The end of May and first part of June, my long time friend Greg Wallace from Lindale, TX went with me on another trip to Chiapas.  Jess and the kids were still tied up with school and were not able to go this time.  We first went to a small town in the state of Oaxaca near the Chiapas border to drill at a church there but we hit rock about 30 feet down and after drilling for another 3 or 4 hours on the rock without advancing even another foot, we decided to head to our next location the next day.  This location was still in the state of Oaxaca and we were able to complete a good well there at a small church and pastor's house.  This pastor and his wife were very poor and I was watching him when we started pumping the well and I think he gave one of the biggest smiles of joy I have ever seen.  It is the small rewards like seeing the smile on his face that makes all the hard work worth the effort.

     Next we went to another fishing village on the coast of Chiapas with plans of only drilling one well at a church there.  When we got there and started drilling, I found out how big the need for water was in this particular village.  Especially since it was in the height of their dry season and everyone was really struggling for water.  So, we decided to stay there and drill as many wells as we could.  In January on another trip, I had met a local man in the area that drills wells and he is also a Christian.  He had told me then that if I ever needed help just to give him a call.  So, I called him and contracted him to drill some wells while we were drilling also.  Long story short, we were able to complete 9 good wells on this trip, one in the village in Oaxaca and 8 in the fishing village.

     On the Thursday night before we left, all of the local pastors had helped organize a big outreach in the central plaza where I preached, Greg shared a few thoughts and then we gave out Bibles and tracts.  When we first started, there were not that many people there but after an hour or so, I think the entire village came out to see what was going on.  We have several more wells planned for this village (it is a pretty large village spread out over a large area) and I can't wait until Jess can go so she can have children's Bible classes, we can show movies and have more outreaches there. 

 
                           

    
     We have shared this with a few people but now we want to let everyone know.  For the last few years all of our work has been in Chiapas and God just keeps opening more doors and opportunities for us there.  So after much prayer, we have decided to move to Chiapas (it is the state that borders Guatemala).  All the trips down there are becoming harder each time (it is a hard 2 day drive on some very bad roads) and Jess is not always able to go because of the kid's school, so we feel it will be better to just live there.  We are heading down next week when Payden gets back from YWAM camp to look for and hopefully finalize arrangements for a house.  It is always difficult to find a place that has enough space for all of our equipment because they build houses a lot different down here, but we know God has the perfect place for us just like he did when we got to Soto La Marina.

     Once again we would like to thank all of you who have stood with us all these years, spiritually and financially.  I look back and it is hard to believe we have been here almost 5 years now and to see how much things have changed and grown since we got here.  Without God's help through all of you, none of this would be possible and I thank you all for your obedience to God and your willingness to help see the Gospel spread to those in need. 

     We ask that you all be in prayer for us as we start out on a new chapter of our lives in a new place.  Although we have worked in Chiapas for several years now, it is always difficult to uproot and move to a new place.  Knowing that we have many friends and family praying for us always makes it easier.

God Bless,
Gabe, Jess, Payden & Audrey