February Trip - Part 3

On Thursday, February 7, Steve left Texas and traveled 4 hours southwest to the city of Saltillo, Coahuila. He spent the night at the home of Saltillo Pastor Dolores Hernandez and his wife, Sylvia.  On Friday, he and Pastor Dolores headed south about 8 hours to Leon, Guanajuato, where they picked up Bro. Tim Keep and Brennan Muir at the airport. Then they stopped to eat some delicious tacos al pastor.

Later they drove to Cuchicuato, Guanajuato and ate a wonderful meal at the home of Pastor Cuco (in the center of the picture below, with his wife, Rosa, on the left and Pastor Dolores, Steve and Bro. Tim on the right).

One of the interesting foods they ate was pickled pig skin.

Here is some freshly fried pork skin.

Pastor Dolores, Bro. Tim, Brennan and Pastor Cuco.

 

 

The room where Bro. Tim and Brennan stayed.

 

The home where all the guys stayed on Friday-Sunday nights.

 

 

Special thanks to Brennan Muir for these pictures!

February Trip - Part 2

These are the Facebook posts from the past few days:

February 13 - A (somewhat edited) note from Steve in San Gabriel:

I finally have some time to catch up on what is happening down here in Mexico. Brennan and I are at an internet cafe to try to contact our wives.

Yesterday we were ready to leave but heard an awful sound coming from the right front brakes so we decided to check them before we started on the six hour ride through the mountains. When we got the tire off, we saw that the brakes were totally gone so we had to replace them before we left. One of Daniel Silva's older sons, one of the twins, is a mechanic so we called him and he came and did the job. We were planning to leave at about 9:00 but didn't get left until about 11:30.

We finally got here about 5:15 and they were waiting for us. We had a service scheduled in Santa Maria at 5:00. We got there about 45 minutes late but that was no problem. We had a good service and really needed to leave immediately after the service because we had another at Mangales on our way home. However, that was not to be. One of the ladies in the church had prepared a special meal for "los Hermanos de los estados" and we went to her house to eat a meal. What a meal it was! We had a Cactus salad which was a bunch of different vegetables cut up and combined with cactus. That part was very good. Of course we had the normal black beans and tortillas too. The surprise was when they brought out the bowls with the main entree... "Lizard Roll!!" For real, the main food was mole de iguana. It was a first for all of the gringos and only the third time that Bro. Dolores had eaten iguana lizard. As long as you didn't eat the skin, it really wasn't too bad. But if you got a bite of the skin, it was impossible to chew it. It just got bigger and bigger. I did fine until I bit into what I realized later was the eyeball and then I suddenly lost my appetite for lizard. HA! We also had tole con maiz which was served as a hot drink and had chunks of masa floating in it. It wasn't really bad but it wasn't good either.

We actually had the tole at Mangales. That was the first time I have been to Mangales and there was a good group of people and we had a good service. Obviously, there are many people praying for me because the Lord is helping me to go way beyound myself and my abilities in translating for Tim. Dolores and Brennan help but basically I translate all day long every day and by the time night arrives I am worn out both physically and mentally. Today we ate breakfast at Hermana Eufemia's and then at one o'clock we have a service at 201 where I am to preach, then at 5:00 this evening we will be at the central church in San Gabriel for a service then we will finish up the day with a service at 7:00 at Las Palmas, followed by another supper at the house of one of the families in the town there. Tomorrow, we leave early and go to Bugambilias and leave from there to head back to Oaxaca City. If you post something on Facebook, ask everyone to keep praying that the Lord will continue to help. We have spent time each day talking with the pastors about how things are going in the church and about their plans for the future as far as evangelism and outreach is going. Those conversations tax my abilities big time.

Another thing I forgot to tell you is that we bought some grasshoppers at the market in Oaxaca and Brennan is officially a missionary. HA! We passed on the fried grubs though. The lady did try to sell me some grub salt. She told me that it really enhanced the taste of watermelon and other fruits. I told her that I preferred my fruit UN-enhanced. HA! HA!

We're all fine but somewhat tired. Keep praying for us.

February 15 - Steve, Bro. Keep, Pastor Dolores and Brennan had a good day in Oaxaca City. Some of them visited the Zapotec ruins of Monte Alban. This evening they enjoyed a wonderful meal with Oaxaca Pastor Bernardo Rivera Lopez and the Silva family. Tomorrow morning, Bro. Tim and Brennan catch a flight back to Cincinnati and Steve and Dolores will drive the 16 hours back to Saltillo. We appreciate your prayers as they travel.

February 16 – Bro. Tim and Brennan are safely back in Cincinnati with their families. Bro. Dolores is safely in Saltillo. Lord willing, Steve will be home shortly. Thank you for your faithful prayers.

February Trip - Part 1

For those of you who haven't seen the updates on Facebook, I am pasting the information here. We appreciate your prayers.

Thursday, February 7 - Steve just left on a 10-day trip through Mexico. Lord willing, he will be covering hundreds of miles visiting Bible Methodist Churches from the northern border of Mexico all the way to southern Oaxaca. Tim Keep and Brennan Muir will be joining him tomorrow. Please keep them in your prayers. In the next hour or so is when he will be going through customs. We'd appreciate prayers that everything at those 2 revisions sites will go well.

Steve made it safely to Saltillo this evening. When he called he was enjoying beans, tortillas, chorizo, salsa, etc. at the home of Pastor Dolores and Sylvia. (Muchas gracias, hnos.)! He had absolutely no problems going through customs. Thank you for your prayers.

Friday, February 8 - Today Steve and Pastor Dolores plan to leave Saltillo, Coahuila and drive about 8 hours south to Leon, Guanajuato to pick up Tim Keep and Brennan Muir who are flying in for a week of ministry in central and southern Mexico. This weekend they will visit the churches and missions in Cuchicuato and Pedregales.

Steve, Dolores, Bro. Tim Keep, and Brennan have arrived in the little town of Cuchicuato. They've eaten tacos al pastor (pork that is cooked on a spit), eggs, ham, milanesa (thin meat that is deep fried), tortillas, pork rinds and pickled pig skin (Steve said it looked like gummy worms). The adventure has begun! :o) They are staying at a home near the church. Tomorrow, Lord willing, they will visit a mission started by the Cuchicuato church in the morning and have a service at another mission in the evening. We appreciate your prayers so much!

Saturday, February 9 - Steve just called from Guanajuato. They have had a great day. This morning they visited a mission station in Tamaula, where the people of the Cuchicuato church have an outreach ministry. Tonight they were at another outreach location. About 40 people were in attendance and Steve translated for Bro. Keep to bring greetings. Brennan gave his testimony in Spanish and then Steve preached the message. God helped in a wonderful way and 6 people came forward for prayer. God is working through your prayers and we are so thankful! Tomorrow they will have services in Pedregales and Cuchicuato.

Monday, February 11 - Today, Steve, Bro. Keep, Brennan and Dolores will travel about 8 hours south to Oaxaca City. They had a blessed and full day yesterday. Thank you for praying.

Tuesday, February 12 - Steve, Bro. Keep, Brennan and Dolores are on their way from Oaxaca City to San Gabriel de Mixtepec, Oaxaca. It is a 120 mile, 5-6 hour trip over very rough and curvy, mountainous roads. For the next 3 days we won't have cell phone contact, so I may not be able to update on their activities unless they can send communication from an internet cafe. Pastor Elias López Ramos has a full schedule of services scheduled in the surrounding villages. Thank you for praying.

Just received a message from Pastor Elias López Ramos, that the men arrived in San Gabriel at 6 p.m. They drove on to Santa Maria for a service after which they were served supper. Then they drove to Mangales and had another service and are just now arriving back in San Gabriel. I've copied and pasted the message below for those who may be interested:

Llegaron casi a las 6 de la tarde e inmediatamente nos fuimos al culto a Santa María, Dios nos ayudó, tubimos un culto muy bendecido, los hermanos nos dieron de cenar mole de iguana y nopalitos muy ricos. De regreso a san Gabriel, tubimos culto en los mangales, acabamo de llegar a descanzar

If your family, church, missionary society, youth group or Sunday School class is looking for a project here are some ideas of things we need in Mexico.

Mission Project Ideas

Bible Methodist Missions – Mexico

 

You may collect and ship these items to us at:

Steve Stetler
2112 W University Drive
PMB 253
Edinburg TX 78539

or send the funds to:

Monte Stetler
P O Box 18128
Elsmere KY 41018

and designate for which project you would like the donations to go.                          

                                                            

 Child Evangelism

Supplies (scissors, crayons, glue, pencils, pencil sharpeners, markers, water paints and brushes, construction paper, stickers, craft projects, etc.)

VBS and Sunday School Supplies

Flannelgraph (Betty Lukens sets run from $80-$400)

White Boards and Markers

Coloring Books

Packages of balloons

Prizes (small incentives for attendance and good behavior, etc.)

 

Church Growth

Amplifiers and Microphones

Spanish Songbooks

Spanish Bibles

Spanish Tracts

Spanish Sunday School Curriculum

Tents (for open-air services)

Vans (for transportation to services)

Folding Tables (for Sunday School classes)

Funds for Building New Churches and Additions or Improvements on Existing Structures

 

Pastors’ Families

Medical Fund

 

Travel Fund

Towels (Bath and Dish), Sheets, Blankets

Tools (that can be used to get extra jobs to support their families)

 

Institute

Folding Tables (for classrooms)

Technology Fund (to upgrade computer hardware and software)

Study Helps (Spanish Dictionaries, Study Bibles, Commentaries)

Book Fund (to supply textbooks for classes)

School Supplies (Notebooks, Folders, Pens, Pencils, Pencil Sharpeners, Erasers, Highliters)

In Memory of Pastor Desiderio Lopez - Part 3

Friends and family of Pastor Desi gather around his bed in the home of his daughter. Oaxaca Pastor Bernardo is on the right.

Desi's wife and son caring for him.

Church members and community friends keep vigil outside the home almost 24 hours per day.

Paying their last respects.

Saltillo Pastor Dolores participating in the funeral. The sign says, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."

In Memory of Pastor Desiderio Lopez - Part #2

Just as we were beginning a service in Selma, Alabama on Sunday, August 19, we received a call from Pastor Bernardo of our Oaxaca City church, informing us that Pastor Desi had suffered a stroke and was in a coma. He never regained consciousness and on Monday, after being told by doctors that there was nothing more that could be done, his family took him back to San Gabriel to be surrounded by family and friends in his final hours.

On Tuesday morning Steve began the long trek from Alabama to San Gabriel. This included a drive from Pell City to Birmingham, flights from Birmingham to Atlanta to Mexico City to Oaxaca City, a bus trip from Oaxaca City to San Gabriel and a moto-taxi to the home where Pastor Desi was being cared for. Torrential rains from a hurricane had caused mud and rock slides along the rustic road to San Gabriel, leaving only a narrow path for the bus to get through.

Family and friends gather around Pastor Desi. His son, Elias, is on the left and Saltillo Pastor Dolores and Sylvia are on the right.

Conference President Refugio led in several services over the hours and days that people were gathered in the home.

Pastor Desi in his final hours.

What a privilege it was for Steve to be with our people during this difficult time. Below is the email he was able to send me from an internet cafe:


Hey babe. I´m here in San Gabriel. Desi is still alive but still in a coma. Everyone is so thankful that I came and have been so kind. There is a constant stream of people coming and going as they pay their last respects. The doctor says that he will go any time but that evidently he is waiting for something. It seems as though he can hear and understand some things. He raised his arm to brush away a fly that was on his face but his eyes never open and there is no real response other than that. Cuco and Bernardo (and family) are here now but no other board members yet.

I made it safely here but the roads are worse than ever. There were 12-15 bad landslides and dozens more smaller ones. It took 7 1/2 hours to get here because of the roads. In some places half of the road is simply gone because of all the water. In other places we had to stop and move big rocks out of the road that had fallen down the mountainside. It was sorta spooky because while we were removing the rocks that had just fallen, you could hear other smaller ones falling right then. Every stream and river was boiling and it continues to rain. Hopefully it will stop soon. We passed two places where they were having demonstration marches but the road was not actually blocked.

Just as you enter San Gabriel you pass a soccer field on the left with covered bleachers. Now the whole roof system is just a twisted mass of steel and tin roofing thanks to the hurricaine. There is other minor damage to many houses and many have been damaged by the landslides. I have not seen the church yet to see the damage there.

There are a number of teens waiting to use this computer so I will get off for now. I might try later to communicate with you for a while but if not, I´ll talk with you tomorrow night from Oaxaca. I am going to work on compiling a file of pictures that I have taken of Desi and download it onto a flashdrive so they can show it at the funeral for the church people to use. I love you so much and will see you soon. I´ll talk to you later.

Steve

In Memory of Pastor Desiderio Lopez - Part #1

Our hearts are saddened with the passing of Pastor Desiderio Lopez. He gave of himself that others might know the joys of a life lived for God. Our prayers are with his family and church people. We miss him so much!

Pastor Desi gave his life to God in his 20s. He immediately began outreach ministries in the mountainous jungles of southern Oaxaca. He tirelessly walked through the dense growth, fording streams and making trails where there were none, to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ and make disciples of those who lived in darkness.

He founded the Iglesia Biblica Metodista in San Gabriel de Mixtepec, Oaxaca and it continues to this day as the largest Bible Methodist Church in Mexico. It is a growing, thriving congregation focused on outreach and church planting.

Our Institute President's wife, Isela Luna de Balderas, compiled these photos of a rally led by the Bible Methodists in San Gabriel. Pastor Desi has impacted this community for over 50 years and we are sure that his selfless, tireless efforts based in humility and fueled by passion will continue to touch lives into the future.

Pastor Desi and his wife, Eufemia; faithful in church planting and discipleship.

Pastor Desi, Steve Stetler and Conference President, Refugio Sanchez in Oaxaca in March 2012.