{About the photos: remembering the past, building for the future.]
Dear friends of Mexico Ministries:
Greetings in the love and life of our Lord Jesus. By the time you read this letter I will be back in Mexico overseeing the completion of our new stadium, helping with new church buildings, and meeting with various pastors. This past month I was scheduled to minister at churches in Louisiana, but just as we arrived there we received word that Mary Lou’s only sibling, Ronnie, had passed away unexpectedly at the age of 77. We hurried back to be with the family, to mourn and to remember, and I had the honor of preaching at my brother in law’s funeral. I have known Ronnie since he was 11, and we shared much life together. I have spent a lot of time lately remembering him.
Even before Ronnie’s death, I wrote the basics of this newsletter, about the importance of remembering. Jesus and John the Baptist were cousins; their mothers were pregnant at the same time; they shared family, and they shared God’s call on their lives. John was the “forerunner” for Jesus, preparing the way and announcing Jesus would “take away the sins of the world.” When Jesus learned of his cousin’s murder at the hands of Herod, he said, “Truly I say to you, that among those born of women, there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist.” When Jesus withdrew to a place of solitude to pray, I’m sure he also spent time remembering John.
Sometimes I withdraw to a place of quietness and spend time remembering. I remember old friends. I remember my mother and father and their family of ten children; now there are only four left. I remember friends and supporters who have traveled the path of ministry with me in Mexico but who are no longer with us: Dr. Romero and the medical team from Lafayette, Louisiana who helped establish the clinic in Atoyac; Lee Lamury, Francis Martin, Moises Carranza - men from both sides of the border who gave so much to help the poor in Mexico and have now crossed that other borderline into the heavenly realm.
Hebrews tells us that we are surrounded by “a great cloud of witnesses.” I believe with all my heart that this great cloud includes Ronnie, Lee, Francis, Moises, Mom, Dad, Vertis, Johnny, Teenie, Poncho, Jean, Mack, and a host of others whom I have loved in this life. They are cheering us on and waiting for us to join them. But our work here is not yet done; there are churches to build, people to reach, sick to heal, souls to save, and future leaders to raise up, so that when I do join that heavenly crowd, I will still continue in the work of missions by cheering on those who follow after me. In a way, like John, my job is to “prepare the way” for those who follow and do greater things than me.
God bless you,
Larry