It’s been a crazy few weeks – but good crazy! Bible and Wheelchair Presentation, New Shoelaces! In a nutshell the community was served, new contacts were made, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ was preached – exciting!
Most of our activities centred around the neighbourhoods of Jesús MarÃa and Las Palmas. There were soccer tournaments and sports camps. Craft classes and English classes. Apple pies and roasted cactus. Wheelchairs and shoe laces. Tiling and painting. Verse memorizing and song learning. Going for wings and stopping for tacos. The seniors’ shelter and the rehab centre. Services and Sunday Schools.Shari handing out a snack
Making apple pieWe’re thankful for everyone who was a part of it – both the local believers and those here for a few days, weeks, or months.
I hope some of those who came to help will come back again!
Please pray for those who heard the Gospel – that they would come to Christ and that His Spirit would do amazing things in their lives. Please pray that the momentum would continue as we head into the fall.
Community centre classes will start up again in September, and there is already a considerable amount of interest. Please pray that the Lord would bring many of these people back to hear His Word. We’re excited about what God may do in the future!
Yesterday we went back to the senior’s shelter with the interns and the team (from New Jersey) that’s here this week. You can see a handful of pictures below of today’s activities.
The home is only a few minutes from our house, inside a brick factory. A family there has taken in seniors (mostly – some younger) who have been abandoned and/or abused.
The theme this summer has been the fruit of the Spirit, so Mayra shared the final set today, with a clear presentation of the Gospel. Then Rod led some music.
After that we cooked and served breakfast for them (pancakes – just like a Stampede breakfast!).
Then we had some time to hang out, and do a craft based on the theme.
We have a doctor on the team with us, so she went around taking people’s blood pressure while I translated. There’s one man who is really struggling with some health issues right now – please pray that he will be able to get some help at the hospital soon.
It is always a tremendous blessing to visit. We’ve enjoyed helping out in a few ways, and have a few schemes up our sleeves for the future. One of our interns noticed that some of the residents needed new shoe laces, so she went and got some nice colourful ones to share. How fun is that?
Here are a few pictures from the day. I’ll post some larger versions next time I update our Photo Gallery.
About 15 months ago I set out to post a verse a week from every book in the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, on Facebook and Twitter. Well, I finished today, so I’m posting all 66.
These were designed to fit into Twitter, so they’re all short (although I edited slightly below, so some may be a little longer. I cheated with Zephaniah and posted it in two posts).
Next week I’ll start on a new Monday project. 🙂
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1
You shall have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:3
You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine. Leviticus 20:26
…all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord Numbers 14:21
The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen. Deuteronomy 18:15
fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Joshua 24:14
The mountains quaked before the LORD, even Sinai before the LORD, the God of Israel. Judges 5:5
Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! Ruth 4:14
There is none holy like the LORD: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God. 1Samuel 2:2
Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever. 2Samuel 7:16
But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you… 1Kings 8:27
“Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 2Kings 6:16
For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens. 1Chronicles 16:26
…when in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them. 2Chronicles 15:4
The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him. Ezra 8:22
…the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments… Nehemiah 1:5
“…Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish”. Esther 4:16
For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. Job 19:25
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers Psalm 1:1
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. Proverbs 1:7
For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. Ecclesiastes 12:14
Many waters cannot quench love… If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, he would be utterly despised. Song of Solomon 8:7
Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow… Isaiah 1:18
Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Jeremiah 1:7
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end Lamentations 3:22
…I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. Ezekiel 3:17
To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him Daniel 9:9
But I am the Lord your God from the land of Egypt; you know no God but me, and besides me there is no saviour. Hosea 13:4
And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved… Joel 2:32
Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! Why would you have the day of the LORD? It is darkness, and not light… Amos 5:18
The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who … say in your heart,”Who will bring me down to the ground?” Obadiah 3
But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the LORD! Jonah 2:9
He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide for strong nations far away; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares Micah 4:3
The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty. Nahum 1:3
You went out for the salvation of your people, for the salvation of your anointed. You crushed the head of the house of the wicked. Habakkuk 3:13
The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness. He will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. Zephaniah 3:17
Thus says the LORD of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. Haggai 2:6
And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver. Then the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”… Zechariah 11:12-13
Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple Malachi 3:1
For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:20
And they went out and fled from the tomb. . . and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. Mark 16:8
But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. Luke 22:26
No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. John 1:18
The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent Acts 17:30
He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Romans 8:32
Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! 1Corinthians 6:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort… 2Corinthians 1:3
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. Galatians 1:8
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Ephesians 6:10
But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ… Philippians 3:20
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son… Colossians 1:13
See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 1Thessalonians 5:15
The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 2Thessalonians 2:9
To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. 1Timothy 1:17
preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 2Timothy 4:2
he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy… Titus 3:5
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Philemon 3
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. Hebrews 4:14
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. James 1:22
Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. 1Peter 3:8
…the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment… 2Peter 2:9
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 1John 2:15
Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. 2John 8
Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God. 3John 11
…Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. Jude 5
He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! Revelation 22:20
We’ve enjoyed having four interns here serving with us over the summer. But it’s time to go from busy to CrAzY again as we host a team from Uncharted Waters over the next week.
So this means continued community centre classes, plus a sports camp in Jesús MarÃa in the morning, a sports camp in Las Palmas in the afternoon, some “beautification” of the community centres and surrounding grounds, painting the at the church property, and who knows what else!
Anyway, the caravan will head to the airport in less than an hour to pick up the team and we’ll take it from there.
When this team leaves, we do some frantic cleaning and … — welcome another team! Yeah, busy summer.
Thanks so much for your continued prayers! We look forward to great things this week as God works!
By the way, for more information about sports camps and why we do them, be sure to check out this post from 2013: Why a Sports Camp?
Those of you who receive our quarterly newsletter know that we’re currently raising funds for a replacement for our van. So what’s the reason for that?
The short story is this. Due to various regulations in Mexico, over the next few months we will be drastically restricted in the hours and days during which we can drive our van, and eventually we will not be able to legally drive it at all (unless we take action).
Complications
Now there are various spheres of laws and regulations that come into play here. For example, the laws of Mexico City. Due to concerns about pollution, certain vehicles can only drive certain hours and days. There is a system of verification, and vehicles are tested and have more or less liberty based on their emissions, age, origin, etc.
There are also national laws, that relate to importing foreign vehicles, nationalizing vehicles, regular payments, license plates, and so on.
There are laws related to the state of our visas, and there are restrictions on what vehicle you can drive based on the type of visa you have and when it expires.
To add to the confusion, all three of these categories of law have been changing, and are continuing to change. For example, there seems to be one thing that Mexico has agreed to in the North American Free Trade Agreement, but they’re not yet implementing the rules on the ground, causing some confusion depending on whom you are talking to.
This doesn’t even take into consideration what we need in a vehicle, our future plans and everything else related to our own situation.
“Complicated” would seem to be an understatement.
The Plan
So this summer we are taking a road trip to Canada. We actually had to go anyway for other reasons, so we decided to take the opportunity to sell the van we have before it comes under more restrictions (we cannot legally sell our van in Mexico).
We will most likely purchase another vehicle in Canada (there are various pros and cons to this, as opposed to purchasing a vehicle in Mexico – so we may still change our minds), and eventually get Mexican plates for it.
The Project
Camino Global has approved a project which will allow us to raise up to $12,000 (Canadian dollars – currently about US$9,560) for the newer van, taxes, and eventual fees to nationalize it.
So far CA$300 has been raised – thank you so much for your help!
Our van is one of our most important tools. It allows us to move people around for ministry, move materials, help people move, bring people to services… As most of you know, we do a lot of driving, both in and out of Mexico. So our prayer is that we would find a reliable vehicle that we can continue to use in our ministry.
As you can see, we still have a ways to go to complete this project! If you would like to be involved, here’s what you need to know:
If you’re donating in Canadian dollars, you can give toward the Cottrill Van Project, project #082708V. The project will be open until the end of August. Visit our Canadian donations page here.
If you’re donating in US dollars, please give to our general fund and not to the project. In other words, you can just make a special gift as you normally would. For information on how to give in $US, click here.
Although this project is open until the end of August, remember that we will (Lord willing) be purchasing the vehicle in August, and so it would be helpful to have the full amount in the account as soon as possible.
If you have any questions about why we’re doing things this way, or how this will all work, feel free to contact us any time. You can also contact Camino Global Canada for more information at (647)977-3226.
I hope some of those who came to help will come back again!
We’ve enjoyed having four interns here serving with us over the summer. But it’s time to go from busy to CrAzY again as we host a team from 
The short story is this. Due to various regulations in Mexico, over the next few months we will be drastically restricted in the hours and days during which we can drive our van, and eventually we will not be able to legally drive it at all (unless we take action).
Camino Global has approved a project which will allow us to raise up to $12,000 (Canadian dollars – currently about US$9,560) for the newer van, taxes, and eventual fees to nationalize it.