The Family Arrives

Chapter 7

THE FAMILY ARRIVES

After much time, Joseph’s family began to arrive in Egypt with hunger for things provided by God.

Over the passed year, through hundreds of letters, and some personal visits from Pastor Waldo to the United States, Pastor Waldo’s family and my family began to consider our families united as one family joined by God through much love. My husband, Jack, and I planned a visit to Tepic in the month of October 2006. Our purpose was to strengthen the ministry and the vision of taking the gospel to the mountains of Mexico. God had a broader plan that was beyond our expectations.

“My family and I are continually checking the mail. We love you both, and you are very important and necessary to our lives and ministry. I love you, Jack and Joyce, Waldo.” (June 19, 2006)

“We are all very excited that you are going to come here. Waldo.” (February 8, 2006)

“How good that Jack is preparing to climb the mountains. It will be a great experience for all of us to have Jack there (in the mountains). I am going to try to gather all the people of that section at that place. We will be very happy with all of this, for before we were anonymous and ignored by the people, but not by God. To evangelize all these Indian people that we have won to the Lord, we walked 5, 9, and 12 hours. Those are the distances from one village to another. Those roads are very tiring. However, we went happily to bring the Word of God. Some times without water. Other times without food because our resources did not allow for more, but we could continue forward because the Lord gave us strength. Our God is faithful. Now with the help of all of you, we can sustain these works and arrive at other villages with the gospel. Much thanks to all of you that have prayed for us and have helped us also. Waldo.” (February 18, 2006)

“Much thanks for your prayers. At noon today I slept a little and dreamed of your coming, you and Jack, to the church in Tepic. It was a grand party for everyone and you brought much bread and shared it in all the church. It was a bread recently baked and of exquisite flavor, bathed on the sides with cinnamon syrup. I understood the meaning of the dream even while I dreamt it. (Bread is a symbol in the Bible of the Word of God). Waldo.” (February 22, 2006)

“All of us are very excited for your visit. Possibly another brother comes (his name is Luis) from Mexico city, to whom we extend spiritual covering, to receive your diploma and to be ordained in the ministry. He already has his church in the Federal District and in the city of Puebla. He met the Lord here with us. He is also taking your studies. The Indian brothers are very excited for your visit and already there is a good group ready to accompany and care for Jack in his walk to a mission. I know that at this time I will be perfectly well. You both are like parents for me. Waldo.” (February 25, 2006)

“The Indians told me that in La Ciénega and in all the villages in the mountains they don’t hear anything else except conversation about your coming. We will see you soon. Waldo.” (October 8, 2006)

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“And Joseph dreamed a dream…” (Gen 37:5) “And he dreamed yet another dream…” (Gen 37:9)

Joseph had two dreams, but the interpretation was the same. Pastor Waldo had the vision to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Indians in the mountains. I also had a dream or a vision to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to the villages in the mountains.

Many years ago a friend of mine and her husband trained for the ministry with the intention of doing missionary work in the mountains of Peru. My friend’s husband was from Peru. As a gift after their graduation, I gave them a painting that I had painted of Machu Picho in the mountains of Peru. In the picture I used the scripture from Isaiah 52:7.

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!”

That scripture was the desire of my heart for my own life. It was my vision. Two visions but one interpretation.

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The Ordination Service of Pastors and Missionaries – October 22, 2006

Pastor Waldo and his church had planned the ordination of pastors and missionaries to coincide with Jack’s and my visit to Tepic. He wanted us to participate in the ordination. I spoke to the congregation in the service with the following words:

“Greetings to all my brothers and sisters in the name of Jesus Christ. I bring you greetings from my three Bible classes and from the Spanish church, Iglesia Calvario, in Camarillo, California. It is a great pleasure for us to visit you here in Nayarit, and finally to know you face to face. This visit is very important to your pastor and to me. In reality, it is a marvelous answer to prayer…the fulfillment of a dream…a life-changing experience. Many of you have come a long distance to be here today. Jack, my husband, and I feel very honored for your great efforts and for the presence of all of you that are here today. Much thanks, brothers and sisters. May God bless you. It is my prayer that God will send many blessings on the villages in the mountains that some of you represent.

“Now, Look at your feet! Are they beautiful? We are going to see what God says about your feet.

“Look in your Bibles at Isaiah 52:7.

‘How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!’ Say it with me, ‘Our God reigns! Again, ‘Our God reigns!’

“Forty years ago, after my children were in school, I decided to return to the university to study linguistics. It is a study of languages. And to study anthropology. It is a study of the cultures of the world. I had in my heart a great desire to serve God as a missionary to bring the Word of God to a people in their own language. I worked hard in the university because I thought that it was what God wanted me to do. I finished the education and waited for the call from God to me and my husband to do missionary work. God did not call us. For many years I questioned God about this, ‘God, why did you give me this strong desire never to see it fulfilled?’ For more than 35 years I waited for God to answer this question. I want to say to you that the ways of God are not the ways of us. A year and a half ago, I began to see the answer when I received the first letter from your pastor. Pastor Waldo asked me if he could use the lessons from the Bible on my Webster for the Indians. With much detail he told me about the ministry to the Huichol Indians in the mountains. From this first letter, God immediately touched my heart and I could visualize easily all the things that he told me. While I read the letters, it was as if I walked en the mountains with him to bring the gospel to the distant villages. Every experience that he explained affected me deeply. I felt every struggle and every victory. God put a deep love in my heart for your pastor, for his family, for you in this church, and for the Indians in the mountains. I said to God, ‘Pastor Waldo does exactly what I wanted to do in my youth, forty years ago.’ I cried many tears before God during those years, and I told him, ‘God, why did you never open the door for me to go to the mountains?’ Finally after 40 years, God spoke to me about my desire to be a missionary. This is what God finally said to me, ‘My daughter, the door is now open, and now you are walking through this door. This is the way that I will fulfill your desires. I do it in my way and not in your way. Pastor Waldo will be your feet and your mouth, and you will equip him to go. You will share with Pastor Waldo the knowledge and the education in linguistics and anthropology in which your trained 40 years ago. You will be his support, his help, and his encouragement. By your lessons in the Bible, Pastor Waldo will equip the workers and the leaders to ordain pastors.’ That is what God told me.

“During this year and a half, God has put all these things together, and it is simply the beginning. The vision is very big, and the work is abundant. It is more than what one pastor can do alone. God has called my husband and me to come alongside him and to help him to bring the vision to its completion. However, the vision is more…much larger than that. God is raising up workers, pastors, evangelists, and missionaries. The ordination today is simply the beginning. Greater things are coming. Are you ready? Are you available? If your answer is yes, there are three things that I want you to remember. These are the lessons that I learned in my life:

=1= Nothing is lost or done in vain in the kingdom of God. God eventually will use it and put things together for His glory. If you are ready, God will do it in the same way that he did it in my life. You must trust in God to fulfill the vision.

=2= Don’t get ahead of God. Wait for His perfect timing. Even though it may require forty years, God will open the doors that no one can shut.

=3= Do it in God’s way and not in your own will, because God does it best. For example, how else would a Mexican pastor and an American teacher and his wife be united in one spirit and one purpose, to bring the gospel to the Indians in the Sierra Madre Occidental Mountains? Only by God!

“Incidentally, my husband does not understand any Spanish, and I want to take advantage of this to tell you something about him. I give thanks to God for my husband that initiated and worked hard on my Webster on the internet to bring the Bible lessons to many people in the world that speak English or that speak Spanish. We are a team, my husband and I. Without the knowledge of the internet and the computer that my husband has, I would never have known Pastor Waldo and we would not be here today. God needs couples to work together in the kingdom of God for maximum effect.

“Brothers and sisters, thank you very much for this experience today. I give praise to God for those of you that have beautiful feet that carry the gospel to the mountains. Your reward is very great in heaven. We love all of you and all of your beautiful feet, my husband and I. God bless you all and remember, Our God Reigns!”

In the ordination service, we ordained 6 couples as pastors and missionaries, some of them are Indians. Some of them are mentioned in this book. They have beautiful feel because they carry the gospel to the Indians in the mountains of Mexico.

Those that we ordained:

Pastors Miguel Angel and Yuri Pacheco

Pastors don Lupe (Guadalupe) and Ester Martinez

Pastors Anselmo and Angelina Rosalio

Pastors Lorenzo Muños Reteria and Amalia

Pastors Luis and Francias Cisneros

Pastors Luis and Elena Cruz

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“When Jack went (to El Majahual), people came from two new communities that we did not know. They asked me when we are going to go to speak to them about the Word of God. I called don Lupe and Tony and told them that they were going to be in charge of visiting them and teaching them the Bible. Today, when don Lupe spoke to me, he told me that already they went to their villages and that Indians from other communities were also present. They spent a good time in which all received ministry. In this way, we already have 5 more communities reached with the gospel. Much thanks, Jack and Joyce for being an inspiration to us. Waldo.” (October 31, 2006)