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The Italian Gringo

Greetings, Gringos! We hope your week wasn't as rough as ours.

With Monday being a holiday, many of our riders were gone, and our church van only had ten kids. Hopefully, we'll be up this week-end.

A wallet containing the equivalent of $330 for grocery money was left in the van at the La Ola Orphanage, and one of the girls stole the money, In searching the rooms, they found an iPod that a girl had stolen two months ago, but there was no sign of the money. It will be beans and rice three times a day for the next week. On the other hand, attitudes have improved, and that's good, because today the government came by to investigate the orphanage. They talked to all the older girls privately and concluded that the orphanage is doing a great job.

Last week, I was walking my dog in the evening when I heard the loudest explosion I have ever heard. A few blocks away, drug dealers had thrown a hand grenade at a rival dealer, killing him, his wife, and four-year-old daughter.

And at the orphanage today, I was able to show two Christian cartoons that I had successfully downloaded from the internet, and the kids liked both of them.

A good friend from Pennsylvania, whose opinion I respect, replied to last week's letter, defending Joe Paterno. Penn State's former coach has become a legend of good conduct, he broke no laws, and he might have feared a lawsuit if he had not handled the sex scandal according to proper procedures.

Here in Mexico, we're discussing my series on "Why Most Missionaries Fail" at http://theitaliangringo.blogspot.com/

Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Adios, Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! Caramba, it's cold outside, with daytime temperatures never getting above 60 degrees. We hope that all of you are doing well in this frozen winter weather.

My wife Nancy has finally gotten me onto Facebook, and I'm finding all kinds of old friends. You're all invited to look me up there.

And my blog on "Why Most Missionaries Fail" is getting a good response, so I hope that you'll drop in for a visit at http://theitaliangringo.blogspot.com/2011/11/why-missionaries-fail-part-11.html

Max, the incredibly ugly, all-white boxer, finally got adopted from the animal shelter yesterday. The guy who had promised to adopt him never showed up, so we finally let him go. Max was one of the nicest dogs I've ever walked, and I hope that he does well in his new home.

It was our lowest attendance in four months, but for the seventeenth week in a row, our church had over 100 in attendance. We've just lost some families who moved back to the United States, but we are still doing well. The van was up from last week and the feeding kitchen is reaching more people.

Do you spend time reading your Bible? Sometimes, a Christian reading the Bible will be "struck" by a certain verse. The Bible is God's chief method of talking to us, and you can actually listen to God when you carefully read His Word. When we neglect God's Word, we reap what we sow when God doesn't speak to us as much.

Adios, Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! Nancy and I hope that all of you are doing well.

It was seventy years ago today, on a day that will live in infamy, that the United States was attacked at Pearl Harbor. To the surprise of the victorious Japanese, the enlisted men of the United States Navy mounted such a furious defense that half the planes that took part in the attack were damaged. After evaluating the damage, the Japanese admiral made a decision that cost Japan World War 2: he did not return for a second attack. My father, who remained at his post after being wounded, was one of those enlisted men.

Most of the kids at the orphanage were suffering from coughs due to the cold weather, which left them stuck with nothing to do. I was able to take over a Bible study for the older girls, and I taught the lesson twice, with God blessing us both times. Our van route has had low attendance three Sundays in a row now, and I hope that you'll be praying that we can get the attendance back up again.

We're getting some good response to my series on "Why Most Missionaries Fail" at http://theitaliangringo.blogspot.com/ I'm not getting my information from college textbooks; I'm getting my information from what I have actually observed here in Mexico.

I was following a series on a Christian hatesite recently, and I found some good news. First Baptist Church in Hammond, Indiana, had been the world's largest church before it turned Ruckmanite, believing that God had rejected His Word and replaced it with the King James Version. A religion of hatred, founded by a man who stole the wife of a friend of mine, Ruckmanism teaches its followers to spread conflict and strife in order to harm churches that will not follow Peter Ruckman. First Baptist suffered a massive decline after turning from the Word of God, and then a new pastor reversed course and the church grew back to become America's 11th largest church. A few weeks ago, the pastor of First Baptist publicly repudiated Ruckmanism, and I hope that the church continues to do well.

Philippians 2:3 begins "Let nothing be done through strife.." When you see a person who loves to fight, who rants away at Christians who won't fight, and who goes around starting conflicts, you're seeing a person who walks in active disobedience to God.

See you next week,

Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! If every week is as good as this last one, I don't know what I'll do.

After three weeks of low numbers, we had 26 kids on our 18 passenger church van last Sunday. I have promised God repeatedly that I will never complain again about having over 30 on that van.

Attitudes have improved a lot at the La Ola Orphanage, and the kids are enjoying the Bible studies and Christian cartoons that I'm able to do. They've pretty well gotten over the coughs that they all had two weeks ago from the cold. Like most Mexican houses, the orphanage is unheated. The hour-long bus ride to the orphanage is an adventure in itself. I can usually get a seat, and I only had to stand for the entire trip one time. It gets bad when they have to cancel a bus, and the next one comes with a double load, but that's only happened a few times.

And for the tenth year in a row, Navy won the annual Army-Navy football game! Air Force, incidentally, beat both teams this year, and Air Force Academy will be in a bowl game on December 28. Our son John has just gotten out of the Army and has joined the Air Force Reserve while he goes through college. At least he'll be with people who know how to play football. And Good Heavens, even the Philadelphia Eagles won on Sunday.

We've had four adoptions at the dog shelter in the past few days, so there were less dogs for me to walk today. This still made us very happy, as we have a waiting list of people who have taken in strays.

John the Baptist was approached by people who wanted to be baptized, and he refused, because they showed no signs of repentance. John asked them who had warned them to flee from the wrath to come, since they had rejected John's message. We get into trouble as Christians when we let unsaved people (John the Baptist called them "vipers") join us. The Bible tells us that there is no fellowship between light and darkness, and that we are to come out and be separate from the lost.

I'm surprised at the interest I'm getting for my series on "Why Most Missionaries Fail" at http://theitaliangringo.blogspot.com/ Local Christians already agree that most missionaries who come to Mexico are unsuccessful, and this series explains why.

See you next week.
Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! We're suffering through temperatures in the eighties that drop below fifty at night, but we're hanging in there!

The Tiengas are a giant open-air market that comes to Chapala once a week. Since the police arrest the vendor if anyone gets sick, the food is always clean and safe. I noticed on Monday how many teen-age girls are carrying babies, and this is the result of American and American-like TV shows. And despite what television promises, these girls do not look happy to me.

We got two new Brazilian workers at La Ola, and they both speak English and Spanish, which really helps (They also speak Portuguese, but that doesn't do us any good.) Today, we packed everyone into a van to go to a museum in Guadalajara, but one person had to be left behind when we ran out of room. I had already had a good day with nine people watching the Christian film I showed, so I got stuck baby-sitting four little kids for four hours.

Some of you are concerned about the drug wars in Mexico. These wars occur between gangs selling drugs to the US. In Mexico, if the police catch someone with drugs, they beat him until he tells where he got them from. Needless to say, very few Mexicans use drugs. I walk my dog at all hours of the day and night, and I have never been in any danger.

And we've had so many adoptions at the animal shelter that we're short of dogs. When I volunteered to catch a few strays, they seriously considered my offer.

I taught last week's Bible study at church on "Vipers." In the Bible, vipers symbolize people who know that they are not born-again Christians and have no intention of accepting Christ, but want to join up for various reasons. When they tried that with John the Baptist, he called them "vipers" and asked them who had warned them to flee from the wrath to come (because John knew that they had rejected his message). The lesson went well, and I enjoyed the good response from the group.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,
Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! Nancy and I hope that all of you had a Merry Christmas.

It's hard to believe that I had such a good year when so many bad things happened. My mother died on my 58th birthday, and I still miss her. I broke my arm, and I was amazed at the love and friendship that the Plinkes at La Ola Orphanage showed me by frequently driving me to the hospital in Guadalajara.

But the church van route continues to do well, and this year I was able to start showing Christian films at La Ola, and I'm hoping for new opportunities to serve the Lord in 2012. Abby Grissom and Benno Van Waeyenberg are officially engaged, and everybody is happy about that.

How about you? Was it a good year? A bad year? Drop me an e-mail and tell me how you're doing.

I've never gotten as much response to my blog at http://theitaliangringo.blogspot.com/ as I'm getting since I started my series on "Why Most Missionaries Fail." One problem is that the normal Sunday morning problems are extended over a seven-day week, and the series will help anyone who wants to serve God do better.

You should have seen our pastor on Christmas Sunday! His wife bought him a pinstripe suit and the whole church is raving about how good he looks. I told him that if he wears it again this Sunday, revival will break loose.

We did have an ugly incident this week, though. Someone at the La Ola Orphanage is a thief, and a smart one at that. We just had two Brazilian college students and a Japanese college student arrive to do field work, and someone stole a chunk of money that was set aside to pay the Mexican workers. It was obvious that one of these girls had done it, and being a foreigner in Mexico, accused of theft by an American, is difficult. And with everybody upset, I calmly explained that all three of them had been with me, taking five kids and one mother to the animal shelter. I knew when we had left and when we returned, and the theft had occurred while we were gone.

The next ugly part was easy for me, because I was the only one who could prove that I was not onsite during any of the three thefts. I explained that the thief is not one of the children, it's one of the adults. We were able to prove the location of all twelve of the children when the theft occurred, and none of them could have done it. So they fired the maid, and I hope they got the right one.

Me? I'm praising the Lord that I took people to the animal shelter, because I was all over the place and I'm kind of shifty-looking anyway.

See you next year,
Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! Well, Amigos, things got tense this week. They tightened up at La Ola Orphanage, and two girls ran away as a result. The psychiatrist, who had just certified that all the girls had improved over the last six months, quit in tears because the girls had turned hostile to her. I showed up to find all the girls angry at me, because they were angry at all the American adults. The decision had been made to transfer one of the girls who ran away to another orphanage, because they've been having too many problems with her. Another girl was going to be sent to a work house run by the government. One of the girls who had run away is actually one of our better-behaved girls, and she was walking around crying and terrified that they were going to get rid of her.

In times like that, there is only one thing a man can do, so I did what had to be done. I put Thomas the Tank Engine into the DVD player. Within minutes, all the girls were quietly watching the adventures of Thomas and his friends, and then the adults joined them. Everyone calmed down, girls were going around asking for forgiveness, they stopped being angry at me, we had a successful Bible lesson, and then we took a bunch of them to the park. Wilbert Awdry invented the Thomas stories, and if I can find him in Heaven some day, I want to thank him.

And this brings up another issue. I am running a successful series on "Why Most Missionaries Fail" at http://theitaliangringo.blogspot.com/ I haven't gotten there yet, but one reason is that their colleges didn't train them properly. Bible colleges do not want to send their young people to missions that do not do things exactly as the college says they should be done. But when you're a real-life missionary, you have to deal with people who might be born again, but they have different music and dress standards, come from different backgrounds, have different strengths and weaknesses, and have different ideas about how things ought to be done. I am trying, without success, to persuade Christian colleges to send students down here for a summer missionary project, but they are unwilling to send their students to a mission where they might learn something the college doesn't teach. But if any of you are interested, send me an e-mail and I'll get you connected with the director.

Adios, Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! We hope that all of you are free of allergies, as Nancy had to go to the doctor for hers.

What's Christianity without a little persecution? We have some faithful kids who have been coming on our church van route for years. Last Sunday, an uncle showed up with a whip, and told me that they weren't coming anymore. I could see that all the kids, their mother, and their grandmother were afraid of him, but there is nothing that I can do.

Speaking of child abuse, Bill O'Brien, the offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots, has already started work as head coach at Penn State. He has already convinced some of their football staff to resign, and as soon as the NFL season is over, he will be at Penn State full-time. It is O'Brien's team that beat Tebow's team last Sunday.

Behavior at the orphanage has really improved after a painful crackdown, (maybe we should bring in the guy with the whip) and we had some good Bible lessons and films. And now:

We are looking for summer volunteers for this year. We need college-age or older teen girls who are willing to live at La Ola for the summer. Speaking Spanish helps, but many of us don't, so it doesn't eliminate you. We're not talking about a vacation here, but there is plenty of time for traveling around the Gringo Zone and gaining insights into how the rest of the world lives. There are four English-speaking Christian churches to choose from, as well as Mexican churches if you speak Spanish. You'll be assigned to baby-sit, clean, teach, tutor, cook, take kids to the park, accompany kids to school, and whatever is needed. The food is excellent (and safe), the weather is pleasant, and the people are nice. But there is real work to be done, and you really will gain a better perspective on the successful Christian life.

And while people who serve at La Ola are generally successful, most missionaries are not. I'm reaching the conclusion of my series on "Why Most Missionaries Fail" at http://theitaliangringo.blogspot.com/ and I hope you'll drop in for a visit.

Adios, Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! It's cold and miserable here, with temperatures dropping into the high forties at night and staying in the sixties all day.

We're still coasting from our big day last Sunday, with 160 in attendance. We had an outdoor barbecue and trampolines, and there were 35 kids on our 18 passenger church van. Lots of volunteers were needed, but we had no shortage of help. It is wonderful to be in a church where God is doing something.

We have some new readers from Facebook with us today, and if you want to be my friend on Facebook, type in my name and you'll be welcomed aboard. You can even see photos from last Sunday. If anyone wants a free subscription to The Italian Gringo, just have them ask for one.

I had told about Maya, the female pit bull mongrel that was being trained to fight. Somebody from the animal shelter "liberated" her, and the owners haven't shown up yet. She loves people, but it is clear that she has been trained to fight other dogs. This morning, she saw a statue of a cat while I was walking her, and she tried to attack the statue.

I'm now teaching a Bible class to the older girls at La Ola Orphanage, and last week they had some problems settling down. They were teasing the Brazilian interpreter by giving her wrong information. The Christian cartoons went very well, but the middle girls were all angry at me over something. I am still trying to recruit summer volunteers to work at La Ola without pay, but they provide food, living quarters, and medical insurance. Let me know if you want to be a real missionary this summer.

I am enjoying some of the Facebook games, but they keep putting advertisements on my Facebook wall. They also want money, but I have enough sense to keep my credit card away from them. There are plenty of free games on the internet, and you don't need to buy anything to play.

Do you realize that if you take every verse in the Bible that tells you how to be saved, it is shorter than the story of how Joseph forgave his brothers? Christians have to learn to forgive. I have only been able to find two other former Christian schol teachers who even attend church, and yet there are tens of thousands of them. Bitterness at how the leaders often turned against teachers who were ding what was right (because the leaders were afraid of parents who knew that their children were lying) can be cured by turning to God's grace. Joseph recognized that his brothers were used by God to put Joseph where he needed to be, and it helps us forgive those who wronged us in the past when we act like Joseph.

See you next week,
Vicente
Threeofu@hotmail.com
 
Greetings, Gringos! It's the most miserable February in anybody's memory, with temperatures staying in the fifties most of the days.

Something bizarre happened on Facebook, and that led to a new series on The Italian Gringo at http://theitaliangringo.blogspot.com/ entitled "Our Enemies in Heaven." What happens when born-again Christians become enemies and then meet in Heaven? I already knew that Christians who wrong other Christians believe that they are authorized to disobey the many Biblical commands to love one another, to correct wrongs, and to tell the truth. But I was surprised to learn how many Christians believe that when you get to Heaven you will be equal to the Christians you have wronged. I hope that you'll find the series to be helpful.

The Bible studies with the older girls at La Ola continue to do well. Last Saturday we took them to the animal shelter and they had a great time. Buying them candy bars on the way home didn't hurt matters any. But something happened about a month ago with the pre-teen girls that has made them bitter and hostile to me. I wasn't there when it happened, but it was pretty strong. Prayer will be appreciated.

I've sometimes told about the former director of Love in Action, an orphanage that is now a homosexual outreach ministry. The director had been fired, evicted from her home onsite, and is now living, along with her husband and children, with her mother-in-law. And she continues to slander Christians she does not like. The various Christians she has wronged, including me, continue to watch in amazement as she refuses to stop. And "No," she is not involved in the Facebook situation I referred to earlier.

She probably won't read my series on The Italian Gringo blogsite, but I hope that you do.

Adios, Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! FINALLY, the sun is shining on Mexico again! No one can recall a more miserable three weeks of winter weather.

There is no way to get around the bad news. There was a power struggle at La Ola Orphanage, and a big donor has seized a lot of control. No one can go there without his permission. My friend Jeff, who has done an excellent job scheduling everything, has been demoted. I am only allowed to go there one morning a week, and they cancelled me for this week. I don't know how much of this was done by the board and how much was due to a need for money. The donor spends a lot of money on the kids and has bought their "love" with trips and gifts, but he has no real use for God. I don't know what is going to happen.

Meanwhile, I am running a series on "Our Enemies in Heaven" at http://theitaliangringo.blogspot.com/ Several Christians have written in to state that all these problems are minor offenses that will be easily forgotten in Heaven. Uhm, uh, selling Joseph as a slave wasn't a minor offense. The thread deals heavily with Joseph's bizarre but successful conduct in getting reconciled to his brothers, and I hope you'll drop in for a visit.

Despite having a lot of people gone, our church van ran 23 last Sunday, and our church had a good attendance. We are discussing having a third service n Sunday, as the Mexican congregation is running out of room.

I have mentioned before that I have have found many of my former high schol students living for God, but I can't say the same for their teachers. Part of the problem involves what college you attend. Many of my former class mates are troubled by the failure of our college, and I wonder how many graduates of other Christian colleges have the same problem. The Bible NEVER commands you to attend a Christian college. If you do not have a rock-solid call to full-time Christian service, then you need to prepare to do what God has called you to do, not what a college tells you to do.

Adios, Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! It's sunny and pleasant in Mexico and I wish that all of you were here!

To my great relief, things at the orphanage were nowhere near as bad as I thought. Because groups of visitors were showing up unannounced, they made a rule that they had to have permission first, but the rule does not apply to me. The pre-teen girls had been bitter at me because I had returned with a group when one of them was still in a public rest room. I thought the girl had returned without us. I went back immediately and found her, but they considered me an evil man who abandons children in toilets. After a public apology and a trip to a junk food store, I am forgiven. A few of them have been abandoned, bad memories, etc., what can I say?

The Christian cartoon and the Bible study went very well, and now they are planning to start a Christian home school for the girls. Most of them are so far behind in the public schools that it is hopeless.

Meanwhile, the goofy Afghan hound at the animal shelter got adopted and then returned, because he won't stop crying. He badly wants to go home, but we can't find the owners. He loves me and cries his head off when I put him back in his cage after a walk. But we had three other adoptions this week.

Last Sunday I was 59 years young, and the pastor and his wife had a birthday dinner for me at their house. I was so stuffed with good healthy food that I had to turn down my third helping of dessert. My pastor doesn't realize how spoiled he is.

I want to warn folks about a retirement error. Godly Christians will retire, take their life savings, and build a ministry. Then they run out of money, and the ministry collapses. Near my church is a beautiful estate that a fellow spent a fortune on. He renovated the place to be a church and a Bible college, and now it sits empty. We helped a couple start a church in their home. The moved here from Texas, set up a giant-screen TV to show sermons on, and got discouraged and quit when several of our people moved away. Becoming a Christian leader because you have the money to buy your own ministry is a dangerous path to take. I retired to the Gringo Zone and God has blessed me. But funding my own Christian work with myself as a leader would be a disaster.

We have so many new readers, thanks to Facebook, that I want to explain what happened. Nancy and I were happily serving in a successful Baptist church when a small group of people seized the church, running off about 3/4 of the congregation. We began attending a soul-winning, fundamental Assemblies of God church. We are not charismatics, but we are growing and serving, and we're staying here. We run a church van on Sunday and brought in 25 Mexican kids last week. I sometimes teach the mid-week Bible study, we love the people, and the people love us.

Don't forget to drop in at http://theitaliangringo.blogspot.com/ for a visit.

Adios,
Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! Warm, pleasant weather is the order of the day here in Mexico!

For the third time, someone adopted the goofy Afghan hound at the animal shelter and then returned him. It seems they have their back yard surrounded by a high brick wall. It seems he managed to climb it. When he returned two days later, they brought him back to the shelter. I could hear him crying as I entered, but he was vary glad to see me.

$200 dollars to get my car repaired and I'm raring to go! And then I got a $10 ticket for not putting money into the parking meter. There was no parking meter, but I was supposed to park where there was one. You can't park in the free spaces unless all the metered spaces are full. Now they tell me.

We trying to raise another $6,000 for a van for the orphanage, and then the government will match the amount and we'll have a new van. And I'm trying to find someone to donate a large trailer that we can use for a school. The Bible study and Christian carton went well today, and then we took the kids to the park. Supposedly, most of them will be gone on Saturday, and I will spend much of the day with the few that are left. animal shelter, here we come!

What happens when we meet our born-again enemies in Heaven? Drop in for a visit at http://theitaliangringo.blogspot.com/ and see if it will be as easy as some people think.

See you next week,
Adios,
Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! Mexico is having a cultural revolution, now that I have taught the church kids the word "Knucklehead." Mexicans had no concept of such a word, but they do now.

I grow large tomato plants in pots in my front yard, and "the Peanut Girls" are poor kids who were eating the peanut shells that I used as fertilizer. I often give them icicles, but this week they spied some strawberries in our kitchen. They "liberated" several and then started searching my freezer for ice cream before I shooed them all out. What can I say?

The orphans had a miserable Saturday, driving five hours and then hiking for one hour to look at some butterflies, and then they had to go back. Fortunately, I was not with them. But today they were in a good mood, and everything went well. The older girls were surprised to learn that God will take care of them if they serve him before all else. I stayed a couple of extra hours to baby-sit the three little ones so the stressed-out Mexican workers could have a break.

Yes, the goofy Afghan is still at the shelter! He whines as much as ever, but he's still my buddy. The problem is, he won't make a good pet. If someone attacks the owner, he'll run; he needs a lot of exercise, and he cries all the time. His name is "Prince." When people are around, I call him "Daffy." When people aren't around, I call him "Taliban."

See you next week,
Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! I appreciate the concern, but the Mexico City earthquake was nowhere close to us.

And I'm on the leading edge of technology again! I have successfully installed the Windows 8 Preview version on my computer, and it runs great. First, DON'T install it on your regular operating system, because it deletes your existing Windows system. Install it on a partition or a virtual machine. The new Metro Interface takes a lot of getting used to. It is designed for touchscreens, which really are the wave of the future. The Start Menu is gone, and your desktop consists of "tiles" for different areas. These tiles are "active," showing current e-mail, weather, Face book messages, etc. And after three days of getting used to it, I have got some of the tiles activated. Internet Explorer 10 is very fast, and I was able to download other free browsers with no problem.

Remember that this free download is only a pre-release. Many of the functions are disabled or missing. You can download free software to make up for much of it, though. And unlike other Microsoft pre-releases, this one never expires.

La Ola Orphanage has raised 1/4 the money needed to buy a new van, and another 1/4 is in pledges. The Mexican government will pay the other half, if all the pledges come in.

What's it like to live the Christian life without God's Word? Bob Plinke told us that when he was learning to fly, he had to be able to fly with only the instruments. Then the instructor had him close his eyes and lower his head, and fly level by doing what he thought was right. Ten seconds later, the plane was sliding downwards and to the left. When you're spiritually blind and without God's guidance, your spiritual life can't work right.

We're still discussing "Our Enemies in Heaven" at http://theitaliangringo.blogspot.mx/2012/03/our-enemies-in-heaven-part-11.html

Adios, Amigos!

PS. The goofy Afghan at the shelter got adopted for the fourth time. I'm praying that these people don't bring him back.
 
Greetings, Gringos! We hope that you're all doing well.

I'm a hero! At the orphanage, I noticed that their new puppy had fallen into their fenced-in swimming pool (with the gates locked) and couldn't get out. Fortunately, it has only been four decades since I hopped a chain-link fence, so I am still in practice. The terrified dog is okay, and the kids think I'm a hero. We also had a good Bible study and Christian cartoon, and a Happy Birthday party for one of the workers.

I'm enjoying the Windows 8 Preview Edition, but I was dismayed to learn that it expires on January 15, 2013. I followed step-by-step instructions on the internet on creating a partition on my hard drive, installed the Preview version (available for free at microsoft.com) and it runs great. I am steadily transferring programs over from Windows 7. On the Win 8 forums, one fellow suggested that instead of buying Windows 8, buy an SSD hard drive. Combined with Win 7, that would be better than Win 8 on your old computer.

I have written on one Christian forum about when you need to leave your church. Over the years, I have met born-again Christians who swear they will never attend church again because something bad happened to them. The problem was that they didn't leave when they should have. You won't lose your salvation for leaving a bad church. Christians who attend a wonderful church are happy with their Christian lives, and if you're miserable in your church, perhaps you should look around. Don't start fights, don't seek revenge, and remember that God is allowed to bless Christians who stay behind.

Sad news from the animal shelter. Prince, the goofy Afghan hound who has been adopted four times in the last month, had to be put to sleep with incurable cancer. Prince was one lovable character, and I'm going to miss him.

Quick! Name the comic book hero who has to take a taxi to an observatory, leaps into outer space, crashes into a meteor, gets knocked unconscious (the meteor won), falls back to Earth, crashes into the ground, and survives? Why, it's the 1942 Superman, who wouldn't be able to fly for another decade. I bought a CD with old cartoons on it, and after the Christian film, even the Mexican adults were fascinated by them. You ought see that guy leaping tall buildings at a single bound.

See you next week,
Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! Nancy and I just got back from the malecon (a pier that is used as a public park) and had two large ice cream cones for 80 cents each.

It was a rough Sunday, with many families on vacation, and we only had twelve kids on the church van. But I was able to teach the mid-week Bible study at church and it went well. And then the orphans went on a trip (without me!) so I have today off. And some of our favorite neighbors moved back to Canada, so it's been a rough week.

Tiny, touchscreen computers with the Android operating system have appeared here for the same price as in the US: $106. With no hard drive, keyboard, or mouse, they will take you on the internet and let you use "cloud" applications. Nice toy, but I'll pass. But I write a lot on a Windows 8 forum, and I predict that within a few years, all computer monitors will be touch screens. You can still use a mouse and keyboard with them, but Windows 8 will emphasize touch screens.

Matt Neighbor, our pastor's son, is getting married, and we bought Nancy a gift to take to the bridal shower. I hope that nobody else bought them a toaster.

In the first part of the Book of Acts, the new Christian Church grew by "adding" people. Later, they began "multiplying." When God is blessing, a church eventually starts multiplying.

Speaking of blessings, I have made friends with some of my former students from Emmanuel Baptist School. Their church is doing very well, and so are most of them. When I meet people who have grown frustrated at Christianity, their complaint is almost always against churches. Folks, if you are unhappy with your church, GO SOMEWHERE ELSE! It has worked great for Nancy and me.

We're battening down the hatches as the rainy season approaches, but for now, the weather is pleasant and I wish you all were here.

Adios, Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! It's warm but pleasant here in the Gringo Zone, and I wish you were here.

We had another good Sunday at church, but the best part was the van ride home. We had the kids trying to sing "Old MacDonald," and they loved it. I'm working on singing it in Spanish, and the orphans today liked it. Granted, they think that "eieio" is how you spell "farm" in English, but we had a good time. Today's Bible study at the orphanage was the best it's been in a long time, and I had good behavior from the kids.

Our world-famous volcano is spewing ash and smoke but not doing much harm. Hopefully, it's another false alarm. Since we are far away, we're not in any danger.

This week, North Korea suddenly went on TV to announce that they would reduce South Korea to ashes within four minutes. With American spy satellites and spy planes showing no threat, we ignored a government that has proven itself to be evil and insane. But why did they do it? I suspect that they are upset about all the North Korean jokes appearing on the web after their intercontinental ballistic missile test failed. These aren't ethnic jokes; they are making fun of the government, not the people. And unlike ethnic jokes and racist jokes, these jokes really are accurate. It also appears that their nuclear test scheduled for yesterday has failed as well.

In real life, Atheism produces misery, poverty, and slavery. The most successful, happiest Atheists live in nations where the majority of the people believe in God. Atheism had its chance when it controlled the Soviet Union, and it produced a nation of people that wanted to get away from it.

See you next week, Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! It's uncomfortably hot here and we're hoping that the rainy season will arrive soon.



Myra Neighbor (Honest, that's her name) is our new youth minister, and she rode the church van both ways last Sunday, along with 30 Mexican kids. That made 32 people on our 18 passenger church van, and everybody had a good time. I think she was a little taken aback at the way I bellowed Gringo hymns while I drove, especially the one where the chorus goes "EIEIO!" But the kids behaved, and hopefully her presence will get us more kids on the van.



It was a difficult day at the orphanage. We're having scheduling problems, attitude problems with a child we had to expel and now can't find a home for, and the usual stressful problems involved in running an orphanage. I hid the remote so the problem kid couldn't control the DVD player and I was able to show a Christian film plus some cartoons. On the good side, 10 year old Sarah and her four year old sister Pearl arrived last week, and they are both doing well. I had to sneak them down to Oxxo (a Mexican version of 7-11) for some cookies, and I think they'll fit in well.



After months of construction, our main road now has street lights. Each pole has two lights: one for the highway and one for the sidewalk. Now if they would only pave the road.



Several minor earthquakes have rumbled through Mexico in the last two days, but we didn't feel anything. And our volcano continues to spew ash and a few rocks, but no eruption yet.



Last week, an Iranian admiral stated that Iran can now place a warship within four miles of the United States. The Spanish wee doing that five centuries ago.



I'll be teaching our church's mid-week Bible study this week, and I came up with something. In most of the Christian conflicts I have seen over the decades, the unresolvable ones were caused by a third person. The person will take his quarrel to someone who is not involved, and now the new person is having a conflict with someone who never wronged him. When someone tries to get you enrolled in a conflict with someone who has never harmed you, remember that this conflict might never be resolved. In other words, stay out of it.



And the Easter egg dye finally arrived! We're dying Easter eggs at the orphanage next Wednesday.



Adios, Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! It's hot and muggy and you're lucky you're not here.


We finally dyed Easter eggs at La Ola Orphanage today! The kids had a great time and they should be posting photos online soon, and I'll post the link on my Facebook account. We have a new girl who is frightened and isolated, but she warmed up after we got her dying eggs. The other two new girls are fitting in well, and we had good behavior today. The Bible study and the Christian film also went well . I was able to teach a successful mid-week Bible study at church last Friday, but on Sunday our church van dropped to 14. I guess that five out of six isn't bad.


When God's people become enemies, it is almost impossible for them to become reconciled. When Joseph successfully reconciled with his ten brothers, he overcame four obstacles: They were in rebellion against authority. They didn't fear the Lord. Their leadership was disorganized. They did not have Christ-like conduct. Joseph's bizarre treatment of his brothers solved all four problems. If you're in a conflict with another Christian, make sure that none of those four things apply to you.

The State is now requiring all of us to go through orphan training. And some of the trainers have conflicts with people they'll be training. And some meetings will include Christians who can't get along with each other. The fired director of another orphanage, who has slandered me to several people, will be one of my trainers. Yesterday, two hostile orphanage directors were forced to sit next to each other in a van, without speaking to each other, for a few hours. Lots of laughs ahead, Folks.


Organized criminals have started a rash of killings and kidnappings of local businessmen, killing a restaurant owner who has generously helped two of the orphanages here, and kidnapping the son of another one. We can no longer take the orphans to the park, for fear of kidnappings, but we plan to take six of them to the animal shelter this Saturday.


And the elections are in full swing! A few nights ago, the Presidential debate was hosted by a former Playboy model, who dressed accordingly. I saw one photograph and realized that it was against my religion to watch the debate. Yesterday, about sixty folks gathered on our street for a big dance in support of one mayoral candidate, and we were stopped last night for a parade by another candidate. You have to say this about Mexicans: they sure know how to hold an election.


And today is Mother's Day! So when we went to the school to pick up two of our kids I had to stand with about seventy moms while the kids sang songs about what wonderful mothers we are.


Adios, Vicente
 
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