Avanza Sin Tranza (Thrive Without Bribes)...

Following the unexpected results of last year’s election for Presidente (Mayor) of the Municipality of Los Cabos, we have been working with a new group of government officials. Over the course of the last year, we have been blessed to be able to introduce both the program and ourselves to the new administration, and we are pleased to announce the Avanza sin Tranza program is still moving forward!

The new Director of Education, Juan Mesa, has been eager from the beginning to implement the program, but progress has been a little slower than expected. Nonetheless, Senor Mesa has faithfully moved forward, and we have an exciting progress report.

Just recently, after the Monday morning patriotic assembly in front of the Municipal Palace in San Jose del Cabo, we had a pleasant surprise conversation with Juan. He apologized for the short notice, but invited us to a teacher’s training at the San Jose Cultural Center at 9:00 am that morning. We quickly checked with Pastor Carlos, who was with us, and gladly accepted.

There were many teachers present (including principals), and the facilitator was an educator from the SEP (the Mexican Department of Education) office in La Paz. We were really impressed by his presentation and were glad we were there to see the beginning−of what we found out−was a two-day training seminar.

Not too long after the seminar began, La Presidente Armida Castro came in to greet the participating teachers. As I took her photo, I was aware of the fact that she was making sure she looked right at me so I could get a good picture. Then, I suddenly realized the significance of Senor Mesa’s invitation to the meeting; Richard, Pastor Carlos and I were sitting among a mix of representatives involved in the programming of our municipality’s ninety schools. We were casually introduced to the local teachers and school officials. We were also a part of the news media that ushered in La Presidente Armida.

Later that night, we received an exciting text from Juan Mesa. The administration is ready to go forward with the program at the beginning of our next school year (beginning in mid-August), and−not only that−they are going to start an advertising campaign to kick off community involvement with the implementation of Avanza sin Tranza! It will be great news for the Municipality of Los Cabos and it certainly brings great joy to us!

Thank you all for praying; “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16b NKJV), but please don’t stop! The enemy of our souls certainly does not want to see the implementation of Avanza sin Tranza come to pass.

I know you are all waiting breathlessly for the results of the Lomas del Sol (Hill of the Sun) Community Crusade. All is well, but there has been a unique change of plans.

Pastor Carlos Maciel was contacted by the Municipality of Los Cabos and asked to reschedule the crusade until after a community event the city had planned. If you recall from a previous blog, Pastor Carlos and his faithful workers were going to clean up the Lomas del Sol Community Playground−including painting all of the cement areas (removing the gang signs)−prior to holding a two-day evangelistic crusade.

We do not know how the municipalities’ decision came to be, but after Pastor Carlos asked for permission to clean up the park and have a crusade, the city decided to do repairs on the park and have its own community outreach first. As a result of this decision, Pastor Carlos was asked to reschedule his crusade for a later date in order to give the city time to complete the plans.  The crusade is now scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, August 10-11.

We would like to think that the Body of Christ brought transformation to a much neglected area by shining a spotlight on it, or maybe the municipality wanted to help clean it up before the crusade. Either way, the community is being transformed, the people are being blessed, and the crusade will go on!

We will be sure to post pictures and keep you updated following the crusade.  In the meanwhile, please keep praying!

Blessings to all of you!

One of the methods commonly used when transforming an area is to do something as a gift for the community or neighborhood without expecting anything in return. Pastor Carlos Maciel is combining such a community project with a two-day evangelical crusade. His project is in the neighborhood of Lomas del Sol, where his main church (and first church) is still located. This church was also our first building project in Los Cabos in the Spring of 2011.

In Lomas del Sol, there is a playground within a mile of the church.  The playground is in need of much repair. We are finding that while money is sometimes provided for a building project, park or playground to be constructed, rarely does anyone plan ahead for the upkeep of the−private or public−building or project. This was certainly the case with this community playground. Pastor Carlos asked the relatively new Assistant Mayor at the Delegacion (government building near the Red Cross) in Cabo San Lucas for permission to clean the park and paint everything that was previously painted before the evangelical crusade on June 29-30.

Pastor Carlos’ faithful people have been praying for the personal transformation of many people through their mid-summer crusade. The end result of all their efforts will be a playground near their church, one the community can be proud of, as well as many people being touched by the power of God.

Pastor Carlos has such a burden for souls. His people have steadily been gearing up for regular outdoor outreaches. They have built their own portable stage and are currently building their own light towers. We partnered with them last summer in helping to buy their own powerful, portable sound system for outdoor programming.

Please remember to pray for the crusade June 29-30 and I’ll be sure to publish a future blog with photos and a report of what God did in the Lomas del Sol Community Playground!

Richard and I were called to Los Cabos nine years ago to minister wherever and in whatever capacity the Lord leads—working towards the spiritual transformation of Los Cabos, which will subsequently bring forth tangible change in the natural realm.

As we wait on the Lord for the manifestation of this spiritual visitation, we continue to come alongside several ministries in the Los Cabos area. The practical outworking of what we do spans from helping families, pastors and churches in the barrios to volunteering at Cabo (English) Church. We have also worked with various other Christian ministries, encouraged Christian business men, and have been coming alongside the local government through prayer and programs such as Avanza sin Tranza.

All this leads to the purpose of this blog. Every so often someone asks Richard or I what areas we volunteer in at Cabo (English) Church. This blog is dedicated to those of you who may not know our history there.

It has been just under seven years since we moved to Los Cabos and Cabo (English) Church has been our church home ever since moving to the area. One of our first assignments was greeting at the door, along with ushering. We were at the door for the Sunday morning service (or services) and the evening service at night for most Sundays for five years. Cabo Church was finally blessed to the point of having enough year-round attendees to be able to train others to join us in greeting and ushering. During that five year period, we gained a new perspective on the ministry of greeting. We now, when not greeting, actually miss the wonderful people we were able to interact with at the front door. It may sound strange, but the interaction at the door was almost like a revolving ‘small group.’

We have also been blessed to be able to minister in prayer at Cabo Church. From the beginning of our arrival in Mexico, I was asked to minister to people with special prayer needs, and several years ago Laura (Pastor Michael’s wife) asked me to support Pastor Michael as he prays for people at the front of the church after the message. Along with our personal prayer times, Richard and I also intercede for the church most Saturday mornings in the church sanctuary; and through the years, have been asked to pray in people for special spiritual needs.

Along with what we were already doing in prayer, near the end of last year, Pastor Michael asked if I would head up a ‘prayer ministry.’ I agreed to this, and implemented an outline (I had drawn up around five years before) of five different areas of prayer ministry the church was in need of. Due to the lack of year-round attendees who are gifted and trained in prayer, this will be a process, but we thank the Lord for bringing in new, seasoned prayer warriors. For the start this new prayer ministry, Pastor Michael asked me to lead a class to train ‘prayer people,’ and we started our first class at the beginning of this last January. We only have a handful of recruits, but it has been a great joy for me to be developing prayer teams once again.

On Richard’s part, along with what I have already mentioned, he was previously involved in co-leading the men’s group at Cabo Church. He has also been blessed many times with the opportunity to provide “pulpit supply” for Pastor Michael when he and Laura are out of town.

Our goal, as the Lord leads, is to come alongside other ministries and area churches to enable the Body of Christ to be a spiritual influence on the Cabo San Lucas area.  Thank you for making that possible through your prayers and support!

We were recently blessed to be able to minister with Sam and Karen Knapp once again. Sam and Karen are missionary evangelists. They have traveled for several years from their home in the San Francisco Bay area to bless Baja California Sur with their ministry. Sam is a fiery 86-year-old ‘healing evangelist’ and we repeatedly hear ‘notable’ healing testimonies each year after their time of ministry in Los Cabos. Included in this trip’s team were Mauricio and Claudia Cardenas from Ensenada, who were a great help to us in preparation for the Carlos Annacondia Crusade.

While Sam and Karen were in Los Cabos for their spring trip, they asked if we would minister with them at Patti’s Kitchen (a local church and feeding kitchen in the colonia of Caribe). Karen had planned an ‘inner healing’ teaching and asked me to join her in praying for healing for the ladies. Then, she surprised our husbands by asking Sam, Richard, and Mauricio to plan something that would entertain the children while we ministered to the ladies.

Richard has a strong gifting for working with young children and immediately had a plan. He told the men of his love for puppet ministry and that we just happened to have puppets in Los Cabos with us. Since ministry doesn’t have to be complicated in the barrios to be successful, Richard tied a rope between two trees and threw a blue tarp over it for the puppet theater. Then the puppeteers began to practice, but ‘practice’ never happened.

As soon as the children who had come to the feeding station saw the first puppet, they started laughing and talking to the puppets. Then, other children heard them from the other side of the complex and joined them. Soon, before we knew it, the chairs were filling up and the show was on—before Richard even had a chance to give instructions to Sam and Mauricio. The lack of practice didn’t affect the performance at all, though. In fact, unbeknownst to us, Mauricio was another ‘natural’ as he named his gray and white kitty puppet, Meow-ricio!

The time with the women was also powerful. The women eagerly participated in Karen’s interactive teaching. When it came time for personal prayer, the response was what we have come to expect in the poorer areas of the barrios—most of these women have suffered much injustice in their lives, including multiple forms of abuse. Only Jesus can heal their broken hearts and set them free from the scars they bear and from lives no one should have to live!

The beginning of each year for the last five years has brought a flurry of activity. This flurry starts when Shane and Tracey Crowley come for their winter, short-term mission trip to Los Cabos. Their time with us is always exciting and productive, with Los Cabos looking better than before they arrived.

The last two years have been exceptionally amazing due to the generosity of High Grade Concrete of Spring Lake, MI. Two years ago, Tom Sturris of High Grade Concrete challenged Shane with a donation offer – he would make a donation to a charity of Shane’s choice for each bag of concrete Shane bought throughout the year. We have been greatly blessed by Shane’s choice to work to transform the landscape of Los Cabos through New Life Outreach. The generosity of both Tom and Shane has escalated our ability to effect change in our municipality.

This year’s projects included block walls around the perimeter of the church at Tierra y Libertad and some badly needed upgrading to the church at Valle del Cabo. At Valle del Cabo, the crew led by Shane and Richard, put up ten-foot block walls on each side of the church, which replaced some much worn OSB, as well as provided the structure with a ‘welcoming’ church appearance with a new façade. As you look at the photos, you will see a “mission look” peak, along with space for windows and a double-door entrance (the windows and doors are still in progress).

We want to extend a huge thank-you to Tom Sturris of High Grade Concrete, Shane & Tracey Crowley, and to all of Pastor Carlos Maciel’s church members that are always at our side making sure we have what we need!

For many years, one of our ministry goals has been to bring the Body of Christ together. The Lord honors unity among brothers and sisters in Christ. With this in mind, we were recently blessed to be asked to be a part of a barrio outreach at three different area churches.

Jen and Dave Limpert of Hope for Los Cabo gave us a call and asked if Pastor Carlos would like to participate in an outreach that was being planned by Brian and Jacqueline Ruple of Cabo Missions for Christ, along with several chiropractors from the United States. The Ruple’s ministry is actually relatively new in the area, so we were not only blessed by working with two other area ministries, but were also blessed to meet the Ruples for the first time.

The outreach included a team of chiropractors. They arrived with several portable ‘adjustment tables,’ along with a lot of clothing and gift items. They planned on ministering to around one hundred people just at the Church at Tierra y Libertad alone, including providing lunch for everyone. The chiropractors bought the food and Pastor Carlos’ wife Janet headed up a kitchen crew from the Cristo es el Camino Churches.

The chiropractors specifically asked for worship with a gospel message and an alter call for salvation. Escary, one of Pastor Carlos’ associates, preached a powerful message. He also led the youth praise team in worship. The presence of the Lord was heavy, leaving the participants with even more than the gifts of chiropractic adjustments, a special lunch, and clothing; all of which were expressions of the love of the Lord.

By the time the day was over, we were blessed with many new acquaintances and the final estimate of people served was around 220. Just in case you’re wondering about the original estimate of feeding 100, Pastor Carlos asked his people to please leave the food for others, and in true form they gladly passed the food on to others.

We do want to thank Jen and Dave Limpert and Brian and Jacqueline Ruple for the invitation to participate in such a tremendous outreach!

We conduct a chapel service at Palabra de Vida−ran by Bill and Jacki Glaubitz−once a month. Just recently, we were blessed with an entirely new ministry experience. Bill called just three days before Palabra de Vida’s first wedding ceremony and asked if we wanted to do the “lasso ceremony.” We had no idea what it was, but it sounded like fun so we said, “Yes” to the invitation.

In case you are interested, the “lasso” or “rope” ceremony is all over the internet. Richard and I did the research and Richard−who is great at ceremonies−touched everyone’s hearts with his rendition. The lasso is actually made of one large loop made into two, through “tying the knot” in the center. It is a Hispanic tradition, probably originating from the Catholic Religion, where long rosary beads were used with a cross hanging between the loops over the shoulders of the bride and groom. In later years, it has become very common in protestant churches with couples of Hispanic descent, and can be made of many different materials.

Part of the excitement and beauty of this event is what a great accomplishment this wedding represented for both Hector and Palabra de Vida. Hector went through Palabra de Vida’s ten month program and was given the utmost in complements from Bill, who said with no hesitation, “And he did everything he was told to do without complaining!” He gave his life to Christ early in the program and is still a passionate follower of Christ. Since there are not many men who even graduate from the program−especially completing it the first time through−Hector himself represents another accomplishment for Palabra de Vida. Hector continued to make right choices and soon into the ‘transition’ period, he was blessed with a good job. Then, to top it off, Hector made the Godly decision to marry Tommy, rather than even considering living together!

The bride and groom did all the work. Palabra de Vida supplied the venue and Pastor Michael Galles from Cabo Church (where we attend on Sunday mornings) officiated. What Tommy’s family did in decorating the center was lovely. Even Jacki was amazed at how beautifully transformed their room for chapel services became. A caterer was hired and the men currently in the center graciously served the guests. There was also a beautiful wedding cake and the festivities included the traditional cutting of the cake. In all, it was a wonderful night and was a glorious celebration of how the power of God can transform a life!

Believe it or not, another year has come and gone. This year’s celebration was held at the recently updated Church at Tierra y Libertad during the Sunday evening service. There were approximately 264 in attendance with, according to Pastor Carlos’ estimation, another 100 regular attendees not at the celebration. For Richard and I, it was our 7th Anniversary Celebration with Cristo es el Camino, and just as in previous years, the joy and celebration just flowed into the surrounding neighborhood.

The night started at 6:00 p.m. Richard and I were late due to previous obligations; Pastor Michael and Laura from Cabo English Church were out of town for Thanksgiving and Richard had the honor of preaching at both services at Cabo English before rushing over to Tierra y Libertad.

Every year, the congregation does an amazing job of decorating for the anniversary. There was much time and effort given and the decorations served as a frame for the glorious celebration in the Lord. Everyone is honored at the annual celebration and it means a lot to them to be an active part of the local church. The assistant pastors were introduced and honored, and of course, Pastor Carlos, his wife Janet and their family—Paola, Carlitos and Joshua—were treated like royalty. There was great music from the praise team, soloists and from the youth band, which was led by their talented leader Escary; and since there are always many visitors invited to their celebrations, Pastor Carlos gave a powerful sermon on Christ being the door to eternity. He gave an equally powerful altar call.

I just have to leave you with one last observation of something that always amazes me. I’m an administrator by gifting and I am always amazed at what they are able to put together in a short period of time. Time and time again, I see the site at the beginning of the day and think, “We could be in trouble,” but by the time the opening words are spoken, everything is transformed and the events go on very smoothly (this is Mexico). I’ll use the transformation of the sanctuary area into the fellowship hall as this year’s example. Instructions were given to the congregation as to where to stand for the first phase of set up, then the second and lastly the third. Everyone stood up, continued to visit and within ten minutes, the large round tables you see in the photos are put up with the chairs neatly arranged around them. Just as quickly, the table cloths were carefully laid out and the serving of the food and beverages to the tables started immediately−like a well-trained army!

Just in case you’re curious, the cleanup started shortly after 10:00 p.m., with the last of the faithful servants leaving close to 10:30; and yes, they still go to work and school the next day. Things are different south of the border!

Thank-you for your co-laboring with us for the transformation of Los Cabos!

During our early years of ministry, we were taught anything done for the Kingdom of God is going to have opposition from the enemy of our souls. Satan hates God and—consequently—hates us. Whether you knew it or not, the moment you received Christ as your Savior you were inducted into the Army of the Lord. However, unlike a physical army on this earth, trying to hide would be futile since Satan and his minions know you by the Spirit of Christ who lives in you. The reality of this spiritual conflict is that−until Christ’s physical return to earth−we can expect every attack on the kingdom of darkness to be countered from the hosts of darkness. Nonetheless, attempting to move into ‘self-protection’ and draw back, does not remove us from the Army of the Lord or the enemy’s recognition of us!

I shared this preamble to let you know the enemy does not want the minds and hearts of the Mexican people being renewed with the Biblical values the Avanza sin Tranza program is derived from. We have had several counterattacks from the enemy over the last two years, but we continue to persevere.

Juan Mesa, the newly-appointed Director of Education (from the recent change in municipal government), recently gave us a call. He had previously expressed his department’s need for a value-based curriculum for the schools in our municipality, but he called with the good news that he was ready to implement the program.

With only a few days’ notice, Daniel Valles, Director of Avanza sin Tranza, happened to have an opening in his schedule and was able to fly down from Ciudad Juarez to meet with Director Mesa. Daniel, Richard and I were thrilled to be able to meet with him. Director Mesa is a very gracious man and deeply concerned about the children under his charge.

The meeting was a great success with the only remaining details being the date and time for the training seminar. If all goes as planned, the training should be shortly after the first of the year, making room for a firmly established program before the end of the school year. Daniel was also able to reiterate the importance of implementing Avanza sin Tranza in the government and in law enforcement.

Please pray that any plans the enemy has for resistance will be thwarted and pray for Director Mesa as he arranges the many details necessary for the implementation of the program in the ninety schools of Los Cabos.

The Avanza sin Tranza programming has no funding behind it apart from the modest cost for implementation, material and training Daniel must charge for the movement to continue. Please pray for the program to spread like wildfire in Mexico, along with the additional funds New Life Outreach will need for further implementation in our municipality.  If you would like to financially support the Avanza sin Tranza program, please contact us today.

May the Lord bless every one of you for your faithfulness to the work He is doing at the tip of the Baja Peninsula!