Getting started in Matamoros

During the summer of 1993 some of our staff joined me in
investigating the new field of Matamoros,
Mexico. Such pioneering trips are often opportunities
to see miracles.

One of my first stops was a meeting at 5:00 pm in Brownsville with a pastor
named Pete Schaelchlin. I had directions
on how to get to his church written on a scrap of paper that I lost. I couldn’t
believe it. How would I find him
now? I prayed and asked the Lord for
grace.

All I remembered was that it was the third church on a road
somewhere in Brownsville. At 4:55 I pulled into a gas station on the
outskirts of town. I asked the gas
station attendant a ridiculous question, “Do you know of a road somewhere in Brownsville that has
three churches on it?”

He shook his head, no.

But the man waiting in line happened to overhear my question
and said, “I know the road you’re looking for – it’s this one right here that
you’re on – keep going a little longer and you’ll see the churches.”

At 5:00 sharp, I was pulling into Pastor Pete’s parking lot.

When it was time to go across the border to Matamoros, first we prayed for divine
appointments, and then we saw God answer that prayer. Not knowing how to get to a needy colonia (a
slum neighborhood) named “Solidaridad,” we stopped in the middle of the city to
ask a man for directions. We were
somewhat taken aback when the man said, “I live there; I’ll go with you and
show you how to get there.”

The man and his family

had just moved there several weeks
ago – he got in the van and directed us across the city and to Solidaridad.

Upon arrival at our destination, the man invited us in to
his home to talk. Though we were in a
hurry, we went inside. We found that
neither the man nor his family had a relationship with Jesus Christ, but both
wanted to know Him personally. We prayed
with them to receive the Lord.

I’ve found that when I’m out breaking new territory, God
leads me. When I’m at home on my couch,
it often feels as though I’m more distant.