Delivering School Supplies To Local Students

We are so grateful for the generosity of our friends in Aspermont, Hamlin, Anson, Dallas and Corpus Christi. Because of you, we were able to bring goodies to the students from Tepeyac, Palmira and Jarita.

Here are a few pictures for you to see some of the children's faces. They were so blessed by the supplies and asked us to thank the people who donated the items.

So, we are sending a big GRACIAS from the children who are enjoying all the goodies you sent.
God bless you for your love for the children.

Serving Him with joy,

Toni and Bill

Grateful To Be Home Again...

Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ!

The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of blessings, reconnecting with friends and family, and seeing  God’s abundant provision for us as we travelled nearly 1,500 miles from Mexico through Texas and home again.

We are so grateful for travelling mercies, and did not have even a flat tire along the way. Our tires have given us much trouble as we’ve put lots of miles on them in the past year, and the roads in our area are not smooth. But we were blessed with sweet hospitality, fellowship, opportunities to share the work here in Mexico and opportunities to share with people along the way.

We left Mexico on Friday, August 9^th, and headed for Del Rio. The first thing we had to get was an inspection on the Tundra. We passed after buying two lug nuts for the wheels and then headed up the road to Aspermont. We stopped to see Greg and Robin Goza in Anson, and had a sweet visit with them. Then we went to spend some time with Todd, and headed out to Steve and Eileen Cochran’s to spend the night. They were gone to Andrews for the weekend, but invited us to stay at their place. We rested and then headed in to town to have lunch with Laura Pilkinton at Hickman’s. While we were there, we saw lots of friends and had a nice visit with Laura. We went by Steve and Debra Petterson’s house and had a nice visit with them, catching up on the news of grandbabies and such.

After we left Aspermont, we met Greg and Robin at their house and went to the Bumpis home outside Anson where Larry Goff was sharing about his recent trip to Papua New Guinea. What a blessing to hear all the things God did on that trip, and we were excited and encouraged by Larry’s testimony.

We stayed the night with the Goza’s and then went to share at Aspermont Community Church on Sunday morning.  It was great seeing everyone as we reconnected with old friends there. That was our church the 10 years we lived in Aspermont, so it was coming home for us.

Several of the families met at Uncle’s for lunch, and then we headed back to Anson with Greg and Robin to rest up for the evening service at the First Baptist Church of Swenson. We picked Todd up to join us for the service that night. We didn’t share but got to meet the new pastor, Mickey Wagoner, and saw several old friends.  They support us and provide shoebox gifts for children and families in Tepeyac.

After the service, we headed for Brandon’s in Watauga, and arrived a little after 11:30. It was so good to see him and we talked a few minutes before heading to bed. He had an early day Monday at work, and I was there to watch Abigail when Jessica came home just before 8am from work.

Spending time with Abi is always a joy, and she is growing up too fast. We had a great week, making cookies, coloring together, going to the Jump House and for ice cream, and just hanging out together.

Wednesday afternoon, we headed for Primera Iglesia in Dallas, and we had an opportunity to share about the ministry when Brother David Lara invited us to come forward. The saints there loaded us up with clothing, shoes, and cases of notebooks for the school children and school supplies. We were so blessed.

We took Todd to the bus early Friday morning so he could get a little rest before work on Monday. Then Saturday morning, we headed to Corpus Christi. It was a long drive and we didn’t arrive until about 7:30 that night, but Jim and Brenda had a meal ready for us and we had a sweet visit before we headed to bed.

Sunday morning we had a wonderful breakfast, made by Jim himself, and then headed to the Primera Iglesia Bautista. I shared during the first service about the ministry (in Spanish) and then again in English for the second service. The church had a wonderful lunch in the fellowship hall for us, with a beautiful cake. They really made us feel welcome.

Bill shared during the evening service and we all joined Juan and Martha for supper at one of their favorite restaurants. The next morning, we said our good-byes after visiting Halleluiah, the local Christian Bookstore. Jim and Brenda ordered copies of Stormie Omartian’s Power of a Praying Wife in Spanish for our studies. What a blessing to have this resource for the women in Mexico.

We got on the road and headed towards Eagle Pass. When we arrived at the aduana, we gave the woman there a list of the school supplies we were bringing to Mexico, and paid the 16% taxes they charged. We were blessed it only came to $40. US.

We arrived home about 9:30 Monday evening and were so glad to be back home. Our neighbors, José Alberto and Guadalupe took great care of the dogs.  We received this photo of José serenading Max with his harmonica.

We are grateful to God and to all of our friends and family for the sweet time we had while we were in Texas. Thank you for your prayers for us. We appreciate every one of you.

May the Lord be glorified in your lives as you seek the King of kings.

In His loving embrace,

Toni and Bill

 

 

Entertaining Angels…Unaware?

Greetings from Coahuila in the glorious name of Jesus of Nazareth!

Our day started out with an agenda, and ended with God’s agenda, as we later came to discover. I love it when God makes things come together like we would never imagine, don’t you?

Bill had an appointment in Del Rio to renew his CDL certification with TXDOT. So we left before 8 in the morning, bringing our neighbor, José Alberto Rios with us for his appointment in Acuña. We went across the border and Bill passed his physical with flying colors, as they say. Then we picked up a few things, ran some errands and headed back to Mexico.

Shortly after leaving Acuña, we saw a man on the side of the road who was waving for a ride. So we picked him up and gave him a ride to the turnoff for Tepeyac. I gave him some popsicles I had in the ice chest and we talked a few minutes. He told us his name is Marlon Acuña Cruz and he’s from Nicaragua. He had just been deported from the US a few days ago. He said he left Acuña early that morning and a woman made him breakfast when he asked for some money for food. She played Christian music and was surprised when he told her he was a Christian too. She said she thought he was a homeless man and he said no, that he lived in Juarez six years and has a wife and son but had gone to the US to find work, ending up working as a welder in New Orleans for six months.

When he left her home, he stopped to ask for water further down the road and a man took him to his ranch where he gave him lunch and a haircut in his barber shop, and drove him to the highway. It was shortly after that, we picked him up. He was going to Piedras to look for work so he could get a bus ticket to Juarez.

We decided to take him to the Rehab in Centinela and waited several hours for the pastor and his wife to get back from the church service they attend in Piedras. When they got home, Pastor Alejandro talked to him for a long time. He told him he could stay at the Rehab Center and they would help him to get to Juarez tomorrow. Alejandro’s wife, Veronica is from Juarez and the main Rehab they are affiliated with is there.

We ended up spending over three hours with Marlon and during that time, he told us his story of how he had turned away from the Lord in the states, and ended up in Sonora in the desert without food or water for three days. He prayed and asked the Lord’s forgiveness and felt that God had not failed to take care of him as he worked to make his way back home.

We said our goodbyes and told Marlon if he ever comes back this way to come by and see us. We drove away with such a feeling of “that was a God-thing.” The Lord allowed us to meet and speak in to Marlon’s life. We heard from our friends in Centinela and they said Marlon was on his way to Juarez the next  morning.  We pray our brother allows the Lord to work in his life with renewed strength and wisdom.


By His grace,

Toni and Bill