Update from Lopez family visit

I just received an e-mail from my friend, Martha Lopez. Her family just returned from Lily and Santa Rosa. I know you will be blessed by her letter as I was:

Hola everyone!
We want to thank everyone for their prayers and support during our trip to Chihuahua. As always, God is glorified and praised for the great and mighty things He has done and is doing. Thank the Lord that much was accomplished but there is still so much work to be done. We miss the people and the children terribly but we know that God has an amazing plan for Lily, Santa Rosa and for us.

Praise the Lord everything was crossed successfully through the Mexican border - no problems. Yes, the Lord does blind the eyes of those custom officials! Everything from school supplies, shoes, clothing, lotions, vitamins, 10 comforters for the little girl's dorm, commerical kitchen items, a wheelchair and etc., etc., arrived safely at its destination with much thanks and joy. Thank you so much to God's children who gave - we wish that you could see for yourself the smiles you bring to each child from Lily to the sierra. We were also able to stock up Lily's food pantry and buy food for the sierra from the generous donations from Town East Baptist and others who gave cash donations. Thank you hermanos! All school supplies were purchased here in Dallas and were received by a kinder teacher in Santa Rosa - she was overjoyed and thankful and said now the children will have adequate school supplies for the year. What a blessing!

The Lord is doing amazing things at Lily. The Spirit truly does move in that place and we were so humbled to be part of it through morning prayer and devotionals. I believe this is what we miss the most - we have committed ourselves to seeking more of HIM as our brothers and sisters do at Lily and the example that Mama and Papa are to us is worth all the struggles we go through (which is minimal compared to what they go through on a daily basis).

We were able to take 8 girls (Belem, Fabiola, Luz, Chela, Juanita, Vickie, Rubi & Marcela) to Santa Rosa. The girls helped w/ the Bible studies and crafts for the children, and they helped in the kitchen - the Lord once again provided food for over 100 people! We did home visits and took food to the needy families of the church (this food was provided by Lily as the kids gave $1800 pesos = to $180 US. which was collected in one morning by the children and the staff! ) They also gave 3 bags full of clothes and toys, something Papa Lalo calls Ofrenda Loca (Crazy Offering). This is another example Lily gives us - their spirit of giving. We know why the Lord blesses them so much.

There is spiritual warfare going on at Lily - God is doing mighty things there and Satan is on the prowl - please keep God's servants (Ed and Rosa Salo and their staff) in your prayers as they fight daily Satanic attacks and as they minister to hurting and abondened children. Please pray for missionary Raul Jimenez, 66 year old servant of God who perseveres in taking the gospel to the sierras of Chihuahua. There is a small church in Santa Rosa meeting on a weekly basis and they have a need of their own building which is being built slowly as lack of funds keep the building from being finished. Raul lives in Chihuahua and travels 3 hours once a week to go preach and meet w/ the church - not just in Santa Rosa but in surrounding communities. Pray for his safety and strength and that God will raise a leader, someone to pastor this infant and growing church in the sierra.

As always there are so, so many stories to tell and share but I find myself at loss for words and you probably don't want to sit here and read a long e-mail as you are already. I'll be bold and say this though, that we as Christians here in the US need to remember our Brothers and Sisters in Christ in other countries who truly know what it's like to struggle, what it's like to go without and who truly know what persecution is. I saw a video last week on prayer and something caught my attention - the speaker said - don't pray for the hungry if you have food to share. We are so abundantly blessed in this wonderful country, the church in the US is blessed abundantly but may we feel uncomfortable when we have food to share and we don't, when we have extra money to buy fast food or other needless things(fast food is bad for you anyways :) but we can't give extra to missions. Someone asked me why we go to Chihuahua - I found the answer to the question these past 2 weeks - because there are faithful Christians in Mexico and around the world praying that we go, that we give, praying that we would care. When we go, God is answering their prayers, when we give to expand His kingdom and to feed his little children - not just physically but more importantly spiritually - God is answering their prayers. "Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act." Proverbs 3:27 Thanks once again to our "hermanos" who do give and do care - may the Lord continue to bless you.

Next trip to Chihuahua prayerfully will be December 12 -19. "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21

En el Servicio del Señor,
Familia Lopez