Who is our leader in times of battle?

Hi Everyone,

I hope that you are all well and looking forward to fall arriving. We are! According to the locals here we can expect the weather to change on October 15. Apparently we will literally walk outside one morning and the humidity will be gone and the temps will have fallen to a comfortable 25-30 degrees. I guess we will soon see how accurate they are.

I have had a difficult time coming up with the right words to express what my experience in Mexico has been like so far. As I have shared in the past, I experience times where the need totally overwhelms me. In e very direction I look there is some sort of need. Regarding the food program and the children involved. We face physical needs, abuse at home, medical needs, spiritual needs and in many cases abandonment. Each child has a complicated story, each child will more than likely experience disgusting and immoral acts of abuse at some point before they become adults. When I look around the community it honestly makes me question if there is any hope? The enemy is so present here. It is totally overwhelming! Everyone is broken, and for most families, they feel there is no hope! They don't even understand how bad and how lost they are.
Then, I drive out of the community and head towards the city. On the street corners I see homeless people sleeping. Obviously they haven't eaten any kind of quality meal lately, haven't had a haircut, haven't shaved, and haven't changed their clothes in what appears to be months. Can't imagine them even taking a shower in the last month. They look totally disgusting, I'm sure they are crawling with lice and who knows what else. Definitely the kind of person I would walk around if I met up with them on the sidewalk. But then I stop and think... What is their story? Has it always been this way? Why do certain people have to live like this when others are so totally blessed? They didn't choose to be born into this poverty. More importantly it makes me ask, who is loving them? When is the last time they have they felt a physical touch of love? How often does someone walk up to them and demonstrate Christs love? Has anyone cared enough about them to share salvation? I'm not sure if some of you have ever been in a position to look into the eyes of a person that has absolutely no hope? They are empty and black, makes you wonder if someone is even in there?
We see this every time we go to and from our place in San Carlos to Fatima. I have to admit, after time I started to become blind to the men laying on the street corners. They were still there, I just didn't see them for awhile. I became desensitized from driving past them all the time. Sounds horrible doesn't it.
Again, coming from a Country and community where we are very blessed, it is heart breaking to live in a world where people have it so bad. It seems so unfair and we really need to be thankful.
Today, I had breakfast with the Pastor of San Carlos Community Church. He is from the US and has been becoming a friend of mine. He share with me the story of when King Hezekiah and his kingdom fell under attack from Sennacherib, King of Assyria. Sennacherib had captured all the fortified cities of Judah and sent a message to Hezekiah to surrender. Realizing that their situation was hopeless Hezekiah went to the Temple and prayed for deliverance. God heard Hezekiah's prayer and delivered them by sending out an Angel that night to defeat and destroy the Assyrian army of a hundred and eighty five thousand men.
This story has reminded me that with God there is always hope. Even when we look around and feel defeated. This hope held true when King Hezekiah looked out over the army of a hundred and eight five thousand. He knew there was absolutely no way he could defeat them on his own. He must have felt surrounded, trapped and hopeless! So what did he do...he prayed to the one true and living God! This hope also holds true in our lives here in Mexico and also holds true to any "battles" any of you are going through back home. We need to remember that God is in control and that he does answer prayers.
For the program here we need your prayer and ask that God would deliver the people from their poverty, from all the abuse, from the spiritual battles with witch craft and warfare. Pray that we can eventually meet all the needs of all the children here and that somehow the homeless will also be reached. We need to remember that with God, nothing is impossible. He can do more than we ask or imagine.

I realize that it has been a long time since my last report, so I apologize. I am also in the process of completing our August new letter. I hope to email it early next week. I'll finish this letter with a short passage from the book of James chapter 5.

Blessings to all of you. We miss you and look forward to seeing some of you soon.
Brian

Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. ¹⁴ Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven
¹⁶ Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous man has great power and produces wonderful results. ¹⁷ Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! ¹⁸ Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.