San Luis Mexico

Mexico Update: Empalme, Sonora

This is my first time to the State of Sonora, Mexico, so I really did not know what to expect. We left Phoenix at 3 AM, had an easy border crossing and arrived in the coastal town of Empalme (em PALM eh), right at noon. As we aproached the area, Jon Gross and Ted Reisig from Fountain Hills Church, both were shocked at how green everything looked. The desert was blooming. As we got close, we could see where roads and bridges had washed away.

The church building in Empalme is being repaired, with tile going in where carpet used to be. "We cannot stop the rain or the sea, but we can be sure that we do not suffer like this, again" says Pastor Alfredo. Jon is our electrician and helped to install the electrical system, originally. He was able to take out the guts of the old system and did not have to deal with any new hardware. He was able to check, repair and recheck the system in just a few hours!

There is much to do, but the pastor is glad for what has happened as a result of the hurricane and flood. I will share that video, tomorrow, if I can.

Frank

Top Picture: Pastor Alfredo shows the high water mark of the flood. His church lost a computer and sound equipment, pews, books, Bible Study materials and the list goes on. Donations have replaced the computer, already.

Center Picture: Alfredo Jr. has just seen the sofa bed and I am pretty sure he has claimed it as his own. The pastor's house is connected to the church building and suffered the same damages. Alfredo and his brothers have slept together for 3 weeks.

Bottom Picture: Alfredo Marín, Frank Lamca, Jon Gross and Ted Reisig.

Hurricane Damage in Mexico

 

Just a few weeks ago, the pastor of this church in

Empalme, Sonora, Mexico was at the Church at

Arrowhead in Glendale, Arizona to take part in a

banquet for Operation Mexico Missions. His

church and town have been hit by the storm surge

of a hurricane that roared across the Sea of Cortez.

                                                                                                              

I am headed to Mexico with some men from

Fountain Hills Baptist Church to take some

supplies down as the Mexican congregation

continues to dig out and clean up. We will leave in

the early hours of Saturday and return by Sunday

night. You can pray for our safety, of course, but

pray also that we will have a chance to really get

across to the members of the church that we are members of an even greater brotherhood.

I am so thankful for how my new job is allowing me to be flexible and be part of things like this. We

hope to see our ministry in Latin American begin to be on the upswing, once again.

I hope to be able to report back on Saturday night from Mexico.    Frank

Update on Stacy Sevilla

I heard back from Edith Sevilla and her two year old daughter is doing better but is not out of the woods, yet.

Prayer Request for Peruvian Missionary Kid

Stacey Sevilla is the 2 year old girl pictured with her brother Daniel and sister Loida. They are the children of Missionary Pastor Tito Sevilla and Edith Sevilla. Stacey is very, very ill with a fever and breathing problems.

All of the Sevilla children have had asthma problems, including a brother who passed away as a baby. Your prayers are greatly appreciated.

Mexico, Teaching and Special Days

The Mission Trip to Mexico was a really unusual experience. Yes, I have been on short term trips as a team member. Yes, I have hosted dozens of teams in Peru and Ecuador. This was the first time, however, that I have been involved in the planning and logistics of a mission trip from the sending side. It tells me that there is a huge need for a ministry to help facilitate these activities. The weeks leading up to the trip were jammed packed with all that needed to be done. Once I was on the ground in Mexico, things actually got easier! The language came back, the pace was fine and of course, the interaction with the people was an amazing reward.

Mexico and Teaching

The entire time I was in Mexico, I was also working as an instructor at Grand Canyon University. How did that happen?

Well, for starters, Pastor Dennis Adams of the Church at Arrowhead was willing for me to do it. I really appreciated the freedom to do what I had to do. Without that, I would have had to say "no" to two months of work to go on the mission trip. Thanks be to God for a flexible pastor and a flexible job!

Most of the days, while the rest of the team took their much deserved siesta, I took a bus back to where we had the basketball clinics and worked on the internet, grading papers, answering student questions and taking part in online discussions. The family who opened their home for me to do this, were involved in the clinics, but did not profess to know Christ as their savior. So, while I answered questions about the Old Testament and Christian Doctrine on the computer in English, I was answering questions about the Christian life, in person and in Spanish! Even the bus trip was a blessing. I made sure I spoke to people on the bus rides and several of the bus drivers and people I met on the bus, showed up at the basketball tournament where the heard the gospel.

Back in the USA

Since returning to the US, on July 24th, I worked every day through August 2nd with Grand Canyon. I even preached at South Peoria Baptist Church on the two Sundays in between. The pastor was on a trip to Africa and invited me to preach on the two Sundays he was gone.

Special Days

Saturday the 1st of August was my birthday (45th for those keeping score). On Monday the 3rd of August, Julie and I celebrated our 24th Anniversary. We got to escape the heat of Phoenix and went to Sedona, Arizona. It was 15 or 16 degrees cooler during the day and Sedona is beautiful. It was a great couple of days.

Work Changes (or additions, really)

Last night, I had an email from Grand Canyon University, confirming that I have a contract for at least 4 classes through December. Since October of last year, our longest planning has been perhaps 8 weeks. To think that we have a plan for 19 weeks of full time work is really a blessing. We are very grateful to God for his faithfulness in this journey. I have taught several different courses at Grand Canyon. For the near future, I will be teach University 101. The class helps incoming freshmen to adjust to college and to the unique challenges of an online college environment. An important part of the class is helping the student deal with spiritual issues. Having two sons (and a brother) in college means that I have some experience with this, already!

Would I prefer to have a long term plan? You bet I would, but we will take the 19 weeks and be faithful in it.

Please continue to pray for us. We appreciate it more than we can say.

My Good Friend Tommy Lasorda

Okay, to be honest, I cannot really call Dodgers legend Tommy Lasorda, but for the sake of comedy and self importance, I will. I have to tell you, I have met some famous people: George Wallace (after he came to Jesus and decided segregation now, segregation...maybe not forever), Alex Haley (who came to my 90% African American elementary school and told the story of Kunta Kinte about 3 years before Roots came out as a mini series), Lynn Swann of the Pittsburgh Steelers, John Candalaria and Jim Rooker of the Pirates, etc. I have always been able to maintain a certain level of cool. That all left me, however, on Tuesday the 17th of February, 2009.

I ran inside to grab a cup of coffee at my local Starbucks (no surprise, so far) and nodded a hello to the people out on the patio. I went inside, bought my venti decaf and headed out to the car, nodding once again to the group on the patio. When I got to the car, I looked back to see that one of the men was wearing a Dodger's jersey. Now, just 2 days earlier, we had learned that the Dodgers and White Sox had built a Spring Training facility 8 blocks from our house. I told our youngest son, Thomas, that maybe we would get lucky and see a player or two.

Anyhow, I shut the car door and walked back over to the patio. "Hey Dodger fan," I said to the man in the jersey, "I hear the Dodgers are going to train down the street."

"Yeah, first game is March 1st, but the pitchers and catchers are down there, now. Are you a Dodgers fan?"

"No. I grew up a Pirates fan but have lived out of the country for a while and have sort of lost interest in baseball. My youngest likes baseball. I think he figures it is his patriotic birthright to like baseball, so he has some interest in it."

"So who was your favorite manager when you were growing up?" He asked.

"I would like to say it was a Pirates manager, but to tell you the truth, it was Lasorda."

The man and his wife and little boys were laughing and said, "good answer!"

"No, I'm not saying that because you are Dodger fans. I just liked the way he managed and took chances and was aggressive." (somewhere in the conversation, he said that they would be there for six weeks, as a family)

"So, are you with the team?" I asked.

He nodded to the old man across the table from him and said, "Well, yeah. I'm Tommy's assistant."

This is where I lost all sense of cool. "T T T T ommy La la la la la sor... Uh Mr. Lasorda, I didn't recognise you!"

The baseball legend replied "Hey! Thanks a lot!"

After I was done stammering, the assistant took my picture with Mr. Lasorda and I left. It doesn't end there. I took Katie and Thomas down to Dodgertown the next day and they got autographs. I spoke to Collin (the assistant) and he turned and said, "Hey Tommy, it's the guy from Starbucks!" So, obviously, I made an impression.

But I'm totally cool now. Maybe sometime I will tell you about when Don Mattingly told me, "Yeah. later!"