Ministry Update

Although I did not hold protracted meetings, it was a blessing to be able to minister beside Jimmy Watson and his family here in Guasave, Sinaloa, Mexico. By this evening, I will have preached four times in two different churches. I have been a silent partner as others more fluent in Spanish have preached the Gospel during church visitation. I have accompanied the men of the church as they joined their pastor to paint the room that is the church auditorium. Most of all, I have accompanied Jimmy as he has worked, doing the mundane tasks of life as well as the more exciting tasks of ministry. We could never say enough about the Watson’s hospitality and kindness to us while we have been here. It has been a very rewarding trip, but we look forward to our next revival meeting beginning Sunday in English-speaking California. Please pray for God’s hand upon us as we travel, but especially as we minister in Fundamental Baptist Church in Escondido, CA. Please pray for the Watson family as well, as they recover from spending nearly two weeks with us.

Family Update

Greetings from frigid Mexico. Obviously, the little black cloud that follows us travels internationally, as well! Temperatures have dropped into the low 40’s each night. Big deal, you may think, but they do not have indoor heating down here. Concrete and tile houses are not very warm under the circumstances. However, the fellowship has been warm, and the memories numerous. I will share just a few of them with you.

The Slide Race

Jimmy took our family, along with Walker and Callie, to a nearby park. They had a small menagerie that he thought the children would enjoy. There were javelinas, raccoons, monkeys, bobcats, peacocks, rabbits and alligators. It was so cold, though, that the alligators would not even eat the food that was given to them by the keeper. On the other side of the park, there was some playground equipment. The kids played on the swings, a mini ferris wheel, monkey bars, and slides. In the far corner was a giant slide – the kind that you might see at the amusement parks. It was about three stories tall and two “lanes” wide. Jimmy dared Paul to ride down the slide, so they both ran up the stairs to the top. On the way up, the two men talked about how there was no handrail to aid a person up the stairs. Had the stairs been in the United States, there would have been two handrails, a handicapped ramp, trampoline to catch you if you fell, and a sign claiming no responsibility for anyone who fell. All of that would have been mandated by some government agency (OSHA or HUD, for instance). Jimmy remarked, “That’s the way it here in Mexico. There are no government agencies to look out for you. It is the land of common sense.” This was going to be good. I suggested that they race, and they agreed.

With that, they were off! Jimmy took the lead, and on the first hump in the slide went airborne. I was taking a video of the race, and the levitation was clearly visible. The momentum gained from gravity and speed combined served to accelerate him toward the next hump. Paul, seeing the impending disaster, slowed down and allowed Jimmy to get ahead even more. When Jimmy reached the second hump, he flew into the air, and remained there for a while, while about eight feet of slide went totally untouched. The look on his face was classic! With a resounding “WHUMP” he hit the slide again, and stopped at the bottom! The race was over. Paul came in second place, but Jimmy was definitely the loser! It was about five minutes before he attempted to stop groaning and get up. In the meantime, I was trying unsuccessfully not to laugh at his calamity. I suppose the irony of the moment was the “common sense” comment made split seconds before! The next missionary package might include a large heating pad, an ice pack, and several bottles of aspirin for future common sense moments.

The next few days passed uneventfully, since Jimmy had to be carried about on a stretcher. Just kidding… Paul and Jimmy painted the church building, and we look forward to seeing the finished product tonight. It rained for several days when we first arrived – this is highly unusual. The locals could not remember the last time it rained in January. Because it rained, the city turned off the water, thinking that we had enough. It only affected the guest quarters, so other than a slight inconvenience, everything went smoothly.

Saturday, Sharon had her first ladies Bible study. I was there, but just listened. There were several ladies present, but none unsaved. During the Bible study, the man from the water dept came to inspect their sewer line. It was backing up, and they thought that because of all the recent rain, the dirt from the street was clogging the line. After inspecting it, the man said that they were not connected to the sewer line – they have a septic tank (a big hole in the ground under their garage). Apparently, the landlady never had the house hooked up when the sewer line came through a few years ago. The tank was full, and had to be pumped immediately. They pumped it out Monday – the smell was overpowering, so we were glad to go see some sights.

Sunday morning, Paul preached again, with Jimmy translating. It is very interesting to participate in a foreign language service. I can understand quite a bit, but it just takes a while to place things in their proper grammatical context. I don’t attempt to say much of anything, except “Hola” and “Adios” with an occasional “Gracias” thrown in.

Over the River…

Sunday evening, we were to go to another church about 45 minutes south of Guasave to be with missionary Tap Hornor. Jimmy packed all ten of us into their Dodge Caravan and we headed out around 4:00 pm. It had finally stopped raining, but everything was very muddy. Jimmy knew of a short cut to avoid the toll of nearly $5. He drove off the road onto a dirt (or should I say, mud) path, and through several fields. It is apparently a much-used road by the local residents. As we came around the corner, there were some men standing by their truck. They said something to Jimmy about the water being high. I wondered what they meant, but my question was never voiced. As we crested the hill, I knew exactly what they were talking about. Apparently, part of the short cut was crossing a small stream. It was quite swollen with the recent rains, and very muddy. I thought Jimmy was going to turn back, but he didn’t. Paul thought that he would not have attempted it had it been his vehicle, but he said nothing. When with missionaries, do as the missionaries do. Nothing worse than a backseat driver in the front passenger seat. Jimmy drove without hesitation into the swirling waters, and I had almost released my breath when the van stalled. In the middle of the stream. It wouldn’t start again. It was after Jimmy’s frantic voice called Tap for help that Sharon and I succumbed to hysterical laughter. This was truly a Kodak moment, and we took advantage of it. Some water was seeping into the van, but not a lot, so we weren’t worried, although it was getting awfully hot with the sun shining down on us. Jimmy rolled down the window and climbed out to survey the situation. He was wearing sweatpants under his dress pants because of the cold, which happened to be one of his most common sense ideas yet, so his dress clothes were unscathed. The children were all agog at being in the “river” in the van. Walker said, “We need a boat to cross this river!” While Tap came with Cesar to pull us out, Jimmy endured lots of laughter, jokes, and comments. There were even some Mexicans who saw us in the water, and decided against going across in their vehicles. Tap pulled us out with no difficulty, and towed us to his house. Add pontoons, life jackets, and an outboard motor to the list for the next missionary package.

The service went well, and we drove a borrowed vehicle back to Guasave since the van was out of commission for a while. This time, Jimmy didn’t go the short cut. We took the long way around to avoid the toll. On the way home, we were pulled over by the military for a drug check. After seeing all the gringo children, they let us go pretty quickly, since there was no room for any drugs in the van. We were so glad to finally get home!
The van is fully operational now after a little bit of work on the starter. We were thankful that it wasn’t a big expense. That would have made it less funny…

Yesterday, we drove to El Fuerte about two hours away, and met “El Zorro.” The hotel was a beautiful place, and we had a nice walking tour. It was where the original Zorro was actually born! The boys were enthralled with his sword, and he even let them hold it. Esther tried to remove his mask, unsuccessfully, I might add. Abigail and Callie cowered in the background. We also toured a replica of the fort for which the town was named. It was really neat. We have really enjoyed our time here, and hope that Jimmy’s common sense will not prevent him from inviting us to come again. Pray for us as we drive back on Friday. Callie has already thanked the Lord that Josiah is leaving. We need your prayers, and so do the Watsons. Pray that the Lord would bless them as they labor for Him in Guasave, Sinaloa, Mexico.

Paul and Sarah