God's gracious (miracle) provision

This last month we were given a very practical reminder and illustration of the truth of Paul's words in Philippians 4:19: 

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

About a month ago our mechanic told us that it was time to sell our old van.  We've owned the van for a number of years and for the last three years have been using it to go out to our mission several times each week.  Because of the severe conditions of the roads going to the mission, the poor thing has taken quite a beating.  The last couple of years a number of problems have surfaced.  We've been very thankful to have it, though, because we haven't had to take our good van out to the mission.  Well, our mechanic told us that it would be best to get rid of it because a number of serious mechanical problems.  

So we immediately began looking for a replacement vehicle.  Specifically, we looked for something stronger and more rugged than a minivan that could handle the roads at our mission.  Because we need something fairly roomy that can haul a lot of people, we thought that a Suburban would be ideal for our specific needs.

For about a week I searched the internet for Suburbans and other SUV-type vehicles.  We weren't quite sure what we were going to do, though, because we didn't really have the money to get another vehicle.  And that's where God "stepped in." 

A few days after our mechanic gave us his recommendation to sell the van, while we were still searching the internet for a vehicle, we received a phone call from my parents in Texas.  They told us that a Christian friend of theirs had decided to donate his Suburban to a pastor in Mexico and that he wanted to know if we'd be interested in it!  No kidding!  God is good!  Here's a photo of our new vehicle:

So this evening after Church we will be driving up to Texas and tomorrow (Monday) morning I will be flying up to Little Rock, AR where I will pick up the Suburban that the Lord has provided for us.  Again, God is good.  He provided us with the exact vehicle that we were looking for, free of charge!  

"Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!"

Robbery

Last Sunday night our church was robbed.  The thieves entered through a very small window that once housed a small air conditioner.  Thankfully, nothing of great value was stolen.  We lost a Igloo cooler, a weed eater, a coffee pot, some tools (shovels, etc.), and some paint.  Thankfully they couldn't get into our auditorium where we have a keyboard and ceiling fans.  

Robbery has been somewhat of an epidemic in our church's neighborhood lately.  Most of the houses on our block have been robbed the last couple of weeks.  The perpetrators are becoming very bold and are breaking into houses during broad daylight.  

Thursday evening during our mid-week church service some young men were stealing building supplies from the house next to our church and were carrying the stolen goods over our church building (that's right--over the roof of our church while we were in it) to another house down the block!  We didn't know about it until after the service.

The thieves are mostly drug addicts who live in the neighborhood.  They steal to buy drugs.  People in the neighborhood are afraid of them so most robberies go unreported.  The amazing thing is that after robbing a house, the thieves go down the street selling the stolen goods to other people on the same block.  

Thankfully, a lady who lives behind our church saw who broke into our building last Sunday and gave us the names of the theives.  So this week I went to the police headquarters to report the robbery (and the names of the suspects).  Who knows if anything will be done?

Besides the robberies, violence has also increased in the neighborhood.  A number of people we know of have been assaulted lately, and it's becoming increasing dangerous to be out on the streets after dark.  Local gangs frequently stop cars and city busses demanding money.  

THE BOTTOM LINE: This neighborhood needs the gospel!  Please pray for us.

Population of Spanish-speaking world

My colleague, Russell Raymer, passed some interesting statistics along to me the other day.  I've always known that Mexico is the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world, but I never realized exactly how big it is in comparison to other Spanish-speaking countries.  Check out these numbers:

Country Population

1. Mexico 107,029,000

2. Columbia 45,600,000

3. Spain 43,064,000

4. Unided States 40,000,000

5. Argentina 38, 747,000

6. Peru 27,968,000

7. Venezuela 26,749,000

8. Chile 16,295,000

9. Ecuador 13,228,000

10. Guatemala 12,599,000

11. Cuba 11,269,000

12. Bolivia 9,182,000

13. Dominican Republic 8,895,000

14. Honduras 7,205,000

15. El Salvador 6,881,000

16. Paraguay 6,158,000

17. Nicaragua 5,487,000

18. Costa Rica 4,401,000

19. Puerto Rico 3,955,000

20. Uruguay 3,463,000

21. Panama 3,232,000

22. Philippines 3,180,000

23. France 2,000,000

24. Equatorial Guinea 447,000

25. Canada 245,000

26. Belize 206,409

27. Andorra 69,150

28. Western Sahara 37,132

29. Morocco 20,000

Observations:

1. It is often commented that Mexico has too many missionaries.  But given the fact that Mexico has almost as many Spanish-speaking people as Chile (#8) through Morocco (#29) on the list (22 countries), maybe there aren't too many missionaries here.  This is especially true given the fact that there are still many parts of this massive country that are still unreached.
2. The U.S. is now the 4th largest Spanish-speaking country of the world!!!!!  Very soon it will pass Spain and Colombia.  
3. If our city, Monterrey, were a country of its own, it would be the 17th largest Spanish-speaking country in the world.
   
4. If Mexico City were a country of its own (some say is), it would be the 7th largest Spanish-speaking country in the world.