Progress

One of the peculiarities of churches in Mexico is that they tend to be attended very largely by women. It is very common to have many women and very few men in a church. This is largely due to the Mexican culture that views religion as being for women. The concept of "machismo" is very prominent here. According to Wikipedia, "Machismo is a prominently exhibited or excessive masculinity. As an attitude, machismo ranges from a personal sense of virility to a more extreme male chauvinism. In many cultures, machismo is acceptable and even expected." Because of "machismo" among men here in Mexico, going to church is simply not viewed as being "manly." Many men are simply embarrassed to be seen entering a church.

Things are no different in our church. Most of our regular attenders are women whose husbands are not believers. So a constant prayer request is for the salvation of the husbands of the ladies who attend our church.

Well, by God's grace we've begun to see a little progress in a couple of men the last couple of weeks.

Up until a few months ago, Orlando, the husband of Norma, one of our regular attenders, was very closed to the gospel. He would become very angry with Norma if she ever mentioned God or if she invited him to church. He would not even allow someone from the church to visit Norma when he was at home. A few months ago, I went to visit Norma and found only Orlando at home. I introduced myself and we struck up a very cordial conversation. Since then I have been able to visit with him on numerous occasions. The last couple of months Norma has said that Orlando has been much less belligerent and more open to spiritual things. This morning in church Norma shared that lately Orland has been reading the Bible on his own and asking a lot of questions. Praise the Lord! God has clearly been working in his heart lately.

Another example of God's grace at work is Ray (pronounced "Rye"), the husband of Susy, one of our members. Ray has never been interested in attending church or in spiritual things. But the last few months I've been able to develop a friendship with Ray and he's been very open. Well, today Ray showed up at church, much to Susy's (and our) surprise.

We're not sure what God has been doing "behind the scenes" in the lives of these two men, but it is clear that he's been working. Please pray for Orlando and Ray.

On a different note, Rosy, one of our most faithful members has been going through a very difficult time of trial the last few weeks. Please pray for strength and patience for her and please pray for wisdom for us in helping her.