Before I get started on today’s story, I need to tell about something that I forgot to mention yesterday. While I was talking to one of the dinner guests last night, I discovered that not only does the POWER Ministry build things, visit prisons and orphanages and do street evangelism, we also give out a lot of Bibles during our trip. The Hildalgo Ministry received 1000 Spanish Bibles from us this trip, which they give out to the teenagers that they minister to. I also learned what I suspected- Louie was still carrying beans and rice in his big rig on the trip down to Brownsville. He delivered it to another ministry that Power support. Pat Pace has a ministry to Mexican fishermen at a small group of islands in the gulf south of Brownsville. He spent 36 years working with those men as a fisherman and has spent the last 12 years feeding them and taking care of their needs as much as he can. They live in a very isolated spot and he has to travel some long bumpy dirt roads to get to them, past the Cartel lookouts. But thanks be to God, they leave him alone. They know he is taking care of those who have no other safety blanket.
We also learned at breakfast a little about a long time director of the Instituto Biblico Magdiel, an Assembly of God Bible College in Matamoros, Mexico, that we visited today. Reverand Ray Morlock, who died in 2009, originally came from Riverside, CA., and was the inspiration for the start of POWER Ministries. It is his memorial fund that helps provide all the Bibles that we distribute.
We were able to spend a good part of today at the Instituto Biblico Magdiel, visiting with the current students and staff, and then celebrating communion with them in an inspiring worship service. The students that graduate go to all parts of Mexico to spread the gospel. Many of them struggle to find the finances to pay for their education, so POWER Ministries contributes what we can to help with their needs. The young men and women were truly happy to see us, and we were truly blessed to spend time with them. The weather was cold and blustery, but hearts were warmed!
We left there, made it back across the border for the last time, and are headed on the long trip back to San Antonio for a final debriefing tomorrow morning, then back home.