Matthew 25:34-40

(Versión en Español sigue la de Inglés)

Pastor Franciso Canul Maldonado, from “Roca Firme” El Milagro, recently shared this powerful story:

For the last few days, we have had several people living in our house; a man and his wife and their seven children, two of whom have third level anemia. I took the children to the hospital and the doctor wanted to report their condition to the authorities, but I told him I was a pastor and that I would take responsibility for them, to which the doctor replied: OK, let’s see what we can do. We are in the process of getting rid of their stomach parasites and afterwards we will give them vitamins along with their 6 siblings.

This man (the children’s father) had been run over by a taxi cab in a hit and run accident. He was left for dead. A month later he had surgery and they place 9 pins in his foot, which is why he won’t be able to work for 3 months.

In our home we give them three meals a day, which means my family has grown to 14. We help the children by giving them milk.

It is not all sadness. They have received Christ in their hearts and now we take them to the El Milagro mission.

The mission members pooled resources to buy them some food to help them out, but the medical attention and the medicines are expensive, but God will provide. On August 24 I will take him to the doctor for a check up.
We are working in God’s ministry and we ask that you continue to pray for us in this place. We have plans to open a daycare center in this place by November.

En Español:

Hace unos dias estan viviendo en mi casa unas personas; un hombre con su esposa y siete hijos de los cuales 2 de ellos tenian 3er grado de anemia, a los ni os los lleve al hospital y el médico queria reportarlo a las autoridades pero yo le dije que era un pastor y que me haría cargo de ellos por lo que el medico me dijo; esta bien vamos a ver que podemos hacer. Y ya ahora lo estamos desparasitando y posteriormente vitaminando juntamente con sus otros 6 hermanos
Este hombre ( el papa de los niños) fue atropellado por un taxi que se dio a la fuga dejandolo por por muerto. Despues de 1 mes fue operado y le pusieron 9 clavos en el pie; por lo que no podrá trabajar en 3 meses
En mi casa le damos las tres comidas por lo que mi familia aumento a 14 y ayudamos con leche a los niños
No todo es tristeza ellos ya recibieron a cristo en su corazon y ahora los llevamos a la mision en el Milagro
Juntamente con los hermanos hicimos una despensa para poder ayudarlos pero el servicio medico y los medicamentos son un poco costosos pero dios proveera este dia 24 de agosto debo llevarlo nuevamente al doctos a nuevos chequeos
Estamos trabajando en la obra de dios y pedimos continuen orando por nosotros en este lugar; tenemos planes de poner una guarderia en este lugar en el mes de noviembre.

Highlights from "Monte de Olivos" Nicte Ha report

by Manases May Can
(Translated and Edited by Felipe Martinez)

["Monte de Olivos" mission at Nicte-Ha is partnered with Second Presbyterian Church Indianapolis]

Report for May - June 2006.

Program and Worship: We are integrating in worship a praise team which is getting formed and is rehearsing.

Discipleship: June 2 we finished a course of "Vida Abundante" curriculum with 5 students participating. In July we will begin a group of 4 people who will take the course "How to Preach."
We have started a new confirmation class during Sunday School with 4 students.

Evangelism: In four different sermons, 4 people made their decision to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord. We are offering Bible studies on the Gospel of John with 7 people. The Women's Circle has given out food baskets to 4 families, taking the message of Salvation.

Membership: 28 members in full communion, 16 associate members [adherentes], 26 attendees [simpatizantes], 4 students ready to be confirmed (they have finished their lessons).

Highlights from report from "Roca Firme" El Milagro

by Francisco Javier Canul Maldonado
(Translated and edited by Felipe Martinez)

["Roca Firme" mission at El Milagro is partnered with WVP's Northern Group, composed of Hartford City, FW Trinity, Bluffton, and Ossian]

Activities in the months of May and June 2006

Visitation: In these months several members and I visited the homes of some people, sharing the gospel and at the same time we came to realize there is a need in that area about which all the neighbors agree (most of the neighbors are women). There is a need for a daycare center since the women have to go to work and they do not have a place nearby where they may take their children for daycare.

We were able to make contact with two people, with whom we shared the first part of our evangelism program.

Construction: In these months we have completed the second room of four we have in mind to finish this year. After a group of brothers and sisters came from Emanuel to lay down block, members of the mission were in charge of putting on a roof. We [will also] have the help of the group who comes every year to do Vacation Bible School.

Membership: At the end of these months, our rolls show: 11 members in full communion, 6 new members to be baptized in November, 5 attendees [simpatizantes], 8 children between 2 and 9 years old.

Trusting in God’s Love

By Rev. Frank Mansell

For the third consecutive summer, we were blessed to host the Bi-Lingual, Bi-Cultural Vacation Bible School of Whitewater Valley Presbytery at John Knox Presbyterian Church from July 31-August 4, 2006. “Stories of God’s Love” was the theme, and each evening the children learned more about one of five of Jesus’ parables. In English and Spanish, they heard the story told to them, they talked about its meaning, they sang songs which spoke of God’s love for them, they made crafts which reflected the story for that day, and they enjoyed much fun and fellowship around snacks and games led by adults and youth. 50 children came throughout the week, and over 30 adults volunteered their time, talent, and energy to help the coordinating team lead a wonderful week.

There are times in the church when we wonder what it might have felt like on the Day of Pentecost, when the Spirit blew through the room of apostles, and they were given the strength to serve their Lord. For me, this week each year is my personal witness to Pentecost. Men, women and children from different cultures who speak different languages come together, and within the fellowship of the Body of Christ are united as one. It is my reminder that we are blessed and strengthened as the church when we celebrate our diversity, rather than viewing diversity as a sign of weakness.

One of the unique traits of this week each year for us has been it has preceded the Sunday of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. As a result, we have had worship on Saturday night, the day after VBS has ended on Friday evening. The young men and women from Northern Quintana Roo share the message for the service, and we invite the children to come with their families to sing the songs they have learned during the week. It has become an evening which our entire congregation looks forward to every year, for in our prayers, our singing, our proclamation of the Word – in all of those things we witness the power of God to build bridges across anything which divides us. To Jimena, Gabriel, Elizabeth, Manuela, and Juanito – I thank you for sharing God’s love with us in such a joyous way. And to Felipe Martinez and Fabio Socarraz – I thank you for helping us to discover the benefits of taking risks in ministry for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Retreat for Planters and their Families

by Felipe Martinez

The first weekend in August, the NQR commission and Rev. Ramon Celis organized a three-day retreat for the church planters, their spouses and their children. The workshops, worship, and Bible studies were a blessing to them. The time to relax with family and to support each other as families in the ministry became an important time for refreshment.

Here are a couple of comments from some of the planters:

“This was a great opportunity to be together as a family. The opportunity to rest was marvelous. It allowed me to reflect on the past, the present and to do some visioning for the future.”

“These were days to feel renewed for the tasks of ministry. It was especially a renewal of the vision for the work of the church. It was also a time for us to come together as my family.”

A couple of comments from the planter’s wives:

“This retreat was a great blessing for our marriage and the ministry. We learned to value what God gives us and the privilege to be a part of this ministry.”

“It was a great blessing, to be able to get to know the planters and their wives, to establish a beautiful friendship, to feel the unity of love among all these servants. The lessons will help me in my life, knowing how to be with my sister servants and how to help them, and how to support my husband.”

Studying together

Playing together

Supporting one another

Pictures from El Buen Pastor chartering

by Felipe Martinez
Pictures by New Hope Presbyterian Church

On July 23, 2006, El Buen Pastor went from being a new church development to being a full fledged church (see blog entry "Working on communication" from July 24, 2006 below). Here are pictures from New Hope (El Buen Pastor's partner church in WVP) taken during the chartering worship service.

Beginning worship

The Church Planting Commission had front row seats

The congregation gathered

The worship leader introduces a song

Planter Abelardo (background) sings one of the hymns

Barry Sumner from WVP participates in the ordination of new elders and deacons

Pastor Josué Chan preaches during the chartering service

Planter Abelardo Pech offers a brief history of the now-chartered church

The new deacons (3 left) and the new elders (3 right) during their ordination

It was an honor for the WVP delegation to be able to participate in the service

Pastor Ramón Celis prepares to ask the elders and deacons the ordination questions

After worship, the church offered wonderful "cochinita pibil" taquitos. Delicious!

Members of the newly chartered church enjoy the taquitos

NQR leaders help teach Bilingual VBS in Indiana

by Felipe Martínez

After over 200 presbyterians from Indiana and Ohio went to Northern Quintana Roo to help with 12 Vacation Bible Schools (plus helped with construction projects and held a week-long dental clinic), it was time for 5 NQR leaders to come up to Indianapolis to help with one of two bilingual VBS taking place in the presbytery (July 31 - Aug 4, 2006). They will also help lead the bilingual Campo Amistad (Aug 7 -11, 2006) .

Here are our guests from Mexico:

My name is Manuela Ek de Novak. I belong to the "Nueva Jerusalén" (New Jerusalem) Presbyterian Church in Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, México. It has been a blessing for our Presbytery of Northern Quintana Roo and your presbytery of Whitewater Valley to be in partnership. This is the third time I have come to participate in the bilingual VBS in Indianapolis. I am a wedding coordinator in Playa del Carmen and I help my husband Scott Novak with a magazine called "Playa del Carmen Tourist Information Magazine." One of our blessings is our daughter Pauline Marie who is almost 10 years old and is bilingual. She joins me once again to participate in this year's VBS. What a blessing from our Lord it is to be able to share with other people the wonderful plan of salvation. God bless you.

My name is Elizabeth Velasco. I am 38 years old and I am a member of the "Puerta del Cielo" (Heaven's Door) Presbyterian Church in Cancún, Quintana Roo, México. My husband's name is Jonathan Forcada and we have two children, Abraham (9) and Isaac (7).
My husband and I are in charge of the Vacation Bible School at our church. This summer we had 170 children attending.
I give God thanks for giving me the opportunity to work and contribute to this bilingual mission in Whitewater Valley Presbytery. This is my second time helping with the VBS in Indianapolis.

My name is Rubi Jimena but my friends call me Jimena. I just completed my first year of medical school in Merida, the city where I was born. Though I was born in Mérida, I have actually lived my whole life in Cancún. Since my childhood. I have attended Emanuel Presbyterian Church in Cancún and I have grown along with the congregation from its days as a small mission until today, now that it is a beautiful presbyterian church, always serving God and the community. As a 20 year old, I give God thanks for giving me the opportunity to help with VBS at John Knox for the second year in a row and to be able to get to know this beautiful community.

Juan Gabriel Noh Xul is the planter at Getsemaní­ Presbyterian Church in Puerto Aventuras, which is the partner church for First Presbyterian Church in Noblesville. "Juanito," as he is affectionatelly known, is helping with the adult class at the Bilingual VBS held at John Knox every evening during the first week of August. This is Juanito's first trip to Whitewater Valley, and he is spending most of his day meeting people from his partner church in Noblesville. The second week in August Juanito will help Fabio with Campo Amistad at Camp Pyoca, along with the other leaders visiting from Mexico.

My name is Gabriel Luna. I live in Cancun, Mexico. I am married and we have two boys. I was born in a Christian family but I made my decision for Jesus when I was 8 years old, and since then I have been involved in the work of my church doing volunteer work with the groups that come to Cancun from the United States to work and help in my church every summer.
Also, I have had the blessing from God to be able to teach his Word in Sunday School, VBS, etc. and in other opportunities. Currently my wife and I are in charge of the teenage group in my church, which has been a blessing to us as we help them and counsel them through those difficult years of life.
We are so grateful to our God that he has given us the opportunity to work and serve in his Kingdom and we are expecting better and greater things from him for our family and ministry.

High Impact Drama at El Milagro

by Planter Francisco Canul Maldonado and Felipe Martinez



Planter Francisco at the church at El Milagro (partnered with the Northern group) writes in an email that on the last night of the VBS at his church, after the Northern Group youth presented a drama (see images to the left), a young man approached Francisco because the drama had touched him deeply. Francisco writes:



"The last day of VBS, after the drama, a young man approached me and said 'I want to change [my life]. I have problems with drugs and alcohol; I have felt something here today and I feel like I want to give myself over to God so God can change me.' I prayed with him and I took him to my house where he spent the night. The next day, after breakfast, I took him to a pastor friend of mine who has a Rehabilitation Center where the Word of God is taught and preached. Likewise there were people at VBS who had stopped attending their churches (from several denominations) and they were led to be reconciled to God, and they decided to return to church. Thank you so much, my beloved brothers and sisters.

Just a servant, Francisco Canul"


A scene from VBS at El Milagro

Planter Francisco (left) with the young man (right)

who is asking God to change his life.

Please keep him in your prayers.