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.

In Part I, we shared how the Lord connected us to Neil and Lee Woollacott, so just in case you haven’t read Part I, I would certainly suggest it, or you will miss the importance this couple is to what God is doing in Los Cabos.

Neil and Lee’s impartation to Los Cabos included going to one of Cabo Church’s 14 Feeding Stations, the Feeding Station at Tierra y Libertad. Brenda, a very precious sister from Cabo Church, asked if some of the women from Pastor Carlos’ church at Tierra y Libertad would consider teaching the children, as well as their mothers at the Tierra y Libertad Feeding Station. It was almost six years ago when Lupe Hernandez asked me if Pastor Carlos would consider overseeing a church in Tierra y Libertad that would train the women and the children at the nearby feeding station, so Richard and I were very excited when Pastor Carlos told us that he and his ladies would be checking out the feeding station the day we were there with Neil and Lee. It was a great joy to my heart to see part of the original vision for the church at Tierra y Libertad finally coming to pass!

The following day, Richard, Neil, Lee and I traveled to San Jose del Cabo for a service at Palabra de Vida; the drug and alcohol rehabilitation center run by our dear friends, Bill and Jacki Glaubitz from Canada. When Neil and Lee accompanied us to our monthly service during their first trip to Cabo two years ago, Lee came out of her shell and prayed and spoke powerfully over the men in attendance. Their teaching and ministry to the men in Palabra de Vida was again a blessing to everyone involved.

The next day, Janet and Carlos invited the four of us to come for breakfast, and Neil had asked to pray over each of the family members. The Holy Spirit was present in a very powerful way, with the Lord giving Neil some very special words to speak over the family, along with speaking over our faithful friend Jonathan, who had also been asked to enjoy the special time.

The next event was totally social, but for any of you who have ever visited us, you know about the fun time we have most Sundays after Cabo English Church, enjoying Christian fellowship at the restaurant, Pollo de Oro.

After Pollo de Oro, Neil was the guest speaker for the evening service at Pastor Carlos’ main church in the Lomas del Sol neighborhood. The Holy Spirit again blessed us with a powerful service, with Neil and Lee gladly ministering to everyone in the congregation that asked for prayer.

While we were ministering at the evening service at Lomas del Sol, Pastor Carlos’ brother-in-law, Victor, asked for the privilege to have us as his guests at the restaurant where he is the chef and onsite manager. The next morning, we arrived at the restaurant, Fisherman’s Landing. Victor’s dishes are very special. Victor is not just a cook, but is an accomplished chef. As we were there, we were able to see how he cared for his employees and how he carefully brought the best out of them. Victor is definitely doing ‘Marketplace Ministry,’ even if he himself might not call it that. Again, the Holy Spirit was present, there in an open-air restaurant, built on a dock, at the edge of the famous Cabo San Lucas Marina. As we closed this special time in prayer, a very significant word of knowledge was shared with Victor−a word that confirmed God’s desire for his future that none of us knew anything about.
 
Richard and I are continuing to ‘What’s App’ call on a regular basis with Neil and Lee as Neil works with us on details for the future of the Quinta Real property, along with other ideas Neil has for the future of Los Cabos.

We want to thank Neil and Lee for the gift of their time and financial expenditure to journey to Los Cabos for these ten days of impartation!  Thank you!

Two of our daughters and their families have again asked us to use the money we would normally spend on gifts for their families to bless a special family in Cabo San Lucas. We are especially close to this year’s family as the single father is Pastor Carlos Maciel’s nephew, Gilberto (Beto for short) Mendoza.
 
Beto grew up between the United States and Mexico, but is another example of parents who never bothered to get citizenship for their children. By the time he was in his late teens, he was well engrossed into ‘gang life,’ including criminal activity. He was imprisoned in the United States and was eventually deported to Mexico.
 
When Beto was first deported, he lived with Pastor Carlos’ family for a period of time, but he wasn’t ready for the lifestyle of Pastor Carlos’ family−or their rules−and was soon on his own in Cabo. It wasn’t long before he was arrested and placed in our local prison. He served three years there, and during that time, Pastor Carlos faithfully visited him on a regular basis and faithfully kept talking to him about Christ. Eventually, Pastor Carlos led him to the Lord. When he got out of prison, he was able to quickly get a job at one of our larger hotels since he is bi-lingual. He is now blessed by the Lord. He is very personable and gentle, and we have greatly enjoyed our times together with him.
 
After he was released, Beto took on the responsibility of raising−not only his son−but also Betito’s stepbrother. Pastor Carlos’ family is providing childcare for the two boys while Beto works six days a week.  They are also allowing Beto and the boys to stay in the former church ‘parsonage’ in back of the church at Lomas del Sol. Through God’s favor, Beto’s employer also has arranged his schedule in order for him to take a bus from where he works to where the boys go to school; then they all take the bus home to the church at Lomas del Sol.
 
Shopping Day

We took Beto and the boys out for pizza and then headed directly to the local “professional” skateboard store in Cabo Central. The boys had both previously had inexpensive skateboards from Walmart, but they were quickly broken. When Beto and the boys heard about the chance to buy something they wanted, they quickly choose quality skateboards. With the budget we had, the boys could only afford to get the boards (without the “trucks” (wheels)). They hugged those boards like a little girl does a doll.
 
The boys didn’t have to wait long for the wheels. As soon as one of our close friends heard this story, the husband asked us how much we thought the wheels would cost and handed us $150 to cover the cost of the wheels!
 
Along with their boards, Beto bought some ‘winter’ clothing for the boys and a Lakers’ baseball cap for himself. For Beto’s daughter in the United States, Candy, we purchased a “sling bag” in the United States and sent it to California with some spending money and a Christmas card from Beto.

Thank-you for everyone who made this Christmas special for Beto and his children!

If you follow our blogs, you may recognize the names of our dear friends Neil & Lee Woollacott from western Australia. Just in case you are not familiar with their story, though, let me share how God brought the four of us together.
 
As a part of the 2015 Transform Our World Conference in San Jose, CA, we traveled north to Redding, CA for an optional visit to a well-known Bethel Church pastored by Bill Johnson and Kris Vallotton. After the opening dinner, we were instructed to leave our tables, form circles, and pray individually for each person seated at our table. Neil and Lee were two of the people who were at our table, and during that prayer time, their hearts were connected to ours. Later on while still in Redding, Neil asked that if they were able to travel to the US again for the TOW Conference in 2017, would it work for them to travel back with us to Los Cabos after the close of the conference. It did and so they did. They returned to the US in 2017 for the conference and flew back with us to Los Cabos for a 10-day visit. During the 10 days they spent with us in 2017, Neil and Lee developed a burden to help us with our vision of the transformation of Los Cabos.
 
One of the possible projects they were interested in seeing established in Los Cabos was the start of a Christian leadership academy (in addition to basic education from public schools), utilizing Transform Cambodia as a model. After returning to Australia after their visit with us in 2017−with Los Cabos in mind−Neil flew to Cambodia to talk to the founders of Transform Cambodia (https://vimeo.com/15589876) to see if the founders of the trust that supports the work in Cambodia would consider expanding their mission to Los Cabos. Although this may or may not come to fruition, Neil still has the vision for the first Transform Cambodia prototype in Los Cabos; dedicated to training powerful, pure, Christian leaders for Mexico’s future. Neil and Lee returned once again to Los Cabos this last October, after a 36-hour flight from their home in western Australia.
 
For eight full days, they imparted to, ministered to, and prayed over brothers and sisters in Christ in the Los Cabos area, as well as prayed over the geographic area itself. The first day of action included the Sunday morning service at Cabo English Church, our traditional Sunday chicken dinner with Pastor Michael and his wife, Laura, at Pollo de Oro, and, for Lee, a special appearance at my Sunday evening prayer class. I had prepared the class ahead of time to be ready to receive personal prayer from a special guest from Australia. The Holy Spirit blessed us with His presence and it was a memorable experience for everyone present; as well as an opportunity for Lee to be coaxed out of her comfort zone.
 
The next day, Neil traveled to San Jose with Pastor Carlos, Richard, and myself for the 8:00 a.m., Monday morning patriotic ceremony in the town square in front of the Municipal Palace. After the ceremony, the Lord brought attention to the four of us in a unique way. Our current mayor, who was elected just one year ago, had introduced the singing of the Baja California Sur state anthem to the patriotic ceremony several weeks before. We soon found out that almost no one in the government or crowd knew the words to this song. Richard−as the statesman of the family−made a point of talking to the mayor’s secretary in order to get a copy of the anthem, and after that time faithfully carried the copy of the words in his portfolio each Monday morning. When the time came to sing the state anthem during the Monday morning program with Neil, Richard and I were familiar enough with the tune that we sang with gusto (even if we didn’t pronounce all the words exactly right). Our efforts were noticed that morning! As soon as the crowd was dismissed, La Presidente led her entourage of reporters−including a TV camera−over to our little group. She very graciously took time to come over to Richard and I to thank us for caring enough about her state to work on learning the state anthem. I’m sharing this here because Neil, along with Pastor Carlos, Richard and myself, was on live footage in Los Cabos, MX.
 
After the ceremony, the four of us went to our favorite “meeting” breakfast restaurant where Neil pulled out his plans and research ideas for the location of a Christian leadership academy, as well as the layout of the Quinta Real property (that I often make reference to). The financing is not there at this point, but Neil is faithfully doing the groundwork for possible presentations in the days ahead. With Lee joining us later in the day, we proceeded to the Quinta Real property for prayer and discussion of what God’s plans for that land could include.
 
This is the end of the first part of Neil and Lee’s ‘missionary journey’ to Los Cabos. Part II is yet to come!

We recently heard one of the most encouraging testimonies of God’s power and desire to heal the sick we have ever heard! Pastor Carlos reported the following doctor’s report from a brother who received prayer for healing at the Lomas del Sol Children’s Playground Outreach on September 28-29…

A brother with deteriorating health asked for prayer for sclerosis (or cirrhosis) of the liver. He has not drank alcohol for many years now, but before coming to Christ his years of severe alcoholism left him with an incurable case of sclerosis of the liver. He just received this report from his doctor: “You have a NEW liver!” In answer to his asking for prayer, the Lord gave this brother a “new” liver!

Through the years, we have prayed for several men with severe liver damage, but this is the first report we have heard of such a miraculous result.

Nothing is too hard for God!  He wants us to ask for anything and everything, and then to leave it up to Him to choose what He will do. Be encouraged to be prayed for and to pray for others. The kingdom of God is at hand!

We were once again greatly blessed to be able to attend the Transform Our World (TOW) Annual Global Conference in Monterey, CA on October 15-18. TOW is not a denomination or ministry covering. It is a “movement of movements”—bringing ministries from around the world together to meet and fellowship with one another, to be encouraged and inspired, and to find others with the same calling and passion from which to glean. During the four packed days and nights of the conference—starting at 8 a.m. and continuing on until after 10 p.m.—a Christian community of like-minded believers is formed. Those representing these ministries are able to form lifelong-friendships, which often enhance the ministry they are called to, as well as help to bring breakthrough and give new insight to their own God-given assignments. There were delegates from 30 nations this year, with a total registration of over 800 participants.
 
There were general sessions, workshops, and evening sessions during the conference that showcased transformation in every sphere of society throughout the world. Delegates from many nations, every walk of life and social status, fellowshipped together, prayed for one another, and exchanged contact information for the common goal of being ‘salt and light’ in the world in which they live. It is always amazing for Richard and I to see how little we, as Christians, know about what God is doing outside our own denominations or ministry circles−even how little we know about what is happening in the Body of Christ in the United States.
 
I can’t possibly begin to relate the testimonies of what God is doing in our world in just a blog. We heard hours and hours of ‘Good News’ –the news we might never hear if we didn’t take the time and resources to gather together with others outside our ‘normal’ lives and ministry structures. If you are interested in hearing and seeing footage of the conference presenters just go to https://transformourworld.org/
 
May the Lord fill your hearts with encouragement and expectation for the day in which we live!

Pastor Carlos Maciel and his faithful army held their second evangelical service in two months at the Lomas del Sol Children’s Playground, on September 28-29.
 
Weeks−if not months−before they hold one of these outreaches, they send out groups of prayer warriors who pray over the area and go door-to-door, praying for whatever the occupants express as a need.  They also invite these community members to attend the upcoming outreach. As I continue to share, you will see how powerful their prayers and witness are.
 
Great Darkness
 
The very first time we went with Pastor Carlos to the playground, I told Richard, “I don’t know how to put it in words, but spiritually, this park is very, very dark; the sense of evil is very strong.” This impression was confirmed on the first night of this outreach as we received specific insight from the Lord as we prayed over the park. On the next night, Sunday, September 29, we were exposed to an attack from the kingdom of darkness that could be seen with our natural eyes.
 
After the evangelical service, while the cleanup committee was working their way through the park, one of the ladies opened what appeared to be an unopened bottle of water. Fortunately, the sister recognized the smell of bleach before she took a drink. Someone had put bleach in the bottle and put it back down in the park for someone to drink. The crew quickly collected all of the bottles of water they could find and, upon opening them, found bleach in ten more bottles. It became obvious that there had been an attempt to do great harm to Pastor Carlos’ teams, with the possibility of harming attendees, as well. After the water was discovered, Pastor Carlos was informed that the neighbor directly across the narrow dirt road from the park is a very strong and serious sorcerer. Upon finding this out, it was clear to us why the Holy Spirit had led us to pray the way we did the night before.
 
Several Years Before
 
Several years ago, Richard and I were working with Cristo es el Camino; prayer walking a different colonial (neighborhood) called Las Palmas. A home bible study had already been established there and New Life Outreach paid the rent on an empty lot in the colonial for a place for services to begin.
 
At the time, this area had a very large group of young men that roamed through the community on a regular basis. The area was also being deeply influenced by practicing witches. In fact, when we were prayer walking with Pastor Carlos, one witch very smugly told us, “They (referring to Christians) come, but they all GO!”
 
As we continued forward in the establishment of a church plant, the Lord gave Pastor Carlos a spiritual picture. It was revealed to him that the house leader’s teenage son had signed a covenant with the devil in blood. This agreement gave the enemy legal ground to work in the family that was leading the home bible study and the enemy was using that opening to try to destroy what God desired to do in Las Palmas. With everything in mind, Pastor Carlos chose to end the work at Las Palmas.
 
Please Pray
 
Going back to our current involvement in evangelizing the Lomas del Sol Playground; I have remembered the words of the witch at Las Palmas for over five years, and when I heard about the bleach in the water bottles, the warrior part of me was deeply disturbed, as once again I remembered the challenge from the witch at Las Palmas.
 
I am asking each of you to please be praying for spiritual freedom for the Lomas del Sol Playground area. Together, we−along with Pastor Carlos’ army−will fight in the unseen realm for spiritual victory for the area, and our cry will be, “If God is for us, who is against us?” (Romans 8:31)!
 
Thank-you all in every way you support what God is doing is Los Cabos, MX.

The first day of the 2019-2020 school year in Los Cabos was August 26. Juan Mesa, the Director of Education of the municipality, asked if we wanted to be his guests at the Monday morning patriotic ceremony at the school where he taught before being appointed as Director of Education.

The excitement for the first day of elementary (primaria) school was intense. Parents were crowded in the entranceway of the school to see how their children would respond to the new environment and the equivalent to our Board of Education was there with Director Juan to present new drums and bugles to the school’s drum and bugle corps. Although we were actively involved in the Monday morning patriotic ceremony during our first year in Los Cabos, experiencing this special event at the school where Juan Mesa previously taught is one event we will remember.

The school itself is the Escuela Primaria Francisco Javier Mina (Francisco Javier Mina Elementary School). While our experience is limited, this school was by far one of the finest public schools we have ever seen. The entire facility is clean and well-maintained, with very nice buildings. There is a covered basketball court, a small lawn, and an area where snack or lunch items may be purchased. This kitchen/snack space is significant!  The majority of our schools (while wealth abounds in our tourist areas), have no lunch facilities and only a handful have sponsors providing free lunches. Regretfully, few mothers make the effort to send even a light lunch with their children.

We want to thank our friend, Director Mesa, for his invitation to this first day of the school.  It was an honor to see where he used to teach and to be a part of this experience!

We would like to ask everyone to continue to pray for the implementation of the Avanza sin Tranza (Thrive without Bribes) program in our area schools. Director Mesa is behind the program and we have the funds to implement the program, but it doesn’t seem to be a priority in our current city government. We have been told that in Mexico that you can ‘save face’ to say you are “working with a program” that you know is desperately needed in your city, even is that program is never implemented. Please pray that the offer for the Avanza sin Tranza program—without implementation—will not be sufficient in Los Cabos.

Pastor Carlos from Cristo es el Camino recently held a community outreach crusade in the Lomas del Sol area—at the community playground. The crusade didn’t happen as early as expected, but it would seem the Lord may have allowed all of the circumstances—seemingly interferences— to delay the outreach for a reason.  I’ll share this reason a little further on.

If you read the blog announcing the crusade, followed by the blog detailing the delay, then the details I am going to share with you will be significant to you.

The postponed crusade was finally scheduled for Saturday, August 10 at 7:00 p.m. at the Playground in Lomas del Sol, within a mile of Pastor Carlos’ original church. The city only issued a permit for one day, rather than two, and ended up doing neither the maintenance on the park or an outreach of their own, but read on…

This crusade was the inauguration of the portable stage Richard and Pastor Carlos have been designing for quite some time. Pastor Carlos’ crew actually did all the work−including the welding of the frame and legs (his crew has been working alongside Richard for several years and countless projects now and have acquired many new skills since that first project)!  Cristo es el Camino now has a portable stage large enough for any larger crusade we might put on in the future. Artemio, who did the backdrop for the Carlos Annacondia crusade back in 2016, also painted the backdrop and skirt for the new stage.

Prior to the crusade with Gamaliel Sosa two years ago (at the Quinta Real property), New Life Outreach paid half of the cost of new sound equipment—purchased with crusades in mind. Apart from the lighting and supporting frame work, we are now ready to continue having evangelical crusades throughout the area!

At the beginning of the evening’s activities, the church handed out frozen treats and the children enjoyed the playground. You also might notice in the pictures a lady doing face painting. This is Claudia Cardenas (with her husband Mauricio helping in the background). This is the couple from Ensenada who helped us with the Annacondia Crusade and who we were blessed to minister with again, just this last April, with Sam and Karen Knapp.

The modest-sized park was full of excitement and people, and some of the neighbors who didn’t come in sat in lawn chairs in front of their homes. As a result of just this one evening meeting, Pastor Carlos reported they have welcomed six new families to his Sunday service, and presently we know of one seventeen-year-old teen who received Christ at the crusade itself. This is part of the story that has to do with the timing of the crusade—God’s timing…

Seven years ago a woman attended the Cristo es el Camino Church in Lomas del Sol. She only came that one time and came for the purpose of having her one-year-old baby girl prayed for. Pastor Carlos doesn’t remember the diagnoses, but at that time the doctor had told the mother there was nothing they could do to save the baby. They never saw the woman or her child again until the night of the crusade.

That night, she told her story. Her baby was totally healed and is now seven-years-old. Right after she visited Cristo el Camino Church, her family moved away from the Los Cabos area. As of the night of the crusade (approximately six weeks later than first scheduled), she had been back in the area for only two weeks and had no idea how to find Pastor Carlos’ church. She now lives within a couple of blocks from where the Lomas del Sol Playground is. When the faithful army from Cristo es el Camino handed out flyers for the crusade, she received a flyer at her new home. As soon as she saw the flyer, she knew this was the church that prayed for her baby six years before.

She arrived towards the end of the meeting and literally ran to the crusade to give the testimony of her daughter’s healing. Two of her older daughters followed her to the crusade. Her seventeen-year-old daughter gave the testimony that for some unknown reason she felt compelled to go with her mother to the meeting and ran along with her. By the time they arrived at the park, the teen was crying for no reason she knew of. Arriving, near the end, the seventeen-year-old gave her life to the Lord. She was compelled in tears, to run to a meeting, for a reason she didn’t know. This is exciting and is the kind of report you hear from areas experiencing a move of the Holy Spirit! 

God is always on time, and will go to all length to pursue us.  Have you pursued Him today in such a way?  I challenge you to passionately pursue.  Don’t delay—not one more day.

Also, please continue to pray for the Cristo es el Camino churches and for God’s plan for Los Cabos, MX.

For those of you who may not come to Los Cabos every year, I try to give you an occasional update as far what is happening in the San Jose del Cabo Plaza. On the Monday morning when I brought our ‘big camera’ for some extra photos of the courtyard and surrounding area, we were blessed with a very special day:  The Municipality of Los Cabos presented new flags to the area schools.

La Presidente Armida Castro led the way, with help from other staff. As always, the students are well-groomed. With their uniforms on, you would never know how they might live! They carry themselves in the patriotic presentations like future honor guards. It is always a delight to see them. There were many schools present for this particular ceremony.

In the slide show, you might also notice a white tent just outside the main entrance to the Municipal Palace. A former supporter of La Presidente Armida claimed that she is not keeping her campaign promises. He, along with some help, erected the tent (complete with enlarged photos of him being drug away from the mayor by security). Despite being drug away at the time, the tent is allowed to stay, along with a rotating group of dissenters. Mexico is never boring!

I took some extra photos so you could see the most recent work on the courtyard. Enjoy the photos and, as always, please keep praying for the power of God to change Los Cabos, Mexico!