Para Mexico con Amor update for 2021/2022 Frank and Deborah Verdin

Hi there children of God! I am beyond pleased to be making this blog update for all of you! One of the churches who sow into us has asked for an update of 2021 and 2022, so I decided to make this blog since there is a lot of things to share with you. 

First off, all is well with us and the Lord is moving in a mighty way in our lives and the lives of those we work with here in Mexico and also our team from the states. We have a team of people we work with in Mexico and I call them "team Mexico" lol and we also have a team of people we work with in the states. To Mexico with Love- Para Mexico con Amor in Spanish is a multi church ministry we work with multiple churches in states and multiple churches here in Mexico.

I will begin with the kids. We started having English classes in our home outside in 2020 during the pandemic the schools were closed and the churches were closed so I asked the Lord what we should do and He said "have English classes at your home" and so we did. It has progressed to our English class turning into a youth group that is learning English. We meet once a week and the kids also learn about prayer, outreach, we talk about the issues that come up for them on a weekly basis. The class is all ages from 2 years old to teenagers. We are blessed being able to sow into their lives on a weekly basis. The kids love to go to the landfill in Tijuana with us and pray for the people. Last month when we went we made 200 tortas with 50 lbs of potaoes and chorizo. Young prayer warriors, these youth are our future, Amen :)

Monthly food bags for the elderly and handicapped. Each month we make 40 bags for the elderly and handicapped in our community and the surrounding areas. When we began with the food bags we started out with 7 bags per month and now we have increased to 40 bags per month with the help of Team Mexico we deliver and assemble the bags on a monthly basis. We buy some of the food in Mexico and I cross canned goods and dry food items that we get donated. We have a small storage unit on the US side of the border where we store donated items until we can get them across. Brother Jose is in a wheel chair and he is our main helper to deliver the food, he is still able to drive and along with other team members he safely delivers the gift of grocieries to those in need. We also help supply the need of adult diapers to the handicapped and elderly that we serve. 

Jose

 Landfill ministry :) each month we head to the Tijuana landfill to hand out food and water and pray for the people. Many of you know I asked the Lord to send me into the landfills and guess what He did! He also blessed me with a husband who used to live in the landfill. So both Frank and myself have a special place in our hearts for the landfill ministry.

We have a heart to open a transformation/rentry program for the people that live and work at the Tijuana landfill. At this moment in time we are going into the landfill to pray for the people to not only receive the Lord into their hearts but to want to leave the landfill and begin again. A couple of years back we were able to rescue a family and relcoate them and recently we have been blessed to have Jesus Roberto leave the landfill last weekend and is staying with us for a while in a small trailer on our property. One person at a time is how you can make a difference. Love the one in front of you.

Jesus Roberto

God is light and in Him there is no darkness. It is not a battle between dark and light. Jesus has already conquered the darkness that is what He did on the cross. Darkness is absence of light. As we go into the dark places and shine with the light of Jesus darkness has to flee. And the light shines brightest in the darkness. 

School sponsorship, we have a program where we match up youth and adults who want to continue in school with sponsors. Currently we have 3 young adults who have graduated from College. We have 3 young adults in College. We have 3 students in high school (high school is not free down here). We have 2 students in junior high. All of the kids require uniforms so there is a cost to all students. If the family is super low income or has a large number of kids not all of the kids can go to school that is where we come in. We believe education is one of the best ways to get people out of the cycle of poverty. We also find sponsors for adults who want to go back to school or attend a trade school. Jesus and an education :) win - win situation. If anyone is interested in helping a child or an adult with school let me know. 

Esau Jr. High

Victor Junior High 

Paulina high school

Lucero high school

Medical school/College Isabela

Maria Criminology- College

Ellie Accounting- College

Nahari College Accounting/graduated 

Christian- College Engineering graduated 

Dayra Cna/high school

Rain beauty school adult 

We have a yearly Christmas party and invite the local churches in our area. Last year we had 16 different churches attend. We had 19 people come from the states to help us. We also host teams and have accomidations available to house up to 23 people. We enjoy having all of the different churches in the area come together to worship the Lord and fellowship. We serve a great meal and hand out 200 warm blankets along with beanies, gloves and scarves to help the people keep warm along with candy bags for the kids. The youth group also helped us make decorations and Rain and her Mom - Lupe  from team Mexico prepared 450 tamales. Wow! This year I think we are going to make pozole. She said it would be easier then 450 tamales :) We rent a a local hall that is available for events, we have found that if you have the event at a neutral location more of the churches will come together if we have the event at one of the other churches lots of other people won't attend for whatever reason? 

 

Each year we hand out backpacks and school supplies usually around 120 backpacks per school year. Things got a little messed up with the Covid since no kids were in school and all of them were working from home. School supplies are not provided for them by the schools and the parents are also responsible to purchase those. 

Earlier this year we had a haircutting/health check event. Pat and John Haley from "three the ministry" gave away clothes and we had a prayer station along with burritos and flavored water for all who attended. It was a "community event" all were welcome. It went amazing, the students came from the school that Rain goes to, it is a beauty school that also offers classes for medical assisting. Some came to cut hair and some of the students from the medical classes came to check vitals and blood sugar testing. They were able to get school credit for their efforts and the community was blessed. 

Each year we hand out warm blankets and jackets to those in need. It gets very cold here in the winter and hardly any people have heaters. So warm blankets and jackets are super important. Part of the way we can share the Love of Jesus with people is by helping them to meet the simpliest of needs. We believe if it is important to them it is important to Jesus. 

Ministries that we sow into, we also think that it is very important to sow into the people around us who are serving the Lord. We supply Brother Jose from Valle de las Palmas who is the gentleman who helps us deliver the food bags. Pastor Martin Osuna and his wife Maria de Jesus help with a program that feeds the kids in their area. Pastor Jose Tovar and his wife Marina have a mission church attached to their home and Pastor Miqueas and his wife also have a mission church attached to their home both in different parts of Tijuana. We also bless a street Evangelist who works close to the border in Tijuana. We are currently sowing into the church Principe de Paz in our area and also a new church starting in Mazatlan by Sister Rosa. We supply Bibles to all of these ministries and Pastors along with clothing donations and food donations.  What started out as just Frank and myself down here has really grown these past 7 years. 

I am currently mentoring Rain and the goal is for us to start a teen group and also a womens group. At this moment we meet on a weekly basis and soon we will start having meetings for teen girls and meetings for women to have a safe environment to share with them our experiences and teach them about their identity in Christ so hopefully they won't have to make some of the mistakes we have made. Frank is currently mentoring 2 gentlemen and soon will begin a celebrate recovery program having weekly meetings. To us we believe that alot of the problems people face are because they dont know who they are in Christ. The Lord has placed us in this exact area for a reason.

Last but not least let's go over the projects section. 

Projects completed in 2021/2022

A gentleman from the ministry in Bishop California donated a large basketball backboard and they brought that down in a trailer and took it to the landfill and set it up for the kids and people to utilize. 

The same very generous gentleman also made storage shelves for the local orphanage we visit. They needed some where to put all of the kids stuff and this is the solution they came up with. Praise the Lord. 

 Water cistern project Tijuana landfill: the landfill in Tijuana were using these portable white containers that were located at the church we work with there and the water truck would come in once a week and supply water for washing. There is no water or electricity at the landfill the church uses a generator for their services. Originally we were going to help them purchase new containers because after they sit in the sun for long periods of time they start to crack and develop alot of mold. But then the plan changed to them wanting to build a water cistern to store the water. We contacted Ron Graves in Bishop California he is the Director of the ministry and he raised the money for the project. We used local workers and Frank went and paid for the supplies and the Pastor from the landfill paid the labor part of the cost. It was a team effort. 

 

Retaining wall project: Pastor Miqueas from Team Mexico had a mission/small church attached to his home in Ojo de Agua which is in Tijuana we live south of Tecate which is about 45 mins away. He needed a retaining wall to begin his home church building project. We raised the money and bought the material and had a local labor team build the wall.This is the first part of his project.

Finished a home on the ministry property for the future caregivers of the property to utilize. The ministry currently owns a piece of property here in Cerro Azul close to where we live and there was a house on it in a very rustic condition. A team from Bishop came down and finished the home along with help from Team Mexico. Dry wall, electric, framing and insulation. Also painting inside and out and tile floors, base boards. It is a thing of beauty!

There is still more to be done but it is close to finished. It is a work in progress. Next will be kitchen cabinets and counters along with a stove and refrigerador. 

Storage unit: after many years of waiting Frank and I finally got a storage unit built on our property now we have somewhere to store donations and make food bags it is a huge blessing. 

Upcoming projects: Finish the mission church in Ojo de Agua Pastor Miqueas  which needs a cement ceiling and a 2nd floor right now they are having open air services. 

Mission church with Pastor Jose Tovar needs a bathroom downstairs. The family lives upstairs and the church is down stairs. This is actually a Pastor that LifePointe built for with Kingdom builders/Pastor Daniel and they have now branced off and have their own church. The Lord reunited us a few years back with them :)

Another retaining wall this time for a home. Pastor Martin Osuna and his wife Maria de Jesus need a retaining wall for their home. I was saving money for them and then she got sick with a gallbladder attack that needed to be removed and because of socialized medicine they would not do it so we had to spend the money plus raise more money so she could get the operation. She is all better now! Thank you Jesus :)

Nail salon: Rain is attending school to do nails and she has a partial room attached to her home that needs to be finished so she can have a nail salon. She is currently doing nails at her kitchen table. 

Taco stand: One of the families that Frank and I are godparents to their youngest child have 7 kids and a taco stand attached to their home that needs to have a roof and walls. 

Right now they are using tarps and canvas for walls. This is their family business and how they support their family. 

There are two ways we do projects either a team raises the money and comes down and does the work from the states or we raise the money and pay local laborers to do the work. Or a combination of both ways. 

Prayer requests: 

Plans to start a rentry program for the Tijuana landfill residents which requires land and a building. 

Plans to continue to build on the ministry property our vision is bathrooms and showers for campers and also for people staying in the dorms. A building for dorms plus trailer pads and also a building for a community center. 

Please pray for us to have strength, wisdom, discernment and most of all unconditional love to keep carrying out the Lords will. Please pray for our future projects. 

All of this is done by prayer and donation. The whole ministry is based on prayer and donations. Frank and I live by donations. The Lord has never let us down and He utilizes those with a willing heart to give so that we can help others. The Lord utilizes me as a bridge between Mexico and the United States. We all have different jobs in the ministry as in the body of Christ but none is more important then any other. We are all equal, Christ is the head and we are the body. 

I want to thank all of you who donate to and pray for us and all of you who help us here in Mexico. I said earlier we are available to host teams we do so often if anyone is interested in putting a team together we are here. 

1 John 1:5

Fellowship with Him and One Another

This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

At the feet of Jesus :)

 

Blessings children of God :) I am happy to bring you an update. I would like to start with a prayer. 

I pray that the Holy Spirit will cause us to realize that there is no higher place in heaven than the feet of Jesus.

John 15:5

New King James Version

5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

I believe it necessary to spend time at the feet of Jesus each and every day. So that we may become filled to overflowing with His love.  We can not give away what we don't have and if we are trying to give from an empty well it won't take long before we become "burned out" lost our fire, lost our love, lost our desire to reflect His love, lost our desire to represent Him to a lost and dying world. The world needs us now more then ever! We are the ones we have been waiting for.  We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. God lives in us! We may be the only light someone sees and what I desire for them to see is Jesus living in me. So for me I have to get filled up with fresh filling each and every day. I asked the Holy Spirit what does it mean to be filled up and He gave me an image of a twinkie with its creamy filling. He is the creamy filling.  As we go about our day things of this world can drain our filling, our thoughts can drain our filling, world events can drain our filling a negative conversation can drain our filling, complaining can drain our filling. So each and every day it is vitally important to get a refill of creamy filling from the Holy Spirit. For some of us it is will need to happen many times through out the day. Sit at the feet of Jesus and ask the Lord for a "refill" of His Holy Spirit :). We can not give away what we don't have. 

Frank and I were blessed to work with a youth group from Gracia del Calvario Iglesia, it is a Calvary Chapel church from Tijuana. Our ministry received a donation for the landfill ministry so together with the youth group and our Mexico team we prepared 400 tortas and went into the landfill where the people were working and handed out the tortas and 500 bottles of water. We had the team pray over the food as we were preparing it so as each person received their food they also received a dose of the Holy Spirit. We were truly blessed to be able to take these youth into the Tijuana landfill with us. Also we handed out clothing donations and prayed for the people inside their small town down the hill from the actual landfill itself. 

The English classes have moved to a larger room at the same location. We are using a room in a local church in our area to teach the kids English and also about Jesus. The first half of the class is English and then we go on to talk about Jesus. It is a kids prayer room and an English class plus let's not forget the snacks. Also each month we celebrate the birthdays with pizza, cake or cupcakes and sometimes spaghetti. I received  the idea for a children's prayer room from a friend in Arizona who had a children's prayer room in Cambodia and I said " I want to do that in Mexico" . We started with youth outreachs but they were only once a month and we wanted something on a weekly basis. So last year the Lord gave us the idea of teaching English each week and then we would talk about Jesus and it transformed into the kids prayer room/English class. Go God!! We are up to approximately 15 kids each week. Some of the older kids have been sharing messages and all of the kids are memorizing bible verses. Also we have been able to take the older kids to the landfill to do outreach with us. The kids have also done two prayer walks in our area due to large amount of violence that we have been having. Things seem to be quieting down as far as the violence in our local area, thank you Jesus. After each prayer walk we ask the kids "what did God say to you while you were walking and praying".  God is Love and we want the kids to know that first we go to God for justice before anyone or anything else. Prayer first!

prayer walk

Each week on Tuesday and Thursday Pastor Martin Blanco and his team serve a hot meal and a message to those who live at the Tijuana landfill. They serve around 100 hot meals each of the days. Since there is no electricity or water there a hot meal is a huge blessing. Pastor Blanco speaks about Jesus and His love for them. He brings a message of hope along with a meal and drinks they can eat until they are full. God has placed in my heart such a love for the people here at this landfill. I ask God to send me into the landfills and He did. No one is ever too far gone or out of reach with Jesus. He can turn any life around all you have to do is BELIEVE.

Frank

Papa Ron Graves from Bishop finally made it down to visit in almost a year and a half due to the covid restrictions. He came down to celebrate a wedding with us. Armando and Annarose got married. Ron has known this family since Armando was just a little boy. Ron has been coming to Mexico since the 1980's so many know and love him. He is the founder of the ministry "To Mexico with Love".  He was able to share with the kids at the English class. 

Papa Ron

Papa Ron, Frank and myself

Armando and Annarose

David and Lisa Kuznitz

Juanita's house for lunch

We also hosted a team from Oregon and a team from Bakersfield in July they came down at the same time. We were able to make 50 food bags to hand out to those in need. Cindy from the Bakersfield team shared a message with the kids from the English class. We visited the landfill and a local orphanage in Tijuana with the team. The kids at the orphanage were blessed with bags of school supplies and treats. Yay God!! We attended the church at the landfill and handed out 200 sandwiches and water along with prayer. I had a special treat and was able to help with the small kids during the church service. 

landfill church 

Orphanage

orphanage

landfill prayer

landfill

clothing donations

food bags with teams from Bakersfield, Ca and Oregon

 We are still making the food bags each month for the elderly and handicapped. We began with 7 each month and now up to 36. All of this would not be possible with out your donations. Thank you to all who donate food for those in need who live in Mexico.

I also want to add a special thank you to all who help us in "team Mexico" with out your help we also would not be able to do this work for the Lord. This ministry is a multi church ministry we work with multiple ministries and churches in the US and in Mexico.

Feze (Frank's nephew)

Dayra (Frank's neice)

Maria de Jesus (Frank's sister)

School program, currently we have 7 youth that we are helping to find sponsorship at this time. What we do is connect those with a desire to continue in school with people who would like to help these kids get a higher education. In Mexico junior high is the last grade needed to finish your education. The junior high kids needs help with uniforms, the high school kids need help with tuition, books and uniforms and the college level kids all vary depending on which school they are at and their occupation choice. We give this opportunity to all the youth that we meet and then pray about it and the Lord will guide and direct us to sponsors for these youth. All of these youth but one have sponsorhsip for this school year if any one would like to help with the school program just send me an email at debmverdin@gmail.com. We are currently seeking help for one of the youth in junior high school and that sponsorship is 150 dollars a year. 

Maria colloge student

Isabela college student

Lucero college student

Paulina high school student

Victor junior high school 

Feze junior high school 

Dayra High school student

I had a dream in my heart to serve the Lord and help those who had no voice. The Lord answered my desire with an opportunity to serve Him in Mexico, with the ministry "To Mexico with Love" that was 7 years ago.  A year later I married my translator Frank and we have been serving together for 6 years this year. The logo for the ministry is "hope for the hopeless" that was and always will be my heart cry. I sit each day at the feet of Jesus and get my "refill" so that I can go out and represent Jesus, re-present Jesus to a lost and dying world. Again thank you to all who pray for and support us. 

Frank and Deborah 

"To Mexico with Love"