New Bible study & Filling Up

We’ve begun new Bible study classes on "Emotional Health" taught by Pastor Francisco at 9:30 a.m. on Sundays, just before the service.  God is good to fill our prayer house with a good group of believers.

Our morning service is beginning to fill up too.  Just when I thought we had lost some steam, believers showed up anticipating to study God’s word and worship him.

Sisters

These two sisters live in the area where we are starting a new work.  On Sunday, they participated in the service teaching the congregation the new verse to memorize for the month.  They are grateful to God for all he’s done for them.

New Teachers

Jon is one of our new teachers of English and guitar.  Here he is teaching students how to strum.  While we only had two students come, we trust more will come when the weather is better.

The New Place

We began classes Saturday afternoon in a cage.  That is, the structure set up for a temporary storefront outside of the apartment of one of the members of our church.  While it was cold and also “Buen Fin” (equivalent to Black Friday in Mexico) we managed to start.

The Handout

 
Our new church planting team went to the local elementary school and middle school in “Bosques” (Forest) to hand out flyers inviting students and parents to drop by on Saturday to take music classes and English classes.  There was lots of interest.  Thanks team!

A house of cards?

When I got back to the church, I was greeted by a friend who told me that things had not gone so well in the church.  He began to detail the different incidences that caused conflict.  I sat back carefully and took it all in and then said, “I’m glad it’s happening now while we can work together to get back on track.”  God is in charge, so I’m not worried.

Jim and Linda

Jim and Linda have been a God-sent for our family during this difficult time of readjusting our lifestyles.  They have offered Tracey, and me, a place to stay while Kiana gets better.  Besides inviting us to eat with them, they’ve often gone out of their way to help us out.  May God richly bless this exceptional couple as they’ve served so many.

K.’s impact

While visiting Kiana, she introduced me to her friends of which at least 2 she was teaching to play the guitar.  Both played songs for me and showed me just how good of a teacher Kiana is.  We played songs together for a short time and enjoyed lots of laughs.

Time for K.

I spent a few days visiting Kiana and enjoyed seeing her again and talking with her.  Her friends at Selah, the girls, were her biggest blessing.  While each day presents a new hard challenge, I’m praying that God gives her the strength to push forward to health, well-being and strong faith.

A Win for T.

 

After last week’s U.S. Presidential elections results, I asked some locals (Mexicans) what they thought of the prospect of a new president.  Well, many were scared and concerned about what this might do to Mexico.

Continued HELP

Jasmin comes from the mother church and has helped our congregation over the years in the area of teaching keyboard.  At the end of this year, she’ll decide whether to continue on or to make new plans.  Please pray with us as we wish her the very best in her decisions.

Time for fresh “juice”

With oranges in season, I just had to get a couple of kilos and juice some.  Prices? 9 pound for a dollar.  This is also a great time of the year for “fresh” activities as we open up our normally “in-house” events to the public.  Our Family Festival saw wonderful results and new contacts made.  Next is our Youth Christmas Concert on December 10.  Pray with us as we practice and reach out.

How did we reach out?

The ladies, mostly, practiced a skit for the kids to see.  The skit had an invitation at the end to accept Jesus in their hearts.  They did a wonderful job of keeping the kids’ interest.

More Games?

What did the youth games look like?  Well, here’s just a small sample of the games they played during our Family Festival.

What to do with Halloween in Mexico…

For the past 3 years, we’ve created an alternative for our families to the quickly growing Halloween following in Mexico.  Hooked up to Day of the Dead, Halloween has caught on down here.  So the congregation rented a covered basketball court where we had our “Family Festival.”  A short program of group games, songs and a skit as well as lots of fair-like games for kids, made by our youth is also offered.  This year we opened it up not only to our families, but to the community.  We had a great turnout, seeing parents play games with their kids with lots of homemade goodies for prizes.  

Take a look at what we did…

When it’s all about “getting-out-there”

Jonathan is part of the mission team with a desire to use all of his talents to reach people for Jesus.  He’s excited about being part of the team to start a new congregation.  He’s in charge of publicizing our new efforts.  Here’s his first invitation to English and music classes.

Hard Road Ahead

Luis is a single dad with one son living in Mexico and of Central American descent.  He is our mission leader and is setting the stage for the church to participate in a new project of starting a congregation in another part of the community.  We have a team of four who are spearheading this planning stage.  Pray for God’s wisdom in Luis.

Gaming

Looking for new games to play isn’t always as easy as it sounds.  This week, the youth played a new game called, “Confederate Rugby.”  It took a little time to get used to and is similar enough to team handball which they've played before.  They enjoyed it and all were able to play.

Arrow to the Heart

Marco is a father who has to work on weekends, so isn’t very often able to join us during Sunday services.  This week he came prepared to share from the Bible a message that God wanted the congregation to hear.  He did an incredible job.

Band of Brothers

We’ve got a great group of men who love to play music.  While most of them participate in the weekly men’s group, I invited them to join me in leading worship on Sunday.  We practiced only a few times, but had a great time leading others in praising God.  They are examples of those willing to follow Jesus at any cost.