Hello Everyone,
We realize it has been a while since our last newsletter, March to be exact. The past 4-5 months have been extremely busy and exciting at the same time. God is continuing to bless and show favor for this ministry He has blessed us with. Shelly and I are happy to share some of the good things that have been taking place here in Mexico amidst all the viole
nce.
April we began the water project for the village of Yaguirachi, where we have our weekly outreach to an average of 80 people. This project will serve at least 25 to 35 homes and the little school located there. Pablo and I are excited about this project because many of the men who live in the village are very interested in helping with the water system. We are now in the process of running water pipe and connecting all the houses. There will be plenty of opportunity for visiting groups to participate in this ongoing water project.
*Be sure to click on all the pictures to enlarge them and to see more related photos.
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In April we also celebrated “Dia del Niño” (Day of the Child), a Mexican holiday for all the children of Mexico, (see photo to the right). We wanted to make sure the children of Yaguirachi were not forgotten and that they all had a special treat. A lot of preparation went in to the party we gave them. Candy bags, games and piñatas we made by hand gave the kids a day they would not soon forget.
In May the water project in Yaguirachi continued with the first houses being connected. (See photo below left) We located another water source a
couple of miles from the village up into the mountains. Pablo and I have made plans with the men of the community to run a pipe from the spring to a large stone cistern that will be built on a hill over looking the school. It will then be distributed to the school and throughout the village. We will have enough water for the men to irrigate their crops and also for their animals.
We also had a special day for the Indian women of the village for Mother’s Day. Shelly, Adriana and the girls organized this outreach. We rented a place to take all the Indian women, without their children or their husbands, so they could be pampered for a little while. (See photo to the lower right) There were at least 15 women who came, they were each given gifts, served a nice dinner, sang praise songs, had a devotional and all played games afterwards. It was a nice little escape for them from the hard life they face everyday in the mountains. They had never had
anything like this done for them in their whole lives.
At the end of the month of May we returned to Mississippi to share with various churches all the events and victories of the past year here in Creel. When the month of June was coming to an end and we were preparing to return to Mexico I received a call from the Canadian group who has partnered with us in the well drilling ministry. They wanted to fly us up to British Columbia, Canada to speak at a couple of churches to put a face on the ministry they were now associated with. Another reason for us to go up was to become familiar with and learn to use the large drilling rig that was built to go to Mexico. I gladly accepted their generous offer. Mike Green, my father in law and I spent one whole day flying in and out of various airports to get to the “North Country” of Canada. After we flew as far as we could, Ben and Barbra Wall met us at the last airport to drive us the last 5 hours north. Our final destination was Fort Nelson, B.C. located on mile 300 of the famo
us Alaskan Highway. (See photo to the left )
Mike and I spent two weeks working on the drilling rig truck and support truck getting it ready to drill. During this time we had the opportunity to drill two successful water wells. Mike and I both were overwhelmed at the size and capability of this awesome tool. We look forward to getting it down here to Creel and begin using it.
While we were there we found a little history and vision behind the decision to build a water well drilling rig for Mexico. Bruce Luney, one of the members of the group” sent me an e-mail that was written in January 2007, it told about the building of the drilling rig, the donation of motors, pumps etc and the vision to send it to Mexico with many confirmations from several people involved specifically mentioning Mexico. One part of that letter is as follows, “I was telling Marg the other day that there must be someone in Mexico praying for water because God sure has His hand in this...” I let Bruce know that it was in January of 2007 that Shelly and I made
our step of faith in deciding to move to Creel and begin our own water ministry. This was in the face of a lot of opposition and the fact that we didn’t have a drilling rig, but we knew what God was showing us. Bruce also told me that he began gathering all the materials together to build the rig and support truck in the fall of 2006, which was right about the exact time we made our first fact-finding trip over to Creel. After hearing the history and reading the e-mails, I was literally blown away at how God was bringing everything together with people from three different countries and how that He has now supplied the last item on the first needs list Shelly and I made back in 2006.
We are very excited as we begin our ninth year here in Mexico. We thank everyone who has helped make this possible. Always remember, just because you may not be able to ¨Go ye...", you can help others to go.
Your servants in Mexico…
Ryan, Shelly, Monica and Melena Maness
Highways and Hedges Ministries
