Raising Real Men

Congratulations to Cynthia and Cheryl Lynn, who won a copy of Ned, Bernardo Boy and the unit study that goes with it!

Keep your eyes peeled for more reviews and contests to come…

From: “Mike Richardson”
Subject: And now for the rest of the story from Mexico-it is a good one!
Date: Mon, 9 Aug 2010 20:44:15 -0500

Over the last few weeks I have thought a lot about Matthew 6:34. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow; for tomorrow shall be anxious for its own things. Sufficient to the day is the evil of it.”

I have really tried to do what this verse teaches but the truth is that I have failed miserably. I have fretted and moaned to God about the road. I have done everything within my power to get the job done. But it was obvious that since the machines had not arrived by this morning, that it was going to be hard to open up our entrance before the conference. So we began to
follow through on our plans to cut trees and brush down across the neighbor’s property and access his driveway. While his drive has always been bad, it was not damaged by the rains and we felt like we could get out that way.

About 10:30 this morning a lone backhoe driver came up to the house and asked me what he was supposed to be doing. I showed him the worst spot on the road and left him to be doing the arduous task of digging it out completely so that the new pipe could be placed and then we would have to rebuild the area. I knew that this backhoe would be unable to complete the
job this week so I told my other workers to continue clearing the other “path” and then drove up to San Juan to see the man in charge of the work. On my way I passed another five pieces of heavy equipment that have been working on the roads.

When I arrived I talked to Javier a few minutes and then returned to the house. All six of the drivers had started working on our property! That’s right six machine working all at the same time. Two backhoes, a CAT Motor Grader, a large Compact Roller, a dump truck, and a truck to water the roads before the Compact Roller rolled over it.

They worked all day like busy little beavers building a dam. The dump truck brought 14 loads of fill. The back hoes were digging and moving the dirt, the CAT Motor Grader was scraping the driveway and the Compact Roller along with the water truck was giving me a smooth drive road. About an hour later the trailer showed up with the large pipes that we were planning to install.

While the tractors were all working the Engineer called me over to talk. First he told me that he would prefer to build a concrete pass for the water instead of installing the pipes that had been purchased. (That pipes were his ideas to begin with so I listened carefully to what he was saying.) He explained that the pipes could get stopped up with a tree or something large
that washed down. Then he went on to say that if we used the concrete that it would leave the hill a little bit steeper to drive up but that the water would just run on top of the concrete. That way almost all risk of future damage would be eliminated. In the end we decided on the concrete.

Then he went on to tell me that he had seen us on the television this morning. I am not sure if I mentioned this but about a week ago the large TV station in this area made their way to our house and interviewed Pam and me as well as a few of the kids. We were able to tell them why we lived in a place like this — to bring the hope of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. I went on to compliment the work that the Presidente and other government official were doing. I took the time to explain that even though they were not yet to our house that they were doing a very good job. I added that I appreciated that the Presidente was a man of honor and was administrating his area of responsibility well.

While I did not see it, the Engineer told me that all of that was on the television this morning at 7:00am — the gospel message, the reason we lived here and our appreciation for the work that the government was doing here. I wonder if you might be thinking what I thought. At 7:00am a news report was made on the TV about our situation and at 10:30 six large machines
showed up at our house.

More than anything I think:

God is good all the time.
All the time God is good.

The men worked all day. When they left at 6:00pm they were about 90% through with the work except for the concrete. They said that they would finish the tractor work in the morning and pour the concrete in a few weeks.

Oh, lest I forget, since we had started to open the other road by hand, they decided to give us a hand and do it with their machines. So now we have two driveways coming in and out of the property instead of one!

God is good all the time.
All the time God is good.

While we are very happy to have normal access restored, we must not forget that our house is in the middle of the canyon so about half of this valley is still without normal access. I will keep you informed as we continue to make progress.

In Christ,

Mike

There are only a select subset of books that I reread. Most are barely worth the time to finish them, but there are a few that bear rereading again and again. Dorothy Sayers is like that. Although she writes mysteries, her prose is so enjoyable that you don’t even care that you know “who dunnit.” I was rereading one of hers the other day and Harriet mentioned to Lord Peter that someone was a Barnardo’s boy. Thanks to Barbara Coyle, this time I knew what she meant!

Anyone in the England of 70 or 100 or 140 years ago would know exactly what was meant by a Barnardo’s boy – a orphan taken in by one of the many homes  established by Dr. Thomas Barnardo, an evangelical Christian with an early ambition for the foreign mission field, who found his God-given mission ministering to the “least of these my brethren.” Barbara Coyle, a missionary wife herself, brings that history to life in Ned, Barnardo Boy.

Continue reading »

Congratulations to Akbowlin88, who won a free copy of This Means War: Equipping Christian Families for Fostercare or Adoption!

I hope all of you who didn’t win will consider heading over and buying a copy. This is a book every family who is considering adoption or fostercare ought to read!

Keep an eye out for a new review and contest later today…

One of the realities of hiking, camping, or even just working in the yard is the possibility of ticks.  Now, I’m not quite like Humphrey Bogart and the leeches in Africa Queen, but close enough — I really don’t like the little bloodsuckers.

I was over at Duke Medical Center yesterday for an appointment and their website had a helpful article about the illnesses you can get from a tick bite., and what to do if you get one (either a bite or an illness).  We had a case of one of them a while back; they’re treatable, but like so many of these things, it’s best to do something about it as soon as you find a symptom.  This article shows what the classic “bulls-eye rash” looks like and also shows what illnesses are most common in different regions.  Here in North Carolina, for instance, Lyme disease is pretty rate, but there’s more Rock,y Mountain spotted fever than you find in Colorado!

You can read the whole thing here.  Then get out your tweezers and mash the little suckers.

Don’t miss the contest at the bottom of this post, friends!

Although we have never adopted, when author Cheryl Ellicott offered me a review copy of This Means War: Equipping Christian Families for Fostercare or Adoption, I jumped at the chance! You see, I had read the first chapter of the book as a sample she offered a group of fellow authors. I had seldom read anything so honest and practical about the spiritual warfare a Christian family can face and I was dying to read the rest of the book.

Cheryl Ellicott, an adoptive mother, speaks from experience in her upcoming book, This Means War. Remembering how ill-prepared she was to deal with the very real spiritual warfare she faced in trying to rescue children and give them a family, she reaches out to prospective families and helps them to gird up their spiritual armor and be prepared for the fight of their lives. I don’t know why we should be surprised that Satan doesn’t readily give up the children whose families he has devastated, but many adoptive parents are, according to Cheryl. This book should be an essential part of every Christian family’s preparation.

Full of first person accounts and excellent advice, This Means War is grounded on the Word of God and the recognition that what we do makes a difference in the spiritual realm. Although some families may be discouraged from fostering or adopting after understanding the challenge, those who press on will be much better prepared to accomplish the ultimate goal in adoption – to rescue a child not just physically, but spiritually. Cheryl explains everything from the physical and emotional effects of the disrupted situations these children come from to the tactics our enemy tends to use to distract and discourage us along the way. This is wise counsel for families thinking of imitating the Lord in adopting one of these little ones.

Those aren’t the only ones who will find this book helpful, though. The first couple of chapters give the most practical explanation of what spiritual warfare looks like in family life that I have ever read. Seriously. I have thought about what this books says many times since I read it as I more readily recognize what’s going on when strife, or distraction, or Sunday morning chaos strikes our family. I would love to see Cheryl write an entire book on this subject alone. This is good stuff! Highly recommended.

This Means War: Equipping Christian Families for Fostercare or Adoption, Sweetwater Still Publishing, 172 pages, October 15, 2010, $14.99.

Sweetwater Still Publishing gave us a free copy of this book in return for our honest review.

Get a prerelease copy at Sweetwater Still Publishing with free shipping! And fan them on Facebook, too.

Want to win a copy??? Leave a comment on this post! Get additional entries by posting about the contest and linking back to this blog on Facebook, Twitter, your email loops or blogs — just be sure to leave a comment telling us that you posted. Contest ends Wednesday, August 4th at noon.

I hate that we are so far behind in posting these updates for the Richardsons in Mexico. We’ve been away at Hal’s family’s lake camp and in contrast to previous years, the internet service was so wretched we were not able to do nearly what we needed to online. Please be in prayer for our brethren in Mexico!

From: “Mike Richardson”

Date: Sun, 11 Jul 2010 21:59:30 -0500

God is good, all the time.
All the time God is good.

This morning we had church at a house in San Juan. Only the people from
close by were able to attend. There were perhaps ten of us, including two
unbelieving married daughters of Don Chuy and Elvira.

We had a sweet time of fellowship. Everyone shared their stories and then we
sang, prayed and studied Hebrews 12 — looking to Jesus the Author and
Finisher of our faith. The words of the author of Hebrews spoke volumes to
our hearts. Veronica was very attentive during the service. I sat down
beside her after church and we talked for about 10 minutes. She told me that
she was thinking about asking the Lord to forgive her but that she didn’t
know how to pray. We talked about prayer. Then she prayed a simple but
heartfelt prayer through a flood of tears.

Praise be to God. He has already brought good out of this bad event — for
you see she would not have been at church if it had been in the normal place!
This one event makes all the extra worth well worthwhile. Thank you for
praying. Your prayers, I believe, helped to open her heart to the Gospel.

After church Isaac and I went to the last four houses to document the
damage. We had a total of 13 houses damaged. Three were damaged
significantly. Five had a moderate amount of damage and five were slightly
damaged.

Clestino lives way up the mountain. Isaac and I rode as far as we could on
the three-wheeler and then walked the rest of the way. When we arrived I
opened my backpack to get out the camera. It was not there, I had left it at
the house! I went ahead and reviewed everything with them and then we
returned for the camera. On the way down everything looked the same. I asked
Isaac if we were lost. He said, “no we just don’t know where are right now!”

We finally found ourselves and went on down the mountain! Isaac, very
kindly, made the return trip to take pictures by himself.

I have just finished writing up the damage reports on the houses. I will
make a trip into town tomorrow to turn those into the presidencia.

Thanks for your prayers as well as your emails. They are very encouraging to
us.

Mike

The "Road" to Baratillo

From: “Mike Richardson”
Subject: More info on Mexico
Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2010 21:42:32 -0500

This morning Timothy (10) and I made a trip through the valley and met with
some officials in San Juan. One fellow, whom I had not met before, asked me
if I was Mike. When I said yes he said that he was the governor’s
representative. Then he went on to tell me that he was leaving to review the
damages in some other places and would be back here the first of next week.
He asked if I would take him on a tour of the valley. I still don’t know
what his actual job is but I am glad that that more people are aware of the
situation.

Then I stopped and met with the engineer in charge of repairing our road.
He now has a team of eight people working on the road. Although they are
making slow progress he confirmed that they were planning to stay until the
roadwork was complete.

We had made an agreement for me to take him on a tour this afternoon.  Since
I had a few hours I thought I would come home and rest.

God has been doing some very interesting things in my heart these days.
Prior to the hurricane I was developing the routine of trying to pray an
hour a day. The devastation and the recovery work broke that routine.

Instead of resting I went outside to pray. I was literally overwhelmed with
emotion. I cry out to the Lord –not about the physical conditions here but
about the spiritual condition of the people. Four hundred and fifty people
live in San Juan and less than one hundred live in the valley. Of those we
have thirty to thirty-five at church most weeks. While that is over 5% of
the population, it is not enough. I believe that God has brought this
situation at this time to do his work in the hearts of the people.

As I lay before the Lord I begin to cry and ask him, “Would you give me 100
people? Would you bring 100 into the kingdom from here?” Then I thought, “If
God can bring 100 into the kingdom, why not ask for 150?” God tells us in
Ephesians 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above
all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.

I have lived and worked in this valley for ten years. Even thinking about
reaching 100 or 150 people for the Lord out of 650 seems absolutely
ridiculous. That just couldn’t happen. But I know my God. It could happen
because he is a powerful God. I am asking him to start a revival among my
people that is inconceivable — even to me.

I have been formulating some thoughts and ideas in my mind. I will share them
another day. In the meantime please pray for my people.

After I finished praying I ate and then left to meet the engineer.

We rode through the upper end of the valley. When we arrived at the
beginning of the worst part he said that he had seen enough for the
day and returned to San Juan.

Then I went to a family’s house that has a baby. While I had taken them food
several times I had forgotten about the baby. Sure enough they needed
diapers. I put that on my list of things to do tomorrow.

In the evening I came home I took my shirt off and lay down on the bed. I
was thinking about taking a shower but really didn’t even want to get up to
do that. Pam was sitting in a chair close by; we were chatting while I was
half asleep and half awake. After a few minutes my dear sweet wife asked me,
“When was the last time you went to Dona Amelia and Poncho’s house? I had
gone on Friday and sent Isaac on Saturday.

A few minutes later I rolled out of bed, put my shirt on, and told Pam, “I
am going to see Poncho and Amelia. I will be back in a little while.”

In Christ,

Mike

From: “Mike Richardson”
Subject: A little more progress
Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2010 20:26:07 -0500

Monday

Today when I went through San Juan I was told that two drivers came instead
of the promised three. Then one of the tractors broke down so the driver
went to town to get a part instead of sending someone else and using the
other machine. Needless to say I was more than slightly discouraged.

Then I went to town and took my reports on the housing damage to the
appropriate people. They told me that tomorrow I would have an answer about
“when they can give us an answer”. It looks like the government will help
SOME people. While we don’t know for sure it looks like those who receive
help will be given some of the materials that are needed to make repairs.
They will be responsible for the rest of the materials and the labor cost.

When I returned to San Juan there were three tractors working. That’s right
three — count them one, two, three. Needless to say the sight of them all
working lifted my spirits. The engineer who is responsible for the canyon
was there too. After talking for a while I found out that he was a believer.
He told me that they will work Monday through Friday on the valley until it
is done. HE estimated two more weeks to get to our house. He could not give
me an estimate on the rest of the valley since he had not been to the other
end. I offered to take him the entire way tomorrow. I am not sure if he will
take me up on it or not.

He also gave me some sad news. I have been told that this work crew would
do the entire valley even though the last 1/3 is another state. He told me
that they would just go to the state line and that Nuevo Leon would need to
do the rest.

The reason that is sad is because Monterrey was damaged severely. It is the
largest city in northern Mexico. Since Nuevo Leon is trying to restore
services to the greatest number of people they are concentrating on the big
cities. So it could end up being a very long time to actually get the entire
canyon open.

I was unable to pick up and deliver food today. I plan to make every effort
to get that done tomorrow.

Thank you for your prayers.

Mike

From: “Mike Richardson”
Subject: A lesson Learned (I Hope)
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2010 20:43:28 -0500

Wednesday

On dirt roads in Mexico the government has a 6 meter (20 feet) right of way
on each side of the center of the road.

There is one washed out area were the engineer decided to move the road over
about nine feet. His thought was that it would be a more secure road and
less likely to wash out again. So they begin digging away at the embankment
on the side of the road. The owner of the property, Kiko, was right there
watching. After they had dug about three feet of the embankment the owner
announced that they couldn’t dig anymore. The tractor driver talked to him
and then the engineer talked to him to no avail. I asked the engineer if he
would like to talk to him together. He looked at me and said, “you can try.”

So as Timothy and I walked over to him we said a quick prayer together.
“Lord, give us favor in Kiko’s eyes.”

We chatted for a few minutes and then our conversation turned to the road. I
asked him if he would mind if I showed him what they wanted to do to the
road. We walked over and I showed him how they would cut down the side and
give us a nice “land bridge” to cross with tubs and then even put concrete
on top to prevent future erosion. After thinking about it for a few minutes
he looked at me and said, “Go ahead and do it.”

He had just needed someone to calmly explain the situation to him and give
him time to process it. I patted him on the shoulder, looked him in the eye,
and told him he was a good man and we all appreciated his help.

The tractor returned to work.

After using my words to calm this situation, the Lord reminded me of some
harsh words that I had spoken to a neighbor the day before. Not out of anger
but out of frustration and being tired. I knew what I had to do.

This afternoon while Joshua (11), Timothy (10), Benjamin (8), and I were
delivering food I went to Javier and told him that I was very sorry for my
harsh words and that there was no excuse for me speaking that way. Then I
looked him in the eye and said, “Would you forgive me?”

He quickly said that he would and then looking at the mound of food that I
had on the back of the three-wheeler he asked, “Would you like for me to
help you deliver that food?” With that he took the food to the nine families
at the far end of the canyon and I came home and took an early shower while
Isaac delivered the last packages to Baratillo.

God has, once again, taught me an important lesson about the tongue. My
prayer for today is that God would use my tongue for good and not for
evil — to bless and not to curse — to be a giver of life.

In Christ,

Mike

From: “Mike Richardson”
Subject: Richardson
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2010 20:20:32 -0500

Friday

Isaac and I traveled through the entire canyon as well as the next one over
this morning. The repair work in our valley is substantially higher quality
than the work being done in the Los Lirios valley.

I met with the engineer today. They have decided to put down a 3-4″ cap of
sand/gravel mixture on the part of the road that they are repairing. While
they are advancing slowly, they are doing a very good job. I am grateful for
that. I had Anna make zucchini bread and took it to the worker as an
expression of our gratitude.

I have the final Board meeting before our conference tomorrow. We will have
church in San Juan on Sunday. Then on Sunday afternoon and Monday I will
travel to the border and back to pick up supplies for the conference. Unless
something unexpected happens I will not send another update until either
Monday or Tuesday.

Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers.

Mike

From: “Mike Richardson”
Subject: Mexico update
Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2010 18:38:10 -0500

Saturday

We made a quick run through the valley today. The workers are doing a fine
job of repair and improving our road but the work is slow. There are still a
lot of very damaged areas left to repair. We are estimating that it will be
a week before they get to our house. The company doing the repair work on
the roads is a private contractor. We are currently negotiating with them to
repair the entrance to our property. Since they are here and doing a good
job on the road, I thought they would be the best option to repair our
damage too.

Back in the olden days when I was a CFO for a manufacturing company we
implemented a JIT (just in time) inventory system. It allowed us to reduce
our overhead and produce at very efficient rates. I feel like I am doing a
similar type thing with our conference equipment. If all goes well, we
should be able to get our equipment out of the offices here in the mountains
just in time for the conference.

The tractors have advanced far enough that I can now get my truck out. It
will be very useful in moving around the area.

We will be having church in San Juan again tomorrow. We are hoping that by
next week we will have safe access to our church building.

In addition to our conference preparations we have now set up twitter
accounts for both ministries. You can join them by following VNMinistres and
ElHogarEducador on your twitter account.

On a more personal side, Benjamin (8) was cutting some cardboard with a
knife. The knife slipped and sliced his eyelid open — from the eyelashes up
and over about half of his eye. He was very fortunate that the eyeball was
not damaged. We took him to one hospital and two doctors before we were able
to get the damage repaired. He has now learned, the hard way, why you should
always cut away from your body and not toward it.

Mike

The King’s School is the oldest independent private academy in Australia.  The headmaster of the all-male, K-12 boarding school, Dr. Tim Hawkes, presented a paper at the International  Boys’ School Coalition conference in Toronto, Canada, a few years ago, starting his presentation with this observation:

When the philosopher, Aristippus of Cyrene, was asked some 400 years BC, what boys should be taught, he replied:

“Those things which they will use when men.”

Imbued with ancient wisdom, this response threatens to make a mockery of much which is taught in schools today.

Tragically, rather too many schools have lost sight of those things which will be used by our boys when they become men.  We have lost our focus on education in favour of a concentration on the esoteric, the political and the convenient.  Rather too much teaching is packaged in artificial curricula delivered in artificial settings giving artificial help for the future.

He identified ten life skills which are typically, if not universally, overlooked in the schools:

The ability to live in community and to forge good relationships.

The ability to communicate well.

The ability to know yourself and what you believe.

The ability to handle intimacy and sex.

The ability to control emotions and impulses.

The ability to manage financial matters.

The ability to do practical things, to clean, cook, make and mend.

The ability to be good mannered and to know etiquette.

The ability to accept responsibility.

The ability to be resilient and to deal with grief and loss

I’ve read the whole 23-page paper, and while I have some reservations or downright disagreements in some areas — I wouldn’t want my sons given a secularized, make-your-own-choice-just-be-polite form of sex education, for instance — I have to say he’s on target in many ways.  In fact, we address all of these issues in our book, but from a Biblical standpoint, not just a philosophical one.

(Interestingly for a secular educator, he suggests that a formal coming of age ceremony is a useful thing – another point we address in the book.)

One thing he doesn’t address — and in fact, he does at least touch on the necessity of some sort of spiritual training, though not specifically Christian — is implied in the very existence of his school and the IBSC organization.  In nearly every one of these topics, a boy will approach the issue from a distinctly different perspective than his sister … or his mom.  The desired educational goal may be the same at the end — he or she can cook, he or she can deal with disappointment, he or she has internalized and personalized their moral and spiritual frameworks.  However, I think we have to pull our kids out of the ditches on the opposite sides of the road.  I, as a father, have to step out of my “instinctive” response to effectively reach out to my young daughters; I have to speak more gently, deal with different emotional reactions, and so forth.  Mothers have to do the same to reach their sons.

And both mom and dad need to ask themselves — are we going to do any better job of teaching these life skills than the schools do?

(A more concise version of his presentation is available on The King’s School website.  This article omits some of the more debatable or objectionable ideas I found in the conference presentation.)

Another update from Mike Richardson, missionary in Mexico in the area devastated by Hurricane Alex:

Subject: God is good

Date: Fri, 9 Jul 2010 23:06:24 -0500

Early this week I was asked by the government disaster relief agency to all the damage to the orchards here in our valley. Then they came back and asked that I also document the damage to houses. Timothy (10) and I went out this morning to begin that process. We rode five hours, on the donkey, to reach the farthest houses. This time I borrowed a different donkey. He had a ranchero saddle — a homemade wooden saddle with no stirrups.

I was so very glad when I was able to dismount!

After we finished the eastern end of the valley, Joshua (11) and I took off on the three-wheeler and started the process of documenting the western end. The three-wheeler is not able to travel on the eastern end of the valley because of all the rock slides.

God miraculously saved the houses. There was only one with significant structural damage. While many do have water damage, I would not consider any to be severely damaged. There were several people who have mattresses and things like that with water damage. The mold is also starting to set in.

Even our house, which did not leak any, has started to develop mold on the eastern walls. Pam and the kids moved the furniture and washed everything down with bleach.

Two more pieces of equipment were brought into the valley today. Unfortunately they did not bring any drivers! The one driver who was here left around 2:00 and said he would be back on Monday. I guess it was just wishful thinking on my part when I thought he would work on the weekend!

I made arrangements for another five day supply of food. I will pick it up on Monday and try to get it delivered that same day.

On my way home from San Juan something very interesting happened. There was the largest rainbow I have ever seen. It went from one side of the canyon to the other and was so close I felt like I could touch it. Juan and Joshua were both on the three-wheeler with me. I turned to Juan and told him the story of Noah. I kind-of felt like God was saying to me, “It is going to be all right. I am with you.”

I don’t know how to explain it but I really feel like God has been so good to us the last ten days. These challenges have given me a fresh new outlook on life. I had a friend who would say: “God is good.” Then his class would respond, “All the time.” The he would say “All the time.” And his class would say, “God is good.”

That is so true. Say it to yourselves.

God is good all the time.

All the time God is good.

Mike Richardson

Dear Friends,

The following messages are from our dear friends, Mike and Pam Richardson, missionaries in Mexico.  Their area has been devastated by Hurricane Alex, some dear brethren losing their entire source of support, their orchards.  We thought you’d want to be praying for them and would also enjoy hearing about how Mike’s sons have stepped up to the plate and are doing men’s work in this crisis.

Thank you so much for praying!!

Hal and Melanie (comments in italics are ours)

A Road, Not a River, Despite Appearances

Hurricane Alex Report

When we started hearing about Hurricane Alex, on Wednesday, I was not concerned. I was up in the mountains and felt safe. Samuel was flying out of Monterrey on Thurs. and Mike decided to leave on Wed. night in case the roads were bad. Sometimes when it rains, it is hard to get through the mud. Little did he imagine that on Thurs. the roads would be washed away, along with many orchards…

Pray for [Mike] as he meets with officials to get things moving out here in the valley. One person told me the people here were the “olvidados” before we came. That is the forgotten ones. I told her you were never forgotten by God. One precious couple who lost their entire orchard reminded me that it was God who met her needs not the orchard. What a wonderful reminder that God is good and HE does care for our needs..

In our lives tragedy often runs along side great joy. There is so much to be thankful for.
Please remember the people here.That they will see the goodness of God in the land of the living.

Pam, July 4

This morning, I corresponded with Mike and he sent us the update below. He also told me that they are in desperate need of a four wheel ATV – the roads are completely impassable for nearly 14 miles that must be cleared. He also said that their generator has stopped working and it is too cloudy for the solar panels to work – they have no other sources of electricity.

Mike writes:

Many of you already know that Hurricane Alex came through northern Mexico where we live. I wanted to share an update on our current situation.
I was in Santa Catarina (near Monterrey) when hurricane Alex hit. I witnessed firsthand the devastating effects of the water’s powerful grip in that area. But Hurricane Alex did not only have an overwhelming effect in Monterrey it also reached its powerful hand into many of the outlaying areas of Arteaga-the ranchos and villages.
Here are a few pictures from Monterrey.

While we do not live in Monterrey, I was there and these pictures will help you get a better overview of the destructive force of the hurricane.

Pam and six of our children were isolated when the roads were damaged in the fairly remote area of Arteaga where we live. She wrote, “I went to sleep on Wednesday night and slept well. I was aware of the rain, but it seemed nothing major. I woke up to a roaring sound. I thought it was wind, but I looked out and the trees were not moving. It sounded like a big roaring river. It WAS a roaring river. We are high up in the mountains. The water was rushing down the mountain and the low spots were filled with very rapidly moving water. The destruction was shocking. Whole orchards were swept away. It is hard to tell where the road used to be. There were many rock slides and mud slides. There is no way to get out either direction.”

While Pam and children are cut off in the valley that runs from San Juan de los Dolores to Baratillo and then on to El Alto, there are many other areas with similar devastation. Arteaga is putting all its available resources and efforts into the opening up access to this valley. Pam and twenty-five other families have been isolated since last Thursday.

I have been meeting with the Presidente, the director of Public Works as well as other state and local officials. We are trying to get machinery into the valley in order to open up access to the valley. The Lord has been opening doors for me to help the public officials with their planning. I have been able to help them document the damage to the roads, orchards, houses as well as delivering food to the people who are cut-off by packing it in on donkeys. It has been my pleasure to offer my services to them-helping in any way possible.

After finally getting out of Monterrey, we put together enough food to last the people three days. I drove the food in as far as possible and then with the help of neighbors, we delivered it by donkey to all the families in the valley.

Three days later, we were able to quickly pull together enough food to distribute to the families who unable to get in or out. I was also able to have a short meeting with the Presidente Municipal. He told me that he would be in San Juan late this afternoon and would see me there. Upon arriving in the valley, I left Isaac in charge of making the food distribution. After a short wait the Presidente and the state Public Works official came to San Juan. He had a brief meeting on the side of the road with about 25 of the local men. The Presidente then turned to me and said, “Mike let’s ride to the next valley over and look at it. I would like to hear your opinion about the situation.” After seeing situation the Presidente has agreed to send tractors to both ends of the valley to begin the digging out process.

It has continued to rain so the damage has gotten worse but all the people are safe. Isaac, our 14 year old son, has been with me the last two days and has proven himself a man who is up to the task set before him. Today Isaac stayed in the valley to help while Joshua, 12, went with me to check on the machinery and meet with the Presidente.

This is the road into Baratillo, not a stream bed!

I was able to get through to the next valley and visit Marcelo. He and a few other men had shovels and were trying to clear a small path through what used to be the road. A rear leaf spring on the van broke into two pieces. Since this is the only vehicle from our valley that is not stranded by the washed out roads, I spent three hours at the shop getting it replaced. When I arrived in the mountains the promised tractor had not arrived. Then it rained all afternoon, causing more damage.

Not much road left…

I was asked today to travel through the valley again-this time to review the damage to the orchards and take additional pictures so that the Presidencia can document the damage in the farming communities.

After nearly week of meeting and checking on others, I was finally able to make my way to my house and spent the night. While it was nice to be home, I will be heading out the following morning to continue working on getting some normalcy back to our valley.

Our valley can be reached from both ends. The government sent equipment to the far end yesterday. They are going through the valley “opening” the road. “Opening” means clearing enough debris and filling in enough holes to make the road barely passable. They have the road open to Don Santos house now. I drove down that way today. I had to stop for about an hour while a lot of us guys helped free a truck that had gotten stuck on the “barely passable” road. When the tractor got to the worst area in our canyon they left and decided they should go work in another canyon that was not as bad as ours. The tractor began work this morning on the San Juan end of the valley.

In addition to praying for the isolated families and the Richardsons please be in prayer for our upcoming conference. It is scheduled to take place in less than five weeks.

Mike wrote yesterday that over 1350 apple trees have been washed away in the half of the valley they have surveyed. The folks of the Baratillo area depend on the apple orchards for their living.

Several people have asked what kind of help we need. Prayer is our biggest need right now.
Mike and Pam: That God would use their lives to be a light in the dark world.
Our elected officials: That they will be able to coordinate relief efforts.
Isaac: That God would use him in mighty ways during these uncertain times.
Josue: That he will be able to shoulder the responsibility of being the “man of the house” in the days to come.
The Church at Baratillo: That the members will be encouraged in the Lord.
The stranded families: That they will have sufficient food and that God would use these struggles to draw them to the Lord.

Beyond prayer there is much else that can be done right now by those living outside the area. The government is covering the cost of opening the roads and we have sufficient resources in hand to get the food to the people for the next couple of weeks. However, once the roads are open then we will begin the restoration process. I am unable to give you an estimate of the cost but I can say that without doubt it will be very high and that there will be great need.

Thank you for your continued prayers. I will try and keep you informed.

If you would like to contact us, Mike can be reached at vnm@hughes.net and Pam at mikeswife@hughes.net.

Mail from the USA can be sent to our US mailing address:

Mike & Pam Richardson
1001 S 10th St., G-529
McAllen, TX 78501

Mail from Mexico can be sent to:
Mike & Pam Richardson
APDO 487
Saltillo, Coahuila 25000

We have known Mike and Pam for 12 years and have seen their faithfulness in ministry to the church of Baratillo and to the homeschoolers of Mexico, as well as Spanish-speaking homeschoolers worldwide as the publishers of El Hogar Educador. We hope and pray that you will pray for them and the people of their valley and help in any way you are able.