Mazatlan, Mexico - Ministry Opportunities (November 2025)

For this year's trip to Mazatlan, I had three major purposes: 1) getting the permanent resident card, 2) spending time with Amanda's family during the Thanksgiving week, and 3) exploring ministry opportunities in Mazatlan. 

Approximately 20 years ago, when we first visited Mazatlan, we stayed at El Cid Marina. We attended a worship service at Vineyard Church and joined the group of people who went out to hand out lunch to people working at the dump site. Because of this memory, I looked for this church, and we attended a Sunday worship service. Coincidentally, the church was celebrating its 30th anniversary. 

On a Friday, I went to the office of YWAM Mazatlan without an appointment. Natalie received me and explained about their ministries. I was invited to attend a worship to be held on Monday. It was a standing praise time primarily for the youth. I learned about BWAM (Business with a Mission), which was taking place in Stone Island under the leadership of Carlos from Peru. But he was unreachable by email. Later, I had a Zoom call with Anna, who was in charge of volunteers. I gave my credentials and asked her to let me know if there would be any ministry opportunities. So far, nothing concrete has come up from YWAM Mazatlan. 

Vineyard Ministries was still reaching out to minister to poor people, including those working at the dump site, twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So I signed up to serve on Thanksgiving Day. The number of volunteers seems to vary, but when I went out, there was a large group of people who came to serve. The ministry has grown quite big, and a tour program has been developed. There were several buses and minibuses for transportation.

Some people were bottling filtered water into plastic bottles.

And others worked on making sandwiches, a total of 320 on that day.

Before we went out, we watched a short video about the program with the explanation of the program director, David, who has been leading this program for 13 years. 

First, we visited a few colonias where Vineyard Ministries operates the Community Center of Hope, like the one shown in the following photo:

We served sandwiches and water to them as they lined up. We were saying "Dios le bendiga!" or "God bless you!" each time we handed the food out. Since Vineyard Ministries has been doing this service for more than a couple of decades, people recognize the yellow buses with deep appreciation.

"

The last stop was the dump site. I was familiar with this type of dump site because I have been involved in the dump site in the vicinity of Phnom Penh in Cambodia. A whole family collects and sells recyclables and makes approximately $5-6 a day. 

Iglets on the dump site

Tire Garden

After a couple of unsuccessful attempts, I finally met with Pastor Fred, who started the Vineyard Ministries some 30 years ago. I also met with Dan, who was leading the water fountain project. We made a donation of $1,000 out of our home's Star Fish Project to help finance the ministry in the greatest need. Fred asked for the funds to be used for the hospital's temporary housing project, and I said "Yes!." I thought Kristin could serve for the Hospital Ministry. 

We also explored the possibility of working with any who may be interested in establishing businesses for the Kingdom's purposes. We will see what the Lord has in store. - Jeffrey

Mazatlan, Mexico - Thanksgiving Week (November 2025)

For the past 10 years, we have had a family reunion during the Thanksgiving week. This year was an exception because Joyce's family could not join us because she gave birth to her second child, Avery, in November. But Amanda's family was able to make it to Mazatlan despite Amanda's pregnancy. It was joyous to see Eli and Gabriel, along with Amanda and Ray.

The week was full of activities. We have arranged for the city tour, yachting, and a visit to the aquarium, namely Grand Acuario Mazatlan. 

The city tour was disappointing. We were expecting an exclusive Pulmonia-style city tour, but it was a bus tour with 43 passengers. Getting on and off the bus was a challenge, let alone staying in the group while walking on the street. But we still found some fun activities.

For Eli and Gabe, swimming in the pool at El Cid Marina was probably the most joyous time.

The yachting was done on a motorboat. We went out to the port, seeing the rocks below the lighthouse, and a whole fleet of shrimp ships. There were three cruise ships as well. On the way back, we saw sealions, bird-poop-covered white islets, sea birds resting on a few boats, and a beautiful sunset.

The highlight of the yachting was probably Ray's catching of a big fish, which was estimated to weigh approximately 15 lbs. Wow! We released it after taking a photo.

The visit to the aquarium, Grand Acuario Mazatlan, was the fun part for Eli and Gabe. They enjoyed sharks the most, but other fish were also quite impressive. 

Sea Lion Show

Our transportation from the hotel to the aquarium was an open-air truck cab. 

Our Thanksgiving Dinner was, of course, including the turkey dish, in addition to many other meats, vegetables, fruits, and yummy desserts. We thoroughly enjoyed the dinner.

Ray and I had a golf outing once. The courses were narrow with houses on both sides. So it was somewhat challenging, but we enjoyed the game nonetheless.

It was fun to spend time with Eli and Gabe during this year's Thanksgiving Week. - Jeffrey