All in a Day's Work

We periodically get stopped by police at various checkpoints. The lack of a license plate on the front of our vehicle seems to always be a red flag and it's always the first question out of their mouths!

Here's a conversation Michael had yesterday after being stopped at a federal police checkpoint.

Federal Police: Good evening! Where are you coming from?

Michael: Good evening. From Santo Domingo.

Federal Police : Why don’t you have a license plate up front?

Michael: Well, I am from Pennsylvania and in Pennsylvania we don’t have license plates on the front.

Federal Police: Ok. Go ahead and pull forward to the left for a check.

Michael: (I pull forward to the left)

Federal Police: I want to see the identification (permit) for your truck. And also your passport.

Michael: Ok. (I hand him the truck permit and also my passport)

Federal Police: (Looks at the permit) Do you realize that this is a tourist permit and that it is expired?

Michael: Yes. But I have an FM-2 visa which extends this permit for as long as my visa is good. (I hand him my present FM-2 visa)

Federal Police: Where do you live?

Michael: I live in Tapachula.

Federal Police: And what do you do?

Michael: I am a missionary. I am planting churches. We are planting a church in Tapachula and another church in Santo Domingo.

Federal Police: Oh. You are driving on an expired TOURIST permit for your truck.

Michael: But according to the Customs officials, this permit extends with my present Immigrant Visa. The agent told me it was Article VI that says it.

Federal Police: What law?

Michael: I don’t know what law. I just know that the customs agent told me it was in Article VI. Here let me show you on the back of the permit. (I read to him what it says on the back of the permit) “A vehicle of a foreign national can stay in Mexico for the same time as he has a Visa as non-immigrant or immigrant rentista. (This last one is my status.)

Federal Police: Well, you're not the owner of the truck.

Michael: No, my wife actually owns the truck. (She was the one that was there to sign the title. I happened to be in Florida at the time.) But here is her visa. (I hand him my wife’s visa.)

Federal Police: Well, your not allowed driving the truck without her being there. She has to be in the truck with you, for you to be able to drive.

Michael: Oh, really? I was the one that imported the truck at the Mexican border and she WASN’T there.

Federal Police: Really? How did you do that?

Michael: With my marriage license and a letter of power, signed and stamped by a notary. And the customs officials didn’t have any problem with it. Look, on the permit it says that Crystal Mason, my wife is the owner, but that Michael Mason, I, imported it. If I can’t drive it without her, how did I import the truck at the northern border?

Federal Police: Well, what about the plate up front? Where is it at?

Michael: As I told you before, I am from Pennsylvania. Some states such as Texas have plates up front. Others, such as Alabama and Pennsylvania do not use a license plate up front.

Federal Police: Oh, ok. Well, go on.

Celebrating 10 Years Together!!

Yesterday we decided to do something special for our anniversary. We planned to drop the kids off with some of our church people, and after visiting a store grand opening, we would head out to the beach. Great plan. Unfortunately, anytime we plan something special, it seems that L-I-F-E happens, and makes everything more "interesting." That's just kind of how we roll. And yesterday was no exception!

Beautiful roses Michael gave me on our anniversary.

The day started out fine. We dropped the kids off as planned, then drove to a brand new superstore here in town. It took us forever to find a parking spot, and once getting in the store, we decided we were crazy. Michael described it as, "black friday on steroids!!" It was wall-to-wall people! After trying to navigate through the store, we gave up and headed for the doors.

We decided to stop by their other store in town (there was hardly any one there) and grab a few items. Then we headed home for a quick lunch, packed up some stuff, and headed to the beach.

Now comes the, ummm, "interesting" part. We arrived at Playa Linda and headed down the lane towards the beach. (Please note, this part of the story may sound a little different if you ask Michael.) That lane takes you right to the sand, not too far off the beach. The last time we had been there, I remember us remarking to each other that the sand was really firm and we could have probably driven out onto it instead of parking at the end of the lane. Well, after some discussion, Michael didn't think we should try it this time, and I though we should. I was driving, so I just gunned it and headed out onto the sand. Only this time, the sand was NOT so firm!!! Oops! I managed to get ourselves stuck good and proper in the sand!

Well, Michael was not too much "in like" with me at that moment, but thankfully, LOVE still remained! =) After several attempts at digging out around the tires and using our 4 wheel drive (which didn't want to kick on), we finally had a plan that worked! Both Michael and I dug long trenches in the sand behind both back tires. We found a wooden plank and some driftwood that we wedged under the tires, then while Michael pushed from the front, I put the truck in reverse and gunned it! Thank the Lord, we got traction and I was able to back up all the way to the lane. Whew! That wasn't quite the relaxing day we had planned, but at least we weren't stuck anymore!!

After all that, we were finally able to get set up on the beach and take a few deep breaths and drink our coke! It was a beautiful day...

...and I even got a few pictures!

What do you know? He could still kiss me after I exasperated him!

And the story continues, although not as bad as the sand episode! When we went to leave, we saw that a wire had punctured our back tire sometime during my wild, backwards flight out of the sand. We were able to leave a piece of it in, as a plug of sorts, so that we could drive into town and find someone to fix the tire for us.

After that was accomplished, we drove to our favorite little restaurant down by the beach...only to find that the owner had something scheduled in Tapachula and had closed the restaurant for the day! We drove back to the city and thought to try out a Chinese restaurant, but it was closed too! Grrrrr... We finally got sandwiches from Subway, went home and gulped them down, then went to pick up the kids.

All in all, we still had a good day and were able to enjoy some relaxing time alone together.

"And through it all - love remains."

-taken from the song "Love Remains" by Collin Raye

Happily Ever After!

Today we are celebrating our 10th Anniversary!!!

When you first get married, you're all wrapped up in that one event, and you never imagine how quickly the coming years will fly! But you know what? It's all been good. Oh, don't get me wrong. We've had our ups and downs, our disagreements, our financial struggles; but the good, the happy times, and the LOVE we share together, outweigh everything else.

Our prayer: That Christ will always be the center of our union and that our love will continue to grow deeper and more abiding through the years to come.

If you're interested in seeing a cacophony of pictures from the time we started dating, including our wedding, until now...just click on the picture below.

La Campaña 2011 :: The Day After

It was such a pleasure to be able to have Bro. Rigo and his wife Ana stay in our home during the campmeeting. They were a big blessing to us and our church people.

Monday morning we dropped them off at the border of Guatemala so they could spend some more time there before they had to return to Florida. But before we dropped them off, Bro. Rigo was really wanting a shrimp cocktail. So upon invitation, we went and visited one of our church families. The man, Isaac, pedals around Tapachula in his tricicleta (photo example) and sells shrimp/seafood cocktails for a living.

Seafood cocktail for breakfast anyone?

They also showed us their beautiful little pet loro (parrot).

After dropping Bro. Rigo and Ana off at the border, we decided since we were already halfway there, we would drive up into the mountains to about as high as they have roads. We went up past Unión Juárez to a place called Talquián. On the way back down, we pulled in to this little place to check out the view. This is a hotel, restaurant, and lookout tower.

This is to the right of the above picture. You can see the restaurant that hangs out over the mountain and the beautiful view, although it was somewhat obstructed by clouds.

Michael, Kyle, and Taylor. Parker was sleeping in the truck. :-)

And this is one of those great self portraits - you know, the kind where you hold your arm way out in front of you and snap a picture (sight unseen) and then wonder why you look kind of goofy!! lol

So now, after an exciting weekend, things are getting back to "normal." Although, we have plans to start a youth Sunday School class, and Michael is just starting teaching/tutoring some men in their Bible School classes... You just never know what great things will come to pass around here, so keep checking back!

[ Just a Glimpse ]

You just never know when you'll get a chance to witness to someone. Last Saturday night as we pulled in front of Ignacio and Blanca's house to pick them up for a prayer meeting, Michael met a drunk man who was walking down the road and was able to share the gospel and invite him to church.

Last Sunday morning we had our first children's ensemble! It wasn't anything overly special, in fact, the kids just sang "I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy..." (in Spanish, of course!) but, who doesn't enjoy listening to children sing? I'm sure we'll be doing this more often...

[ Just a Glimpse ]

Today's "Just a Glimpse" is actually the story from Michael's recent weekend trip to Guatemala. And trust me, you'll want to read the whole thing! Oh, and one other thing...you know I mentioned in my last post about reminding a certain someone to take pictures? Well, he didn't...but thankfully, the pastor took a couple and sent them our way! =)

*********************

Dear Friends, Family, and Prayer Warriors,

I want to say a great big thank you to those of you who were praying for me this past weekend. We could definitely feel the prayers of God's people. As I go on trips like this, I often think of Psalms 91. Truly, "He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust."

As I left on Friday, it seemed that everything was going wrong. After leaving the house, I had to return twice for things that I had forgotten. In the midst of returning, I got stopped by Border Police and I began to wonder how this trip was going to go.

After picking up several brothers in Santo Domingo who were going with me, we proceeded to the border. Two and a half hours later after filling out a bunch of paperwork and having to see a Guatemalan lawyer, we finally had everything in order and were ready to continue on our way.

The five hour trip went by rather quickly and without incident, and before we knew it, we were in the city of Tacaná. Not long after driving into the city, I went to stop and quickly realized that I had NO BRAKES!!! Thankfully, we were on a flat stretch, so I quickly put it into a lower gear to slow us down. After this, we proceeded down several VERY steep streets with trucks, motorcycles, and people all around us with pretty much no brakes at all. As we arrived at the last street, which was also going downhill, I used the emergency brake to stop us. Somehow God helped us to make it safely to the house of our pastor Cruz Perez.

We were very grateful for God's blessings to us throughout the day. We had just traveled on tremendously high mountain roads with huge curves all day long! Truly God was with us.

On Saturday we began the youth convention, and God helped as I preached three different times. The presence of the Holy Spirit was with us in every service in a special way and we had several seekers at the altar throughout the day on Saturday.

Also on Saturday, Pastor Cruz called a friend/relative of his that is studying to be a mechanic to come and look at my truck. He told me that the brakes evidently just heated up and now they were smooth. He took all of the brakes off and roughed them up so that they would work again. I really don't know anything about mechanics, so I took his word for it.

On Sunday morning I preached and once again the Holy Spirit came in a tremendous way in this service. During the message a drunk man came and stood in the door and listened and several form the outside also showed interest. At the close of the service I gave an altar call and two brand new people accepted Christ! It was an exciting day!

Sunday afternoon after eating a delicious lunch, we tested the brakes and they felt like they were working fine so we decided to make our way back to Tapachula.

It was about two hours into the trip when I began to hear a tat-tat-tat-tat-tat sound near the front wheels and wondered what it was. It seemed to me like it was worse on the curves. And we were going around LOTS of them! Finally, I stopped to check it out. When I checked the front drivers tire, I was able to move every single lug nut with just my fingers! Evidently our mechanic friend forgot to tighten them up. We had just ridden close to two hours on mountainous, curvy roads with a tire about ready to fall off! There is no doubt that God had sent His angel to hold that tire on for us!

We proceeded without further incident (other than getting lost in Malacatán, Guatemala which can be dangerous at night) and arrived in Tapachula thanking and praising God for His protection on us, but most of all for victories won.

Once again, thank you for your faithfulness in remembering us in prayer. May God richly bless you!

Yours for the Kingdom,

Rev. Michael Mason

PTL

We are Praising The Lord for helping Michael to get his FM-2 Visa!

What this Means: Previously, we had only 6 month tourist visas. This visa required us (and our truck and trailer) to leave the country for a few days - every six months! That's a great option if you live only a few hours from the border, but since we're 30 hours or so from the border...it's not something we wanted to do that often! Plus, there's more expense involved.

With this FM-2, we do NOT have to leave the country to renew our visas! They do cost money, and they will need renewed once a year, but we can do it all in-country. And after five years, if we meet all the requirements, we are eligible to obtain a permanent resident visa which would allow us to come and go at will.

Somewhere along the line, Michael was able to meet and then do all of our paperwork with the regional director at the immigration office. I'm sure this helped to speed up the process, because we were told it could take a couple of months, but he was able to get his "immigrant" card in just three days!!!

Now the only thing that remains, is to apply for this same status for me and the kids!

Another Year (Older)!

Somebody celebrated a special day today!!!

We spent most of the day relaxing, and then this evening, we went to the ocean. It's always relaxing to eat on the beach, watch the beautiful sunset, listen to the pounding surf, and breathe just a little bit deeper!

Here are a few pictures to commemorate the day.

Michael's favorite dish - Shrimp Cocktail w/ a side of french fries.

This little guy was wandering around and decided to join us for supper.

And then I took a few snap-shots of the kids.

Kyle

(notice his second baby tooth came out the other day)

Taylor

(ornery as ever!)

Parker

(couldn't get this guy to cooperate with me...

...and I just love the little bit of curly hair on top...)

After we came home from the ocean, we had cake and ice cream and Michael opened a few small gifts.

Happy 34th Birthday, Michael!

We hope you had a special day and that you will have many more to come!

Love,

Crystal, Kyle, Taylor, and Parker

Happy New Year!

May the road rise to meet you,

May the wind be always at your back,

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

May the rains fall soft upon your fields,

And, until we meet again,

May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

-- (Traditional Irish Blessing) --

Our New Year's Eve was spent up in the mountains at our Santo Domingo Church. We brought up a group from our church here in the city and also picked up some young people from Faja de Oro. We had a very good service blessed with God's presence.

After the service, the ladies in Santo Domingo served us all some tamales, mexican coffee, and horchata while we enjoyed some fellowship together.

[ Parker enjoying sips of horchata.]

[Michael digging into the tamales!]

We then headed towards home only to end up driving through Tapachula as midnight rolled around! Bad timing! We saw several drunk people out and about (actually one man on a motorcycle crossed the road in front of us almost causing an accident) and we saw so many fireworks you would have thought it was 4th of July in the States! People also like to throw fireworks in the roadway here...makes me a little leery while driving! I sure would hate to drive over one as it explodes! Ha! Ha! Anyway, we made it safely home last night (actually, this morning) and are now enjoying a relaxing New Year's Day!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

May the prayer of our hearts for this new year be,

to always strive to be like Jesus,

and to give our devotion -

in worship to Him.

(C.M.)

Colorado: Part II

The second full day we were in Colorado [10-02-10], we went to a little place called Telluride that is situated in a valley between tall mountains. And let me tell you, out of all the places Michael and I have visited, this probably was our favorite. The village was quaint and picturesque and the view was breathtaking!!!!!!! The golden aspens just shimmered against the evergreens. We were wishing we had a whole week to enjoy and explore!

We parked in town, then walked beside a creek until we got to a " gondola station." We boarded the gondola (similar to a ski lift), and took the ride up the side of the mountain. It was a very cool experience! There is a station located at the top of the mountain where you can get off and hike or bike on trails, or you can continue riding the gondola down the mountain on the other side where there is another small, more modern and high class town called Mountain Village.

Anyway, we absolutely loved this area! If anybody near there is looking to donate their ranch, we'd be happy to take if off your hands!!! ;-)

[Walking through town beside the creek]

[The gondola line]

[Parker]

[Looking down on the village of Telluride]
[Us]
[Looking down towards Mountain Village]
[Daddy and Taylor enjoying the walk]

Hispanic Campmeeting

This past weekend we were privileged to sing/speak at the H.I.M. Hispanic Campmeeting in Thomasville, NC. It was good to see friends and to make new acquaintances. The Lord really helped Michael with his Spanish and also helped him to minister through the Word. I think a good weekend was had by all!

Playing "Catch-Up"

So, I guess it's no secret that I'm terribly behind on this blog. Now the only problem that remains is catching up on the past two months...

We've been enjoying the addition of Baby Parker in our lives! He just turned three months old and is starting to give us a glimpse of his personality. He has slept through the night since he was 2-3 days old, he likes to smile as long as his belly is full :-) and he prefers to stick two or three of his fingers in his mouth instead of using a pacifier. He's a very good baby, and we all (including his big brothers) love him very much!

10 weeks

Too cute @ 3 months!

As far as ministry related items...

1) We have held 13 deputation services already and have quite a few scheduled for this fall. We've enjoyed seeing familiar faces and making new acquaintances and sharing how the Lord has been helping in Southern Mexico.

2) We have also been doing a lot of "fill-in" work while here at home (Central PA).

: : Michael helped train the instrumental group from Penn View the last few weeks of May due to the injury of Mr. Lucas Shrout's daughter.: : Our home church (New Columbia GMC) had a cancellation for their VBS, so we "filled-in." Thanks to Michael's family, we had props, songs, verses, and ideas all ready to go! We had excellent attendance with an average of 90-100 kids nightly. Our theme was "Set Free" and Michael did a wonderful job doing all the up front stuff. Since I'm not an "up front" kind of person, I played the piano and did the "behind the scenes" work.


: : We ended the VBS on a Friday night, and then started singing at Mt. of Blessings Camp Meeting on Saturday...(yep, due to a few cancellations!) Although it was physically tiring, our souls were refreshed sitting under the ministry of Bro. Leonard Sankey and Bro. Rick Maloyed. We are so thankful for the presence of the Lord meeting with us at camp.

After camp meeting, we decided the kids (and ourselves) could use a small break from the norm, so we headed to Lake Tobias Wildlife Park. It was SUPER HOT that day, but we all had a fun time anyway.

Neither Parker nor the alpaca were too impressed with this photo op. :-)

Well, that pretty much brings us up-to-date. We are looking forward to being able to attend Penns Creek Camp Meeting starting a week from today. After that, we have a family vacation planned, and then we start into our fall deputation schedule in late August.

And hopefully, I'll try to keep this poor blog a little more updated.......!