Ball, Mike, Faith and Family

~ Serving in Loreto, Zacatecas ~

BALL BEARINGS

Mike and Faith Ball
Loreto, Mexico

Greetings from Loreto, Zacatecas. We’ve been here in Loreto since Oct. 23. The 2nd week of November we traveled down to Zapotitlan, Puebla, with Feilynn, Lupita, Ethan, and three young people from the church: Anita, Cesar, and Leo. Mike visited Leo’s family in Chicago in September, and Leo had commented that he’d like to accompany us next time we visited the brothers in Zapotitlan; so we planned our visit down there for the time that he was visiting his grandparents here in Loreto.

We were with the brothers only five days. We spent one whole day in Plan de Fierro with Alberta and her family. Those who traveled with us really enjoyed our time with them. We grilled out in the hills above her house, and the young people were very impressed with her testimony and her as she was by our visit. The brethren there in Zapotitlan are encouraged and continue to be faithful to the Lord.

Later in November, Brother Gerhard Friesen from British Colombia visited us and brought four duffel bags of gospels and tracts with him. We made two trips to Aguascalientes to pass them out and also here in Loreto. Several members of the congregation joined us in these activities. Gerhard also preached on the streets with me interpreting; and when we finished preaching in the street market in Loreto, a young man approached me and asked if we would come to a rehab center and share the Word with the internees.

We found this man was a Christian and had no one else bringing the Word in the rehab center. He had turned away a couple of other people who he felt didn’t have pure motives and was wanting someone to bring pure teaching, so we are going every Wednesday for about three months now with some of the young people to share the Word and sing. Please pray for those who are interned there, about thirty, mostly men, some women. There are about three young men in the church who are involved in sharing the Word with us and other young men and women who accompany us to help with music.

In December, one of the young men, Cesar, wanted to hand out packages of goodies to kids from needy families; so different people donated money to put together these “bolos,” and we took them to two different communities. Brother Victor from Mastranto took us to several different needy families where we shared the gospel. From Tepetate, Brother Pedro took us to a small community about 20 minutes away to a very needy extended family with about twelve kids. We shared the gospel with the grandma of the family and a couple of daughters and daughters-in-law. We have been able to follow that up with weekly Bible studies. Pedro and his brother Jorge have been going there for the last two months. The group has grown to include sons and sons-in-law. Please pray for the community of Valle de las Delicias.

Gerhard Friesen just sent us 24.000 gospels of John and Romans, so a group of brothers will be going to Valle de las Delicias to pass them out and invite people to come to the Thursday Bible study. We will be doing this in other communities as well, including Loreto.

Faith and I have been having studies with a newly married couple with most of the studies focusing on the life of Christ in marriage. Her name Is Lupita, recently saved, and her husband German is a young man who has been in the church since childhood, and has been saved for years.

On the family front, we are all well; Mike is recovering from a second cataract surgery after undergoing one last year on the other eye. He will soon be back to regular activities. Faith attends studies with Mike, and it seems like there have been a lot of baby showers to attend and help with. Anita (good friend of Feilynn and Ethan) had a baby boy in January; Angelina’s best friend Alondra is due in early March, and Angelina herself is due in late March! Ethan is on his next to last year of schooling, Viana and Chantel are in Wyoming—Chantel in her second year of college for business management and Viana working caring for seniors in their homes. Feilynn works for Angelina and her husband Michael in their restaurant as well as lawn work. T.J. is working in Borden’s mail-route business, mostly in Sheridan; and Borden and Virginia are expecting baby number five! Austin is still in Oregon, now a licensed plumber, with wife Elisabeth and their three. By the end of March the grandchildren count should be up to nine, Lord willing.
May the Lord continue to bless and transform you as you walk in Him.

Mike and Faith and familia
P.S. Borden and Virginia welcomed Nathaniel Courage to the family on Feb. 26!