AUGUST, 2026 IN TUALINCINGO, HILDAGO
I'm sitting in the airport, still processing what just happened. Pastors from all over the Tualincingo, Hidalgo region were there. We knew it would be a unique experience, but once we sat down and got to know these pastors, it was much more than we expected. Stories like this come up in every RPLNISH Experience.
We arrived at a local restaurant where they mostly served tacos and a few steaks, the most expensive being right around $15. When the menus were passed around, they were really quiet. We dialogued with them and realized most had never been to a restaurant like this; one of them had never been to a restaurant at all. They didn't know what to order because of experience and cost (of course, our generous partners picked up the tab for the meal and the entire trip). After that, we went to ice cream; one of them had never had ice cream. It ended up being a great night of soul care as they expressed their loneliness and their lack of support, encouragement, and, well... replenishing. They opened up their heart and their lives.
Some additional firsts:
One pastor shared that he wasn't used to electricity; he has a pole near his church with a solar panel that provides enough power to run a small light and occasionally charge his phone.
One pastor had chest pains late one evening. We took him to the public clinic, and they gave him some meds for stomach pain. They said if the pain persisted, to check him into a private hospital; they did. We took him to a private hospital, and they diagnosed him with gallstones. He had surgery the next day.
Here are a few brief highlights of the pastors we entertained.
* Mexican Pastor #1. He has churches in six different cities. He travels to each of them every week. He said no one ever encourages him, and that's why he came. He needed encouragement.
* Mexican Pastor #2. Lives on a hill. Every day he climbs down a hill for 1.5 hours to work. After working on his coffee plantation, he climbed up another 1.5 hours. In the past, at different times, he carried 6 people up the hill for medical reasons. One time a guy died on his back. There was no road to his house. The closest dirt road to his house left him a 20 min walk. Needless to say, he was fit and in shape.
* Mexican Pastor #3. He expressed that he was grieving. His son is not following the Lord and is given to a wild lifestyle. He was recently sent to prison after allegedly murdering someone at a party. He is serving a 10-year sentence, and he and his community are devastated.
* Mexican Pastor #4. He pastors in the city of Huayacocotla. He works full-time at his church and also works in a printing factory to subsidize his income. In total, he works 60+ hours a week in addition to preaching three times. He is busy but fairly successful. His church has around 80 members and is the biggest in his town. He sees the benefit of RPLNISH and not only has he benefited from it, but he has also become an official leader and will train others how to do RPLNISH.
Here are some Youtube shorts from our trip.
--> https://youtube.com/shorts/7BoMg4ul5h4
--> https://youtube.com/shorts/xJ0J9P4u2sQ
--> https://youtube.com/shorts/8ePEUQhrc1U
Rawd B Jones, RPLNISH