got back in the car, the light had turned off. I thanked the Lord for healing that problem. He cares about even the smallest things.

Manuelita and her son, Cristian when we first moved to Mexico

Recently, I have been trying to get help for Cristian Vasquez Hernandez and his family. He is the boy I shared about a few years ago.

He was born with something called "neurogenic bladder" and his condition has damaged his kidneys. I trust the Lord will help me find someone in the US that can help this young man with this need.  I have made several visits to the Mexican Consulate, and have spoken to medical professionals in San Antonio. Right now, I am waiting for a response.

This is Cristian today. He will be 9 years old in May.

In the meantime, we appreciate your prayers for him and his family. This has been a very difficult journey and it is very expensive for them with all the trips to the hospital in Monterey and the things he needs to care for his illness.

Thank you so much for partnering with us in this ministry through your prayers and support. We are grateful for your interest and we especially thank you for your prayers. 

In Jesus' name,

Toni and Bill