Too much birthday…

It started on Wednesday morning with some leaders visiting a family I was visiting, but early.  They sang the typical Mexican birthday song, “Las Mañanitas,” and invited me to coffee and breakfast.  From that day on, it was cakes and sweets and birthday wishes until we got to the end of the week.  Thanks all for your gifts of love.

That’s Greek to me…

I was put in charge of the prayer meeting this week, so I decided to give it a twist.  We took a look at Matt. 6:33 “Seek ye first…”  I showed the group the Greek words and the meaning behind the text, and we set out to say the words in Greek as well as prayer their meaning for our congregation.  It was fun and insightful.

Indoor Soccer

Our youth finished a series on the book of James this week.  Afterwards, I enjoyed watching 16 of them play indoor soccer in chairs in our tiny “prayer” house.  There were lots of laughs and bruised legs.

Challenging our Mission

After several weeks of listening to different ones speak on missions, I got a chance to challenge our congregation to do something!  I spoke about Moses’ burning bush experience and pushed the congregation to do something for God’s kingdom.

Parenting Help

Wishing to give our new VBS contacts an opportunity to visit us, we offered them some free parenting classes via a video series.  We had two new parents show up during the two days and a good number of our regulars.

Call Home

During our “Fiesta Mexicana,” we called Keila to wish her a “Viva México!”  The youth all stood outside trying to get a good cell phone signal and eventually got through to see her.

Mexican Independence Day

 

We celebrated this special evening right after our prayer meeting.  There were lots of foods, lots of fireworks and lots of laughter.  We started at 6 p.m. and sang until midnight.

A Wonderful Surprise

Our water gauge - reminding us to pay the bills

As you might know, the Baptist Convention had given us a monthly stipend to offset some of our expenses as a new congregation.  We used the money to rent a small house where we could have our weekly meetings, i.e men's, women's, youth, Sunday School and prayer.  That money was recently cut, so we motivated the congregation to flip the bill for the rent of the house.  

I asked the financial secretary if we will be able to pay the rent this month or have to give up the house.  She told with me that it looks like we’ll make the deadline to pay October's rent.  

God is so faithful.  And we trust him to touch our hearts and souls with this important need.

A Great Message

In the spring, we asked a fellow missionary teach a class on how to prepare a sermon at the founding church.  A group of 8 from our congregation attended.  

He consented to challenge us in the area of mission this month, so he spoke to us on Sunday.  He did a great job and motivated the believers to consider how to best reach the lost.  Thanks, Bob, for your friendship and your words of encouragement!

Lots of Youth

I only printed up 14 studies for our youth group anticipating that I was overshooting what I needed.  Well, God surprised us all with a group of 17 youth that attended.  We had some new faces and the older ones helped guide the study.  Also my new assistant, Diego, was a tremendous help in keeping things in line.

Lots of Guys & Food

One of our men, Luis, recently moved so our men’s group threw him a barbecue at his new home on the night we have our men’s meeting.  I was glad to see how quickly this was organized and how much meat was cooked.  It was a wonderful time to catch up with the guys.

Lots of Guys to Visit

This week we invited a believer from the founding congregation to work with us in learning what ministry is all about.  He’s wanted to participate, and recently felt God’s call on his life.  So for the next few months we’ll be training him in ministerial duties,  hoping that God will lead him to where he needs to serve.  Please join us in praying for Hilario.  I took him around to meet some of the men.  He will be helping me to disciple them.  God is good.

Practice Makes Perfect

Edgar took a class on how to prepare a sermon with a group of us in the spring.  He never got the opportunity to preach in our congregation.  So after several practices, he spoke on Sunday about forgiveness.  He did a great job for his first presentation.  May God refine his dedication.

Time to get to Work

After her orientations at college, Keila has settled in to arrange her class schedule, her room and her life.  She enjoyed thoroughly the introduction to college life and has made many “foreign” friends.  Keep up the great work, Keila.

Find Your Cake & Eat it Too

Kiana celebrated her birthday this week.  We were invited to the home of a missionary family to enjoy a meal with them.  The kids had organized a scavenger hunt so that Kiana could find her cake.  With the help of that family, she managed to both find it and eat it too.  Congratulations, Kiana!

Recognition

Nancy brought with her on Sunday a special gift.  She had our “incorporation” papers mounted in a frame for us to display in the congregation.  It was evidence of our doctrinal exam approved and the testimony of several pastors who were present at our legal organization.

Just Serve God

 

Nancy came to our service in order to share about missions.  She talked about the first time she helped start a church.  It was our second church plant and she was a recent convert.  The stories of a team made up of a house wife, a hair dresser, an aerobics teacher, a pastor’s assistant and yours truly made for a motivating speech on, “Just Serve God” with whatever you’ve got.

New Home

Registration came with this card for Keila.  It’s now official.  She’s part of another organization far from home, and she’s loving it.  We wish you the best Keila and are excited with you for all the new adventures you’ll have and new friends that you’ll make.

New Help

Having prayed for an assistant in the youth group, one of the dads volunteered to help.  He’s getting to know the youth and preparing to give one of the studies.  He even participated in our balloon and cookies game mentioned yesterday.  Pray for Diego and God’s plans for him.

A Spark of Creativity

It is always a feat to be creative for our youth meetings and lately I came across some good resources for games.  This one required blowing up a balloon after having eaten 5 cookies.  It was a “blast.”

Life on Our own

With the girls away and getting settled in college, Kiana and I are making due with our meals.  Kiana is a real scientist creating and experimenting with new dishes.  Lots of them were with the overabundance of zucchini that we had in the house.

Looking good at 6 a.m.

We took Keila to the airport early in the morning for her flight to her new site.  Both girls had a traditional Mexican breakfast to start the day.  Here is our last shot from Mexico of the new university student.