Victory in Jesus
Dear Praying Friends,
Sunday God gave a victory that surprised everyone involved. I had not sent out a special request because I focused on trying to be who God wanted me to be for this event. We left for furlough the end of 2007 with the unique desire to return to reach the deaf in other cities in a radius of 2-3 hours from here. Before we returned, the church invited Armando to come and be the pastor. He did an excellent job and we enjoyed every minute of his ministry here.
For approximately five years, Pedro has not been faithful to church, averaging maybe three visits a year. During his absence, the church voted to make Armando the permanent, senior pastor of the church. As you recall, the vote was 38 for, three against. We never saw Pedro at the business meetings nor again for about four or five months after the vote. When he learned the church had voted, he was furious. He wanted to know why someone did not come and tell him so he could come and vote. Of course, being unfaithful to the services removes one from the active church membership, and he could not have voted had he wanted to.
I have previously posted the comments of the disgruntled deacon who was supposed to LEAD the group after we left, who decided that he did not want or need anyone else to help him and promptly dismissed the other members of the board of directors. For several months, he was the only rooster in the hen house. When the church invited Armando, he thought he would simply put Armando as his puppet, and continue to rule. Being a man of God, Armando tried to act properly and for a while, was kept under the thumb of the deacon.
Meanwhile, we returned to Guadalajara to start looking for a place to begin a new ministry. When we mentioned Michoican, everyone who knows us started to warn us about the tremendous problems they were having with several drug families ruling the area. Within a couple of weeks, the Mexican government suggested that no foreigner travel within that state because of hijackings and kidnappings. We then focused on Tepic, a city we have prayed over for years. We visited Tepic and were ready to start packing when it exploded with the exact same kind of drug related activities to the point that Marshall law was put in place and the Army took control of the city.
During that time, as nothing more than a member of the church, I asked why there was so much tension between the members of the church. I was told that Rigoberto had a death grip on all of them and that not even Armando wished to confront him. He had told Armando that even though he was living in the church, he was not to use the stove, plates, silverware, etc. because Gary didn't want them touched. Of course, when asked, I replied that all things belonged to the church, not me, and were there to be used as a blessing. Rigoberto felt his grip starting to slip away. When the actual vote came, Rigoberto stopped some of the new Christians and told them to vote "no" for the pastor. Three negative votes PROBABLY were Rigoberto, his wife and one other new deaf. He was so upset with the vote (he had to publicly announce each vote as it was opened since he was the only deacon), that he publicly swore that he would not support Armando as pastor. He started a campaign with outsiders to get rid of Armando. He started or at least publicized lies and rumors that Armando was gay, he spent his time in discos, he was sexually active with his own sister, etc. We know this because one deaf man came, got saved, baptized and was really excited about serving the Lord. THEN, he met Rigoberto while out selling and the both of them then told me that Rigoberto "taught him all about Armando." All of the above things were mentioned with absolutely NO FOUNDATION to any of it. SOOOOOOOOO, Pedro called Horacio in Monterrey, the pastor of Armando, over the Christmas holidays (text message) and told him that the church no longer wanted Armando and that they should prevent him from returning here. He made statements about the church even though he had not attended for many months.
Rigoberto withdrew several deaf from our church and started his own "church" with Pedro's support. My reaction, even before Armando left, was, "Fine. There are thousands of deaf we haven't reached yet. Let them carry on and so will we." With the New Year came Pedro, Rigoberto, Omar and others to say they wanted to come back = a new year, a new start. They were told they would have to come back according to the Scriptures, in full agreement with the church and in total support of it. They agreed. Only Rigoberto and his wife have attended.
We started hearing more and more rumors through the LOST deaf community that Rigoberto was telling them, he was returning to take over the church now that Armando was gone. About four weeks ago, we heard from four different deaf that the above mentioned men were waiting until Gary & Ann left to go to the Field Conference, and then they would jump Fernando, and steal the keys with the purpose of stealing the church, selling it and dividing the money! As the men of the church, we prayed earnestly and decided on last Sunday's approach.
I preached on several Biblical principles that the deaf are ignorant of and closed with "Ignorance of Biblical Separation." After teaching basic truths, I went to Matthew 7 and asked how we could know the sheep from the wolves. After a few minutes' explanation, I turned to Rigoberto's wife and asked if she knew what he was up to. She sort of half nodded yes but with a questioning look. I then presented three points including the two times he had admitted to trying to overthrow the church and the most recent allegations. Since they left the church, their membership has not been re-instated and they are under "probation" where they must prove their intentions. Since this issue was public knowledge and Rigoberto openly was announcing that he was going to do this, we felt we needed to confront him openly (the majority of the deaf were still afraid he would attack them if they said anything). He denied everything, even though we presented several comments from unsaved who had quoted his name as the source of the story. His wife was shaken, but agreed they knew nothing. In passing, I mentioned that I had shed many tears for them because God will sometimes touch a family when the man refuses to listen. I had begged God not to take it that far since their family had been in our church since birth, but are now attending a hearing church.
At the end of the service, I prayed for them, still not knowing what to do because they denied everything. When I finished, Rigoberto's wife asked to say something. I was a little hesitant but told her to go ahead. She immediately started sobbing and begged for forgiveness stating and showing her repentance and desire to be a real sheep, not a fake. She sobbed uncontrollable for several minutes in TRUE repentance. When she finished, I reaffirmed our love for them as persons and immediately many of the deaf signed to her their love. Her husband sat tight-lipped. When we dismissed, she was still sobbing, but many of the ladies drew near to her and she hugged them tightly. Rigoberto reached over and took her by the arm and said, "Let's go." Cheyenne instinctively removed his hand and told him, "Leave her alone."
He stood quietly while all of the deaf loved her, cried with her and prayed with her. Finally, still sobbing, she made her way to her husband. When they left the property she cried out with a loud voice, "Oh God, why did you give me this husband? Oh God, why me, why me?" Cheyenne had run out to give her additional Kleenex and Cheyenne said that Concha raised her hand and looked like she was ready to knock his block off. We all sighed a relief because now the game was over. The cat was out of the bag and I don't think his kids or wife will allow him to participate in ANYTHING out of line again!
The deaf stayed around for about an hour and a half, sitting, chatting, not saying anything about the confrontation , just enjoying each other for the first time in a long time. We have prayed long hours for them. I pray that his desire will be to repent Biblically and be restored to the church. I do think his kids will know every detail from his wife and together the family will straighten him out. Praise the Lord for un-thought -of results and the glory given to God. He certainly has done more than we were able to think or pray.
Just a side note. Churches in Latin America still practice Biblical discipline. Since they were not members, but attesting to their sincerity, we did not require a church business meeting but felt it better to "confront them face to face." The end result was that many deaf who became unfaithful in attendance because of his threats and motionings, found peace and strength in the fact that the church withstood them to the face. This was not just the missionary; this was an action taken by the church with the approval and direction of the members. Today, the deaf are stronger and now ready to approach the issue of reconciliation (if Rigoberto carries through). Thank you for praying, although blindly, for the working of the Lord. By 4 PM Sunday, you could see the peace of God on more than 30 deaf faces! To Him be the glory.
Gary & Ann
I have previously posted the comments of the disgruntled deacon who was supposed to LEAD the group after we left, who decided that he did not want or need anyone else to help him and promptly dismissed the other members of the board of directors. For several months, he was the only rooster in the hen house. When the church invited Armando, he thought he would simply put Armando as his puppet, and continue to rule. Being a man of God, Armando tried to act properly and for a while, was kept under the thumb of the deacon.
Meanwhile, we returned to Guadalajara to start looking for a place to begin a new ministry. When we mentioned Michoican, everyone who knows us started to warn us about the tremendous problems they were having with several drug families ruling the area. Within a couple of weeks, the Mexican government suggested that no foreigner travel within that state because of hijackings and kidnappings. We then focused on Tepic, a city we have prayed over for years. We visited Tepic and were ready to start packing when it exploded with the exact same kind of drug related activities to the point that Marshall law was put in place and the Army took control of the city.
During that time, as nothing more than a member of the church, I asked why there was so much tension between the members of the church. I was told that Rigoberto had a death grip on all of them and that not even Armando wished to confront him. He had told Armando that even though he was living in the church, he was not to use the stove, plates, silverware, etc. because Gary didn't want them touched. Of course, when asked, I replied that all things belonged to the church, not me, and were there to be used as a blessing. Rigoberto felt his grip starting to slip away. When the actual vote came, Rigoberto stopped some of the new Christians and told them to vote "no" for the pastor. Three negative votes PROBABLY were Rigoberto, his wife and one other new deaf. He was so upset with the vote (he had to publicly announce each vote as it was opened since he was the only deacon), that he publicly swore that he would not support Armando as pastor. He started a campaign with outsiders to get rid of Armando. He started or at least publicized lies and rumors that Armando was gay, he spent his time in discos, he was sexually active with his own sister, etc. We know this because one deaf man came, got saved, baptized and was really excited about serving the Lord. THEN, he met Rigoberto while out selling and the both of them then told me that Rigoberto "taught him all about Armando." All of the above things were mentioned with absolutely NO FOUNDATION to any of it. SOOOOOOOOO, Pedro called Horacio in Monterrey, the pastor of Armando, over the Christmas holidays (text message) and told him that the church no longer wanted Armando and that they should prevent him from returning here. He made statements about the church even though he had not attended for many months.
Rigoberto withdrew several deaf from our church and started his own "church" with Pedro's support. My reaction, even before Armando left, was, "Fine. There are thousands of deaf we haven't reached yet. Let them carry on and so will we." With the New Year came Pedro, Rigoberto, Omar and others to say they wanted to come back = a new year, a new start. They were told they would have to come back according to the Scriptures, in full agreement with the church and in total support of it. They agreed. Only Rigoberto and his wife have attended.
We started hearing more and more rumors through the LOST deaf community that Rigoberto was telling them, he was returning to take over the church now that Armando was gone. About four weeks ago, we heard from four different deaf that the above mentioned men were waiting until Gary & Ann left to go to the Field Conference, and then they would jump Fernando, and steal the keys with the purpose of stealing the church, selling it and dividing the money! As the men of the church, we prayed earnestly and decided on last Sunday's approach.
I preached on several Biblical principles that the deaf are ignorant of and closed with "Ignorance of Biblical Separation." After teaching basic truths, I went to Matthew 7 and asked how we could know the sheep from the wolves. After a few minutes' explanation, I turned to Rigoberto's wife and asked if she knew what he was up to. She sort of half nodded yes but with a questioning look. I then presented three points including the two times he had admitted to trying to overthrow the church and the most recent allegations. Since they left the church, their membership has not been re-instated and they are under "probation" where they must prove their intentions. Since this issue was public knowledge and Rigoberto openly was announcing that he was going to do this, we felt we needed to confront him openly (the majority of the deaf were still afraid he would attack them if they said anything). He denied everything, even though we presented several comments from unsaved who had quoted his name as the source of the story. His wife was shaken, but agreed they knew nothing. In passing, I mentioned that I had shed many tears for them because God will sometimes touch a family when the man refuses to listen. I had begged God not to take it that far since their family had been in our church since birth, but are now attending a hearing church.
At the end of the service, I prayed for them, still not knowing what to do because they denied everything. When I finished, Rigoberto's wife asked to say something. I was a little hesitant but told her to go ahead. She immediately started sobbing and begged for forgiveness stating and showing her repentance and desire to be a real sheep, not a fake. She sobbed uncontrollable for several minutes in TRUE repentance. When she finished, I reaffirmed our love for them as persons and immediately many of the deaf signed to her their love. Her husband sat tight-lipped. When we dismissed, she was still sobbing, but many of the ladies drew near to her and she hugged them tightly. Rigoberto reached over and took her by the arm and said, "Let's go." Cheyenne instinctively removed his hand and told him, "Leave her alone."
He stood quietly while all of the deaf loved her, cried with her and prayed with her. Finally, still sobbing, she made her way to her husband. When they left the property she cried out with a loud voice, "Oh God, why did you give me this husband? Oh God, why me, why me?" Cheyenne had run out to give her additional Kleenex and Cheyenne said that Concha raised her hand and looked like she was ready to knock his block off. We all sighed a relief because now the game was over. The cat was out of the bag and I don't think his kids or wife will allow him to participate in ANYTHING out of line again!
The deaf stayed around for about an hour and a half, sitting, chatting, not saying anything about the confrontation , just enjoying each other for the first time in a long time. We have prayed long hours for them. I pray that his desire will be to repent Biblically and be restored to the church. I do think his kids will know every detail from his wife and together the family will straighten him out. Praise the Lord for un-thought -of results and the glory given to God. He certainly has done more than we were able to think or pray.
Just a side note. Churches in Latin America still practice Biblical discipline. Since they were not members, but attesting to their sincerity, we did not require a church business meeting but felt it better to "confront them face to face." The end result was that many deaf who became unfaithful in attendance because of his threats and motionings, found peace and strength in the fact that the church withstood them to the face. This was not just the missionary; this was an action taken by the church with the approval and direction of the members. Today, the deaf are stronger and now ready to approach the issue of reconciliation (if Rigoberto carries through). Thank you for praying, although blindly, for the working of the Lord. By 4 PM Sunday, you could see the peace of God on more than 30 deaf faces! To Him be the glory.
Gary & Ann
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