WHEN VISIONS BECOME A REALITY

Sometimes we stand in awe when we get to witness a vision turn into reality right before our eyes.  I will start with a quick review of how this vision came about.  About 50 years ago when I was just a small child, my dad had chickens running loose around the house.  He also had caged rabbits. We enjoyed many meals from the eggs, chickens, and rabbits.  One particular day my dad asked a young lady from across the dirt road if she would like to try out a special chicken recipe he had prepared.  She agreed and took some home.  She came back bragging about my father's chicken.  My father had lied to her.  It wasn't chicken, it was rabbit.  But he knew that she would never eat one of those cute little furry animals.  When he told her the truth she became furious. 
Not long after moving to this needy of City of Juarez, Mexico the Lord brought back that 50 year old experience.  The point being that if the young lady can be fooled into thinking that rabbit meat was chicken meat, then rabbit meat has to be as good, if not better tasting, than chicken meat.  The Lord wanted me to initiate a Chicken-Hare Project.  It would provide eggs, chicken and rabbit meat to the poorest of the poor.  Most importantly, it would also provide opportunity to share the gospel message with the people.  Oftentimes Jesus would share the gospel but He would feed the masses before they left.  This ministry would work the same way.  Food for the Spirit, food for the body. The Lord spoke to me about this at the end of 2011.  Then the Lord connected me with 2 engineers, who are husband and wife, who said that they wanted to help.  Octavio and Teresa asked an American ladder company here in the City of Juarez for materials.  The materials took a couple of months to show up.  In the meantime I asked the Lord where He wanted the Chicken-Hare Project started.  The Lord led me to Pastor Luis Garcia, whose church is in one of the poorest sections of Juarez.  Prior to that I had only met Pastor Luis once, and that was only for a couple of minutes.  I went to visit the Pastor after setting up a meeting via phone.  He took me to his tiny office so he could hear what I had come for.  But before he heard my story he wanted me to help him understand a dream that he had the previous night.  I am not Joseph or Daniel, I thought.  I don't have the gift to discern dreams, but I let him go on with the story of his dream.  He said his dream only involved one word, but it was an English word which he did not know.  He had the same dream several times.  He had asked his wife and she told him that I knew English and to just wait til I got there.  Pastor Luis found a piece of paper to write down the word and he shows it to me asking me what the English word meant.  The word was PROJECT.  I sat back on my chair, amazed, and with a knot in my throat.  I couldn't believe what I was seeing as the Pastor kept holding the word in front of me.   I told the Pastor what that PROJECT all about.  We prayed about the project, and left it in God's hands.
Three weeks ago we finally broke ground.  We made up the plans as we went.  We just kept asking God for guidance.  I kept making trips to El Paso to buy supplies because they are much cheaper there.  Sometimes I would get in a pinch and had to buy some things in Juarez.  The day we poured the concrete we were there 13 hours.  We worked into the night hoping to finish.  We used the headlights in my car to be able to see what we were doing.  Pastor Luis' wife, Sylvia, would prepare us lunch and sometimes dinner.  I kept her pantry stocked for this.  We had a lot of help.  Men without work volunteered to help.  Women wanted to help.  They were excited and wanted to be part of this blessing.  Kids wanted to help. 
We finally got to the point where we needed to build individual nest boxes for the chickens.  I didn't really know how I would do it.  One evening I was in bed and I asked the Lord for guidance in building the nest boxes and I went on to think about other things.  Suddenly the Lord shows me how to do the nest boxes.  He showed me 5 gallon bucked on its side.  Very simple and effective.  I shared that with the agricultural engineers and they were amazed at the simplicity and convenience of using 5 gallon buckets.  That day as I drove back to the church I asked the Lord where I was going to get  5 gallon buckets.  And there on the side of the road was a man who had them for sale.  He had exactly the number of buckets that I wanted.  Imagine that!! 

We finished the chicken and rabbit house, with an area for the chickens to wander around and scratch the dirt.  I still have to build individual cages for the rabbits.  Currently, I am waiting on the engineers to drive me an hour away from Juarez where they say we can start buying the animals at a very reasonable price.  Eventually we will need more materials and feed for the animals.  It would be an incredible blessing to carry these same plans to the hundreds and hundreds of poor churches and orphanages throughout the City of Juarez.  The bottom line is the souls that will be reached and blessed.
I stand back in delight.  I look at this project and realize how it once was just a thought, an idea, a dream...a vision. 
I thank my Lord, who is the only one who can turn the invisible into the visible.  He puts the thoughts in the heart of man, and He helps us every step of the way to make those dreams a REALITY.



Anyone desiring to help with this project and other projects in Juarez may send financial gifts to my address in El Paso.  If you need a statement for tax-deductions, please send your contributions to Covenant Fellowship listed below. 


Daniel Torres                                                                              Covenant Fellowship
11985 Pellicano                                                                           P.O. Box 8126
Ste. G, Box 169                                                                           Searcy, AR 72143
El Paso, Texas 79936
 d_torres53@yahoo.com

ELVIS HAS LEFT THE BUILDING

I have written several times about Elvis in my e-mails.  Last week a chapter in the life of this young man was closed, and a new one is about to open.  Angelica Lopez was cutting hair in her salon back in December 27th of last year.  She said that the Lord spoke to her to close up her shop and go to downtown Juarez, which was about a 40 minute drive.  She closed up and left.  She knew that she was sent to witness to the masses that afternoon.  She walked up to a large Catholic Cathedral. Sitting on the steps she spotted a young man who later she came to know as Elvis.  Elvis had not eaten or drank anything in three days.  She walked to a store and brought him food and drink.  He handed him some tracts and eventually led Elvis to the Lord.  Elvis had made a 23 day trip from Honduras to Juarez.  His purpose was to reach the U.S. of  A. and live the American dream.  He and his family were suffering in their native country and so one day he packed up a couple of things, and without notice, left his mom and his one-year old daughter.  He thought he could be of more help if he lived in America.  During the 23 day journey he saw horrible things.  He was assaulted by the Federal Police, robbed by them, and at one time was made to strip naked along with many others while their clothes were searched for valuables.  Most of the trip was made by jumping on moving freight trains.  The rest by walking.  He saw hundreds trying to jump these freight trains.  He saw pregnant women run to catch up with them.  He saw father's, with kids on their shoulders, making the run.  He saw a teenage boy fall under the wheels of the moving train.  Both legs were instantly cut off.  He heard the cries of the young boy.  Elvis would go days without food.  At times Christians would stand by as the train went by and they would throw food up to those who were making the "Great Escape".  Elvis suffered through freezing temperatures to make it to his dreamland.  Twenty-three days later he arrives at Juarez.  Now he is just one step away from his destination.  He went around asking for food.  He offered to work for food.  There were no takers. For three days!!!  Finally he finds the Catholic Cathedral and sits there wondering what to do next.  He was so close, yet so far from his dream. He looks up and his Heaven-sent Angel looks at him.  God had made a connection.  Angelica had arrived.  After food, drink, and the experience of meeting Jesus, the Savior, Angelica asks him to come with her.  For over 3 months she offered him room and board.  She would pick him up and drive him to church.  She would introduce him to all her family and friends.  Including me.  I had the pleasure of taking Elvis with me just about everywhere I went to reach out to the poor, to the hospitals, to preach, to witness...to minister.  Elvis began to grow in Christ.  He put down strong roots.  Many times I told Elvis that he had already found his fortune.  He no longer needed to risk going into the U.S.  I suggested that, in time, he return to Honduras and re-unite with his family and his daughter.  Even with the very high unemployment rate in Juarez, someone offered Elvis a job. Angelica's neighbor had seen Elvis and asked if he would help him in his engine shop.  Elvis worked hard with the man for almost a month.  Eventually he had enough money to make the 6-day bus ride back to Honduras.  I spent the last two days before he left with him.  I took him to Pastors that he had met while traveling with me and they prayed for him and counseled him.  Elvis cried at every stop.  Finally I drove him to the bus stop.  It was a bitter-sweet moment.  Angelica went with us.  She cried too.  Elvis had become like a blood brother to her.  God brought him to her and to me for a purpose.  He has a bright future ahead in the arms of the Lord. He has learned how to live by faith and how to trust in God.  We left Elvis but I'm sure that we will hear about him again.  When we least expected. 

THE HIRED KILLER

I met a "Sicario" a while back.  A sicario is a hired killer.  They make a lot of money.  He has always been very nice to me.  I knew without a doubt that someday I would meet someone like him.  I just didn't knew it would be this soon.  He respected me even though I tried speaking to him about his errors and God's love.  He spoke to me about the horrible things that he did, but the love of money had him bound.  One time I asked him if he realized that he was surely sending people to hell, without God.  He told me that I was wrong.  He explained to me how before he kills them that he makes them get on their knees and ask forgiveness for their sins.  I told him that he was wrong, they were repenting, but not from their hearts.  Then I asked him about his own salvation, and about the possibility of someone killing him.  He told me that he knew how to ask forgiveness for his wrong doings.  To me it sounded like pure mockery.  We would shake hands and speak again another time.  Last Tuesday afternoon I looked behind me in church and he was walking in.  He was carrying a large object wrapped in a black plastic.  I knew that it was his shotgun.  Under his shirt he carried a revolver.  I was surprised that he was there and even more surprised that he carried his weapon into church.  But I guess I was the only one there who knew that he was carrying in two weapons.  At the end of the sermon he came forward and asked the Lord into his heart.  He was at the altar with his weapons.  We prayed.  He wept.  After the service, outside the church, I asked him what had happened.  He told me that was time.  It was time that he changed his life.  He has a lot of obstacles ahead.  Now he will be the one who is being hunted.  He will no longer make huge amounts of money in a poverty stricken land.  He has a hard road ahead, but with God all things are possible. 

THE SHOES OF THE HAIRSTYLIST

His name is Daniel Garcia.  He gave his testimony at the second church service that I attended last Sunday.  For 20 years he dressed like a woman, spoke like a woman, walked like a woman, acted like a woman.  He worked as a hairstylist by day; by night he was a prostitute.  Many of his friends were dying of AIDS.  His customers at the hair shop knew him as Adriana. They never questioned his femininity.  They would have never believed that Adriana was actually a man who pumped his body with hormones and wore mini skirts.  His body had become the body of a woman.  When he got on the bus men would stand up and relinquish their seats to Adriana.  When he stood in a long line men would proudly and gladly let him move to the front.  His family rejected him.  Daniel hated his lifestyle.  He would try to speak like a man, walk like a man, and act like a man, but failed on all counts.  He felt trapped.  Then someone spoke to him about a man that could get him out of this lifestyle.  He had heard of Jesus before but he doubted His power to set him free.  But one day Daniel grabbed his purse and walked into a church wearing his mini skirt.  He was desperate and curious about Jesus.  The church service moved Daniel and his heart.  Before long he was kneeling at the altar.  With the miracle working power of Jesus, Daniel got up from the altar and was 100% delivered from the demons that overpowered him.  Daniel got up from the altar a totally free man.  Immediately all the female manifestations in his life departed.  Daniel was totally set free.  He returned to the hair shop as Daniel, not Adriana.  When they asked him about Adriana he told his customers that Adriana died.  Twelve years later Daniel Garcia is an evangelist who preaches under the powerful anointing of the Holy Spirit.  He walks like a man, talks like a man, and is proud to be who he was created to be.  He is happily married and has 3 kids.  His wife is a fireball for the Lord. She has been preaching since she was a teenager.  Recently he was invited to be at a television program to speak about his sexuality.  He baffled all the experts who have the crazy notion that it would be impossible for a man like Daniel to be a full man.  We just celebrated Easter.  Daniel's powerful testimony is proof of the RESURRECTION power of Christ to set the captives free.  The resurrection broke the devil's back and Satan lost the war.  We have become more than conquerors through Christ.

LIVES TRANSFORMED BY THE POWER OF JESUS

 

About a month ago I woke up out of a sound sleep and was unable to fall asleep again.  I turned on the television expecting to find nothing interesting but a program caught my attention immediately.  It was the testimony of a man whose life started off on the wrong foot almost from the very beginning of his life.  I only caught the last ten minutes of the program.  I didn't even get the man's name.  However, his life was radically changed by the power of Jesus and today he pastor's a church.  I went back to bed so impressed with what I had witnessed that I asked the Lord to allow me to meet that pastor someday. 

The next day I shared that moment with a Christian friend who is a hairstylist.  She was impressed with the partial story that I told her.  Less than two weeks later she calls me to tell me that she had shared with one of her customers about the testimony that I had seen on T.V.  The customer, she said, went to that pastor's church.  I went to the salon to speak to the customer.  At the time the pastor was out of town.  But I found out where his church was.  It was only about 5 minutes from my house.  I didn't even know that the pastor lived in Juarez.  I thought he lived in another city.  The day that he returned to the pulpit was the day that I met Pastor Martin Nuñez.  God had answered my prayer about meeting this pastor.  His nickname is El Gatito, or the Little Cat.  

Pastor Nuñez is about 37 years old.  His wife's name is Leti.  Their humble church has a rehabilitation center for drug and alcohol addicts.  They recently bought property right next to the church to start another ministry focusing on troubled youth.  They have been interviewed by news people from practically all over the world.  I want to share their story.

Martin's mother stabbed her husband when Martin was only two years old.  She received a sentence of 10 years in a Mexican prison.  It's hard to believe and understand but here you can bring your kids to prison with you.  So Martin's mother took him along for the ten years.  While in prison she had two more kids.  Again, it is unthinkable but jailers here make a lot of profit by selling the female inmates to the male inmate population.  For a certain amount of money a woman is dragged out of her cell and placed in a cell with men where she is repeatedly raped.  Hours later the women are returned to their cells, often beat up, bruised, bleeding...

Martin was used by the inmates to carry concealed drugs from one cell to the next and return the payments to the drug dealers inside the jail.  By the age of 12 Martin knew all about drugs.  He knew how to sell them, and he knew how to use them.  When the veins in his arms were no longer useful he would inject his neck. When he got out at 12 he had a job waiting outside. 

When he got caught and was sent to prison, to him it was like being sent home.  Prison was where he was raised.  

By the age of 16 he had already committed murder.  He stabbed one man about seven times and, if that wasn't enough, he took a concrete block and in a rage destroyed the man's head.  He was also arrested and put in jail for car theft.  Martin was so out of control that he was in solitary for 4 years.  Martin's grandparents, parents, and practically all his family were all drug dealers and users.  In this world Martin didn't stand a chance.  

Martin wanted to end his life.  He stabbed himself but he survived.  He cut his arms at the bend of the elbow, he cut his throat, all to no avail.  He would meet with a counselor who often told him that if he continues his life in that way that it's going that he would be reincarnated as a cow or a donkey.  Martin didn't care.

Finally a glimpse of hope arrived, although Martin didn't appreciate it.  A preacher came to see Martin.  He told Martin that Jesus loved him.  Martin cursed him and threw him out.  But the power of those simple words penetrated his very being.  The words would not stop echoing in Martin's heart.  He would cover his ears with blankets to try and stop the sound of the words which had taken root in his spirit.  But the roots of those powerful words kept growing.

Finally, in a moment of complete hopelessness, young Martin cried out to God and begged Him to change his life.  Immediately he felt God's soothing presence.  At 22 he was born again.  Martin had found a new home!!

Martin asked to see the Prison director.  He wanted to see the preacher again and apologize for the way he spoke to him that day.  He also asked him for prison liberties.  Martin wanted a job but with his reputation no one wanted him.  Not even in prison.  He was finally given a job where for the first time in his life he began to appreciate God's creation.  Martin was actually taking the time to look UP and see God's handiwork. 

Within three months of his conversion experience Martin was preaching in prison.  It was there that he met Leti.  She was a drug dealer.  Eventually they got permission and were married in prison.  Before long his prison ministry was attracting from 400 to 500 inmates.  Many were saved.  The day came when they both walked out of prison free.  Totally and radically free!!

Today, Martin and Leti continue to reach out to the lost.  Their church is located in the same building where Leti used to deal drugs.  Martin is a very gifted and anointed speaker.  I have been very impressed with his knowledge of the scriptures.  At the front of the church a man, who was once a drug addict, can be seen dancing and rejoicing because he has finally received his own personal copy of the Bible.  The excitement that is felt inside that church is the contagious.  It is a place of hope where the captives, like it's pastors,  are being set free. 



Daniel Torres
11985 Pellicano
Ste. G, Box 169
El Paso, Texas 79936

d_torres53@yahoo.com