Saltillo Notes

It is truly amazing, the things that have happened on this trip thus far. I wish I could convey the feelings I have. I’m so tired – beyond belief, really. I’m frustrated, addlepated, and ready to go to bed. This is one of the hardest things I have ever done. Yet, I love it. God has worked in mighty ways with the kids with this group. He has taken words I have said and used them to speak to the kids and adults. He has used the sit down with Jesus material to open kids’ eyes, break their hearts, heal their hearts, and speak to them.

I apologize to the future me who will have to try to remember all this vague stuff.

I arrived around dinner time on Thursday, 6/23, and went to the Gateway. I moved into my room – the same one that Carla, the girls, and I had used – and hung around talking with anyone who had time. At the end of dinner, I was told that Giovanni was there – the setup coordinator. I met him and realized that I had met him earlier at the jfbc trip in October of 04. We went to the AIM office and had a meeting that lasted about three hours. I asked him questions about much of the stuff I knew I was going to have to do and he either gave me answers or reassurances that all would be well. What’s supposed to happen on the day before a trip is the project leader drives to all the different ministry sites, checks them out, meets the pastors, and determines what construction supplies are needed, if any. It was not possible/recommended for us to go to Saltillo, so all we could do was go to Reynosa, find Bigo’s and the hotel. No problemo. We drove to Reynosa the next day and drove around. We found the hotel and checked on the food and rooms. All was as it should be…except the fact that I didn’t have enough money in the budget sent to me to pay for them. I had been trying to get in touch with Juan, Rick, Jennifer, Steve, YoMama, - everyone. We couldn’t find Bigo’s. I finally got in touch with Rick and he said that the reason I couldn’t find the money in my budget, as that it wasn’t there. He said he would get the money for me asap. Juan eventually got me the money from an atm in the states. For some reason, he gave me an additional $600.

I had arranged to meet Steve Miller, the youth dude, at his hotel in Donna, TX, at 9:00

Friday night, I was busy getting everything ready – the van, my stuff, arrangements for the translators, everything. The translators: Michelle, a US citizen, 18, Three sisters, Maria, Lupita, and Juanita, all lived in Progresso, a small city about half way in between Matamoros and Reynosa. Juan L and I arranged for him to go and get Michelle in the US and to meet me on the south side of the border. Giovanni can’t go north, so I was going to have to leave him while I went north. I looked up the group’s hotel and downloaded a map from the border. I’m so smart…

So, on Saturday, Giovanni and I drove to Progresso to get the sisters. They were there, but they didn’t know we were coming, so they were asleep.

We met the pastor today, 6/27. He came to the hotel and we went out to the two ministry sites – one for the church foundation, the other for the ministry. We are digging holes that are 1 meter square. 20 of them. We are doing the other ministry at his current church, a building that he is renting. We have doubled up on construction and vbs. We also moved vbs to 4:00 at his request. We were going to go to the regular time, when some of his members came and asked if we could not do it 1-4. I offered the morn, but they seemed to want the 4-7 slot. When one of my team leaders, Frank, mentioned that that would make it easier to double up on vbs, I went for it.

The first atl we did was interesting. I talked, we all prayed and got some very specific stuff – I saw a yellow ford f-150 with a man working on the engine, someone else saw a woman in white, standing on a sidewalk between two blue men (?). No one got a specific direction. Someone got a picture of a place surrounded by mountains and someone else saw a bird. (I found out that someone in the group is a habitual liar. I wonder if this affected what happened…). So, we walked all around and didn’t really see any of the things we were looking for – except for the yellow ford, but I’m not sure of the significance of that. One thing is for sure, I was supposed to tell them everything and I didn’t – at first. I can’t help but wonder that my disobedience affected the outcome.

Pre-Project Jitters

Hola,

I'm leaving the Gateway, AIM's Matamoros base, tomorrow at 7 am and meeting my group in Donna, TX. We're going to go across the border, get our visas and travel permits, then go to Reynosa, check into a hotel, do our training, and spend the night.

We'll leave at 7 am and arrive in Saltillo around 12:30 pm.

Please continue to pray for my family and for me. Also, please pray for the participants on the trip. It is very important that they focus on why they're here - to build relationships and share the gospel.

mark

Saltillo, Pre-Trip Stuff

I got to the Gateway right before dinner and was able to eat with the group that is leaving tomorrow.

I found Giovanni, the guy I'll be doing the trip with. It turns out that I met him last year on the Johnson's Ferry Baptist Church trip. He's a good guy.

We spent about three hours talking through the schedule and all the practical stuff. I feel MUCH better about meeting the group on Saturday. I've got a real schedule and some things to tell them. We'll see what happens.

It is overwhelming the amount of detail that goes into a trip like this. I just keep thinking about II Corinthians 12:9 and I feel better.

I am excited about the opportunity to finally lead a mission trip, but scared that I'll forget something important. 'Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.' I Peter 5:13.

mark

To Saltillo

Hi all,

I'm in DFW about to get on a small plane to Houston and then to Harlingen.

Please pray for me and my family this week.

mark

Ask The Lord

Ask The Lord (ATL).

Sounds innocuous, but do we really do it? By this, I mean, do we ask, then wait patiently and quietly for an answer?

Allow me to tell you what happened on my mission trip with AIM in Matamoros from 6/3 to 6/10. I'll preface this by saying that I was there and saw it with my own eyes...

The daily schedule for an AIM mission trip is divided into two ministry slots. The slots are usually 9 am to 12 pm and 1 pm to 4 pm. Participants are scheduled for any number of different types of ministry: Prayer walking, door-to-door evangelism, VBS, sports evangelism, feedings, and construction. For instance, in the morning, your team of 6 - 8 people may go prayer walking. At noon, you would return to the church base area, eat lunch, then, at 1 pm, go out and work on the house that your team is helping to build.

Sometimes, instead of the activities listed above, AIM groups have an ATL (come on, one has to have a cool acronym). During the ministry time, this group will not have a scheduled activity. Their only mandate is to pray and ask God what he would have them do. After spending time in prayer and then talking about what they believe God wants them to do, the group goes out and does it. Whatever it is.

I know what you're thinking, "It's crazy, there's no accountability, it's dangerous, God doesn't work that way, fill in your own objection here." Stick with me, Chester.

I was able to lead four different teams on an ATL. In each case, I talked with them for five to ten minutes, explaining what we were going to do. I showed them examples from my life and the Word where God spoke to ordinary humans. Then, I showed them the test we were going to apply to each supposed word from God:

1. Is it scriptural?
2. Does it exalt Christ?
3. Do other Christians confirm it?
4. Does it bear good fruit?
5. Does God bring it to pass?

I would then say a short prayer asking God to clear their minds of the voice of the enemy, the voice of the world, and, finally, their own incessant voice so they could clearly hear what he had to tell them. After dismissing them, I would stay and pray for their protection as they opened themselves up to the God and Father of all.

While I stood there, I would do my own ATL. "God, should I tell them to come back now? How about now? Now? Is that long enough?" You get the picture. When I would finally feel that God was telling me to bring them back together, I would call them in and ask the question - 'What do you think God wants us to do?'

Of the four groups, three were very responsive and willing to share, while the fourth was significantly more reticent. More on this at another time. Also, let me stress that most of these kids were junior high kids.

So, in the first group, there were immediate responses to my question. One boy said that he saw a woman in a pink shirt, sitting with children at her feet who had their legs crossed and a green house with two windows in front. Another boy said he saw the number six. A girl said, rather sheepishly, that she saw a big, black hole. One of the other boys said he saw a milk carton. The leader, a young woman in her early twenties, said she kept hearing the word evangelism and that we were supposed to go 'right.' When I asked her, "who's right?" she said, "my right." We briefly went over the test, decided we passed and moved out.

Off we went, filled with excitement and trepidation. Would God show up? We walked for what seemed like forever in the heat of the Matamoros afternoon. I thought we should stop and talk about why we weren't seeing anything, so we stepped into some shade on the shoulder. There was a house nearby with some kids about junior high age and our kids made some awkward attempts at conversation. After it became apparent that they were not interested in what we had to say, we left the house and gathered under the slight shade.

I had them all turn around and look at how far we had come. Not far at all, less than half a mile. I think I pointed out something brilliant like, "this is just like the Christian life, isn't it?" and we decided to move on.

The next house was a green house with two windows on the front, a woman in a pink shirt was sitting on the porch with children at her feet (I found out later that they did have their legs crossed when we got there. Also, it was house number 36. Apparently, this didn't feel right to the guy who said he saw a 6). One of the younger participants starting talking to her and discovered that she had been a Christian, but didn't think she was anymore. He led her through the plan of salvation and showed her how she was still saved. Using scripture, he was able to let her know that she was still saved. This was, apparently, much needed comfort to her.

We left them and continued walking, still looking for a six and a black hole... After passing a few more houses, we came upon a house with a couple sitting outside talking. Again, some of the younger participants started up a conversation with them. As they were talking, I noticed a big, black , mostly empty, trash can. The woman they were taking to accepted Christ as her savior. Amen, praise God, way cool.

As we were leaving, I was told that it was house number 6.

I have to go to bed, more later.
mark

The Gateway

AIM's base in Matamoros is called the Gateway. The facilities are on sixty acres of land between Matamoros and the border. (Please forgive my spelling) There is a comidor that feeds 150 people at a time, dormitories that sleep 300+, a bodega (garage) to maintain a fleet of 6 to 7 vans and 3 buses, sleeping areas for staff, and offices for the Mexico branch of AIM. All in all, a very good facility. Everything is air conditioned, except the comidor and the garage, and there is hot and cold running water and internet access for staff - as is evident...

All AIM activities in Matamoros start from the Gateway. Participants drive over the border and stay in the Gateway for the length of their trip. They wake up in the morning, have breakfast, do devotionals and chores, have praise and worship, then head out into Matamoros to do ministry. As an aside, there is another AIM ministry that stays in Matamoros all the time, the First Year Missionaries.

A typical day has participants (who are all in teams of 6 - 10 with an adult leader), going out into the community to minister to the locals. The teams go in two shifts, the first in the morning, the second in the afternoon. Who woulda thunk? For example, a team would do VBS in the morning, then, after a lunch break at the church, do door-to-door in the afternoon. The next day, the same team may do praywalking, construction, visiting a rehabilitation center or the youth detention center, and so on throughout the week.

All activities in the city of Matamoros are focused on whichever church AIM is helping that week. This way, the local church benefits, not AIM. When participants are doing to door-to-door and someone makes a decision or requests more information, those details are given to the local pastor. When participants give a VBS, it is usually done at the church, but always in the name of the church. Sometimes, as is the case this week, a project is so large that it requires two ministry sites - this is AIMSpeak for the church in a colonia (neighborhood).

Yesterday, 6/7, I was in the evangelism coordinator for site 2. Basically, all I had to do was make sure the groups had their materials and knew where they were going. I also had to make sure that they turned in any response cards at the end of the day.

Tori and I went out on door-to-door with one of the groups. Actually, I forgot Tori at the VBS site and had to go back and get her...oops. Anyway, the group was pretty solid, so Tori and I just hung back, watched and did the prayer walking thing. First, they went to a house they have visited the day before. The guy there had seemed very interested in what they had to say about the gospel and had requested they come back. They stood outside the fence and called to him and, just as we were walking away, he came out. He was pretty young, maybe 25. Some of the participants talked with him and shared scripture with him while the rest of us prayed and talked. After some discussion, he accepted Christ as his savior. Sorry about the dry sounding report, I was standing in the back and couldn't hear...all I know is that there is another brother in the kingdom. Amen.

The group then went to another house and talked with the lady there. As we were leaving, another lady came up to me and motioned for us to go to her house, which was next door. Through one of our translators, she asked if we had any holy water. She said that her son had seen a red-headed doll walking in the house and that she felt a demonic presence. She wanted us to come in and pray for her and her family. We prayed as a group, then sent in Mike, one of the adult leaders, and Trinity, the translator. Three of the participants also went in - they're all seventh and eighth graders and are mostly all very bold in their faith. The rest of us stayed outside and prayed for their protection.

I don't know exactly what went on inside, but outside we had church. I was able to lead the group in prayer and they jumped in. We prayed, read scripture and sang. Totally awesome.

It was a great experience for me to be there and to be a part of what God is doing in Matamoros. It is different, being a staffer and not a participant. That is a story for later... The most incredible thing, for me as a father, was to see my Tori. She did not want to be there and wanted to be back at the Gateway in the air conditioning. Through some circumstances, she was not able to stay at the Gateway and I had to take her with me (Carla was following the project leader around for the day and Kaylie was at the Gateway). I talked with her about letting God help her make it a good day, rather than dwelling on the circumstances that kept her away from the ac. Apparently, she did it. While I was talking with a young man who had brought his daughter for VBS, Tori took his daughter to the playground and played with her. He accepted Christ as his savior and I can't stop thinking that Tori had a significant role in this by playing with his daughter and allowing him to focus on our conversation. When we went on door-to-door, she was very bold, walking up to mothers and children and, with the help of a translator, engaging them in conversation. I even saw her praying on the curb as others of our group talked with someone.

Please don't think this is one of those, 'look how great my kids are' things. Although, of course, it is. This is an answer to prayer for me. Tori can be very compassionate, but only does this from time to time. I have been praying about this and it is wonderful to see it happening.

mark

Matamoros Project Leader Training

We have been at the Gateway, AIM's Mexico base, since yesterday and are doing some serious Project Leader training. We've had a chance to get to know four other people who are going to be project leaders and spend time with them.
Today, we went around Matamoros to the different ministry sites and were exposed to the abject poverty of some parts of Matamoros.
We also met two pastors, Peter and Teofilia, that will be working with AIM and for whom AIM will be ministering this next week.
Please pray for us as we go through this next week. Carla got very sick tonight and needs to rest.

Matamoros Project Leader Training

Carla, the girls, and I will be heading to Matamoros, MX on 6/2 for project leader training. We will be renting a car and driving to Harlingen, TX where Steve Basden will pick us up. We'll have our first meeting Thursday night and then we'll be following my friend Cesar Gonzales as he does the project leader thing.

In order to be a project leader for AIM, one has to go to project leader training. They used to do it in Atlanta. One would sit for two days in a classroom in Atlanta and learn all the stuff one had to do to be a project leader. Woo. Hoo. Now, you get to go on a project and learn on the job.

I'm really looking forward to this as this will be the first time my daughters have been out of the country. Also, they will have a chance to meet and play with other AIM kids. Cesar's two girls and Thomi Wilson's five kids will be there. They will all get a chance to go on the mission trip and follow the mission participants around. Most importantly, we will be able to do ministry as a family.
When I went to China last year, I felt like I wasn't all there. (Insert joke here) Without my girls with me, I didn't feel like I was experiencing it fully.

Please pray for us as we do this work. We will need all the prayer we can get.
Our mission schedule for the summer is as follows:

• June 2 to 10 - Matamoros
• June 13 to 18 - VBS at LABC
• June 23 to July 2 - Saltillo, MX. I'll be without the girls
• July 9 to 18 - Harlan, KY

Fresno WOC Sunday

We went to the Juvenile facility again. I was able to see Jon Kregel - he played soccer with Pele, of all people. He had a really good message and was able to show the kids how success doesn't mean you've made it. I realize this is a very dry way to put it...

Next was Don Simpson. Don's claim to fame is that he spent seventeen years, nine months in Kansas penitentuaries for killing three people. That's it. No Super Bowl ring, no rags to riches. Just rags.

Now, to be fair to Don, he's built like Herschel Walker. It's obvious from his build and demeanor that he could have gone far in pro sports. As a matter of fact, he currently is a strength trainer for some semi-pro teams. When he walks into the room, everyone notices him. But, as he so eloquently said, he was stuck on stupid.

When he spoke to the large group - about 200 kids - he made a good impression. He does a good job of scaring and cajoling the kids - he's a 52 year old grandfather with six kids of his own, so he knows those ropes also.

However, he really came through when I saw him in a small group of about ten kids. We were in the lockdown unit and he spoke in a small room with the kids, guards, and WOC teammates sitting around him. He is much more impressive and intimidating up close. He spoke of hitting sixty-four people with an iron bar and how four of them still haven't woken up. He said he did this because he didn't want to take the time to argue with them.

He also called a kid out that was, in his opinion, showing some attitude. He's not afraid to tell them exactly what he thinks about where they're going and why they shouldn't go. I think his best line was, "I've been down the road you're headed and believe me, you don't want to go there."

Our next stop was solitary confinement. Don spoke to about six kids who were confined to their cells, only three of which could even open the food slot to listen. The rest had to listen from behind a completely sealed off door - no bars or mesh, just a small window.

It was truly amazing to see this huge man filled with the love of God and having compassion on these children. At the end of his session, as the guards were telling us we had to leave, he lead three of them to faith in Christ. Praise God! What else can I say?

I thank God that I am able to go on these weekends and that he is using me for his kingdom.

Fresno WOC Saturday

Today, I went to Chowchilla, the largest women's unit in America. To say it was an eye-opening experience would be an understatement. I had been in one women's unit before, the Henley unit in South Texas, and it wasn't anything like this one.

Alan Orr and I arrived at the unit at 8:30 am and went to the Visitor's Center. There were about forty people there, waiting to get in to see a relative. Forty people for a prison population of almost 3700...do the math. We stood around and waited for Kevin K (I can't spell his last name), the Public Information Officer (PIO). He was going to be my minder for the day. He was a very nice guy, but still made it clear that I wasn't to go anywhere without him.

While we waited, I had to inventory my bag and go over it with an officer. No big deal.

We had to wait a while for Kevin, but he showed up around 9 and we made our way into the yard. It would probably be more accurate to call it the field. I don't know, but it was much larger than any yard I've ever seen. There was a cement walking track around the outside and a lot of grass in the middle. The stage was set up on the back of a big flatbed truck. I set up the camera on the truck and left it on for a shot that would show all the inmates walking in. Woo. Hoo.

Just watching the inmates walk in was an experience. They all walked in in an orderly fashion and sat down - most of them - but then started moving around. Most of them would stay in one place, apparently to save a spot, but there didn't appear to be a rule about moving around. I'm not saying there should be, it was just different. Also, they could smoke. Personally, I could care less if inmates are allowed to smoke or not, but after coming from the Texas prison system, it was weird to see that. Kevin told me that after 7/1, no tobacco would be allowed on the grounds - even from staff.

I could feel and see the spritual oppression over the whole place. Many of the women were tattooed extensively. Most of the tattoos were gang tattoos or some kind of possessive marking. By this I mean that they had, apparently, been marked by someone else. There were a few women that I had to double and triple check to see if they were, indeed, women. I have seen some butch women before, but the ones I saw there really were under demonic influence. Say what you will, but my heart broke for them in their bondage and the way they have been deceived.

We filmed Rick Cruz and Sandy Fatow. He is a hispanic performer (most excellent) and she has a rag/drugs to riches, fell and found Jesus story. There is no way I could do her story justice, you have to hear it for yourself.

More later.

Fresno WOC

I'm in Fresno, CA with Champions For Life (CFL), a Bill Glass ministry that does evangelism in the nation's prisons. Even though I have no more experience that anyone else with a video camera, I was asked to come here to help film in some of the surrounding prisons.

Yesterday, we did some pretty boring video of a meeting between the CFL coordinators and the wardens and staff of Chowchilla Women's facility - it's billed as the largest women's prison in the world.

Last night, I filmed the freshman training. There were about 300 people in an EV Free church here in Fresno. It went fairly well and I got some good 'before' interviews with from a group of college kids at the training. Tonight, I'll get the 'after' interviews. These are fun because you can see the changes in their attitudes and their excitement from the day in prison. They are with the Joshua Wilderness Institute and seem like a great bunch.

Today, I will be filming in the juvenile facility. Bill Glass will be doing his Blessing speech to a bunch of kids without fathers. The Blessing talks about how we need to be blessed by our fathers and how we have a heavenly father who wants to bless us.

Please pray for my family as they usually come under spiritual attack whenever we go on a prison visit. Pray for me also, as I go into the stronghold of the enemy.

New Blog

This is my new blog.

My old one is at marklindberg.blogspot.com. It has been put to another use...notes on my brother, Tim.