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
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