The Vincent Family

Greetings from Rosarito, Mexico. In January I was able to take a very special missions trip South in Mexico that I wanted to tell you about in this update. Over the past few years, a California Pastor friend of mine named Bill Walden has invited me to travel with him to a small central Baja town called Vizcaino to teach at a Pastor’s Conference that he hosts each year.

 

This year for the first time I was able to go on this mission’s trip and it was a life impacting experience for me. Our destination, the small town of Vizcaino is located half way down the Baja Peninsula,  a twelve hour drive through a rugged yet beautiful desert.

About 8 years ago, my friend’s church planted an outreach ministry there and they have been hosting a Non Denominational Pastor’s Conference every year since.

 

Since this is the only Pastors conference for hundreds of miles, each January over eighty local pastors and their wives travel from their small villages to Vizcaino. The free 3-day conference provides them with a retreat like atmosphere which includes delicious meals, free hotel lodging, and excellent teaching and worship.

 

At this year’s conference the theme was “BUILDING UP” as we taught verse by verse through the wall-building book of Nehemiah. In these Bible studies, these ministry leaders were reminded that God wants to BUILD UP their families, their churches, and their cities.  Four gifted California based Senior Pastor’s and I were privileged to share the teaching duties.

 

I was also able to help out with the worship, and this was a special blessing for me because I was able to play guitar side by side with one of my childhood idols. Pastor Bill Walden (the leader of the conference) was also the original lead singer of my favorite Christian band of all time, Undercover. As teenagers, my friends and I used to travel all over Southern California to watch Undercover play live. What a blessing it was that nearly 30 years later, here I was with my friend and fellow Pastor South of the Border worshipping our Lord together in Spanish.

 

I quickly realized that this conference was a great blessing to the Pastors and wives that attended. As I got to sit down and hear their stories, I was amazed at the hardships and difficulties that they had overcome. I want to share one of their amazing stories with you.

 

I met Fernando over lunch on the second day of the conference. As I asked him about his church, he told me a tale full of faith, struggle, and ultimately victory. Fernando had grown up and lived in a small town that had no Christian church, and as far as he knew, no Christians in it. At the age of 50, God saved Fernando, grabbed his heart, and told him to quit his job and plant the first Christian church in his city.

 

Fernando started witnessing door to door to his neighbors, and eventually got a small group of believers that were gathering together in his home. When they finally scraped up enough money to purchase a small piece of land to eventually build a church on, the very first visitor greeted Fernando with a death threat. This man told Fernando that if he tried to build a Christian church in this city, this man would personally kill him.

 

A death threat did not stop Fernando, and brick by loving brick, a small church was eventually built. Today, Fernando Pastor’s that growing church while living on the church property in a small trailer with his wife. To this day, Fernando’s church is the only Christian church in his city that is now only 97 percent non Christian. (Down from the 100 percent from Fernando’s youth!)

 

When I talked with Fernando, I saw his face light up with gratitude as he shared his personal stories of God’s faithfulness. Fernando believes that God has great plans not only for his church, but for his city too!  Each day of the conference I heard amazing stories about how God has honored steps of faith, blessed churches, and helped these Pastors overcome trials and persecution each step of the way!

 

At the end of the conference, the local pastors ask us to come up front where they prayed for us and asked God to pour out His blessings on our families and ministries. As I stood there being prayed over, I realized that I had received much more from these local Pastors than I had given to them. I had received their love, their life lessons, and their friendship. On this trip I was also given renewed vision of the need for called and equipped workers to go out into the harvest fields of Southern Mexico to preach the Gospel and plant churches.  It is my prayer that God will use our church to send out laborers into that harvest.

 

Finally, I want to thank you once again for your love, prayers, and financial support. God is using us to partner together in order to accomplish His purposes here on the mission field of Mexico. We love you!

 

With much love from Mexico,

Mike, Sarah, Grace, and Daniel

 

Prayer Requests:

1. Pray for the Pastor’s that came to the Vizcaino Pastor’s conference, that they would be strengthened and encouraged in their ministries.
2. Pray that God would raise up and send out families from our ministry to plant churches in the unreached parts of Mexico.
3. Pray that God would provide financially for our family and church in these difficult financial times.