Blog 44 06 Sep 2016

First Day of Classes!     23 Aug 2016

Primer Dia de Clases!

First Day of School, Take 1
23 Aug 2016

First Day of School, Take 2:
6 Sept 20

We are off to a great start and are anticipating a tremendous school year.  We have two seniors and two juniors in the High School (all young men), and a brother and sister in the elementary.  The Kindergarten consists of three K5 and one K4 student.  Samy will be the first to turn 5 later this month.

You may notice which students were still enjoying summer while the rest of us were hiotting the books.  Our new students this year are Mauricio in the K4 and Joel in the high school.  Mauricio and his family live on the property of the church.  Joel is Jon and Jenny's nephew from El Salvador.  He will be finishing his last credits of High School and taking a few classes in our Bible Institute before heading to Hyles-Anderson College in January.  

You might be attending school in Mexico if 1/2 your class is named Gonzalez. 

The Great Commission!

The first Friday of the summer break our ladies' group was involved in a car accident.  Praise the Lord no one was injured! The ladies witnessed to those who were waiting at a nearby bus-stop and saw two people saved.

Mrs. Carrie Suhl (now Kaighen) was driving us in her van; the driver of the other car ran a stop sign.  Neither vehicle was traveling very fast, thus no injuries.  Her van sustained minor damage to the bumper and the license plate holder was broken; the back door of the other car was demolished.  

The aftermath

Mrs. Carrie and the Insurance Man

The many soulwinning programs of our church ministry continued throughout the summer, with slightly smaller numbers in attendance due to people being out of town or spending time with their children.  I appreciate your continued prayers and interest even though I did not give as many updates over the summer months.

Compare & Contrast

Accident Scene in US:   / Accident Scene South of the Border:

Two policemen arrive in    One officer is dropped off, the other
patrol car.                            continues his patrol. 
                                            This paticular officer was finishing his ice cream.

Each driver presents his     Drivers may or may not be licensed or 
license and insurance.         insured.           This is only
                                            really an issue if you are an American driver.

Depending on state law,     Both drivers must wait for the insurance
both drivers report the        agents to arrive and photograph the
incident to their                  scene.
respective insurances.
Usually by phone

The police determine          The police make a report and issue 
who is at fault, and make    tickets at their discretion; which may or
an official report.                may not be based on what actually
                                                                  occurred.

The ins. companies pay      Each ins. agent makes his own 
according to the official      report and determination, which may or
report.                                 may not agree with the officer's, each
                                            other's, or the facts.

In this particular case, the officer found the other driver at fault for running a stop sign, but only ticketed him for lack of license and insurance.  Mrs. Carrie's agent found her at fault because her van struck the car past the mid-way point; he told the un-insured, un-licensed driver that they would be replacing his door.  At that point, the other driver "suddenly" developed neck and back pain. The agent, officer, Mrs. Carrie, and Mrs. Jessica immediately started laughing, so he didn't pursue that angle for long.

The Local Church:

As I mentioned regarding soulwinning, everything in the church continued as normal; our crowds were down when people were vacationing or visiting family and up on our big days or special promotions.  We celebrated Father's Day on June 12th, so we could celebrate our church anniversary on June 19th. We had dinner on the grounds, which is sure to draw a big crowd in any Baptist church.

In Sunday-School that morning, the lesson was on Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch.  The plan of salvation and baptism was presented clearly for the many visitors in attendance. 

(Too many for one visitor's class -- everyone went with the person who invited them).  

The teacher asked each of us to  tell when we were saved.  I struggled through mine in Spanish -- I am sure my grammar was horrible, but the others understood me. Most of the others answered, "En eso iglesia," or "Con Pastor Tommy." ("In this church," or "With Pastor Tommy.") 

The lady next to me, though, said, "Con dos Americanas en mi casa." ("With two American women at my house.") Praise the Lord for soulwinners!!

One Sunday night that Jon's Dad preached, ten young people surrendered their lives to full-time Christian service. PTL!

Summer Hilites:

Don't miss pics from my August blog! (#43) Here is our last day of summer at the Flagpole.
The city of Monterrey is behind me with saddleback Mountain as the backdrop.  
This really is a beautiful country!