Breaking the Silence!

25Aug

¡Hola, familia!

Imagine stepping out of a nice, air-conditioned airplane and directly into a relentlessly hot, steamy sauna, with tons of beautiful green foliage everywhere around you. This is how our team felt upon our arrival to and throughout the duration of our time in Mazatlan, MX. Yet despite the muggy weather, we were refreshed when we discovered an incredibly loving church body at CC Maranatha, which is where we stayed last week. While there we were blessed with the opportunity to help set up for and serve in their VBS and soccer tournament, before being sent out from their Sunday service for our mission trip to the Cora tribe. Since there is a lot we could share about from the past couple weeks, we'll just focus on some of the highlights since our last newsletter!

Tatiana with the 5-6 year olds

First off, the VBS was so fun! It is always such a blast being with the little ones, even more so since it was space-themed! Since kids are so forgiving when you don't know the language, and are perfect to practice communicating with as you are learning, all that is really needed is to show them love and attention, especially through playing with them. I (James) fell in love with so many of the children just doing things like playing duck, duck, goose (“pato, pato, ganso”), playing with balloons, dancing and making paper airplanes. We were invited to hang out at the home of an amazing church family one evening, and I made a new paper plane for one of the three boys, Gael. A few days later I saw him at church with a similar one that he colored, and thought how cool it was that he either replicated it or was still enjoying mine. It made me think how awesome it is to leave a legacy of the knowledge and fragrance of Christ for the little ones to carry with them into the future.

James with the 7-8 year olds

One evening, on the way to the joint soccer outreach for the kids, I (Tatiana) sensed that God was impressing on my heart to be ready to be used by Him once we got to the park where the tournament would take place. Instantly after arriving, I felt led to speak to a woman there named Rosa, who was there with her three kids. Usually it is hard for me to start a conversation about God with someone, but right away she noticed my Romans 12:1-2 tattoo and asked what it was. I explained it to her through a translator and afterward prayed for a tough family situation she was going through. I also met her daughter, Kenya, and told her, "I have your name tattooed on my arm!" She seemed a little skeptical at first until I showed her my Africa tattoo, which has a heart shape almost directly over Kenya. Her face immediately lit up, and her mother began to tell her "See, God cares so much about you that He sent an angel to you to show you"! This left me at a loss for words, but I felt extremely blessed to have been a vessel considered fit to be used for God's glory - in a very unexpected way! Please pray for Rosa and her family as she would call herself a Christian, but is afraid to read the Bible as she knows that means she would have to obey what it says. We pray that she would realize obedience to Christ is in actuality freedom!

Dancing for the Cora children

Rosa is one example of someone who has more than enough access to the gospel, yet chooses the world instead. However, there is another type of person in Mexico, and that is the indigenous who have never heard the gospel. These people live in what has been called “the ring of silence” for hundreds of years, and only recently has it become not-so-silent, as there is a pastor from Culiacan who has been endeavoring to bring the gospel to them. As our missions minded pastors frequently say, "the unreached are unreached because they are hard to reach." Hearing those words ringing in our ears gave us the strength we needed at times to press on during our trip to visit one of these formerly unreached peoples: the Cora of Nayarit! Although it was a blessing being able to minister to them, the road going up into the mountains was long, bumpy, and windy. Many people from our team got sick while we were up there, and it was hard to sleep at night because of torrential rain on the sheet metal roof above us, as well as constant thunder and lightning. Despite all of these challenges, God opened our eyes to see His goodness amongst these very hospitable mountain people. When we woke up the morning after arriving, we were entranced by the beautiful, green mountains surrounding us on all sides. All of the Cora people are farmers, primarily growing corn in order to supply their community with lots and LOTS of tortillas! Just as the literal ground there seemed to be fertile and ideal for crops, we also believe that this was portrayed in a spiritual sense regarding the receptive hearts of the Cora for receiving the gospel. The children there had such a pure desire to learn about Jesus and they begged us to play worship songs for them on the guitar over and over again! We got to pray for one Cora family that recently converted to Christianity and is being raised up to plant a church in the region so that new believers have a place for fellowship, growth and to be trained to teach others also (2 Timothy 2:2). We also got to show the love of God by helping out with a few outreaches including a two day VBS, hosting a medical clinic, as well as distributing shoes and blankets. In short, it was a very special few days with the Cora of Nayarit! Please pray that God would continue to raise up leaders to labor in the church that will soon be built there, and also that gospel seeds would land and take root in many more “fertile” hearts.

“But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

Matthew 13:23

Class of 2025 photo

As many of you know, this week concludes our trip to Mexico, as we will be heading back to our home on Friday night. In the remaining days we have here, our team will have a time of debrief about the last six weeks and to seek the Lord about next steps regarding missions. James and I are currently unsure about what the Lord might be desiring for us to do, as we would like to continue in the Mission Training School (MTS) at our church, but there is a balance we are trying to figure out in our schedules for this to be possible, including both of us working to pay our living expenses and reduce debt, as well as quality time together as a newly married couple. Please be praying with us, that we would hear from the Lord and receive vision from Him in these next few days, and before MTS starts back up next month.

Just as we've said from the beginning, your prayers and partnership with us in the ministry are so valuable to us. Many of you have given such generous financial gifts toward our six week trip here - so much so that we only need $1,240 to pay for our remaining school tuition! It felt daunting and a little scary to move in faith and leave jobs, family, and our home for six weeks, but God has been so faithful to provide every step of the way. We pray this encourages any of you who God might also be calling to take a step of faith: “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

Prayer Points:

That the Lord would direct us and the other students in what to do after the school ends as well as being surrendered to His will

Safe travels for us and the team as we head back to the States!

Financial provision for the remaining $1,240 of our CSOM tuition

For God to provide for our $7,000 in personal debt to be cleared

Lord bless you richly - according to the riches of His overflowing mercy and grace!

The Albano’s