I stand before God today because my Mom knelt before Him then.....

It still feels like yesterday the voice of my Mom, the look of promise and surety in her eyes.

I was a young man in my mid 20’s lost, addicted, hopeless. It was 8:50 am I was in the back room of my Parents house in Lawndale playing my guitar. I had a joint rolled ready to smoke. I knew that at 9:00am everyone in the house would be gone then I would step outside to smoke. At 9:01 I went room by room to double check and see if anybody was still home.


When I came to my Moms room I opened the door and there she was on her knees praying. Now, you have to know something about my Mom, as far back as I can remember her knees were the size of large cantaloupe and painfully soar with arthritis.

As I entered the room I quickly walked up to my Moms side grabbed hold of her arm to help her up and said Mom! Mom! What are you doing? Get up you’re hurting your knees. She sternly shook me off and looked straight into my eyes and said “son I am praying for you, one day you are going to play that guitar for Jesus!

A few years later she was right. I play for Jesus. O’the joy and tears on my Moms face the first time we Worshiped Jesus together in her living room. What a celebration!

The power of prayer! The joy of the Answer!
The Faith Of A Life Well Lived With Him On Swollen Knees.
Thanks Mom!! Thanks For All Eternity.
Thank You Jesus For A Mother Of Great Prayer And Faith In You.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL YOU FAITHFULL MOMS,

JOHN VILLA

Another Gloomy Easter Weekend

Another Gloomy Easter Weekend, doesn’t it always seem like The Saturday before Easter Sunday is a dark and dreary day? When Sunday morning comes however, the sun is bright the clouds are white and everything seems a bit brighter. This past Easter was no different.

When John and I met at Peppertree as we began setting up for the outreach we made sure to have the easy-ups set up first just in case we got rain. All the kids helped set up chairs and tables, the worship began and we were ready to party! The Youth from my church (Generations Community Church) presented a very powerful play to the kids. I was standing behind them facing the crowd as they performed. It would have been great to be out in the audience but “someone” had to hold the three way electrical outlet together to keep power running to the sound system. I guess John figured if someone was going to get electrocuted it may as well be the guy with no hair and besides every time I see that play I cry like a little girl. Anyway, to see the faces of everyone it was obvious that it had an impact. The Kids stopped fidgeting, the teens stopped talking and everyone else just watched as gods love for us was illustrated right in front of their eyes. The play is about how someone can get caught up in the temptations of money, alcohol, beauty and lust reaching such dark hopeless places that taking ones own life seems the only way out. Just as we see no hope, just as we give up, Jesus breaks through the darkness restoring what was lost and healing our wounds.

John and I gave a message about the cross and resurrection by placing items representing things like the purple robe of Christ or the crown of thorns into 10 eggs which were later hidden in the Easter egg hunt. The kids who found those ten eggs had to recite what the item inside represented to receive a prize. I don’t think either of us can claim the creativity to have come up with that idea but it was a great one and thanks to whomever it was.

We enjoyed great worship music, games, food and gifts but for me the best part of the whole day was after the play and the message. John asked everyone to bow their heads and close their eyes and if anyone wanted to receive Christ to raise their hand. One child raised his hand. That one child is why we had the food, the games the worship the weeks of preparation and all the hard work everyone put in to pull it all together. I feel like hope has been resurrected in that campground. Hope for all who saw the play to know that there is a Jesus who loves them so much and that there is nothing that can separate them from his love. Just the fact that the ministry serves there every week gives hope to the parents and children for a brighter future. I believe that through Gods blessing on this ministry we are taking back a cold gloomy place from the enemy and turning it into a place of hope.

Thank you Lord for providing the willing servants and resources we need to bring your love to the people at peppertree. Thank you everyone who had a hand in the outreach and to all the tutors who show up faithfully every week to help resurrect hope to Gods children.

Manny Villa

Abundant Living - Mexico Mission Trip March 2009

This was my second trip through our ministry’s partnership with Pouring Out Hope (POH) after having missed a trip in between. While we go with a clear goal of building homes in mind, so much more is built in a day … and only the Spirit of God could make so much out of 24 hours. On this trip, I was touched to see the growth of the project: so many more volunteers, more homes than before, so many new churches and business groups (Microsoft), the carnival and games, feeding ministry, and ministry to children as well as adults, each bigger and better than in the past.

But what was most poignant for me this March trip were the words of a new friend I made. Her name is Lourdes. She was the recipient of a POH home back in 2003. She told me how much she loves God, and how much she wishes she could read the scriptures for herself. She also told me how saddened she is to make so many new American friends who God has sent to help her community, but most of whom she never sees again. Lourdes told me she’s often wondered what happened to many of them and has always wanted to personally thank one couple in particular that helped to build her family’s home in 2003.

I believe Lourdes’ words are a personal challenge for me to stay engaged, stay connected and stay committed to this community in the hills near Mañaderos. I am led to do my part to return as often as possible, nurture this and other relationships and help bring literacy as well as salvation to our sister community in Mexico.

Lastly, I want to say that what POH does is not a one-way street, with the Americans coming in to save the day. While we do bring hope in the form of homes (and now a school!), we receive much in return. I, for one feel truly blessed for the opportunity. The people of this town are gracious, kind, loving, and optimistic. Their joyful spirit and resilience in the face of very tough circumstances is a sermon unto itself. I thank POH for creating such an amazing opportunity to connect in the name of Jesus with our brothers and sisters in Mexico.