Todd and Maria Luke - May 2018 Update
Campeche, Mexico
Dear friends,
Below, you can read about:
• twentieth anniversary for sanctuary
• twenty cisterns in January and February
• “Curious Creature” paradigm success
• new cistern molds with a 10cm annulus
• five cisterns in March and April – Mexican labor, Mexican funding
• invitation for 2019
Happy 20th Xpujil Sanctuary
The Xpujil Presbyterian Church sanctuary opened in the spring of 1998. Presbyterians from across Calakmul County recently joined the local congregation for a special worship service to celebrate the twentieth anniversary. Stories were shared about the early days of our new partnership, rooted in a simple “Amigos en Cristo” spirit. Also remembered were those Mexican men and women who came to Xpujil to teach, preach, and lead: Pastor Francisco Chan, Pastor Manuel Pech, Pastor Francisco Mutul, Obrera Ernestina Chan Pantí, Pastor Isaias Beh, Obrera Vernonica, y Obrero Abdiel. God used our little partnership to bring them to the region and make their families feel at home. Twenty years later, the Xpujil church is active and serving their neighbors.
Imagine this: a gathering of our American partners – to meet, mingle, share Mexico experiences, and catch a glimpse of how the different pieces and plots fit together to create something perhaps unexpected, yet gloriously beautiful. And so, the Father works through his adopted children.
Twenty Cisterns for Twenty Families
In January and February, four American mission teams joined our Mexican partners to build fourteen cisterns in the village of Carmen Dos and six in the village of Unidad y Trabajo. The last time our cistern crew worked in Unidad and Trabajo, it was to build cisterns #100 and #101. This time, they built #463 through #468. Unidad y Trabajo is Spanish for “Unity and Work.” How appropriate.
“Curious Creature” Paradigm
Our multicultural work crews draw significant attention from neighbors. That’s great because today’s curious onlookers often become tomorrow’s new partners. This dynamic works well. It is no coincidence that we will return to Unidad y Trabajo in June to build five more cisterns and then slide over to Carmen Dos to build another five.
By the end of summer, we hope to have built at least forty-five cisterns during 2018. Partners from Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, New Jersey, Texas, and Tennessee will join our Mexican friends to help take the total cistern tally beyond #490. Cistern #500 is not far away.
New Cistern Molds
Felipe Torres and Victor Guzman are working with a Xpujil welder to fabricate the next generation of cistern molds. Please pray for this effort. It’s very difficult to construct two reinforced concentric rings with 92cm height and a consistent 10cm annulus – the space between the two rings. We hope to have at least one new cistern mold in operation this summer.
Partnership Encourages Self-sufficiency
No mission teams visited in March and April, but our Mexican partners remain busy. It hasn’t been easy. First, there was a downpour that made the entry roads impassable. Second, we tested a new construction materials supplier and experienced unprecedented (more than one month long) delivery delays. Despite all this, Victor, Raul, Isaias and others are working with locals to build five cisterns that will capture, store, and supply water for livestock in pastures near the village of 11 de Mayo. These cisterns are being built at the request of cistern owning families that paid back their original cistern loans. I’m excited about these cisterns because the families themselves covered the cost for most or all of the construction materials.
Find Your Way Back in 2019
Please pray to see if you are not supposed to be with us next January and February. Families still need clean water and want to work with us as long-term partners. Who knows? The Holy Spirit may use this experience to give you a different way to look at your job, future, service to others, and your family. You may even get closer to God. Those things can happen when we work side by side with people quite different from ourselves.
Whether it’s you, a couple, a family, or a group of five to ten people, please send me a text or email if you have even a spark of interest. I would be happy to try to help fan that flame.
Muchas gracias por todo.
Todd Luke
(847) 867-0085 (cell)
tluke2300@aol.com
yucatanmission.com
Read more about the Luke's ministry in Campeche HERE.
THE NEED
The Outreach Foundation is seeking $4,200 per month for support funds for Todd Luke and $2,000 for the cost of one cistern.