What I NOW see……………
When I arrived in Maneadero, from Los Angeles California with my
second husband and three children , I had a very narrow view of the
world, although I saw it as so very WIDE.
We immediately heard the Lord’s Voice telling us to offer shelter to
all who came especially those whom no one else wanted to work
with……………
We eagerly and with much faith in our “Christian family ” found
ourselves joyfully and fruitfully living with as many heroin addicts
and prostitutes who were being healed by Jesus’ Power as the place we
rented could accommodate.
It was san awesome time of signs , wonders an dmiracles that brought
people from literally all over the world to see……………
As we outgrew the houses we had cumulatively rented, the Lord spoke
that we should purchase a piece of land and so we eagerly set out to
do so…………….
after about b6 months of prayer we were presented with two lots in
very different areas of the Ensenada municipality…………..the
first wa san immediate “NO” from Yahweh, the 2nd, which involved a
three mile hike in the mud up the side of a mountain was an immediate
“YES.”
It was a lovely but very very unlikely place for my husband and I ,
who were heavily committed to street ministry. We had thought the Lord
would place us in a location AMONGST the PEOPLE, and this land was far
from everything. no light, no phone, no water and NO NEIGHBORS???
What was the Lord doing?? I continued to have dreams of ministering
to, preaching the Gospel to INDIANS. This new place , nor our current
locale offered neither. I was frustrated. When would I be tHRUST into
to the JUNGLES???? When would I reach my destiny???
Our home church, who had adopted us much as God’s people adopted
David after his anointing, paid the payments on the new land withing
6 months. A miracle. A series of miracles then led to the building of
a huge lower floor, 2200 feet square, then a rather more miraculous
finishing of that building plus a second story in only three days
total!
It was evident the Lord wa sat work, but still I struggled to see why
He had chosen this spot. Then , the addicts and prostitutes stopped
coming in and we wondered MORE………….had we heard the Lord,
really? Were we located in the right spot all alone on a mountainside
with nothing to do but work with what we had and literally spend time
praying??
Two long years later, thousands of hours of praying in tongues and
wondering if we had missed it, we began to hear a sound in the night.
All night long and then all 24 hours long giant bulldozers went to
work. For weeks they worked then builders came in and to our amazement
the local “terra-teniente” (very similar to a southern american
plantation owner) was building a “Cuarteria” or a very spre labor
living camp, less than a half mile away from
us………………………it was an ugly cinderblock building with
8 by 8 block wall cement floor rooms, 16 of them, with no
electricity or running water. Just square bare cold rooms with one
window per each two rooms that contained no glass even. No restroom
or bathing or cooking or washing facilities included, this gigantic
“tenement” was thrown up and immediately, literally within 1 day of
completion it was filled……………….with migrant field workers
and their families from Oaxaca, Guerrerro, and Chiapas.
We literally went overnight from having NO neighbors or people to
“share the agape ” with to having 25 families consisting of two wives
per husband and about an average of 6-8 children per wife living
right next door!
I was THRILLED and AMAZED as I saw them bath in the open air and the
baies tromp about with nary a stitch of clothing all speaking
different dialects of Spanish which sounded more like chinese to me.
Finally I GOT it! I wasn’t going to the people of the selva but they
were coming to me!
And so they did. We were the only neighbors! And neighbors we were.
As the parents worked long hard 16 hour days in the fields the
children approached us and we immediately rose to the challenge of
feeding them while mama and daddy were away! We doctored their wounds,
told them bible stories taught them Spanish and how to “worship” and
what God’s Name was!
For me and Pas Frank it was such a blessing, but we didn’t understand
as the people who had become integral part of our church family here
began to run , yes, run -not walk away. They hated the indigenous and
although they had seemed full of Christ’s love a centuries old
prejudice took over and they found reason leave to move on and
even though apparently well rooted in churches in their old
neighborhoods they really obviously wanted nada to do with ministering
the Resurrection message to these people.
It broke my heart, but we kept on. Now I’ve learned more about the
deep rooted prejudice against the Indian peoples………………
You see people groups in Mexico are defined culturally into two
groups: mestizo and indigenous
or Indian. Groups are defined culturally so that the term mestizo
means someone who is
culturally Mexican in language, dress, and perspective. Someone who
does not speak
Spanish but speaks an Indian dialect and dresses in traditional Indian
garb would be
considered Indian, even if that individual were Caucasian, like me.
Accordingly, during the course of one’s life, it is possible for
someone to change their ethnic grouping by simply
adopting the language and habits of another ethnic group.”
” Indeed, in Mexico an increasing number of Indians are becoming
mestizos by adopting the Spanish language
and de-emphasizing their Indian customs. This is what we are seeing as
the internet is available by cell phone and other easily obtained
means. The peoples eyes are being opened and they try as quickly as
possible to escape their origins and to assimilate to an MTV
society.”
We have now been here for 10 years , living as their neighbors,
sharing water, goods and meals and are beginning to understand the
tremendous battles these people face when only confronted with a
traditional view of the Church of our Lord and His Kingdom.
I will now try and explain some of these challenges as I hav elearned
them in hope that this information will draw unto us more information
and encourage others living on the mission field to share their
knowledge………………………”
But here ,in Baja California, Mexico the Lord has heard the cries of
the field workers. Some of the cries come because of seemingly
insurmountable challenges to return home that involve poverty, native
beliefs that detract from the Gospel, fear of rejection, but most
hurtfully, there also seems to be a general lack of support from the
middle class evangelical church
of Mexico and abroad to accept these people AS THEY ARE. Their lack of
support seems to be due to prejudice, comfort in thei churches,
viewing missions as the work of outsiders, and a vanishing vision for
the lost.
The Apostle Peter through the exhortation of the Holy Spirit made it
clear that God had a
plan for Gentiles, “I see very clearly that God doesn’t show
partiality. In every nation he
accepts
These indigenous brothers in Christ have a great desire to share the
Gospel with their own groups
no matter what the challenges or sacrifices that they might eventually
confront. Although there are many difficulties facing them, they are
the best people to reach their own with the Gospel.
Although I have lived literally among these people for years I have
JUST RECENTLY been made aware of what these people actually face when
they try to return home which is ALL of their dreams, as “Christians”
as known by traditional viewpoints of western and by proxy Mexican
brothers and sisters. This knowledge has been a shock to me and a call
to change at least on our behalf.”
Harvest of Faith 