Jalapa de Diaz
A native lady in her traditional tribal clothing.
From the moment that Neil
Steede received a police “escort”
from our Sunday service on the
mountain our team knew that
all our best laid plans were in
jeopardy.  Everything we had
planned for 2005 was now
totally dependent upon the
resolution of the "meeting” with
the Mayor of Jalapa de Diaz.  
Stranded on a hill in Mexico
with no interpreter all we could
do was pray.

From this incident, that could
have ended in any number of
adverse ways, God introduced
our purpose to everyone in the
region of Cerro Rabon.  From
tense and awkward beginnings
God intervened with His Spirit
and a unique respect developed
between our team and the
people of Jalapa de Diaz.  God
gave us the opportunity to
experience how the gracious
Spirit of the Christ penetrates
the barriers of language, culture
and privilege to comfort souls
that are hurting.  From one
sincere gesture of love shown to
a young lady named Catalina
God melted the hearts of the
authorities in Jalapa and we
now have a genuine respect and
ongoing relationship with
brothers and sisters thousands
of miles away.

Having experienced the strange
and marvelous events of the ten
days we spent in Jalapa, we
knew that God was calling us to
interact with the people and give
Him the opportunity to witness
through the love his Spirit
engenders.  The people of Jalapa
de Diaz have informed us of
some of their needs and have
made a sincere request for us to
help where we can.

One request was for aid in
making the Dia del Nino
(Children’s Day) a successful
one for the thousands of
children who live in the Jalapa
region.  After we arrived back in
Missouri we had two weeks to
arrange for this request to be
fulfilled.  With the help of
generous people who donated
earnest money and bundles of
toys to this cause, and with the
dedication of Edd DeTray, his
wife Kay, and their daughter
Stacey who lives in Mexico City,
our group was instrumental in
providing gifts to over 1,000
children in Jalapa on April
30th, 2005.

There are other requests that
are yet unfulfilled.  Requests for
clothing for children, requests
for help with vision problems
and with dental problems.  We
have people researching how we
can best help in each of these
areas, but if anyone reading this
has resources that can be
utilized in this regard, please
contact us by
clicking here.
Dia de Ninos makes the kids smile more.
A happy young crew takes home the gifts.
The towns people decorated the DIF for Children's Day.
The DeTray's with the local people who assisted in distributing the towys.
A long day and a job well done.