Hello All,
I think I failed English class a couple times, so
please bare with me as I try to write my thoughts, visions and prayers
to you now and in the future.
Well, im writing to you from Matamoros Mexico. My first couple weeks
has been jam packed. We started off with three days of solitude to
prepare our hearts for what God has planned for us. During that time, I
really felt the Lord putting “freedom” on my mind. For the next couple
days we worked at an orphanage and a construction site. Then we started
first aid and spanish classes and now we have started learning organic
gardening. This is all while digging deep into the Lords word and
worshiping every night. It has been through those large group
discussions and worship times that i have understood God speaking
freedom into my life. He started to bring up past and present sins,
struggles and pains out of us, and then, like He promises… SET US
FREE!
Another thing worth noting is our host family visits. My South
Africa team daily visits A local mexican family to “practice” our
ministry. Salene, the mother (who is 7 months pregnant), also has a 7
year old daughter named Galilella. We have not met the father. It was
obvious to me that my heart was bound to break for this family at some
point. Here is that point. As we chat with Salene day to day, many cars
roll by her house. On this particular day we were talking about the
mafia that controls Mexico and how scary it can be for the family. She
was telling us how she knows when the mafia drives by because their
cars are alot nicer. In the middle of the conversation, a “nice” car
slowly drives by. Me and my team mates look and think, “mafia?”. We
turn back to Salene with question in our eyes and then she said
something i wont ever forget; she said, ” either mafia or gringos”
(gringos meaning white amercans). This hit me hard, because to her, for
a mexican to have a car as nice as a gringo, they had to be theives in
the mafia.
As most of you know finances is an ongoing struggle for
missionaries. Please prayerfully consider me as i still need 3 thousand
dollars before December. Thank you for your continual prayer and
support. Im having a great time. The Lord is active. Grace and Peace.
Garrett James Berkley
