"'Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?' The expert in the law replied ‘the one who had mercy on him.' Jesus told him, ‘Go and do likewise.'"

(Like 10:36, 37 NIV)

Usually in our role as missionaries, we are perceived, for better or for worse, as the ones who provide. In our setting in Baja California, we try to strike a balance with our partners, so that they can be provided with genuinely needed resources without always looking at us with only dollar signs in their eyes. But I have had a couple of experiences, thanks to a usually very dependable vehicle misbehaving, that have put the shoe on the other foot, so to speak.

Part of what I do is drive, lots. Some missionaries can do their work within the confines of a town, and can use a bicycle as their transportation. Some other of our colleagues who consult with Baptist conventions in many countries are on the road for weeks at a time. Mercy and I are related to one convention, but this convention still covers a fair amount of area. And, something for which we give thanks, we are being invited not only to work in the Mexicali and Valley areas of Baja California, but are now being invited to participate often in the areas of Tijuana-Tecate and Ensenada.

I had just replaced the transmission in my pickup (nearly having to sign away my firstborn for the expense) and headed to Ensenada to do a presentation to a pastor's group. It was an enjoyable time and the pastors seemed to respond well. On the way home, I was debating about driving to Mexicali and crossing the border there, or crossing at Tecate and driving on the US side. I decided I would cross at Tecate. I had just entered the town of Tecate when all of the sudden, the engine quit. Hmmm. After a quick diagnosis, I suspected it was the alternator. Problem was, I had no transportation to get another alternator, nor did I have any tools with me to work on it (I had left my toolbox at home in my haste to get on the road-figures!).

Thankfully, in Tecate live the president of the convention, Isai, and his brother, Misael. Isai was at work, but his wife Adriana contacted Misael, who came to help me. Misael brought his son, who stayed to help, with his tools. We got the alternator out, tested it (sure enough, it had expired), purchased another one, installed it, and I was on my way, grateful for the grace of God and the graciousness of God's people.

A while later, I took my truck to the seminary in Mexicali to work with a workgroup. I made it to Mexicali fine. But when I went to start it to go to the hardware store, it just plain would not start. After awhile, some of the people of the workgroup and I concluded that it was probably a fuel delivery problem. Since I had just changed the filter, I knew that I was in for a job changing the fuel pump. Well, Mercy and I got that changed the next night at the seminary, but the truck still would not start. Alma, one of our church planters of whom we have written, suggested their mechanic. They contacted him, and the next morning he came. I explained what was happening (or not), and what I had done. After a few minutes he crawled under the truck, and the said "arránquelo!" (Start it!). It started up just fine. When I had put the fuel tank back in place and reconnected the wires, I had just not pressed one of the plugs in quite far enough (¡ay, bendito!).

I like to think of myself as pretty capable. I also like to be the one giving a hand to others. But God taught me something in the midst of my need. I need my brothers and sisters in Christ. It may be for a hand with my truck, or for teaching lessons about life, but I am reminded that no one is truly self-sufficient, nor are we supposed to be. And this need surpasses my earthly citizenship, culture, language, and skin color, and affirms that those things are far less important than simply being willing servants ready to reach out in love. I was taught humility, in having to ask for help. But I was in no way, shape, or form humiliated in the loving and gracious response of my siblings in Mexico.

As much as we would like to think of ourselves as self sufficient, I pray that we would be humble enough to learn lessons from God's people who may be different from us. As strong and mature as our faith may be, we don't have it all figured out. We can be so much the richer for admitting that and learning what God has to teach us from some unanticipated sources.

God Bless you on the journey!

Rick

"Forget the former things. Do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!

Now it springs up, do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert

And streams in the wasteland" (Isaiah 43.18-19)

January seems like years away now. It is my turn (Mercy) now to inform you on what's been going on in our lives, with our family and with our ministry. We have been extremely busy in our personal lives as well as in our ministries. Transformation seems to be the name of the game. Our seminary here in Mexicali has a new director, his name is Gregorio Gamboa and he has brought a new sense of hope and direction and excitement to the seminary. Our students at the seminary seem to have more hope and the Churches are more supportive of the seminary.

I have had the opportunity to give a workshop on "Método Participativo". It is a way of teaching and learning that uses small group dynamics and inductive Bible Study. We've given the workshop at three churches and are preparing to give it again in Mexicali. I am also co-teaching a Sunday school class at Primera (FBC Mexicali) which has been lots of fun.

Aida, Richie and Joshua are finishing another year of school. Both Aida and Richie continue with excellent grades. Joshua will be participating in his first spelling bee this Friday. Aida was accepted into the drama club at her high school and she will be traveling this summer to visit friends in MA and NY. Richie continues to grow so fast that he has to wear shorts most of the time.

We've had the privilege of hosting four wonderful persons from the Green Lake Cruise, John and Pat Belden from the Central Region, Emma Gordoa and Delia Perez from CA and AZ. They were a very delightful group and they showed great interest in our New Church Plants.

This group was followed by visits from the University of Sioux Falls, FBC Yorba Linda, New York State, San Diego and Arizona. Soon we will have a Discovery Group and a group from San Francisco. Each group teaches us something more about being host and about our churches in the States. Each comes with a desire to experience something new, to give, to share, and to learn. I hardly ever hear anyone complain about sleeping accommodations or about their levels of discomfort with food, language, culture, etc…

From the groups I am learning that every day you discover something new. Something that maybe was there but you had not seen it yet. Last week I discovered another missionary couple who are reaching out to the Chinese in Mexicali. They also happen to be the parents of a classmate of Joshua and I have been acquainted with Po Poon for almost two years. It has been such a pleasure to see how God places the pieces of the puzzle together and how slowly we start to make sense of what God wants us to do.

Our Convention has taken on a renewed goal of reaching out to indigenous groups in Baja. They have renewed their interest in supporting our Mexican missionaries in China, Chiapas and Europe. They've also affirmed that New Church Planting will be a primary goal and we're very excited by how God has been at work amongst us. Little by little transformation is taking place not at my pace but at God's pace.

• Please continue to pray for the Baptist Convention in Baja California.
• Pray for our evangelistic and missionary goals.
• Please pray for our New Church Plants, for the resources that they need to be faithful to God's call.
• Please pray for our new friends Karlson and Po Poon.
• Pray for our missionary partnership team and network and for the financial resources to continue to do what God had called us to do.
• Pray for how you can become involved in our ministry.

A technical note: For those of you who got this newsletter via e-mail and snail mail, there is a reason. From time to time we will send a hard copy, with a reminder for you to check your "bulk mail" inbox on your e-mail account. Due to more and more sophisticated spamming and the countering anti-spam, many of the anti spam programs are very fussy about what they let in. So, please check your inbox. If our newsletter made it into your e-mail where it was supposed to, great, just please send us a quick note to let us know you got it. If you gave us your current e-mail address and you did not get this via e-mail, we may have been detected as spam. You can customize your spam filter to allow what you want in, and hopefully we are in that category! (As always, we only want to be where we are truly welcome) For Norton Internet Security, for example, there is a choice beside the mail caught in the spam filter to indicate "this is not spam." MacAffee, AOL, Netscape and others have similar options. If you have e-mail but have no idea what I am talking about, bribe one of the teenagers in your church with some goodies in exchange for instruction. Who knows what neat friendship may happen out of that! It is far more cost effective to send this via e-mail, so if at all possible, please provide us with an e- mail address.