Greetings! 

We’ve been trying to get this newsletter to you. We’ve been very busy, both on and off the island. The Lord has blessed us in our goings and comings. He has been our shield, protector and deliverer. 

I was doing windshield work in the States to pay our monthly bills. In between windshield work I was moving trusses. Janie was assisting me by balancing them while I moved them with the Bobcat. They were 36 feet long and made out of steel pipe. In the afternoon, with three left to move, she was balancing one and took a step backward, lost her balance, and fell. The center upright in the truss fell on her left lower leg. We called on the name of the Lord and prayed immediately. I lifted the truss off and she got up on her own. The leg swelled immediately and she was in tremendous pain. I took her to the hospital, where they took numerous x-rays. Praise the Lord – nothing was broken! The doctor was concerned about blood clots, but none was found. He had a nurse put an ace bandage on it and told me to use hot packs, keep it elevated, and watch for blood clots. He would not let her do anything because of the possibility of blood clots. She had to use crutches and she could not go anywhere until the swelling went down to insure that there was no infection or clotting. 

While this was happening, the American consulate put out a notice for Americans to avoid Mexico due to local policemen stopping Americans and extorting money from them. In some cases, Americans had been held for up to a week and were forced to make multiple ATM withdrawals, and there were accounts of women and young girls being raped. This was happening throughout the area from Nuevo Laredo all the way south to the Gulf. They attempted to kidnap a rich man’s family in Vera Cruz, but they escaped and fled to the United States. Mexican President Fox sent special investigators to try to stop it from continuing. The chief of police and his assistant chief were fired, but the assistant chief barricaded himself in his office. We did not go to the island during this time, praying that it would cool off. After a couple of weeks, we decided to go there while Janie remained at home. Tony Martinez and I drove down. When we reached Altamira, a suburb of Tampico, the police stopped us and attempted to extort money from us. A policeman said he had three children and he needed money. He took my driver’s license and told us we’d have to follow him to the office. I remembered the advice of the consulate and told him, “I am not going anywhere with you.” He told me to give him $80. I told him I wasn’t giving him anything. He never asked to check my papers; he just wanted money. After a heavy discussion, he said, “Give me $40.” I told him, “NO!” After more heavy discussion, he would have to consult with his boss in the police car (there were two policemen in the cruiser at this time). When he returned he asked, “What can you give me?” He had my driver’s license. In an attempt to get his ID and my driver’s license back, I told him I would give him 200 pesos (about $20). He gave me my driver’s license and took the 200 pesos. I told him to give me his ID and he replied that he didn’t have any. He was wearing a badge with no writing or numbers on it. He had no pistol or handcuffs. Tony was speaking to him in Spanish. I told him that I was an ex-policeman, and what he was doing wasn’t right. After another great discussion, he said, “What do you want me to do? What do you want me to do? Just tell me what you expect me to do.” I knew then that he was impersonating an officer, because had he been one, he could have arrested me because of my resistance to him. He finally left after telling Tony his name. We reported it to the Trouble Hot Line and the American consulate. I was also able to write his license number on my hand before he left. God protected and delivered us out of the hand of the enemy! Praise the Lord! 

We went on to the island and sought and received permission from the leaders to put water and electricity on the property. We then went to the electric company to contract for power and told them that we would need 220-volt lines. They would not agree. After much discussion, they gave us a contract for ninety days. The permit cost us 365 pesos for 110-volt service. We bought everything for the meter loop and got it installed. We paid a man on the island 300 pesos to install our water after paying 100 pesos to acquire it. Next, we went to Ozuluma, Veracruz, to check on prices for the lumber. The man we were dealing with for the cement told us Mexican lumber is not treated and the boards would warp and twist because they were not cured. This makes the boards weak – about ¼ as strong as U.S. lumber. The lumber man said that after six months we would not like the outcome. He is an honest man and would not sell us the lumber without telling us the problem we would have if we used his lumber. He advised us to buy our lumber in the U.S. 

We had previously talked to Dario and Mercedes about the need to continue bringing the Word to the island people. They have been doing this. We pay them 500 pesos per week to do this, which covers the bus fare to and from the island, their food, and their salary. They stay at the house we have rented. It’s called the “Missionary Outpost”. Mexican law will not permit us to call the building a church, so we have named it “La Casa de Unión”, which means “The Meeting House”. According to Mexican law, we can have reunions but not church services. Our attorney advised us on this matter. 

At this time of year it is difficult to plan meetings. When it rains, is cold, or drizzles, we have no building to meet in out of the elements, and people won’t come because we have to meet in the open. In addition, they will not bring their kids out in this kind of weather. When a northerner comes in, it blows the water south out of the bay and no one can cross on the barge. When this happens, it takes three or four days for the water to come back in. We have been gathering tools and materials to fix the cement foundation, which will be 10 meters X 23.5 meters. This building will seat 200 persons comfortably or 300 packed. 

We pray God’s rich blessings on your life, and we look forward to sharing more good reports from the Casa de Unión as this effort goes forward. See you next issue! 

R.L. and Janie Montgomery