Whenever we send anything to Centro Shalom, we want to send it together as much as possible. This makes it easier for them to distribute things to children as well as keep track of things coming and going.
You are encouraged to write letters and send pictures of yourself or your family so that the children can know who you are. You can also send birthday cards but please do not send gifts.
If you ever need to send anything, please notify David Lee (dleesocal@gmail.com) and he will arrange sending in one package.
Last and most important, please keep praying for your sponsor child his/her family and the Centro Shalom church that God may use that local body to minister to all the people of that neighborhood and that God may use our small offerings to further His kingdom work.
If you are interested in sending letters in Spanish, but can't write in Spanish, you can try either of these websites to translate your text. I've tried it myself and there appears to be some slight variances between the two in how they translate but I don't know Spanish well enough to know which one is more accurate. Maybe Camion Grande might know.
http://translate.google.com/
http://babelfish.yahoo.com/
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Monday, August 8, 2011
Email from Pastor Fernando on 08.07.11
[Background: I had sent the check with your offerings and a brief letter to pastor Fernando and this was his response. The children all now know (by name) who is sponsoring them. I encourage you to write letters and send pictures of yourself and your families. If you do want to send anything, please let me know and we'll send it together. And most importantly, please continue to pray for the children, their families and Centro Shalom; that God may continue to work through them to minister and share the Gospel.]
Dear LBC,
Thank you for your kind letter.
Today, after our normal Sunday Services, I took time to share with the children that will be sponsored by members of your church. The children received the news with shouts of gladness, emotion and gratitude.
The believers are black, Hispanic, Anglos, Asian, etc. we are all of us as different as the fingers on our hands. Never the less the Lord notices the gift of working united as one, to bless the people that live a life of desperation and extreme poverty and that need with great urgency some hope and opportunity.
We live in a time where many Christians wish to do great things for the Lord, never the less very few are ready to plant small seeds of Christian Love.
Please share this letter with my gratitude to all the sponsors that sent their seeds of Hope and Christian Love to the outcast barrios of Tijuana. Thanks to you all because the children that you will be sponsoring will get a chance to escape a life of misery and desperation.
Bendiciones,
Pastor Fernando Martinez
Dear LBC,
Thank you for your kind letter.
Today, after our normal Sunday Services, I took time to share with the children that will be sponsored by members of your church. The children received the news with shouts of gladness, emotion and gratitude.
The believers are black, Hispanic, Anglos, Asian, etc. we are all of us as different as the fingers on our hands. Never the less the Lord notices the gift of working united as one, to bless the people that live a life of desperation and extreme poverty and that need with great urgency some hope and opportunity.
We live in a time where many Christians wish to do great things for the Lord, never the less very few are ready to plant small seeds of Christian Love.
Please share this letter with my gratitude to all the sponsors that sent their seeds of Hope and Christian Love to the outcast barrios of Tijuana. Thanks to you all because the children that you will be sponsoring will get a chance to escape a life of misery and desperation.
Bendiciones,
Pastor Fernando Martinez
Archives
These are posts that were orginally from the past year but posted all as one post now that we've moved onto this platform.
Email from Pastor Fernando on 06.29.11
TRIBUTE TO FAITH
What a joy it is to see a healthy skeleton giving shape and movement to our bodies. What a joy to have healthy eyes, ears, tongues, noses and hearts. It is these that give us the gifts of color, sound, aroma and emotion in life. Yet how difficult it is when we are not healthy, when we can no longer stand upright and any movement, even taking a breath, causes us pain.
Miguel is 31 years old and his life is an extraordinary tribute to faith. His skeleton is sickly, he is almost deaf, his sight is blighted, his speech guttural and his heart on the brink of arrest. For many years, Miguel was alone and forgotten in a cardboard house with a roof filled with holes. Thanks to the Christian love and generosity of a sponsor from Los Angeles, our ministry built a small house for Miguel. One of our buses brings the ever-smiling Miguel to one of our Sunday services. When Miguel is called home to the father’s house, he will be free of the pain plaguing him day and night. No longer will he be subjected to his family’s abandonment nor will he be the victim of rejection, indifference and discrimination.
In times of uncertainty, sometimes we complain about our problems and forget to celebrate our blessings. Please open your hands to bless the afflicted and help them so that their desperate plight turns to hope.
We thank those that pray and sent their Christian love so that this ministry can continue to provide the Gospel of redemption, education, house construction, medical car, pure drinking water and food to the multitudes living in extremely desperate poverty here in the overlooked neighborhoods of Tijuana.
Romans 8:28
Pastor Fernando MartÃnez
Director
Email from Pastor Fernando on 06.03.11
The lines are huge. We tell them to come at 9 in the morning but they arrive before daylight. There are hundreds of children, adults and elderly people on whose faces fatigue, poverty, hunger, unemployment and desperation are etched. In these days worries and fear are abundant, and happiness is scarce. What an impact is made when we receive doctors, dentists, nurses, and volunteers who leave the comforts of home and sometimes take a day or two off from work in order to cross the border and bring hope to those made invisible by such extreme poverty. We could serve God without loving Him, but we can’t love God without serving Him. The medical missionary ministry is a powerful instrument God uses to allow us to communicate the Gospel message. Jesus, the Physician of physicians, seeks out the neediest to bring spiritual and physical healing to them. From November to April, 860 people were blessed with medical care and free medicine. Everyone who participates in our Medical Clinic is very important because mission is accomplished via the feet of those who go, the knees of those who pray and the hands of those who mobilize equipment and resources.
Blessings,
Pastor Fernando Martinez
05.25.11
Since 2008, Centro Shalom has been praying for resources to purchase the lot across the street from their current humanitarian center in Alamar. When we visted them in 2008, they showed us that lot and asked us to pray. Their vision is to build a larger, more serviceable church there. God answered that prayer!!!
A wonderful, mission-minded congregation in Atlanta donated a large offering to their ministry and they have purchased the land. May God use it for His kingdom work. A picture of the lot is below.
Email from Pastor Fernando on 05.23.11
[Background: they were starting to have issues with the current building they were using for worship services so they were looking into options and this is their update. They decided on a semi-temporary structure, with some design specifications below.]
Starting in June, we will be celebrating our services in the main patio of the property and need to build some kind of structure to protect the people from the hot sun. As agreed upon, I’m send you drawing with the measurements of the covering that we need. You’re right, it’s better to build the roof out of wood instead of metal sheets for protection from the heat.
We’re being pressured also because of the sinking of the floor in the middle of the church, due to the fact that the floor was not built with strong concrete and the fact that the ceiling is also coming down.
Email from Pastor Fernando on 04.26.11
Email from Pastor Fernando on 02.11.11
Email from Pastor Fernando on 01.20.11
Email from Pastor Fernando on 06.29.11
TRIBUTE TO FAITH
What a joy it is to see a healthy skeleton giving shape and movement to our bodies. What a joy to have healthy eyes, ears, tongues, noses and hearts. It is these that give us the gifts of color, sound, aroma and emotion in life. Yet how difficult it is when we are not healthy, when we can no longer stand upright and any movement, even taking a breath, causes us pain.
Miguel is 31 years old and his life is an extraordinary tribute to faith. His skeleton is sickly, he is almost deaf, his sight is blighted, his speech guttural and his heart on the brink of arrest. For many years, Miguel was alone and forgotten in a cardboard house with a roof filled with holes. Thanks to the Christian love and generosity of a sponsor from Los Angeles, our ministry built a small house for Miguel. One of our buses brings the ever-smiling Miguel to one of our Sunday services. When Miguel is called home to the father’s house, he will be free of the pain plaguing him day and night. No longer will he be subjected to his family’s abandonment nor will he be the victim of rejection, indifference and discrimination.
In times of uncertainty, sometimes we complain about our problems and forget to celebrate our blessings. Please open your hands to bless the afflicted and help them so that their desperate plight turns to hope.
We thank those that pray and sent their Christian love so that this ministry can continue to provide the Gospel of redemption, education, house construction, medical car, pure drinking water and food to the multitudes living in extremely desperate poverty here in the overlooked neighborhoods of Tijuana.
Romans 8:28
Pastor Fernando MartÃnez
Director
Email from Pastor Fernando on 06.03.11
The lines are huge. We tell them to come at 9 in the morning but they arrive before daylight. There are hundreds of children, adults and elderly people on whose faces fatigue, poverty, hunger, unemployment and desperation are etched. In these days worries and fear are abundant, and happiness is scarce. What an impact is made when we receive doctors, dentists, nurses, and volunteers who leave the comforts of home and sometimes take a day or two off from work in order to cross the border and bring hope to those made invisible by such extreme poverty. We could serve God without loving Him, but we can’t love God without serving Him. The medical missionary ministry is a powerful instrument God uses to allow us to communicate the Gospel message. Jesus, the Physician of physicians, seeks out the neediest to bring spiritual and physical healing to them. From November to April, 860 people were blessed with medical care and free medicine. Everyone who participates in our Medical Clinic is very important because mission is accomplished via the feet of those who go, the knees of those who pray and the hands of those who mobilize equipment and resources.
Blessings,
Pastor Fernando Martinez
05.25.11
Since 2008, Centro Shalom has been praying for resources to purchase the lot across the street from their current humanitarian center in Alamar. When we visted them in 2008, they showed us that lot and asked us to pray. Their vision is to build a larger, more serviceable church there. God answered that prayer!!!
A wonderful, mission-minded congregation in Atlanta donated a large offering to their ministry and they have purchased the land. May God use it for His kingdom work. A picture of the lot is below.
Email from Pastor Fernando on 05.23.11
[Background: they were starting to have issues with the current building they were using for worship services so they were looking into options and this is their update. They decided on a semi-temporary structure, with some design specifications below.]
Starting in June, we will be celebrating our services in the main patio of the property and need to build some kind of structure to protect the people from the hot sun. As agreed upon, I’m send you drawing with the measurements of the covering that we need. You’re right, it’s better to build the roof out of wood instead of metal sheets for protection from the heat.
We’re being pressured also because of the sinking of the floor in the middle of the church, due to the fact that the floor was not built with strong concrete and the fact that the ceiling is also coming down.
Email from Pastor Fernando on 04.26.11
Email from Pastor Fernando on 02.11.11
Email from Pastor Fernando on 01.20.11
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