"The king shall have joy in Your strength, O Lord; and in your salvation how greatly shall he rejoice! You have given him his heart's desire, and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah."
We had a wonderful time in Las Moras with the family. We were again warmly welcomed into the village and were received well at every house we visited during our stay.
Thank you for your prayers for our health. Emma was pretty sick when we were preparing to leave and we had some second thoughts, but praise the Lord that we have the book of James that says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.” So we asked the Lord, He gave us wisdom and we left, not doubting, but trusting Him and knowing that He would take care of us. Praise the Lord, Emma got better and we had a wonderful time with the people.
The flight in a small plane was a first for most of the family. Even though it is dry season, the scenery was breath taking, and the high vantage point of the incredibly rugged terrain clearly showed how the 15 hour road trip from Durango can be reduced to 1 hour in the air.
Our first day in the village overlapped with the last day of another dental clinic organized by our partners Tom and Teresa Elkins. Like the first clinic we did, this was a success, with the visiting dentist doing some amazing things. They saw 59 patients, doing 222 different procedures!
The next day there was a strange sense of isolation as we watched the dental team leave, but it quickly faded as Mexicaneros began to stop by our camp site and say hello. On Saturday the flow of visitors stopped so we headed out to do some visiting of our own. These little jaunts were a mix of excitement and anxiety. We are eager to make friends, but we know very little of what is culturally appropriate. But a friendly smile and genuine interest seemed to gain a lot of forgiveness for any of our missteps. We returned to our tent rehearsing our first Mexicano words, feeling very thankful and praising the Lord.
The kids really enjoyed their time also. The Mexicanero kids and ours were a little shy of each other, but that barrier is beginning to break down.
On Sunday we continued our visits. There seemed to be a lot more activity that day and the setting sun caught us by surprise. We found ourselves packing in the dark for the next morning’s flight out. We put the kids to bed, fixed some coffee and started to put all our gear away. It didn’t take long because we were only allowed 120 pounds of cargo. (For a family of 6, that ain’t much!)
We arrived at the airstrip and had a relaxing flight back to Durango.
We are now making new plans for our next visits. Ron will head back with Tom in a couple of weeks and we’re looking at another family visit during spring break in April and the next probably in early June. And finally, we are planning a short (2-3 months) furlough in Oregon during the summer school break. We will get the dates of that trip out when we have them.
Thanks again to you all for you prayers, support and interest in our ministry here in Mexico. May God bless you.
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