San Lucas!

The Lord laid on my brother, Tom's heart to start a mission in a nearby village called San Lucas. It is a two-hour drive on a bumpy, down-hill, dirt road that takes you to this little village nestled among the beautiful Chiapas mountains between our city and the Capitol city.

The Lord has graciously allowed our family to get to be a part of the beginning of this mission.

The road leading down to San Lucas

The view as we traveled down to San Lucas

It all started about 2 months ago, when Tom and some of the men began going to San Lucas every Saturday morning to hand out Gospel tracts. (In 4 Saturdays, they handed out over 2,000 Gospel tracts to everyone they saw.)

On one of those trips, they were able to speak to the village mayor, who gave them permission to hold a three-day Evangelistic Campaign.

Much prayer and work was put toward planning the Campaign, and on February 2, off we went...close to 50 brethren in 4 vehicles...loaded with chairs, instruments, a pulpit and coffee and sweet bread.

A view of San Lucas as we rode down the mountain...

...See the dome roof? That is where we held services.

What a joyful, exciting atmosphere we experienced as we traveled down that dusty road, headed down the steep mountain!

Nearly half-way down the mountain, Tom received a message, telling him that one of the vehicles had lost it's brakes, and that the driver had turned the vehicle toward the mountain to keep it from going off the steep 15-yard cliff. We praise the Lord that no one was seriously injured...only minor bumps and bruises and cuts...only the pulpit was completely destroyed. (That was the pulpit behind which my father preached for many years, so it was a sentimental loss.)

We were convinced that the devil was attempting to discourage us before the first service even began. However, rejoicing that the Lord had kept everyone safe from serious harm, the men set up the instruments, the sound system, and the chairs. And thus we began the first service in San Lucas on a basketball court, under a dome-type roof.

The brethren handing out invitations to the evening services

The men setting up for the services

The first night, there gathered perhaps 20 villagers, shyly at first...but by the time the preaching began, there were a lot of people standing around listening.

The second night, more villagers gathered; and the last night, someone counted over 135 people gathered for the service. After hearing Tom say that he would like to come hold services once a week in the village of San Lucas, a couple who attended the three nights offered to lend their house for a place to hold the services.

The dome...Andrew leading the choir in a special...as people begin to gather

Andrew, Abdías and Tom singing
For those of you who have been praying for Abdías, I am pleased to let you know that he is doing much better. He was able to attend 2 services in San Lucas!

You can be sure that the vans were full of rejoicing brethren on the way home that last night. We were thankful for the Lord's safety; we were thankful for the multitude of people who had heard the Gospel; and we were thankful for the positive reception on the part of the villagers.

This past Saturday, we had the first formal church service in San Lucas. There were 4 visitors, besides the 18 people who went from our church.

How exciting to be able to experience the birth of a new mission! Please be praying for this new ministry: Pray for Tom as the pastor, and for the brethren who will be helping him. Pray that we may remain faithful
to plow this new ground where the Lord has opened this door of opportunity.