On Friday, April 11, Bishop and Mrs. Dorff joined members of the Rio Texas Mission Vitality Center staff for a time of worship and celebration in Los Naranjos Colonia, northwest of Mission, Texas to celebrate 5 years of ministry in the colonia. Also in attendance was Javier Leyva who, along with lay members of El Divino Redentor, began the ministry after a request for baptism in the community.

Severe storms with heavy rain, wind and lightning rolled through the area, dampening the ground but not the presence of the Holy Spirit.

A worship celebration was gathered on a newly constructed deck off the front of a small trailer, the home of Fidencio and Maria and their family, where a worshipping community gathers to sing and hear the Word and pray for one another. The vital ministry, which averages 75 in attendance, developed from a request for baptism in one house, which led to a request for prayer for the sick in another house.

The pastor and laity of El Divino Redentor UMC went out to where the people were and took the gospel with them. Now the presence of that faith community is changing the lives of people in the colonia, where life is hard, to say the least.