The Quinteros: January Update
It’s hard to believe it has been a month since we drove out of my parent’s driveway in Atlanta with our families, our city and our life as we knew it in the rearview mirror. We made stops in Mobile, Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, Houston and Corpus Christi. Two days and 1,200 miles later, we arrived at the gate of our new apartment in Weslaco, Texas. We were greeted by the Moya family and several members of the church, who helped us miraculously unload our UHAUL in less than 30 minutes. We rang in the new year South Texas style, complete with carne asada, a piñata and prayer in the moment that the year changed from 2022 to 2023.
Shortly after, I (Caroline) came down with the flu on New Year's Day, followed by a sinus infection and a stomach virus. 18 days later I FINALLY started to feel like myself again for more than a couple of hours or a few days at a time.
Iglesia Misionera Cristo Vive:
IMCV, the church we now call our home church, is as active as ever in the community. In addition to church services on Wednesday and Sunday, and food distribution and prayer outreach on Sunday afternoons, the church gathers every Thursday night in one of our church member’s homes. Pastor Eunice says this is important not only to be praying for each other’s needs on a weekly basis, but also to be able to bless each home of every member in the church. This has been incredibly encouraging to us, to see the body active and to be so supported by our local community here as we are transitioning our lives and facing uncertainty in many different forms. Eunice has also started a women’s bible study which alternates between meeting on Monday mornings and Tuesday mornings, so that all women in the church have an opportunity to gather together at least twice a month, if not more frequently.
Some incredibly exciting news in the life of the church is the possible acquisition of Haven of Hope, a camp space the church has utilized to host teams, gather as a body, and distribute food for the past two years while they are in the process of building their home church. This location is critical to the life of the church, and its partnership with Border Perspective. The previous owner of the camp offered it to Pastor Hugo and Eunice for $250,000. This was a different season in the life of the church and they were unable to campaign and raise the funds at the time. Since then, a couple from East Texas purchased and renovated the property. After the passing of one of the camp owners, his wife set out to sell the property which was appraised at $1.3 million. Beyond the appraisal, she has offered the property to the Moya’s at a generous price. In two months, they have received nearly $300,000 in donations. Please be in prayer alongside the Moya’s as they believe in faith for provision that can truly only come from God.
In response to this, we have begun deep cleaning the camp. Eduardo and two other men from the church spent this past Saturday pressure washing the roof and the sides of the building, and doing some building and machinery repairs. It was a long day for them, but I do think all three of them secretly had a lot of fun with the pressure washer.
Border Perspective: Last week (January 15-20) we received our first team of the year, coming to us from Michigan. It was an incredible week of conversations, discipleship, and learning alongside one another. I have never met a group of people so genuinely dedicated to learning and to growing. We were all personally and individually blessed by each one of the team members, and we are hopeful they will return with stories and testimonies of how their own lives and communities have changed as a result of their time on the border.
Additionally, Eduardo did an incredible job translating for the team at last week’s church service. If you know anything about Eduardo, he is the last person you would see enthusiastically jumping in front of the crowd, voice amplified by a microphone. He is stepping into many things he has not done before, and I am so proud of him.
I have spent this week with Jenn and Yonathan Moya vision casting for the 2023 year, and completing onboarding training. I have so much to learn, but two of the absolute best to learn from.
A Personal Story:
One of the women from the team in Michigan really connected with Eduardo and his story. She herself is a mother of thirteen, and said that she felt Eduardo was another son to her. I know he was very encouraged by many of their conversations. At the end of the week, she shared that she felt led by the Spirit to give Eduardo some money to go and to visit his family. She said she did not know why, but it felt important to her. I shared with her afterwards that due to their circumstances, his parents are unable to come and to visit us in Texas in the same way that my parents are able to. We are so grateful for her sensitivity to listen to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit, and following her lead we are praying about when this visit can and should happen for Eduardo.
Prayer Requests:
Eduardo has encountered some obstacles in beginning his work here with the electrician’s union in McAllen. We were not sure how long the process would take, and while some of these obstacles seem procedure, some of them feel intentionally placed to discourage us. Financially, we have saved and prepared to have what we need taken care of until March 1st. We are believing in faith that by March 1st, Eduardo will have started work. Please pray also that he can find work relatively close to home. The valley has been hard hit by the recession and it is possible he will have to travel to a larger major city in Texas weekly to have work.
Pray for sustained health.
Pray for outreach opportunities in the community. IMCV is always looking for ways to serve the community both physically and spiritually. Pray for deeper relationships with local partners and that God will ordain daily who we meet, when we meet them and the purpose for which we meet them.
Pray for our local church, each family’s needs and each person’s spiritual growth. This community is truly unique and beautiful. May God continue to bless it and each of its members.
Pray for trip participants, those who are coming and those who will come. Pray for lives to be changed, perspectives to be changed, communities to be changed and hearts to be changed. So much happens when we begin to consider others as more important than ourselves, and as we view the world through that lens.
Pray for meaningful and lasting partnerships for Border Perspective. We do not want teams to come through one time, have an experience and call it a day. We want to form meaningful and lasting relationships with every church, school, organization and individual that comes through, so that we can continue to learn and grow from each other in the years to come.
Biblical Takeaways:
One morning we were reading through the first day’s devotional to prepare our hearts and minds for the day. One of the trip participants from Michigan, who happens to be a law enforcement officer, asked us how it was possible that he could have read the Bible many times before, yet missed what it had to say about loving and embracing the foreigner. We responded that it is because, especially in the American Church culture, we often read the Bible for ourselves. We skip over the passages that we believe do not apply to us or our circumstances. We ask, “how does this impact me” or, “what does this mean for me?” While these are real and important questions, and our individual lives should absolutely be changed as a result of our time in God’s presence, we also have to recognize that anywhere in the Bible that God makes a promise to an individual, it is ultimately for the purpose of blessing all nations. We receive all that we do, to serve, bless and honor others.
I leave you with this: As you read scripture this coming month, ask the Spirit to reveal to you what needs to change in you, how you need to respond, and how what you’ve taken in is meant to be given back to those around you. None of this is about you or me or any individual. Biblical Justice is all about realizing that God and His gospel is for everyone. Read it again. Everyone. No exceptions. How will you be a part of what He is already doing? As for me, I don’t want to stand before Him and have lived a life concerned for no one but myself. And I am as capable of selfishness as the next person. I am asking God to cultivate these things in me. Will you?
“Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”
All of our love. Truly. Until next month,
Caroline and Eduardo Quintero
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