Wallace’s Missionary Prayer Letter April 1, 2019 (Feb. ’19 & Mar. ’19)
Dear Pastors, Churches and Friends,
April 1, 2018 (Feb. & Mar. ’19)
Greetings in Jesus’ Name from Mexico City! We have had an explosive and shaky last couple months with two large volcanic eruptions spewing lava & plumes of smoke up to about 2 ½ miles high March from our volcano, Popocatepetl, which is about 40 miles southeast of us. We also had a 6.6 earthquake in February, but we are fine. Praise the Lord that we are safe and on a firm foundation with Jesus (Psalm 62:6, 7). My pre-surgery test showed that I have heart arrhythmias most likely caused by the heavy pollution here. Praise God that a church in Ohio bought us a nice air purifier to help with this. I have to take a stress test for my heart once my knee heals sufficiently. Mary found out that she also has heart arrhythmias, but hers may be because of her long bout with parasites, little rest, and stress from a problem in her family back in Alabama.
My recent knee surgery to repair some badly torn cartilages went fine, and I am recovering well. I was able to witness to medical people, and with not being able to drive, I had several good talks with taxi drivers. My assistant did a good job in my absence, and our people were faithful. We plan to return to the U.S. for furlough later next year, and I am glad that the church should be ready for a national to take over the work at that time. Then when we return from furlough, we can start a new church.
People continue to be saved, baptized, discipled, and attend church regularly. This has caused a good problem in that we have outgrown our space. We plan to remodel soon, expanding to increase our seating capacity from 100 to 300. We will also put on a real roof as currently our open space is covered by a leaky circus tent. A neighbor has approached us about buying his 500 sq. meter property across the street, but I believe it is best that we focus on our current building. Some new young couples have been saved so we are planning weddings for April, May, and June. God has seen fit to add another vehicle to our church transportation – a mini-school bus. Praise the Lord we will now be able to bring more people to church. Pray about another good problem that we have, and that is that we are going through so many John/Romans & gospel tracts that picking up a full load of them on the Texas border in our 15-passenger van every six months is not near enough to keep us supplied.
Pray for a young lady in our church named Karen who was recently saved. She was robbed at gun point in public transportation twice in one week. Pray for a new Christian named Chucho who was kicked out of his parents’ house for being a Christian. He was able to find a spare room for rent in a house close to the church, and I helped him with his first month’s rent. A first-time visitor named Pedro was recently saved and turns out to be a structural engineer. He is now helping us with our church building project. Pray about a big youth conference that our teens will attend later this month, as well as a big ladies’ conference in May that our ladies will attend. Mary was invited to be one of the guest speakers. I believe the girls in the orphanage where we minister weekly have sensed the love of our Heavenly Father. They recently asked if they could come with us to our church services, so pray about that. Please keep praying for our health & safety, as well as that people will continue to get saved.
On a personal note before closing, our son, Joseph, and daughter-in-law, Joanna, are expecting their second child in September. This will make four grandchildren for Mary and I. In closing we would like to thank you all so much for your prayers and support. We could not do what God has called us to do with out your help. We are glad to partner with you reaching the multitudes in this mega-metropolis of Mexico City. We are “… your servants for Jesus’ sake.” 2 Corinthians 4:5. Thanks for everything!
Bro. Mike Wallace &Family