Cottonwood Church Short Term Team

What is about a guy and demolition. It’s cross-cultural, give a guy a sledge and lookout, walls will come down, even it you wanted them to stay up. Fortunately this year many walls went up and only what needed to come down, came down. With the help of short term teams we have seen the exponential acceleration of the vision like never before. We have had the Joy of hosting teams from Virginia, California, Oklahoma, Canada. Each group brings something unique to Chiapas. We have had the great privilege of working side by side with folks who have literally sacrifice their vacation to come to HOT Chiapas for a week and sweat.

Journey Fellowship

They have hung sheet rock, built a playground, planted trees, moved dirt. I have heard some say, why wouldn’t you just have churches send funds and you hire locals to do the work. My response is that God has a purpose for both those who come to serve and those who are being served. I guess if it was just about the money maybe they would have a point. But it’s not about the money It’s about people and you can’t quantify that. The kingdom of God is about relationships, the investment in people, which is the only true eternal investment. Thank You short term teams, for investing in people. One day you will reap a harvest, keep on sowing.

A Sweet Family Reunion

Tears filled his eyes as he listen to his little brother tell him about Jesus. We were sitting in the child welfare office where we had been invited to come for the first time to visit Jeremias’s brothers and sister.  Jeremias is one of 5 siblings that have been placed in different orphanages all over Chiapas. He had been separated from them for the past few years and had no idea where they were or how they were doing. His oldest brother Eliseo had been placed in various different homes but had escaped from all of them. The other three little ones were placed in a Christian orphanage in Tuxtla where they seem to be happy and flourishing in their love of the Lord. I remember hearing Jeremias saying over and over on our way home, how happy he was that his little brothers and sisters were born again. We are planning on inviting them all to come and spend a day on the ranch where they can have fun playing together in the great out doors.

Our Little Trooper

For those of you who have been following the story of Rebecca, you will be happy to hear that she has made it through this first phase of what looks to be a very long process.  She was placed in a half -body cast  for the last few months while she was healing from her first hip surgery. Rebecca was born without a femur and her good hip was out of place. With the help of the Shriners Hospital in Mexico City and a bunch of wonderful partners in Mexico the US and Canada, who have helped carry the load physically and financially.  With your help we have been able to help her take a few steps toward having a normal life. Thank You. They have told us that the only solution for her missing femur is amputation. We are praying and ask you also to pray for the Lord to intervene with a divine solution.

I remember being so frustrated. I knew Bill and I had a mission call on our lives and yet here we were working five days a week at a series of jobs we didn’t really enjoy. I was also positive that the Lord had sent me back to school to finish up my commercial art degree. We felt so impatient to get started as missionaries and at times the longing to be in full time ministry was painful.   I worked for a franchise corporation as a training coordinator, managed retail stores and later ran my own business in a mall in Detroit, Michigan. I traveled around the country helping people set up their own franchise business in major malls and although I loved the creative side of putting the stores in order, I knew I had been called to missions. Bill was going through similar frustrations with the jobs he had as well. Little did we know that Bill and I were both being trained by the Lord for our future calling.

Harvest Cafe Arriaga,Chiapas Mexico

A few years ago one of the ladies in my women’s group asked for counsel about starting a coffee shop with the eventual goal of doing outreach here in Arriaga. I had been teaching my children for a number of years how to paint and so we went into high gear painting and decorating. All my past ‘training “ came into play as we designed and decorated a beautiful little coffee shop called , The Harvest Café. This led to other women and men asking for help either in starting new business or helping exsiting ones.

The Sower Christian Bookstore

All in all over the last few years we have helped four women get started in business here in Arriaga. Our children have been involved painting, cleaning and doing artwork. They are also learning how to develop business plans and how to serve in excellence. We now have “The Blessing” pizza restaurant, The Harvest Café, The Sower Christian Bookstore and a Mexican restaurant called Sarapes. I never dreamed that all that “wasted time” in secular jobs was a part of my training to be a missionary.

As many of you know we are having a transportation problem. As our
family has grown we have become experts in packing children into our
trusty but worn out van. We have been praying for two new 15 passenger
vans for a while now and we are still standing in faith that they are
on the way!

However, the Lord has surprised us once again. A fellow missionary
called to say that a church in his area was selling an old school bus
at a very reasonable price. We felt the peace of the Lord to buy it
and although it is a little big for getting around town, it will be
great for trips to the ranch and transporting our church and orphanage
family.

You should have heard the noise when Bill drove it up to the house for
the first time! Between shouting and giggling and an overall sound of
excitement, the kids and staff couldn’t contain their joy. Thank you

New ranch property and it’s abundant water supply

What an exciting year this has started out to be, we have seen so many of our dreams fulfilled in just the last few months. The bunk ouse is ready for teams, the rabbit production facility is finished. It’s well on it’s way to becoming a source of income for the work. The block factory is finished and will be a huge blessing in cutting construction costs for the rest of the village . We finally have electricity installed and it is ready to be connected. I just want to jump for joy, and hug all our faithful partners for their part in making all of this happen, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Well that’s not all. Many of you know that have that Tammy and I have been praying over the last few years about the purchase of the adjacent property. The issue is water. This property has an abundance of water which is vital for any ranch. We have waited and trusted in the Lord’s timing and direction. Just a few weeks ago the owner called us and asked if we were interested in purchasing 86 acres of this beautiful property. I was so excited I was beside myself as I walked on the property that day. I saw not just one stream but two, both of them lined with the most beautiful large trees and lush vegetation. The potential for this part of the ranch is incredible. We would be able to raise more cattle which has become a great source of income for the work. We would also be able to put in the Tilapia fish ponds without the need of an added well. There would also be a place to swim and a place to develop a church camp for youth and adult activities. The possibilities are endless.

Please prayerfully consider partnering with us on the acquisition of this new piece of property.

Baby Abigail just minutes after her arrival

Well we did it again, we just couldn’t resist, the temptation was right in front of us and well let’s just say our addiction kicked in, you guessed it we accepted another child. Abigail is only 6 months old, she was rescued from a drug addicted mother who was living on the streets near the railroad tracks, with a group of alcoholics. Tonight at about 8pm the officials showed up at our door with a special delivery…and we all melted. So we now have 3 baby girls.  As you all no children aren’t a money making proposition. So we will need all the prayers we can get as well as partners. Love to all. Isn’t  it glorious to be a part of changing the life of a child?

Over the years we have had the privilege  of hosting numerous short term missions teams and what a blessing they have been. They have help us accelerate the work in Chiapas in ways we could have never done on our own. Partnering with churches from the US and Canada has also brought a wonderful dynamic to the life of our local fellowship, creating friendships that continue till today.  

We know there are folks that would like to be part of a short term team yet they aren’t sure how to go about doing it. One way is to have your Pastor or Youth Pastor contact us for more info. Another way is sign up for one of the teams we are assembling for future projects. The way it works is we publish various dates for specific work and ministry then we open it up for all those interested. Once we have a team large enough for the task then we finalize all the details, (travel dates, costs, accommodations etc). It might be a construction project on the children’s ranch, a paint project at the orphanage, a farm project, etc. The wonderful thing about this kind of team is your coming together from different parts of the world, meeting folks you would have never known and watching what God does with those relationships.

We are currently setting up a team to sheet rock the inside of the bunk house. Essentially it will be putting up a drop ceiling using sheet rock. We are in need of a project manager to head up the team as well as experienced sheet rockers and tapers. If you are interested in being a part of a one week work team, we would love to have you. The team  will be staying onsite at the children’s ranch. Our hopes are to host the team sometime in January or early Feb.

If you are interested please email us at info@lostandfound-mexico.com or hidinhim@gmail.com