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Directly Focused in All Directions

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Sunday School reciting verses
Shari and the Sunday School kids reciting verses last Sunday.
Sometimes life is like that. As much as it would be nice to focus your energy on one thing, instead you have to run madly off in all directions!

So that’s what life is like right now, as I take just a moment to take a breath and write you a note.

So what are just a few (seriously, only a few) of the things we’re dealing with right now? Well, getting ready for the school year (Was that book shipped? How are we getting those books to Mexico? It will cost how much??), doing paperwork for visas (Sign this please. And this and this. We need pictures taken – when can we schedule that? Why is this number missing on this document? It will cost how much??), household stuff (Uh oh, that’s falling apart – fix it or replace it? How are we going to find time to deal with those leaks? And those ones?), Sunday service prep (Songs ready? Sunday school materials organized?), preparing for the fall (When are we going to get ready for those studies? Actually, when are we going to have those studies? Who can fill in while so-and-so is away? How can we involve so-and-so?), and a myriad of other concerns (Yes, we should go to the dentist. We need to pick that up, drop that off – why didn’t that shipment come? I was supposed to pay that bill today. We’re running out of….).

Well – what’s coming up tomorrow? Tomorrow we have a guest speaker – our coworkers and friends from the city of Pachuca are coming to our service. We’re looking forward to seeing them, and all the “regulars”, and to learn together from God’s Word.

Meanwhile – I think I had something I was supposed to do…

People Under Construction

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Yesterday Shari and Hannah were in the community of Jesús María, lending a hand at the kids’ club that the church is putting on this week. Quite a crowd, as you can see!

Under Construction Kids' Club
More construction at the kids' clubThe theme of the year is “Under Construction”, and so there are lots of hard hats and safety vests to be seen. Yesterday, a large group from the power company happened to be meeting right by the club, getting ready to do some repairs. So some people from the church invited a few of them over to stand at the front while the kids sang one of their songs – adding an extra “construction ambience”, and hopefully being a bit of a witness to the workers too! 🙂

Moms under construction
As is often the case, there was a little class for the Moms who were hanging around. Shari joined them toward the end, and had a good chance to talk with them.
Stickers!
There are so many challenges that people (including Moms!) go through, and it’s hard to see them struggling to find answers without really knowing Christ. Please pray that God would work in their lives, so that they would accept God’s gift!

And please pray for the church and for the kids as they continue to learn about the Lord today and tomorrow!

A Month of Short Term Teams Ends!

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We have reached the end of a month filled with short term teams! How can I sum it all up? Impossible.

I did show you a few photos from the Mt. Calvary Team’s first few days. I also wrote a bit more about their trip and the upcoming team here. You actually saw a video of an event that the Connect Team (team #2) was involved in here. Rod also posted some video/pictures of this team: Connect Group in Ixtapaluca and Veracruz (Video).

I didn’t have a chance to write after that. Nathanael and I were with the Connect Team in Villa Hermosa, a small village in the State of Veracruz (there’s more than one Villa Hermosa, so here it is on the map. Just zoom out to get an idea where it is. You can even see the main road on Google Street View.)

The people in Villa Hermosa were very gracious and we enjoyed our time of ministry in a couple of churches there, although perhaps our greatest ministry was just spending time with people.

The last team to come was from Leroy Community Chapel in Ohio. They did a lot of work with the construction of the main sanctuary for the church in the community of Jesús María. They finished the stage and also put up lighting. They also were involved in hearing aid/reading glasses evangelistic events, visitation, a craft class, and service at a rehab centre.

By the way, there are dozens of new pictures in our photo gallery, if you’d like to see what all this looked like!

I was especially excited about the event we had in Las Palmas. We’ve never done anything like this in Las Palmas, but the party hall was full of people getting their hearing checked, and getting reading glasses. We partnered with the municipality, who also brought in a chiropractor!

Apart from seeing people’s eyes light up when they could actually hear with a new hearing aid, it was exciting to see people hearing the gospel, and to see conversations going on around the room, often with Bibles open. A new family came to our Sunday service who had gotten to know us through this event.

More video and pictures from this team from Rod: Leroy Chapel Construction and Outreach (video)

When short term teams come to Ixtapaluca, one of the things they almost always mention in the feeling of community. That’s because of the Mexican culture, but also the service of fellow believers that they meet here. The team members usually stay in Mexican homes, and get to know people in real life.

So I’d like to close with a few photos from the goodbye party that we had for team #3 in the church in Jesús María. This team, and all the teams, made an impact on people’s lives. And the people here in Mexico made an impact on their lives. And God continues to work!

New Mexican Family
Team members have new Mexican families
Happy birthday, Michelle!
A birthday surprise for Michelle!
Google Translate
Thankful for Google Translate
Cross-cultural Selfie
Cross-cultural Selfie
Prayer Time
Two churches from two countries pray together, under the newly installed lights!

A Hearing Aid/Glasses Event (video)

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Some of you have heard about our recent events in Ixtapaluca, where we have been providing hearing aids and reading glasses for people in need, along with a presentation of the gospel. Well, today you can get a glimpse of what one of these events looks like.

I was able to help one lady with her new hearing aid. Her hearing was pretty bad, so I was either shouting instructions or making sure she was looking at me so that she could understand what I was trying to tell her.

This particular person was also waiting to receive a pair of glasses. Her name was called from the front, and up she went. When she sat down, her friend said,“You actually heard them call your name?!” Well, she was pretty proud of her new ability to hear what was going on. 🙂

Anyway, here you can see a little of what happened this time around.

Between Two Teams

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Our remaining time with the team from Mt Calvary went well. There were lots of other fun activities. For one, the women promoted and joined a craft class hosted by the church in Santa Barbara. Here are a few of them – they were making pretty greeting cards.

Crafts - Santa BárbaraAlso, we continued with evangelistic events, where we providing hearing aids and reading glasses to people who needed them, along with sharing the gospel. Here’s the team singing in front of a large crowd in the town of Río Frío (also in the municipality of Ixtapaluca).

Mt Calvary in Río FríoThe next team arrives tomorrow, so I’ll be heading downtown with them, Lord willing. Shari and Hannah will be teaching the adults and kids back here in Ixtapaluca at our regular Friday evening study.

This team will be starting their ministry on Saturday, and I’ll be preaching on Sunday.

Sunday afternoon, Nathanael and I will be heading out with the team to the State of Veracruz. I’m mainly going to help with transportation, and there was just enough room for one more small person, so Nathanael is squeezing in too.

The team will be involved in ministry in various areas in the state.

Here’s a photo of some of the people who took a similar trip a few years back. Some of the same people will be there this time.

On the ferry in VeracruzWe’ll be gone until Thursday, the team flies Friday, and the next team comes Saturday. And so it continues!

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