A few weeks ago, it rained, not only did it rain but it poured. It was time to go pick up Joshua from preschool so we got his raincoat, which we had purchased in Costa Rica during language school and ran out into the rain to dash into our car. There were kids playing in the rain, at the preschool, all of the kids were sitting on the porch looking at the rain very excitedly. As we drove home, there were many adults standing at their doors and places of business also looking at the rain and there seemed to be a collective excitement and happiness in El Centro.

In Mexicali there are many unpaved roads, so when we get a gully washer like this one, many vehicles get stuck in the mud, many roads are impassable and are full of ruts. What is a motive for excitement in one city is a motive for anxiety in another. Homes may get flooded, cars washed away and maybe people will get hurt or even die. It just depends from what angle you look at the event of simple rain and from what socio economic level you are in. Mexicali is a place of contrasts and reminders. Reminders of poverty, people living too close together and not having much of an opportunity to get ahead in life. But the greatest reminder is that God's Kingdom has not truly arrived and the hope of new life still needs to be preached and lived in both El Centro and Mexicali.

I'd like to share about the ministry of a couple I know named Ramon and Alma. Ramon is a young police officer who works with the Mexican version of the "DARE" program. His wife Alma just graduated from our seminary and has a passion for sharing the Gospel in her neighborhood. They live in homes so small and inadequate that you could not envision it yet they praise God for giving them the opportunity to own their own home and to be able to build extra rooms for their four children. Alma dreams with planting a church in their community. She holds activities for the children in the neighborhood and tries to work with neighboring women to build up community spirit and to watch each others homes. As I walked into Alma and Ramon's home and we prayed together for their ministry, my heart was filled with grief and a little guilt because I had so much and my giving did not seem to be on a par with what they gave.

Well, my job is to be to support and to empower these people in ministry. What do we need? We need financial resources to support our Mexican New Church Planters, we need lots of prayer for Alma and Ramon and all the other planters not mentioned here. We need books in Spanish to continue to train and prepare Mexican leaders for the job that lies ahead. We need to increase our audiovisual and computer resources in our school library. We have a wish list, which I can make available to anyone who requests it.

Our situation is not different from other ABC missionaries around the world. We need the continued support of our churches so that we can continue to bring the Good News of the Kingdom of God to other people, to empower them for service and little by little see how God is transforming our world. Please give in the same measure that God has provided for you and your family.

Please continue to pray for our family as we strive to serve the Lord in Mexicali.

Mercy Gonzalez-Barnes and Rick Barnes
IM Missionaries to Baja California, Mexico