2 weeks to 2 years

It’s hard to imagine that soon we’ll be celebrating 2 years of life as a congregation in our rented hall, but on March 8 (about 2 weeks away,) we’ll have our 2 year anniversary.  Chairs are being rented and the program is being put together, while the women plan the dishes that will be offered that day.

It’s wonderful to imagine what God will do considering all that he has done over the past year!

False Start

Upon going by to pick up the keys for the second hall that we’re renting located on the street of “Tabachines,” we were told that the government was using the facility to offer classes to the public.  The same thing happened this month to our first rented hall, but fortunately the government doesn’t work on Sunday, so we’ve been able to use the facilities for our music classes and worship services.

So our morning services in the new place have been put on hold until the government classes are finished and we can get the keys to use the facility.

Cross-cultural Experiences

“Portal Chino” is an opportunity offered once a year to those adults interested in learning more about the Chinese culture.  Well, we sent a group of 10, mostly youth who wanted to learn about China.  They were exposed to two Chinese congregations in Mexico City, some kids activities, a meal at a Chinese restaurant, a food store and the celebration of Chinese New Year.  It was a full day, but they all came back excited.

Time to Preach it

We’ve been at it for several weeks studying how to put together a sermon.  The crew that we took from our church plant is learning what the elements of a good message are.  And this week they had to stand up and present how to conclude a sermon.  Several were nervous, but all were willing and able.  They’re now preparing to preach a 30 minute message to be delivered in two weeks.  Pray for them, please.

Excited by the NEXT Generation

The youth, teenage children of the missionaries, joined together to form a worship team to lead the adults in song.  They had amazing enthusiasm and giftedness.  Tracey commented that we are so pleased to see the next generation of leaders step forward and lead us in worship, anticipating great things from them.

Most Honored

We had some missionaries from our associate ministry show up to join us in the festivities of the retreat.  They in turned were honored with gifts and certificates for their years of faithful service to the Lord.  They are amazing examples of “being used of God.”

Much needed REST

Last week we headed out to our annual missions retreat held just a few hours from our home.  It was the biggest one yet and filled with lots of good instructional time and personal “catch up” time.  We arrived a day early to enjoy the hotel grounds and spend time as a family.  Tracey does the logistics for the event, so she was busy the following days helping people get settled and keeping us on track.

We got to swim and play volleyball our first day there.  A wonderful time together.

A Good Word

Ed lives in the northern part of Mexico.  His life was radically changed by Christ and he seeks to preach Jesus wherever he goes.  We connected last year while he visited with us and considers himself a part of our church family. 

 

Well, he’s back for a month doing construction work in our area.  He’s been a strong proponent of getting out to preach Jesus.  This month we are emphasizing the need to share Jesus with friends, family and neighbors.  So Ed gives just the right touch to our services standing up during our sharing time to motivate us all to seek God and preach Christ.  He'll help us kick off our new morning service on Sunday.

The Whole Picture

Here’s just a quick shot of the ladies that went to the Women’s Conference “Gala de Belleza.”  This time all of those who went from our congregation are included.  Wow, did they learn a lot.

Full house…

After several weeks of low attendance because of the holidays and long weekends in January, we’re back to a good size congregation.  We had some new families show up and some contacts from our outreach with Avance.  God is good!

Some great things happening…

11 of the women in our congregation ventured into the center of Mexico City to attend a conference.  They came back encouraged and equipped for the work ahead in their families, their jobs and in the church.  Tracey promoted and motivated this great group of women to save and go.  They reported back to us on Sunday afternoon in the service.  Each brought a unique perspective of what was learned.  Soon we’ll get the CD’s of the conference to share with those who didn’t go.

A closer look…

I was on one of the three teams that was sent to the new area where we are opening up a morning Sunday service.  The reports I heard during the debrief encouraged me about the great need for Jesus in this area.  We made new contacts and have visits to make next week to follow up on them.  Thanks for your prayers for this activity!

Two years ago…

 It’s been two years since Avance’s (formerly Spearhead) youth have come out to visit us and to join us in making new contacts knocking door-to-door.  It was wonderful going out with the youth in groups of two’s and three’s.  Their presence and their enthusiasm inspired our congregation to try harder to reach out to their neighbors.  Our new women’s leader said, “I was humbled by their courage to speak Spanish to the new contacts when I speak it well, but am afraid to talk with new people.”

Studying hard…

Our group of leaders taking the weekly Monday morning homiletics class has grown by 1 more.  It’s a pleasure to see many of our new leaders taking the class preparing for future opportunities and equipping themselves to teach others.

Since Monday evening is an optional study group meeting, we don’t expect to see them all. But there has been a steady group meeting to understand and apply the principles taught in the morning.

Got rhythm?

Our music students switched classes this last week as I urged the keyboard teachers to teach the guitar students how to recognize and memorize the location of notes on a keyboard.  I’m sure it was a challenge for the guitar students to translate their “fret” board to a “keyboard.”  I heard that they did well.

 

I took the keyboard students and prepared a rhythm class.  We used percussion instruments to pick out the beat to songs we knew and then songs we didn’t.  It was a slow start, but they managed to catch the rhythm.  I trust that this helps them in playing chords on the keyboard when they accompany the worship team.

Our new place

After submitting a request to rent a smaller hall about 30 minutes walking from where we’re renting the first one, the administrative offices agreed, but we have to pay more for it even though it is smaller.  We hope to begin morning services in this new area using people from our congregation.  We trust that God will allow us to reach the people around this second hall.  Please pray with us as we use the youth to make this possible.

A not so new area…

I took our youth over to the new area that we want to open up.  We’ve been there before, so it wasn’t anything new.  We played some basketball, did a short study on friendship and also created some short videos on how to share Christ with new people.  It gave me an opportunity to see the area again and provided a short outing for the youth.

Move over

We got pushed out of our hall for the month of February.  We were told that some governmental group wanted to use it during the month and that we would be relegated to the covered basketball court.  Well, this weekend no one had moved in yet, so we decided to use it assuming someone would ask us to leave.  No one did.  So we enjoyed the use of the building, especially since the late afternoons have been very cold.

A helping hand

This weekend we went to help out our sister church in Tizayuca.  The pastor and his family took a long overdue vacation over the long weekend, so we filled in.  I got to preach about Nicodemus in John 3 and we also provided support for their new worship team, playing guitar with them.  We were thankful we could help, but most of all that the pastor got some rest.  I got to preach the same message in our church in the afternoon.

The "Ones in Charge"

We are proud and excited to announce our first group of “people in charge” of worship, finances, children, women, men and installations in the One More for Christ Congregation.  God is gracious to give us such a great team.  Pray for them as we pray for you.