Dear Friend,
Reaching Out
Although the focus of the ministry at Rancho 3M is the at-risk and orphaned children who live here, there are extensions to that, such as the daily ministry at our Christian school, and occasionally an outreach event to our community. Because of the violence in our area, we have not had an event like this in a long time. Most days all is well, but every now and then someone is killed or disappears and our community returns to a state of fear and uncertainty. At one point this summer, an instance of such violence occurred in a neighboring town, and several lives were tragically lost in a fight between opposing cartels. However, even in a time of sorrow mixed with fear we saw the Lord’s restoring hand at work – that same week a visiting team hosted an evangelistic outreach to our hurting community.
Kingdom Advancement
It seemed as if the Lord used the devastating events during that week to remind people of the uncertainty of their future and of their need for a Savior. It appeared that the threat of violence, instead of causing everyone to stay home, only stirred people to come and seek the Lord. As we prepared to receive folks, we continued in apprehensive prayer for safety and the salvation of souls. We were immediately encouraged – not an hour before the event, military vehicles passed by the Ranch and we were able to stop them and request that they make passes by our facility while the event was going on just in case something happened – which they were very gracious to do. The Lord takes care of his children!
At the event, everyone was served a generous portion of food and were seated at tables in our school courtyard. After dinner, the wind picked up so much that our visitors had to be ushered into the chapel. Then a Spanish-speaking pastor from the team shared with the crowd the refreshing good news of Jesus. He pointed out that they had just received a wonderful meal and were full, but they would be hungry again soon. Then he shared the words of our Savior, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). By God’s grace, the most wonderful miracle happened at the end – about 20-25 people came forward to repent of their sins and to put their faith in Jesus! We closed by sharing information about different Christian churches in the area where folks could get plugged in to continue their walk with the Lord. As people were leaving, they were blessed with bags of food, tracts, and most importantly, Bibles – the precious Word of God – spiritual food that is able to truly fill them and transform their lives. In all of this, we were so encouraged by God’s gentle reminder that nothing can stop His kingdom’s advancement. Praise God for His kindness and compassion towards the poor and hurting in our community. This event would not have happened without visiting teams and faithful supporters like you. Thank you for your support!
By His Grace,
Dean Adamek, E.D. Rancho 3M