We have very good news on a number of counts:

1) The thirty plus believers that were expelled from their community near Huejutla in the middle of last year were allowed to return about a month ago. Thank you so much for being part of that praying army that brought this answer from the Lord. So few Christians ever get to go back after being expelled; many more have to make their lives elsewhere, losing their lands, their livelihood and ancestral home. Please continue to pray for a family in yet another community that was expelled at more or less the same time that these returned.

2) José Carpio now has three Proclaimer New Testaments in his language variant, which are moving all over the sierra, proclaiming God´s word orally to the indians. In the next couple of weeks, four more are being carried in by Christians whom God has provided to do this. Two of these Proclaimers are in other variants of the same Huastec Nahuatl language, which he will be able to share with the other groups he works with.

3) The team from LAM Canada was an incredible blessing and success in all they did in Camp Kikomar. I have a list of twenty eight projects, large and small, that they completed in just 10 days of work. And all of this in spite of miserable weather, with cold, wind and rain almost every day. Everyone finds it hard to believe that our usually sunny and warm Tuxpan gave such a grim outlook for that long. The weather took a casualty when my dad (who was here to support us with the team) slipped on a muddy slope and fractured his ankle three days before the team left. He is happily back in Costa Rica now, with his cast coming off just before Holy Week.

4) The giving out of leftover bread from the supermarket bakery every Thursday continues to be a huge blessing, and is building so many bridges in the people along our island. Last Saturday, the truck broke down right outside one of the little thatched roof huts. Within seconds I was surrounded by our “bread people”, who gave me water to add to the radiator and wise counsel as to how to get it going again. While I waited for it to cool down, I was pulled into a birthday party. I protested, saying that I didn´t want to gate crash their party, but they insisted, saying it was a way to thank us for the bread. And we are getting more and more opportunities to share the Gospel as we move back and forth to the camp. People know that we care for them, and that earns us the right to be heard.

We also have a couple of prayer requests:

1) During Holy Week, we are delighted to have an evangelism team joining us at Camp Kikomar from Union Church in Costa Rica. One of our deepest burdens since we began working at the camp three years ago, are the hordes of youth heading for the beach during these festive days, who are apparently partying and having a good time. But under this flimsy façade, you can see the hopelessness and despair that drives most of them. So eight from Costa Rica, plus a number of us from Mexico, are asking for the Lord´s grace as we seek to proclaim His Hope into their despair.

2) Right now our 1990 USA Mazda truck sits in the shop waiting for a distributor that apparently can´t be acquired in the whole country. This is only one of three things that are wrong with it right now, added to two major repairs already this year, plus countless ones last year. Unless we can get the distributor, it will never run again. Our VW station wagon is doing truck work, carrying cement to the camp and such, like a little ant, but it also has had its fair share of troubles, including having a wheel nearly fall off in the curviest part of the mountains in January—twice! We are sure the Lord has a plan, and we have seen Him provide everything we need regarding transportation throughout the years. Please join us in praying for His provision.