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