REPORT FROM DAVID AND KATHY WALKER
November 2002

It is getting to that time of year when we are looking back at what the Lord has done.  Our hearts are full of praise. 

In March we were in two more cities in Mexico .  The bullrings were rented for a great outreach.  It was amazing to see the word of God go forth in power as David stood (right where the bulls are killed) and declared “it is not by the blood of bulls…..but by the precious blood of Jesus”.  

We had flown into Tuxtula and then our small dedicated team were informed that we were to take a bus to the city of San Cristobal that is situated very close to the Guatemalan border and is high in the mountains.  We had to climb another 7000 feet.  This is Ciapas Indian country!  Of course you hear the stories of the rebels that live in that part of Mexico and who have caused considerable trouble for the Mexican government.

We boarded our bus for our journey as we learned even veteran missionaries get sick on this challenging trip.  I noticed seat belts and curtains over the windows as we took our seats.  It wasn’t very long before we realized that there would not be any straight stretch of road on this narrow two lane but it was going to be one curve after another as we began our climb to the top.  When I looked out the window and could see that if we went over the side it would be straight down many hundreds of feet, I knew the seat belts would not help!  Once again we were depending on the ‘everlasting arms’!

We arrived in San Cristobal , the main city that covers a corner of the valley, 7,000 feet in the mountains of Chiapas . . The highlands rise to more than 9,500 feet, a rocky pine-clad scattering of isolated valleys, farmed by various descendants of the ancient Maya.  San Cristobal seems like a colonial center with narrow cobbled streets winding past ancient buildings with tall barred windows and tiled roofs, and the Old Spanish church plazas remain the centers of activity. The Indian majority is still the only notable natural resource, providing goods at the very colorful markets.

This will be the place of our meeting, a large bullring with mountains surrounding it.  In the evening it got quite cool, but it did not hinder the crowds as the people are used to the climate of the high elevation.

One evening a man came to us and began telling us how he had asked Jesus into his heart.  He told us he had been an alcoholic, and this was evident from his unkept appearance.  I reached in my bag and pulled out a Gospel of John in the Spanish language for him.  He opened it and looked and responded with, “I cannot see the words to read this.”  I told him we would pray and we did right then.  When we finished our prayer, he opened the book again and said, “I still cannot see the words.”  We told him to go in faith.  Sometimes people like him are lost in the crowd and we never see them again.  But the next night he came and found us, he was all cleaned up and had dressed in a nice sweater.  The smile on his face told the story.  He told us that he had no desire for alcohol and that he now could read the book!   We see the word of God in action, “old things are past away, behold all things are made new”.

The altar calls each night are charged with the convicting power of the Holy Spirit.  This is an experience you never take for granted or does it ever become commonplace.  They pour out of the grandstands.  One night so many were trying to come to the altar at the same time through the same opening.  I called it a “soul jam” for I have heard about log-jams when too many logs are coming down the river at the same time and they get jammed and then the logs cannot move.  This happened one night with so many people coming at once and the pastor had to go to the loud speaker and let the people know that we would wait for them to come.   Then the people continued to stream out of the stands to accept Jesus as Lord. 

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