We finally arrived in Mexico!

Praise the Lord, for His faithfulness endures forever! In the early hours of Thursday we landed in Tapachula in the state of Chiapas (about 30 mins away from Guatemala by car) for 13 days of gospel mission. We spent the night at the Hotel San Francisco in Tapachula where we were able to rest well. Yesterday we met with one of our beloved collaborators in the area, Hector Najera. We spent our first day with both Hector and his wife and recovered from such a long trip in the best of company; the family of Christ.

Today we depart to Motozintla, about an hour away from Huixtla where we'll stay for the next two days. In Motozintla Hector is planting a church - so we hope, in partnership with God, many will come to Christ and the Holy Spirit will establish the new work.

I am travelling with Chris Nicholson from Norwich who is helping me out with some of the preaching in the several places we are going to. Please pray for him so that God uses him mightily. Moreover please pray that God would continue to keep us and guide us in everything we do. We are being really blessed in the home of our sister in Christ, Imita, who lives in Huixtla. Her wonderful family blesses us every time we come to the area.

Some exciting news: On the aeroplane somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean a scotsman called Doug, aged 23, gave his life to Christ. When asked how he felt after receiving Christ, with a big grin he said: "I feel this tingle all over my arms, I can't explain it!", to which we ...replied: It's God, His presence, He now lives in you!!

Isaiah 54:2

Hello again friends, blessings in Jesus' name! This is a quick update to let you all know what God is doing in our lives at the moment and where we've been working. Alongside our work in Mexico we've been working once again in the UK and in Spain. Our recent travels took us to a wonderful community church in Hampshire, where we were blessed to be able to share a message of God's heart for the lost as well as pray for the sick and those in need of a touch of God. In response to God's grace and power there were salvations and healings, of the body and the heart also. One man received prayer for a neck condition, he'd not been able to move his neck freely for years. He fell under the power of God and when he awoke he was beaming, full of peace and joy - God had healed him and he could move his neck for the first time in years! He was delighted and went his way rejoicing.

Later that evening we had the privilege to pray with the youth in that church, Mario spoke to them of boldness and confidence in the message of the cross - that we are not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, 'The just shall live by faith' (Rom. 1:16,17). We were humbled by the quantity of people, young and old, who demonstrated an earnest desire for more of God. This generation of passionate Christians is making waves in their community and are walking in their God-given authority through prayer and action. We are delighted to witness their passion and diligence, and look forward to seeing what God's going to do next!

Secondly, the Lord has opened some exciting new doors in cities in Spain. With a vision for every region, He is making a way for new centres of evangelism city by city, and tremendous favour in the body of Christ in facilitating this work with finance and workers. In July we will be taking a team out to Granada and working on the streets to share God's love and see the power of redemption at work. Please pray for us as we go, and we'll update you again soon! Be blessed, Sam

2 weeks of Mission in Chiapas (Mexico)

In the first 2 weeks of February we have seen how 200 people encountered the Lord Jesus Christ for the first time. It was wonderful how in Tuxtla, San Cristobal, Betania, Huixtla and Comitan among other places many people gave their lives to the Lord with rejoicing and tears. I would like to especially highlight our time in Comitan, a beautiful city on the border with Guatemala, for the church there has been working really hard in reaching out with the gospel of Christ. In an event that they beautifully organised at the city's theater titled "amor" (love in Spanish) I had the privilege to lead around 50 people to the Lord, many of them also came back for more the following day at the Sunday service. The church's pastor who organised the event is called Ismael, a good friend of mine. He and all his church have been such a blessing to me personally and to the whole ministry. At that event we also witnessed many miracles such as several deaf people who completely recovered their hearing.

Even though my stay in Chiapas was planned to be for 4 weeks, I was forced to come back as an emergency arised back in Europe. All things are now great, by the grace of God.

I would also like to especially mention my time in Tuxtla at the home of my sister in Christ, Chita, a real mother to us, who opened her house to the ministry and has blessed us greatly with her love, encouragement and indeed beautiful cooking!

Personally and as a ministry we're now entering in a new phase that promises more fruit and increase.

Please pray for us and do not hesitate to contact us should you wish to get involved in what we do. Our prayer list for this month is the following:

- We are employing a ministry coordinator in Mexico and we need indeed funds for it.
- The work in Mexico is very large, many doors are opened and we only want to go God's direction. Additionally our desire is to continue multiplying our gifts that the Word may prosper rapidly.
- We are now involved in Social Action work so larger amounts of funds are needed to finance all the different projects. Should you want to know about them, please do not hesitate to contact us.

That's all for now, and from Samantha and I peace and love from Jesus!!

Amen.

Just arrived in Tuxtla, Chiapas!

Hello everyone! Isn't God awesome! After a long journey I've just arrived in the capital of Chiapas, Tuxtla, from where I'll be traveling all over the estate of Chiapas preaching the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is going to be a 28 day-mission. There are many exciting things coming ahead, if the Lord's willing. One of them is that I'll be crossing into the nearby state of Tabasco to Villaflores and meet a Pastor from Spain called Jose Mari who has been working with different ethnic groups there for the last 21 years. There I'll be ministering in several churches and places and I'm sure we will be plotting on how to take Spain for Jesus. So a bit of everything really!

Also I forgot to mention another great news is that Manuel and Rosi (Spanish man and Mexican lady) who are married came to Christ on the plane on my way to Mexico city. It was wonderful, we spoke for hours and they have invited us (me and Sam) to spend a few days with them in south of Spain. We must follow this up! Praise God

I'm also doing this mission without my beloved wife Sam. It's very hard because I absolutely love working in the gospel with her and miss being with her in general but sometimes there is a small price to pay for greater fruit. However, we will be speaking over Skype every day we can. In fact we did today and it was great! Praise God for Skype!

With the Lord's help I'll be able to understand the Spirit leading and prompting both in ministry and relationships. My real desire is to be a blessing wherever I go and bear much fruit in the Kingdom of God.

Please would you join me in prayer for the following? Your prayers and encouragement are precious to us:

- That God's Spirit would be pour out in all villages and towns we go.

- That I would adorn the Word with my life and example.

- That God's Word through us would prosper and run faster than ever before.

- That we would be protected both physically and spiritually.

- That I would be able to make new life-lasting friendships and establish old ones for God's glory.

Please send us any word of encouragement or anything at all!

May God richly bless you and prosper you in everything you do for His glory, in Jesus name! Amen.

Belated Update!

"For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. " (Habakkuk 2:14, NIV)

You may have been wondering, what are Mario and Sam up to? why are we not getting weekly mission reports? what's going on? The reason for this absence of reports has been that the majority of the places the Lord's led us to minister His love and knowledge have been out of internet or mobile coverage. For you, our beloved reader this is a summary of what we did in partnership with the Holy Spirit:

- This time we preached the gospel to thousands and about 1,000 people gave their lives to Christ in contained environments. In other words, all of them are being followed up by committed pastors and teachers. We have chosen to work only with congregations and ministries who are serious about discipleship. Jesus told us "go into all the world and make disciples" (Matt 28:19)... "and I will build my church," (Matt 16:18) however, so often these days we find people do quite the opposite, building the church themselves while leaving discipleship to Jesus. He gave us a specific mandate, and only in such cases of obedience to Jesus' command does church growth and maturation occur. We had to make a concerted decision to stop working with any ministries who were not dedicated to making disciples. We love them, but the word God gave us was clear: "I'm interested in fruit that remains," so we must focus on opportunities to create just that. Since making this decision and working with dedicated discipling churches, we're receiving reports that some congregations have doubled or even tripled in size! Praise the Lord!

- We're working with an association of ministries called "Ministerios Unanimes" (http://www.ministeriosunanimes.com/) who work all over the state of Chiapas. They offer spiritual cover to over 150 congregations from this state only. They are delighted that we're already supporting them in equipping the saints for fruitful and powerful evangelism throughout that net of churches.

- The glory of God has been manifested in awesome ways like never before in our three years of ministry. We've seen hundreds of miracles done in the name of Jesus! Here are three of the most remarkable miracles we've seen. They're remarkable for two reasons: firstly they were afflicted from birth; secondly the three of them were over 80 years old.

1. "Rosa, 81 (Comitan, Chiapas), was blind from birth and had a chronic back disease. She testified that when the word of healing went forth she felt heat in her spine and the pain was gone. She could now move normally! In tears she also described how she'd just started to see colours and people for the ...first time." (Facebook 26 of November)

2. "Maria Elena, 87 (Carranza, Chiapas) was completely deaf in both ears from birth but left the evening meeting completely healed. In tears, her daughter described that as her mum stood up to come forward and receive healing, by the time she made it to the front of the room she had already been healed" (Facebook 23 of November).

3. "Blanca, 85 (Union Juarez, Chiapas) was deaf and mute from birth and communicated with smiles, touch and sign language. Despite not hearing the call for prayer she came for healing and was set free in Jesus name! She asked me how I was and I asked her what her name was, she said "Blanca" and blessed me in Jesus name. The pastor run towards me and said she's mute and deaf from birth! What? She's not now, I said! Glory to God! This meeting was shown on National, non-Christian cable TV. I love it! Don't you?

If the Lord is willing we'll return to Mexico at the end of January. They've started organising several conferences and evangelistic campaigns in different parts of the state. Moreover, the Lord has opened a door to us in Mexico City which we're praying at the moment about what to do here. Please join us in prayer and tell us when the Lord shows you something about us.

Last but not least, we've started looking at 2010 as the start to children's work here in Chiapas as a very important part of our ministry. So we'll be organising mission teams and fundraising to finance this foundation of the ministry. In addition to that God has opened channels in the indigenous community for us to distribute medicines and provide health care. We're going to need funds to purchase medicines as well as volunteers to help with the distribution. This project is very exciting and we're already praying for God to release all it's needed. Again, if you feel called to help us here please speak to your pastor and give us a buzz!

We are ministering to both Mexicans and indigenous groups. The fruit has been amazing, the work is massive, the harvest is gigantic, the power of God is abounding but the workers are few. Please get involved, get your church involved, contact us, we want to know about you and share with you the reality of God in the nations.

Finally, redeem your time for you don't know when God will be demanding your life. Be prepared for His coming back (which is very very soon!), purify yourselves. There is not time for strife but to love one another that the love of God will be perfected in you!

May God bless you and prosper you as you choose the way of holiness!

Adios!!

Our Gospel Action Team in Mexico!!

Two Weeks in Mexico!

Back in Mexico!

After the Lord placed this land in our heart and expanded our love for the Mexican people, we received His provision and power to carry out a work here. Two weeks have passed since our recent arrival on the 1st of October and we've been visiting homes and ministering in churches. On several occasions we've seen the glory of God healing the sick and breaking chains in the lives of many people. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit has allowed us to reach the heart with the gospel of Jesus Christ and already several people have given their lives to Christ. One of the things that have brought much encouragement and joy has been the fact that many people from the past mission are already part of different congregations through the city according to where they live. These new Christians are meeting regularly and are grateful together with their new pastors (most of whom we had never met before now) are grateful for the work of the gospel in their midst.

The Lord has opened more doors than during our previous mission here. We already have a complete itinerary for the remainder of our visit until we leave on the 1st of December in 6 weeks. This itinerary consists of:

*Preaching and evangelistic campaign in Dependencia; half an hour away from Tuxtla Gutierrez where we are based.

*Various Preaching and evangelistic campaigns with churches including Prince of Peace and Tabernacle of Faith here in Tuxtla.

*Preaching and evangelistic campaign in San Cristobal (45 mins by car)

*Preaching and evangelistic campaign in Huixtla (three hours by car)

In addition to revisiting some of the places we reached out to during our last mission here to Mexico, the Lord has also opened a new door to us in San Cristobal. This place was already in our hearts because there are several traditional Catholic strongholds there and in it's mountainous outskirts that we feel passionate about winning for Christ. In San Cristobal and its surrounds there is still much persecution against evangelical christians. However, we know that the Grace of God is sufficient and that the time has come for the captives to be set free! We bring the gospel that comes in demonstration of the Spirit and of power (1 Corinthians 2:4 NKJV). This has shown to be the only way to win these people for Christ. These people have been led to the greatest darkness by the traditionalism and idolatry of the Catholic doctrine held in these parts.

Together with the ministry of God's word that we carry out in this land, God has spoken to us about demonstrating the word in action with practical love. In this area we have several projects in motion.

*Food and medicines for indigenous people in the mountainous areas near to Tuxtla as well as San Cristobal, where we want to plant christian churches.

*An orphanage for abandoned and orphaned children.

*A place to counsel people with God's spirit and word.

This month we will be joined by several brothers from Denmark and England who're going to help us out in the work that God has entrusted to us. Please pray for them. Please also continue to pray for us and from here we also invite you to give generously so that the work of God continues moving forward at this rapid pace. May God bless you abundantly! Amen.