We recently took a trip to Juarez, Mexico where the cartels have killed over 30,000 people in the last 4 years. It’s horrible and the light of God needs to be brought in..it’s now considered the most dangerous place on earth. While we there we heard an incredible story about a man who has a cart and stands on one of the streets selling food. One day, he was working at his cart when a man came and demanded food with his jacket open to show his gun.
The gunman was ranting on and on saying that if the food didn’t taste good he would kill him. The ‘food man’ then slipped the ‘gunman’ a Chick tract (a witnessing tool in cartoon form) to read while he prepared the food. The little tract that he randomly handed him happened to be named ‘The Gunman’. Once he finished reading it, he said, “I have a question for you, and if I don’t like the answer, you are dead.” Moving his jacket back to show his gun again he continued, “I have killed 14 people. Do you think that God can forgive me?”
The ‘food man’ replied, “The Father that you didn’t have is right here with you today and the Father loves you very much”. He then hugged the “gunman” who started crying. The love of the Father overwhelmed him and he received Jesus as his personal Savior and gave his life to him. He cried for 20 minutes. He took his gun and threw it away. He told the man, “I am head chief of a sector of 15 sicarios (meaning killers or gunmen), and I am going to bring them all to you so you can talk to them as you talked to me.”
We have been petitioned by the church in Juarez to get them more tracts and Spanish bibles for a mass evangelism effort. We went to our donor base and saw very little fruit. Our core team pitched in everything we could and we were still $600 short of our goal to buy the first 10,000 tracts. I felt a bit humiliated for going out on a limb once again. I asked the Lord where possibly the $600 would come from. Later that day someone from our training team called me up and said she had found something that belonged to CRI. She had found in a jacket pocket $600 that belonged to CRI from a year ago. The money had been misplaced but God put it in reserve! We are going to buy the first 10,000 tracks!!!
I would like to take a moment to tell you an amazing testimony. Recently I visited Juarez, Mexico – now considered the most dangerous place on earth due to the drug cartels. While we there we heard an incredible story about a man who has a cart and stands on one of the streets selling food. One day, he was working at his cart when a man came and demanded food with his jacket open to show his gun.
The gunman was ranting on and on saying that if the food didn’t taste good he would kill him. The ‘food man’ then slipped the ‘gunman’ a Chick tract (a witnessing tool in cartoon form) to read while he prepared the food. The little tract that he randomly handed him happened to be named ‘The Gunman’. Once he finished reading it, he said, “I have a question for you, and if I don’t like the answer, you are dead.” Moving his jacket back to show his gun again he continued, “I have killed 14 people. Do you think that God can forgive me?”
The ‘food man’ replied, “The Father that you didn’t have is right here with you today and the Father loves you very much”. He then hugged the “gunman” who started crying. The love of the Father overwhelmed him and he received Jesus as his personal Savior and gave his life to him. He cried for 20 minutes. He took his gun and threw it away. He told the man, “I am head chief of a sector of 15 sicarios (meaning killers or gunmen), and I am going to bring them all to you so you can talk to them as you talked to me.”
Wouldn’t it be amazing if more people in the midst of this crisis got to hear about the love of the Father? A local church is planning a massive evangelism initiative to do just that. They have also put forth a petition to Crisis Response International for 100,000 Chick tracts. Be a part of the story and partner with us to support this project. Please contact partners@criout.com or click here to give now.
Please believe with us for more amazing demonstrations of God’s mercy in Juarez!
Our team just got back from the Fredericksburg Prayer Furnace. We shared the vision of CRI at the “Awaken the Dawn” conference with Heidi Bakker, Bob Jones, and Lou Engle.
Starting May 1st we will be moving out of our temporary Haiti Response Command Center in the Grandview Plaza and we will be shifting the office and all meetings back to the CRI Mission Base.
- Many people in the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S share a growing burden to be trained to respond to crisis as well as a sense of urgency to get their cities prepared for disaster. In June a team will be traveling from K.C. to this region for 3 months to teach on preparedness and set up disaster relief trainings.
- There are many physical, spiritual, and emotional challenges that arise in disaster.This training is designed to equip the individual and communities to reach the harvest in crisis in the power of the Holy Spirit. The event will be held July 26th-30th in Triangle, Virginia. (35 miles SW of Washington DC) Email training@criout.com for more info.
- Saturday May 8th we are having a CRI Picnic @ 5206 East 135th St. Grandview, MO. We are asking all our responders to come for a tent maintenance time from 1-4pm. We will then transition to a time of fellowship and food from 4-8pm. CRI will provide hot dogs, hamburgers and drinks. Please bring chips, salad or a dish to share. This is a great opportunity to get involved with the CRI family. Bring a friend!
- Be on the lookout for CRI home groups starting up soon in Kansas City.
- I would like to introduce Jim Crapson as our Kansas City Team Captain. Jim has been serving CRI the last several years in our chaplaincy division and brings to the table decades of ministry experience. He will be leading the Home Team in Kansas City with a renewed focus on our core values and missional community. Be looking for his weekly email updates so you can stay connected in the Kansas City area. E-mail info@criout.com to get added to this list.