So we’ve been ministering in Mogollon for two weeks now and there’s less than a week left. While we were told by Miguel, our local contact, that Mogollon was probably one of the spiritually darkest places in the area, we have been so blessed with reaping the harvest of what other teams and what Pastor Manuel’s family have already sown. We’ve prayed healing and seen it happen with one person so far, have witnessed ppl being saved, and see a light growing in this poor, farming village on the foothills of a beautiful mountain landscape. Please pray for continued pruning of the harvest… that the community of believers will be able to strengthen one another and go forth with the light.
I figured it’d be appropriate to do a Meet the Ministry Team type thing so you can put faces to names and get a feel of the ppl we work with.
Pastor Manuel – what a man of God. The quote “When you’re going through hell, keep going” comes to mind when I think of him.. he suffered the loss of his wife over a year ago, and then right before this new year, lost his son Joshua to illness suddenly. He has a daughter Raquel, and three sons, Moses, Joshua, and Nehemiah. Joshua was about to go to Chile as a missionary, which adds salt to the wound. Despite his losses, he has been blessed with and has raised a beautiful and strong family. I was blown away that Pastor Manuel still made the choice to have our team come and help continue the work he’s doing in Mogollon. He just keeps truckin, literally.. driving around in his pickup truck, calling out to the ppl of Mogollon to join him at church, visiting and praying with ppl house by house, and going back and forth tirelessly b/w Mogollon and San Juan, despite the terrible road conditions. Manuel is a small man by stature, but he has a voice and a faith strong enough to beckon heaven itself.. He loves to sing and to hear us sing.. he also enjoys putting us on the spot during services and having us sing, present a message, share testimony, whatever it takes.. I’m so glad we could meet Manuel and serve with him and for him. Praise God – Manuel is actually getting married (much to our shock) at the end of the month! He deserves all the happiness and it would truly be a fantastic end to our time with him if we could attend the wedding before departing for Haiti.
Moses – Pastor Manuel’s oldest son. Moses is a year younger than me but so mature, you’d think he was 30. From what I’ve learned, he studied language in college so he’s not bad at English but doesn’t get a chance to practice much, since he works at a drugstore. He’s a leader at his church in San Juan, as well as a devoted son. We had a chance to spend time with Moses when his dad was out of town and he filled in. He’s got patience, wisdom and a ton of strength to serve shortly after his brother’s death. He’s thoughtful and encouraging, even just along the lines of “I like your Spanish” (when in fact, it is so rusty) and telling me to continue taking pictures, even stopping the car so I could take one of the mountains, and taking my camera to make sure I’m included. Like Moses in the Bible, I believe Moses will continue to do great and mighty things.
Nehemiah – Pastor Manuel’s youngest son. I was shocked to find out that he’s only 21! There must be something in the water, cuz many ppl are younger than they seem. This guy has the gift of prophecy… when we went around doing healing prayer in the neighborhood, he looked right into the eyes of a young Marine and said “you’ve been astray before” and the guy nodded. Nehemiah is totally his father’s son, and he hopes to follow in Joshua’s footsteps as a missionary. Nehemiah’s got a gentle spirit and a shy smile, but a firm handshake. He’s interested in going deep with us, no matter the language barrier (his English is not as good as Moses’). I can’t say I’ve met another 21 year old quite like him..
Felix – a friend of Joshua’s who has been our saving grace and helping hand many times.. Felix’s devotion to Pastor Manuel’s family is so amazing. He has helped us nearly every day, purely voluntary. He waits promptly and patiently outside our house in the morning, greeting us with “God be with you.” Felix is 26 and a budding musician, carrying around a mix CD of Jeremy Camp and other songs; he’s passionate when he talks about music like reggae, hip hop, comtemporary Christian, etc.. He’ll be going to school next month in Santo Domingo, to study music. We’ve seen him sing praises in English and Spanish, strum a guitar, and break out into dance.. his joy reverberates. Getting to know Felix as a friend has been one of the highlights for each of us, and I can’t wait to see what God does with him.
Richard – our official translator. Richard is 28 and is also a Christian, but he attends his own church on Sundays.. he has been with us from day one, and has done a fine job interpreting sermons and helping out when we do door-to-door evangelism. To be honest, connecting with Richard has been tougher.. He tends to be quieter and harder to read.. He doesn’t share too much about his passions or hobbies, and during our afternoon siestas, he usually reads or takes notes with the Spanish-English dictionary. He works at a high school and also helps out with other interpreting jobs, but most of his time for this month is committed to the Mogollon ministry with us. He sometimes seems like he’s not fully present.. perhaps to him this is more of a job than of heart..? Hopefully, the slight cultural and language misunderstandings we’ve had with him won’t leave a bad taste… we still appreciate having him around and hopefully we´ve blessed him in some way.
Elvis – the young flirt, just look at his name! Haha. Elvis is 24 and a friend of Richard’s, who zips around on his motorbike. He drops by to visit us at the church on weekends and also sometimes on weekdays when he’s done working at the mega grocery store in San Juan. I actually find Elvis pretty entertaining. He has a unique laugh and finds many things funny. Sometimes he teases us or just asks curious questions, but he’s pretty harmless and does help us too. He lives in the next town over from Mogollon, called Lavapie, attending a church there. He’s going back to school in February studying modern language.. I love that he yelled out “My house is YOUR house” when we dropped him off, his eyes kinda penetrate, and he always says “BYE!!” with a big wave and a laugh before zipping away. His English isn’t terrible but it isn’t great, which is what makes him kinda endearing when we communicate.