Jesus Died for Me

Speaking about brother Juan...

Josef wrote a very touching and encouraging post about him on his blog: Missions, Evangelism and Theology. I recommend you read it. Click on the link to go to it.

Cocula with Juan

Brother Juan is a faithful evangelist who preaches in Centro. In spite of being elderly and frail (he's well into his 70's), and suffering from vision and hearing problems, he travels to different pueblos outside the city to preach the Gospel. Last Monday Josef and I accompanied him to the small town of Cocula, which is about 2 hours away from Guadalajara. It was a tremendous privilege and blessing to join this dear brother. His zeal for the Lord and the Gospel should put many of us to shame.

Just about every town in Latin America is built according to the same pattern. Each one has a main plaza (town square) in its center, next to the town's main Catholic cathedral and government building. People usually go there just to sit and hang out. It's the perfect place to preach.

Brother Juan having finished preaching with his little megaphone.

Josef open-airing.

Look Who Stopped By!

Brother Jorge from Calvary Bible Church went to a nearby city in Mexico to visit relatives, and hopped on over to Guadalajara for a visit. He stayed with us all day yesterday. Had a good time of fellowship and evangelism with him. It was a real blessing having him here.

Evangelism Escapades: Downtown Craziness Part 2

Guadalajara is celebrating its 467th anniversary this month, and as a result the city is holding many recreational activities in the Historic Downtown district, such as:

Free live concerts with well-known musical groups every night in one of the plazas.

A free ice-skating rink in another plaza...

Reactivated water fountains that had long been off, a live orchestra show in another square, and many other things. Small fast food booths have been set up in Plaza Tapatía where we normally preach; apart from that there are innumerable food vendors all over the place.

The number of street performers has doubled as a result of all this activity. The Downtown district has been filled up with huge-crowd-drawing clowns, statue men, breakdancers, Native American musicians, lasso-twirling cowgirls, mariachis, an Edward Scissorhands impersonator, and a whole lot of other unashamed whackos. I got a picture of a few statue people; the green guy below is on a toilet! His outrageous antics gained him a big crowd of people.

Evangelism Escapades: Downtown Craziness Part 1

By the grace of God I was able to go out preaching to el Centro 4 times last week, and also today, Sunday.

Tuesday secret black ops mission with Giancarlo. Juan Manuel joined us as well (second picture below, on the right). He's been recently coming to our Sunday meetings and Bible studies. In the photo directly below, you can also see Adrian (center) approaching me. He has also been coming to our meetings.

Before open air preaching the above drunk man came up to me. We had talked with him before, several times. He came in the exact same manner that he comes to us everytime we see him: intoxicated, not remembering us in the least bit, babbling incoherencies, and asking for prayer. Voy a morir, he told me once again. And once again, I answered that what he said was very true, he surely would die...one day. I tried to share the Gospel with him but he looked at me with a blank stare and seemed not to register anything I was saying. When I offered to give him a free Gospel of John, holding it out in front of him, he reacted the way a vampire would upon seeing a cross. Very frightened, he dropped his backpack and started to cautiously walk backwards, away from us. I told him to come back, and he eventually did. Upon his request, we prayed for him, but he would not let us lay hands on him. He took out a 50 Peso bill and tried to give it to me several times, for no reason whatsoever, but I refused to accept it. He left a little while later, but when I started to open-air preach he came back and stood right in front of me. By all outward appearances, he still seemed to not understand anything that was being said. He would repeatedly stand in front of me, then walk away, and then come back again to listen. After I finished preaching he approached me again, and I pleaded with him to get right with the Lord and for the second time offered to give him the Gospel of John. This time he reacted in a more horrified manner--he started to cry, begging me not to "kill" him. He even raised his fists in the air and came towards me, trying to beat me up! I gave up trying to reason with this demonized man. Shortly after that he left.

 

The above is a picture from Saturday. From left, an unconverted man who often listens to us preach, and brothers Artemio, Juan, Josef, Giancarlo and Maurilio. Artemio, Juan and Maurilio are regular evangelists in Centro.

It was a usual night for us, with many people stopping to hear the Gospel as it was being preached. Before we left an inebriated man approached Josef, and like the drunkard from the Tuesday he began to speak incoherent babble. He was unreasonable and refused to leave. In the end we left him and went home.

CNN: 6 Killed in Guadalajara Shooting

Brethren, please pray that the people of this city might be saved, and that the Church may be strong and a bold witness for Christ amidst the great darkness here.

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 (CNN) -- Gunmen opened fire Saturday in a downtown bar in the tourist district of Guadalajara, Mexico, killing six people and wounding another 37, the Jalisco state prosecutor said.

The suspects also threw a grenade into the bar after the shooting, state news agency Notimex reported. A Colombian and a Venezuelan are among the possible victims of the attack. Their nationalities were under investigation Saturday, Notimex reported.

Violence has escalated in Guadalajara, an economic and tourist hub in Mexico, which in recent weeks has seen a spate of killings and road blockades by organized criminals.

The wave of violence may be related to the dispute between drug cartels after the death of alleged cartel member Ignacio Nacho Coronel, who was killed last July in military operation. It has cast a pall on Guadalajara, picked to host the Pan American Games in October.

http://us.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/02/12/mexico.bar.shooting/index.html?hpt=T2

To Die in Christ is Gain

Brother Bob Jennings is an elder at Highway M Chapel in Sedalia, MO (http://hwymchapel.org/). He is fighting pancreatic cancer. Please pray for him.

IDOL WORSHIP

A sobering look at the mindless fanaticism of pagan, heathen cultures. Idolatry is ridiculous, isn't it?