Bittersweet Farm

My oldest son, Kyle and his wife Elizabeth are in love with Jesus and committed to the ministry of the gospel. This summer they are headed to Camp Barakel to serve. Last night I received an emergency phone call that they were in the hospital. God has chosen to take their pre-born baby to himself. As far as we know Elizabeth is physically well.

A. W. Tozer once said;

“I doubt if God has ever used a man greatly until his has first broken him deeply.”

I believe that our kind, loving, Heavenly Father is forming Kyle and Elizabeth into useful, effective ministers of God’s comfort. Pray that as they respond to the grace of God, the power of God will be upon their lives.

This temporary loss deepens our awareness of what a priceless blessing children are. It makes Heaven and eternal things sweeter to us. Thanks for praying for Elizabeth and Kyle, especially that the beauty of Jesus would be upon them and the power of God would be upon them.

Sunday the sun was rising when I woke. The nights are cool here and the days are warm but the air is very clear and dry. Mountains surround the area. After a few minutes on the roof I took a very quick “missionary shower” and ironed Hope’s dress and Lois’s clothes. It took a while to find a place to plug in the iron. Everything takes extra steps and extra time here in Mexico, but we are very, very happy to be here.

The team visited an orphanage, singing songs, giving testimonies, Susanna Whitten did a beautiful chalk talk. The children were fascinated with it. At the end of the presentation she gave the gospel in such a clear way it brought tears to my eyes. Chuk, Dan, and Wes juggled tennis balls which the children loved. When they were done all the children wanted to learn themselves. One of the girls did a gospel trick with ropes. A number of the team gave testimonies of principles of God at work in their lives. The boys signed some of the tennis balls and left them with the children.

The orphans were so eager to love and make friends. I noticed that though they have very little, if you show interest in something they will often give it to you. I watched a little girl cheerfully, eagerly placing her necklace around the neck of one of the Great Expedition team members.

When our meeting was over the room came alive with a buzz of conversation. Children and team members spilled out into the courtyard. Some of the team members spent time braiding and arranging the girl’s hair. With a little prompting five or six boys from the orphanage

We had a tour of the building. It was very simple and very, very clean and organized. I was impressed and humbled by the devotion of the small staff and the use of the space. From the outside you would have thought the building was industrial, but inside it was full of light and love.

The whole orphanage was run by a man who was converted in prison. He lived in the building himself. The children were obviously very well cared-for. They were well groomed, happy, and attentive.

A couple Christian young people from here in Mexico were so fascinated by what we were doing they asked if they could come along with us for a few days. A van load of people followed us to be involved in the ministry. We rested for an hour and a half and had lunch at our Latin American office at Lake Chappala. Some of the team were able to make Mother’s Day calls home.

Sunday evening we went to the town square in Johotopec and mingled with the people. We did a program, chalk talk and testimonies there before perhaps a thousand people. When we were done our team helped them distribute ice cream to all the mothers.

In the evening the air turned cool and a steady breeze blew in the square. It was hard to leave the people as all the team mingled and witnessed and chatted with people. The people are very friendly and very willing to talk. Some key relationships were formed and our love and appreciation for the country and people of Mexico grew. Toward the close of the evening we were invited to two or three more festivals.

To day we will do a program and minister for four hours in an orphanage of thousands of boys. Thank you for praying for the strength and endurance of our team and wisdom for our leader, Mr. Gothard, who is with us on the tour.

Ken Pierpont
The Oasis Orphanage
Lake Chappala, Mexico
May 15, 2006

We are in Big Sandy, Texas at the ALERT ACADEMY. It is a beautiful campus. We have joined the rest of the Great Expeditions Team here and they are a fine group of young people. I’ll postg a nice picture here as soon as possible.

We are enjoying a briefing now for our trip to Monterrey and Guadalajara, Mexico. On the tour we will be training fifty young people while ministering to orphans, learning conversational Spanish, doing evangelism and work projects, and visiting city leaders, among other things. We are all plotting how we are going to use our talents and to capture the interest of people so that we can love them. The boys are planning to juggle. We have musicians and chalk artists with us, too. Matthew Powell ties animal balloons and brought thousands of them with him.

Saturday morning we started our day with a meeting with Mr. Gothard and we were thrilled when we discovered that he decided that he would go with us on the trip.

Our first act as a group was to get on our knees. Mr. Gothard said, “We will begin on our knees and we will end on our knees, and we will fall to our knees repeatedly during our trip. We will be in a continual spirit of prayer without ceasing through the whole trip.”

To the delight of the young people, one of the first things Mr. Gothard did was appoint one of the Matt Hinton recreational director. He instructed Matt to see to it a volleyball and volleyball net, football and Frisbee were packed for the trip. Then he quipped, “That way if the bus breaks down we can set the net up by the roadside, attract a crown and share the gospel with them.”

After brunch we each began to share our personal testimonies. During the testimony time Anthony Burros shared his testimony and broke out into singing “I’m So Glad Jesus Lifted Me”, in Spanish. In less than three minutes the entire group was on their feet heartily singing the song.

Often the simple testimonies of salvation were spoken through tears and around the circle tears were shed. Once when one of the young people apologized for crying Mr. Gothard quoted Psalm 126, which seemed powerfully appropriate as we prepared to travel into the country of Mexico with the gospel. “He that goeth forth weeping, bearing precious seed, will doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaved with him.” In my heart I silently prayed that that would be fulfilled on our missionary tour.

This evening the Great Expeditions Team sang a song in Spanish for the group assembled for dinner. For the first time in her life Lois sang in the choir. She was adorable and our hearts are happy as we prepare for our missionary adventure in Mexico.

Keep an eye on our site and I will be posting events, prayer requests and pictures, teaching and reports as we go. Please pray that our beautiful “new” coach will run well and safely and that we will have boldness and creativity as we try to nudge everyone we meet along the way toward our generous, merciful God.

Ken Pierpont
International ALERT Academy
Big Sandy, Texas
May 7, 2006