In the first part of 2000 we were approached about taking care of 4 children whose
mother couldn’t care for them. By the latter part of that year Carolyn, Misty, Jasmine
and I had moved out of our house in Galeana into a school bus that we had
converted into a motor home. Pepe and Maribel were taking care of the kids in what
used to be our house. One Friday we were returning to San Juan, Texas and
Carolyn mentioned we needed to build a children’s home for the kids. To be honest I
was not for the idea knowing all that it would entail. I had raised my children and
was soon to be a grandfather. Besides my job description as a missionary was to
work with pastors and furnish what the churches needed. I didn’t think I was called
to work with kids. I liked kids. But to work with them all the time? And the cost of
taking care of them would be more than we had. Money for a missionary is always
tight. As we talked about it I told Carolyn that it was a mute question because we
didn’t have the money. On Saturday I called my bank to see how much money we
had. I was told we had $7.92 in our account. That only put me $2,992.08 short of
what we would need for the next month. When I told Carolyn this she just shrugged
and said that if it was God’s plan the money would come in. Sunday night after
church I got a call from a friend in Louisiana asking what we had been up to. I
explained about the need for a children’s home and the lack of money. He asked
how much we needed and I just pulled a figure of $25,000 off the top of my head.
He said no problem. Just come to Louisiana for a month of speaking and he felt the
Lord would provide. We spent part of October and November speaking to anyone
and everyone. At the end of the month we had a grand total of just over $2,500.
Well at least it was a start. My friend in Louisiana said he and a group of friends
wanted to come the second week of January and put on the roof. I would need an
extra $2,500 just to get the walls up. No problem. If God wanted it done he would
have to do it. I had found I couldn’t. I had tried all my ways and they were not
enough. The second week of January we put the roof on. In March we had a youth
group from the rich side of Houston come in. We were going to try and pour the
floor. (In Mexico you pour the floor after you do the roof). I thought they would be too
pampered to get in and get dirty. I thought they would not hold out to shovel dirt and
gravel. Not only did they get the floor poured but they helped pour a floor for an
office that we were trying to build. They proved my thoughts about these young
people wrong and I praise the Lord for each of them. Not only did they not complain
but they were cheerful and wanted to do more. God is always faithful. Later when I
would grow tired of working the funds would slow down. After I had rested money
would come in for the next project. One of the big projects was that we needed a
durable floor that could stand a lot of sweeping and mopping. I did not know how to
lay terrazzo flooring and it was going to cost $3,000 for material and labor. A church
in Houston invited us to speak and present our work. At the end of the service
someone asked what we needed. I told them about the floor and the cost. As we
were leaving a man gave me a check for $750 and said he could not pay for the
entire floor but wanted to help. Later my friend who was a member there said
someone had given him a check for the floor. It was for the full $3,000. I asked my
friend what the extra $750 was for. He said he did not know but he was sure God
would show me. As soon as I got back to Mexico I found out. I had forgotten that we
would need ceramic in the showers. No it didn’t cost $750. It was $748. God
provides more than we needed even before we knew we needed it. In August of
2003 we had the dedication for the home. We had planned bid and designed the
home for 16 kids. We would take them from 3 years old until they finished the 6th
grade. The only problem was that we were at capacity the day we opened. Before
long Pepe would call and ask if he could take in more. It was soon wall to wall kids.
But hearing the stories of the kids it was impossible to turn them away. Pepe and
Maribel had their son Lito sleeping in their room. Their room was only 10’ by 12’.
Then we found out they were expecting their second child. Driving out to San Juan
one Saturday Carolyn and I were discussing a bigger room for Pepe and his growing
family. I told Carolyn it was a mute question. We could just barely keep up with the
expenses now. How could we spend money we didn’t have. The next Sunday night
after church a friend called to see how we were doing and what we were up to. I
explained about needing a bigger room for Pepe. He asked if I had checked my mail
box. I told him I had not. He said there should be a check for $3,500 that was not to
be used for administrative purposes. There was the start to the room. We were able
to build Pepe a 12’ by 28’ bedroom, an 8’ by12’ office (now it is used for guest to
sleep) and a back porch. Just as Jesus multiplied the fish and bread he has
multiplied the $7.92.

Half way up the mountains on the road to Galeana is the village of San Pedro de
Iturbide where we once lived. About 5 miles up the dirt road to the west of Iturbide is
the village of La Laguna Santa Rosa. For many years this area has been known for
the drugs they grow and export. During my father’s time he led a man named
Domingo to the Lord. Domingo and his brother had inherited thousands of acres
beyond Santa Rosa and they were large producers of drugs. When Domingo
accepted the Lord he quit growing drugs. He also started witnessing to his brother.
His brother did not accept the Lord but said he would stop growing drugs and would
notify his contacts to his decision. Soon after two men dressed as federal agents
came to Domingo’s brother and handed him a high powered rifle. He asked the men
what it was for and they responded that it was to kill his brother with. He told them
he would not do that. The men replied that if he didn’t that he and his family would
be dead the next day. Domingo was shot and killed by his brother. He then fled and
it was said he was in Baja California for 2 years. One afternoon in Linares which is
at the foot of the mountains Domingo’s son saw his uncle come out of a building.
The son ran around the block the other way grabbing a pick handle from a display in
front of a store. When his uncle came around the corner the son hit his uncle over
the head killing him. The son fled back to his village but turned himself in three
months later. There has been a Hatfield-McCoy like feud since the mid 70s. Any
time I go to this village I take a pastor who is from this village with me. The church
gathers in the pastor’s home for all night services. It is dangerous in this area. Even
now when they hold a night service they will have two guards outside. They use only
a low watt light to hold services by. One Friday night not long after we moved to
Iturbide the pastor and a deacon wanted to go to Penitas which is beyond Santa
Rosa to hold a service. I had a previous commitment to meet with some other
pastors that night but said I would drop them off and then pick them up after my
meeting. It was well after dark when I returned to pick them up. So I sat and read by
the dome light of my truck. After a while a truck pulls up and stops beside me but
about 20 feet away. It was a new candy apple red Chevy with tinted windows and no
license plate. I am almost never afraid in Mexico but this time I was. But this time I
felt a presence of evil coming from that truck. I tried to watch them without turning
my head. It was one of those times when time stands still. It seemed like hours but
was probably only minutes before they pulled away. When they finally started away I
threw my book in the seat, hit the ground and crawled over 50 yards behind the
truck. Finally I thought how ridiculous I was acting. I walked back to my truck and
picked up my book. It took me nearly 5 minutes to realize I had my book upside
down. Later I saw 2 lights bobbing down the side of the mountain and went to pick
up the pastor and deacon. The first thing they asked was if I was alright. They said
they had felt a presence of evil and had run the last mile to check on me. I said I
was okay and briefly mentioned the truck. The next day Carolyn, the kids and I went
to Saltillo and stayed for the Sunday night service. When we returned Sunday night
the pastor came and asked me to describe the truck in detail. After I finished he said
that that was the one. Saturday afternoon it was back in Santa Rosa. As it moved
down the dirt road someone inside stuck a gun out the window and shot and killed
Domingo’s 16 year old son. The bullet took the son through the heart and killed him
instantly. It also hit his younger cousin who was riding behind in the shoulder but he
lived. The night I was there the Lord commanded that it was not my time to die.
These persons were looking for someone to kill and God protected me.

In 1988 we were living in the mountain village of Iturbide. We were building a church
in a suburb of the city of Saltillo. Our main mode of transportation was an old bread
delivery truck that the kids called the Twinkie Van. To get to Saltillo we needed to
take the road all the way to the top of the mountains. On the top there was a wide
valley until about 40 miles from Saltillo where you started making a descent to the
city. This day Carolyn and I loaded up the kids and took off. Almost to the place
where we would start the descent I noticed a front tire was low on air. I had checked
all the tires before we left and they were fine. I did not carry a spare since I had 4
tires on the rear. If a rear tire went flat I just pulled it off. If a front tire was flat I just
pulled one from the rear and put it on. After pulling to the side of the road I stopped
and checked and the tire was low enough that if we continued it would probably cut
the inner tube. After searching through the van I realized that I did not have the tools
to change the tire. I did have a small air pump that ran off the battery. I had no other
option but to sit there until the pump could do its job. It took 30 minutes for it to get
enough air into the tire to be safe to drive. I was grumbling under my breath about
the time we had wasted. Just as we began the descent into Saltillo all traffic was
stopped. I walked up to see what the matter was. A semi truck had jack knifed and
was strewn all across the road. The driver was covered with a blanket but I could tell
by the amount of blood on the pavement he was dead. The driver in the first car was
telling about seeing the accident. After estimating the time I realized we would have
been there at the same time as the accident. I feel God gave us the flat tire to slow
us down so as not to be in the accident.
Oh! By the way. That tire did not go flat again

In 1985 we were living in the fishing village of La Laja. The pastor and I were holding
6-7 services a week. On Wednesday we would leave around 1:30 in the afternoon
and hold services in a village some 5 miles away. At times we would hold another
service in another village before returning to La Laja for the night service there. That
afternoon we left but before we had gone a mile the pastor told me to turn left. We
forded a small stream. Further on he opened a gate in the fence and we took off
across a field. Soon the trail ended but we continued on. Now the grass was taller
than the hood of my pickup. The pastor was leaning forward directing me left or
right. Suddenly he yelled to stop. He got out and told me to wait for him. While he
was gone I got out and walked around. We had stopped less than 10 feet from a
drop-off into a stream. I walked around and flattened the grass around the truck.
When he returned he was leading a burro with an ancient woman seated on it.
Beside the burro walked her husband and her 40 year old son. When the pastor and
her son lifted her from the burro she was stiff. I thought she was dead. They kept
calling her grandmother and telling her what they were doing to her. She never
uttered a sound. They seated her in the middle of the seat of the pick-up. Her
husband and son rode in the back of the truck and reached thru the sliding rear
window to help hold her in place so she would not fall over. Her eyes were closed
and I could not see her breathing. I still thought she might be dead. In Mexico it is
illegal to transport a dead body without the proper papers. After we re-forded the
stream I started to turn right to go to La Laja but the pastor told me to turn left and
that we would hold our normal services. My mind was distracted. I just knew that
that old woman was going to die in my pick-up. At the service I sat on the rear bench
under the tree. All during the nearly 2 hour service I would get up and check on
grandma. I felt a little better when one time I noticed she had moved a hand slightly.
As soon as the service was over I herded the two men and the pastor into the truck.
I made the best time ever getting back to La Laja. When we got in the yard I cut the
ignition and was out of the truck in no time at all. If she died I did not want to be
there. I ran into the house and told Carolyn what had happened and how relieved to
be home. At that time we were holding church on benches in our front yard. We
were having nearly 150 people come and they no longer fit in our living room. When
the service started I noticed grandma seated on the front bench on the left side. Her
son, Eustacio, was directly behind her to help hold her in place. About half way
through the service the pastor stopped and asked grandma why she could not walk.
After a few seconds she said that everyone she could not walk. This was the first
time I had seen life in her. She had had a stroke and had been bed-ridden ever
since. The pastor asked if she believed in God. She said of course she did. Did she
believe God could heal her? Well that was a different story. The pastor told 4 of her
grandsons to help her. With one on each hand and one on each foot they
straightened her out and moved her feet. It took 15-20 minutes for her to move in
front of the people. The pastor had gone back to preaching but when she got to the
end of the yard he told them to turn around and go the other way. As the sermon
went on grandma moved easier and easier. The grandsons who were crawling and
moving her feet could not keep up. Finally the grandsons holding her arms let go.
She raised her arms and walked unassisted back and forth in front of the people.
When the invitation to accept the Lord was give Eustacio jumped the people in the
front row and landed on his knees in the grass. Many others came forward that night
to accept the Lord. This was a joyful night for us. The next morning the pastor came
by and asked if we had shoes. We were busy so we told him where they were.
Later that day we saw grandma linked arm in arm with grandpa walking beside the
road. The only shoes we had that would fit were some ballet shoes that had been
given to us and I had twice tried to throw away. She had given her shoes away since
the doctors said she would never walk again. Her foot was almost as wide as it was
long. This was real freedom for the both of them. You see grandpa was blind and
she was his eyes. Eustacio was helping in the church and was growing in the Lord.
The next Easter morning just as the sun was coming up Eustacio went home to be
with the Lord

By Mrs. JUANITA BROWN
We got to Texas on Dec. 30th 1964. Wayne Searfoss, another missionary, had
rented us a very small house. It only had one bedroom and a very small kitchen.
The bath was equally small. We had the two boys, Tommy and Wayne, and they had
to sleep in the living room. Sometimes we would have company over and they
would have to wait until the company left to go to bed. We didn’t know anyone in
Texas except the Searfoss’.
We started going to church at Magic Valley. It was a small church like we were
used to. T. H., my husband, had pastured small churches for 14 years in Georgia.
One of the first persons we met was John Mancha. He was totally blind. Since he
spoke both English and Spanish and could get around well he would go and help T.
H. on his trips to Mexico.
Another person was Bro. Samuel Soto. Bro. Soto was from the village of La
Laguna and still had family there. He and Mr. Brown held services many services
there. The Mexican people were very friendly to us. A cousin to Bro. Soto lived in a
village about 10 miles farther up the mountain. Ernesto Prado had been trying to
hold services in a small building in his village of San Francisco. This was a work that
Bro. Brown was to assist until he could no longer travel to Mexico.
One time T. H. and John was traveling in Mexico when they were invite to eat with
the people. They were served goat for diner. John really liked it and asked for
seconds. After that he wanted more. Of coarse being blind he could not see that
they had eaten it all and that the people had very little else to eat. T. H. had to tell
him very politely that he thought John had had enough to eat.
We tried to have toys for the children for Christmas. We would give the men
handkerchiefs and the women oleo cups with lids. It was something they could put
food in and cover it.
We rented a building in San Francisco and added a kitchen and outhouse. That
was a real blessing. We put an upstairs over the bedroom. We had 2 beds, a
couch, some chairs, stove, table and T. H. built some kitchen cabinets. (We still use
the table and cabinets today.)
We met Dr. McNew from Bryan Texas and he made many trips with us. He treated
the people for free and was a real blessing to us. One time a boy 6 or 7 years old
had trouble with one of his ears. Dr. McNew looked in and said “He has worms in his
ear.” After looking the second time he saw that is was a dog tick and its legs were
wiggling like worms. The doctor got it out and the boy was fine.
The Lord was good to us and we did not have much car trouble. We had a 59
International pick-up that T. H. had built a camper for it. We had an old mattress that
we used for a bed. We spent many a night in that camper. One night T. H. and I
parked out in a clearing outside of Galeana. The wild horses would run by a lot and
the coyotes howled all night. Still we felt safer there than when we were in the U. S.
Ladies pants suit had come in style. I made myself a couple of pair. I wore them
to Mexico and Ernesto, the pastor didn’t like them and told T.H. so. T. H. said “I know
what I will do. I’ll go home and get all my wife’s pantsuits and give them to you to
wear.” Ernesto said “No. He would not wear them. They are women’s clothes”. T.
H. told me it was okay for me to wear them then.
Our first church was in the village of El Gato. Pablo was the pastor. He and his
wife were always faithful. This was the first of 23 churches that we established.
One time in the village of Camarones a cow went missing. After several days
some of the men decided to go looking for her. The hill was very steep that they had
to climb so they got a donkey for T. H. and he held on to the donkey’s tail and let it
pull him up. They found the cow had fallen down a ravine and was dead. They
skinned the cow and returned home.
We met several people from Bryan Texas. Mary McCully and her husband, Dr.
McNew and his wife who all went on several trips to Mexico with us. Through them
we met Gracie and Owen Kay. Gracie would take youth from their church for visits.
One of them was Carolyn Johnson who was to become our daughter when she and
our youngest son married.
In the first years when we had a baptismal we would have to find a hole that had
some water left in it. T. H. asked if there was not a source of water closer. The
people told him there was a lake just a few miles a way but it had demons in it. At
the village of La Laguna there is a lake that was a mile wide. Two kids had been
swimming in it in the late 1800’s or early 1900’s and had drowned and their bodies
had never come up. As soon as T. H. saw the lake he knew why. The lake it fed and
drained by underground streams. The people said demons had pulled the boys
down and eaten them when in reality they had sunk into a stream leading
underground and their bodies were never found. There was several to be baptized.
T. H. preached on “Is our God mightier than the demons in the lake. Several
accepted the Lord after they saw that the people who were being baptized were
safe. Some even wanted to be baptized that afternoon.
Once Bro. Ernesto’s son Saul needed ear surgery in the U. S. After Dr McNew got
him on the road to recovery we invited them to go to Georgia with us. We were glad
for them to go but I didn’t know how my parents feel. They thought T. H. was called
to preach to the white people and they were the one’s Christ died for. Before arriving
I asked if it would be okay if the Mexicans visited their house. Mama said it was
okay because Christ had died for them too. This was a big relief for me. We went
and Mama played the violin for them. Then Saul played the guitar while Ernesto
played the violin. We visited in many homes while we were there and was warmly
accepted everywhere.

Mexico usually doe not send their soldiers out of Mexico. But all men between 18
and 26 need to serve time in the military. This does not mean they have to serve as
we think of. If one area has it’s quota you can go in fill out some papers and then go
play soccer. At the end of the day they tell you to return in 6 months. Later if they
still have their full quota you report in, sign your papers and play more soccer. At the
end of the day your service time is done. One hour to sign papers and 9 hours
playing soccer. Others actually join and are taught like our infantry soldiers. Many
times traveling in Mexico you will come upon a military check point. They can wave
you on through or question you. They can also ask you to step out of your car. Then
they can search your car as much or as little as they want to. This type of search is
illegal in the U. S. but we are in Mexico. Many times we have been stopped and had
to wait 10-15 minutes while they searched an empty van. One afternoon I was
bringing a group of men back to the States in our old blue bus. Carolyn had the
ladies in a van that had A. C. The bus had been acting strange lately and did not
want to start. If you let off the gas the engine would die. As we were coming up to a
military check point I could not tell if the engine had died or not. I had the clutch
pedal pushed in and pumped the gas pedal. I still could not tell if the engine was
running so I pressed the gas pedal again. That was when I realized the engine was
dead. I let the clutch pedal out to try and start the engine again. Twice I had
pumped the gas pedal. That had shot a lot of fuel into the pistons as well as the
exhaust pipes. When the engine turned over and fired it exploded all that gas at one
time. It was so powerful that it blew both mufflers wide open. It sounded like a bomb
going off. That must have been what the guards thought because I could see them
diving into and under parked cars. Others ran into or around buildings. As I coasted
to a stop with a dead engine there was no one to be seen. Slowly they began to
reappear. The man who checks your visa was the only one to come on the bus.
After a quick check he told us to go on our way. But the bus would not crank.
Carolyn had been waved through and was waiting for us. I asked the official if she
could come and give us a jump start. With a smile he said no. Looking around he
said it looked like we were a healthy bunch and we would have to push start it. And
that is what we had to do. None of the soldiers offered to help but they gave us a
round of applause seeing the Americans pushing that big bus.

Seven Step
In the fall of 1985, which was our first year on the field, Carolyn and I would hold
children’s church during services so this would free the adults to listen to the
message more closely. After the service we would bring the children in front of the
church to sing and quote our Bible verse of the day. Once when quoting their verse
we heard a collective gasp from the people. We had mispronounced John 3:16 and
used a not so nice word in it. From then on we had a helper assigned to us. Later
we started a Sunday School class and Carolyn and I were in charge of the little ones.
We held our class on the pastor’s front porch. We had been around to all the
neighbors to invite them to Sunday School. One morning the lady from across the
road came screaming out of her house. All we could understand was the word
snake. Carolyn stayed with the class as I ran to get the pastor. Only he wasn’t
where I thought he would be. I grabbed a machete in my left hand and a long piece
of metal in my right hand. As I walked up to her house I noticed the snake. It was
coiled around the poles that made up her walls. Directly below was her baby in a
crib. Keeping my eyes on the snake I lifted the baby and took it to it’s mother. After
the baby was safe I went back for the snake. One thing I was deathly afraid of was a
snake. Being right handed I hit the snake with the piece of metal that was in my right
hand. I didn’t think to use the sharp machete that was in my right hand. This just
made the snake mad. He slithered down the pole and fell into what was their
bedroom. I pushed aside the curtain that was used for a door and stepped inside.
Three beds covered all the floor space except for a 2’ by 6’ space in the middle. Also
the bedspreads fell all the way to the floor. With the piece of metal now in my left
hand I used it to lift the first bedspread nearest to where it fell. He wasn’t there.
Okay. Two beds to go. He wasn’t under the next one either. So he had to be under
the third bed. I would have to get down on my hands and knees to see under that
one. Yes, there he was. I was able to get a clean first strike and almost cut his head
off. After he stopped squirming so much I used the piece of metal and machete and
took him outside. When the people say him they started yelling, 7 step, 7 step.
When I dropped it on the ground people took stones and beat it until you couldn’t tell
what it had been. I asked the pastor what kind of snake it was. He said it was called
a 7 step. You see when you get bit by one of these you take 7 steps and you are
dead. Since them the Lord has taken away my fear of snakes.
P. S. From then on the lady made sure that she and her children were in church.