I want to thank all of you who have been praying for Los Cabos during the Covid-19 shutdown. In our August blog, I asked for specific prayer for the lengthy continuation of the extreme shutdown and the resulting requirements in the Municipality of Los Cabos. Unbeknownst to her, a Mexican friend, who watches the world and local news closely,  happened to recently note that it seemed as if our governor had completely changed his dialogue in regards to the prospect of Baja California Sur opening up in time to be prepared for the tourist season―which is our main source of income. In Los Cabos, we don’t have much agricultural activity in our deserts and on our rocks, nor do we have much room for industry. Our friend went on to say that it wasn’t just his words, but his whole attitude that had completely changed. I gave God glory and told her how we had been praying.  Praise God, Who does what only He can do!
 
In August, just a handful of restaurants and hotels agreed with the Tourist Association to pay the price and go through the training to be certified in order to open. By September, the mid-sized restaurants and some of the smaller hotels were also prepared. At the time of this blog, we are still at only 40 percent occupancy, but the news around town is that Cabo will be able to open by the first of October in time to prepare for our high season. The tourist association reported that 60 percent of our hotel space is already booked for October!
 
Another interesting note from our August request for prayer centers on Pastor Carlos. At the same time that I was being impressed to pray regarding the slip in the morale of the Cristo es el Camino flock from months of shutdown and from a lack of refreshing from corporate worship, Pastor Carlos also picked up the emotional struggle his people were dealing with.
 
They did some rearranging to include more people in one location for all three of their weekly services. With their What’s App connection capability, they not only continued to send photos in order to see each other, but they also began to report as to how many were in attendance, so that Pastor Carlos could make sure they kept within their 40 percent capacity. With more space, they were also able to invite the neighbors around them, as well as make sure the elderly, single adults, or those who were struggling emotionally would have a larger group of fellowship available to them.
 
While churches in Baja California Sur were allowed to start meeting again the first week in September, the Covid-19 guidelines at 40 percent occupancy and stringent procedures remain. Because of this, Pastor Carlos made the decision to continue as they are. The cost and logistics of him opening his churches and ‘missions’ within the guidelines have kept them from going back to ‘church as usual,’ but the expansions they have been able to make have been an answer to prayer and a refreshing for the people.
 
In our August blog, I also reported Cabo Church’s reopening. There was, however, a mix up with the permits that were issued for reopening. Within days of that one service, Pastor Michael received notification from our governor stating that whether churches had a permit or not, they were not allowed to begin meeting. We were finally able to officially open up again on September 6 at 40 percent occupancy, and what a celebration that was!
 
I want to praise God for His graciousness towards us in Los Cabos and His plans for the spiritual awakening of our city. The necessary world-wide shaking, which God has allowed to awaken His church and show the world their desperate need for Him, has not changed His plans for us.
 
I’ve included just a few photos of Los Cabos during the time when the marina only had one security guard and maybe one other person in sight, apart from Richard and I (exercise was considered “essential”). Enjoy the photos, and thank you for the prayers!

It is true that I’ve previously shared pictures of Cristo es el Camino’s church family, spread throughout the barrios due to Covid-19, but I do have new news and a special update for you, along with many new pictures!
 
On June 28, Cabo English Church was allowed to resume Sunday morning service due to the ability to follow the strict safety procedures for Covid-19, but Cristo es el Camino could not commit to being able to follow all the procedures. At that time, churches were still limited to no more than fifty people.
 
Since they were not able to open up any of Cristo es el Camino’s three churches, Pastor Carlos chose twenty leaders who had access to a location where they could lead all three of their weekly services; Sunday evening, Thursday evening mid-week and Prayer meeting on Friday evenings. The twenty church locations were asked to continue sharing pictures of their groups on Cristo es el Camino’s What’s App phone application, so they could see the church family that they could still not have fellowship with.
 
The plan was successful, but as of the third week in July, the faithful began to grow weary of the extended isolation in their homes, along with multiple services without the worship and fellowship that is so much a part of their lives. Pastor Carlos posted an encouraging word via What’s App, but the truth is, not everyone in the flock is normally committed to all three services, let alone when some of their groups are small and may not have one of the more experienced leaders.
 
Please pray for the hearts of our brothers and sisters to be strengthened, as well as for our state’s (Southern Baja California) Governor Mendoza to release the Municipality of Los Cabos from the strict guidelines, which may be necessary for many other cities in Mexico, but not for our isolated, relatively small municipality.

During the Great Depression, a voluntary public relief program, known as the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps), was formed as a part of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. My father used to tell me stories about planting trees in mid-Michigan as a teenager during his time in the CCC. We have had a miniature version of the CCC operating in Los Cabos during the Covid-19 economic crunch. Since we have known him, Pastor Carlos has always come up with some kind of work for men whom he is led to minister to when needed. On the other side of the continent, Richard has always done the same thing. In fact, it was hard for us to even get a building project finished in Michigan because Richard was always hiring men from the City Rescue Mission (Muskegon, MI) or local men that he had known since high school. This is great for ministry but really rough if your previous house is already sold!
 
Although Pastor Carlos told us in April that around 90 percent of his flock were still employed, when work began to get sparse, especially for the less skilled, he started remodeling and redecorating the churches at Valle del Cabo and Lomas del Sol. On the other end of the city, Richard started putting men to work on his continued expansion and improving of the church at Tierra y Libertad.
 
As you look at the pictures, you may notice fresh Fleur-de-lis designs (swirls and flowers) along the walls of the freshly painted churches. Our brothers and sisters in Los Cabos are ecstatic and very proud of the new look for their churches.
 
Due to the increase in rent, the church at Lomas del Sol is no longer using the empty lot that Pastor Carlos has been renting for several years and there is now a fresh, clean wall separating the much smaller church and the empty lot.
 
Richard has been working on building a room over the kitchen at Tierra y Libertad for the person in charge of caring for the property at any given time. He designed it with a ‘front porch’ that overlooks the road in front of the church. It turned out quite spacious for where it is at (Richard spent quite a bit of time planning it). He and the men he ‘hired’ to work with him did some needed upgrades to the original bathroom and put stucco, paint and tile on several walls. Richard has a passion for vocational training for the men in Los Cabos and this project was no different. He even had boys learning to use a drill driver for screws and the older teens and men learning to use a skill saw—along with hours of wise teaching as they worked alongside him.
 
Please do not ever forget that what we are able to do in Los Cabos is because of your prayers and support. Enjoy the pictures and be blessed!

On March 15—the Sunday morning at Cabo Church that turned out to be our last morning service for a season—Richard and I were greeting at the door. Near the end of the already small crowd (as a result of news of the coronavirus in North America) was our precious drummer, who is just one of a special group of younger adult overcomers that we are blessed to have at Cabo Church. As I said goodbye with the usual, traditional Mexican greeting of a hug and a kiss on the cheek, I looked right into his eyes and said, “The darker it gets, the brighter you will shine” (with reference to Daniel 12:3). The Holy Spirit used me to say something that was beyond my understanding at the time. In fact, I discussed why I had said such a thing with the Lord several times during the following week.  Then, the fanning of the fear in the United States hit Los Cabos as our tourist industry shut down—from our most opulent resorts to the taco vender on the streets. Since this affected the majority of our population in the lower income brackets, the gloom quickly spread over our municipality.
 
Never Fear the Dark
 
In response to the growing darkness in Los Cabos, on April 1, the Lord shared a mini-teaching with me for the Body of Christ—Never Fear the Dark.
 
There are no opportunities in life without darkness. Even in a time of peace and tranquility, if we launch out into something new or different, there is no guarantee of success. In this dispensation, we really never know what the future holds. Uncertainty, itself, is a form of darkness. However, we do have multiple scriptures which give us the assurance that God always goes before us, that He is always with us, and that we will always be given the strength to overcome whatever might stand in our way! We will never be left to our own resources. The life of the risen Christ abides in us, we are temples of the Holy Spirit, and nothing ever happens to us that our Heavenly Father has not allowed!
 
Our job on this earth is not to flee from darkness, but as ‘carriers of the light,’ we should rejoice in overcoming evil with good (Romans 12:21). We have been given “authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy,” (Luke 10:19). Where light is, darkness flees; it has to. When the light is turned on, there is no more darkness. It’s that easy.
 
Darkness does bring a feeling of oppression and the antidote to this sense of doom is the joy of the Lord. Pray for joy over your assigned area (you all have one even if you haven’t thought about it)! Wherever you go, share a big smile (possible under a mask) so that at least they can see the light in your eyes. Whether those around us see our smiles or not, it does not negate the effect. When we release the joy of the Lord in this way, it helps dispel the gloom and doom over people’s lives, whether they are aware of it or not. Joy cuts through darkness like shafts of light and touches their hearts with a glimpse of a better day.
 
One Glorious Light in Los Cabos
 
As I shared in my previous blog, Pastor Carlos immediately went into action to organize his churches as soon as the ability to meet together was suspended. They organized the entire church family of between 250 to 300 people by What’s App (which is available in other countries, but given that it is free, it is a mainstay of Mexican communication). Pastor Carlos had already sent out ideas for how the head of the home could establish a ‘family altar’ in their home. You will notice in the photos that some even have a container of tithe envelopes on their altars and a box in which to place the envelopes with money in. These brothers and sisters are not doing this under compulsion; they love the work of the Lord. Pastor Carlos still consistently sends an outline of the message for each Sunday service, with instructions on how to lead their families in worship. You will notice in some of the photos that there appears to be guests in the homes of the lay leaders. They are very careful to include single person households, along with the elderly or anyone else in need of special care. Thursday night is their mid-week service and, again, everyone is sent the teaching for that night’s service in their homes, as well as a list of suggestions as to what to pray for on Friday night’s prayer meeting. Pastor Carlos makes himself available to pray—by phone—to anyone who needs prayer or has a need of food or other items. He told us just this week that to date, there are now 120 homes represented on Cristo es el Camino’s What’s App chat. They have actually grown in confinement!
 
I wanted to send the photos to show you how serious these wonderful brothers and sisters are, even though most of them either have little to no money left and have no guarantee of quick return to employment when they are released to go back to whatever it was they previously lived off of. Their joy and lack of complaining is amazing, and most of them definitely are a glorious light to their surroundings.
 
One last thing—for all of you who prayed for Los Cabos to be protected from looting and crime, our police and military are doing a spectacular job. In fact, there are very few “street people” out in the open, and we have only heard one specific report of an attempted personal robbery, which failed! I’m sure there must be some, but the overall atmosphere is very peaceful. Thank-you so much for praying! 
 
Continue to shine—Light in the darkness!

I want to thank those of your who have expressed concern over our well-being in Los Cabos. We are doing excellent. Mexico has a tendency not to react until our reputation is at stake and then we tend to over-react, so the strict sanctions which closed down much of the city didn’t hit until April 8; with the lesser sanctions starting less than a week earlier. Our city is blessed by being relatively small and isolated from most of Mexico.
 
The sanctions on public meetings−which affected our ability to meet for church services−didn’t officially start until March 29, at which time meetings were immediately limited to 20 in attendance. Cabo Church made the switch to taped services on March 22. After the 20 person sanction, Pastor Carlos quickly started a What’s App chat for his churches, and carefully divided his flock of 250-300 people among his three churches, missions, and home churches. We still somehow ended up with over 200 people at Tierra y Libertad that Sunday at our 6:00 p.m. service. They had had 40 first-time visitors just the week before!
 
Due to the crowd at Tierra y Libertad−by April 5−Pastor Carlos sent instructions to his people on preparing “home altars.” They prepared altars in their homes and posted photos of themselves on the church chat.  They did the same for the Thursday night mid-week services, as well as the Friday night prayer meetings.
 
Pastor Carlos and his people have still been carefully providing for the needs of others; especially with the closing of Cabos Church’s feeding station at Tierra y Libertad. As a ministry, we have also supplied Pastor Carlos with funds for outreach, which we will continue to do as we are able. The mandate to “stay at home except for essentials and only one person in a car” didn’t come out until April 8. However−with so many in need−ministering to others in the barrios will not likely be suspended apart from a direct order from the governor of Baja California Sur.
 
So far, we have not had any major shortages of food and staples in Los Cabos. Fortunately, most of the North American population headed for the United States and Canada as soon as the news of Covid-19 broke out. What we do have is a large percentage of our population with no jobs and little to no money saved (due to the closing of all non-essential work, all tourist activities, many of our hotels, and finally all of our sit-down restaurants). The poorest of our poor usually buy food one day at a time and even one meal at a time. This would include the “day-workers” who are picked up by businesses or locals to work at an extremely low wage, one day at a time. Many of the members of this group are addicted to drugs and alcohol and were roaming around looking for what they could find (legally or illegally) within a week of the economic slowdown.
 
The largest problem we will face−apart from a miracle−will be crime and/or looting (many of our businesses have already placed plywood over their glass and pulled down their metal safety shades. The looting after Hurricane Odile in September of 2014 did help prepare us for this). There will be no government checks issued from our troubled, Mexican government, and our major ‘industry’ is tourism, which was just devastated with the early return of our ‘snow birds’ to North America and the loss of revenue we typically receive from Spring Break.
 
Please Pray
 
As you continue to pray for your countries and the world to conquer the Covid-19 threat, please pray exceptionally hard for the people of Los Cabos, most of whom do not know the Lord and are not ready to enter eternity.
 
We have been waiting for the start of the promised harvest of souls to come in for more than nine years. Please pray for the ability of our churches and various ministries to minister to the spiritual needs of large numbers of new converts. The Lord has been assuring my heart for quite a long time that He has an amazing plan for handling the outpouring of His glory and the resulting harvest in Los Cabos, but it will take a God-sized plan to do it!
 
Also, please pray for jobs and financial provision for the people of Los Cabos—especially for our brothers and sisters in Christ, many who have now been without work and/or income for several weeks.
 
Finally, please pray the safety of our city from increased criminal activity or looting.
 
Thank-you for your faithfulness to what God is doing in Los Cabos and may peace and God’s blessings surround you!

Originally, we hadn’t planned to share our newest Avanza sin Tranza update (the values program we have been working with for over three years) until after the training that was scheduled for March 30-31, but the coronavirus burst onto the scene and our dates for the training for 80 teachers and educators in the Municipality of Los Cabos has been postponed. Nevertheless, it was officially scheduled!
 
In our last blog, I covered the Monday morning at the Political Ceremony where our friend, Captain Juan Zamorano, head of all our security forces in Los Cabos, was honored by the city. This was worth blogging about, but there was another, very important breakthrough not reported in that blog. Almost a year and a half ago, Captain Zamorano expressed the need for a mandatory values training program for his police officers, and thanks to the investment of one of our faithful supporters, we were able to offer the initial training for the area’s police officers—free of charge to the city (Avanza sin Tranza has been embraced by multiple municipalities in Mexico, but someone must pay the cost of the program and that is a problem in Mexico). After that initial conversation with the Captain about Avanza sin Tranza, we had a complete change of government, his responsibilities on Monday mornings changed, and nothing more was said for more than a year.
 
But God Once Again Intervened
 
On the Monday morning when the new police vehicles were handed over to Captain Zamorano, Richard and I arrived just in time for the ceremony; most of the participants were already in place and we ended up standing at the far end of the plaza. When the Captain saw us he stepped out of the crowd to tell us how excited he was with the new vehicles. When he finished, I asked him if he still had a need for values training for his officers and he immediately answered, “Yes.” Then, Richard asked what would be the best way for us to help him make this happen and his answer was for Daniel Valles to make an appointment with his assistant. We were able to make immediate contact with Daniel. Daniel was able to immediately secure an appointment with the Captain, and a visit to our area the following week was scheduled.
 
On the following Monday morning, Richard and I had already finished “prayer walking” the area and were on our way out of the plaza when, much to our surprise, Captain Juan was still standing in the plaza. We were able to have a wonderful talk with him; including having the time to ask about the topics he had asked us to pray for when we first talked to him. One of those prayer requests had been answered and he said our prayers must have worked. We told him that Daniel had an appointment with him two days later and that the Director of Education, Juan Mesa, was working with us to get the program for the school system. The Captain smiled sweetly and said, “We’ll see what we can do.”
 
We said goodbye to Captain Juan, and as we turned around to go, Director Juan Mesa was right in front of us (remember, there were only a few people in the entire plaza by then). We told Director Juan that Daniel was flying in to talk to Captain Juan and asked Director Juan if he would like to see Daniel again since he would be in town the following Wednesday. Director Juan had us call his assistant and both of these precious men were scheduled within a couple hours of each other with Daniel Valles.
 
The Happy Almost Ending
 
Richard, Daniel, and I were excited when we headed to San Jose del Cabo the following Wednesday. Our appointment with Captain Juan was first. Daniel told him that our ministry was paying for fifteen people to be trained as trainers. The Captain smiled and said he wanted fifty law enforcement officers trained and that he was going to pay for the other 35. Now that was exceedingly, abundantly above all we could have asked for or thought! We rushed over to the office in charge of making Daniel an official ‘vendor’ of the Municipality of Los Cabos and, within a week, Daniel had shipped all of the necessary paperwork to us to bring back to the city. He was instantly approved.
 
After all that, we still had our appointment with Director Juan. We were greeted at the door to his office with one of the Avanza sin Tranza decals we had given him.  It was proudly displayed on the front door of the Department of Education. Director Juan sat down across from us and questioned Daniel about several things, but we soon found out that he already knew he was ready to schedule the training when he sat down that day. The training was scheduled for March 30-31, but you already know the rest of the story—we are postponed for the time being.
 
Both of these directors are ready for action when we are cleared of COVID-19. Please pray for protection and wisdom for both of them, as well as for their families, and—of course—keep praying for the implementation of Avanza sin Tranza.

New Police Trucks and More!
 
We never know what to expect at 8:00 a.m. on Monday mornings in front of the Municipal Palace in San Jose del Cabo where we go for the weekly patriotic ceremony, which is held in the plaza in front of the Municipal Palace (main building of our municipal government).
 
We were recently in for an extra special surprise since it honored our security forces in the area, along with our dear friend, Captain Juan Jose Zamorano, who is the head of all security in the area. He is a man of great character, and the Municipality of Los Cabos is blessed to have him here. As a ministry, we have promised to pray for the continuation of Captain Zamorano’s assignment to the Municipality of Los Cabos, for his safety and that of his family, along with exceptional blessing and well-being. We invite you to join us in praying for Captain Zamorano. As you look at the photos, he is the gentlemen receiving the symbolic ‘large key’ to nine new police trucks and two new police motorcycles. The lovely lady handing him the key is “la Presidente” (mayor) Armida Castro.

Annual Flag Day Ceremony
 
This day is always one of our favorite days at the Patriotic Ceremony. Several schools are always given the honor of participating and the flag corps and the drum and bugle corps arrives in full parade dress. It is a sight to behold! Patriotism is a wonderful thing! This particular year was special because−as far as we could tell−the participants appeared to be university age, which is a grade level we had never seen participate in the annual ceremony before. Los Cabos actually has several universities (which is the word translated for what we would call colleges; the Spanish version of ‘college’ is usually just attached to a trade or specialty school).  
 
The annual ceremony also includes certificates of merit for a handful of outstanding students. Pride just radiates from each of them. Mexico is excellent at giving honor to whom honor is due.

Women Awareness Month
 
Women’s Awareness Month is always a special event at the Patriotic Ceremony, as well. One of the biggest highlights this year was a large, very impressive, traveling display; giving a pictorial account of the evolution of the rights of women in Mexico. The reason I’m sharing this with you is because I love antique photos that show the history of an area. These particular photos are not from the Los Cabos area, but they do show a part of Mexico’s past that we had never seen. I did try to include the date and explanation in Spanish for most of the photos. You may not be able to read the captions but the date of caption will help you put things into perspective.
 
An awareness of the physical and sexual abuse of women in Mexico is also highlighted every year. This is definitely a problem in the United States as well, but in many parts of Mexico, such activity is considered an unspoken right of the men in the home. Captain Zamorano once told us that the largest demand on law enforcement in Los Cabos is domestic violence, and from the Mexico Daily News on the mainland of Mexico, there are still areas that embrace horrific practices with their women and children. We have no idea of how blessed we have been in the United States because of our godly foundation and biblical beginnings.
   

For those of you who have followed our blogs for any length of time, you have seen many photos of the Lomas del Sol Church (Iglesia Lomas del Sol). Nonetheless, you may not have realized the church had spread from the original foundations we poured, blocked, and filled in during the spring of 2014, to the lot next to the church. Pastor Carlos has been renting the lot for just a little under eight years now. During this time, there has been talk of purchasing the lot, but the owner wanted top dollar and−just in case you don’t know−land is a very limited commodity on our narrow peninsula and many times the property prices seem terribly unreasonable for very humble pieces of property. Each year, Pastor Carlos would contemplate whether or not he should move the church to a different location or stay at Lomas del Sol. During this time, however, nothing opened up and many times—even with the lot next to the original church—there has not been enough room and people have been overflowing into the street.
 
Finally, just last month, the “mother church” was moved from this original location to the Tierra y Libertad location. Lomas del Sol gave up the lot next to the original building, and Lomas del Sol became what Pastor Carlos calls a “mission church.” Tierra y Libertad has continued to be added to and improved on since its original construction and is now Pastor Carlos’ only church that can fit 200 to 300 people when all of the “missions” are together. Since we purposely did not build walls around the sanctuary area so there would be more available room, I must share with you that nighttime services from December to March are quite chilly. I often had so many layers on I could hardly move. With this new arrangement, I might actually have to break down and bring a lightweight winter coat to Cabo San Lucas−I know, if you come in the tourist season, it is hard to imagine.
 
When there is a special service with all of the churches and missions together, we can just barely fit. We are still praying and negotiating over the Quinta Real property, and Pastor Carlos was recently given the use of a large tent in great condition, which can seat 500. Watch this story closely, it is guaranteed to reveal God’s working as far as the land at Quinta Real!

Shane and Tracey Crowley of Fremont, Michigan have faithfully labored in Los Cabos during the winter season since 2014. Shane is a cement contractor and his wife Tracey is his faithful assistant. The two of them have made a significant difference in the homes and churches/missions under Pastor Carlos Maciel and his team from Iglesias Cristo es el Camino (Jesus is the Way Church). I’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating, they are helping to transform Los Cabos—one project at a time.
 
We also cannot thank Tom Sturris of High Grade Concrete of Spring Lake, MI, enough. Three years ago, Tom offered to donate 50 cents for every bag of cement Shane bought from him to the charity of his choice—and we are blessed beyond measure that Shane chose New Life Outreach!
 
Before you look at the pictures, let me give you a description of what was done in just four weeks:
 

• The Church at Tierra y Libertad−The church was first built with a large vented roof in order to be more hurricane resistant.  The church also had a cement auditorium area and, eventually, a cement platform. The wall area was purposely left open so there would be room for all of the missions and churches (mainly smaller in size) to meet in one place. This year, Shane and Pastor Carlos’ crew of faithful men were able to cement in the remaining ‘floor’ areas around the main auditorium. This was a lot of cement and a lot of work, but the results are amazing (and easier on everyone’s dress shoes).

 

• The Church at Valle del Cabo−Last year, Shane and company put an entirely new front on this small church and this year they were able to block up the side walls, giving greater security to the church property. They dug foundations for the two parallel side walls, blocked the walls up, and poured cement on the remaining parts of the floor, which were still dirt. This year’s work gave a significant boost to the usefulness of the church!

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• Pastor Carlos’ house in Las Palmas−Pastor Carlos originally bought a partially built home with the intent of finishing it as his family of five lived in it. Last year, Shane and company were able to move them far beyond their building or financial ability; with Richard coming alongside for the finishing after the annual building frenzy. Janet (Pastor Carlos’ wife) was still in need of some material to use as a counter top in her kitchen and Shane just happened to want to start pouring colored cement countertops as part of his business in West Michigan. You’d have to ask Shane or Richard for the details, but Shane was pleased to bless her, as well as to be able to polish his skills in pouring cement counter tops.

 
Enjoy the pictures and please pray for the continued prospering of High Grade Concrete of Spring Lake, MI and Shane Crowley Masonry of Fremont, MI.

Just after the first of the year, Pastor Carlos Maciel told Richard and I, “We are having an event for children at the church in Tierra y Libertad this Saturday. I’ll take pictures for you.” He just happened to mention this to us as we were saying good-bye, so neither of us really knew what to expect.

Towards the end of last year, Brenda, one of our dear friends from Cabo Church who is working with Cabo Church’s feeding stations, asked us if we could talk to Pastor Carlos to see if any of his ladies could help with the feeding kitchens at Tierra y Libertad. Pastor Carlos talked with his faithful ladies, and since that time, he and his faithful team have been working with the kitchen and teaching the women and children on Wednesdays and Thursdays. The ‘event’ he mentioned was something that had been in the works that we knew nothing about.

Los Cabos had not been a part of the Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child program for as long as any of us knew, but in 2014−due to the devastation in Los Cabos from Hurricane Odile−the churches in La Paz, who had been attending all of the mandatory trainings and meetings necessary to be given “shoeboxes” from Samaritan’s Purse, asked if their shoeboxes could be given to Los Cabos.

Unbeknownst to us, Pastor Luis Corello, who does the 1:30 p.m. Spanish service on Sundays in Cabo Church’s building, has had a team holding a “Five Day Children’s Club” at Cabo Church’s building on Friday evenings. Due to their participation with Samaritan’s Purse, Cabo Church received a shipment of “shoeboxes” this year. Not only were they handed out at the Five Day Club, but we also receive shoeboxes for Cabo Church’s feeding stations; this included the station at Tierra y Libertad where Pastor Carlos’ team has been ministering.

Tickets had been given out to the children who regularly attend the feeding stations, in order to receive a shoe box. Tierra y Liberad had fewer than fifty of those, but due to the graciousness of an anonymous donor, Pastor Carlos was given the money to purchase gifts for any other children that attended the Saturday event.

The church at Tierra y Libertad ended up hosting and feeding 250 children! As usual, they know how to decorate and host amazing children’s events and this was no exception. It was extremely successful, and we have no idea what ministry may develop in the future from this event.

Pastor Carlos had his daughter, Paola, take pictures and she did a great job. Enjoy the pictures and please pray for the continuing ministry at the church at Tierra y Libertad.