This was only our third Transform Our World Conference; the first was in Ciudad Juarez in April of 2014 and the second was the 25th Annual Global TOW Conference last October in the San Francisco Bay area. When you hear repeated testimonies of how God is responding to the prayers of those who expect Him to come through, with the power of His Kingdom to change their sphere of influence, you can’t help but have a renewed outlook of life on planet Earth!

The first night’s special banquet brought us to a local restaurant with two hours of spectacular entertainment portraying the song and dance of Mexico’s history, along with real, Mexican cowboys; riding horses, just a few feet from your table. The skill of the cowboys, with many different rope tricks, as well as the nobility of the trained horses, was breathtaking. Richard and I were honored to be able to sit next to Ed Silvoso for the evening, and were greatly encouraged by his fatherly words of wisdom. We certainly want to thank our hosts for blessing us as they shared Mexico’s history.

The following morning, we were transported to the Rodadora, Juarez’s world-class interactive, children’s museum built through the vision of Poncho Murgia.  One of the first sessions was given by Ed Silvoso, who always captivates his audiences as he carefully expounds on scripture, showing the call to “change our world” until the Lord comes. After the morning sessions, we had lunch at the Rodadora’s fully-modern food court where children are able to eat while visiting the museum—in a First World atmosphere. After lunch, we were blessed with a three-hour, interactive experience in the museum (suitable for kids and adults alike). All I can say is there are not words to describe what God has built in the middle of a city that was formerly a drug cartel war zone!

Richard and I were able to tour the Rodadora at the conference in Juarez two years ago, just before the grand opening. At that time, Poncho gave our group a tour of the unfinished museum; sharing the extensive research that had been done to assure the world class design of the exhibits. The museum’s grounds and parking were designed to bus in thousands of Juarez’s children from area schools; many who lost both parents as a result of the shooting and violence during the years of cartel violence and drug wars.

That night’s event and the final day’s meetings were held in our hotel conference room in The El Paseo Suites in Juarez, Mexico. Every session was filled with astounding testimonies of how God is exalting his people in the marketplace, as they put their trust and dependence on Him to bring to pass that which He has laid on their hearts. Daniel Valles was also one of the presenters at the conference and the Avanza sin Tranza initiative was an inspiration to all, especially the more than twenty representatives from other cities in Mexico. The conference ended with inspiration and impartation from Ed Silvoso and his team, with all of us ready to continue to release the Kingdom of Heaven within us—to affect the world around us.

On our way back from our summer furlough in Michigan, I used sky miles to purchase my ticket and was surprisingly pampered with a free upgrade into Business/First Class. Since I was the only one flying with sky miles, Richard told me to enjoy first class as he rode near the back of the plane. To further set the stage, my carry-on had to be checked on the first leg of our flight back to Los Cabos and had to be retrieved before I could catch our final leg of the flight. Our original flight itinerary had less than an hour scheduled between flights; our plane from Michigan arrived at our layover more than 30 minutes late and taxied for what seemed like forever. Then, to add to the drama, the retrieval of my carry-on proved to be an unforgettable event. Meanwhile, since Richard carries a small brief bag for his carry-on, he headed towards the gate where our final flight was to take off in order to ask if they could wait for me, which, from previous experience, is asking a lot. As soon as I had my carry-on, I started to run towards our connecting gate, which was in another wing of this huge airport. I was able to send a text to Richard while on the airport transit train and was relieved to get his reply of, “It’s OK. They’re waiting for you,” before dashing off the train. As soon as Richard saw me coming down the last, tall escalator, the flight crew rushed him to the back of the plane, as I finished the last lap of my run. It was definitely the grace of God that we both made it to that flight!

Then the divine appointment:  Seated in first class, without my husband, on a plane I barely caught in time; I was seated next to a lovely lady from Texas, who was flying by herself—Tiffany Ammerman. As we began to get to know one another, she asked what I did in Los Cabos. When I told her we were missionaries, she exclaimed, “God has been after me for three years to do some type of mission work in Mexico and here you are next to  me.” She asked what we did in Mexico and as I shared about helping, at times, with Cabo Church’s Feeding Los Cabos Kids program, she said, if possible, that is what she would like to do in the three days she would be in Cabo.

Once Richard and I settled in at home in Cabo, I called our good friend Lupe Hernandez from Feeding Los Cabos Kids to see what her schedule was like for the time Tiffany would be in Los Cabos. Lupe said the upcoming Thursday morning at the kitchen at La Ballena was a perfect fit.

Richard and I went to the feeding station at La Ballena most Thursday evenings for over a year, so it was good to be there again. For those of you who have been to La Ballena with us, there have been major changes since Hurricane Odile on 9-14-14; the previous palapa roof over the feeding area has been replaced with a large steel roof, that not only covers the cement pad but extends past to the edge of the property and there is an attractive, white fence around the entire perimeter of the property. Also, instead of the up to fifty children being fed, only about half as many children are there due to the feeding time during school hours. It was still a great experience for Tiffany—just a little different.

Tiffany flew back to the Dallas, TX airport on Friday, but she is excited at what the Lord may have her doing in regards to helping mission work in the Los Cabos area. She sent a text first thing the next morning telling us she is already making plans for her next “missionary” journey to Los Cabos. We thank God for our new friend and to Tiffany for listening to the prompting of the Lord!