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The Italian Gringo

Greetings, Gringos! Hopefully, we're pulling out of the worst weather in the recorded history of the Gringo Zone, as heavy rainfall continues during the dry season.

I'm pleased to report that our son John has rotated out of Afghanistan, and is now stationed in Alaska. We'd like to thank all the people who prayed for his safety.

There's been a big shake-up at the orphanage, and Annabelle, who founded it, is no longer in charge. With no money from the government, Annabelle raised funds from American churches, starting in a pottery factory and moving them last year into a garden paradise. Needing funds to feed a growing number of children, she put fund-raisers on the board, and they brought in money from major American charities, as well as raising money from wealthy retired Gringos who live here. The steady process of removing Annabelle from power began at least two years ago, and now it is complete. There had been conflicts with wealthy donors who wanted control, and the wealthy donors won.

Me? I'm listening to bitter complaints about the board, but they are not interfering with my showing Bible cartoons Saturday evenings. I had told about a missionary couple who moved onto my block, and they are now in charge of the children, but not the orphanage as a whole. I agreed to help the two over-worked women who care for 23 younger children, and I arrived to find six other Gringos helping as well. One of them drove out to buy $100 worth of groceries.

I'll be meeting with the educational director on Thursday to see if I can help with the computer program, which I used to run before being wrongfully fired over two years ago.

Meanwhile, I have been able to start showing Christian cartoons at Hope House, a teen-age boys' orphanage just outside the Gringo Zone. We had 77 in all our outreaches last week, and we have a very small ministry to seniors now.

Adios, Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! We hope that all of you are doing well. I’d like to ask prayer for Nancy, who has been to the doctor three times in two weeks with a terrific allergic reaction to something. She’s doing better, but still having a rough time.

I am now teaching a computer class, helping in another computer class, helping with the little kids, and still showing Christian cartoons at the orphanage. Three missionaries from Wisconsin showed up for three weeks to help with the chicitos (kids four and under—we now have 23 of them) who were being cared for by two women, one of whom is mentally ill.

With funds running low, they are having a drinking party this Sunday, with tickets going for about 25 dollars apiece. When you arrive, you buy booze at the bar. They have raised about $6,000 from ticket sales so far. I have helped persuade two people not to quit over it. One fellow drives some of the kids to school and to the doctor’s. Another donates chickens once a month. I’m also opposed to drinking, but I pointed out that they aren’t involved in the alcohol, the board did it, they have to feed these kids, I am staying out of it, and I helped talk them out of quitting. A third Christian worker did quit, and he’s working four days a week now in a kitchen that feeds the hungry.

Maybe I shouldn’t have talked them out of quitting. I was taught that I should separate from the orphanage for having alcohol. But then I wouldn’t be able to help as many people. So I’m doing the best I can.

I was able to show a Christian cartoon at Hope House, an orphanage for teen-age boys just outside the Gringo Zone. A social worker, who needs to teach a class there in order to get credit for her Master’s degree, watched what I did, went to the board, and demanded that she get my time-slot to teach her class. So they got rid of me and gave her my time-slot.

We had a total of 90 last week in all our services, not counting the computer classes and the chicitos, so we were blessed with a pretty good week.

Adios, Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! We hope that your weather has improved as much as ours.

The drinking party at the orphanage was a great success, with about $11,500 in donations, $6,000 in ticket sales, and profits from the sale of alcohol that they are keeping secret. One upset volunteer did a partial boycott before resuming his activities, and things are going well.

I was surprised by the number of responses I got. No one felt that I should quit. A few people were upset that they would have a drinking party at a Christian orphanage, but most felt that it was okay. A small number were upset that anyone would object to it.

Meanwhile, I was able to get Windows 98 installed on another computer, and the kids love working on the computers. Someone donated another old one, and the classes are growing.

Three missionary women are helping with the toddlers, and after one week, they are in shell-shock. With two more weeks to go, they didn't move when someone announced that a toddler was missing. I asked everyone on the site, and one of the older kids found her.

Calvinists like to quote John 6:44, which tells us "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day."

But they're not too happy with the next verse: It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.

God the Father draws ALL men to Christ by teaching them. Those who respond to that teaching come to Christ.

Adios, Vicente
 
Well, God love ya, Vince and everything, but hey---if you wanted to move to the gringo area of Mexico, you could have stood in this country and moved to Chicago.
 
Good to hear from you, Steve. I had a church bus route in Chicago when I was in college. But I retired to Mexico because I could afford to, and I wanted to get back into Christian work.
 
Greetings, Gringos! For many of us, the weather has improved, and we sure did need it.

Just as we were getting ready to quit, attendance at our Saturday morning children's church has gone back up. Behavior is fairly good, and the kids are learning. Don't quit serving God because it's rough. Our pastor told us that when they first arrived, their goal was to start ten new churches in one year. One year later, their three biggest financial supporters had died, and they had no new churches. Ready to quit his ministry and return to the US, he was suddenly called to become pastor of his present church, and things are going well.

Things are going well at the orphanage, and I am now there four times a week. Gringo volunteers are all over the place, and Annabelle, who founded the place, is struggling to deal with her demotion by the board. People whom she is hostile to are serving in many areas, and she seems to be coming to terms with it.

The Bible teaches us that salvation is the result of God's grace (kindness). We don't deserve it, and we can't earn it. But it also teaches us that successful Christian service is also the result of God's grace. The Apostle Paul wrote that he worked harder than anyone else, but it wasn't really him, it was the grace of God in him.

See you next week,
Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! We hope that you're all doing well, as the weather is improving everywhere.

I'm a hero at the orphanage these days. They bring potential donors to the computer lab, where about ten children will be quietly playing educational games in a well-organized program under my direction. When donors are impressed, they give more money, so I'm a hero. Meanwhile, I continue to show Christian cartoons and to help with the toddlers, and nobody cares.

I'm also watching the political intrigues. People maneuver for prominence, trying to get others to do the low-status jobs. Some leaders really do care about the kids, while others struggle to advance themselves without doing much work.

Raoul, the pastor, was half-laughing and half-angry when he told me that a missionary's claims that she is working sixty-hour weeks at the orphanage isn't even close to being true. It fooled the volunteer committee into advancing her, though.

One of the most amazing teachings of the four Gospels is that the Apostles argued among themselves over who would be the greatest. It's just something that Christians do. Jesus taught that the servants, not the leaders, would be the greatest.

Luke 13:30 tells us "And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last." There are plenty of opportunities to serve, Folks, if you're willing to take the jobs that don't get much credit.

Adios, Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Yesterday, someone left a terrified dog and her four puppies in a box outside the animal shelter, someone else left a puppy in a box outside, and someone brought in a puppy she found in her yard. With six new puppies and a mother, I put in an extra day's work today, but they're all doing well. The mother dog trusts people, but she is frightened and confused. When I walked her, she kept darting on the leash, and I think she was trying to find her way home.

Three dogs got adopted yesterday, and that helped things out.

Two weeks ago, some poor guy was installing new computer software when a bigshot walked in and caught a teen-aged girl looking at pornography on another computer. While praising the Lord that it wasn't me, I've been pointing out to people that you can't be fixing computers, helping kids solve problems, and monitoring all thirteen computers at once. There's such a thing as condemning people who don't deserve it, and the poor guy who got all the flack didn't deserve it.

Me? I disconnect the internet cable from the router when I teach a class. Now if I can only figure out a way to disconnect certain people's tongues.

Adios, Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! I hope you're feeling better than me today. I've got a sore back and a sore throat.

Our Saturday children's church is drawing to a close, as we get ready to move it to Sunday and bring the kids to Sunday School. I have doubts about this, but we did have 41 kids last Saturday.

A couple of weeks ago, the volunteers' letter at the orphanage attacked another Christian orphanage for refusing to let homosexual men take a boy home with them. The uproar cost both orphanages financial support, as homosexuality has now become a fighting issue. Hopefully, it will settle down, because the children need donations to get enough food. If a charity is not gay-friendly, homosexuals fight to keep anyone from contributing. Different fund-raising groups here will generally not contribute to charities that are hostile to homosexuality.

The two orphanages have some hostility towards each other over the incident, and I'm in the middle of it. Problems like this occur when God's people co-operate with the lost. The Bible tells us that light and darkness cannot fellowship with each other. I'll continue to show Christian cartoons at the orphanage as long as they let me, but I see bad times coming.

Meanwhile, Charlotte the escape artist is at the animal shelter. Reaching through the wire cage, she unlatched the door and escaped. They put a padlock on her cage, so she climbed the side into another cage and opened that latch. They put her into a higher cage, and she pushed a chair up to the door, stood on it, and opened the latch. When I take her for a walk, I keep a tight hold on the leash.

See you next week,

Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! Boy, we are in a heap of trouble down here, so I hope that you’re doing better.

ONE PERSON at the Love in Action orphanage, without the knowledge or permission of the board, put out a newsletter attacking Hope House for not allowing homosexuals to take an orphaned boy home with them. A few weeks later, Hope House has lost 80% of its financial support. With 23 teen-age boys and nowhere to put them, Hope House might have to close. Three churches, including the one I attend, have dropped 20% in attendance over the dispute. The only two Christian orphanages in the area are now open enemies. Love in Action, the Christian orphanage where I volunteer, has published an openly pro-homosexual newsletter, as they are also losing financial support from secular organizations.

I show Christian cartoons at a Wednesday night children’s church, and on Saturday I round up kids for children’s church somewhere else. The two pastors have fallen out with each other over this dispute. One grief-stricken pastor told me how a friend that he has had for twenty years has turned against him over this dispute.


ONE PERSON did this. James 3:5-6 tells us Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity



2 Corinthians 6:14 tells us: “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?†When Love in Action started putting unsaved people on the board, they took over in a matter of months. While there is still a strong Christian influence, the Christian woman who started the place has been steadily demoted, and is no longer a major influence.

1 Peter 4:8 tells us: And above all things have fervent love for one another, for "love will cover a multitude of sins.†I’ve been there longer than any other volunteer, and I’m one of the few Christians left. Over the years, I’ve watched them quit over the ways they were mistreated by the director (the one who has been demoted), and I have also been a victim of her frequent hostility. There won’t be any kind of reaction in which the Christians stand up for what is right—most of them have been run off.

Hope House is supposed to run out of food on Friday. I’ll be heading there Thursday with a bunch of hard-boiled eggs and Easter egg dye that one of our readers sent me. Your prayers, Folks, are appreciated.


Adios, Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos!

The weather is pleasant, I've planted tomatoes, and the Gringo Zone is bright with flowers.

I took six dozen eggs to Hope House, where the boys had never dyed Easter eggs before, and we had a great time. Then, to their horror, I ate a hard-boiled egg. They even tried to convince me that it was poisonous. But teen-age boys will eat anything, and after seeing that I survived, they quickly ate all the rest.

After losing 80% of their financial support for refusing to let a homosexual couple take a boy home, Hope House has gained some new support, and I THINK that some of the original donors have started supporting them again.

We started Sunday School and were able to pick up four kids. It was time-change Sunday in Mexico, and we hope to do better this Sunday. But ready or not, we have begun having Sunday School.

Our own church has also regained most of its lost attendance from the conflict.

One of the tragedies of Christianity is that Christians fight with one another. The director of volunteers at the orphanage had resigned after she had sent out the newsletter attacking Hope House. The orphanage director then saw her chance. Maybe she was motivated by her hostility towards me. She might have been trying to find something for the teen-aged girls to do during the two-week long spring break. And she might have wanted to re-grab some of the power she had lost from her demotion.

She seized control of the computers that the board had put me in charge of. She confiscated the keys so I couldn't get in to teach my class, assigned the keys to teen-agers, had them taken off-site when I arrived, allowed the kids in there unsupervised, and allowed them onto the internet. And then the guy who donated most of the computers showed up and saw what she was doing. He found two destroyed keyboards and a fried hard drive, with the printer server no longer working, and he was quite upset. He and I both complained to the board, and when one of Annabelle's friends got on my case, I surprised everyone, including myself, by the public lecture she got.

Jesus told His disciples that the rulers of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, but we are not to do so. Our leaders are to be servants. Back-stabbing others is how people advance in the world, but now how it is to be done in God's kingdom. I have seen Christians successfully usurp authority in Christian schools and churches, and then they held leadership that they couldn't handle. It's not the way we're to do things, and we serve God more successfully when we do things His way.

See you next week,
Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! We hope that your week has been as interesting as ours.

God blessed us with 14 kids packed with us into our station wagon for Sunday School, and incredibly, they were well-behaved. It’s good to see God working.

The board at Love in Action came down solidly on my side in the problem over the computer room keys. After I had been put in charge of the computer room, someone made a power grab, overturning the rules, seizing authority that had been given to me, and got slapped down by the board.

We had preaching services on the city boardwalk last week, and it was interesting to watch. The pastor who was preaching and the pastor who was leading the singing weren’t speaking to each other, and neither were their wives. This is a left-over from the fight between Love in Action and Hope House after Hope House refused to let a homosexual couple take a boy home with them.

After losing 80% of its support, Hope House was still receiving $300/week from a thrift shop that is run by volunteers. The thrift shop cut them off last week over the homosexual issue.

And how is Hope House doing? I was there Tuesday afternoon, showing Bible cartoons and two other activities. They have plenty of food, and while I was there, several crates of fruits and vegetables arrived, and some people bought pizzas for the boys’ dinner. Various people and churches have started supporting them. The problem is that much of the support is from one-time offerings, and they need regular support.

Youth With a Mission is working with them to start a girls’ orphanage, and Hope House has taken in three new boys since the problems started. So we’re expecting God to bless us through this crisis.

See you next week,

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

I have a beautiful rose bush, and in two days, leaf-cutter ants ate every leaf on it. I never even saw the little critters.

When I arrived to teach my computer class at the orphanage, I found that Annabelle had taken the keys and refused to give them to me. The board intervened, but she still refused to give them to me. She might have been motivated by fears that she was losing steadily more power, by personal hostility towards me, or by jealousy about how well the class was going. I lost my temper and gave her a chewing-out, and then resigned.

I'm sorry that I lost my temper. I should have resigned and left quietly. I provided her with ammo for a smear campaign, which she quickly launched. I gave a bad example to others and hurt my own testimony.

The Bible, meanwhile, tells us that "rebellion is like the sin of witchcraft." Annabelle's actions have ended the successful Saturday evening Christian cartoons at the orphanage, as well as the successful Wednesday night children's church where her husband pastors. She had already caused a great deal of trouble for Hope House by sending them a boy without telling them that he was sponsored by homosexual godparents.

I've been in contact with friends in the United States, as well as in Mexico, and everyone pretty well has the same attitude: I shouldn't have lost my temper, and I had already needed to resign.

But there's good news. We had sixteen in Sunday School, which has made a lot of folks happy. We have started using the church van, as my station wagon is hopelessly unable to hold all the blessings.

Hope House had taken their 26 boys to the nearby Baptist church, but their Mexican congregation was overwhelmed by them. They showed up at our church last Sunday, things went well, and hopefully, they will stay.

Adios, Amigos!

Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! Things are going better for us, and we hope that all of you are doing well.

I want to thank several of you for writing me e-mails of support after the incident at the orphanage. I'm somewhat dismayed at losing the Wednesday night children's church and the Saturday evening Bible cartoons, but it can't be helped. As expected, the director launched a smear campaign on me, and as expected, not much came of it. Although it was nice of me to hand her ammunition by losing my temper, she has been slandering me and others for the last four years, so it didn't make much difference.

Most Christians don't know that "jealousy" and "envy" are two different sins. I'll be doing a study on them at http://theitaliangringo.blogspot.com/

Another missionary gave up last week and returned to the US. He arrived about a year ago, worked hard, got no results, and hopes to continue his education when he gets back home.

We're moving the dog shelter to a building about three times larger, with a huge back yard. Yesterday, a dump truck load of rocks got dumped at the old shelter by mistake, but I don't have to move it.

Charlotte, the amazing escape dog, got adopted, but escaped. She was adopted by a second family, but escaped again and returned to the shelter. She got adopted again yesterday...

God blessed us with 18 kids for Sunday School that we were able to bring in. And Hope House has been able to rent a building to open a junk shop, uh, I mean, bazaar to raise funds.

Adios, Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! The rainy season is about to begin, and with our high temperatures, we need it. On the other hand, you ought to see how fast my tomato plants are growing.

We had a tragedy a week ago today, when the assistant chief of police of Chapala was assassinated by three gunmen. For two days, Chapala was filled with state and federal police, but the assassins have escaped.

We were able to pick up 17 kids for Sunday School last week, and we're reaching the point where we need a second vehicle. If people are willing to serve God by taking the menial tasks that contain no status, there are plenty of opportunities.

I've been getting some good response at my blogspot http://theitaliangringo.blogspot.com/ I'm currently doing a series on "envy."

Does anybody remember the TV show "Gunsmoke"? I'm 57 years old and had never watched it. I found it for free at tvland.com and I've become a fan. We all need to behave or Marshal Dillon will be coming after us.

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

Some weeks ago, I had quit working at the orphanage because of the director's conduct. Two days ago, while walking my dog, I encountered an upset five-year-old whose parents work there. She was hollering that I wasn't nice to them any more and that I had falsely accused the director of lying.

I let her pet my dog, told her she was still my sweetie-pie, and explained that this is a grown-up problem. Things aren't going too well at the orphanage. Last week, four teen-aged girls ran away and told police that they didn't want to go back because of the way the director was treating them. When they were sent elsewhere, the director would not allow the orphanage to give them any of their clothes and personal items.

Meanwhile, Hope House, the boys' orphanage that would not allow homosexuals to contact their boys, has been adopted by Rotary Club International, which has started funding them.

I've been enjoying the TV show Gunsmoke, and I've noticed a recurring theme in this popular old western. Remember that this show is not Christian, nor is it Christian-oriented.

Sometimes a criminal would flee to the Kansas Territory, change his name, and start a new life. The guy would live straight, help people, and obey the law. Then Marshal Dillon would catch him.

And then, seeing that he had repented, Marshal Dillon would let him go. This "easy believism" Christianity, where you say the words "Jesus please save me," and then go on in the same wicked life you always led, doesn't impress people. Repentance does.

Granted, the show is fictional. But its popularity attests tot the fact that even the wicked are impressed by a changed life.

Adios, Vicente
 
Greetings, Gringos! We hope that your past week has been as great as ours!

Last Sunday, we picked up 33 people in the church van, making two trips. A family of six whom I had been working on drove in, and we had 147 total in church. Granted, it was a special event day, but this church was running a dozen on a good day five years ago when the new pastor arrived.

I want to talk a little about obeying leadership. What do you do when the leadership is bad? We had a major problem at the orphanage when the director rebelled against the board's authority, forcing me to resign rather than have continued fighting. This ended the Wednesday night children's church, as well as some orphanage programs.

The director launched a slander campaign on me, and about two months later, people from their church (including her husband and her two brothers) are being friendly to me again, as they realize that she is not worth listening to.

At the same time, the owner of the animal shelter has gotten everybody upset at him for the way he is mis-handling the construction and operation of the new dog shelter. I am amazed at the criticism and hostility he has produced by his arrogant mistreatment of the volunteers.

The Bible tells us to obey those who have the rule over us, but it never defines who they are. It tells us that they watch for our souls, and they have taught us the Word of God. Over the years, I have met, and continue to meet, Christians who are upset at their church, but who won't leave because they are loyal to an organization. I've gotten some criticism for attending an Assemblies of God church when I'm a Baptist, yet the results are there to prove that I made the right decision.

Christians do better, and grow better, when they are in a church that God wants them to be in. If things are not working out, don't get into a fight. Don't be bitter. Talk to God about it, and see if He doesn't lead you to go elsewhere.

Adios, Vicente
 
Greetings, Amigos! The weather is pleasant, my plants are growing well, and we wish you were here.

We moved everything from the old dog shelter to the new dog shelter, although it took longer than expected. We started out with enough people to do the job in two hours, but they quit one-by-one after getting angry at the owner. I stuck it out for the entire three and a half hours, enduring only one insult. The dogs now have a large yard to sleep, I mean, uh, run in. Hostile neighbors got a court injunction forbidding us to take dogs out onto their street, so we have to walk the dogs through the art gallery entrance when we walk them. It's okay, though, because nobody is buying anything at the art gallery anyway.

I haven't mentioned it lately, but I'm still posting a series on "Envy" at http://theitaliangringo.blogspot.com/

I had mentioned last week that sometimes Christians need to quietly go to another church because of strife where they're at. Workers at the animal shelter were happy to work on the dog side, because it was a happy place to work. Workers on the cat side were unhappy, because they were often mistreated by the owner. Some time ago, I was moderator of a Christian forum for people who had been hurt by churches. Over time, I realized that most church "victims" had tried to seize power and been rebuffed. But a sizable number simply did not have the ability to realize that they needed to go somewhere else.

If your church is unfriendly to you, don't start a fight. Leave quietly and attend elsewhere.

Adios, Vicente
 
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