Road hazards

It used to be that the road out to Mascareñas was a hazard just because of the rocks, holes, and washes. Now with the new pavement a lot more riff raff are using it. I was warned about using one of the new sections by a young man who says there have been car jackings and that smuggles use it at night because if runs right along the boarder in spots. So, I quit using it at night. They say that at night I should not stop for anyone except the police or military. I guess some park a car along side the road, open the hood, and have a girl standing there asking for help. Then out from behind the bushes come the bad guys. This Sunday I thought this was going to happen to me. Sure enough, just like they said, a car on the side of the road with the hood open and a girl standing there waving for help. So I decided to take heed to the warnings and drive on by. But Alfonso, my fellow worker, said to me, "you can't do that, leaving a girl all alone by herself with her car broken." So, I turned around and we went back to help. As I pulled beside her car, we notice beer cans. I said to Alfonso, "oh, oh, looks like they've been drinking." He says, no, they're girls. But as I walked around the front of the car, I saw she had a beer down low in her hand. She said they ran out of gas and the battery ran out. There I saw another girl slouched in the front, and another passed out in the back seat. Man, I couldn't get out of there fast enough. I said, "aw, no hose to siphon, and no cables for a jump." And we were out of there. Poor Alfonso couldn't believe that three girls were drunk as skunks on that road. Later that evening we saw them in Mascareñas, so they made it at least that far ok.

Slain missionary feared Mexico violence, relative says

PHARR, Texas — A Texas couple who were attacked at an illegal roadblock in one of Mexico's most violent areas had been delivering babies and doing missionary work in the country for three decades, and they had come to expect such confrontations, the couple's son said Thursday.

Nancy Davis, 59, was shot in the head Wednesday while her husband, Sam, was trying to speed away from suspected drug cartel gunmen who may have wanted to steal their pickup truck, authorities said. Sam Davis frantically raced to the Pharr International Bridge border checkpoint with his wife bleeding beside him, but she was declared dead at a McAllen hospital.

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Continued preparation for annaversary in Mascareñas.

Things are kind of crazy out in Mascareñas these days. Last week in our Sunday school class the group from Rey de reyes church came (surprize!) to set up the band equiptment so that really interrupted the normal flow of things, let alone we couldn't hear each other think as they began to practice with their instruments (drums, keyboard, electric guitar and bass). Anyhow, pray for patience.

They did get a few of the local Christians to come to the service thought, that was a good thing. I believe they are going to come out again this Sunday. I will continue to serve the shut-ins as well. We again had over twenty kids for the Sunday school, so we continue to pray for helpers.

Pray for workers for Mascareñas

Pastor Jose from Rey de reyes Lutheran church in Nogales, Sonora (the only other Lutheran church in Nogales), was pretty inspired by the turnout for our Christmas service in Mascareñas that he has decided to "go all out" for the churches anniversary on the 6th of February. He has also committed to coming out to Mascareñas on Sunday afternoons to try to open the church. So far he has come twice, but no one from the congregation (or, what used to be the congregation) has come. So, he has joined us in one of the home churches. Pray for this effort of his.

Last Sunday we had the biggest turnout ever for our Sunday school. We had twenty three kids, and they were just great. Again, the stress seems to weigh upon Alfonso, my fellow worker. This time he got upset at one little boy while I was sharing the Bible story, and before I could stop him he actually smacked he smacked him on the head. I stopped and told him that the little guy is autistic and really can't help it. I really believe God has to have another helper, we just need to pray him out. Please join me in praying for another worker.

Christmas in Mascareñas

We had a good turnout for our Christmas celebration in Mascareñas yesterday. We visited most of the homes on our side of town, even some on the far side, and to our surprise some even came. It was sad that the regulars that we serve in their homes just couldn't come because of their health. Poor Cecilia just balled as I left here home. They just can't be very far from a bathroom to feel comfortable going. As you can see from the picture most of those who came were the children from our Sunday school.

I'll be home for Christmas

This is the first Christmas in as long as I can remember that we have been able to stay home. I remember one Christmas being on the road from Puebla to Mazatlan being pulled over in Guadalajara haggling with a police officer over how much we were going to have to pay him in order to not stay there until the court opened to pay the fine. So we're not complaining, in fact, I don't think I'd have it any other way this year. Especially when Rachel makes us a Christmas card that says, "I thank you for taking us into your hearts, I'm home. Merry Christmas." This is where we should be this Christmas. God bless you all, and have a Merry Christmas from, Darwin, Mary Ann, Gracie, Cesar, Rachel, Gabriel and Melina. 

Border Patrol Agent Shot and Killed North of Nogales

A shootout between border patrol agents and bandits in the rugged canyons near Mexico's border left one officer dead and a suspect injured, a union official said Wednesday, the latest outburst of violence along the busiest smuggling corridor into the U.S..
The killing in southeastern Arizona was a stark reminder of the complicated nature of border security: It was Brian A. Terry's job to turn back illegal border crossers, but he was apparently killed by bandits who prey on those same migrants.
"This is a sign that the politicians and bureaucrats are overly optimistic in their assessment that the borders are more secure now than at any point in our history," said T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, which represents 17,000 agents.
Terry, 40, was part of a team of officers whose job was to drop into hotspots, and quell the violence.
The shooting took place about 13 miles north of the border, near Nogales late Tuesday night, at the bottom of a flat canyon with scattered oak trees and knee-high grass. Rugged trails through mountains make the spot difficult to reach.
Terry was waiting with three other agents when a gun battle with bandits began, Bonner said.
Terry and the other agents came across a group of five people. There was no sign that they were hauling drugs, but two were carrying rifles, said Border Patrol Agent Brandon Judd, president of the local agents' union. Judd said he did not know what prompted the firefight.
No other agents were injured, but one of the suspects was wounded. Bonner said the wounded suspect was from Mexico, but the country of origin of the remaining suspects hasn't been publicly released.
Bonner and Judd said their accounts were based on information they got from agents in the field.
The Border Patrol and the FBI have refused to confirm the details of Bonner's account, beyond saying that authorities have four suspects in custody and are searching for a fifth. At a Border Patrol news conference on Wednesday, officials released few details.
Bandits have operated at the border for decades, robbing and sexually assaulting illegal immigrants crossing into the country.
The bandits stake out heavily traveled smuggling paths used by illegal immigrants and sneak up on them, pointing guns, forcing border-crossers to the ground and stealing all their valuables. Bandits, however, avoid run-ins with drug smugglers.
"You won't have much of a life expectancy if you play around with the cartels," Bonner said.
Terry, a former Marine  and Michigan police officer, was part of an elite squad similar to a police SWAT team that was sent to the remote areas north of Nogales known for border banditry, drug smuggling and violence.
"His dream all his life was to be a federal agent," Terry's sister, Michelle Terry-Balogh, 42, told The Associated Press from Flat Rock, Mich., just outside Detroit. "It was always 'I want to be a cop, I want to get the bad guys.'"
After he left the Marine Corps, Terry got a degree in criminal justice and then worked as a police officer in Ecorse and Lincoln Park, both in Michigan, she said. Terry joined the Border Patrol three years ago, and Terry-Balogh said he just loved it.
"It was his life," she said. "He said it was very dangerous but he loved what he did and wanted to make a difference."
She said Terry had focused all his life on his career, but had recently met someone special in Michigan and was hoping to have children someday. He also had planned to fly out Friday for a 10-day visit with his family in Michigan.
The last time an agent was killed in the line of duty was in September. Agent Michael Gallagher died in a wreck during a patrol in Arizona.
"It is a stark reminder of the very real dangers our men and women on the front lines confront every day as they protect our communities and the American people," said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. She said last October that the border was more secure than ever before.
Napolitano plans to be in Arizona on Thursday and Friday to meet with Border Patrol agents in Nogales and Tucson.
The shooting occurred in the Border Patrol's Tucson sector, the busiest gateway for illegal immigrants into the United States. Half of the marijuana seizures along the 1,969-mile southern border are made in the sector, which covers 262 miles of the boundary.
As the busiest illegal entry point for drugs and immigrants into the U.S., Arizona has become the backdrop of the heated immigration debate.
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, who has criticized the federal government's efforts to secure the border and signed Arizona's illegal-immigration law this year, said the killing reminded people of "the threats facing all who serve in protecting our state and nation."