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september 2003 newsletter
Summer 2003
Thank you so much for your prayers for this summer. It went really well. Cesar worked quite
a bit helping to set up and facilitate 12 week long trips, some of which happened simultaneously.
Instead of trying to tell you all of the stories, we’ll just share about our first project. The
last week of May Cesar lead a project in Matamoros, Mexico. The trip consisted of two groups
of students (Heritage Christian Academy from Sparta, TN) and (Pollar UMC from Tyler, Texas)
totaling 25 participants. During the week they started a cement foundation around a small
wooden church to eventually make a larger building. The groups also did Vacation Bible School,
evangelism, and sports ministry. Working with pastor Ricardo Lopez was great. He worked
alongside the participants every single day. He was working so hard that Cesar had to talk
with him to ask him to slow down. Pastor Ricardo and his wife cooked lunch for all the
participants twice. This was a big deal for them since they live with very humble means.
Jennifer
One of my (Jennifer) prayers this trip was that I would be more able to do ministry
instead of just supervising it. Sometimes it's hard to step away from the logistics.
Thankfully, God made it all possible. The first night (Sunday Night Service), we
all came and joined their church for the church service. Because their church was
so small, many of us were outside. I had a little Spanish children’s Bible with me
and I just sat down with a couple of kids and read stories and talked with the kids.
It really was quite funny because Katie and Hannah were there and so I was teaching,
saying some words in English and Spanish. The kids loved hearing each other and
teaching each other the languages. Well, anyway, by the time the service was over,
we had about 15 kids and were really getting to know each other. When we told them
about VBS the next day, some of them were so sad because they have school at that time.
(Some kids go to school in the morning and some in the afternoon.) Well, that was
just too sad, so I promised them we would have VBS in the morning too. Every day
God provided materials for us to do crafts and Bible stories. It was great!!! At the
end of the week 15 kids accepted Christ!!!
Katie
Katie really seemed to grow up a lot during this trip. On the first day out she
chose to go door-to-door sharing with people about Jesus. By the time she got back
she was so tired. But, come the next day, she went out again, and again the next
day. She watched people get saved and really connected with the kids there,
playing tag endlessly. She also helped on construction making the metal ties that
help keep the concrete in place. By the end of the week she said "Mom, I'm just
really getting into knowing God more." I couldn't be happier!!!
Hannah
Hannah just hung out with Cesar and I, doing crafts or talking with the students.
She focused mostly on squirting all of the students and the pastor with water,
which most of the time was greatly appreciated. She absolutely fell in love with
the students and the summer staff at the Gateway. With the summer work crew at
the Gateway, she learned to do fun tricks with cups, which is just too much fun!
All in all it was great. About 40 people accepted Christ that week, which is the
best part of all!!!
Cesar, Pastor Ricardo Lopez and Mark Sorensen.
Jennifer working with Vacation Bible School.
Katie doing construction work.
Hannah and Pastor Lopez having a water fight!
Construction of the church (building) foundation.
Construction of the church (building) foundation.
Mark Sorensen with his youth.
Pastor Lopez and Sam Rowland our worship leader and speaker. (www.samrowland.org)
Lunch Time!
Stephanie, Heritage Christian Academy and company.
Thank You for All Your Prayers and Support!!!
Cesar, Jennifer, Katie and Hannah
1049 E. Matz Ave.
Harlingen, TX 78550
(956) 425-6440
cesargonzalez@adventures.org
jennifergonzalez@adventures.org
www.adventures.org
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