Sunday Meeting

Saturday evening is not usually the time to update this blog, but tomorrow is going to be pretty busy - and I won't have the time to really do it justice. We have a guest speaker in church, followed by Sunday School, then I have to bake 2 desserts for an evening meal of 9 with Angela Neese (a speaker at our ladies conference), as well as making homemade clam chowder for our Monday night Bible Study but the first and most important of the day is our Sunday morning church service. Many people ask "why is it so important to attend church? Do I really need to be in church on Sunday mornings even though I am a Christian?" Hebrews 10:24-25 pretty well spells it out. "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up on meeting together, as more are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching".  I love the peaceful feeling of being in God's house, with other Christians, listening to God's Word, and praising Him with a group of other believers.

We held our 5th annual God's Worthy Women conference this last Friday which started out early this year with no women seemingly interested, as we had no pre-registrartions. By last week, I called Sally Maloney and asked her to quit praying as this list had started to grow last month and not stopped!!!! It was such a great blessing to see so many ladies present, eager to fellowship together and listen to God's message. It was a wonderful success in that many of the ladies were first time attendees, and were so inspired by the speakers and eagerly looking forward to next year. All of us CRM ladies worked really hard to make this a memorable event for the women attending. We enjoy all the preparations and planning, but look forward to putting our feet up at the end of the conference and catching our breath. Many thanks to everyone involved, from the speakers, to the planners, to the servers who kept us supplied with coffee, water, and tea. And thanks most of all to God for bringing all of these ladies together to praise Him. We believe we have instilled in these ladies the heart for missions.

ready to begin

Paula and Vicki ready to register

Karen, Sandi, and Sally ready to greet ladies

answering really tough questions -" what is your address?"

Children's Haven International booth with Director Betsy Chacon and helper Susan, , who graced the stage with a style show of beautiful clothes from their resale shop

Angela Neese, with many items from Central Asia, where she ministers

some of the many ladies who attended

praising the Lord in song

Cliff Green, portraying the apostle John, as he prepared us for the woman at the well

Myra Green, portraying the Woman at the Well in drama and song. Myra also lead a bible study on "Living Water"
check out her website at www.biblealivetheater.com

We did take a half day out to tour a sugar cane factory. I had scheduled the free tour before realizing it was the day before our conference, but all worked out well. It was extremely interesting even if we did not get to see the inside of the factory, which is a co-op. Over 45,000 acres are planted in sugar cane, which takes 6-7 months to harvest, working day and night. Because of it's proximity to the border and dense growth, these fields are good hiding places for illegals wanting to come to America. The co-op warns those people who may be in the fields when they are getting ready to burn the fields, only to make sure no one is injured and not to report them to the Border Patrol. Red signs in two languages are posted, as well as a loud speaker on a pick up, which drives around the outside of the fields, announcing the burning.   The field is burned from the outside 4 sides to the inside, so anyone caught in the middle would certainly be in danger. Please do not feed your hummingbirds with raw sugar, as it will ferment in the heat and cause - yep - intoxicated birds!!!! All of the processed sugar produced at this factory goes to Domino's. The factory itself is self-contained - it recycles everything from water using it's own water treatment plant, to using the by products for fuel to run the boilers, etc, as well as having their own generators to produce electricity, of which they sell half back to the electric company. We watched a video of the actual process of making sugar from cane, and listened to a very informative company representative. I certainly have more respect for sugar.

part of a sugar cane factory

the office area

another section of this huge complex
 

this is a very short piece if cane

The coming days are going to see some of our park residents preparing to leave for their Northern homes, some for the summer, others to not return, due to age and/or health problems. The park gets a little bit quieter and less hectic, and gives us time to take a deep breath, look at what God has done thorough us, His humble servants, and listen to where He wants us to serve next. Psalm 104 is God's GPS system for all of His creation, all we have to do is listen.

Calm before the storm

Sitting here on a cool Sunday afternoon where everything is quiet and calm. But this will not last. Our 5th annual God's Worthy Women Conference is coming up this Friday. Sally Maloney and I have worked getting this prepared since last fall. All of the pre-preparation seems to take lots of praying, time, and planning. Sally gets all of the groundwork done, from securing the date with the Echo Hotel, to contacting the speakers, and booking them. I remember a few years ago we also planned the meals and bought all the food. The chaplains prepared it and served all the ladies (they really enjoyed that part of it). As we outgrew our hall here at the park, we moved to a larger conference area and a buffet luncheon. After all of the praying, planning, advertising, praying, printing, and more prayer, we are ready!!!! We have a large number of ladies signed up, paid for, and eagerly awaiting Friday where we hope to inspire in them a love and involvement for missions. It will be a day a great fellowship, praising the Lord in song, a style show, and a lot of fun, too. We still have work to be done before Friday when we host over 100 Christian ladies.

Today at our park we had a re-statement of marriage vows, with 19 couples participating. Can you believe  the combined total of years represented was over 900 years???? What an amazing accomplishment. One of the gentleman just had a pacemaker put in this week, but he and his wife were there to repeat their vows.  Since those participating were both Protestant and Catholic, it was a shared service with Chaplain Dennis Maloney and Father Reynoud Wijtman (the Padre as we call him).  Two  appropriate scriptures were read (Genesis 1:26-28, 31a and Colossians 3:12-17) to remind us all of the sanctity of the marriage vows. It was a special and  moving time for those participating as well as for those of us who were present. After the ceremony a reception was held hosted by the Church @ Alamo Rec Veh Church Board. A simple fare of cake (delicious, made and decorated by one of our own park residents), mints, nuts, and punch. The simple punch recipe (2 liters Sprite, one container of sherbet, softened) was a big hit also.

candles for each couple as well as a red rose for the ladies

Earlier I mentioned our wonderful neighbors who planted flowers in their back yards which I can see from our back door every time I walk down the hall. God has created such a beautiful environment for us to enjoy. As our relationship with Him grows and strengthens, so does our awareness of His creation. It seems that all of nature becomes more vivid and alive. I hope that I never get tired of hearing the birds sing, or look in wonder at a new blossom, or smell the sweet smell of orange blossoms in the air.

tall sunflowers

more sunflowers

neighbor Kay and their lilies

our blooming aloe vera

aloe vera blossom

this flower is as big as a dinner plate

music - Mexican style

 

Last week we went to the Basilica of our Lady of San Juan here in San Juan, Texas (almost out our front door). The Basilica was featuring the area school Mariachi bands - one of which played at the inauguration and all were first place trophy winners.  We left for the concert a bit early and are so glad that we did so - it was so packed with people that we had to sit upstairs in the balcony, in almost some of the last seats. There was a Mass earlier, so we thought most of those people would leave, thus enabling us to have a better seat. How wrong we were! The bands were fabulous, the singers were unbelievable considering that they were still school kids. From what we understand, it is a great honor and privilege to play in one of these bands and takes an enormous amount of dedication and practice. Let us use them as an inspiration to us to delve into the Word of God in order to become expert at it.

the altar area from where we sat

a high school group

they look like they really are enjoying themselves

all of the groups singing happy birthday to Our Lady of San Juan

  Last weekend there was a kite festival at South Padre Island, Our friends Dean and Karen picked us up and we proceeded to drive over there early we (we thought) not knowing that on the way to S Padre, a small town of La  Faria was having their rodeo, a really huge affair. The roads were blocked off for the parade and we were re-routed waaaaaaaaaay around town. After finally getting back on track, we ran into hordes of people on their way to the the kite festival - the causeway to the island again was stacked up with traffic, one lane only. Finally making to the beach where the kite flying was going on, we found a spot staked our claim with our chairs. It was a remarkable sight - all shapes and sizes of kites billowing in the wind. They were tied down and just seemed to float in one spot. Every once in awhile, a few kites were flown in exhibition - precision flying in 5's or more. It was amazing to see them flown by different people, but all the same direction. The ever present sea gulls were there, tempted even closer to us by promises of crackers. They often swooped down and took it out of our fingers. One of them very discreetly left a calling card on Dean's pants!!!!

lots of kites on a windy day

parrots and ducks

alligators and octopus

this sweet little guy was walking himself - his owners were just ahead of him

coming in for another cracker

stay off my turf

 

Today we attended Great Oaks Community Church where we met Pastor Tomas Granda from Diaz Ordaz in Tamaulipas, Mexico. We are attempting to establish a partnership of sorts with him, trying to help with food and clothing much needed in that city. A few years ago the Mexican drug cartel took over the city, driving out the residents, causing a children's home to abandon it's building. Some of those children were taken to our refuge in Reynosa, others went home when it was deemed safe to do so. A rain, hail, and wind storm last year destroyed part of their church, which they are now trying to rebuild. Pastor Granda  answered a question about the safety of that area - it is not yet a safe place to travel, although it is getting better. We had planned on traveling to the village via the pull ferry across the Rio Grande, but he advised against it at this time. Some of the people are returning to their homes, trying to rebuild their lives. Please pray for all of the people being threatened by the cartel groups - let those gang members try to realize the shortcoming of their life style and listen to the Word of God, returning them to His fold.  ".....He will not turn His face from you if you return to Him"  2 Chronicles 30:9 This was a message sent to Israel by King Hezekiah, urging them give up their evil ways and  return to the Lord. If God can forgive Israel, He certainly can forgive all of us.






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Some Things Never Change

As I began to resume my morning walks, I noticed the gorgeous moon, half hidden by the clouds. I was startled by the thought that the night before I observed the same exact moon, also half hidden by the clouds. I was almost mesmerized by the thought that this could be the night before, rather than morning. I was reminded of Hebrews 13:8, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever". Jesus is as constant as the moon, sun, and stars in the sky. He is always there, as is the moon in the daytime - we cannot see it but are certain that it and He are there.

I love our neighbors here in South Texas. Our next door and back door neighbors have planted flowers in the back "yard" - they cannot enjoy them every day, but every time I walk past our back door, I see the beauty of them. I watched them grow from tiny flowers poking through the soil into the beautiful flowers and foliage that they are now. The more my relationship with the Lord grows, the more my observation of His creation grows. Is just just me, or are the flowers more beautiful, the bird's songs more melodious, the sky more blue, the world just more perfect??


back door beauty

 I think I had mentioned that our Helping Hands group here at the park donated quilts to the Great Oaks Food and Clothing Ministry - a fairly new ministry that we were a part of helping to establish. Last Sunday, which was the normal food distribution day, also involved in the handing out of quilts. The smiles and hugs of those who received quilts were just amazing. They were surprised and totally appreciative of the new quilts - which were distributed just in time as the evenings turned colder.  "Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality" Romans 12:13

 

 

 

sign on the door announcing the ministry
 

 

At first I was dismayed at the seemingly small amount of food available for distribution, but then remembered that God only brought enough people for the amount of food available. My heart was filled with awe as more people showed up at the end of the distribution time asking if they, too, could have some food. There was plenty for all. "Taking the five loaves and two fish and looking up to the heaven, He gave thanks and broke the loaves....they all ate and were satisfied". Mark 6:41 and following. 



 lemons, oranges, and onions donated by a nearby park.

 

 bread and pastries donated by a local store

 

learning to share, a small boy helps to distribute rice



a volunteer helping to fill the bags of someone in need

Becky Rodriguez, of Great Oaks Community Church, presenting a handicapped lady with a new, warm quilt

a very happy mother and son along with Fred

these ladies were surprised that the quilts were for them and hugged all of us

doesn't she look happy and proud

 

 

 



We made another trip to Reynosa this past week, taking a tour group from a local RV Park. Some of the people had been to RIN before, but some had not. It was a very pleasant trip across the border, not much traffic, and lots of questions from the "Newbies". After arriving and taking a quick break with coffee and cookies, they were treated to a video explaining Children's Haven International and it's beginnings and mission. We visited the Casa under renovation, the newly completed Casa, as well as one of the older Casas awaiting renovation. Of course, we visited the elementary school, being welcomed with Hello and Hola!!! The second graders proudly showed us their latest project, each one waiting for our praise. After the tour, we gathered in the auditorium for luncheon, which again was excellent - chicken mole, rice, and some sort of beverage. I think it tasted somewhat like coconut and was very good. Fred abstained when he heard the word coconut!!!!

 

 part of the tour group enjoying homemade cookies and fresh coffee

 

 the grade schools kiddos being released from school - they went to their Casas, changed clothes, and joined us for luncheon.

 Kayla, our youngest at RIN, not too sure about me taking her picture. I tried 3 times before I caught her looking at me.

some homemade quilts - they will be distributed  to wherever they are needed at RIN

                                         new homes being built near RIN - look at the beautiful colors!

 

 

As you work through this coming week, please keep Great Oaks Community Church in your prayers as they look for direction from God - some land to purchase for a new church (as well as the funds for a down payment), or a building in their financial reach, or expansion in some area. Right now they are in a holding pattern, waiting for God to tell them which way to go. Their congregation has grown and area for the food and clothing ministry is becoming very limited. They desperately need more space!!!

 

God walk with each and every one of you this week - may He bring favor and surprises on all of you in His name.