We want to ask you to please continue fervently praying. We believe that God is going to have the victory in this situation and bring many people to salvation through it.  But we haven’t won the battle yet – we still need to be faithful in prayer, and cry out for God to set Mario free and do everything else He wants to do.

• Praise God that we have word of Mario – He has been forced to sell narcotics in our city through a network and has already been seen by several people at a number of obvious points…  This is actually good news, since many of the youth who are kidnapped are either killed or exported to work in other areas, and are never heard from again.
• Praise God for the strength that Mario’s mother, family, and wife have shown in the face of this trial…  They are choosing to trust God daily and even finding words of comfort to say to us.  Pray that in the city which they have fled to they would find a church congregation and continue to seek His presence.
• Praise God for this trial (James ch 1) and for the way we can see His hand in it, working at any cost to refine and mold Mario.
• Please pray that if it’s God’s will we would have wisdom to be able to get some sort of communication to Mario… This would be extremely dangerous, but we do feel we need to somehow let him know that his family has fled from the city and are safe.
• Pray that Mario would somehow be able to have access to a Bible and read it.  This would be a miracle, and we are asking for a miracle.
• Please pray for God to provide safe places for us to meet with the other youth, and for Him to raise up native people who have the courage to take the risk of working with them.
• Please pray for the family of “Alejandro” and his brother “Cha-cha,” two other young men who were kidnapped from our neighborhood just days after Mario…  As of this moment we have received no word of them.
• Please pray for Mario’s protection at the selling points… Since he is forced to do business out in the open it is extremely dangerous, as it makes him an obvious target for the bullets of the opposing cartel’s gunmen…  This is probably the main reason why the drug cartels often force third parties to sell for them.
• Please pray for us to be able to pick up the pieces of our youth ministry after all that has happened.  As we wrote to you in our last newsletter, they are dazed and confused.  … And so are we.

Mario’s Precious Family

Mario’s little brother Ismael, his daughter America, and his son Chuy

With that said we also wanted to tell you that probably the most heartbreaking thing which happened yesterday was that in a moment of weakness our friend, Mario (“Clawfoot,” see last newsletter), actually agreed to start working for these drug terrorists.

So… please pray.  We do believe that Mario is still at a point where he can get out of this, but it will require tremendous, supernatural, will power on his part… And these next 72 hours will be critical.

Thanks so much for praying.

We will try to get more details out to you soon…

Love,   Larry and Kim

• For the Tierra Blanca area – That it would not be dominated by the drug lords.  That people would not live in fear.
• For Jani’s family.  For those of you who read our newsletter about Jani, we should report to you that she did eventually die of cancer this September. We do praise God however, because the cancer was detained long enough in order for some deep emotional wounds in her family to be healed.  Please pray specifically for Jani’s sons and daughters who have had a hard life and lost their brother only about a month after their mother’s death.
• For Ivan’s family, as Ivan’s uncle was killed recently in a violent run-in with the drug cartels.  Please pray for the safety his family, as they are still being threatened.
• For Patrick Guy’s family.  Patrick was a long-time friend who also died of cancer just a few days ago.  Please pray for Pat’s wife, Esther, that she would somehow find strength to go on and that more than anything she would be ushered into all that we know God still has for her
• For Kim’s grandfather, “Buddy” Hamblin who is struggling with congestive heart failure and other health issues, and for Kim’s grandmother Doris.
• Again, for our time – that in the midst of all our responsibilities we would be able to find the kind of time and energy it takes to really be able to minister to the kind of youth we feel lead to reach out to, and that we would also have time for one another.
• For Mario, who is still searching, and for so many others like him…

We just wanted to send out a quick prayer request for our friend, Ivan. He has been struggling for some time with serious addictions to several kinds of drugs.

Though it has been hard, Ivan has been working to gain victory over his drug habits, and we’re happy to report that he’s stayed totally clean during these last few weeks.

The only problem now is that we’re worried about his immediate safety due to the fact that he’s trying to drop his contacts with the particular drug-trafficking group he used to give business to.  Ivan was not a seller, he was only a client, but even so it’s hard to get out.  We are especially concerned because a friend of his was shot and killed a few weeks ago, less than a block from Ivan’s house, apparently because he’d been trying to buy from two different trafficking groups.

As for Ivan, he has told us that recently some of the group members from his neighborhood have made threatening comments to him and seem to be going out of their way to drive by his house.  So, Ivan and his family need God’s protection. We know beyond a doubt that God is able to protect him, but we do ask you to pray that Ivan would have the wisdom and the will power to handle his circumstances,  and even more importantly that they would drive him to continually seek God.

Please also pray that the church (the Expo Vineyard) would continue to minister boldly in the neighborhood, sharing God’s love, shining God’s light, breaking the power of the darkness, and continuing to transform the spiritual atmosphere there…

1. For the restored lives and relationships that we have seen recently in our ministry.
2. That our 7-yr.-old friend Jared was healed from a serious health problem due to the wisdom and skill God granted his doctors.
3. For the unity, purity, and growth that we have seen in many Christian churches in the Laguna.
4. For the recent increase in financial support and for generous donations, which are allowing us to finish up on the house construction and anticipate increasing our time spent in ministry.

Prayer Requests:

1. For the new President Elect Obama, that he would have wisdom and guidance from the Holy Spirit, that God would touch his heart and that Obama would come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.  That the Christians of the nation would unite in praying for him.  That they would be as faithful and united in prayer for the nation as they were prior to the election.
2. For the economic crisis that is taking place in the U.S. and worldwide, that God’s purposes would be accomplished through it.
3. For the Federal Police, local police, and army soldiers here in the Laguna, who have been called to work here against continuing threats to public safety, and who risk their lives on a daily basis to keep civilians safe.  That they might know Him, experience His favor, and seek to be holy in all they do.
4. For protection for the Mexican civilians, particularly in the neighborhood of the Tierra Blanca church.  That the gang members there would NOT be coaxed, or threatened, into joining forces with the drug cartel movements.  That every last gang member as well as all of the cartel members would hear about God’s relentless and saving love for them. That they would have real opportunities to choose Him.
5. For Ana, our friend who has been ministering to a growing group of young policemen, and who recently received a threat intended to scare her out of doing so.  For protection, stamina, and wisdom on how to proceed.

The story has to do with a faithful woman from the Vineyard in Tierra Blanca called Lourdes. The problem was that her teenage son, Alfredo, was involved in small-time drug dealing there in the church neighborhood, as are many of the other gang members who hang out in Tierra Blanca. Now you remember that “los Zetas” is a military group associated with the Gulf coast drug mafia here. They want to dominate drug sales and have been working hard since they arrived to control the market in all the local neighborhoods. Their goal is to make sure that nobody sells drugs unless they agree to be affiliated with their particular ring. One day a truck full of the “Zetas” stopped Alfredo and informed him that he would now have to deal drugs in the Tierra Blanca area as part of their network or else they were going to kill him. Not having much choice in the matter, Alfredo consented to do ‘business’ under their direction and to meet them the following day at 9:00 p.m. When he told his mother, Lourdes, who actually lives two doors down from the church and is an increasingly faithful attender, she actually had a nervous breakdown and was taken to the emergency room for a few hours prior to her son’s departure for his ‘appointment’ that evening with the Zeta.

But Lourdes did not stay down for long. Even though her son had gone off to work with a militant terrorist group that evening with no hope or promise of return, she sought refuge in God and was the first person seated for the Wednesday night service the next day. There, we were able to pray with her and give her words of hope and encouragement, and during the ministry time we could see that God worked powerfully in her. He reminded her of a promise He had spoken to her recently, responding to years of heartfelt prayer on her part, that her family would come to Christ, but that they would first have to pass through a valley, and she took hope and comfort in knowing that her crisis situation was probably something God had allowed to happen as part of His divine plan to change her family. We (Larry and Kim) actually offered to spend the night with her that night, and she accepted, since it was her second night without Alfredo and her other son was away on an out-of-town visit. That night we were able to talk with her over dinner, and also with some other members of her family. Then we lied down to sleep, but not before seeing Lourdes sit down to read her Bible for a few minutes by her bedside.

The next morning, we offered to pray for Lourdes again before she went to work, since she was extremely tired, but did not feel she had the luxury of missing another day at the factory where she faithfully labors to support her family. So we sat her down on the bed and began to pray for her to receive strength for her first day back even after the tragedy of the day before. We could see that God was working powerfully once again in her during that prayer time, and so we wound up praying for about half an hour, but the most incredible thing of all was that the very instant she opened her eyes after the prayer we heard someone come through the door and suddenly there was Alfredo, standing right in front of her!

As for Larry and I, we could not believe how immediately God had answered our prayers, and we just stood there in utter shock, sort of feeling like we were imposing as we watched the two of them caught up in an embrace. Lourdes was crying like a baby, since it had been 36 hours since she had last seen her son and she’d had no idea when she was ever going to see him again. After a few minutes of hugging, Alfredo began to explain to his mom that he was going to be coming home days and only working for the Zetas at night. He tried to assure Lourdes that nothing would happen to her or to him as long as he complied with his responsabilities. At this point Larry and I entered back on to the scene, trying to encourage Alfredo to seek God and not to lose hope but to pray that God would provide him with a way out of this dangerous and seemingly hopeless situation. Alfredo said virtually nothing to us the whole time long, because of course he feels like there is no way out for him now and in fact it would technically be risking his life for him to even talk about betraying the Zetas with anybody. But he did consent for us to pray for him in accordance with his mother’s wishes, and when we did so saw the tears begin to flow from his eyes – for just a moment, that is, before he hardened himself once again.

…So our story, though touching, will have to end for now in a prayer request and be continued at some time in the future, whenever God moves powerfully once more, because for now Alfredo is staying home days and working very long nights with the Zetas. He has no human hope of ever getting out of this mafia alive, and probably can’t think about anything other than surviving and keeping his wife and son and the rest of his family from being hurt. But WE know God is big, and that He is bigger than our ‘earthly’ hopes. We know that He answers prayer – He has answered Kim’s prayers (that she would be able to pray for one of the Zetas) and the church’s prayers (for protection over Alfredo and that Lourdes would see him alive and well) and has promised that this whole situation is a part of his answer to Lourdes’s prayers for her family to come to Christ. So we ask YOU to pray with us – for Lourdes, for Alfredo, for his wife (Karla) and two year old son (Carlos). Pray also for the church, which is getting the attention of the neighborhood now that things are happening which truly drive people to seek God. May God move powerfully, may His Kingdom advance against the enemy, and may He be glorified as He deserves!

Here are a few photos:

On the days following this incident with Alfredo, the Vineyard in Tierra Blanca did a series of “peace marches” through the neighborhood to give hope to the community and to encourage them to seek God. As part of that they put up small posters with Bible verses throughout the neighborhood. Here Lourdes (on the right) and Lela are putting up one of the posters.

Each evening after the “peace march” they gathered at Lourdes’ house to worship and pray.

Click on the photos to see them larger at flickr!