OCC

A team of just four traveled to Guadalajara, the second largest city in Mexico. (Now the people of Monterrey may argue that they are the second largest, but it is my understanding that it is pretty close) This is one of the few trips where we did not have any help from the local pastors, which did make it much more difficult. We did have the name of one pastor before arriving there, but we were unable to make contact with him. Also, we were really hoping that some of our good pastor friends in Puerta Vallarta would be in Guadalajara with us, but this did not work out either. But…. God knew all of this ahead of time, and guess what??? He is STILL in control! Is HE God, or not?? The very positive aspect of this trip was that we had so much more time to pray at the 5 pressure points in the city; the government centers, the educational centers, the marketplace/finance centers, the media centers and the Spiritual centers.

Now, a very unique opportunity availed itself to us while there in Guadalajara. The first day there we joined in with a Pro Life group at a rally in the main central park area. While praying, our attention was drawn to three men in the crowd. We approached them to ask for help in locating the contact Pastor whose name we had. They directed us to an informational office in a huge building which we did not realize at the time was the principle Catholic cathedral of the city. As we entered and began to look for the information office, we realized where we were I thought, “Oh, well, I may as well ask, we are here now.” The man in that office really did try to help us, but was unable to. As I left this office, I found myself in a very large reception room where I once again noticed the same three men we had talked to at the rally. One of these men asked me if I would like an appointment with the Bishop of Guadalajara.!! I started to say “oh no, that is not why I am here,” but instead, what came out was “oh………..a…….ah……..yes, I would!! So I filled out a request form and explained to the Sister (nun) in charge why we were in their city and what we were doing. She then asked me why we wanted to see the Bishop. I told her that we wanted to pray for him. I am sure that she was thinking that most people come to see him to ask him to pray for them, not to pray for him! As we entered his office, I explained that we were not Catholics, but Evangelicals who loved the Lord Jesus Christ, and who also loved Mexico with all of our hearts. He received us very graciously and seemed very open and interested in what I had to say. He then invited us to pray for him which I did. I prayed for him personally, for the city, the state of Jalisco and for Mexico. In closing I prayed that the people of Mexico would repent of their sins and receive Jesus Christ as their personal Savior!!! We then asked him to pray for us, which he did. He thanked God for our hearts of prayer, our love for the Lord and our love for, and our commitment to, Mexico. He prayed for our health, our strength as we travel, our families and our finances. It was a warm and heartfelt prayer. Before leaving, we left several OCC brochures with him. Now I know that there may be some of you who may think that this was even wrong. You thank God every day that you are free from the bondage you were once in. I understand that, but please remember that there many others who are still in that place you once were. This is the path the Lord had for us in Guadalajara. This is the door God opened. Do we truly have a heart for the lost? All of the lost?

On Friday of that week, we traveled by bus to the city of Colima in the state of Colima, some three and a half hours away. What a beautiful city! It is much smaller than Guadalajara, very provincial, almost quaint. We had a little time there to regroup and stir ourselves up in the spirit to enable us to once again make an offensive strike against the enemy, for believe me, we did have some MAJOR obstacles to face on this trip. Missions Pastors Bonnie and Stan Shaffer, as well as intercessor Emily Pannelle were awesome as my team members!!

Once again I want to personally thank you all for your prayers for this team and also for your continued financial support. God bless you!!

Love in Christ,

Pastor Carol

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