EMANUEL MEXICO MISSION - DEBOLTS

INNER CITY MISSION

Before we got to the mission, we were told to take off our watches, put our billfolds in our front pockets and go straight inside.  As we walked from the van to the place that was to receive us you could see drugs being passed, prostitution, poverty, homelessness and more.  No one bothered us outside and when we entered into the INNER CITY MISSION, we were received with smiles, hugs and a great big welcome from some of the very same people who were outside.  Where was this?  Harlem, New York.  I'll never forget that trip to New York City.  In the morning we were in Queens, then the Bronx, then Harlem and then in the evening to a mission house in upper Manhattan near Central Park.  Back to Harlem.  What I remember most was not the drugs and poverty, but people.  Beautiful people who desperately needed the love of Jesus and the INNER CITY MISSION in Harlem was providing just that.  They were following the rules of Matthew 25:35-36.

Here in the inner city of San Luis Potosi, Mexico, things are just about identical to Harlem.  Drugs, poverty, etc., are all around us, but there is a mission in the middle of all that and it is called EMANUEL (God With Us) MEXICO MISSION.  A couple was visiting once from the states and one made several comments about how dirty, un orderly and just plain ugly the neighborhood looked.  It was and still is.  There are people living under the tin roofs; dogs and chickens cover the roofs in the inner city.  In the evenings you can smell marijuana coming from the back lot.  But, the other one had a different view of the neighborhood.  "Look at that beautiful tree over there in the middle of the neighbor's patio."  "Look at the gorgeous sunrise and sunset that comes and goes over the city each day."

At EMANUEL MEXICO MISSION, we receive everyone that comes to us with a need.  When someone needs a plate of food, when someone asks for a bucket of water, when someone is in need physically, we do everything in our power to help them, even at times when funds run short.  We are just simply following the rules of Matthew 25:35-36.

Today (June 3, 2020) an Ontañon Church family came seeking a few days of refuge (shelter) until they can find a new apartment.  A man came to their door a few nights before with a gun demanding they hand over a certain individual to them.  The cartel is alive and active in the barrio (neighborhood).  It scared them enough to leave their apartment.  INNER CITY MISSION work is not for everyone or not many see the need.  But what did Jesus have for these kind of people? (Matthew 9:3) "He had compassion" for them.

I've been invited into prisons, city jails, detention centers, drug rehab houses and even crack (drug) houses.  A prostitute named Reyes, begged me to help her grandchildren, Carlos and Leo, get an education so they would not follow in the footsteps of her and others in the family.  Today Carlos is a college graduate and a licensed electrician and Leo also got his full education.

Were we afraid to enter into the crack houses?  No, because we were invited in to tell them about Jesus.  Former editor of the Christian Standard, Sam Stone, wrote me once and said, "If you save just one, your mission work will be a complete success".  Little did Sam and his wife, Gwen, know they were praying for and supporting a mission that would save a little street boy, who is now preaching God's Word at the INNER CITY MISSION called EMANUEL MEXICO MISSION.

God is doing a wonderful and unbelievable ministry in the inner city here in San Luis Potosi.  For many we are the Scriptures, we are the Living Word of God, we are the Hands, Feet, Mouth and Compassion of Jesus.  With your support and prayers we are reaching inner city children, teens and families with the message that their lives matter to Jesus.

David DeBolt

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