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
