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| The bay near where I camp in Guaymas |
After
our talk I decided to show the movie “Faith Like a Potato,” with Spanish
subtitle. Many young people had come too and they gathered in the kitchen while
the adult watched the movie. When the movie was over Angelieta said it was a
wonderful day and invited me to their church the following Sunday. So just like
Juan, she is being used by God to bring more people across my path and the
presence of God. What an awesome way to minister and the best is yet to come.
The
next Saturday, as the sun was setting, a young boy and I spent time together
building sand castles on the beach. Then his mother called him. Juan had gone
into town and had not come back yet so I decided to call it a night and go back
to my spot on the bluff. But an unexpected thing happened.
I
had met a cute couple camping on the beach bluff a few weeks’ earlier, names
Moria and Ryan from Central Oregon, and had got to witness to them for quite
while each time when they came back to the same area after traveling to other
spots in Mexico. I also gave them one of Sheldon’s cards. When we met again for
the second time, I learned that she was 40 and had had no children and Ryan was
38. She loves God, but admitted she would like to know Him better. I asked her
if she had read “The Shack.” She said, “no but that she had the book.” I encourager
her, to read it when she got back home.
I
don’t know how long they have been going together, but I could tell they really
loved each other and enjoyed living a simple and healthy life. I felt they were
very special and had told them that their lives would change and get even
better. And someday when they’re talking to their friends and family about
their love for God, it was because they met this strange man who talked about
God, and was also prophet. Then I took a picture of them with a beautiful
sunset behind them. Anyway, the next night I could see that they had a campfire
going. I was also still hungry and was trying to decide what to fix myself, but
felt I was to go and see the couple again. Yet I was a reluctant, a little envious
of Ryan and afraid that they might be getting tired of seeing me—even though I
got hugs from each of them. I started to go over, but turned around. However, I
felt I was to go despite my feelings, and so I did.
When
I got to their campfire, there was another man named Archie, who I had also met
the day before with them. I said their fire looked inviting, and they replied
it was their first campfire and that I was welcomed. Then Moria asked, if I was
hungry and would like to have dinner with them. I said, “I love too.” We sat
and talked by the warm fire for a while. Then she got up and went to the camper
to prepare the meal while the guys talked. Then Ryan got up to help bring out
four full plates of food. There were fresh crisps green, a type of lettuce with
dressing, baked potatoes with sour cream and pepper, a cooked yellow squash
with seasoning and butter, and a large cooked chili pepper. It was all very delicious.
I told Ryan, now I’m really jealous, Moria is not only beautiful, but she can
cook too. Then we all laughed.
We
talked some more and then Ryan got up and went to the camper to fix our
dessert. When he came back it was four large bowls of pineapple ice cream, with
fresh sliced strawberries on top of it and a crisp pastry underneath it all.
Wow! I mean wow! What an awesome way to end the day and our time together. It
was getting late and I thanked them very much and hugged both of them. I will
look forward to seeing them again in heaven.
As
I wrote last week there are some very sad times when one deals with the lost
and poor. I even debated whether to write what I’m about to share, but I feel
it has the Father’s heart. This week three young girls came to my van as I sat
in it; two of them I had already met before a few weeks earlier when they asked
me to buy them chicken, and I wrote about that experience. I had wondered if I
would see them again and here they were again. But this time, the talkative one
had brought her younger sister, that I learned was only 14, and the other two
were 15 years old. I asked about their homes and parents and was told that
neither of them had parents or a home and they didn’t go to school. So I asked
then where they slept, and they gestured out in the city. I was heart broken, but
I also wonder if they were telling me the truth. They were very friendly so I gave
them a granola bar and asked if I could take their pictures down by the beach
near my van and they were very happy to do that. They look so pretty, sweet and
innocent, but also too friendly. We talked a little more, and then one asked for
money to take the bus to her grandmother’s house.
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| Three young girls I'm claiming for the Kingdom of God (I will delete this photo in a couple weeks) |
However,
when we got to the other side they couldn’t decide where they wanted to go. Finally
they asked me to stop at the side of the road by a building that was not a
school. So I got out and open the doors for the one in front and the other for
the two that road in back, to let them get out. As we all stood there, they
asked for more food and something else, which I didn’t understand at first.
Then they started talking among themselves and asked me again. Finally, I got
the drift of their conversation and I told them that I now understood them in
Spanish. She said, “You do,” as they all stood there with big smiles on their
pretty faces and very nice figures. I said, “Yes, I understand“ (In Spanish) Then
I struggled to put the word in my mouth as my heart was breaking. “You want me
to have sex, with one of you,” I softly forced out. “Yes,” replied the one
excitedly, and pointed to the oldest one now standing every close to me. But as
I stood there in silence and looked at each one of them and asked God, “where
are their fathers?” Then I answered, “No, I will not have sex with any one of
you!” Then the one next to me, no longer had a smile one her face. What I saw
was shame, or maybe just disappointment. She knew I had a lot
of money on me when I started to give them more earlier, but decided not to. I
didn’t know what else to say or do. I didn’t even ask them, why? I just said,
“No,” again. Maybe that’s what the Heavenly Father wanted them to hear and then
they walked away. As they walked away, I said to them in Spanish, “I respect
you.”
I
prayed for them as I drove back to my usual spot on the other side. I sat there
for a while in silence and then asked God how can we change the hearts and
lives of these people? As I sat there praying a drunk came up to my van, which
I had already given money to earlier that morning. He saw that I was sad and
wondered what was wrong. I told him “I want to help the people in Mexico,
including him, and set them free.” He denied needing help or having a problem as he stood there with blood-shot eyes. Then he asked me for more
money. I said, “No,” this time, “Because you’ll just go and buy more beer or
wine.” So I gave him an apple and a banana instead. He thanked me and then he
left too.
It
was hard to go to sleep that night, I’m meeting and touching more peoples lives,
and sometimes they fill my heart with great joy and others great sadness, but I
still hoping to see them in heaven someday. Then I wasn’t content with that prayer, so I declared their freedom and restored heart's. I wanted to see it, so I declared their lives are changed so much that they are blessed, prosperous, and have
an incredible impact on the Kingdom of God. Apparently God liked that prayer, because two day later, they came back with an
older friend that was twenty: the youngest one wasn’t with them. I was wiser
and more relaxed this time. They wanted food and the same thing they asked for
two days before. But my answer was still the same—no. Then I pointed
to my Bibles on the dashboard and said I'm a man of God and a prophet. Then
the one understood and interpreted that to the other two. I said, “ I loved them and
that God loves them and I want to respect them.” But that still didn’t stop the
offer. We talked some more, and I learned that the two youngest ones were still
virgins, and they were all still very hungry. So I gave the oldest one some money, and
told her to buy her friends some tacos. As they left, I stood by my van, then
one of them turned around and waved. This time there was not the sadness I felt
before, but a great hope and joy. You see I don’t believe the issue here is
about sex or money, it a matter of survival. Many girls and women who can find
work, will only get paid a hundred pesos ($8.50) for a 12 hour day. These girls have
always come to me for food first, but the real need is for them to know their Heavenly
Father.
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| The Glory of the Father is coming to Mexico |
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| The Glory of the Lord keeps getting better and better |
