When it comes down to dollars and cents

Rather, I should say, when it comes down to pesos and centavos.  The men have been going through a study put out by Crown Financial about the importance of viewing finances from a biblical perspective.  Many struggle with making ends meet.  When it came to the example of giving as illustrated in tithing, there was an extensive discussion about how churches locally have abused donations forcing believers to give “or else.”

Serious Talk

During Spring break, Tracey wanted to gather the moms and their adolescent daughters to talk about some issues surrounding becoming young ladies.  Set in our tiny home, with tea, French toast and cookies; they started around 10:30 a.m. with some important talks.  By the time I returned to the house, around 3, some were still there getting advice and playing table games. 

Just Clowning Around

In preparation for Children’s Day which is actually celebrated on April 30, our youth and adults got together to be trained by a working clown who just recently came to our church to visit.  We found some natural clowns in the adults and some shy ones among the youth.  We were surprised by the interest and come Saturday, April 26, we’ll entertain the local kids with some clowning around and some Bible stories.  Please pray for our follow-up with the families we meet.  With a similar event last year, we drew several families who have stayed with us.

That’s not all

Used to only one service on Sundays, we had one in the morning on Easter and then a song time in the evening.  It was enjoyable to see the youth lead the songs and involve the congregation in their singing and enthusiasm.  Our music students were also able to participate in several numbers that the youth led.  We finished the day tired but excited about all that God has done and what he will do.

Starting up early

Our Sunday morning breakfast was the first one we’ve had in our rented hall.  We asked and the local government officials let us use the hall at no cost in the morning.  We started with a meal together and then had our worship service.  While the service went long, over 2 hours, it was filled with participation by the youth, adults and children.  It was a day to be remembered.

 youth mime

 children's Easter egg story

When the day’s over

After our picnic and baptisms, the youth stayed on for a camp especially designed for them.  They spent the afternoon playing organized games and then had several testimonies shared.  Many were touched by Keila’s presentation of her trip to Africa last year.  There was lots of time to mix and mingle with the other youth that attended.  We’re glad to see that the youth came back impacted for Christ.  More than one family mentioned the change that they saw in their returning young people.

 

One by One

Over 60 squeezed into two vans and some cars. That was an adventure!  We drove slowly but together to the place where we had our picnic and our baptisms. It was heart-warming to watch 11 new believers baptized as a testimony to God’s greatness.  With two congregations in attendance, we weren’t the only ones to baptize.  But it was an exciting and enjoyable day to spend time together and just have fun.

 our baptism service

the congregation has grown

A Solid Start

Many anticipated our week of instructional videos on parenting.  One believer commented.  “We wish we had this a long time ago, so that we would have an idea of how to parent.  No one gave us a manual when we had kids.”  We were glad to see a good attendance and a genuine interest in learning how to best raise our children.

All in favor say…

 We have a good group of believers ready to be baptized.  We try to give them an opportunity to share their testimony during one of the meetings during the week.  Since we’re having special meetings this week, there won’t be an opportunity to do so.  So Maria decided to do a group testimony, interviewing each one about their faith in Christ.   

We will be baptizing them on Friday in a pool at the home of one of our friends about 90 minutes away.  We’re excited about their faith, as are they.

Things are hard sometimes…

On Wednesday, I went to visit our sister church in La Presa.  While I’ve made this trip many times over the years, this one had the intention of encouraging the leaders and the pastor of the church.  They were the focus of a building program this last summer by an incredible Canadian team that came down to help.  But with a new year, things have changed. 

 

Pastoral family in La Presa

The church has grown and there is a lot of activity, but the congregation hasn’t broken through the “financial” wall.  They haven’t been able to support the pastoral family now for several years.  So the pastor’s wife took a job as a 3^rd grade teacher. We trust that soon the congregation will rally around their leaders to provide for the pastoral family.

Someone’s got your back…

As God grows the 1More4Christ congregation, more people are in need of being trained and discipled.  For Tracey, Maria and I, it’s been a learning process of teaching and delegating. 

Tracey has been training María to oversee the women’s meetings 

I’ve had the help of one of the men who is now discipling 6 other men.  One of our values is regular Bible study, a challenge for a culture that at best in the past read less than 1 book a year.

 

A fisher of men

We value your prayers and insights.

You’re not alone…

 Over the past two weeks, we’ve had occasions to visit two local youth groups.  Usually going with the intention to encourage and serve, our youth have gone and been encouraged by the ones they’ve gone to serve.  It’s been a wonderful opportunity to get to know other Christian youth and participate in different youth programs.  We’re thankful to the youth leaders of the other congregations: Brian and Miriam who have helped us to grow.

A funny thing happened on the way to the store…

After a busy evening setting up for the service, that means setting up chairs and sound equipment for the service as well as connecting the equipment for our guitar and keyboard classes an hour before; I went out to get a cold coke on a hot day hoping to feel refreshed and energized before getting home.  I stopped by the mom and pop shop just around the corner where I knew I could find a great variety of sizes of coke cans and bottles along with some hot chips…

“A can of coke, please,” I asked the young lady working at the counter.  “Sorry, haven’t got any left,” which really means, we don’t sell them anymore.  What?  No coke?  What is this world coming to.  In a nation that prefers to drink Coke instead of water, there is no coke?  In a country known for its high index of coke drinkers, and there’s none?

Now I remember.  In order to fight obesity, the president of Mexico levied a tax on all pop in January of 2014.  At first it was just a peso more, but now it’s as high as 20%.  So the cheaper pop is what people buy, that would mean “Big Cola” or maybe “Red Cola.”  You get the gist.  But if you think the president is just thinking of the nation’s health, think again.

Needing Help…

Please pray for us as we present a video series entitled, “Effective Parenting in a Defective World,” during Easter week.  All the schools are out for the next 2 weeks, but that also means that our neighborhood empties out as families run to the grandparents’ homes to save on the cost of meals.  It also offers the kids a change of scenery and the parents a break. 

 

We start on Tuesday and will run through Thursday in an adjacent neighborhood that we’ve just begun to scratch the surface of by knocking on doors.

Thanks so much for your faithfulness.

What happened? Did things go dark in Mexico?

With Xp’s demise now a reality, my computer – still running Xp – was taken to a friend in the church who specializes in computer repair.  He “dual booted” my laptop with Windows 7.  It was a problem since my machine’s video “abilities” do not line up with what is required in Windows 7. 

 

Sorry for not posting anything.  All my work is on the laptop he upgraded.

Thanks for your patience.

Will be back this next week.

Thanks for your prayers.

Getting in “a word”…

Forgot to mention that during Keila and Carla’s interview, Carla’s mom and Tracey were invited as special guests to shed some light on the young ladies’ lives.  As you can imagine, Tracey truly enjoyed the opportunity to be invited to “the party.” 

Great job, Tracey!

Who me?

The staff of the mother church, Bet-lehem, held a special meeting acknowledging Mike’s accomplishments in Mexico over the years and recognizing his personal commitment and dedication to the work of intentional discipleship as he continues his work in the States.  4 of 5 of Mike’s kids accompanied him down for a missionary retreat and managed to renew their friendships with those of the past.  Blessings, Mike, on your travels and your discipleship projects.

Moving at the speed of sound

During the last days of his stay in Mexico, Mike Palumbo, former missionary in Mexico, took the time to visit our congregation and encouraged us in the area of prayer.  As you can see, Mike is a hard one to catch standing still, so here’s a shot of him compressing his message into a matter of minutes.  He had another commitment minutes later to preach at the mother church, Bet-lehem.

It's LIVE (part2)

When asked of the youth what they thought of the “show,” Ale responded, “Well, I didn’t get bored, so I guess it was good.”  There you have it, from the mouths of youths... to the remarks of the young people.

(Notice Keila and Carla on the stage?)

*We regret to announce that Carla’s dad who had been wrestling with cancer for about a year passed away to be with his Lord early this morning.  May his life be free of pain and may God comfort the family he left behind.

Wow! It’s LIVE!

Keila and her friend Carla, who are heading off to Uganda soon, were invited to a church in Mexico City to motivate the youth in the congregation to consider serving God in one way or another.  The church service team did a TV show interview mockup along with sound bites and all.  The interviewer asked the two many questions and tied up loose ends to make the experience one to remember.  When asked of Keila, “What do you think of boys?”  She responded as scripted, “You can’t live without them.”  “What?” Kiana and I said looking at each other in the audience.  “Was that scripted?”