Practical matters

11 April 2015

Change of Address (and other strange mail-related stuff)

Some of you may have received an email about the change of address for the Camino Global office in Canada. Since this is the place we receive mail as well, I thought I’d better highlight it here too.

You can find the new address and other information about contacting us right here on our contact page.

If you are sending donations to our ministry in Canadian funds, this is also the new address for that purpose. Learn more on the Canadian donations page.

And now, an odd note about the Camino Global US office. No, the address has not changed – you can find all the same information about donating in $US right here.

But strangely enough, during the week of November 16-22 2014, the US Postal Service lost some of Camino’s mail. That’s right, a day or two of mail just vanished off the face of the earth.

So if you sent in a check that was never cashed, or you sent us a letter around then, you might just want to double check.

Weird, I know.

Thanks again for your letters and donations and all the other ways that you are a part of what happens here!

2 December 2014

Of Visas and Missionaries

Jim Mexico, Missions, Practical matters, Prayer and Praise, ST Highlight 0

Yesterday we drove all the way to the other side of the city (only about 2 hours, thanks to a newer highway that takes us around the southern part) to do some more visa paperwork.

As we waited in our third line-up, a woman behind us asked how long it was taking us to get our visas. “Well, we’re just renewing,” we answered. She was getting her visa for the first time, and it was taking weeks and weeks.

But then we told her the bad news that we had started working on these renewals at the beginning of August. And then I tried to soften the blow by telling her that she is “not alone”!

Thousands and thousands of more pesos later, our paperwork is – as far as I can tell – done! Except that three of us still don’t have visas. Lord willing they will be in our hands next week.

Talking with our lawyer afterwards, we got some good news – and bad news. The good news is that, for once, we timed things right. We should all have three year visas, good until 2017. But the bad news is that we almost didn’t.

It sounds like the government is going to continue making things very difficult for those who are serving the Lord in Mexico. As many of you know, the cost has skyrocketed, and shows no signs of dropping. But from the sounds of it, it’s going to be even more difficult in the future.

In the last 20 years there has been an unprecedented openness in Mexico. But please pray for, and encourage, missionaries that you know who are here. Pray that we would make the most of the time we have. And pray that more workers would come to this strategic area where so many unreached and little-reached peoples live.

21 October 2014

Building UP!

Jim Practical matters, Prayer and Praise, ST Highlight 0

Here’s the building we meet in on Sunday. But do you notice something different? That’s right – a second floor!

After the most recent robberies of the property, we knew we had to do something drastic. So here it is.

Actually, this was already a part of the plan, but it wasn’t what we were planning to build next.

But the plan was changed. We’re building rooms and bathrooms up there. The purpose of the bathrooms should be obvious. The rooms can be used for meetings and also to house visitors.

Or – perhaps for the time being, to actually house a family.

The idea is to have someone there at night, so that no one can sneak in. So it looks like one of our church families will be moving in, which will help them and help all of us.

So the hired workers have been working madly to get the job done.

The property actually doesn’t have permanent bathrooms yet, so these will be the first. Of course, there’s still a minor detail – we still don’t have water hooked up yet. We’re trying, really we are.

Thanks again to all who have given to the Ixtapaluca Project. The funds have been a huge help, especially now when the need is so urgent. And we’re not quite done the project yet – we’ve raised about 90% so far. If you’d like to help, visit this page.

The most important work, of course, is the people! Please keep praying that we would be faithful to God’s calling to share His Word and His love. There are many challenges and struggles, many of which I can’t write about here. But our Lord is faithful, and powerful, and He holds us in His hands!

12 August 2014

Is Being a Missionary an Extreme Sport?

Jim Practical matters, Prayer and Praise, ST Highlight 0

Actually, this post is a prayer request. Here’s the short story – please pray especially for our missionary associates here in Mexico and for us.

Now before we get into the medium-sized version of the story, you’ll be relieved to hear that we’re all (to my knowledge) safe and no one is deathly ill, or anything along those lines.

However, the last month, and even the last few days, has been quite the collection of misadventures that not only tend to discourage, but also suck the time, money, and energy right out.

Of course you remember our van trouble in July. On the 22nd we finally completed some repairs and started heading south. But four days later Julian and Malu, who were in Mexico already (serving north of Mexico City for a couple of months) had transmission problems. That was a time consuming and money consuming problem for them.

Well, we finished our most recent repair on the 28th of July, and on the same day, our co-workers the Topps were heading north and their engine blew. They spent the next two days getting their vehicle fixed.

In other vehicle news, Julian and Malu were planning to come to Ixtapaluca today – they were on their way – and … well, looks like it’s the transmission again. So I don’t think they’ll make it here quite yet.

That’s just our team – I didn’t mention to Prusias, other co-workers with Camino, who were stuck at the border toward the end of July while they waited for the right part for their vehicle.

But I’ll try to stick to our team for the moment. That’s only vehicle issues. There have been lots of other things going on. For example, Tina had to unexpectedly move only days before she left for a few weeks, because – well, let’s just say her neighbour was “misbehaving”. And if you’re thinking she should have just put up with it a few days more – well, don’t think that. It was necessary that she move.

And then today she missed her flight, was switched to another, and had the second one cancelled. Thankfully she’s on her way now. She is. Not sure where her luggage is going to end up.

Well, that’s only a sampling of the last few weeks. I could go on and on, but you wouldn’t read it, and if you did you probably should be doing something else.

So here are some brief requests if you want to pray specifically:

Pray for Tina: She’s touring around in the USA sharing about Mexico and raising support to complete her transition from “mid-term” missionary to “full-time” missionary.
Pray for Julian and Malu: That they would be on their way again soon with a reliable vehicle.
Pray for Chalo and Beth: I didn’t mention them above, but they are other team members of ours leaving today for a home assignment. Please pray for safe travels, and health and energy.
Pray for Emily: She just arrived on Saturday, and has been caught up in the tempestuous times in which we live! Please pray for her patience and wisdom in the transitions that she is experiencing.
For us! We have 1000 things on our mind, including visa paperwork that we’re trying to complete at the moment. We’re also getting everything ready for the kids’ new school year, and preparing for up-coming ministry.
And don’t forget our other co-workers … Jessica in Ixtapaluca, Mark and Angelica in Pachuca, and the Fry family, currently in the USA.

Of course all of the above comes with a large financial cost. So everyone above would appreciate your prayers for God’s provision.

If you’d like to help our family financially, you can give here.

Out to lunch at Espartacos with Tina, Jessica, and Emily

23 July 2014

Heading South

Jim Practical matters, Prayer and Praise, ST Highlight 0

You’ll be glad to hear – our van is fixed! I haven’t gotten into the whole story here, and I’m not going to now…

However, the current news is that we’re heading south today – driving, driving, driving, on our way back home to Mexico!

As always, we would appreciate your prayers as we travel. If we don’t talk to you before then – Lord willing we’ll blog next from Mexico City!

12 July 2014

In a Fix?

Jim Practical matters, Prayer and Praise 0

Some of you have following bits of our latest “van adventure” on Facebook or Twitter.

It’s a veeeerrrrrrryyyyy long story. So I’m not going to get into all of it here – at least, not for the time being.

So here’s the short version. We had some van trouble while visiting friends in the USA. We did our best to make wise decisions, got the council of other people, prayed, discussed, and proceeded to get it checked out and then fixed.

Or perhaps I should say, “fixed”.

Thinking we would be leaving the state on Monday, four (VERY expensive) days later, we were still in it. The van is now … “fixed” … enough to drive. So far so good. But are things really fixed? Actually, we seem to have one or two problems that we didn’t have when we took the vehicle in to the mechanic!

I know, that raises all kinds of questions in your mind, and seriously, if we could sit down face to face I’d tell you the whole story.

Meanwhile, we’re taking some MUCH NEEDED days off, for physical and spiritual refreshment, assuming our van gets us to our destination.

So excuse me – I’ll be away for a while. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t completely left in suspense. Yes, we’re on the road again. At the moment. The story is not over, and I don’t know how it ends.

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