We were very thankful to be able to join our church in Mexico once again on Sunday, even though we’re in Canada. Although the church continues to meet in person, our friends were able to set up a remote link for those who couldn’t attend.
So we very much enjoyed the service, and were even able to say “Hi” to everyone from here.
And as a special bonus, after the service one couple in the church had a mini “gender reveal” party! Everybody had to guess boy or girl, and the winners got a prize. And, of course, the losers got a prize too! We gave away our prize, but the biggest prize is this blessing of a new baby. 🙂
About to pop the balloon to reveal – pink or blue?
We’re mostly recovered from our trip here, I think. So we’ve been working hard on a variety of things. This morning I’ve been preparing to teach my hermeneutics class this week – another Canada-Mexico link up.
We continue to be thankful for friends who have provided us a place to stay, and for all of God’s blessings. May you experience God’s blessing today too!
Last Sunday we celebrated baptisms together, this Sunday it was communion!
Setting up a tent – just one of the coverings we used
This past Sunday we met outdoors, a place we’ve met before, at a property owned by a friend in our church. We will probably meet here for a few weeks, because they place we used to meet in is not currently available. But we’re used to moving around!
It will probably take a while, though, before everything goes smoothly. But there were lots of people on hand before the service to help set up tarps and tents and hook up sound equipment and set up chairs.
This was our special monthly adoration service, and we’ve been learning about the fruit of the Spirit. This week, goodness! And God has been good.
On Friday we also completed our virtual kids’ club! We had only a handful of kids, but mostly not church kids, which was neat. And with the online format, a small group probably works better anyway. In spite of some technical challenges, the kids and their families were exposed to God’s Word and clear presentations of the gospel throughout the week. The teachers found creative ways to present the truth in an interactive way. Thanks to all of you who were praying!
Playing a game to review a Bible verse at the kids’ club
So this week we continue with our hermeneutics class, and we also finish our 15 week Discovering Life bible study.
And we also appreciate your prayers as we continue to work on the challenge of a visit to Canada. A lot of work, short time, full of change and uncertainty. But God is in control of it all!
Yes, let’s associate 2020 with baptisms – because, as I’ve been reminded lately – 2020 is the “Year of our Lord” (just like the year before)!
So yes – this past Sunday we had our first in-person service in 18 weeks. We used the building in Jesús María, because they have a baptismal tank (thanks to all those who donated to help build the building!).
It was wonderful to be together! Reading Scripture together, singing and praising God together, listening to God’s Word together (continuing our study in Romans, our friend Ezequiel preached). That word together really does mean something when you haven’t been together for so long.
Three people were baptized – all from one family – what a blessing! (Am I overusing exclamation marks?!) (No, I don’t think so!)
Lord willing we will continue meeting next week – although we haven’t worked out where yet (but we have some options, so we’re not in a panic. Hopefully we’ll know by the end of today.). This coming Sunday will be another major celebration – a Communion Service – The Lord’s Supper – together! 🙂
So as I traditionally do, I’m including a video so you can see the baptisms for yourself, and pray for these people. It’s only a minute long, but it’s a BIG minute.
(One more funny thing – before the baptism, I was talking to Rod to make sure that we were either both wearing masks, or both not wearing masks. As you can see, in the end, my hard work all came to nothing. I didn’t really realize it until it was too late, because I was focused on the baptisms. But just so you know – it wasn’t a case of a rabid anti-masker versus a rabid pro-masker!)
There’s a lot going on right now – and now it’s a matter of juggling both in-person events AND virtual events!
So this Saturday we continue our 60 hour Old Testament Survey class – that’s online.
Announcing our Sunday service
But on Sunday – Lord willing – we will have an actual church service! Imagine! It’s been 19 weeks!
And not just any service – a baptismal service! So please pray for those getting baptized. Exciting! We’ll be meeting at the facilities of the church in Jesús María, so that we can use their baptismal tank.
Some of our “re-opening” will really take place gradually over the next three weeks, so every Sunday will be a little different.
So please do pray as we prepare and try to meet the government’s requirements and people’s expectations. As you can guess from the graphic, there will be masks in the service!
And then, starting on Monday – a kids’ club! And we’re back to virtual again.
A special ministry in Mexico called “Summer Missionaries” trains believers to lead kids’ clubs all over Mexico, and this year due to the uncertainty of the COVID-19 restrictions, they’ve moved everything online, and organized it so that individual churches can have their own special clubs.
So our club will be a combination of videos to watch, songs to learn, crafts to do, puppets to watch, and also an interactive time with other kids online and leaders from our church. Pretty exciting! Shari has already been busy registering children for next week’s club.
Oh, and some of you already know, but we’re planning a visit to Canada! Out west, although we are also planning a longer visit to Ontario later on (next year, if God permits). We have some business to attend to, as well as ministry, so it had to be AB, SK (and maybe MB!) this time around.
This is actually not the time we planned to go, but everything is super-uncertain and complicated due to COVID-19. So our plans have been and ARE in flux – what a surprise, eh?
So we’re really taking our plans one step at a time. Lord willing we’ll be flying to Canada mid-August. But as you know, if someone gets the sniffles the morning of the flight, they won’t let us on the plane. SO – like I say – one step at a time!
We will be looking for places to stay (first of all, a place to quarantine when we arrive), so we would appreciate your prayers – and if you have any ideas/contacts, do let us know!
And as for our last month in Mexico, who knows what else will be virtual and what else will be in person? Let’s just try to get past this weekend first, and then we’ll see!
It’s been a pretty crazy week. Well, we knew it was going to be busy, but on top of the “busy” came all kinds of “unexpected”.
Some weeks are like that. But I have a feeling it’s the first of a few more crazy weeks!
So let’s start with a little update regarding where Mexico is “at” when it comes to COVID-19. When I last showed you the charts, about a month ago, COVID-19 infections and deaths were still going up quite steadily.
But let’s look at a comparison. (The charts look different because I’ve zoomed in on the current ones.) Here’s the chart from a month ago, and the chart from today. You can see that new infections has largely levelled off:
Chart from last month
Daily cases as of 18 July 2020
So of course cases in the USA went up, cases in Canada levelled off, and so did cases in Mexico.
And now daily deaths, starting with the chart from last month:
Chart from last month
Confirmed deaths to 18 July 2020
So over the last month Canada’s numbers really went down, in the US they went down/levelled in spite of the drastic increase in cases, and in Mexico things have levelled off/gone down.
So on the 6th of July, a lot of things started opening up in our state, such as shopping malls and restaurants (with restrictions of course). This Monday, two weeks later, the next phase of opening is set to start. This will include a host of small businesses (although, let’s face it, many didn’t really close down), outdoor sports activities, hotels, and “religious services”.
The opening up does come with the usual warnings – wash your hands, wear a mask, continue “healthy distancing”, and so on.
Whether or not we’ll have a face-to-face service next Sunday I don’t know yet, but we’ve already been preparing for it. We met together (online) and talked about how we might handle things and what might need to be done. Like many churches, we’re considering a “hybrid” in which we will at least record, or maybe even stream online, as well as meet, at least for a while.
By the way, if we meet on the 26th, that will end 18 weeks of not meeting in person – just over 4 months. A third of a year.
This week we also had a meeting with our four preachers – your servant being one of them, and a man who is preparing to preach his first sermon another one of them! We shared a few ideas about preaching and sermon prep.
We certainly appreciate your prayers in a very busy time – busy for a lot of reasons, but I won’t get into them all in this post. But here are a few things that are coming up:
Tonight, our “Discovering Life” Bible study.
Tomorrow, our online interactive service. I will be preaching.
Tuesday, our hermeneutics class continues.
Thursday we attend an Avant seminar on church planting.
Saturday we continue our Old Testament Survey course.
Yes, central Mexico is taking some early steps in opening up again.
With the concern about the economy, it’s the financial world that’s opening up first. Shopping malls were never completely closed, but on Monday most stores and restaurants were open again. Hotels also opened, the the manufacturing industry is restarting. Everything is supposed to be at 30% capacity when it comes to crowds, and we’re encouraged not to crowd together.
So the contrast right now is that we supposedly remain in the category of maximum risk (red), but we’re moving ahead with opening up anyway.
Economy – that means both survival for many but also convenience for all – seems to be the driving force at the moment. Which raises the question – what does that mean for churches? Although we would consider our meetings “essential”, most of society wouldn’t see it that way.
The good news is that, going by official numbers, it looks like Mexico may be starting on a downward trend when it comes to COVID-19 deaths, although it’s too early to really know for sure. And cases seem to be still rising.
So, at the moment church services are down in the next category – high risk (orange). And probably not right when we enter orange, but two or three steps into orange, if that makes any sense. And the state authorities keep comforting us by affirming that we’re “on the road” to orange, even though we’re not there yet. 🙂
So, there have been some meetings. Shari met with another woman who works with her on the children’s ministry stuff. And last night a group of men from the church met (via video chat) to discuss re-opening. What measures should we take? What will the people of the church want/expect? What will the government want/expect? We have some ideas, but since there’s no knowing when things will open up, it’s hard to move ahead. For example, if we get the news that we can officially open up – and it’s Wednesday – will we be ready on Sunday? Or do we prepare for a week?
We are certainly thankful for the people of the church that God is raising up, and their ideas and wisdom and gifts. And how we constantly challenge one another to look to the Lord, and ask Him for what we want and need. At least, they challenge me!
Sometimes we get so caught up in plans and contingencies and speculation that we forget to … just … pray. Because there is One who already knows what needs to be done, and who has all the resources to get it done.
