Mexico Trip Report
In November, 1997, Associate Pastor Nathan Martin and his family made a trip to Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico to visit a church they had helped establish during their time as missionaries (1986-1990). Following is a compilation of emails from Nathan to a group of prayer partners.
Tuesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday
Hi gang!
Hope you're all doing well. It's Tuesday morning, November 18, and we're in McAllen, TX getting ready to cross the border. We'll be leaving in about 25 minutes and I wanted to drop a quick note to you before we go. I hope to be able to write often and let you know what's going on.
To catch everyone up on what we're doing on this trip - we're visiting the Agua Viva church in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz that we started in 1988. Lori and I moved back to the states at the end of 90. My missionary partner moved back in 93. Since 90 I've been back several times but Lori's only been back once. This is an important trip for her - we're also taking our three daughters, Joy, Faith and Hope. Joy was born in Coatza in 90 and she's only been back once, when Lori and I went in 92 so she doesn't remember anything. This is a special trip for the people as well. The church celebrated their 9-year anniversary this year and we're getting ready for a big blowout at next year's 10-year anniversary. This is kind of a "pre-celebration"! <G>
Well, I've got to run - I'm out of time. Y'all have a great week and I'll chat with you later!
No More Walls!
Nathan
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Date sent: Thurs, 20 Nov 1997 23:59
Subject: Mexico Trip Report - Coatza Day 1
Hello everyone!
I trust you're all having a good week. We arrived in Coatzacoalcos this evening around 6:00 after two long days from the border. We drove around a bit just to look at the town before heading to the home where we'll be staying while here. The family we're staying with owns a 5-story building with furnished suites that they rent out to businessmen. They're a part of our church here in Coatza. We had lived in one of the suites for awhile at one time before they completely furnished them all and they are good friends. They always host the visiting ministers who come to the church and it's an honor to be staying with them. Our suite is basically a 2 bedroom apartment with living room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom and AC's in each of the bedrooms!!! God takes care of His kids!!! <GRIN>
Our trip down was not uneventful. After I wrote you the first trip report from the border we headed out to do a couple of errands and then to the border crossing. Things had changed up quite a bit since our last time driving down and I had to start from scratch as to how the process worked. After finally getting in the right line at the right building <!!!> we presented our paperwork to the "Hacienda" office to get permission to take my dad's van into the country. We had a notarized letter of permission from him, but the officer didn't want to give us approval because I didn't have my birth certificate to prove he really is my father! But we had Joy's birth certificate with us, which, as a Mexican birth certificate, listed the grandparents' names!!! After winking at our three blond-haired children, he stamped us with approval! The girls were very helpful because everyone wanted to touch their hair and talk to them. And they seemed to like the attention!!!
We still had to wait in the final line and this wait was quite a bit longer. A Mexican began talking to me in good English. We visited for a bit and I found out he is a Christian (of one year). He was getting some paperwork done and invited us out to eat when we were both finished. By now it was noon and we were all hungry so we gladly accepted. He took us to the best taco stand in Reynosa (because I told him I lived authentic Mexican tacos) and we had some delicious tongue tacos. We made a good friend and look forward to staying in touch with him.
The rest of the day went smoothly. We got into Tuxpan around 11:00 PM after being delayed by a horrible wreck a few miles outside of town. We were delayed for quite a while there - we had wanted to go an hour or two further to the town of Poza Rica but ended up staying in Tuxpan, a lovely town on a beautiful river that has quite a history. Lori and I have always been attracted to this town and it was wonderful to get to stay the night there. We found a nice hotel for $22 and hit the sack.
The next morning (today) we woke up ready to go and realized it was the 20th of November - Independence Day!!! That has not been a good travel day for us in the past because of the parades, etc. I don't know how we overlooked it in preparing for the trip. After breakfast we headed out of town and sure enough, we had to go all the way around the outskirts of town to miss the parade. But because the town is so beautiful we didn't mind.
We pulled into Veracruz around 1:30 and headed for downtown. Veracruz is one of those towns with an attitude and atmosphere - like New Orleans, San Francisco, New York, etc. It's been the site of many battles and has a rich history - it's also one of the more Spanish looking towns in Mexico. It had grown up quite a bit since we were last there - in fact, it almost didn't look the same with the Pizza Huts, Burger Kings, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Sears, Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club!!! The kids enjoyed a Kids Meal and we had Whoppers as we commented about "suffering for the gospel"! <G>
One more nice surprise awaited us as we headed out of town - a four lane toll road all the way to Coatzacoalcos!!! What had once taken about 5 hours on a winding mountainous road was now just under 3 hours on a beautiful four-lane that skirted the mountains on the west. It cost about $25 in tolls but was well worth it!
We pulled into Coatza and were immediately impressed with the changes – a lot of construction and businesses. There was also a Kentucky Fried Chicken, Dominos, and - miracle of miracles - a McDonalds!!! I can remember once having a friend who was flying in from Mexico City bring 4 Big Mac's with him on the plane!!! No more - just right down the street! Once again, suffering for the gospel!!! <G>
We visited with our host family for awhile and then the pastor, his wife and associate showed up around 9:00. We had already had supper but I couldn't turn down an invitation to go to my favorite taco stand in all of the Republic of Mexico!!! We ate and laughed and visited - and it seemed like we had never left! It's amazing how the Lord can give you friendships with people like that!
I was thinking of the first time we ever saw the associate/youth pastor, Pedro. He was chauffeur for the wife of a Pemex official who began attending our church. He had to come because he was to escort her wherever she went, but he didn't want to be there! He would sit there in the services with his arms folded across his strong chest just staring straight ahead. But the Lord had other plans for this young man! And now he is full-time in the ministry! I cried as I hugged these precious people once again.
One of the neat things they shared with me is how all, I mean ALL, the churches of Coatzacoalcos just got through with a week of joint meetings. Coatza is a city of over 500,000 people and has about 80 churches - most of which are very small. Many are splits of off others, which are splits off of others, etc. In the past there hasn't been a lot of cooperation but the Lord has been doing a work in the hearts of the pastors and _ALL_ of the churches participated in a week’s worth of meetings together. They ended up with a general meeting for the region and over 7,000 Christians gathered together for a night of praise, worship and exhortation! I think the ground has been prepared for a March for Jesus!!! <GRIN>
Well, I've got to run - it's midnight and I'm exhausted after 4 days of travel. Tomorrow is a free day as far as services go - we'll be visiting with several families then I'll speak at a breakfast just for married couples on Saturday morning, to the youth on Saturday night and to the whole church on Sunday morning. I want to write you about the story of Coatzacoalcos, what it's name means and hopefully give you some insights into this area - but I'll save that for a later email. For now, I sign off, praying you're all blessed in the Lord and encouraged by the reports of YOUR brothers and sisters in the Lord. Blessings!
No More Walls!
Nathan
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Date sent: Fri, 21 Nov 1997 23:36
Subject: Coatza Day 2 (11-21)
Hello everyone,
Hope all are well. We've had a great day and I wanted to share some with you. We got to visit with quite a few people today, including the doctor that delivered our baby here in Coatza 7 years ago. One of the highlights was visiting with the pastor for several hours and hearing his heart. He shared with us about a recent event that took place - actually, it was last week.
Through a series of events a team of ministers from Finland, the US, Honduras and Guatemala ended up in Coatzacoalcos. They contacted every pastor in the city and in the neighboring town of Minatitlan. Coatzacoalcos is a city of 500,000 but only has about 80 churches, many of which are very small. However, almost all the pastors and churches got together for a week of meetings they called "For the Glory of God". It ended with a meeting of all the Christians from the two towns in a combined meeting with 5,000-7,000 people - PTL! The witness of the churches is now much stronger as a result of these meetings and there is a desire on the part of the pastors to do more together.
I shared about the March for Jesus with Ulises, the pastor of Agua Viva, and he got excited. They had heard about it in other places and had heard great things but didn't know how to go about getting more information. I've promised to send some information to them including a video upon my return. I believe we'll see more good things come out of this.
One of the main backers of this meeting was a man from Finland, a former Treasury Secretary and Ambassador who now works in full-time ministry travelling and preaching evangelistic meetings. He had been doing quite a bit of research on the history of Latin America and it's idolatries. He found out that one of the ancients gods was a fair-skinned feathered snake-man called Quetzacoatl. According to legend Quetzacoatl was "lost" in the River Coatzacoalcos, which means "Place of the serpent". This same religious belief has spread from the Yucatan Peninsula down through the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, into Guatemala, Belize and Honduras.
As this man did more research he came to Coatza and began meeting pastors. He did a survey of the city, number of inhabitants, churches, etc. and approached the pastors with this information. They agreed that it was important to do spiritual warfare together in unity and that's how this meeting came about.
One of the interesting tidbits that was discovered (something Joel and I had heard when we were missionaries here) was that Coatzacoalcos used to be called "Villa del Espiritu Santo" or "Village of the Holy Spirit". Some Christians have now stopped calling the town Coatza and have begun calling it by it's original name. Interesting, no?
I think good things are happening and will continue to happen here in Coatza, uh, Holy Spirit Village! I look forward to hearing more and more about it. Agua Viva is one of the largest churches in the city and now has a good working relationship with other churches in the city, much as a result of what's been happening lately. It's an honor to have been one of the founders and to continue to be associated with the church.
Well, that's about all for now. It's 11:30 now and I've got to get up early to finish preparing for the morning couple's meeting and the afternoon youth meeting, both at which I'll be speaking. If you get this beforehand, I'll appreciate your prayers. Blessings to all of you!
No More Walls!
Nathan
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Date sent: Sat, 22 Nov 1997 23:39
Subject: Coatza Day 3 (11-22-97)
Hello everyone,
I trust you've had a good week. We've just returned from eating supper at another one of our friend's homes, Alfredo Chulin - or Fredy, as we call him. Fredy is Pedro's brother and got saved after Pedro. He is faithfully serving the Lord in various ministries, including the sound system, maintenance, cleaning and even the nursery! What a servant!!! He invited us to eat at his home and when we got there the entire cleaning team was there - he wanted to bless them because much of their work goes on behind the scenes. We had a surprise birthday party for one of the ladies who had never had a birthday party in her life. She wept as we sang to her and even more when the cake was brought out. Only the love of Jesus could impress something like that on someone's heart - to minister to a need like that in such a tangible way. PTL!
This morning I spoke to a group of married couples. They have this meeting once a month and everyone looks forward to it. I really connected well with the people and we had a good time of ministry. I spoke mainly to the men about their role and the women loved it! There was a lot of elbowing going on! <GRIN>
One neat thing they do is every month draw a name of one couple and they give them a "Honeymoon Night" in the nicest hotel in town. Everyone chips in a little and someone gets blessed in a big way. The couple who had just returned from their "Luna de Miel" (Literally "Moon of Honey") shared their appreciation because they had never had a honeymoon. Again I was blessed by the tangible expression of the love of Jesus in the body of Christ.
We had lunch with several families at another birthday party. It was a good time to visit with some folks from the area who are not believers as well as with long time friends. This evening at 5:00 we had the youth meeting. There were over 50 teenagers there and what an awesome night it was - incredible praise and worship and such excitement! Some of these young folks were just children of 7, 8, 9 years when we left and now they're leading worship, playing on the worship team, etc! It was wonderful! Also, 3 teenagers came forward to give their lives to Jesus!!! I was having a blast!!!
One of the neat things they're doing now is raising up a drama troop, complete with mimes and clowns. They're working with several other churches and plan to do drama in the streets. Next Saturday they're hosting a "How to Evangelize" workshop with several other churches - but just for the teenagers! The young people have accepted the challenge of bringing to gospel to Coatzacoalcos!!!
Well, that's about all for today - it was a full day and very refreshing, but also very tiring. Tomorrow morning I'll be ministering in the morning service at 11:00. Once again, I covet your prayers. We'll keep you posted as things happen. Be blessed in all you do and may your weekend be refreshing! Blessings!
No More Walls!
Nathan
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Date sent: Sun., 23 Nov 1997 23:42
Subject: Coatza Day 4 (11-23-97)
Hello everyone!
We're finally back in our room after an entire day of services and visiting. I preached this morning in the AM service to a standing room only crowd. They have 280 chairs and there were almost a hundred people standing at the end of the worship service. After dismissing all the children for Sunday School everyone had a seat but it was definitely a full house! The service lasted for about 3 hours or so and the people really responded well. Again the Lord gave me favor with the people - they laughed in all the right places! <GRIN> Actually the ministry went well and over 100 came up at the end for personal ministry, 8 of whom gave their lives to Jesus!!! Definitely a prosperous morning!
After the service we went to the pastor's home and all the leaders of the church came as well. We had a meal together and visited until almost 8:00. It was wonderful! I shared with them what one of the MFJ-NET folks had found out, that the Mississippi River was originally named River of the Holy Spirit and since Coatzacoalcos was originally named Village of the Holy Spirit, they "knew" there was some connection. We spent quite a bit of time praying and sharing together. I admonished them about the necessity for transparency and openness between themselves. That the enemy would try to put divisions in the leadership in order to destroy the church. They were very receptive and encouraged by this.
During the prayer time one of the brothers came to me and said he felt like the Lord told him to tell me that four walls couldn't hold me in. I thought that was interesting since I sign all my emails "No More Walls"! These folks are very perceptive to the things of the Lord.
It was wonderful to get to share with them and have them share their experiences and memories of the past 9 years since Agua Viva was founded. Each one shared different experiences, different memories, different ways the Lord had worked in their lives. It was an incredible afternoon.
Finally around 8:00 we left for the home of one of our first friends in Coatza - Santiago and Yolanda Torres. We had supper with them (Frijoles Charros y quesadillas - MMMmmmmmmm!) and enjoyed the visit very much. They were very instrumental in helping us get established in Coatza and remain intimate friends until this day. We were there until about 11:00 and finally headed back to our room to get some rest for the long drive tomorrow. (We still have two families to visit in the morning before we pull out of town.)
It was absolutely wonderful to see the people today in the service – people we had cried with, prayed with, led to the Lord. One of the neatest things was something I shared yesterday, but it was seeing the youth who were leading the worship. They were just "kids" when we left and now they're leading the entire church in worship and praise! What a blessing. I think everyone on the worship team except for 1 was under the age of 20!
Another neat thing was to see how the church had matured and was even reflecting their culture more than ever. They had several praise songs of the "samba" style which is very popular in this area, a style that represents this area. Because the church is completely under national leadership now they are probably more sensitive to this kind of thing than when I was leading worship. PTL!
We got to see so many old friends that it's impossible to tell you all the stories. But here's one that touched my heart. Lydia Velasquez greeted me at the end of the service. She was one of the first ones to arrive but back in those days her husband, Don Pedro, didn't want anything to do with Agua Viva - he wanted nothing to do with us. We prayed often with Lydia and stood with her during those days. One day a group of friends from the Monroe, LA area were flying down to see us. It happened that one of them sat next to Don Pedro on the plane. He spoke some English and struck up a conversation with them. They invited him to the meetings they were attending and he accepted without knowing they were at Agua Viva. Realizing this later, he came anyhow because he had given his word. He gave his life to the Lord. That was over 8 years ago. She told me that he passed away 2 months ago but she was sure he was in heaven and that he was looking forward to seeing us there whenever we got there! Only God can change hearts like that!
Well, that's about all for today. So much is happening but I don't want to bore you with too much information. I'll just ask that you be praying for us these next three days as we travel back to the states. We'll be going to Tuxpan tomorrow and may stay there an entire day to rest and investigate the spiritual climate there. Then on Wednesday we'll head on to McAllen, TX. This may be my last communication with you until then because I don't know the telephone situation between here and the states. In the meantime, thank you for your prayers. May HIS richest be yours!
No More Walls!
Nathan
NathanMartin@XC.Org
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Copyright 1997 Nathan Martin & Christian Challenge International
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