We begin our third day in Matamoros and from our perspective, it's business as usual, thank God. We have not seen any signs of violence or disruption as we visit with the many families and friends that the team has built relationships with over the past 13 years.
Here is one story of this mission trip (posted by Bill Britton)
7 years ago, while prayer walking, we met Guadalupe in Colonia Loma Alta. She lived in a shack along with her 3 children and her husband, Francisco who was quite a bit older than her and not very friendly. When he was around, both Guadalupe and her children were clearly intimidated. That first year we didn't stay long as we didn't feel welcome but every year since then, we would stop buy just to say hello and see how they were doing. Last year, one of the members of the team gave Guadalupe a hand made quilt which blessed her. In all the previous years, Francisco would shake our hands but spoke very little, he just seemed to be watching us. Last year, he finally spoke and told David that he had observed that the team enjoyed ministering to the poor which impressed him. A door was opening to Francisco's heart and the team walked through. Over the years, clearly the Holy Spirit was working on Francisco and the grace extended to him by David and his group broke down walls. As a result, last year a plan was made for the team to help Guadalupe and Francisco when they returned this year. What was clearly a blessing to all of us is that Francisco was so sure of the sincerity of the group that by the time we arrived this year, he had framed out his expanded house (we have no idea where he got the money or how he did the work as we think he's at least 60 years old). Now, as we work on his house, we are "family" and out of their poverty, Guadalupe has made us lunch each day we've been there. Yesterday, while working alongside David, Francisco confessed to David that he didn't go to church but wanted to assure him that he believed in God. It ,may have taken 7 years to build intimacy but in God's timing, fruit was born.
About two weeks ago we (the AIM staff) built a house for a family whose home was almost completely destroyed by bad weather. The name of the mother is Vanessa. She and her husband have 4 kids and are living in a very poor place right now. We call it the "invasion colonia" because it has been literally taken over by people that do not have any other place to go. They end up in the "invasion colonia" and make a small house with whatever they can find. Little by little that land is being divided into small properties and eventually the owner of the land will charge them money for living there. Right now there is no electricity in most of the colonia and running water in just several parts, but this water is not drinking water. It is water to wash clothes, take a bath, and wash the dishes. Most people in Mexico, including the rich, drink purified water. For most of us the house that was built would be the size of a small bedroom, but for Vanessa and her family they were very happy to call this new place home.
God Hands Reach out with Food, Gifts, and Healings
Last month a group of about 20 people came from 3 churches from the Houston area to hand out toys, give away candy and present the message of the Gospel. This event took place at our Missions Training Institute - MTI. After the Gospel message had been presented, the speaker asked if anyone wanted prayer for healing of any sickness. One man that was walking with a cane came forward. One of the American pastors named Nathan prayed for this man and he was able to walk without using his cane! A lady came forward in a wheelchair. She had been in it for one year and was not able to walk. The group that came from Houston prayed for her for some time. Eventually she got up and was walking around the stage. She left walking without her wheelchair! The Lord had healed the man with the cane and this lady in the wheelchair. What a powerful God we serve! He still does miracles!Others from the American group were handing some basic food to people. They gave out about 100 bags of food like beans, flour, etc They also handed out over 300 small bags of chocolate and a toy to each child there. It was a blessing to see the faces of the kids as they got their toys. The next day this group from Houston gave out small boxes of toys and other things to the kids that live around the Gateway. A lady named Tony had requested the names and ages of about 20 kids and she mailed them all to our house. It was so fun to see them open their gifts. They were so happy. This group really was God's hands and feet to these people.
The Gateway
As most of you know, there has been a lot of violence in the border cities of Mexico and the USA. Due to this, our numbers of participants have gone down. The Gateway will have to run at reduced capacity until the violence in Mexico has been handled. Please continue to pray for this situation for Mexico. It has dramatically affected the lives of so many people. The AIM maintenance and secretarial staff in Mexico were let go from their jobs. The Gateway is not closed. It will simply host less trips this year. Also, places like orphanages are really struggling. Because the number of groups coming to help them has been reduced, they are really short on funds and supplies. For example, at one orphanage close by, Pan De Vida, instead of asking for toys for the kids at Christmas they asked for underwear and socks. The orphans and those running the orphanages really need your prayers as well.
Also, since we do not have as many projects going on this year in Mexico, we are going to oversee mission trips in the south part of Texas. We call this area the Rio Grande Valley. The counties in south Texas are among the poorest in the nation. There are many poor people, people that need a personal relationship with God. Also, I may be staffing mission trips in other parts of the USA and other parts of the Latin world.
Our Finances
At this time we are still needing about $1,000 per month. If you could help us in prayer or financially, that would be great. If you are able to send a one time gift or support us every month you can make a check to Adventures In Missions with Cesar Gonzalez at the bottom left of your check. The mailing address is here or you can mail the first check to us.
On September 26, 2010 the 20 men and 10 boys from Johnson
Ferry Baptist Church left after 3 days of ministry. During the days they were
here it rained and we had a lot of mud. The soil in this colonia where we
worked had a lot of clay in it, so it was very difficult to walk in it. At
least two men that I know about lost their soles in the mud off the bottom of
their shoes! The sun did come out several days which gave us the chance to
finish building the two small houses for two families in need. I was able to
serve as a translator and photographer on this trip, which I really enjoy.On the last day of ministry the men had a Fiesta for the community. We
had hot dogs, face painting, balloons, shared a message and we loved on the
people from this colonia.
To see the videos go here (you will have to scroll down way down to about three pages to find the JFBC videos. Many other updates have been added since the JFBC trip.):
From October 1-3 the AIM staff hosted a Youth Camp for about 50 Mexican youth from churches in the city of Matamoros. They stayed in our facilities. We had several guest speakers, worship, and sports. The youth we touched in a powerful way by the Holly Spirit on the last days when a pastors spoke about sexual sin. Many youth confessed their sins as "chains" bondage were broken.
AIM is hoping to have more youth camps like this in the future.
We want to say thank you so much for all your generous giving. We still need to raise about $1,000 more per month.
Ephesians 3:20-21
Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
The men from JFBC have finished building one of the houses and will finish the other house tomorrow. One young man named Romulo, accepted Jesus into his life. He is living inside a Rehabilitation Center for those that have serios problems with drug addiction and alcoholism.
To see a number of videos of this trip going on right now go here:
We live in the south most part of Texas. This area is called the Rio GrandeValley. The county that we live in is pretty poor, but the county to the west of us (Willacy Country) is the 3rd poorest country in the USA. There is a city called Raymondville. It was here and in Harlingen that I lead a mission trip of about 20 participants. We worked with a Spanish speaking church called ValleyInternationalChristianCenter of Raymondville with Pastor Manuel Castro.
On this trip we had a youth group from Austin and two families from the Houston area. Katie (my Daughter) joined me with two others (Xan and JR) as staff for this trip. We visited a retirement center, did VacationBibleSchool, talked and prayed with people door to door, painted the exterior of a house and visited a soup kitchen called Loaves and Fishes.
We actually ate dinner at Loaves and Fishes each night and spread around at different tables to talk with the people there. During the week we spoke with many people and heard a number of stories from some that have a very hard life. One of these people was a lady named June. She was there with her two daughters and her boyfriend. After hearing her story, Katie asked if she could pray for her and she said yes. As Katie prayed for June, Katie started to cry. She really felt the pain that June was going through.
A mother and daughter prayed to accept the Lord as Savior at Loaves and Fishes!!!
I was touched by our visit to the retirement center. Many of the people there where in some sort of wheel chair. We played the guitar and sang for them. You could see that most of them wanted to sing and clap but due to their physical condition could not. Some smiled, some tapped their feet and some moved their lips. One day we took 6 puppies up there to bless the people.They loved them and told us stories of animals that they used to have.Seeing these dear people was a reminder to me that some day I might be in a wheel chair and in a retirement home.
Puerto Rico Mission Project
On Friday, July 16 the mission trip in south Texas was over. The next day, Saturday, I got on a plane and flew to Houston and then to Puerto Rico for another mission trip. This time Jeff Michelle was the project leader and I was his staff. We had about 50 participants on this trip. Most of them were from South Carolina and 9 were from Pennsylvania.
The host pastor was Sixto Pacheco. He is a full-time optometrist and also the pastor of our host church, Iglesia Wesleyan de Santurse. On this trip we did VacationBibleSchool even though it rained almost every day. We painted the inside of the church, did sports evangelism and had the privilege of visiting many children at the main hospital for children in Puerto Rico.
For me personally the visit to the children's hospital was the most impactful ministry that I did on this mission trip. The lady that hosted our visit let us see just about all the children in the hospital - room by room. Each room had 1-3 patients. We saw the kids that were in the hospital for a variety of things. We saw the children on the Cancer floor and we saw the children who had just had surgery. In each room we shared the Gospel with the children through a translator using a bracelet with several colors - each having a different meaning of the Gospel of Jesus.
On mission trips we usually have ham and cheese or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. But on this trip, the church cooked something for us at every lunch time. What a blessing.
We visited a sports center that had a track and field, a volleyball court and a basketball court. While some of the participants played, others shared the Gospel with the people sitting on the bleachers.
The participants that came from the USA to minister to the Puertorican people came to share the Gospel of Jesus, but at the same time the Americans were blessed in many ways by the people there in Puerto Rico.
JFBC Men's Trip
The men from JohnsonFerryBaptistChurch in Marietta, Georgia come down to Mexico every fall.On September 22 they will be coming down with about 40 men and will build 3 small houses for three poor families.
Our Financial Support
We want to say a big THANK YOU to those of you who have sent in financial gifts to us these last few weeks.We still need over $1,000 per month.Please pray for some new supporters.
Merry Christmas!!! We hope to see many of you soon.
This is just a note to let you know about our upcoming visit. We are flying to California December 23 and will be there until January 11. We hope to see many of you at church and are hoping to spend some time with you sharing what God is doing in our ministry and lives and finding out what He is doing in yours. If you would like to get together, we will be at the following homes.
January 4th -Oscarsons home (562)-492-1318
Malcolm & Chris
3848 Myrtle
Long Beach, CA 90807
January 6th - Gonzalez home (562)-271-3513
Keņa Gonzalez
3579 California Ave.
Long Beach, CA 90807
January 8th - Hunt's home (562)-595-7282
Drew & Renee Hunt
4107 Cedar Ave.
Long Beach, CA 90807
If you plan on coming to one of these home meetings please call the host to let them know you will be there.
Just a little update: Men's Mission Trip
During the last week of October 40 men from Austin, Texas and 40 men from Marietta, Georgia, along with 12 sons came down to Matamoros for 3 tremendous days of ministry. During the 3 days they built 5 small houses, visited the prison, the youth detention center, a local orphanage and more. On the last day of ministry we had hot dogs for the people of the colonia and each team of men dedicated their house with their Mexican family present. Many people were blessed these 3 days. God gave me the strength to work on this project as a translator and I also took a bunch of photos:
http://www.adventures.org/a/reports/r3ph.asp?id=2907
Financial Update
The Lord has been using a number of you to support us in a way that only God can get the credit. We also got a new support family this month. We still need about $500 per month.
Thank you again for all of your prayers for all of our family. We are still very much in the healing process, but are so glad to be at this end.
May God Bless you!!!
Cesar and Jennifer Gonzalez
1049 E. Matz Ave., Harlingen, TX 78550
956-425-6440 - home
956-357-3430 - Cesar's cell
956-564-1051 - Jennifer's cell
May God Bless you!!!
Cesar and Jennifer Gonzalez
www.adventures.org
cesargonzalez@adventures.org
jennifergonzalez@adventures.org
YEAH!!!! We will be in California December 23 - January 11. For those of you that want more infirmation about our stay in CA. call my cell (956) 357-3430. God bless all of you. Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!
It has been a long time since I have posted anything on my blog. For those of you who do get our newsletters, I was sick with clinical depression and anxiety for the last two years. Now I am feeling much better and able to work, and do most of the things that I did when I was well.
October 22-25 Adventures In Missions had about 80 men (with about 12 sons) from Austin TX, and Atlanta, GA come to Matamoros, Mexico for a men's mission trip. In this trip I was able to serve as a translator and take pictures and post them on our AIM web site:http://www.adventures.org/a/reports/r3ph.asp?id=2907 During the 3 days of ministry we built 5 small houses for 5 families, visited an orphanage, visited a prison, visited a youth detention center and share the Gospel of Jesus with the people in Matamoros. On the last day of ministry we feed the people where we built the 5 houses and we dedicated the 5 houses with the family members present. The men made a great impact for the Kingdom of God, but the people of Matamoros also made an impact in the heart of each man and boy.
Since our last update on the blog Cesar had to get an MRI of his brain to rule out any other problems such as a tumor, mass or anything else wrong. We Praise God that the report showed that everything is normal. The MRI actually just showed a sinus infection. Also since our last update my medications have changed, including one new one yesterday. We are seeing some progress.
I am still not able to work full time. At the present time I am looking for translators for our next big project that will be April 6-11 in Matamoros. Pray for 30 translators.
A lot has happened since December 18, 2007. I spent a total of four weeks at the Meier Clinic in Richardson , Texas . The time there was extremely beneficial for me in so many ways. I left the Meier Clinic January 4th and it was great to be back home. Since then I have gradually been recovering to the point of going back to work.They finally found a good medication for me which has helped a lot. God has really grown us up during this time teaching us to be more sensitive to others ' needs and learning to lean on Him when the answers did not come immediately. He has also given us a stronger base for just giving to others as we have been the recipients of some serious care from sweet friends like you guys. Because we were so fiercely taken care of, it gives us more momentum to care for others.
Cesar in Reynosa
I just got back from a 5 day mission trip in Reynosa , Mexico this last Sunday. I was there with a group of adults from Rockford , Illinois. This group has been coming down to Mexico for about 7 years now. They worked with Pastor Basilio again this year. They built a house for a family with 8 kids, they had a medical clinic, a dental clinic along with evangelism and VBS. This is a special group for us because I have worked with them for many years. At the medical clinic one 11 year old girl gave her life to Jesus. Many other people were touched as well.The people at the medical clinic received vitamins and some medications, the orphanage received some blankets and the family that got the house also got a new tool box with new tools.
New Office
One special blessing that has recently happened is that I now have an office at our church here in Harlingen. This is working out better for me so that I don't have to compete with the kids and Jennifer as they are doing homeschool. Our church here is such a great support system. What a big blessing. I still have an office in Mexico, but this will help me to work more productively on the days I need to do office work in the Texas office.
New and Improved Ministry
My job responsibilities are changing and getting even better.I will still do set up work in Reynosa, but in Matamoros some of my responsibilities will include spending time on the projects, taking pictures, visiting the construction sites, translating at times, playing the guitar for Vacation Bible School, and updating the Matamoros blog.In the past I have been on the projects a lot, I've also been spending more time getting all the logistics ready. Now AIM wants me to be more on the projects doing all of the above, especially during the summer trips in Matamoros.
Thank you.
Thank you for all your prayers and financial support during this period of time. Please keep praying for my health and for our family as they support me. My health is still a work in process that will take some time to complete. Please also let us know how we can pray for you. Being open with each other about our issues is hard, but fruitful. Praying for each other is not a burden, but a blessing. Please let us know where your needs are in your life.
