BACK TO SCHOOL & OTHER THINGS

Three weeks from home & two weeks here at the ranch & we are so blessed by all we come in contact with. The Slushers were here for a few days on their way back to the states & we enjoyed visiting with them. They had been in Culiacan, a town south of here, working with a group out of southern CA providing the gospel to indignant workers from the Mexico City area. We went into Alamos with them Friday night to have dinner at a restaurant run by Ana's sister-in-law. It was an enjoyable time seeing old friends & sharing what God was doing in their lives.

We have settled into a routine here, more or less, in the last week. Jerry has been working on things around the ranch including the diesel bus used to transport people to bible studies in Tesia & Rosales. Since the Conners(the teachers from the states) have gone back to their home in Florida, the responsibilities for teaching the girls on the ranch are being shouldered by Ana, Roshon, Marilu & Carla. I am planning to teach English classes while we are here & when we return in the fall I hope to add a Science class to the schedule. So I will be looking for primary grade reading books & science books for intermediate grades. The girls are very eager to learn English, especially the new younger ones as their English language skills are very meager. Vanessa & Maura do very well with English but Trini & Lupita know only a few words. Teaching them will certainly try my Spanish language skills but will definitely be good for me.

Trini & Lupita both come from homes where they were abused & beaten by their fathers. They are cousins & both of them are 12 years old. In Lupita's situation her mother had died and her father remarried. Her step-mother would tell her dad stories regarding things she had supposedly done (although they were not always true) and he would beat her for them. Trini had a mother but she had psychological problems & beat Lupita quite regularly. Both girls seem to be adjusting to life here at the ranch & are very much in need of the loving & caring christian environment they have here.
It has been such a pleasure to be here helping out while Dan & Ana are gone to the states. God has truly blessed us with this opportunity to serve Him. I continue to be amazed at the dedication of the believers here. Most of them have to depend on others for transportation, either the vans from the ranch, walking, riding their bicycles or trying to catch a ride with a neighbor who is going by where ever the teaching is being held. Those who have cars can't always afford the price of gas yet they somehow find a way to get to the teaching. We feel truly blessed to be of service to them as well as humbled by how easy we have it in the states and yet so many of us find excuses not to go to church. I do lunch for the girls on Monday & Friday and dinner on Thursday so I will close for now since it is almost 12 noon & I need to start lunch.
May God bless you all & thank you so much for your prayers & support.
In Him,
Jerry & Jo

Getting Settled In

Hi to everyone. Sorry to be so late in updating. Jo and I have been busy resting up and settling in, but not that busy. Our trip south with the fifth wheel was great even though we didn't have water until we got out of the "freeze zone". Our travel days were a little shorter and at the end we just climbed into the rv for the night. One night was a truck stop parking lot and another was at a Wal-Mart. We finally stayed in a RV park when we were visiting our friends Paul and Ruth in Casa Grande AZ.. It was great to see them again and have a little warmer weather.

We arrived at the ranch New Years day and Dan and Ana left the next morning for the Missions Conf. in California. We joked about them leaving whenever Jo and I show up, but it's a blessing for us to lift up their hands, even if for only a short time. May they have a blessed time at the conference and get some well deserved rest.

Below are a couple of pictures of the great set-up we have to park our trailer in. It was built by Paul and Ruth for their motor home. It's great to be in the shade ( 70's here you know), plus the bug screen helps a great deal. We also have a storage shed out back to store extra stuff and make a little moving around room in the RV. You can see Jo in the laundry corner so you can't avoid some jobs, even down here.....

I"ll close for now, but Jo will post again in a few days with some pictures and stories about a couple of new girls here at the ranch. We miss and love you all. We thank God for allowing us to serve Him here in Mexico and we also thank each and everyone of you back home for your prayers and support.....God Bless you all...Jerry and Jo

Our Return to Mexico

Hi to everyone and Merry Chirstmas. Well here's our rig. God has provided us with a 1990 Road Ranger and a 2001 GMC pickup. I haven't updated since we got home in mid-November but we've been busy getting the trailer and truck road worthy. They are not perfect by any means but we think they will be great. We're looking forward to this next trip. We leave for Mexico again this next Sunday the 28th and plan on being at the ranch by Jan. 2nd after stopping in AZ. and visiting our dear friends Paul and Ruth. It is such an adventure following God wherever He leads us.

Last Sunday at church I shared with everyone that Jo and I feel that God is leading us to a more full time ministry in Mexico. Therefore, when we return from Mexico in February we will be putting our house on the market. When it sells our plan is to move full time into a little larger trailer, serving at the ranch in Mexico from approx. Sept. to May. During the summer we will return to Kansas and our friends and family, and continue to serve with Samaritan's Purse in disaster relief efforts. We also would like to travel and share with churches about what God is doing in Mexico at Rancho Maranatha.

Many people have shared their desire to help support us in our ministry in Mexico and the US. This support will help out so much! We will be able to provide most of our personal support, but we still need ministry funds. Money that is available to us for food, school supplies, auto repairs, building repairs, and of course help for hardship cases...

Please continue to pray for Jo and I that we continue to be obedient to His call upon our lives, He provide for our needs, and keep us healthy....God Bless, Jerry and Jo.

Fourth Week In Mexico

As Jo and I were preparing to leave we were able to share in the celebration of Carolina's 14th birthday. She has turned into such a wonderful and beautiful young lady.

Two new girls were brought to the ranch Tuesday by DIF. Being 12 and 13 years old they walked out of Mocusarit and an abusive family situation. Carolina really reached out to the younger of the two and was telling me on the bus ride back from the bible study in Tesia that she reminded her of herself when she first came to the ranch. Short hair, no smiles, and very afraid. As she held the new girl tight I asked her if she was cold. She said no, she was just giving her a hug.

This "special" birthday candle was a gift from Jason Slusser before he and his family left the ranch for their new home in Flagstaff.

Our dear friends, Paul and Ruth Wallestad....

They are leaving Rancho Maranatha after partnering with Dan and Ana for the last 14 winters. The will truly be missed but never forgotten.

In my last post I told you about dear Cuca. She went to be with the Lord 5 a.m. Monday. They waited for the burial until Dan and Ana returned Tuesday afternoon.

Jo and I have now returned home to Wichita. We will be quite busy for the next 6 weeks. We plan to return to Mexico between Christmas and New Year's Day. We plan to take our new fifth wheel trailer (1990) and we are praying for God to help us with a truck to pull it. We will also be busy working our jobs to earn enough to take off that month again. Thank all of you for your help, suggestions and prayers. We miss all of you when we're in Mexico and all of our friends at the ranch when we're here.

God Bless you all...... Jerry and Jo

Our Third Week In Mexico

Here Jo is teaching a class in Science to two of her star pupils Carolina and Josi.

They also get Math and History from Roshon, Spanish and Geography from Ana, English from Audra and Health from Carla.

The younger girls get Math, Geography, and Science from Marliu and English from Audra.Audra also teaches Lolita and Josi piano.
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This is Cuca. We were asked by her family to take her from the hospital in Navajoa to her home in Mocuzarit. She was being sent home to die. This same thing happed to another lady last January when we were here. It really breaks your heart to the elderly in the states, but even more so here in Mexico in the poorer areas.

This is Cuca's home until the Lord takes her home. The Lord continues to lay it on my heart to build a Hospicio (nursing home) here in Mexico. Please pray that He will show me how.

The lake at Mocuzarit is now full! Thanks to the hurricanes. Those of you that have been here for the baptism and swimming would not recognize it. This is the area we were at but the water was about a block lower. Praise God!

Bible Studies and Fellowship

Mike, Mark, Mac, and Tom from South Carolina.

This is one of the benches built by the South Carolina team. Four went to the bible study in Tesia. Four went to the bible study in Rosales and 3 more stayed here at the ranch. Paul and I are in process of extensive testing of the ones here at the ranch. We'll keep you updated with our findings!

The worship group Sunday night in Osobampo with Dan, Dulce, Brian, Roshon, Marilu.

The "gringo" section outside with our interpreter

Jake and Jessica from Tennessee. Frank Sanders from South Carolina. Ruth Wallenstad from Minnesota and of course Jo from Kansas

One of the two classrooms in Osobampo.

A stop for carne asada tacos is standard after the Tuesday night bible study in Tesia. Here is Rogelio, Carolina, Marilu, and Carla.

Spoke To Soon!

In my last posting I was bragging about the old 84 Ford van. Well I guess I spoke to soon! It didn't make it from Las Minitas to Osobampo for church services last Sunday night. After service they told us it made it about halfway and we had to tow it back to the ranch while Brian took the people home in his pickup. This week we filled the battery with water (empty), replaced the starter solonoid, both battery cable ends, new brake pads, packed the wheel bearings, and replaced the strut arm radius bushings on the drivers side. While getting ready for a test drive Wed. the transmission shift linkage broke inside the steering column. There was an old parts van on the ranch that I was able to get a used column from but we didn't have a key for the ignition. After taking the column and old key with tumbler into Navajoa for repair, I finally got it put back together yesterday and Marco came and picked it up today. He asked if we also fixed the broken exhaust pipe. We gave him 100 pecos (10.00) so he could get it welded in Navajoa!

Jo is cooking more and also teaching the older girls science. Everyone seems to be enjoying it. Dan and Ana are enjoying their visit in TN. If you don't get her updates and would like to, let me know and I'll forward them to you. Most of the people on the ranch stayed up last night for a campfire. Jo made Smore's with the girls. I went to bed early! This was a alternative night for their "day of the dead" in Mexico. (Halloween).

Frank Sanders and his team from South Carolina leave Sunday morning to head home. They have been such a blessing to have here. Paul and I have had devotions every morning with them from 7 am to 8 am. The cleaned the melon vines out of the orchard, cut brush, mowed grass, redecked the wood on the trailer, and built 11 benches for two of the bible studies and here at the ranch...One of the two washing machines broke and they also helped Dan purchase a new one. They didn't get to work on the ministry house but they have another team coming back in February. They have asked us to hire some electrical help and some stucco help. Plumbing is also still needed.