So many acronyms! That’s what Mayra often says when she goes to the U.S. and hears and acronym for everything. DMV, DIY, FYI, LMK, BRB and so many more. If you want to know what the acronyms are in this post…read on! Sorry, this entry is rather long…so you’ll have to scroll down to see pictures.
Veracruz isn’t an acronym, it’s a place, and during the third week in July, six of us traveled to Veracruz, Veracruz, other was know as El Puerto (the Port), and were involved with a Christian congregation there with Pastor Sergio and his wife, Areli. It was a HOT, but rewarding trip, as we ministered in a very rural town called Sentimientos de la nación (literally translated, the Sentiments or Feelings of the Nation), at a large general hospital, and at a church planting site, as well as the main church building. During this time we distributed backpacks with school materials, dresses from Elizabethtown PA’s Dress-A-Girl ministry, and handed out donated clothing. We also did four separate reading glass donation events, taking advantage of the crowd to share the gospel with those seeking free glasses. The reading glasses were obtained by a ministry called Restoring Vision.
This year, 20 young people from two churches here went to Word of Life Bible Institute’s summer camp. The abbreviation for Word of Life in Spanish is Palabra de Vida, or PdV. They all came back exhausted, but excited, and renewed in their commitment to Christ. We praise God for the very intentional, gospel-preaching, crazy activity filled week that Word of Life Mexico provides for kids of all ages here in Mexico.
Word of Life Chapel (similar name, different group!) from Bainbridge, PA came and visited us the last full week in July, and it was quite a week, with Liebenzell USA summer intern Jackie Miller helping Mayra coordinate a three-day baking class activity, with 20 people doing a recipe from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., then another group of 20 people doing the same recipe from 3-6 p.m. At the end of the week, each participant received an official diploma validated through our office Mexican non-profit. The last day was very special, as we were able to share the gospel with the baking class participants through a short drama, as well as an object lesson given by Sherry Collins. While the women baked, the men were busy with several different projects, including some electrical work, sealing the roof with sealant, and doing other very much needed repairs to the physical structure of the building. Thank you, Word of Life Chapel, for your labor of love here! Scroll down for pictures.
Finally, to officially finish out our summer (except for some intern stragglers 😂), Mount Joy Church of God (COG) visited us, and helped the Palmas 1 church put on a VBS program. Kudos to my wife Mayra, who worked for untold hours preparing everything, and even convinced me to go buy a LOT of sand, which I was skeptical of doing, but the sandboxes turned out to be a huge hit! Our 4-day VBS started with 23 kids, but then grew to 36, 41 and 43 children as the week went on. That’s a real victory, especially since the church regularly has between 2-4 kids attending on a weekly basis! A big thanks to the COG group for their financial support of the week, and more importantly, their great attitudes and enthusiastic participation. Scroll down for pictures.
Finally, a few pictures of our largest and longest Liebenzell USA intern of the summer, Andrew Polizzi, from supporting church Hope Community.
A huge thanks to everyone that participated in our summer, 2024! We thank God for what he has done and will do through your contribution to the ministry here. We’re wrapping up our mobilization year here with a total of 57 members of short-term teams, and 4 summer interns, from Woodside Bible (in March), Mount Calvary Church (June), Word of Life Chapel (July) and Mount Joy Church of God (July-August).
Hello Rod,
It was a pleasure meeting you again at Word of Life Chapel. What a fitting tribute to our youth leaders! Well done!