David and Laura, Blog September 2020

Prostheses obtained for Valente!

A year ago when in the States, we began to research how to obtain prosthetic hands at a reasonable cost for a man from Oaxaca who lost both of his hands as a result of being bound by kidnappers at the Texas-Mexico border for three days. His hands were bound so tightly that the circulation was interrupted and the tissue necrosed and became infected, and the only option was to have them amputated.

We considered several options for getting prostheses, but were not successful in obtaining anything viable for him. We shared the need with some of our supporters to get leads on how to connect with a provider, and the news of Valente’s need reached a group that provides prosthetic hands free of charge to patients in need. The group connects supporters who give to purchase the prosthetics, and the patient receives the prosthetics free of charge. The group is the LN4-Hand Project.

I received a call one day in February asking for an address because the two prosthetic hands were ready to be sent for Valente! It was a total surprise! The hands arrived and have now been given to Valente. Below is a picture of Valente using the hands to display the personalized leather pouch and an identifying card that were sent with them. His dad, Tomas, is to Valente’s right. We praise God for this provision for Valente! Valente´s father is a Christian. Valente has not come to make a personal commitment to Christ yet — please pray for his salvation.

Cacalote church and local ministry

We still do not have permission in our region for church congregations to meet because of Covid-19 restrictions, so the Cacalote Church has begun meeting in small groups in homes. This is really a blessing because the home groups are a great model, especially for right now. It gives many of the church members the opportunity to grow in leadership and exercise their gifts as they lead groups in their homes, and it is an opportunity for neighbors and friends to visit in a place that is comfortable for them. We are very pleased that our good friends and Dave’s fishing buddy from Cacalote, Maurilio and Carmen, have begun coming to our home group.

This time in which our visits to other towns and mountain villages is limited because of Covid-19 restrictions here has been an opportunity to reach out more to local families. To the right is a picture of María, a young girl twelve years of age, and her grandmother in their home. They are a local family we are reaching out to. We meet with María once a week to help her learn simple skills as she only received about one year of schooling, and was not able to learn to read.

Report on construction of church in Puerto Angel

One of our supporting churches, Grace Chapel of Pickwick, TN, has partnered with the church in Puerto Angel, Oaxaca to help them in constructing a church building. The church has met in temporary locations for several years now, and really needs a permanent structure. To the right are a couple of photos of the church construction that Pastor Oscar sent us. You can see that the construction is pretty much all manual — even mixing the cement here — and that even one of the kids got involved and grabbed a shovel! The congregation is very excited about the project and are working very hard.

Visit to the US

We enjoyed very much getting to visit with some of you individually and to be in several churches during our three weeks in the US. We were able to spend two weeks in Mississippi this year. Enjoyed very much our time with our family, and visiting two of our supporting churches there. We were with Grace Chapel on August 9th and were able to be with them for two of their Wednesday evening services, and we thoroughly enjoyed being with them and being able to share some during those times. We were also at First Presbyterian Church in Corinth on August 16th at their first presential service after a few weeks out. We are so thankful that the Lord allowed that timing to be able to worship and fellowship with those from First Presbyterian.

We were not able to be in a presential service at Gaines Chapel Methodist Church, but are very thankful to Pastor Trey Lambert who arranged for us to be filmed and have a chance in that way to give an update to the congregation at Gaines Chapel.

It was not possible to visit New York this year because of quarantine rules there, so it was disappointing to not be able to visit Dave’s three children and ten grandchildren who live in New York. We also had to cancel plans to visit Dave’s dad and sister in San Diego, CA, to not expose them after our potential exposure to Covid-19 in airports and airplanes. Dave’s dad will be 100 in November! Next August will probably be our next opportunity to visit Dave’s family.

We spent two days with our good friends Pastors Steven and Barbara Hepting in Garner, NC and had the opportunity to share at Cornerstone Fellowship in Clayton, NC. We had a great visit with the church and with Pastors Brian and Autumn Boswell, and are very thankful for the church’s receiving us and for their continued involvement in the work at Roca Blanca.

Vehicle for Mexico

On this trip, we were planning to obtain a truck to use in Mexico, and came with that plan. But we were blown away by God’s amazing provision for that plan! We located the truck that we believed was the right one quickly, and before we left Mississippi two weeks later, God had made provision through many generous donors at Grace Chapel and other generous gifts while in Corinth for the truck and camper and all the expenses of getting it back to Mexico! We are so grateful to God for His amazing provision and to each one who helped to make this possible.

To the right is a picture of the truck. It is a 2013 model, but is in very good condition and only had 59,000 miles on it! You can see it is well prepared to carry lots of meds, supplies, suitcases, etc., with a good sized bed and a camper. Let us share a short testimony about the camper. The truck did not have a camper when we purchased it, and Dave looked long and hard online trying to find the right used camper that would work with the truck. There is a big difference in price between a new and used camper. He found lots that were too long, but finally found one that was the right size, and it happened to be the right color. We drove about three hours to a town in Kentucky to purchase it, but thankfully when we tried it, it was a great fit — as if it were made for this truck! And we got it for a fraction of the cost of a new one.

We ended our trip with an unplanned stay in Laredo, Texas for 7 nights. Another “border saga” as my good friend and missionary Linda Andrus called it as we were talking last week. Many missionaries can relate to drawn out border experiences. We arrived in Laredo on a Tuesday afternoon with hopes of the nationalization of the car being finished that afternoon, and being able to leave Laredo early Wednesday morning to head back to Oaxaca. We had sent the vehicle´s papers on ahead to the border the week before to facilitate the process. That was our plan, but it actually took a week to get the nationalization process finished! Yes, 6 days later, we received the truck with the necessary permits and stickers to make it a Mexican vehicle!!! Flexibility is a good thing to learn for the mission field! At least we were able to fill most of the time with errands, communications, and preparations, and were able to get rested up well for the trip also! We left Laredo the following morning after receiving the truck and made the 26 hour drive back to the base over 3 days. We had a very smooth border crossing — thank you so much to all of you who were praying for the nationalization, our crossing, and our trip! Even though there was a delay, we definitely saw God´s hand of protection and His favor.

We’d like to leave you with a still unedited and recent recording from some of our Multigrade High School students. It’s a Chant sung in Latin titled “O Bone Jesu” or “O Good Jesus.” Our music program is a beautifully rich addition to the academic preparation that they’re receiving, preparing them for not only their adult lives but also for their eternal destiny.

We thank each of you who has supported us with your prayers, those who have given, and those who hosted us during this time in the States. We appreciate each of you so much! May God bless you greatly!

In His Love,

Dave and Laura