• Written by:  sana24
• Date Posted:  November 9th, 2015
• Category:  Uncategorized
• Comments:  1 Comment »

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith;”        Hebrews 12:1-2a

Let’s be honest.  Today’s society is so fast-paced we hate to even wait for the microwave to hit zero!  Often times we find it hard to wait for what we want or what we hope will happen.  I think often times this spills over into our lives as Christians as well.  We serve and share, doing our “Christian duties” but when we don’t see the results we’re looking for, we easily get discouraged and sometimes throw in the towel because obviously what we’re doing “isn’t working” or God just must not be “in” what we’re trying to do.  This scripture really speaks to me about running with PATIENCE.  The NIV version uses the word perseverance.  This isn’t a 100m dash, it’s a marathon.  With respect to ministry, this is a great encouragement.  Quite often it takes months, years, or decades to see results, and sometimes we never even get to harvest the fruit of our labor!  But if we run with patience, looking to Jesus, and remember that we serve Him to glorify Him, not to see the fruit or expecting microwave-type results, we will be able to finish the race with success.

I suppose you were starting to wonder what had happened to us!  Sorry about that…  Our classes have been going well, we have a very consistent group of about 20 kids ranging from kindergarten to middle school who attend Monday through Thursday.  The last few weeks we have been focusing on different lessons we can learn from the book of Psalms, such as obedience, talents and how to use them for God’s glory, vengeance is God’s not ours, God’s mercy, God’s love, and other short studies on Psalms.  The kids always amaze us with their memorization skills!  However, we tell them that it isn’t just about memorizing a verse so you can get a piece of candy, it’s about memorizing it so we can put it into action!  We also continue to work on reading and writing with the little ones, along with some basic math and even the first couple times tables!  With the older kids we’re mainly focusing on those annoying but necessary times tables. :-)  We try to come up with fun ways to practice, such as Multiplication Bingo, Around the World, and other games, because we’ve come to realize that some don’t even know the basics, and if they don’t have a foundation, how can they be expected to learn more advanced math skills?  We have also been diving in to fractions and some writing on the side so they don’t get too bored.  ;-)  We’ve put the English on hold right now because I found out that many of them are not writing correctly in Spanish!  We need to work on their own language before we move to another one…  The sad thing is that many teachers don’t correct them or don’t really seem to care.  The kids have told me that sometimes they even say, “Just write it however you think it should be.”  Great teaching method…  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to bash teachers, I know there are good ones out there…but unfortunately we seem to hear about all of the ones who are just in it for the salary.  Please continue to keep this ministry in your prayers as it can be very draining and we know that the enemy doesn’t like what we’re doing!  He has definitely been sending us a lot of punches lately, but we find hope in knowing that “greater is He who is in [us], than he who is in the world”!

We celebrated all of the October birthdays (there were seven!) with a pinata and hot dogs today.  We had been trying for a couple weeks but every day we’d plan to do it, the rain would come and hinder our plans.  But thankfully today we were able to celebrate all of them, and we had a good turnout, about 40 kids showed up!  We are grateful for Renato and his wife who have a candy shop here in Matamoros.  They’re always willing to help us out with candy and even got the pinata for us as well!

Back in September, Tony from Kansas came down and between five or six guys they got the house built for Ruby’s family!  It is a huge blessing for them and we praise God for having been a part of it!  The kids were very excited because each one has their own bed now, in the upstairs loft areas.  They used to have three beds all pushed together for the seven of them, and now mom and dad have their own bed, as do each of the kids.  The have an indoor bathroom, a kitchen and dining area complete with new refrigerator and stove, and a private bedroom for the parents.  They were beyond overwhelmed with gratitude and continue to thank God for this great blessing!  Our next project will be for Brenda, who has medical issues that hinder her walking ability.  She uses a special cane she slips her arm into and gets around slowly and somewhat painfully.  Her two kids attend class with us, and we look forward to seeing God bless them with a new  home.  It’s very difficult for her to move around, and they have uneven dirt floors that make getting around even harder.   There is a video that was posted on Facebook giving a little tour of their current home with the family.  If God puts it on your heart to bless this family, please send a tax deductible donation to First Light Foundation  13021 Northwest Freeway Suite 512  Houston, TX 77040.  Thank you!

Eleazar has been working very hard the last few weeks with a few local guys, fixing up the old house where Ruby and her family lived.  The property actually belongs to her mom who is currently living in Chiapas (Mexico’s southernmost state), and she has kindly allowed us to use the house for our small group meetings now that the weather is getting cooler and rainier.  It is a one-room block house that they have been sealing up to keep the rain and cold out, and they will be adding on another room so we can separate the adults from the kids.  A group from our church helped out on Saturday, getting the roof put up for the addition and visiting some of the families who attend the small group, to encourage them to continue going and to seek the Lord.  Despite more rain, they were able to get the 2x4s nailed to frame the roof and hope to be able to put the tin sheets up this weekend.  We are grateful for our church’s willingness to partner in this ministry with us and are blessed to have their support!

We have gotten a lot of rain over the last few weeks, and it always seems to start on Fridays (when we have our small group meetings), so attendance hasn’t been as great so far this month.  However, before the rainy weekends, we had about 20 adults and 35 kids!  We pray that people won’t feel discouraged because of the rain and mosquitos and will still come whenever the weather allows us!  Please pray for this group as it is really touching the lives of some individuals.  We are working in a very difficult area of town, one of the “rough neighborhoods” and we pray that God will move the mountains He needs to move in order for people to come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  One of the girls who is in my class shared with me that she and her sister are very excited, as is their mom, because their dad has never wanted anything to do with church or with God, but he has been coming to our small group and he says he likes it!  The girls said they were very happy because he has also been changing his attitude.  Please keep Hector in your prayers, that God will continue to work on his heart and that he will make the decision to accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior.  He has been helping Eleazar with the building project as well, and we pray we can be a blessing to his life, so he can see the love of Jesus in us.

A quick note on Elliam, he is growing more and more every day.  He’s almost as tall as the 4 and 5 year olds we have in class and he’s barely going to be 2 in December!  He absolutely loves music, especially the guitar and drums.  He’s learning shapes and letters with puzzles and is getting very good at them.  We’re amazed everyday at the intelligence God has blessed him with!  He has a very strong personality, which I know God will use to bless others, it’s just up to us to figure out how to teach and guide him and have the patience to help him as he learns to express himself in healthy ways.  :-)

A special thanks to everyone who has helped us with your prayers, thoughts, encouragement, donations and love.  We appreciate you!  May God bless you in abundance as we work together to expand His Kingdom!

Love in Christ,

Eleazar, Drisana, and Elliam

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• About US

  Eleazar and Drisana Garza are missionaries in Matamoros, Mexico. They spend their days loving on the youth and their families through prayer, labor as well as financial support.

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