DIOS ME VE DECEMBER NEWSLETTER

My dear brothers and sisters, we truly hope that you all had a very blessed holiday season and that you entered the New Year with health and joy from the Lord. The past year of 2017 was such an amazingly blessed year, full with many God given opportunities to serve, share the message of the gospel and spread His love to others. As a ministry and congregation we were able to move forward in some of the many projects that the Lord had for our lives. Thank you so much for all your prayers and support in the year of 2017; your partnership was such an amazing blessing and a key tool in the Lord’s hands to make possible all that was done in the year. We sincerely hope that you feel it in your hearts to continue to partner with us throughout another amazing year of service to the Lord in His ministry of Dios Me Ve. We pray that 2018 be a blessed year for all of us. 

During the year of 2017 there were a few devastating events in Mexico but one that truly caused much damage was an earthquake that, three months ago, shook and devastated various states in Mexico, leaving many families homeless and in terrible living conditions. Many families in these states are living on the streets, under trees, in hospitals that suffered little damage and in homeless shelters. When the earthquake occurred there were many government and religious institutions sending help to the families in the many devastated areas, but as time passed that help has slowly been decreasing. We started praying and asking God for His direction and guidance in order to be able to help in these times of natural disaster and God answered our prayers. Dios Me Ve Ministries has partnered up with our brothers and sisters in Christ of different ministries and churches to bless some families of the town of Tehuantepec, Oaxaca that lost their homes in the earthquake. The Lord is guiding us to help these families with some small wood houses of 12”x12” that will provide the families with a small home to start rebuilding their lives. For this blessing to happen we needed to build all the walls, floors and roofs here in Ensenada as it requires a lot of time and man power, so on the 8^th and 9^th of December a team from Dios Me Ve headed out to Maneadero to join our brothers and sisters in Christ of the different ministries and churches that have partnered together, to help cut and carry wood, build the walls, floors and roof pieces and paint. For two days we all worked together in order to get all the pieces of the houses ready for our Mission Trip to Oaxaca on the 14^th of January. Not all the people that helped on these two days will be going to Oaxaca but they have all put in their grain of sand to bless the families of Tehuantepec.

To continue to prepare for our Oaxaca Mission trip in January, the director from Hands of Mercy in Mexico and I (Pastor Hector) headed out on an exploratory trip to Oaxaca from the 12^th to the 15^th of December in order to visit the Pastors of that region, get to know the people and set everything up for our January mission trip. Lord willing, in January my wife and I, along with a team of Dios Me Ve and a team from each one of the ministries that has partnered together will be heading out to Oaxaca to build. During this exploratory trip we were able to see firsthand just how bad the situation was for the people of Oaxaca. There were many buildings, houses and infrastructures that had collapsed, people pulling together materials to try to fix or rebuild their homes, many roadblocks because of damages or civilian protests asking for help.

During our trip we were also able to get to know some of the people and their culture. Christianity isn’t well received in many of the towns in Oaxaca so there aren’t many Christian churches but we were able to meet some of the few pastors that reside in these towns. In order to communicate with some of the locals we had to use an interpreter because many of the people speak in a dialect and don’t know Spanish. This trip was such an eye opening experience, many families live in homes made of palm tree leafs, sleep on hammocks and work in whatever they can to earn money to provide for their families. Thanks to God we were able to personally meet the families for which, Lord willing, we will be building a home. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to prepare and plan for this blessing to the people of Tehuantepec, Oaxaca. We will be flying out to Oaxaca on January 14^th and hopefully be back home by January 23^rd. Pray that we can be a testimony of God’s great love, mercy and provision for all the people that we will encounter during our mission trip. Our Lord receive all the honor and glory for all that will be done through our lives in Tehuantepec, Oaxaca.

During these holiday seasons many parents struggle to provide for their families especially when they have children who are expecting a holiday meal. It is easy to fall into depression and get frustrated with the holidays because of economic problems. As a family we wanted to be a blessing to others and help some of these struggling parents, so this Christmas and New Years the Lord gave us the opportunity to bless some families of the Colonia 89 with a turkey and ham for their Christmas and New Year’s dinner. Some families didn’t have the means to prepare the turkey or ham nor did they have where to cook it, so as a family we prepared and cooked their Christmas and News Year’s dinner for those families that needed it. Surely 2017 couldn’t have had a better ending; the Lord continued to share His blessings with the people of the Colonia 89 and continued to show them His great love even as the year came to an end.

My dear brothers and sisters, it has been such a wonderfully blessed year of partnership with you all. Thank you so much for your many prayers and constant support during each month of 2017. We greatly appreciate all that you have done and all that you continue to do for the honor and glory of God. This past year brought much change, growth and blessings for all of us at the ministry of Dios Me Ve. Thank you so much for your many demonstrations of love. We pray our precious Lord would bless you even more this 2018 as you keep sharing with gladness, the love of the Lord. We are eagerly looking forward to another year of partnership and service to the Lord.

With much love and gratitude,

Your family in Christ of Dios Me Ve Ministries.

Tehuantepec, Oaxaca

 Mission Trip 2017-2018

Check out the pictures of our pre-trip and our pre-build construction work for our mission trip to Oaxaca in January.

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DIOS ME VE NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER

My dear Brothers and Sisters, thank you so much for your amazing partnership throughout the month of November. We are so blessed to be working in the many parts of ministry moving forward with all that the Lord has for our lives during this past month. Your prayers and support have been such a great blessing and an incredible tool that the Lord has used to carry out His will in the Colonia 89. Thank you so much for the many blessings that you share with us in the Lord’s ministry of Dios Me Ve, they are blessings that reach us and are extended to many of the families in the community. We truly hope we can continue to be blessed with your partnership throughout the month of December.  Thank you for being a part of all that the Lord does in the Colonia 89 each month; may the Lord always receive the honor and glory.

We are glad to inform you that the congregation of Dios Me Ve is constantly growing in their knowledge of the Word of God. During this past month we have seen that knowledge reflected in the lives of the members of the congregation through the amazing transformation in many of their lives. It is a blessing to say that the congregation of Dios Me Ve shares a heart of service and gratitude that is visible with each and every opportunity that the Lord gives us to share His love and mercy with others. Of course, like with all things, it has not been an easy journey for the members of the congregation. Many of them have had discouraging moments and difficult situations in their lives that they have battled with each day but they have pushed through and they continue moving forward. Thanks to God they have remained strong in their faith. Please continue to pray for the congregation of Dios Me Ve, that their hearts remain sensitive and open to the Lord. As a family we have seen such an amazing growth and transformation in the lives of many of the members of Dios Me Ve; we know that the Lord has so many great things in store for this community so please help us pray for the fulfillment of the Lord’s will in this region of Ensenada, Baja California. 

As a ministry we are continually working on all the preparations for the children’s discipleship program to start. Throughout the month of November we have made progress in some of the projects that we have in Dios Me Ve. This past month we worked on leveling the land in Dios Me Ve and we poured another piece of the cement slaps around the Church building of Dios Me Ve. The leveling of the land was done in order to get the grounds prepared to continue the slaps of cement and construction that is needed in the front of the Dios Me Ve buildings.

We are also very happy to inform you that we have successfully installed the alarm system in both the church building and children’s building of Dios Me Ve. Since we started serving the Lord in the Colonia 89 we have had a few break-ins, usually because the men that break in are under the influence of drugs. When this happens the same thieves will come back the next day or days after and apologize for breaking in and try to make amends for their actions. We in grace do forgive them but most of the time we cannot recover all the items that were stolen. Therefore, in order to be better stewards of the Lord’s blessings we have installed a very loud and effective alarm system that is monitored by the security company and the police department. 

This November, we have also had the blessing of working on the new restrooms for Dios Me Ve and on the tile for the Children’s building. We are so blessed by this as it has placed us even closer to starting the Children’s discipleship program. With the volunteer work of our brothers and sisters in Christ of the congregation we have successfully completed the installation of the tile and we are now ready to install all the cabinets needed for the program. We thank God each day, for He has allowed us to move forward with these project in order to one day fulfill the vision that He has given us. There are still a few projects that need to be done before we can officially start the children’s program so we ask that you please continue to join us in prayer for all the preparations that are being done. We are eagerly looking forward to the day in which, if the Lord wills it, we will see the children’s discipleship program up and running.  

Once again we have been blessed with the visit of Jose and Lupita Ponce. As we have mentioned in previous newsletters Jose and Lupita are missionaries serving the Lord in the mountain regions of San Francisco, in Vizcaino, south of Baja California. They usually only come down from the mountain regions once or twice a year in order to seek food provisions and financial support for their needs throughout the year. As a congregation we decided to make a mission trip to Vizcaino a year ago in order to build a small room where the people of San Francisco could gather and study the word of God. Jose and Lupita came on this occasion to inform us that there is now a small congregation of people that are studying the Word of God together in that small room and that they have decided to name that small building “Dios Me Ve”.

We were so blessed by the news that Jose and Lupita gave us; the people of the mountain region of San Francisco are once again inviting us to visit them and have a time of fellowship with each other. We never imagined that our visit would have made such an impact in this community; a place in which the gospel was once rejected and Christians were unwelcome is now opening its doors to us once again and they are calling themselves a church planting of Dios Me Ve. We are so grateful to the Lord for the amazing works that He does through all His children. It is truly a huge blessing to be able to serve the Lord alongside Jose and Lupita and be a part of His works. Please keep us in your prayers; we are praying about making another mission trip to the mountain regions of San Francisco in order to encourage our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ of the congregation of Dos Me Ve, San Francisco.

Thank you all so much for your amazing partnership, your faithfulness to the Lord and your generous hearts which have all contributed greatly to make all of what we do in Dios Me Ve possible.

DIOS ME VE OCTOBER NEWSLETTER

Dear brothers and sisters, we are at a lack of words when it comes to expressing how grateful we are with the Lord and with you for such an amazing partnership. We are so grateful to the Lord for all his countless blessings to his ministry of Dios Me Ve and to our family. During this month of October, we have had a lot of activities going on in the ministry of Dios Me Ve and in the community of the Colonia 89, where we could clearly see how God’s all mighty hand was in control. We ask you to please continue to have all of us in your prayers as we daily serve the Lord with our lives in the vision that He has given us for His ministry of Dios Me Ve.

On the 7^th of October God gave the members of the congregation of Dios Me Ve, the people of the community of the Colonia 89, our family and our brothers and sisters in Christ from Hands of Mercy the blessing of building three small houses for three different families in need of a home in the community of the Colonia 89. The three houses were built for three 5 member families that were in great need of a home as they each only had a small room for their family that they had built with whatever material they could find (tarps, pieces of lumber, rugs, cardboard, etc.).

It was a long day of hard work as we had three construction projects going on at the same time in different parts of the Colonia 89. Everyone that helped showed nothing but joy and team work as they all came together to bless these families. It was such an incredible day of service; the families even expressed their gratitude by making some tortillas and burritos for all of us. The Lord was truly showing us all His love through the lives of these families and through all His children that were working hard as a body of Christ. Although we know what a huge blessing the homes were for these families in need, we pray that the testimony of love that was given that day by the so many brothers and sisters that helped would be an even greater blessing to their lives and an encouragement to seek Christ above all things. 

This 14^th of October the ministry of Dios Me Ve was once again blessed with the visit of the students of the Calvary Chapel Bible College Campus San Miguel. The students came to bless the congregation and the community of the Colonia 89 with their amazing service. They lent a helping hand with one of the construction projects that we had and they repainted the plaza and retaining walls around the buildings of Dios Me Ve. Since early morning everyone was hard at work painting and mixing cement for the cement slap in between the church building and the children’s building of Dios Me Ve. But of course their service didn’t end here. 

While some of the students were working hard painting and doing construction others were with the kids of the community. Our brothers and sisters planned a VBS program for the kids where they had many songs, games and activities that the kids and some adults got to enjoy, they even had a fun skit for everyone. After so much work and fun we were blessed with some delicious hamburgers that some of our sisters of the Bible College and of the congregation of Dios Me Ve helped cook and prepare. It was such a blessing to see how the students from the Bible College and the members of the congregation were having a great time of fellowship and sharing the love of Christ with the kids and everyone that joined us on that day. We are always so blessed to be able to have these times of fellowship and service amongst each other.

On October 20^th, our brothers and sisters in Christ from Calvary Chapel Victor Ville, Calvary Chapel Redemption Hills and Calvary Chapel Apple Valley, blessed us with an amazing Parent’s Seminar. In the Colonia 89 there is such a great need for biblically based teachings on how to be a parent and guide your children according to God’s will, that this seminar truly came at a perfect time. The teachings that were shared by our brothers and sister in Christ were such a blessing for the parents that attended the seminar, as some of the topics and situations that were dealt in the teachings are very real to them for they are things that they are currently facing in their homes as parents.

During the seminar there were many parents that had several question and doubts about parenting. Thanks to God some received the answers and encouragement that they needed to guide and teach their children like arrows in their quiver. We praise God for all that was said and taught that day as we know that He was in control of it all. Towards the end of the seminar there was an open invitation to pray for all those that desired prayer; it was during this moment where we could see how God was working in the lives of those that went. Some of the parents that attended the seminar are part of the community of the Colonia 89 that don’t usually go to the bible classes at Dios Me Ve so it was a great joy and blessing to see them sit in through each one of the teachings and ask for prayer.

After the seminar was over we had a great time of fellowship with an incredibly delicious taco dinner with all the parents and their children. We are always so motived and encouraged by the visits of our family in Christ that come to teach and spend time with the members of the congregation of Dios Me Ve, with the community of the Colonia 89 and with us. Please continue to keep all the families of the Colonia 89 in your prayers as there are many that have the desire to seek the Lord but are discouraged to do so by the many circumstances of their lives. 

All through October we were blessed with so many opportunities to serve the Lord and share His love with the people of the community of the Colonia 89. On October 28^th we had the blessing of receiving the visit of our brothers and sisters in Christ from Living Truth Christian Fellowship for our yearly toy outreach. We were blessed with privilege of sharing the Lord’s love with over 300 kids and over 100 women. Each child was able to receive a toy and prayer and each mother was able to receive a gift, a pantry and prayer. In addition to the toys, gifts, pantries and prayers, the Lord provided to be able to bless the people of the community with a delicious hamburger lunch that our sisters prepared with a great amount of love.

Sincerely, there is always so much to do during this day as it can be very difficult to keep so many people in order and moving smoothly in and out of the buildings without causing trouble. We are blessed to say that on this occasion we had so many brothers and sisters in Christ working together, lending a helping hand and joyfully serving that things turned out great. We know that God was surely in control of all that was done that day as none of this would have been possible with our own strength. We are so grateful that as a family in Christ we were once again given the opportunity to be able to bring Christmas in October for all the kids of the community of the Colonia 89.

There is still so much more that the Lord has in store for this community and its surrounding areas. We hope that you can all continue to keep us in your prayers as we move forward in the vision that the Lord has placed in our hearts. Thank you so much for another amazingly blessed month of partnership in the Lord’s ministry of Dios Me Ve. We pray the Lord continues to bless you always; as for us, we will remain in the battle ground were the Lord has placed us faithfully serving Him in all things.