From out of the community

We were asked to pray for the cousin of one of the members of our church.  She’s only 20 years old and after a failed kidney transplant, she’s given up on life.  We went on this journey to pray for the young girl and God was gracious.  After some time talking and praying, she, her aunt and her grandmother accepted Jesus into their lives.

The following day we heard that she began eating again and moving on with life.  God is so good!

…Smell the roses…

One late afternoon, working hard on programs and a sermon, my room light up with this color as the sun set.  The color reflected off of all the small houses around us leaving an eerie feeling of the end of the world.  Made me think, what am I doing inside when there’s so much to see outside!  

Got to train others to do the work, 

so that I can wake up and smell the roses!

Some MORE youth

Here are some of the challenges that the youth faced in the other homes they visited during the meeting.

Hiding like a bump on a log…

When your disguise is so good they mistake you for…

 a laundry basket

Can you touch your toes?

Back to the Past…

Our family went on Sunday to visit a former church that we had planted.  To my surprise lots of things have changed.  I told Pastor Ignacio (pictured), “I felt like I was in a dream.”  Two of the new worship team musicians were youth in the group that I started there some 14 years ago.  And they were wailing away on their instruments.  Later at the end of the service, I found another one of the youth who returned to the congregation after so many years.  She’s an administrative assistant for the airlines.  We talked about starting up a new group in the Bread of Life church.  Pray with me that she accepts the challenge.  Her mom who wasn’t a Christian at the time is now attending.  God sure does it good!

MORE youth!

Yep, we’ve been invited several times to join our group with another one just a “stone’s throw” from ours across a bridge.  The leader of their group is a missionary and he is starting a new church too.  So we brought both groups together, but this time on “our” turf.  We don’t have a building like they do, so we invited them to our “park” bench where we sang songs, played games, studied the Bible and eventually went to different homes for some fun activities.  We enjoyed Bryan’s group and pray that their crew grows too.

 

One of the challenges was to draw freehand our logo on each other’s wrists.  What do you think?

See it NOW!

We managed to find a space in our schedule to put together a prayer letter to send to you and our supporters.  It shares what you might already know, but it does so for those who might not visit this site.  It’s called, “Pieters Perspective” NOW.  Have a look because Tracey put together the content and Keila the format.  It looks great!  If you would like to be on our prayer letter list, send us a note. 

Mission Impossible 2

In an effort to open up homes on these rainy Saturdays, the youth went out in teams of 3 and 4 to visit adults in the church and record their testimony on video – that is, how they came to know Jesus and the changes that ensued.  We had 3 adults set up for this.  They were parents of the youth.  They were willing, and the youth did the job quickly and accurately. What a great way to involve the parents.

That’s good! No, that’s bad!

Teaching about the story of Joseph in Genesis, the youth were treated to a “That’s good, no, that’s bad” interactive story of his life.  After hearing the good side and responding and then hearing the bad side, the youth got tired of having the wrong answer.  This in the midst of a rainy downpour added to the fun and frustration, cold and wet.  It sure was “memorable.” Excellent!

Mission Impossible 1

We got some financial aid from the denomination we’re working with to rent a small, tiny, one-bedroom house near our hall.  We’ve been praying for this as well as anticipating the use of the place.  You see, the youth meet at a park bench (Mexican “palapa.")  The men meet in our home and the kids on Sunday in an uncovered patio.  So we need a place to store our equipment as well as meet.  So, their first mission was to go out in teams of 2 and find a place that is available to rent.  Here are their results…

 

Other groups found similar offers, but all a bit further away than we'd like.  Keep praying for us!

A Puzzling venture…

The youth were put to the test when pieces of a puzzle were laid out for them to figure out.  No box top no direction as to what they were putting together.  All this was to show how the lack of a big picture can get us lost, and the importance of seeing the Bible’s bigger picture to understand the individual parts it contains.  Great job, Keila!

So how did it look?

We took some video of the acts that were presented on Sunday night and made a short compilation of the participation.  It was fun to see all those who were involved practice and prepare for this special day.  1More4Christ has talent.

¡Viva México!

 

We had a great fiesta after our service on Sunday with lots of participation in the form of cultural and Christian songs and dances.  Wow, talk about talent.  And after the dust settled, there was the classic “Pozole” dish we ate that was just out of this world.  We filled up our rented hall with guests and regulars.  It was an exciting night.  Tonight is Mexican Independence "Day."  So, “¡Viva México! You-all.

Child’s play?

Standing still is not a characteristic of our youth.  They manage to make everything into a race or a challenge.  Keila will be teaching these new believers about the Bible beginning with Genesis.  She’ll give them some broad strokes to help them remember the stories, eventually in the entire Old Testament. 

 

We will be joining the adolescent group together with the youth as they’ve gotten along well during the times we’ve had them mix.

Gearing up for growth

We had an outstanding group of musicians in our worship band on Sunday.  They did a great job in playing as Kiana led the group.  She’ll be in charge of worship for the month as we raise up leaders to take over different areas of responsibility in the congregation.  It is a joy to see each one develop, as they’ve been proven with time.

The real thing: behind the scenes

When the poofy hair and dress disappeared after Kiana’s fiesta, we celebrated her real birth date with a dear and special family at our home.  We had fun, laughs and a delicious cake.  Thank God for the simple pleasures in life.

Something big!

It’s easy for me to concentrate more on the people than on the decorations, so I appreciate our photographer-friend’s attention to detail in taking these of Kiana’s 15^th birthday.  Aside from helping us to remember the set up, it speaks to me of something big about to happen.  That’s where we are at in the church plant.  We’re glued to our seats anticipating God’s show…  And it’s stirring up some excitement.

A Close-up

We took a few minutes out of our normal schedule to take a few photos of the family.  Our friend who took pictures of Kiana’s birthday bash snapped this one in a park near where we used to live.  This was in an arch in a "round about" (traffic circle) nearby.  We were relaxed!

Treasured memories

We’ve had a house-full with Tracey’s sister and her daughter visiting us, and Keila’s photography friends coming down to shoot Kiana’s birthday party.  There was a lot more “English” conversation going around and a lot of “going outs” to fill the day.  Here are some of Marian’s photos to help us remember these special moments.

“When you get left out in the rain…”

That’s what I felt like when I took our chairs and equipment to our Sunday afternoon service.  Without notice, a birthday party was in full swing in the place we have our music & English classes and our services.  So what do you do?  We confiscated the local “roofed” basketball court and it was business as usual.  I know that God wants us to go out and make disciples, but I wonder if he wants us to do it more publicly?  What do you think?

Making the old, new

To be honest, after a while my creativity begins to wane and I have to scramble to make things exciting and new again; if not for those I work with then for me.  There are many areas in my life and work that are “under construction” with that respect.  But the youth and adolescent meetings always squeeze out of me whatever artistic juices are left to give. 

 

So when push comes to shove, I have to imagine myself playing the same old game in a different way.  So that’s what we did.  We took an old game that we’ve played many times and just limited the youth’s movement by tying their knees or ankles together.   Ever played soccer with your ankles tied together?  It’s called penguin soccer.

Princess for a Day

We weren’t sure if the birthday girl, Kiana, would be able to put on the “poofy” dress and hair, and at the same time hang a guitar on her shoulders to play the songs for the service.  But she looked great, played wonderfully and sang with an awesome voice.  As one friend said to me, “I’ve never heard Kiana sing before, but she has a gift.”  Glad that the party was unique and special in that way.

Making their moves

The youth practiced for several weeks to bring to a packed crowd – Kiana’s 15^th Birthday guests – several moves to music that were fun to watch.  I could see the joy, energy and confidence in their eyes as they hopped and slid to the music.  I’m not sure what the families thought, but this was much more tame than other 15^th birthdays that we’ve been to, and much more exciting.

Missing some…

A few weeks ago, we “lost” one of our families due to moving away.  Ivan and his grandmother left us for a border town where his mom lives.  He came to us as a rambunctious kid and left a very special place in our hearts.  “He was really beginning to do well,” commented Kiana.