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February Edition
Let heaven fill your thoughts. Do not think only about things down here on earth. For you died when Christ died, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your real
life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all His glory.- Colossians 3:2-4 NLT
Dear Friends,
January has come and gone, and it’s still hard to grasp what all we’ve seen in the past month. We were able to ship out even MORE Christmas shoeboxes than we thought, sending them to several missions in the Sierra Tarahumara – so the final tally on gifts ended up at 2000! The Lord truly cares for the poor! The Tarahumara people have been hit really hard by last year’s drought. They lost their bean and corn crops, so whole clans are without any winter provisions. Crossing Borders Ministries was able to send extra beans and rice to three different areas (along with the shoeboxes) and we’re making plans to send more down with the Mexico pastors when they return to the Sierra in the Spring. It’s so humbling to see how many ways the Lord uses this ministry to keep many people alive.
The drought is affecting the poor everywhere. The director of a feeding station told us she’s having trouble finding beans at any of the stores in Juarez. When she can find them, they cost 30 pesos a kilo – that’s about $1.50 a pound! She said it’s because the Mexico growers lost most of their bean crops to drought – the same as in the Sierra. She cries every time she picks up beans and rice from us. She’s so grateful for everyone who makes this ministry possible. Although they don’t cost as much in the US, beans are at an all time high for us, too – about $ .72 a pound! The bean fund at FBCC has had insufficient funds the last few months, and we’ve had to supplement the purchases out of CBM funds here to maintain the same quantities. The need is so great, we’ll keep shipping beans and rice thorough the pastors for as long as the Lord allows.
The second week of January, Pastor Norberto suffered a heart attack and died on his way to the hospital. His widow, Conchita, is trying to continue their work among the elderly and the widowed. Please keep her in prayer. They are among the first 12 pastors we worked with when we started in 2001, and his passing has hit all of us as a shock. In the third week, we received a phone call from another pastor in a different circumstance. He was packing up his family to flee Mexico and wanted to know if we could help them. He’s had several other members of his extended family murdered in the past year, and that day they had killed someone else. We actually thought they should flee months ago – so of course we told him yes, come on. He still has other family hidden away in Mexico, so please keep this situation in prayer.
Just yesterday, a pastor shared that the area they minister in outside of Zaragoza is extremely dangerous right now. All the police force for their area has been murdered and it’s a lawless nightmare there. They ask for prayers of protection for themselves and the hundreds of children they minister to. These are such confusing times, when we hear first-hand accounts like this and then see news reports that say, “Everything’s fine in Juarez. Bars and restaurants are open again, and people are outside at night. Come visit us!”
We thank all of you who keep us covered in prayer, who help buy beans, rice, and whatever else is needed, and all who call us ‘friends’! We appreciate and love you more than you can comprehend!
Serving Him together,
Elfi Register and Joan Wilson
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