Recently, God did the same for another man who is called Lupe, through the work of the team at La Cosecha. This man had been chained to a tree, living outside in the dirt like an animal because he had become so violent, uncontrollable and a threat to his family. In fact, his family brought him to La Cosecha restoration center still chained up in the back of a truck!!

Oti and the gang cut the chains off of him and received him with much love, compassion & prayer. Lupe no longer has long, matted, filthy hair & black fingernails from eating his food off the ground … the Lord has cleansed him inside and out! and now, Lupe has even been giving people hugs and greeting them for worship!!!  ( Lupe is shown below, far right ) We serve a mighty & loving GOD!!!

This is your opportunity to pray for him and the rest of the team, so stay tuned for more stories about Lupe and others!!

Little did either one of us know, how God would not only use our friendship …But the plans that HE had to use it … in a mighty way!

God began to work in Felipe’s heart and convict him of many things. One of the things that he learned early on, was that, we don’t have to be anybody special by earthly standards before God can start to use us, we just have to be obedient to Christ and He will teach us the rest.  Well, I can honestly say, that Felipe took that to heart … and ran with it!

As God saw Felipe “really” surrender his life to the Lord and be willing to follow Him at all costs … this is when God really started opening up doors for him to minister to others.  The interesting thing about being put in a teaching role,  is that it forces you to prepare yourself … in order to teach others and Felipe does this with a passion!

On any given week, he’ll be hours away from home and in some pretty remote and rustic areas … simply sharing what great things God has done in his life and then taking the opportunity to love others to Christ as well.  Some of the most memorable worship experiences that we’ve ever had, have been in some of the most unlikely places.

When you get a chance, please take a few minutes and pray for this missionary, pastor, dad, accountant, etc. and perhaps drop him a note of encouragement as well, because there’s always a lot going on behind the scenes, that most people will never see.

Felipe, it’s a privilege to work with you, my brother and we are very proud of you!

A lot of our friends in Oaxaca right now, are busy trying to get their gardens prepared before the rainy season comes.  Many of you have done some gardening before and realize how big of a job it can actually be, but it still may have been considered a hobby at most. But what if that’s really all you had to eat? You might have put a little more effort into it,  the whole family probably would’ve been involved and no doubt you would have been in your garden the majority of the time.

Well, that’s the real deal for most of the indigenous people out in some remote villages in Oaxaca. They continue to be subsistence farmers and quite simply put … “You grow to eat and if you don’t grow very well … then you don’t eat very well either”.  So that’s where we come in as helping them to help themselves and perhaps do what they do a little better.  Most of the people are already experts in farming,  but they might need help with obtaining water, some seed and perhaps a little fertilizer.  Most of us take these essential items for granted while gardening or maybe farming on a larger scale, but these ingredients make or break the harvest and they can be quite difficult to obtain in remote areas.

So here’s the deal … Share your ideas about primitive gardening, farming, animal husbandry or any other homesteading kind of news or articles at the e-mail below.  You might be amazed with the impact you can have on others that are less fortunate and for those that haven’t had the same opportunities that you and I have been blessed with.

burro-on-the-go@earthlink.net

“Crawly Cuisine”

“Don’t bug out, but the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization is working on a policy to promote insects as food worldwide. Turns out beetles, crickets and many other types are rather nutritious. A serving of small grasshoppers, for instance, packs nearly the same protein punch as ground beef.”

Hmmm … you don’t say,  I say.  Well, the UN is way behind the smart people of Oaxaca.  We regularly partake of such healthy delicacies down there, with the grasshoppers and the ants practically being a staple food! … that’s why the birds are so skinny, because they’re having to fight off the villagers for food.

So the folklore from the Oaxacan people is this, ” if you eat some of the grasshoppers … you’ll come back to visit Oaxaca again ”.  Or rather I say,  for some of you wimps … you’ll never come,  to try it out.  Either way, you’re missing out on a healthy, cheap dining experience … just read National Geographic.

As I looked out of the office window of the house we rent, I could see an elderly woman quietly and as quickly as possible, move to an area that had any kind of decent grass growing, spread out her bag and quickly cut the grass as low as possible with her hand sickle and lay it on the bag.

Everybody here knows that it’s a big No-No, to trespass on somebody else’s land and even more so when you take without asking … from that land, so I was surprised to hear her outside, but I could see her desperation. I noticed an elderly man off in the distance, that was presumably her husband. After I admired their efficiency for a while, I made my way down out of the house and went to go greet them. I tried my best not to startle them, but the look on her face when I came out the front door said it all and then she said “I didn’t see anybody around and thought it would be okay to take some grass for my animals … there is less land available for the animals to feed on now, than before”. I greeted them both and told them that they are welcome anytime and in fact the very place where they are searching for animal feed, will have a lot more of it in the future.

I enjoyed the great smile on their faces when I told them that this parcel of land was actually a mini experimental farm, that will be used to train people just like them, so that they can get more yields, out of less land and with minimal water usage.

So in the end, it was a great opportunity to meet new people and to let them know that not only are they welcome … but bring their friends next time as well!

The other amazing thing about this particular well (that is actually quite a blessing) is that the water is pretty close to the surface as compared to so many other places where we have to go very deep in order to find water and almost always hit some pretty hard rock, but in this area it was pretty soft. We can do a lot of cool things and actually feel good about ourselves doing them, but we have to be careful, that we’re not actually teaching them to fail.  As we’re helping people to help themselves, it’s crucial to keep in mind that we are teaching them as we’re helping them. Otherwise they won’t be able to maintain what we have done together, nor would they be able to reproduce it, in order to help their neighbors.As we continue to love people to Christ, we’re looking for a lot less tears …and a lot more smiles!

These people were very happy to learn how to make their own blankets, especially when it gets down below freezing and the little shacks have gaps in the boards big enough to put your hand in.

We were able to start an egg incubation facility in one village, where some of the production goes to provide meals for school children that otherwise would not get a lunch at all.

Most people in these villages eat what they can grow and sometimes that’s not very much, due to a lack of water, lack of fertilizer and the various crop diseases. That’s why we have helped people install drip irrigation projects, taught them how to mix fertilizer and to disinfect the soil.

The plants don’t always end up looking this nice, but a little hard work goes a long way. We recently had some unusual cold weather come in and had several plants freeze, so during those times we’ll have to design some secondary heat sources.

Most of the people are subsistence farmers, so from the time they get up in the morning, until the time they go to bed, they worry about feeding their families … in a very real way.

This is Protacio with one of his daughters, we helped him start a church in his village by building relationships through new and exciting non-traditional methods. He was recently elected to a local leadership position in his village and has earned the respect of many.

It’s not all work and no play … or rather, sometimes play … is work!  If we really want to communicate with people, we have to be willing to spend the time to know them better.

We are always looking for ways, to impact their lives in a good way … something that can really make a difference, which might be something as simple as this adobe brick oven that is being built, so that they’ll have fresh bread in the village.

Some trout or tilapia projects are always tasty!

Quail eggs have more nutrients and less cholesterol than chicken eggs.

We were blessed by the opportunity to train some pastors that came from Haiti.

To help them overcome the issues they face in their own country, to help provide for the needs of others, to help send their own missionaries and to help sustain themselves in the ministry.

For many people, the lifestyle has stayed the same for generations.

Their identity and how they view themselves hasn’t changed much either.

They maintain ancient customs and traditions.

Many children have never slept on a mattress.

Some of the villages are hard to get to and the roads are a little rough.

That is … if the road is still there!

And here’s what happens when your summer intern doesn’t eat all of his allotted insects that are offered at meal time.

( just kidding about the machete … not about the insects.)

Some of this type of lifestyle, maybe a little different for some of us.

The thought that this leaky bucket may be the closest thing to a shower many of these people have ever seen is quite convicting.

 … and if, while looking at these pictures, you start to think … “that isn’t for me”

 … Then that statement would be correct … because it’s neither for you, nor about you … it’s about them.

And it’s about these.

It’s about serving others and teaching them to do the same.

Perhaps making even a small impact in the life of someone.

 … will have a larger … Community … impact.  If you’re like me, I remind myself on a regular basis: That I am not my own, I have been bought with a price (1 Cor.6:19-20) … and that price deserves action!