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The Italian Gringo

Greetings, Gringos! We're having a rough time down here, and we hope that you are doing better.

With the drug wars in progress, rival gangs have killed and mutilated enough of each other that they can't keep it hidden any longer. The gangs have started kidnapping and killing innocent people in order to force the government to leave them alone. Yesterday, gangs kidnapped two children in Jocotopec, and when I arrived at the orphanage I learned that school had been cancelled and the gates are being kept padlocked. We had a good Bible study on "I am Not Afraid," and it really helped the kids. I walked to a convenience store to buy candy bars for four kids who had been very well-behaved, but the kids weren't allowed to go with me.

Mexican police do not carry side-arms. They carry automatic rifles, and they were guarding various stores today. A troop carrier full of Mexican soldiers was stationed on the highway, and there was a major police checkpoint at another spot. Most of the money comes from drug sales to the US, and because the US does not have the death penalty for drug dealers, innocent Mexicans are being killed.

If you take a concordance and look up the word "fear," you'll find that God gives tremendous blessings to people who fear the Lord. Physical protection is one of those blessings. Church attendance is down, but our church is staying open and we have only had a slight drop in attendance. We're also leaving the church open during certain hours so people can go in and pray.

The house mother at the orphanage seems to resent my teaching the kids Bible, so she decided to make a fool out of me in front of the kids today. She started acting sexy and trying to force me to dance with her in front of the kids. Folks, that woman didn't know who she was messing with. I swept her around the floor with a dazzling dance routine that had the kids shrieking with laughter and her shrieking to escape. I owe it all to clean living.

Adios, Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! I hope that the drug dealers in your country are as cowardly as they are in ours. In a country with near-total gun control, heavily-armed criminals in Mexico can find the courage to prey upon the citizens. Bring in the army and extra police, though, and they slither back under their rocks. The police raided two drug houses, and for now it's over. The report that two children had been kidnapped turned out to be false, along with other rumors of kidnappings. The van found in Chapala with fifteen beheaded bodies remains a mystery--no one is missing. People are reporting suspicious activity and have come to realize that the police are their friends. They let me take some of the orphans to the park today, and there were no problems.

Abby Grissom, whose mother runs La Ola Orphanage, was happily hitched on Friday. It was a beautiful wedding (sniff) and she and her husband are now living in the US.

But the BIG news this week is that I found a discontinued RCA video camera at Walmart for $25! I'm getting fantastic pictures, and if you visit me on Facebook you can see the La Ola kids, the church van kids, and the animal shelter critters. You can even see a few pictures of me.

Our pastor has preached on not being afraid, and I have taught on it at La Ola. God promises physical safety to those who fear Him, and I will continue to walk dogs, drive the church van, visit the van route, and take the bus to La Ola. I've accepted Jesus Christ as Savior, and the worst they can do is send me to Heaven early.

It, uh, seems that one of the orphans filmed the dancing incident on a cell phone last week. The house mother and I are friends again, and she is keeping her hands off me. Meanwhile, I want a copy of the video.

I'm slowly continuing to find former students and classmates, and I'm always glad to hear from them. Anyone who wants a free subscription to The Italian Gringo can send me their e-mail address, and anyone who wants to be my friend on Facebook is welcome.

See you next week,
Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! 94 degrees made today the hottest day since we got here. Hurricane Bud passed through this week, leaving us a few pleasant showers and
cool breezes, but it's gone now. Terra, one of the orphanage volunteers, is staying with us for a well-deserved two day vacation. She's a wonderful Christian and she brightens up our home. With one of our best volunteers having moved to the US and another one leaving on Friday, the orphanage is having a rough time dealing with government paperwork, but God is taking care of us.

We're having a little trouble with "the God card." Someone announces that God has told them to assume authority, and if we don't obey, we are in rebellion. The first time this happened to me, a pastor's wife seized a children's church with 300 kids in it and took it down to 10 over the next three years. She insisted that God had told her to seize control. Other times, someone will fail in a ministry and then announce that God has given them authority over another ministry. But how can you know if God really didn't tell them to do this?

The Bible tells us that when a prophet promises that certain things will happen, and they don't, we are to ignore him. And when God is blessing your path with success, you needn't listen to a person who failed. If you succeed in God's service, people will notice; you don't need to claim Divine authority that no one else knows about. If God really wants you to do something, He won't send an unreliable source to tell you.

Everybody is upset that they are closing the dog shelter in a few weeks. I've been walking dogs for seven years, and I enjoyed the exercise, the friendship, and the dogs. The cat and bird shelters will remain open, and I tell people that I will have to start walking the cats.

I've been happy to find some more of my former students through Facebook, and I'm happy that they are doing so well. I've been posting some pictures, and you are all welcome to visit my "wall" and become friends.

Drug war? What drug war? Mexico is safer than the United States. I walk my dog at night and nobody attacks me.

I'm having some problems with the Windows 8 Preview version, as it keeps wanting to put my computer to sleep and then wants my password. The next test version will be released this week, and hopefully the problems will disappear. Will you need to buy Windows 8? No. Except for its Metro Interface (which is designed for touchscreens) it is only a slight improvement over Windows 7. But get ready, Folks. You'll be buying touchscreen monitors in a few years, as manufacturers stop making the regular ones.

Adios, Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! The weather is hot, the drug war is over, and I'm sending this week's edition of The Italian Gringo from the La Ola Orphanage.

Forty years ago, John Olsen was assistant to the president of my Bible college. A kind man with a lot of wisdom, he often straightened out problems involving unbendable rules. He died yesterday morning, and even the Christian hatesite is filled with messages about how kind he was. Jesus said that all men will know that we are His disciples if we love one another, and everyone who knew John Olsen knew that he was a genuine disciple of Jesus Christ. During the last couple of years, he and I worked together to locate and help former students from my college, and he never stopped caring for us.

I still can't figure out how I got lost driving some kids to school this morning, but Terra, a Godly American volunteer, got me straightened out. We took three of the girls to the park as a reward for good behavior, and instead of buying candy, they chose fruit, which shows what happens when children are raised to eat right.

We couldn't get a translator for today's Bible study, but all the kids enjoyed a new Christian cartoon that I brought, so that's okay.

And I continue to find former students and friends through Facebook. I posted some pictures from Mexico,and you're all welcome to visit me there.

Adios, Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! It has rained a few times, the temperature has dropped about fifteen degrees, and we wish you were here.


Things are going well at the La Ola Orphanage, and last week I passed "fire training," which included CPR and first aid. I was pretty upset at taking "Values" training from the fired director of another orphanage whose lying tongue has caused a lot of damage in this area. The problem isn't a lack of forgiveness; the problem is that she is still an active slanderer.


If you'll check my Facebook wall, you can see what Windows 8 will look like on your computer. Instead of icons, your desktop will be covered with "tiles." This will make it easier for people to use touchscreens, which are the wave of the future and which work quite well. You can still use a mouse, and if you click on one of the tiles you go to a regular desktop. I am enjoying the free Consumer Version, and I write frequently at http://www.eightforums.com/ where you're welcome to join in.


One of the girls at La Ola was returned to her mother, but we have two new ones. They are both well-behaved (most of the time). They want me to bring my camera back on Friday, mostly because I am the only adult who will let these kids use one. They are fascinated at seeing large pictures of themselves on a computer screen, and amazed when I post some on Facebook and tell them that my friends in the United States are looking at them. Even the adult Mexicans were intrigued today when I showed them my cousins in Argentina and Brazil who are also descended from Italian immigrants.


It took four years of checking the only pawnshop in the Gringo Zone, but for $99.28 I bought a powerful used computer, monitor, wireless mouse, and wireless keyboard. I bought it just for the monitor, but the eight-year-old steel computer was a very expensive one in its day. It works well, is very fast, and I gave it to La Ola. But I kept the monitor, keyboard, and mouse.


Folks, I could use some prayer for our church van. We only had ten last Sunday, partly because many of the kids were with their fathers for Mexican Fathers' Day. But in the last month, three of our faithful families have moved away, so we need some new kids. Your prayers are appreciated.


Nancy and I took two of our best teen-agers to "The Black Coffee," an AIR-CONDITIONED yuppie shop, for four large servings of high -quality chocolate coffee ice cream. I'm telling you this so I can gloat over it costing me $7.71 for all four of us. Aaahhh, Mexico!!!!!



Adios, Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! We hope that you're all doing okay!

They closed the dog shelter, and I started walking dogs for Pepe the Veterinarian, who has dogs and cats in crates (very clean, by the way). Bravo, a Belgian Shepherd, frantically wants me to adopt him, but I can't.

The Bible tells us that death and life are in the power of the tongue, and it compares the tongue to a flame that starts a great destructive blaze. I am actually friends with a fallen preacher whose damage can only be measured in terms of eternity. I found him on Facebook, wisely discussing how hypocritical his victims are. I'm getting ready to start a series on "To the Victims of Fallen Preachers."

In a three-block area where I live, there are four Christian families (including us) living for God. None of us can get along with any of the other three. Why? The lying tongue of ONE PERSON is responsible for everything.

Are you discouraged by the sins of born-again Christians? You ought to take a look at the wicked. This week I was able to download and install Diablo 3, a game I've been waiting ten years for. Their forums are so busy that ten minutes after you post, you are on page two. The hatred and viciousness of the posters, over a game, is incredible.

The La Ola orphans are doing well, although the government sent one to another orphanage to be with her siblings. She was crying hysterically and had to be forcibly removed, but that's the law, and there is nothing we can do about it.

Well, got to take some kids to school.(I'm at La Ola right now). See you next week,

Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! The rainy season has finally arrived, and the temperatures are much cooler now.

You people who prayed for us to get an increase on our church van route got results. I got busted last Sunday for having too many kids on the van (in Mexico!) But they let me off with a warning, as long as I don't let them into the front of the van anymore. Our church attendance is back where it was before the drug war, as our people return from vacations they took during the problems. So keep praying, Folks, because God is blessing us.

La Ola Orphanage is doing well, and we had a good Bible study and Christian cartoon today. God has blessed us with some excellent workers, so despite the expected difficulties, things are going well. And speaking of orphans, when the dog shelter closed, I started walking dogs for a veterinarian who runs a small but clean shelter in his office. A neighbor adopted a dog yesterday, and she and the dog are very happy.

I started a ruckus on http://theitaliangringo.blogspot.mx/ when I began a series on "To the Victims of Fallen Preachers." On two Christian forums and on my Facebook page, about 1/3 of the comments are critical and the rest are undecided. If you count the small-time phoneys, it is amazing how many Christians have been victimized by a fallen preacher. Don't be ashamed if you're on someone's list of victims. When I was in college, I worked for a man who went on to become one of Christianity's greatest fallen preachers. I survived with no scars, and I'm explaining how God wants you to deal with them.

I'm happy about the number of friends I'm finding through Facebook. If any of you would like to come over for a visit, you're always welcome.

Adios, Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! We wore the orphans out at the park today, and while they're all collapsed in front of a cartoon, I'm sending this week's post.

You folks who've been praying for us need to keep up the good work: we had 31 kids on the church van last Sunday. Our church attendance is back where it was before the drug war, and things are going well. The Revolutionary Party won the Presidential election, but don't let it worry you. They ruled Mexico for seventy years, brought stability to the government and the nation, and fought as an Ally in World War 2. But they got corrupt and were peacefully voted out of power twelve years ago. No one is worried about their return to power.

Microsoft has announced that you will be able to download the upgrade to Windows 8 for only $40. Although it will work with Windows XP, I repeat the advice I have been giving for years: if your computer was designed for XP, do not upgrade to another operating system. Vista, 7, and 8 only offer slight improvements and will probably not work as well on your machine.

A girl's fifteenth birthday is a major life event in Mexico, so last week we had a party, complete with a live Marochi band, for one of the girls. And we had a birthday party for the pastor with 77 people present, so I had two parties in one week.

And have you ever been deceived by a crooked preacher? You're in good company. Billy Graham and Jerry Falwell had also been deceived. Check out http://theitaliangringo.blogspot.mx/

See you next week! Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! As we enjoy our seventy degree temperatures, we feel sorry for all of you who are going through a heat wave.

We had a record high in our Gringo church service, with 65 attending, and our total was 137 (including the Mexican church service and the van kids.) I just put in a good day at the La Ola Orphanage, spending the last three hours at a park with five of the kids. They are attending Vacation Bible School at a good, Bible-believing Presbyterian church this week, and next week they will be attending VBS at our church.

I am excited about Microsoft's announcement that they will sell the complete Windows 8 Upgrade for $40, and you can even upgrade from the free Consumer Preview that I have installed on my computer. But I continue my advice to everyone: if you are running Windows XP, do not upgrade to another Operating System. Your computer probably can't handle it, and you won't gain much even if it does work.

Although I do not write for them, I check in regularly on a Christian hate site that covers the college I graduated from. The site is controlled by Ruckmanites who hate each other as well as Christians who stand for the Word of God. I am astounded at how they rip into each other, pile up false accusations, and blatantly disobey God's commands against scorning. They might be saved, but they are disciples of Peter Ruckman, not Jesus Christ, and their posts show it. For sixty years now, Peter Ruckman has been teaching that the King James Version IS the Word of God, viciously ripping into those who disagree with him. And with no Biblical standard to go by, his disciples have divided into various groups that rip into each other. Fortunately, the movement is dying, and many Ruckmanite churches have turned back to the Word of God.

Since the dog shelter closed, I have been walking dogs for Pepe the veterinarian. With little office space, he works on dogs in the waiting room, and the operating room has a large open window so they can deal with customers while they operate. On the other hand, he charges prices that Mexicans can afford.

Mexico's Presidential election is over, the parades are gone, the Communists lost (again), the drug war is over in our area, and we're having nice weather. See you next week.

Adios, Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! I'm home exhausted after another successful day of Vacation Bible School. God blessed us with 67 kids, including 34 who rode in on our four-vehicle caravan. We had a comedy problem on the way home, when I realized that I had lost all the vehicles following me. Some boys had been jumping onto the rear bumpers of the other vehicles, and the drivers couldn't get rid of them. There's a cost to serving God, but we still had good results.

Two missionaries from La Ola Orphanage helped out this week, and it is good to have God's people working together. The missionaries who are working at La Ola tend to be women in their twenties, and they are a bit surprised at how "down" I am on Christian colleges. Several years after graduating, less than half of all Christian college graduates have any ministry at all. God clearly told me to attend the Christian college I graduated from, and it worked, but I'm afraid that I'm an exception.

On the ugly side, a woman down here has spent the last six years pretending to be a missionary. Although I have never done anything to her, she is hostile to me, our pastor, and the pastor's family. She attempted to establish a conflict just before our Vacation Bible School started, and I praise the Lord that she failed. Now she is heading to Morocco as a missionary to a home for unwed mothers. Our disgusted pastor has told me that our church will give her no support. She has never helped in any of our church's outreach ministries. There is a status to the term "missionary," and American churches do well to honor missionaries. But in most cases, it is the Christians who submit to authority and serve God through their local church who get results. "God resists the proud..." He doesn't give them status.

There were more problems because no one invited the Love in Action orphanage to our Vacation Bible School. I don't know why the decision was made, but I know that we are about up to our capacity as it is. Love in Actin is now a homosexual outreach ministry, and nobody wants to get into a fight with them. Years ago, I personally ran a caravan of vehicles to take their children to a Vacation Bible School, but the organization was Christian back then.

When I was in college, the Bible courses stressed "service," which left the courses poorly-taught and of little value. But when I first got saved, I took the Billy Graham follow-up course, and the knowledge I gained still serves me well. After I got out of college, I attended the one-week Bill Gothard Basic Youth Conflicts seminar and learned more than I had learned in college. You cannot twist the Word of God to fit your agenda. The Scriptures teach us how to become what God wants us to be, and strong spiritual growth from studying God's Word will eventually produce service.

Chicken was on sale for 68 cents a pound! My freezer is jammed to the rafters! And I'm still walking dogs for Pepe the Veterinarian, so if any of you want to adopt a dog, let me know.

Adios, Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! If you've been following me on Facebook, you know that we had a fantastic week in Vacation Bible School. Every day we had at least three cars in our caravan to pickup the Kids, with 38 on the last day. And then on Sunday, we had 44! Two missionaries drove their truck, and two other missionaries helped during the week. The Bible exclaims "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." With no one fighting over who got the credit, many people worked together to drive, teach, cook, supervise, decorate, and sing. Right now, our pastor and a group are running VBS for the Wichaw Indians, and next week, they'll be going to another tribe.


But the big news is that my beloved Penn State football team got hit with the biggest penalty in the history of the NCAA. Knowing that Jerry Sandusky was bringing boys onto the campus to molest them, the leadership decided that they needed to cover it up in order to protect the football program. This violated NCAA rules requiring high ethics, meaning that Penn State was cheating. The NCAA negated all 111 wins from 1998 to 2011. In addition, Penn State is barred from bowl games for the next four years, must pay $60 million to various charities that protect children, and will be on probation for five years. Folks, if Christian colleges were held to that standard it would be a disaster--at first. But being forced to act in an ethical manner would clear up a lot of problems that we have in Christianity today. Penn State's beloved coach Joe Paterno has been one of my heroes for half a century. His well-earned legacy has been irreparably disgraced, because he knew, and because he helped cover it up.



And Ashlee Harrell needs our prayers. She was one of my favorite high school students when I was a teacher, and she now has cancer. Your prayers are appreciated.



Adios, Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! We hope that all of you are doing well.


It took the Mexican government months of delays, but today the La Ola Orphanage received its new van. They had raised half the money and the government paid the other half. I had been there for five hours earlier today, with workers gone to take kids to appointments, and two of us pretty well ran the show. Then a Canadian Baptist church showed up to help us and Hope House (a boys' orphanage), so it was a pretty good day.


Leviticus is considered one of the more boring books of the Bible, but it stresses the need for holiness. In today's society, "anything goes" is now considered the only morally proper course, but in the long term, it brings more suffering than obeying God does. Persecution by homosexuals against Christianity is rising, and although it is unpopular, Romans 1 describes homosexuals as hateful people. They can learn to behave; but once they are powerful, their true nature shows itself.


We are often told that anyone who wants to should be welcome at your church. Then, when sexual perverts start attending, they drive off Godly saints and take over the church. But should a church allow anyone who wants to attend? At the Last Supper, before He instituted the Lord's Supper, Jesus ordered Judas to leave.


Last Sunday, the Lord blessed us with 36 riders, our third highest ever. But we have a problem. We have three vehicles in our caravan picking these people up, and the three vehicles are crowded. All you have to do is follow me as I lead in the church van. The drivers are bringing more people to church in one Sunday than most missionaries will in two years. Anyone else want to volunteer?


See you next week,

Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! The rainy season has brought us cooler, pleasanter air, and everything around us is green.

We lost a car in our church caravan last Sunday, and I still can't find the driver, but we had 36 Mexicans come in on our van and truck. And La Ola Orphanage is praising the Lord for their new van, which I still haven't seen, because they're always driving people somewhere. But we had a good day today with a Canadian Baptist church that is putting up a building for us. We took the kids to the malecon, and the Canadians could not believe how beautiful the three-park set-up is.

Have you ever heard of a Schneider Cup Christian? There used to be an international seaplane race that lasted for several weeks. Different seaplanes would fly from one point to the next, stopping for repairs and refueling whenever they wanted to. The planes were sharp, new, powerful, and impressive. But the planes were useless. Their motors had to be on the cutting edge of technology, and so they were undependable and often broke down. The planes were designed for nothing but speed, and they could not be used for much else. Most of the seaplanes didn't finish the race, and on two occasions, nobody completed the course.

One year, the British entered a regular Royal Navy patrol plane. Built for dependability, it was by far the slowest plane in the race. But it won, because it finished the course, while most of the others did not. And the other planes that finished had needed far more downtime for repairs than the navy plane.

There were a lot of students in my college who had big church bus routes that do not even attend church today. Christians who could succeed when they received praise couldn't keep going when the praise stopped and the criticism began. And then there are high schoolers who sat in my classes a quarter of a century ago who are still living for God. It's not the Christian bigshots who succeed so much as the humble Christians who keep soldiering on, growing in grace and fruitfulness. God doesn't need sharp, impressive people; He needs obedient ones.

Our pastor and some others are currently holding Vacation Bible School with an Indian tribe, and we hope that you'll be praying for them.

Adios, Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos!

Last week, the United States won the Olympics and landed on Mars. So it was a big deal here in Mexico that their Men's Soccer Team had advanced to the finals against the US Men's Soccer Team in a tournament at Mexico City last night. The US had never beaten Mexico before, and the televised event drew a lot of attention. The girls at La Ola were teasing us abut how badly Mexico was going to beat the US.

There are, uhm, a lot of sad faces here in Mexico today, as the US won 1-0. I wonder what the US will do next week.

Another surprise has been a new movement within Christianity: protecting abusers against their victims. Seriously. When any organization takes a stand against abuse, the abusers suffer. Their families suffer. And one prominent church sex abuser is now taking a leadership position in pointing out how much suffering the victims cause when they demand obedience to Biblical standards. Calling himself "The Voice of Restoration," he has destroyed about four churches that had "restored" him in the past. He is seeking leadership positions for himself and has attracted a small following.

When confronted with an abuse problem, churches usually try to solve the problem themselves. Often, it works, but some abusers learn how to "use" the system to keep escaping justice. Then, if the church goes to the police, they get accused of covering up the abuse. So they try even harder to solve the problem, while the abuser continues his practices. If he eventually gets caught, the church is devastated when its members learn that their leaders had known abut it for some time. When confronted by crime, the best thing for a church or any organization to do is to go straight to the police. The scandal that follows will be nothing compared to the scandal that will follow if they get caught covering it up.

And we had 33 riders in our caravan route last Sunday, in three vehicles. We are getting some adult riders now, as our church reaches out to the families of the kids who ride in.

See you next week,
Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! I'm been so upset the last few days that I didn't get this out on time. I have served faithfully at La Ola Orphanage for over three years, and now, with plenty of help from full-time missionaries, they don't need me anymore. There is simply nothing for me to do there. School started Monday, and the government got al the kids onto the same schedule, which cuts out half their activities. I resigned on good terms, we're all friends, and it's over. That's the way it goes. I have resumed small youth activities for the kids who ride the caravan to church, and it is working out well. We had 33 last Sunday, the fifth Sunday in a row with over thirty riders.



I'm still walking dogs for Pepe the veterinarian, and then I help with the cats at the animal shelter. Folks are still working on the new animal shelter, and they hope to have it going within the next several months.



Nancy has been making fantastic meals lately. Last night we had peanut butter and chocolate pancakes, and they were fantastic! They went well with the barbecued chicken.



Some years ago, Love in Actin Orphanage was systematically getting rid of people without money and stuffing the Board of Directors with big givers. Eventually, a coalition of homosexuals, adulterers, Atheists and others seized the place, and Love in Action became a model for how the wicked could seize a Christian organization. But people got tired of serving on the Board, I'm not sure how it happened, and two missionaries managed to seize the place back--legally. But one of the people who has harmed a lot of Christian work here in the Gringo Zone is now on the Board. I would like to go back (she had run me off) but that seems to be impossible. And as the double-crossed former leaders seek revenge, I might be better off sitting this one out.



The Bible teaches us that we are waging spiritual warfare, but people at war need to be careful who their allies are. In WW1, we helped Japan seize German possessions in the Pacific. Twenty years later, they attacked us. In WW2, we built up the Soviet Union so they could fight the Nazis. Then we spent decades in a cold war with them. During that cold war, we built up the Taliban to drive Russia out of Afghanistan, and they attacked us on September 11. Recently, we have been training Moslems to serve in Afghanistan's military, and some of them have killed American troops. God commands us to be separated from the wicked and also to separate from carnal Christians. Before launching a battle or a program, be careful about who is on your side.



See you next week, Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! The drug war got back into swing when the government arrested one of the cartel leaders. His gang burned buses and police cars to blockade highways, but none of it occurred here in the Gringo Zone. They brought in 300 federal police, plus the army, and the government is standing firm.



I took three of our caravan kids to the animal shelter this week, but with the dog shelter closed, they're ready to leave after half an hour. I need some help in coming up with a better activity. The new dog shelter is floundering as people quit and they can't get a good place to build it. Meanwhile, I'm happily walking dogs for Pepe the veterinarian, but I can't make a good youth activity out of that.



It was nice of the folks from La Ola to come by my church and give me a very nice-looking certificate of appreciation for my volunteer work there. But there is still nothing for me to do there, so I'm working with our caravan kids. Nancy took me to Domino's Pizza for their two-for-one special yesterday, and I think I need to go on a diet. But it was pretty good pizza.



Meanwhile, the double-crossing continues at Love in Action. They found out I was still getting the volunteers newsletter (because the board had wanted me to come back after I got run off) so they cut me off. One of the former leaders wrote a hostile newspaper article but at the last minute stopped it from being run. He's using it as blackmail, I mean, uh, leverage. The Christians around here are generally happy that the Christians re-seized the place, but I see no indication that they will forsake the sins that enabled non-Christians to seize control. So, while everybody double-crosses everybody else, I can't go back, but I'm dong well where I am.



Decades ago, a teen-ager had (what was then) the world's largest church bus route. We were fellow college students and friends, and then I lost track of him. He's doing well pastoring, though, and I found out from Facebook. I hope that he does well, and I was glad to hear from him.

A few minutes ago, a poverty-stricken girl who rides the caravan route begged us to let her use our bathroom. After she left, it smelled awful. It seems that she went in the wastepaper basket. What can I say?

See you next week,

Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! I hope you're not as frustrated as I am here in Mexico.

Little Chapel has folded and is now an Anglican church. The former pastor had managed to keep the place Christian, but an unsuccessful revolt by members who did not believe God's Word, added to the success of nearby Bible-believing churches, and health problems for the pastor, combined to form a large drop in attendance. In an area where dozens of churches have come and gone, Little Chapel lasted over half a century. Nancy and I used to attend the singalongs there, and the place was filled with friendly people.

On the old Andy Griffith Show, Andy, his family, and his friends all attended a similar church that stood for nothing and could only provide a few interesting scenes. In real life, a church has to stand for God and His Word in order to have God's blessing. Little Chapel had begun with no competition. But as Bible-believing churches were started, Godly Christians had other choices. And then, as churches that took a stand against God's Word started, unbelieving members also had a choice. It is a tribute to their last pastor that he kept that church as Christian as he did, for as long as he did.

Attempts to get a new dog shelter started are floundering, but efforts continue. I'm still walking dogs for Pepe the veterinarian, and I'm trying to set up a church youth activity that will let Mexican kids walk some of the dogs.

A resurgence in the drug wars, plus having a large family move away, has cut our church caravan to half of what it was running a month ago. But we brought in 17 kids on three vehicles, and hopefully, things will improve.

And I found a new way to evaluate a Bible college. If they have a very long and strict rulebook, it's because parents are sending their juvenile delinquents there, hoping that they will straighten out. A young person who is already living for God might do better elsewhere.

See you next week,
Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! Things have improved this week, and we hope that things are going well for you.

La Ola Orphanage came by my church on Sunday and asked me to return, so I'm back again. But I'm not giving them back the certificate of appreciation they gave me. And the head moderator of a forum for victims of church abuse e-mailed me twice, asking me to return after a moderator booted me for urging people to live for God even if bad things happen to them.

Folks, I've pointed this out before, but if you are unhappy with your church and the problems can't be resolved, you need to go somewhere else. If you're afraid of losing friends, you'll make new ones. People are frightened by threats that God will abandon them if they switch churches; the Bible contains no such threats.

Decades after accepting Christ, many born-again Christians finally learn that born-again Christians outside their group also love God and are being used by God. Nancy and I are Baptists who attend an Assemblies of God church and we love it!

I was parked on a mountain road, picking up kids for a youth activity, when my transmission cable snapped. Total cost was $140. I have been told that in the US, it's $400. Last Sunday, the church caravan was back to normal, with twenty kids, but we had been running thrity for a while, so your prayers are still appreciated.

And in a few weeks, you'll be able to download the Windows 8 Pro version for only $40. A word of caution: I'm going to do it. I have the free preview edition, and I love it. But if you are using a Windows XP computer, I advise you to ignore Microsoft and don't do it. Your computer might not be able to run it well. If you are running Windows 7 and do not have a touch screen, you will see a slight improvement, but nothing that is necessary.

See you next week,
Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! We've had a wonderful week, and we hope that you have as well.

Forty years ago last month, I joined the First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana, and was part of the opening class of Hyles-Anderson College. With 8,000 people attending, First Baptist was the world's largest Sunday School, and when I graduated five years later, they were running over 40,000 in attendance. God blessed me greatly as a bus captain, Sunday School teacher, and youth worker. Today, at three o'clock this afternoon, the pastor of that church was taken into custody by US marshals for sex crimes with a minor. A policy of cover-up had already been in place when I was there, and as the decades rolled by, the church held strongly to a policy of lying to its people as the problems continued to grow.

I was not involved in any of those problems, nor did I know about them. The scandals broke loose years after I had graduated. The church suffered one of the greatest declines in Christian history, dropping over 80% in attendance. They turned away from the Word of God, replacing it with the King James Version. While I was there, a small group of students broke up a violent gang that was under the protection of the college vice-president. For decades, it has struck me as odd that the students, not the faculty, got the gang members expelled.

The Bible tells us "Them that sin, rebuke before all, that others may fear." The decision to disobey that command "for the good of the ministry" was a wrong decision, and it finally produced a nation-wide scandal. The Scriptures also tell us that when we sin, we corrupt our own flesh; because the church staff knew what was going on, they corrupted themselves to the point that only corrupt people could be admitted to leadership positions. If, decades ago, a staff member had gone to the state police about what was going on, he would have been vilified to high Heaven, but he might well have stopped the corruption. The current pastor (who was not the pastor when I was there, and I have never met him or heard him preach) would curse at his staff members, who accepted his abuse "for the good of the ministry." The point? If there is too much wrong-doing in your church, you need to go somewhere else.

Meanwhile, the church caravan had twenty-three kids last Sunday, and the day before, some of our teen-agers, including kids from the caravan, attended a regional youth conference. I also had a successful day at La Ola Orphanage this week. Last week, government inspectors declared them to be the best of the 120 orphanages they had evaluated. I showed up with a box of candy that the kids demolished, and then I took them to a nearby park. The staff had me stay for dinner, and it is good to see such a Christian work that is doing so well.

Your prayers are always needed and appreciated. Adios,
Vicente
 
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