I am on outreach! Last Thursday night around 8 we departed from Mazatlan for a 14-hour bus ride to Mexico City. Our Contact from a church in a city called Tlahuelilpan in the state of Hidalgo picked us up and drove us to his church where we are staying now.
Tlahuelilpan is actually a famous city but sadly because of the tragedy that has taken place there. A gas pipe exploded in Tlahuelilpan two years ago that killed 137 people. The Mexican government holds gasoline thieves who were tapping the pipeline responsible for the explosion. If you want to learn more search Tlahuelilpan explosion and you will find videos, articles, and more. Now, Tlahuelilpan is facing flooding as a result of the combination of heavy rain and bad maintenance of local city water pipes. Mostly residential areas were flooded but the damage was catastrophic. A local pastor was generous enough to invite us to stay at his house where he had a couple of rooms and a kitchen available on the bottom floor free of charge.
Locals and church members had donated clothes, food, diapers, soap and other necessities to the church for it to be given out to those most in need. When we arrived at the pastor’s house we organized all the donations so that they could be given out. The first day we headed out to a rural area where the flood had hit hardest.
We were met at the first house by a family of three generations. Don Isabel was the patriarch of the family and warmly greeted all of us. They gratefully accepted the food we had prepared in bags for them that mostly consisted of rice, beans and other canned foods. They were so grateful that they invited us back to their house for lunch on the following Tuesday. We continued our day of giving out food and clothes on Saturday and by the time we finished we were completely exhausted. Tlahuelilpan is at 6,500 feet and is much less humid than Mazatlan. I didn’t notice how much I was getting sunburned because of the dry air but by the end of the day my face was red as a lobster and exhausted.
Sunday morning, we woke up and helped the church staff get ready for the service. The Sunday service starts around 12:30 and goes to 3. Their musicians and vocalists were very impressive and I enjoyed the music a lot. They played a lot of upbeat songs and many of the people were dancing and clapping. The pastor had also we requested that each of our team members share where they were from and a little bit about their testimony.
When we went on stage to do this, I was not prepared at all. Once the mic got to me, what I said surprised me. The girl before me shared that she had grown up in the church and always considered herself a Christian. I started off by saying the same thing but then shared that although Jesus has changed my life and made me a new creation that I have made many mistakes and went down the wrong path many times. I shared that each time God has been so merciful to me. He has been so merciful to allow me to learn from my mistakes throughout life. I shared that God has always reminded me that I am His and that He chose me. I told them how thankful I was to be in their country enjoying their culture.
After the service, many of the families wanted us to pray for them. As I prayed for a family with children I found myself praying that this child, no older than four or five, would know that he has so much to look forward to in life and that God will be with him every step of the way. I hope that this meant a lot to the parents and that the kid can have some sort of understanding of what I was saying.
This was an awesome experience and after the service, we were fed delicious enchiladas with salsa and a corn soup called pozole. Corn is a very popular ingredient in many Mexican dishes and actually most of the time tortillas in Mexico are made with corn instead of flour. We have just made it to the Dominican Republic so please be praying for smooth transitions!
Thank you for your prayers and encouragement.
Because he first loved us,
Isaac
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