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10/30/2006 Mission Letter from Bill Soldwisch,
Update on Pueblos Hermanos activities
Efrain
Romero pastor of Nueva Vida Congregation in El Pípila
Bi-national Mission Trip to San Luis Rio Colorado (across from Yuma, AZ)
Hispanic Bible study in Chula
Vista, CA
New Ministry – Just Coffee
Progress at Dios Es Amor Mission in La Planicie,
Tijuana
Accident leads to new outreach
Soldwisch personal stuff
Dear Partners in Mission,
It’s been a while since I’ve written – I’m still alive and
active in ministry here at the border, but just recovered from a two week plus
stint of illness and relapse – never spent so much time in bad in all my life!
(Must have made up for at least five years of sleep debt.) I’m recovering well
– just spent a long weekend with Susan doing mission interpretation in St. Paul
and Minneapolis, a wonderful time meeting wonderful people. (btw, if your church
would like to schedule a mission interpretation visit, let us know. Or better
yet, get together with a couple other churches in your area for a coordinated
visit.)
New Ministry – Just
Coffee – is helping traditional
coffee farmers on the southern border of Mexico in Chiapas market their organic
shade grown Arabica coffee with U.S. churches, groups and individuals. They can
thus receive not only a fair price for their coffee beans but also earn the
profits from processing, roasting and marketing that usually go to middle men.
Started three years about by our sister ministry Frontera de Cristo, it enables
the farmers to stay and even prosper in their You’ll be receiving a separate
communication about this as we’re looking for 20 churches to take on this
ministry to be distribution points.
Progress at Dios Es Amor Mission in La Planicie,
Tijuana: This past year our partner Rev. Enrique Romero has been pastoring this
mission in east Tijuana, where I had been interim pastor a second time for three
months. The church has come alive again and is growing – from four communicant
members to 14 now and Sunday attendance of 40 (including children), and the
singing and praise is beautiful.
Accident leads to new outreach: Last year Enrique
was the innocent victim of an automobile accident that totaled our Mexican
presbytery’s minibus. After some months of lingering dis-ease he went to a
recommended chiropractor and immediately began to get relief and improvement.
Becoming friends with Dr. Steve Wilson, Enrique invited him to come to Tijuana
and minister in the poor neighborhood of our mission there. The first visit was
successful enough to call for another, and on, so now Dr. Wilson comes every
other Friday evening and more than 100 people come to the church for a
chiropractic “adjustment”. They all sing pray, share testimonies, even a short
sermon once in a while as they are waiting for their turn with Dr. Wilson, and
of course Enrique is sharing the gospel and then visiting these people in their
homes.
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Efrain Romero pastor of Nueva Vida Congregation in El
Pípila: Efrain, our Mission Team Coordinator of many years, having
graduated from our Tijuana extension seminary last year, was commissioned pastor
of the church in El Pípila that he helped his father build up over the past
eight years. It took some doing, of course, for the congregation to come to
accept him as pastor instead of the pastor’s kid – youth leader – music leader,
but it has happened. They’ve been working hard on leadership development; the
adults are organized into four cell groups (married men, married women,
unmarried men, unmarried women) which Efra and his wife Jenny lead. The end of
August they received seven new members (four by adult baptism) and five more are
preparing to become members in December.
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Bi-national Mission Trip to San Luis Rio Colorado
(across from Yuma, AZ). Last weekend Efrain took four of his church
musicians to accompany his brother Jonathan and father Enrique along with a
mission team from Lake Grove PC, Lake Oswego, OR (Portland area) to lead a
three-day evangelistic campaign 170 miles east in San Luis Rio Colorado (across
from Yuma, AZ). This mission is supported economically be the Presbyterian
churches of Yuma and their presbytery; Rev. Cesar Vázquez, who planted our two
churches in Mexicali, is the new church development pastor. Members of the new
mission worked together with the visitors - the music, preaching, door-to-door
invitations, testimonies, children’s activities etc. were the occasion of seven
people accepting Christ as their Lord and Savior for the first time in their
lives as well as wonderful fellowship among the Presbyterians from the three
different churches.
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Our community health and development nurse Martha
Gonzalez had some real personal health problems this past year including
partial paralysis of her face, vertigo, cardiovascular problems. WE have
experienced answered prayers as she has recovered fully, returning to her
beloved parenting classes, health lessons in six public schools, young
adolescents’ and senior citizens’ clubs. This September she was giving
parenting classes in the Lazaro Cardenas High School which required that parents
of every student participate in parenting classes in order to attend classes in
this most highly regarded school (the campus is on the site of the old Agua
Caliente luxury casino of the roaring 20’s).
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Hispanic Bible study in Chula Vista, CA: Nurse
Martha’s husband, Nicasio Rojas is leading Bible study in Spanish each Wednesday
evening at the Chula Vista Presbyterian Church (which also loans office space to
Pueblos Hermanos), the PCUSA church closest to Tijuana and has involved me as
part of the ministry team. (Nicasio works closely with Pueblos Hermanos as
a Bi-national Board member and is
the Mexican Presbytery’s representative on the Baja Presbyterian Missions
Board). There are regularly a dozen or more adults at the study and plans are
being made to expand it. This is a project of the Chula Vista PC and San Diego
Presbytery, which has facilitated Nicasio taking the Lay Minister’s course of
San Francisco Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA a Saturday each month. A
Spanish speaking member of First PC San Diego, Hugo Carbajal, who was the chief
instigator of this ministry is also taking the course.
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Soldwisch personal stuff: Last November 5 (2005) we
finally became grandparents – our daughter Shana Maria presently living in
Manila (where her husband Ky is assistant director of the Asia Foundation office
there) gave birth to Layla Grace, and Susan and I were both able to visit her a
month later. Digital photos and videos are wonderful!
Our son Jonathan will marry Gwendolyn Jovenal
this coming November 25 in San Diego. We’re finally fixing up the house in
honor of this grand event.
I get to officiate the ceremony.
Susan continues to do consulting, team
building, counseling and workshops with different border ministries and
orienting and welcoming back mission personnel from overseas for the
Presbyterian Church (USA). She is heading up our new ministry with Just Coffee.
Grace and peace be with you all.
Bill
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William A.
Soldwisch
Pueblos Hermanos
Presbyterian Border Ministry
1415 New Chatel
Dr.
San
Diego, CA 92154
Tel
&Fax: 619-429-8851
Cell:
619-392-7943
wsoldwisch@earthlink.net
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