Dear E-mail Prayer Partners

"Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer." John Bunyan

Kind of a scary morning with our brother Alfonso. Everything was good while making our morning visits into the neighborhood, it was after the service that I really noticed that he wasn't right. He said that he has eaten breakfast, but it was obvious by the way he was acting that he hadn't. So I quickly got him a coke, made some beans and heated up some tortillas and he was soon his usually jolly self. That diabetes is nasty stuff.

We have kind of adopted another one in Nogales. No not another kid, but a lady in the Buenos Aires neighborhood who just about died from not eating right, or rather at all. She's about 70 I figure and as thin as a rail. This economic crisis is definitely effecting the elderly the most here on the border.

Our Sunday school in Mascareñas is still going well. It varies from three to sixteen on any given Sunday. Alfonso really enjoys working with the kids, and they really like him. Yesterday during the singing he was playing air guitar by my side while singing. I asked if he wanted to use mine, and he said no, that his doesn't go out of tune. And of course all the kids laughed. We really have a good time with them, and they are so eager to learn and participate in the stories and memorization of Scripture etc. We thank God for the Giles work that we are able to use for them (take a look).

There continues to be more and more interest in music, especially in learning the guitar among the youth in Buenos Aires. We have been rounding up old guitars, gluing them back together, stringing them up so that they'll have something to use. We're really hoping that out of the bunch, a few will develop into a group of worship leaders. We are praying that God will move one or more to become interested in serving the children out in Mascareñas.

The cartel wars on the border seem to continue the same. There are killings here in Nogales just about every day. The police presence has been especially high these days because they are celebrating 200 years of independence and 100 years since the Mexican Revolution.

Things on the home front are doing well. Cesar has healed from having staples in his head from a cut he received while playing. Gracie is getting straight A's in school. Mary Ann loves working at the Crossroads rescue mission. I continue to find people just about every week in Mexico who have been touched by the mission and thus opens doors for me to share with them about why we do what we do.

Thank you all for and with us that God will continue to open doors, and that men, women and children here might pray and thus "cease from sin."

Your fellow workers,

Darwin, Mary Ann, Gracie and Cesar.

August 2010

Dear friends in Christ,

Here we are in the middle of summer and monsoon season. Monsoon actually means “season” so we are really saying season season! We pray you are well in all regards. We hope this brief update will edify you in some way. Thank you for praying. God bless you!

Praise for our trip to the mid-west to visit the World Mission Prayer League and the Association of Free Lutheran Churches. We spent a week with WMPL missionaries at Hunky Dory in Wisconsin. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and fun. The kids loved VBS and swimming. Cesar entered the 'Swim Across The Lake”
and made it in good time without a life preserver. Mom didn't know that fact until afterward! Darwin was privileged to be one of the speakers at the AFLC conference at Medicine Lake, Mn. We thank God for times likes these that He blesses us with.

Praise for the Sunday School class Darwin and Alfonso have in Mascarenas. None of the parents attend church so they are going after the next generation. Please pray for this small ranching community. Most have some kind of involvement in drug trafficking. May God rescue them from their addictions and greed.

Praise for a successful VBS in Buenos Aires. There were lots of kids and lots of help! May there be eternal fruit from the labors.

Prayer for Pastor Antonio of Buenos Aires. He is going through some kind of medical condition but won't say what it is.

Prayer for our kids as they have started school. Grace is in 4th grade. She has an awesome teacher who is a candidate for teacher of the year and Cesar is in 6th grade so is now in middle school. They both have tender hearts and love Jesus, but it can be rough for a Christian in the public schools. Thank you for your prayers for them.

Prayer for Mary Ann. She deals with men just out of prison, mentally challenged people, men in the recovery program and so many people with different needs. Prayer for wisdom, spiritual and physical strength as she serves at the rescue mission. She really loves her job and thanks God for the opportunity to serve Him in this capacity.

Praise for each of you. Thank you for partnering with us in prayer and support because by it we are encouraged in heart and united in love. God bless you for your faithfulness to the Lord and may He keep you in all of your ways.

Thank you for your continued prayers for the border situation and our safety. Only two miles separate us from all the drug cartel violence. Things are getting worse, not better as the cartels and police battle it out. The new chief of police just resigned after 9 months of office, his predecessor was gunned down by the cartel. Pray that good will overcome the evil!


Darwin & Mary Ann Jackson, serving in Mexico with the World Mission Prayer League and AFLC
1071 N. Royal Rd.
Nogales, Az. 85621
(520)287-9097

Chief says police won’t back down to cartel threats

Nogales police are taking extra precautions, including wearing firearms while off duty, after a Mexican drug cartel threatened retribution against officers who bust smugglers while out of uniform.
As was first reported Friday on the NI website, Police Chief Jeffrey Kirkham said the threats came after off-duty officers surprised marijuana smugglers about two weeks ago while riding horseback in an unincorporated border area east of town.
The officers seized part of the drug load, but the smugglers were able to flee back into Mexico.

"The Nogales Police Department will not be intimidated.” Jeffrey Kirkham, NPD chief ADVERTISEMENT

“As a result of that,” Kirkham said, “our officers have received threats from the cartel that they are to look the other way if they are off-duty, or they will be targeted by a sniper or by other means.”
In the past, analysts say, a direct threat against U.S. police officers would have been uncharacteristic of the Sinaloa Cartel run by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, which controls the trafficking routes along the Arizona-Sonora border. But in early 2009, at a meeting with cartel associates in Sonoyta, Sonora, Guzman reportedly ordered his traffickers to use deadly force to protect loads passing through U.S. territory.
George Grayson, professor at the College of William and Mary and author of the book “Mexico: Narco-
Violence and a Failed State?” said the 2009 directive marked a shift for Guzman, who had traditionally sought to portray himself as a benevolent godfather-type who didn’t go out of his way to harm people.
Grayson said the threat against the NPD, assuming it wasn’t a hoax or a local hooligan popping off out of turn, was the first time he had heard of a direct threat against a local U.S. police force emanating from Guzman’s territory. Since it might have come as a result of Guzman’s directive, he said, the threat should be taken seriously.
“(Guzman) is not one who just shoots off at the mouth to get recognition,” Grayson said.
Howard Campbell, a professor at the University of Texas at El Paso who studies drug violence in Ciudad Juarez, said that while drug traffickers in his area have often expressed anger at federal law enforcement, they have generally left the local police alone. Mexican officials have suggested that the March killings of three people associated with the U.S. Consulate in Juarez came after one of the victims – a corrections officer at the El Paso County Jail – mistreated drug gang members at the jail. But the El Paso County sheriff has challenged that theory, Campbell said.
Like Grayson, Campbell said the threats against the NPD should be taken seriously, especially if they are coming from the Guzman organization.
“On the other hand,” he added, “tactically it would not be a smart move by the cartel to carry out such a threat since it would incur the wrath of U.S. law enforcement.
“The bottom line, though, is that such threats are themselves acts of aggression which require that U.S. authorities take necessary precautions,” he said.
Kirhkam said that in addition to authorizing his officers to take extra precautions while off duty, he has also notified the Border Patrol and other federal law enforcement agencies of the threats. The agencies responded by stepping up manpower and surveillance in the area where the off-duty bust occurred, he said.
But Kirkham said the NPD would not back off in its enforcement efforts.
“The Nogales Police Department will not be intimidated,” he said.
Kirkham said the threats highlighted the need for more federal law enforcement at the border.
“This has nothing to do with SB 1070 or illegal immigration,” he said, “it has to do with narco-trafficking and the violence of the cartels.”
Santa Cruz County Sheriff Antonio Estrada said he was unaware of similar threats being made against his deputies.
“They seem to respect an officer who’s doing his job,” Estrada said of the cartels, “but when you do it as a civilian, they really take offense.”

Jacksons E-mail Prayer Letter 7/6/10

Dear E-mail Prayer Partners

"Pray, and let God worry." Martin Luther
We had an absolutely wonderful trip up to Wisconsin for Hunky Dory. Even though we only had a day or so of sunshine, the Son shone on all of us. We shared at the AFLC conference and seen many many of our dear friends that we hadn't seen in years. Mary Ann had hoped to make a couple of stops on the way home, but after we got pelted by golf ball sized hail, breaking all the plastic vents on our little camper, and denting in all over, plus the tornado warning in every county around us, she decided she'd rather go strait home .

Sunday out visiting in the neighborhood and we (Alfonso and I) ran into a lady who acted like she knew me. It turns out that she visited the rescue mission last week and heard me preach. We have visited her house before and talked with a young man by the name of Victor. Pray that we might be able to win Dehlia and Victor to Jesus and to the Church.

We have a whole bunch of kids that seem to be interested in Sunday School with Alfonso and I. No one has been working with the kids for a long time now, so they are hungry. We are hoping this my renew the adults interest in their relationship with Jesus and give us an "in" with unbelieving parents.

Continue to pray for peace along the border. I guess the cartel are threatening our police officers here in Nogales with sniper fire if they interfere with their drug running etc.

Pray for our brother Pastor Antonio. I guess he still isn't feeling so good as far as his health is concerned.

Thank you all for praying, leaving the burden with God, so that He can worry about it. Your fellow workers,

Dear E-mail Prayer Partners

“In no other way can the believer become as fully involved with God’s work, especially the work of world evangelism, as in intercessory prayer." Dick Eastman
      
I haven't been too worried about all the fighting going on between the cartel and the police so far. I just watch myself, do what the police and military say and go about my business (or the Kingdom business). But when they posted this banner in town because of our new law allowing police to uphold the federal law, it does cause me to look over my shoulder a bit more. 

Pastor Antonio and his wife Amalia flew to Toluca (north of Mexico City) to visit their daughter Ana last night. Please pray for their travel safety, a good and healing visit with Ana, for her pregnancy and for the Church here in Nogales with their absence. Brother Alfonso will be preaching this Sunday and teaching the Bible study on Wednesday.

Alfonso and I had a great visit with three guys in our neighborhood with Octavio, Tomas and Javier. Octavio has been going to church now for about three months and the other two have just started, yet none of them had assurance of salvation, nor could explain to us how a person can receive eternal life. It was really awesome when afterward the two younger guys Tomas and Javier were able to explain why a person cannot be saved because of his good works, but by trusting Christ and receiving Him as Savior and Lord. They got it! Pray with us that God continue to work His word in their lives.

We are preparing now for a vacation trip up to Wisconsin to spend a week at Hunky Dory. Lord will we will be leaving on Tuesday the 1st of June. Afterward we will share at the AFLC conference on the 16th at Medicine lake, Mn. We have been looking forward to this for a long time. Cesar is counting on winning the canoe race this year, watch out Chris :-).

Please pray for Mascarenas. Really a strange thing, the only believers who want to meet are the shut-ins who can't leave. All the others do not. The shut-ins are talking to their neighbors and inviting them to come to the meetings now. Pray for new people to come.

Thank you all for "becoming involved" in the work here along the border through prayer. You are so appreciated,

Letter to E-mail Prayer Partners 4/28/10

Dear E-mail Prayer Partners

"Pray for prayer- pray till you can pray." Charles Haddon Spurgeon

What did the Mexican fireman name his two sons? Hose-A and Hose-B. Get it? Jose...I know, not so funny. Anyway, I thought of that after leading two men visiting from Sinaloa to Jesus on Sunday with Alfonso, and both of them are Jose.

We received the following letter from the Nogales Consulate: "The U.S. Consulate in Nogales wishes to advise American citizens that a protest is scheduled to occur in front of the Consulate building. We remind American citizens that demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and possibly escalate into violence." Pray for peace. (I pasted the whole letter on our blog)

Pray for Mascarenas as we continue to try to work with our brothers and sisters to re-open the church. We did so on Sunday with a lot of encouragement, but pray they themselves desire to do so from a heart after Christ. We continue to work in the homes of those open to us (Chuy and Jose; Cesilia and Jesus).

Pastor Antonio and I continue to meet for study and prayer about how to implement T&M to our congregation in Buenos Aires. Pray for wisdom as we move forward. Our goal is to multiply workers and congregations.

Pastor Antonio's daughter Elizabeth and her fiancé Edgar are getting married on the 9th of May. Pray it be a great day of celebration for them and the congregation.

We thank God for all of you, you are an answer to prayer, "pray for prayer."

Your fellow workers,

Darwin, Mary Ann and Gracie Jackson

U.S. Consulate issues warning in Nogales

U.S. Consulate Nogales issued the following Warden Message on April 26:

The U.S. Consulate in Nogales wishes to advise American citizens that a protest is scheduled to occur in front of the Consulate building at 2:00 P.M. on Monday, April 26, 2010.  We remind American citizens that demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and possibly escalate into violence. American citizens are therefore urged to follow local media reports about planned or spontaneous demonstrations connected with the recently passed Arizona immigration law.

In the event you find yourself in an area where a demonstration is occurring, you should take the following security measures:

1. Be prepared to follow all directions from police officers. This includes not entering closed areas, changing your direction of travel, or clearing streets.

2. Avoid potentially hazardous situations. Do not attempt to walk through a crowd because your destination is in the middle or just on the other side of the group. 

3. If threatened, do not engage. Move to the closest secure location (store, lobby, etc). Call the Police (066) and immediately and report your situation.