The Blind Shall See

Meet Rigoberto, his wife Beatriz, and their precious daughter, Beteli. They came with us from Oaxaca two years ago to complete their preparation for ministry in their home village of San Mateo del Mar. Rigoberto had suffered an accident as a young teen that left him blind in one eye. Since his arrival here, he has been losing sight in his other eye, and it had gotten to the point where he could barely see. The doctors said that it was beyond their expertise and would not attempt surgery.

Recently, an opportunity presented itself for treatment. A

group of specialists from around the world who are doing research and training at UCSD are donating time in Tijuana. They diagnosed his problem as a detached retina determined that he is a candidate for surgery. The Lord provided the funds for the highly reduced cost and he was operated on several weeks ago. Complications have left him blind. The doctors seem to have a ray of hope but are somewhat puzzled.

We believe that God is doing something but we are not sure what. Please pray fervently that God would heal Rigoberto!

On a fun note, the BI Talent Show is tonight--many of the students have been preparing their songs, skits, and dances for weeks! It should be a joyful, fun time for everyone!

Thank the Lord for New Staff

For some time now, we have been asking for help in several areas of ministry here at the institute. Be-cause of a lack of staff, and a growing ministry, Lila and I, and other valuable workers, have needed to fill the shoes of jobs that could easily be done by someone else.

In January, the Lord brought us Gloria, a former graduate, and her new husband Alberto. While he is finishing his studies, Gloria has taken on the full time responsibility of the kitchen, garden, and shop-ping. We praise the Lord

for this committed young couple.

In August, our niece, Lynda Davis, arrived. She felt God’s call to respond to the need for a daycare provider. Amid trying to adapt to a new culture and learn a new language, she has valiantly, taken on the full time responsibility of the school nursery.

Please pray for Lynda, Gloria, and Alberto, as the Lord blesses them with new experiences, challenges, and ways that he continues to mold and shape their lives and hearts as they serve Him.

*In the photo: Lynda, Gloria, and Lila fashioning their Hauve Hiupils for the Mexican Independence day on Sept 16.

A Heartbreaking Reality

The following testimony was shared with us by one of the APEN workers in the Aliados project, who worked in one of the major cities in Baja California.

Wednesday afternoon, while doing open air evangelism with the wordless book, I came upon a black car. The man inside had a hardened look on his face. Beside the car was a little girl about seven years old standing with her head down. Her face reflected fear, pain, and desperation.

I asked the man if I could talk to the girl, and with his permission I started to share the wordless book. With tears in her eyes, she listened intently.

Just as I was about to ask her if she wanted to receive Jesus as her savior, another car pulled up and a man, about thirty years old, got out and gave money to the man in the car. Another man got out, quickly came up to the little girl, took her by the hand, and began to lead her back to the car.

I didn’t know what to do. I looked into her face that was full of fear and hurt, gave her a big hug, and she hugged me back. I filled with anger but I could do nothing, and I said, “Pray now!” “Ask Jesus to help you and to come into your heart.” With that, the men took the little girl. Please pray that God will save Yahaira

Allied for a New Generation

This year the national APEN (Child Evangelism Fellowship) project was in Baja California (Lila is the director for APEN Baja California). The goal was to train as many teachers as possible to open as many Good News Clubs as possible to reach as many children as possible with the gospel.

Probably everything that you hear about the violence, drug trafficking etc. in Mexico is true. Children as young as 8 and 9 are commonly recruited as “burros” to move small quantities of narcotics. Mexico has recently passed the U.S. as the number one country in the world for producing and trafficking child pornography. Girls as young as seven are involved in prostitution in Tijuana. This is the world in which we live; a world full of children that desperately need to know that there is a God that loves them.

After years of anticipation and months of planning, promotion, and preparation, in April the project, “Allied for a New Generation” became a reality. Around 50 CEF workers from all over Mexico joined forces for two weeks. Over 350 teachers were trained, over 200 clubs were started, and thousands of children were reached with the gospel. The clubs continue to grow and children continue hear about Jesus.