Dear friends of Mexico Ministries:
We are halfway through the year. Have I done my best? Will I do my best? That is what God asks of us. Forty years ago I went to Mexico to be a missionary, and people asked why. Now, as I approach 82, people ask me why continue. I think my answer is found in the question Jesus asked Peter: “Do you love me more than these?” Peter said, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Then Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
The very thing that took me to Mexico is what keeps me in Mexico - tending the Lord’s sheep. Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd, a good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10.11) God has called me to be an under shepherd and to show compassion for the sheep. In the parable of the lost sheep (Luke 15), Jesus asked, “What man among you, if he had one hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine and go after the one which is lost until he finds it. When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulder rejoicing.”
For three weeks I have been recuperating from back problems. During this short time I have had many phone calls asking, “Can you help?” The orphanage in Chiapas, the church in Monterrey, a congregation in Nuevo Laredo, another near Atoyac, a mission near Tuxtepec. Calls for help from all over Mexico; these are not people begging, these are God’s sheep with real needs.
There is a popular trend in the Church that focuses on our own desires and teaches us we should just ask God for whatever we want and he will give it to us - just make out a wish list and seal it with a prayer. My wishlist would be just one thing: “Lord, help me feed and care for your sheep.
Those of you old enough will remember the immortal words of President Kennedy when he said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” How much more true is this of the Kingdom of God! We are called to seek first His kingdom, then all these other things will be added. Thank you all for standing with me all these years as I have sought to be a faithful servant, a faithful shepherd. Great will be your reward in heaven!
God bless you,
Larry