Independence Day

15 September 2025

Church Life Back in Las Palmas

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It’s hard to believe that we’ve already had three Sundays in our new (rented) hall back in the neighbourhood of Las Palmas. There’s still a lot to do. We have some significant leaks that need to be worked on. There’s more painting to do, curtains to make – well, ok, it’s a long list!

But I at least wanted to share a few pictures to prove that we are actually there!!

For example, although we’re hoping to get a bigger sign up on the wall, we do have a sign up on our door (right).

On the first Sunday, I shared some pictures of the “pilgrimages” of our church – 6 or 7 places where we’ve worshipped, depending on how you count, including this place…

We have an actual Sunday school room… the first time we’ve had an actual room, now that I think about it…

We took some time on the first Sunday to celebrate those who have been in our children’s Sunday school class in the past…

We had our first youth group there on Saturday, and even celebrated some birthdays (although not all the people with birthdays showed up – more cake for everyone else!):

And yesterday we celebrated Mexico’s Independence a few days early with our first potluck back in Las Palmas!

We’re very thankful for this new space that we can use!

17 September 2022

Getting Back…

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Getting back home to Mexico, and getting back into ministry, can sometimes be a challenge. Not that there’s anything particularly wrong, mind you. And we’re glad to be here!

Flowers, and a welcome sign — *Flowers in front of our house*

Part of it is simply that (1) there were a few things we were planning to do over the summer here that we didn’t do, because we went to Canada, and (2) we’re still dealing with some things from our trip, on top of regular ministry.

But also, there’s quite simply a lot going on and a lot that needs to be done! 🙂

In a few minutes I’ll be going over to help set up for the institute class, which our church is hosting this week. The Church History course is continuing, this week the topic being “The Era of Liberalism, Progress, and Missions”. A few light topics, including Marxism, slavery, liberalism, missions movements and religious sects to finish off our week.

We’ve been enjoying a study of the Tabernacle as we continue our journey through the book of Exodus. I’ll be speaking tomorrow about the court and the altar.

Yesterday was Independence Day, so we had a bit of a focus on that last week, and we will again this week from what I understand. Last week I led the music and we sang quite a few Mexican worship songs.

Other activities are continuing – the men’s and women’s Bible studies, and youth group tonight. A kids’ class started up again while we were gone. So we’re looking at how things might change and adapt in the weeks ahead.

We’re so thankful for the men and women who are serving the Lord here with us. We appreciate so many of you who are praying. It’s completely cliché to say that these are challenging times, but indeed they are.

But as we continue our study of the Tabernacle, I’m reminded that when God gives the work, He also provides for the work. And somehow He gives it an eternal value. Praise the Lord!

15 September 2022

Retro: Las Mexicanas

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Ten years ago today, in the community of Jesús María, we were having a big Independence Day celebration! There were all kinds of activities and carnival-type games. Even a contest to see who could eat the most hot peppers (“Who is most ‘Mexican'”?).

Here’s one of the pictures from the day – two lovely Mexican ladies… Cathy Fry and Hannah Cottrill!

(Actually, you can see a video of the activities right here – Independence Day Fiesta 2012!)

28 September 2021

It’s September!

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It’s September – and you know what that means (or maybe you don’t). That’s right, Independence Day!

We had a lot of fun at an Independence Day event with our church. Shari made tri-colour buñuelos…

And someone else made the pozole, and some other delicious Mexican delicacies…

We had some games, including an informal round of “throw the sombrero onto Nathanael’s head”.

Our friend Frank from Dallas gave a devotional from God’s Word. Lots of fellowship. Good times!

Next time, come and join us!

14 September 2020

Retro: Independence Day 2010

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I just had to share these classics from 2010.

So we had an event for Independence Day at the Jesús María community centre, with lots of activities. The first picture shows you-know-who with our friend David Gomez, who served with us in Jesús María (and is now a missionary in Uruguay).

The second picture is, of course, Hannah and Nathanael, same day, at the community centre.

15 September 2018

Looking ahead – Canada and Mexico

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You see that? That’s snow. In summer. People in Alberta aren’t impressed. The stores don’t have any winter stuff even for sale.

Hannah is trying to find a winter jacket – but it’s not so easy. There are only a few around, and they’re the pricey ones. ðŸ’²ðŸ’²ðŸ’² Must be a run on the stores to find something warm!

Just for the record, last Friday it was 28â„ƒ. WHAT is up.

Ok, enough ranting. We’ve had a busy week here. Lots of fun at the 2000 Years of Missions seminar on Tuesday. More appointments and errands this week. And tonight we’re celebrating Mexican Independence at Viva Mexico, which is actually a dinner to welcome the ABC Daycare burn survivors from Mexico. Who, by the way, are searching for donations of warm jackets. Sizes 4-16. Seriously, what is UP with this weather. Oops – how did I get back there?

Actually, on the bright side, it is an unexpected delight for some of our guests from Mexico to experience snow for the first time (warm jackets needed).

Anyway, I wanted to give a look ahead, that was the original purpose of this post, right?

In the short term, we would appreciate your prayers as we go to Innisfail tomorrow to share at Innisfail Baptist Church. The service is at 10:30am, if you’re in the area.

We’re a little disappointed that we haven’t been able to see more people here, but everyone is pretty busy. But you’re welcome to join us tomorrow!

We will hit the ground running when we get back to Mexico. There’s a conference for missionaries in the country, just a few days after we get back. So we’ll be loading up the suitcases again.

There’s a church in California that is interested in partnering with the ministry in Ixtapaluca, and they’ve invited the church leaders to come join them for the Expositores 2018 conference (Expositors Conference, in Spanish). So Lord willing I’ll be up in the US for a weekend for some teaching and fellowship. It will be a good time to get to know the church, but also a good time to catch up with what’s been going on in Ixtapaluca while we’ve been gone.

A few weeks ago we found out that our coworkers will be in the US until the end of December, so we’ll be under an extra load when we get back. So we would certainly appreciate your prayers as we hear from everyone about how things are going and what new and old needs there are, and as we seek to shine the Lord’s light in Mexico again.

Tomorrow is Independence Day! So enjoy some Mexican food, and – if you want to be involved – pray for the people of Mexico – especially those we will be serving when we return.

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