Several days after the Mount Calvary team of 16 returned to PA, 12 of us from the church here left in Adrian and Veronica’s 15 passenger van (with the back seat taken out for storage); our first night at Gaspar and Estela Chable’s ranch, about a six hour drive. Adrian and Veronica weren’t even planning to go…but when I saw the amount of clothing and all the bags and boxes that were donated, I knew we needed a bigger vehicle. As it turns out, this was providential, because our van would have never made it there and back…it just had a total transmission failure today. But the real reason I invited Adrian and Veronica is that I knew that they had tons of experience, having ministered with an organization called Pescadores de hombres/fishers of men here for many years. (Click the link above to donate to Gaspar and Estela via Liebenzell USA)
How we managed to fit everything in the van was a tribute to Adrian’s packing abilities. We arrived at Gaspar’s El Tunillo ranch south of Oaxaca city on Monday afternoon, safe and sound. Over the next two days we visited two villages about another 2-3 hours from the ranch, going farther south, into the sierra sur, the Amantlan area. Our mission…be one of the first Christian groups to do outreach in a Loqueche, a village without a gospel witness, literally without a single Christian living there.
How do you begin to reach out to a place like that? About a month earlier, a group of doctors and dentists did a medical campaign at this very village. Now it was our turn, to take clothing, hearing aids, reading glasses, cross puzzles, school supplies and above all else, chickens🐔. Huh? Why chickens? Well, first of all, chickens are an excellent source of protein, providing eggs and, eventually, meat. This is an agricultural area…everyone raises some sort of animal. Each family received six chickens. Each chicken cost 30 pesos, or about $1.50 U.S. I saw one elderly lady carrying her cardboard box with her chickens in it, and you would have thought she won the lottery…a smile from ear to ear.
A big shout-out also to the Renita and the faithful ladies at Dress-a-Girl, Elizabethtown, PA (including my lovely mother), for dresses that were handed out to needy girls.
In about a week, Gaspar, the missionary in the area Antonio and wife Reyna will be returning to this village to vaccinate the chickens. They will be following up on the list of addresses that they already have, going into people’s homes, getting to know them. Do you see where this is going? Below…some pictures and a short video, in Spanish, that Adrian and Veronica created. By the way, we’d like to do 4-6 trips like this every year, mobilizing the churches here to not only talk about missions, but to actually do it. I’ll be letting you know soon how you can give to this short-term mission ministry, to put gas in the van, pay the tolls, and pay the meals. The churches can do the rest. In summary, a trip like this costs about $2000 U.S. (not counting the money for the chickens, we gave out 400 of them), and trips like these are transformational, for those on the going and the receiving end. Pray the the gospel would go forth with power in this rural community.
