An Unexpected Break in Vega de Alatorre, Veracruz

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To serve God is not a job, it's an adventure! (José's bracelet!!)




Thursday (5/3), Hno Ricardo invited us to wash clothes and rest another day with them. We had no clean clothes and were still tired, so we accepted his offer. We rested and caught up on some of our journaling. On our way back from the Cyber, we met Ezequiel. He lived for 12 years in California, so he speaks English really well. We talked to him for a bit, and he invited us to come back and meet his wife--Flor. We agreed to come back a little later and went back "home."

Every night at 6 pm, they have church at Aposento Alto, so we got ready and went on over. José shared his testimony that night--he talked about the blisters that he had on his hand from weeding Hno Ricardo's yard. Then he talked about the wounds that Jesus bore to clean out the jungle that is in our hearts. After the sevice, Hna Senorina invited us to her house for supper. Pastor Margarita shared testimony of how she had run from God's calling because it was difficult and how she and her family had suffered. She told us about the day that she confessed her sins before the Lord and turned back to serve Him in whatever He said. The next day God started using her. Her testimony really impacted me because a lot of times when I mess up, I think that I have to wait awhile after I ask for forgiveness for God to start using me again...almost as if I have to earn His favor again or earn His trust back. That's not how God works though!! He forgives you, cleanses you, and it's over. You are in right standing before Him again, and He can begin using you if you are willing!! What a powerful revelation!!

On Friday (5/4) Hno Ricardo invited us to stay through the weekend because on Saturday they were going to go out to a mission that the Aposento Alto church had planted in the middle of a 1,000+ acre banana plantation. Most of the members work on the plantation. (This is one of 3 church plants that this tiny church has!) The mission's homecoming is coming up and they want to put the roof on the church before the homecoming. Before they could do that, they need to sand the rust off of the support beams and paint them so that they won't rust again. We really felt that it was a great opportunity to serve, so we agreed.

Friday, we spent the day working on the website and journaling, and chatting with Hno Ricardo and José. Friday night before church, Chris and I met Ricardo and Armando, two boys from the neighborhood. Chris talked to them about soccer and then we invited them to church. We also met a large group of soldiers in the Navy who were temporarily staying in a compound in front of the church. We shared a little about Jesus with them and invited them to church. Unfortunately none of them took us up on the invitation, but all God asks of us is obedience...the rest is up to Him!! After church, we went back by Ezekiel's store to meet Flor. While we were there, she invited us to go to church with her in Martinez de la Torre (a nearby town). The Aposento Alto only has night church, so we agreed to go with her on Sunday morning.







Saturday (5/5), Chris and I worked separately for one of the first times on this trip. Chris went out to work on the church, and I worked on the blog and on the pictures. We were a little sad to be a part, but we needed to do different things. Obedience to how the Lord leads is of utmost importance even if it's not exactly what we would have chosen on our own! His way is always better!!





After the men finished working on the church, they ate the lunch the ladies of the church prepared. Then Chris had a chance to talk to some of the children and other members of the church. Chris showed one little girl the mini evangecube that we have. She was so intrigued by it that Chris gave it to her so that she could tell her friends about Jesus!! That evening after they had a church service...the Holy Spirit ministered in a powerful way to Chris!! Chris also brought the message that night...the Holy Spirit really gave him words because no one was there who spoke even a word of English! Praise God for His Holy Spirit who knows the words even before we say them...who gives us words to share!!

After washing clothes, typing, and putting the pictures on the internet, I went to church too. I got there on time, but no one else did, so I chatted with some of the kids from the neighborhood for about an hour. One of them, David (pictured with CE) told me about his uncle who is a pastor on the other side of Vega de Alatorre. He told me that his name is Pascual...I couldn't believe it..that was the same pastor that Pastor Nicolas had told us about. Only God knows if we will end up stopping there, but it was definitely awesome to know how God is going before us!

Pastor Margarita spoke about Christians who are on the right path, but they aren't going anywhere--they've been Christians for years but are still babies in their faith. She also talked about believing God's Word is true even when you can't see it. I started thinking about that...a lot of times when I think about our verse "For we walk by faith, and not by sight." I focus on the walk part since we do that so often. I'm going to try to focus more on the faith part which is not by sight. It definitely gave me some food for thought and something to pray about.

Sunday morning (5/6), we went to Ezequiel and Flor's store for breakfast...we finally met one of their daughters, Dení. Florecita, the youngest, spent the night with her grandma, so we didn't get to meet her. We had a really good breakfast...another recipe that I can add to my collection!! From breakfast, we took the bus to Martinez de la Torre to go to church. The service was a little different than we expected, but it was good. The pastor of the church has 4 churches that he works with, so he’s only there once/month. Sometimes one of the elders preaches and other times they have a DVD…this Sunday they had a DVD…the message was on Jonah…the preacher explained that many are called, but few are chosen…because at the call, they don’t respond! God will call you, but He won’t force you to work for Him. He’ll give you all that you need to do what He has called you to, but He won’t force you! How often do we who know the answer sit quietly…not doing anything about it?! (Just like Jonah on the ship to Tarsus!) Instead of being like Jonah, we need to obey God…it’s what He desires of us…it’s how we show Him our love for Him.

After the service, we met lots of members of the church. They meet in a rented room that overlooks the river. I also learned of one of Chris’s traditions that he had while he was in Peru…apparently every Sunday after church he went to get ice cream with the lady he rented a room from. So he wanted to take us all for ice cream!! After that, we went back to Nautla.

Sunday night, we went to Aposento Alto--the church we had been going to all week. José's brother, Marcos, and his family arrived from Michoacan (another state) in time for the service. It was as if we had been preparing all week for this service. The Holy Spirit really spoke! Marcos shared the message about faith...even with a little faith, if you start to use it, it grows and then you have more faith in the Lord and then you act on your faith even more and then it grows and you put more faith in the Lord...the cycle continues! He explained that the devil shows us reality to try to stop us, but if we put our faith in what we can't see--Jesus and His kingdom and His power, then we see results! Marcos also pointed out that faith without love is nothing! It was such a good service...we learned a lot and the Spirit of God was moving!!

Monday morning (5/7) we knew it was time to leave, so we started walking...we'd walked about 5-6 miles when I fell. I was trying to get off of the road because a car was coming, but there was gravel on the road, so I slid and fell right on my knee...when I looked down blood was everywhere. I was worried that Chris was going to pass out because he doesn't usually function very well when there's blood. But God kept both of us calm...I cleaned the wound and got ready to put my pack back on. Chris didn't want me to walk anymore, but I told him that if I wasn't supposed to walk, God would send a ride. Once I had my pack on, a truck stopped and offered us a ride. The two men gave us a ride to a small ranch about 3 miles down the road. They offered to let us rest underneath the shelter until the sun went down a little. I told Chris that we needed to keep going if I was going to see a doctor. He didn't want me to walk, but I reminded him again that God would provide. Sure enough after we'd walked about 2 miles, Eziquiel from Nautla, pulled over and offered us a ride into Vega de Alatorre. He had an appointment there if we wanted to go with him. We showed him my knee, and he thought I needed stitches, so we rode with him to the clinic in Vega de Alatorre.


When I walked into the clinic, I figured that I would be waiting for quite some time because it was full of people. But Doctora Dulce came out of her office right as we were walking in. We showed her my knee, and she told us that she'd be right with me. We sat down to wait, and everyone started talking to us. Javier and Berta were sitting right beside us, and Javier had lived in NC for 2 years. He even had a UNC Tarheels t-shirt on...even though we aren't fans (Go Wolfpack!) it was good to see a familiar sight!! Chris continued to talk with them when I was called back not even 5 minutes later.

Dra. Dulce asked me what happened as she began to clean my knee and sew it up. I explained what we were doing, and she told me that we were going to have to suspend our walk for at least 1 week until the stitches came out. I told her that we'd pray about it...I didn't know what we could do. She said, "It would be an honor if we stayed with her at her house until we could walk again." I couldn't believe it! Not only did I get excellent free medical care and medicine, but the doctor also offered a place to stay. I was shocked (& so was Chris when I told him)!! We were going to go home with Dra. Dulce, but not until 3:30. So Javier and Berta gave us a ride to downtown so that we could eat because I really couldn't bend my knee at all.

After lunch, I hobbled to the plaza and we sat down to read and pray. Elia and Cecia came up to us and started talking to us before we could even get our Bibles out. They go to a church here in town, so they wanted us to meet their pastor. They walked with us back towards the clinic and showed us where the church was, and we told them that we would visit the pastor later.

We went back to the clinic to wait for Dra. Dulce. When we got to her house, we were shocked to see her youngest son-Miguel-wearing an FCA camp t-shirt from this past summer. Now, I only have 3 t-shirts and that is one of them. In this whole journey, we've never seen another one of those t-shirts. Hello, fingerprint of God!!! We knew we were in the right place!! Next, we met Oscar (her oldest son) who is obsessed with the computer. Both the boys are really sweet, but they try hard to get attention from their mom.




Dra. Dulce is a single mom (of two boys), and she works a lot. So she has a nanny who cooks, cleans, and takes care of the boys. Brenda-the current nanny-just started working for Dra. Dulce 3 days ago. So she's just now figuring out what's going on. She's 16...it's her first job, but she's a hard worker.







By the time we took a shower and got settled in, it was almost time for church to start. (at least that’s what Elia had told us) When we got to the church, we found that there wasn’t a service, but the teens were practicing for a Mother’s day presentation. We met Pastor Ezequiel and his wife, Guillermina, but they were both pretty busy. We helped work on the little cow key holders that Hna. Guillermina was working on…meanwhile she shared how God has cared for their family. We enjoyed hearing testimony of God’s faithfulness, but the door wasn’t really open for us to share with them. Who knows why?! I was starting to get feeling back in my knee, so we needed to go back to Dra. Dulce’s house to get some pain medicine.

When we got back to the house, we met Susy who is also a doctor in town, but at a different clinic...she rents a room from Dra. Dulce. We also met her boyfriend, Michel. They spend most of their free time together, so Dra. Dulce very rarely sees her. Elia also came over with her daughters, Cecia, Viri, and Rachel. They asked us to come over to pray over their house. I didn’t feel like walking at all, so we asked if we could come over on Tuesday. They agreed, and Chris and I called it a night. I’m not sure how long we’ll be in Vega de Alatorre…but God does…we’re trusting Him…He has a plan even in this!! God bless you! We love you!



More Pictures...
1) RE playing with kids from Aposento Alto 2)RE with a girl from the neighborhood...we had a little English lesson that night because she was struggling with her homework!













3) Pastora Margarita sells water in addition to pastoring the church to help make ends meet. 4) Javier's license plate in Vega de Alatorre...a sight we haven't seen in many months!!!









Pictures from the church...the guys were hard at work all morning!!