December 2011

           Greetings in the powerful name of Jesus! As always the fall is passing way too fast for me. It is my favorite time of the year and filled with so many wonderful memories.  The Lord has been so good to us and we are truly grateful for all his blessings.

            The month of November started with a trip to Houston to Iglesia Sobre la Roca. Pastor Loreto DiCesare and his staff received  us so warmly. Pam preached a powerful message on the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It will long be remembered as a life changing word for many. Juan & Maribel Magaña, some dear friends, traveled with us and Maribel served as translator for Pam. The results of the message were powerful. The altar was filled with people hungry for a fresh touch of the Holy Spirit's power in their lives. It was truly a great time.

            One of the benefits of serving as Pastor of a predominately Hispanic church, is the abundance of good Mexican food prepared fresh and often. Their two rule fellowship code is "Big and Often." We have been blessed to have been involved with our church for many years and look forward to more great things to come.  

           As a church we have been renting a Tuscaloosa Parks and Recreation facility to hold our services. Of course this requires set up and take down every week. Yesterday we celebrated our first service in our new location. The Church of the Nazarene offered us the use of their building as a location for our ministry. We were so excited to accept their Kingdom minded invitation. Pastor Freddy Williams and I became acquainted during the tornado relief effort and have maintained a friendship since. His offer was both accepted and appreciated by our church. Thank you Church of the Nazarene.

Wings of Hope, Omega, Christmas 2010

            We are once again planning a great Christmas celebration for all the children in the feeding centers. Javier and his staff are already busy planning the parties. As always each child will receive an assortment of presents and a special Christmas meal prepared and served by the loving staff of each center. Each of the children will hear the story of Christmas taught by the teachers at each location. Early in December we will be hosting an evening out for all the directors at a local restaurant in Saltillo. It will be a special evening for them. They all do so much to make the work successful and we are so appreciative for their sacrifice of love. All of their work is voluntary and we thank God for them and want to show them that they are loved.

            Pam and I want to thank you yet again for your unselfish giving to this ministry. We are so blessed to have you on our team. We pray that you will enter the new year with an expectancy for a harvest from good seed sown in good ground. LAM is blessed to have you as a partner.

            Have a very Merry Christmas, take time with your family and loved ones. Enjoy the sight and sounds of the season and remember that Jesus was born so that you and I could be born again.

                    Your Friends,

                    Jim and Pam Stockdale

                        

     Greetings from all of us at LAM. We hope you experienced the best Resurrection Sunday you have ever had.

     We made another great annual trip to Garland, TX this month. The children's ministry at Iglesia Sobre La Roca once again blessed LAM with their 2010 Christmas offering. Although a little belated, we thanked them publicly with a presentation of a beautiful plaque for their help. We know there are many worthy ministries out there and we thank all of you who make our work easier with your generous support. We are blessed to know you.

Refueling in Crosset, AR

       When Pam and I flew to Garland, an interesting thing happened. It is a trip that can often be made without stopping for fuel but it became impossible this time due to a 40 mph head wind. We made a non eventful landing at Crosset, AR (CRT), refueled and continued to our destination. I could have made the tragic mistake that so many pilots have made. I could have said, "I've made this trip may times before, I know I can make it." To have done so would have been a grave error. 

      How often do we as Christians continue on our journey, knowing that we need to stop and refuel? We continue going through the same spiritual calisthenics we've been doing, only to find out, as Samson of old, that our strength has drained out. We must make regular fuel stops along our journey. These stops must not be based upon the distance covered, but upon the time the engine has been running. My airplane will run 4:45 minutes and then regardless of how far I've come, where I am, or who's on board, the engine will shut down. You too have a limit, be sure to make note of it. Learn to say no, I can't, another time, maybe tomorrow, etc. I hope you have a spiritual fuel stop planned soon! We need them often, even daily. Don't allow yourself to become so absorbed in serving, that you forget to feed yourself. The results could be devastating. 

      Pam's father often tells us both to take time to smell the roses as we travel through life. Truer words have never been spoken. The refreshing smell of a rose after a rain or the marvel of a hummingbird as he drinks deep will both do you good. Each will cause you to ponder about the power of God's creativity. Between the sharp thorns of a rose bush he chose to grow one of natures most aromatic and beautiful flowers. Through an aeronautical marvel he chose to demonstrate his ability to defy logic through a bird not much larger than your thumb. The only bird in the world who can fly backwards. Indeed a wonder! We must take time to refuel.

Your Friends,

Jim &Pam Stockdale

April 2011

        I consider myself to be a man who has been blessed indeed.  Whether we are sitting with a table full of children and listening to their stories, celebrating the acomplishments with the feeding center workers or talking with the Director of Operations at the Saltillo, MX airport, we are accepted as people who care enough to do more than talk.

Pam and I feel that it is important to spend some special time with the directors of the feeding centers from time to time.  We enjoy taking them to a nice restaurant in Saltillo and celebrate their great work. It is such a blessing to see them enjoying the special treatment. It is always a great time.

When we arrived at the feeding centers the children were so excited to see us. They ran and embraced us and couldn't wait to hear the story of my knee and eye surgeries. I told them the complete story of how the knee and eye where operated on. They looked on with great interest and told me about how they had prayed for me and were so glad to hear the good reports. 

For many years we have been landing at the airport in Saltillo and have been so blessed by its Director, Eliseo Valdez. In order to help us with the feeding centers, he has waived all landing and parking fees since 2006. We have formed many lasting friendships with the men who work there and are so happy to be received with so much care. On this trip we had prepared two 8x10 collage pictures to give to him for his office. He seemed genuinely happy to have them and pledged his continued support of our work for another year. That is certainly a blessing since it costs about $20.00 per night to park and $15.00 for landing. It can easily add up to $100.00 each trip.

We were blessed to be at a new church this month. Rivers Edge Church of East Texas received us and our ministry so kindly. They have been supporting our work for several months but we had never met them before this visit. It is amazing how God connects people in the Kingdom. Pastors Phil an Kristine Brown are doing a great job and the church, while only one year old, is growing and putting down deep roots in the beautiful town of Lindale, TX. 

We look forward to seeing you sometime this year. Keep us in your prayers as we continue to travel a lot and preach the gospel every chance we get. The church in Tuscaloosa continues to grow as well and we are excited about this years work on both sides of the border.

Your Friends,

Jim &Pam Stockdale