The big event this year was the Mexico trip. Our car washes raised $1,000 to cover expenses, and the teens worked and took donations to pay the
rest of their way. We departed from the Columbus airport on September 11, 2006. It was an eerie feeling flying on such a memorable day in our nation's history.
The only eventful story about flying to Texas was when Jonathan was taken into custody by airport security for the knife he had in his carry-on baggage!
We would have left him there, but they didn't want him either. When we arrived in Brownsville, Texas, the temperature was a cool 90 degrees and cell phone coverage
was limited (ask Emily & Liberty). We were met by Dr. Gomez, his daughters, Imelda and Abi, and his son, Humberto. The other van that was arranged to
transport us around Mexico was broken down, so for the next two weeks, we crammed 14 of us and 8 missionaries into two vehicles meant for 18. You do the math....
We visited Iglesia Bautista Caridad (Charity Baptist Church) in a fishing village along the southeast coast of the Gulf of Mexico. This church
was built in the early 1990's by donations from the families of our church. What's interesting about this is that it was the parents of these
teens who built the church, and for the first time, these teens got to see it and be a part of the church service! The teens sang at the evening service
and youth director Brian Hargis preached the message, "Christ's Greatest Attribute", which is love (charity) and had a good response.
We visited the City of the Thunder God, one of Mexico's seven pyramid cities, in the mountains of central Mexico. The Indians we visited
are descendants of the Aztecs. It was a nine hour drive south into the mountains of Mexico. The roads were deplorable compared to what we are use to, and
the closer we got to the village, the worse they became. Most of us specifically remember how bad the roads were because it's even worse when you've
jammed 16 into a 12 passenger van without AC in 90-degree heat! Not to mention a van that badly needs brakes. But who's complaining? This is Mexico!
When we got to the church there was a warm welcome. The girls stayed in the house beside the church (and had a scorpion visitor in the bathroom), and
the boys stayed down the road in the former pastor's house. The pastor had died two months prior from injuries sustained from being kidnapped and beaten.
This was the third time he was kidnapped and beaten by the Catholics in the area, who are very much opposed to Bible-believing Christians. The pastor
left behind his wife and four children.
The new pastor is Bro. Celestino; he is doing a fine job of keeping things together. There were over 200 Indians in attendance to the services.
People were out the door looking inside! The teens sang several times, and Bro. Hargis preached "The Importance of Faithfulness" as well as other messages. We
visited several other churches while in the mountains, one of which was 1/2 mile down a jungle trail. The pastor of that church had been tied to a tree
outside the church and severely beaten by Catholics. He lived to go on for Christ, as did the church and its witness for God. Numerous people have been saved in
that area as a result.
We visited a village just off the main route where three families have come to Christ. One of the families has donated land to build a church
building. The area would be ideal for a new work, because of the easy access into the village. Of the three families, two teenage boys have been missing
for 6 months. Kidnapping is suspected. The mother of the boys has cancer, but did not have the money to be treated by a doctor, so Dr. Gomez gave her
$500.00 of his own money to be treated by chemotherapy.
Going to pass out tracts in the Matamoros city dump was a highlight of the Mexico trip. Although that may sound strange, God used this opportunity to
show us how blessed we are, and how unfortunate some people are. People live in the dump, and every day they pick through the garbage to find food
to eat and clothes to wear. One of the girls saw a woman eat fruit that she found in the trash. Another lady was shucking corn that a grocery store
threw away. She was separating the bad parts, and saving the good parts for an evening meal. You'd think that the kids that were begging would ask you
for pesos or dollars, but they didn't; they begged for food and water. We gave them doughnuts and water, and to them, that was more precious than gold.
Most importantly, we gave them the hope of the Gospel. Many churches have tried to reach the people, but there is still a lack of the Gospel
light. The lady shucking corn told us that she was happy to see us; she said it had been many months since any Gringos had paid them a visit, and
was wondering if the church forgot about them.
Back at Liberty Baptist Church in Matamoros, our teens and the Mexican teens played several games together, and our teens canvassed the
neighborhood and passed out 700 Spanish tracts.
Other events this year included a youth rally at Fellowship Baptist Church in Columbus, the obligatory pie-in-the-face induction of the new ProTeens
recruits (LeeAnna, Brian S., Jared, Paul, Joel, Owen and Stephen. In November, the teens visited nine residences, a skate park, and a soccer field,
handing out flyers to invite people to our Teen Revival. This was the first time we ever had a Teen Revival night. It was a flurry
of events that included singing, skits, praise relay, preaching, and fellowship around the chocolate fountain. Special thanks to Evangelist Rick Drummond,
who preached the message, "Why Young People Go Bad" from 2 Peter 2:4-8 and Genesis 13:10-12.
The All-Night Lock-In at the end of the year was held at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Dayton, and
we'd like to thank them for letting us use the building. Teens and workers were there from Charity, Miltonville Baptist, Freedom Baptist, and Bible Baptist as well.
