10 years ago today, we went to visit our friend and fellow missionary Chalo in the city of Puebla, and went for a drive in his 1922 Model T Ford. You can read more about that right here. Meanwhile, here are a couple of pictures:
We returned from a quick trip to Canada four weeks ago, and we hit the ground running. The first day back in town we were already off to view a possible house to rent. And … spoiler … no news on that yet. We were scheduled to view a house yesterday, and had planned to go early to be the first ones there – but even that was not in time. It was rented before we left to see it. So – we stayed home and I packed another box of stuff. 🙂
But enough about all that! Life goes on with all the regular and irregular activities. We’re getting ready for the church’s 8th anniversary service, if you can believe that. That special event will be coming up in November. And in the meantime, we’re looking for another place to meet for the church – both temporary and permanent. As you might guess, so far availability of places seems to be low, and prices high. But hopefully we will at least find a temporary place to meet, while we look for / make a decision on a more permanent place to renovate / build.
There are lots of other things going on. After finishing up our series on the doctrine/values of the church, we’re doing some special themes in Sunday school, which has been interesting. I’ve done a couple so far, and I’m planning for another one or two. We’re also doing some special themes on the first Sunday of each month, so I’m preparing to share on the traditions of Christmas in the light of Scripture. As you might guess, it’s a whole different world here in Mexico – at least, in some ways. I’ve asked people at the church to give me some ideas of what topics they would like covered, so that should be interesting!
We recently finished preaching through the book of Zechariah, and we’re moving through 1 Corinthians now. Both challenging books, for sure! But the powerful Word of God is working!
We enjoyed a visit from Tim and Brianna last week, a couple from the USA who are planning to come and serve the Lord here in Mexico. It was great to hear their perspective and also to get together with some of our Mexican friends here to hear their perspective on ministry in Mexico. There’s a lot of work to do here! But praise the Lord that He is raising up workers.
We also had a chance to see another couple from our mission, Roger and Judy, who were down for a visit.
The institute classes are continuing, and I’m looking forward to teaching one of those. And we continue to have opportunities as a church to share the gospel at a local hospital, along with hot coffee and sandwiches. 🙂
There’s a quick update on some of the things that have been going on! I will try to communicate again soon. Since I’ve been so lazy in taking pictures and video, I will at least share this picture of Tajín ice creams. You might be able to buy Tajín where you live – it’s a salty spicy Mexican seasoning. Which, apparently, also comes in ice cream.
Ten years ago today, we were having a kids’ club in the community of Las Palmas. This special outreach was in partnership with some friends from the church in the community of Santa Barbara, the “first” Path of Life Bible Church in Ixtapaluca.
That’s pretty cool, but there’s something else cool about this picture. Two of the little kids that you see here learning about the Lord Jesus are now in our youth group. They were helping me last month to teach songs to the kids at our vacation Bible school at the Path of Life. They are now reaching other kids with the gospel!
And you’ll also spot Nathanael in this shot, who is now serving the Lord in Canada. Hannah was old enough to help with the kids, but she’s not in this picture.
10 years ago was a fun time. We had these four who happened to be here at the same time, helping with the ministry. And once they had all arrived, we went and did some touristy things in Mexico City.
Here they are, downtown! You can see the fine arts centre, Bellas Artes, to the left, and a corner of the Latin American Tower directly behind them (to the right of the steeple). Malu, Julian, Jessica and Emily! Just click the picture for a larger version.
Oh, and here’s a post from that era – Sightseeing and Brainstorming.
Thanks to so many of you who were praying for our Vacation Bible School at the Path of Life Bible Church Las Palmas last week! The final total – 50 kids registered (a very good number for us). Many of the parents also came and heard the gospel!
Here are a whole bunch of rather random video clips. The short-term team was from Mount Joy Church of God in the USA, and they were a huge help!
There was so much going on, as you’ll see, that it was impossible to catch everything. But hopefully this will give you an idea of the atmosphere! And even if you don’t speak Spanish, you should be able to see that the Word of God was poured into these kids all week. Even in the more active moments, they were being challenged to remember parts of the lesson of the day. I can’t count the number of times the gospel was shared.
I’m not sure there was anyone in our church was not involved in some way. Our coworkers Rod and Mayra have been mostly working at another church for the last little while, but Mayra still found the time to oversee everything, organizing groups from two countries and still being involved “on the ground” everywhere you looked. Rod was also involved behind the scenes, and even on “stage” on the last day, sharing God’s Word with kids and their parents. Even some people who had to work were there before and after each day’s activities to set up and take down (remember, although there was a tent, we were outside, and so most things were stored each night and set up in the morning).
You’ll see a lot of our friend David, a resident missionary from Mexico City, who was the “Captain” who gave the main lesson each day.
The clips are basically in chronological order, starting with some of the last-minute preparations and ending with clean-up. So you’ll probably get an idea how the week progressed as well (perhaps a tad bit more chaotic as time went by?). Another thing you’ll notice is that the entire event took place in one small space (the place we meet at on Sunday mornings). It’s amazing what the organizers accomplished in a few metres of area!
Remember to keep praying for the people you see here – both our church and those who were our guests!
No, we’re not going to the beach. But the beach is coming to us!
Tomorrow we’re starting our vacation Bible school (VBS) at the Path of Life Bible Church Las Palmas. Yesterday people of the church were scurrying around putting up last-minute decorations and getting in a little last-minute music practice. This involved shipbuilding, arboriculture, aviculture and mariculture – that is, creating an activity station that looked like a big boat, completing the creation of palm trees, and putting up birds and sea creatures. There’s sand and sun and – well, it looks like it’s going to be a fun week!
Shari has been working hard on activities to help the kids memorize their Bible verses – activities that also involve sand and sea creatures!
There’s also a team coming from the USA to help us out – they arrive today.
So the VBS will be four days long – Tuesday to Friday. Parents are invited to join right in. The focus is on the Lord Jesus and His Truth as the solid rock in a world of shifting sand.
In the middle of all the preparations for the VBS, we’ve been packing – hence the boxes! We’re preparing to move, although we still haven’t found a house to move to. We would appreciate your prayers as we continue to look! But meanwhile we’re getting things organized and labelled and ready to go wherever they’re going. It’s a lot of work after we’ve been settled for so many years!
Please do be in prayer for the many teachers who will be sharing with the kids this week! We’re so thankful for a church that has been so involved in every aspect of this week’s activities!
