Trip into the north jungle of Chiapas (10/20/08)

This update has lots of photos…..

About 10 hours after I preached my last sermon at the missions conference, Sarita and I parted ways for 4 days as I headed out with three other missionaries to go to a little indigenous community about 5 ½ hours away up in the mountains of the north jungle of Chiapas. We went to build a small house for a man that has now become a native missionary...He has a burden to go back to his community to share the gospel and disciples those that are already Christians.

I have included a whole bunch of pics because I wanted you to travel with me as your support has helped me in participating in this endeavour.

Thank you for your prayers in this as well as I know that many of you were praying for this trip to go as planned and that the Lord would be magnified in all that happened…and He was!


We left early Monday morning and about an hour into our trip we ran across a community that was making every car pay 20 pesos to pass by...this is a common occurrence in Mexico...they wanted to "build more speed bumps" with the money...who knows...we paid and went on...




this is the mountain range that we ended up in...way off in the distance...

we had good roads for about 4 hours and not so good roads after that...

Here we are unloading the gear...the guy in the blue shirt is the man that we built the house for, his name is Johel...(it is for him and his wife and new born son)

ok, remember this generator that was unloaded by three people...

so we had to take all the gear and supplies about 300 yards into the jungle...but these guys from his community were ready and willing...

the whole path was muddy and here we had to cross a small rock bridge over a small creek...I almost went in TWICE!!!...to the laughter of all the guys...

remember that generator...well this guy decided that he would just take it himself...this is not unusual as the people down here use these head straps to carry their firewood and anything that is heavy...you will see other photos with more people carrying things in this way...

here I was just watching the guy take off with the generator and just wondering if he was going to make it...he did with no problems...

told you it was muddy...I am taking this photo straight down...somewhere down there is my boot that sank in the mud!!!!

laying the first boards...this is Reise, another missionary from a neighboring town (San Cristobal)...he and his family have been here in south Mexico for like 20 years or something...

first wall to go up...

had to work into the night as we were on a time line...

good meal of eggs and tortillas the first night...man were we hungry...notice the absence of utensils...that is just the way it is...but they got Coca Cola....

we worked through the rain for most of two days but this downpour was just too much....we just all camped out for about 30 minutes...in the second photo below, another missionary named Nathan (Reise's brotehr was underneath an umbrella trying to work)...

me and a new friend....

some onlookers...they were frequent as Johel's house is right off of a path that leads to the only bridge for miles...it is across a very large river...notice the way they are caring their things...yep, on their heads...

you can see the top of the suspension bridge on the left of the photo...those two white posts...

Nathan again...working away....

starting to put on the first side of siding...check out the onlookers...

here we are, Reise and Nathan and myself after working all day and some of the night...told you it was muddy...

setting up the hammocks for a goods night sleep...first time for me to sleep like the natives....

ok, so are you with me...me in my hammock and you in yours...now image....a bunch of Zzzzzz's and than all of a sudden you are on the floor...man what a rude awakening...of course I couldn't share it with the other guys as they were fast asleep...

here are the first trusses going up....not a carpenter so I am not sure if that is how you spell those things are not...the other guy with Nathan is another missionary...his name is Nicky...

ok, so this is the story...me and the guy in the blue shirt worked most of the days together...he is a deaf mute and could only point and utter sounds...it worked really well with me to work with him because pointing and motioning with my hands is almost as good as my Spanish :)

so he had this good idea to start taking out some of the mud from the center of the house...all well and good except that is exactly were we were going to be working for the next 4 or 5 hours...but i explained it to him and all was well...by the way, he and his brother are both deaf mute but they are so well loved by the community...it was a blast to see them all joking with each other and being so patient with these two guys...i love this guy named Pascua (translates Passover)... I don't know how it will work, but I have a desire to teach this guy and his wife sign language so that they can communicate better...please pray for that end...

here are the two of us on the bridge that is the only path to the other side for miles...

here we are not yet finished but we knew it would be dark before long....notice the guy walking by carrying that huge log with his head gear.....

can't see it very well, but we all have our tools that we were working with up in the air showing them off....

can you say lunch time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! can't see it well, but most of the women were barefoot...man that has got to hurt....

another path to the house we were building...

working on the roof....

my little friend...he couldn't speak Spanish nor English and I couldn't speak Chole, this communities native tongue, so we just had a blast trying to get along and figure out what each other wanted...ended up playing games alot... (this was one of the deaf mute's sons)...

the veiw from Johel's front porch early one morning....that is the river down there....

finshed with the roof...ladders were not going to really work....that is Nathan by the way...not me....

finished product....well everything that we set out to do...they are going to put in the doors and windows....all that you see here is about $3,000...this house will probably last him about 7 -10 years if he will seal it like it is supposed to be....

so here are the two mute brothers...they are both married and have kids...those guys are the greatest...

so this is how it works...when you first get married, you build a little wood house and then when you get more money you build a concrete block house and use the old wooden house as the kitchen....that is what is below...this was the house that Johel's parents lived in for many years until they saved up and built a concrete one...but, many of the community still live in these wooden houses....

and last but not least...after working the first day and night (actually every night) i was looking forward to a shower...well i got one but it was out of this large drum with a small bucket and it was really cold!!! i was praising the lord for the littlest things on this trip...like hot water!

and what was my little lady doing besides missing me while I was gone....taking care of my little man....

love you all....hope you enjoyed our trip together....

thanks for all,

lance, sarita and joshua

How you can help

Hello my friends,

I wanted to update you all on the progress of the new orphan facility and at the same time let you know about an idea that some of us came up with.

Some of the photos below show us putting in the concrete floor for the orphanage. We hauled in some dirt, spread it and pounded it down, hauled in some gravel and then poured the concrete. To date, the entire floor is poured in the phase one structure (except for the area above the cistern which is not yet complete).

We desire to tile the entire floor of the kitchen/eating area but we don’t quite have enough money to do so.

So here was our idea.

We are going to be laying down one square meter sections of tile. Each section, including all materials and labor, will cost about $25 a square meter. And we need about 130 of these one square meter sections. To date, we have about 5 different families that are going to “sponsor” (pay for) a section of the tile and for doing so, we are going to engrave or etch their names into the corner of the tile section so that each “sponsor” will forever be a part of the work here on the orphanage.

If you desire to be a part of the orphanage for as long as the structure stands, then please contact me and let me know if you desire to sponsor a section of tile…and if you want you can sponsor more than just one section of tile.

By the way, I am well aware of the financial situation in the United States and because of that we have been thinking about various ways that we can still raise support for the orphans down here without trying to be a burden. In the days ahead we are going to be launching our “Adopt an Abandoned Child” program, as well as, developing a website or blog site that will show various ways to help down here in south Mexico. Be on the lookout please!!!!!

Then there are some photos that show the progress of the cistern to date. This will hold the water supply for the orphanage. There are no water lines out to the site, so we will have to have a truck come and pump water into the cistern on a regular basis.

The next two photos show the countertop that we poured between the dining area and the kitchen. This is where the children will receive their food on trays and then when they are done, they will pass the trays back so that the dishes can be washed.

The last pic shows one of the doors that we just put on (three in total). We were able to get these doors for almost half price so please praise the Lord with us for His everlasting faithfulness.

Blessings to all,

Lance, Sarita and little 5 month old Joshua


leveling the dirt we brought in...






pounding it down to form solid base...

first test of the concrete...

almost done with the pouring...

done at last...

here is the work on the cistern....

this is the counter top that will allow the children to receive their food and return their trays in an orderly fashion...gotta have that order or it will be chaos...

these are what the three doors look like....

all for now

Missions Conference Oct. 19 - 20, 2008

Hello everyone,

I hope and pray that al is well with everyone.

I wanted to take a moment and update you all on one of ministry opportunities that Sarita and I have had this past week.


Missions Conference....

This past weekend we travelled to the capital city of Tuxtla Gutierrez here in the state of Chiapas were we live so that I could preach at a missions conference on Saturday night and two times on Sunday. It was a small church but all 70 chairs were filled. Many of you were praying for this conference and that God would use me as a vessel of His to encourage the Christians here in Mexico to be involved in world missions. The Lord has answered your prayers. Thank you for praying for me. I told Sarita on Saturday night, as we drove the two hours to the church, that I could feel the prayers that were being offered for me. It was so encouraging!

One note about Sunday night.

All three of my sermons/lessons were prepared to be about 50 minutes long but on Sunday night, about 10 minutes before we began, I was asked to only speak about 30 minutes because another speaker had come and was going to preach as well. Under normal circumstances, this would not have been so hard but in Spanish it is very difficult for me to just go through my sermon and cut out 20 minutes worth because I translate most of my sermons before hand since I am not that fluent yet in Spanish and I rely heavily on my translated notes.

Soooo, I just prayed for the Lords help and He gave it to me in a grand fashion. At about the 20 minute mark I knew that I did not have time for the rest of my points in order so I closed my notes and stepped in front of the pulpit and just started preaching and teaching the best that I could. And the Lord showed Himself strong on my behalf. Sarita said it sounded like a native speaker up there. Now that is amazing because it normally doesn´t. Blessed by the name of our dear Lord and Saviour who answers the cries of His people.

The orphans from Teopisca singing about Jesus being the light of the world!




Local children singing about missions as well



Being introduced Friday night by the pastor of the church



Sunday morning...notice the green pine needles on the floor around the pulpit...they use them on special occasions down here in Mexico.



This sign says... ¨missions, the heartbeat of the church - pass over and help us¨...the focal text was from Acts 16:6-10 where Paul had the Macedonian vision to go to Macedonia and help them...



my pastor C preaching on Sunday night..







Me preaching my final message on Sunday night....






that´s all for now....

Lose 3 but gain 4 more!

Right now we have 10 children living here at the orphanage. Within the last few weeks, three children have left the “House Home” as it is called here in Mexico but these three have been replaced by four new children.

It has been very interesting to watch the Lord at work lately. My pastor C, and the one who cares for the children on a daily basis, told me several months ago that he probably was not going to take in very many more children at this time because they have no help with the kids, leaving he and his wife to care for these children by themselves.

Of course, Sarita and I care for the kids from Monday morning until Wednesday afternoon every week while pastor C and his family travel to another city where he preaches in the prison. But on a regular basis, they are caring for these kids by themselves which has been very difficult these last few months especially.

I have been working on a plan to get them a little help in the form of a daily worker who would do laundry, wash dishes, cook meals and care for the kids and hopefully that plan will be realized beginning on the 14th of October. I think I have found a way to help two families in need with one solution. One family that I have been working with both spiritually and physically, Juan’s family, has a 17 year old daughter who is in need of work. I spoke with Gabby and her mother Maria, and Gabby tells me that she would love to come to work at the orphanage. The going rate for such a worker her in south Mexico is $1 an hour. Nope, that is not a misprint; that is the going rate here in south Mexico. It will cost about $150 a month to implement this much needed plan but I am confident that the Lord will provide as He always has.

The three children that left (Manuel, Maki and Estela) went back to help care for their mother (the boy’s mother and Estela’s aunt). Without knowing how to say it better, she is dying and needs help with daily chores like going to the store and cooking. We don’t know how long these three will be needed in their new roles but we just pray that the Lord will use them mightily in this woman’s life. She abandoned all three of them about three years ago(Estela was being cared for by this woman as well), but they were willing to go and help her in her time of need. Estela is 11, Manuel is 9 and Maki is 7. These three children have learned much about the bible, and Estela and Manuel have made professions of faith since they have been at the orphanage, so please pray that they will show the compassion and mercy to this woman that she needs.

The pics below show Estela and the brothers…Manuel is to your left and Maki to your right.







As for the new four.

Cristian, who is five, arrived here the end of September.

Paty, who is eight, and her brother Orlando, who is six, arrived here the middle of August.

Stefen, who is 8, arrived just five days ago.



The first 10 photos below are close-ups of the current orphans.


Cristian


Paty


Orlando


Stefen



Alehandro


Sarita


Beto


Ricardo


Nichita

Lucio

Cristian being introduced at the orphanage during our worship service on Sunday.

The only three girls we currently have…Paty, Nichita and Sarita

Some of the kids playing outside…Paty and some of the boys (boys in the dirt playing with toy trucks of course)

The 10 orphans this past Sunday (Oct. 12) … they were going to a wedding later that day so that were all dressed up.

The 10 orphans with the three of us joining in...(the tallest kids in the back are two of pastor C´s kids)

Sarita teaching English classes…and having a great time…

Hey, who rang the dinner bell?????

Best time of the day…NAP TIME...there are 10 little ones there but some are crashed out under the blankets…

Please pray for all of us...

That is all for now!!!!!!