Acting in our blood…

Our Sunday eve service had both the youth/adults and the kids present plays to remember Christmas.  The kids gave us a traditional look and the youth/adults gave us a humorous message to not forget Jesus during Christmas.  LOL (did I really do that?)

Calling Ba…, California…

One of our youth along with his family headed up to California earlier this month to see his sister and his newborn nephew.  The youth group prepared drawings (no words allowed) to share with David via skype.  It was a time to connect with him while away from Mexico.  It was a fun evening with lots of laughter.  Hope you enjoyed it, David.

Things will be slow

For some, the Christmas holidays don’t end until the Three Kings Day when most kids get their gifts.  So we’re forced to slow down, rest, plan and anticipate where God will take us in the New Year.   

Thanks so much for your faithfulness this year,
praying and giving to the work in Mexico.

Everything’s still quiet

While businesses opened up as usual and we managed to get what we needed from the grocery store, things were slow.  So we had a yummy lunch and settled in for a movie night at home.

Late, but heart-felt Merry Christmas

We had a great Christmas Day with a wonderful breakfast, some presents, but most of all we invited a single-parent father along with his son to a turkey dinner.  And a new believer stopped by to enjoy the trimmings, all the way from Acapulco where she’s been living for the past month after leaving our area.  It was a great way to celebrate.

 

Lots of homemade gifts - like this one to me from Keila

At the New Place

Several weeks ago, I took a picture of some of the women gathering in our new place for a Bible study.  They were the first to use the place officially.  This week I took a picture of the kids after their play practice showing off other aspects of the place and the characters that they are.  Hope you enjoy the photo.

Kids practice

With our Christmas church service just days away, the kids are working on a small play of the birth of Jesus for the congregation.  Our “lights” celebration has in the past been a time of singing Christmas songs, presenting Christmas plays and with the lights out – lighting the room with candles.  We hope to have a time of fellowship after the service on Sunday.

On the dotted line

The same afternoon of our baptisms, we invited the newly baptized to join the congregation officially as members.  Another family also went forward to sign our membership book and become new members of the congregation.

Into the Water

Those who could from our congregation hiked up the hill to the founding church where we presented four for baptism.  Mother and son, as well as mother and daughter were baptized that day.  God is so good to allow us the privilege of helping these believers profess their faith on front of a bigger congregation.  Great job, Saira, Deriam, Madai and Daniela.

Great talk

On Sunday Gerardo gave his message.  It was well thought out and clear just as he had practiced several days before.  My youngest daughter said, “Dad, it was easy to follow, and to write down the main points.  I believe that is what a message is all about.  Now it’s up to us to put it into practice.  Great job, Gerardo!

Practice makes perfect

A week ago, several of the men got together to listen to a sermon that was to be given the following Sunday by Gerardo.  He had spent several weeks preparing it and gave it to a select group to get their feedback.  He did a great job, and was very clear in giving his supporting points to his sermon on the value of suffering.

What did we do?

Last week, our local staff – Tracey, Maria and I – sat down to fill out an evaluation of how we perceived our progress this year.  I enjoyed hearing about all that we had accomplished together with the congregation, as well as how we can do it all better.  It was inspiring.

I did the same at the founding church the day before, listening to the leaders in a larger church.  One of the questions that struck me, and it must have been God that inspired me to write my answer was this…

In one sentence, define how you felt during this year of service.

My answer was, “I feel motivated by the participation of the congregation to stretch themselves in new areas of their lives.”  God is so amazing!

Praying for Safety

Christmas season isn’t only a time to to give gifts, but to enjoy the birth of Jesus.  The pastor of the founding church encouraged us as staff to pray for the missionaries in the country during this time of the year.  He cited that aside from being a dangerous time of the year with people out of work, and a rise in robberies and personal assaults, kidnappings are also up.  And the kidnappers see foreigners as an easy target.  So we prayed for the safety of the missionaries that we know in the area, that God would keep them from harm.  I needed to hear that!  And I need to continue to pray that for others…

Men don’t Cry!

This was a statement one of our men made during Sunday’s service.  “Men don’t cry… unless their wives leave them, then they can’t stop” was the comment by a single dad.  During our men’s meeting a space opened up for the men to share struggles, and one of the guys realized for the first time the reason why he should be attending the men’s meeting – to share what he can’t share anywhere else.  This was the first time I’d seen a deeper movement of God’s spirit touch their lives.

Rewards are Great!

For all the hard work done by the youth over the past month: they created our very first “Family Festival” for the kids with fair-style games; they took care of the little kids while the parents attended our Parenting Seminar; and they organized and ran our youth conference and music on the last Saturday of the month; we rewarded them.

 

We took them all to the movies on Saturday to watch: “Big Hero 6.”  It was a big laugh, and all of our youth enjoyed the outing.  Those who turned into me their first 6 lessons on 1 John (we’ve been studying 1 John in youth group) got their ticket for free.

On Revelation…

 Maria was asked several months ago to share about our hope today and tomorrow.  She spoke to the congregation from Revelation where it describes Jesus.  I was glad to hear an exegetical message shared simply and flowing logically.  We’re working with different ones to share God’s word in a way that is understandable to the congregation.  Congrats Maria!  Great job.

Great Meat!

A rare staff outing took us over to a small town east of the city about two hours to enjoy eating “cecina,” marinated meat.  After the meal, we took a long walk through town and into the countryside.  We even managed to stumble into a local “flea” market where not only were crafts sold, but livestock!

Back in the Saddle

This was the first Sunday where I got to preach again.  While our attendance was low due to a long weekend, I enjoyed sharing God’s word with those who attended.

A Great Act to Follow

Each church that was invited to the youth conference was also invited to present some songs for the youth to sing together.  The time of singing came after the conference and brought great excitement and movement to the youth.

Needed Advice

Our youth conference and music had a very special speaker sharing on youth relationships.  Tracey led the youth through some fun exercises and a much-needed talk on dating. 

A Time of Thank You’s

Our mission got together in Mexico City to celebrate Thanksgiving a day early with turkey and all the fixings.  It was a warm sunny day to see friends and spend time together.

First One!

Keila got accepted to her first choice university, Calvin.  We’re all excited about her pursuit of higher education.  Congrats Keila!  They enclosed a portion of her essay in her acceptance letter.

A Tough Act to Follow

One of the ladies who regularly teaches the kids on Sundays taught the congregation last Sunday.  Her first words were, “Close your eyes and when you open them, you are all ten years old.”  She prepared a message much like she prepares her kids Bible study – with lots of enthusiasm and creativity.  Everyone was on the edge of his/her seat wondering what was coming next.  There wasn’t a distracted child or a wandering eye.  Congratulations Adi for your excellent work with kids and now with adults.