A drive of an hour and a half can mean a significant change of altitude around here, and so a significant change of climate. It seems funny to see everyone bundled up, ready to leave Ixtapaluca (I could see my breath), only to end up swimming at a waterpark…
(click image for larger version)
So we drove to the state of Morelos, and gradually started to thaw out. We met together in an amphitheatre in the forest and sang some Christmas carols…
David led the service, and Rod shared some biblical truths about baptism…
And then the three baptismal candidates gave their testimonies.
What an encouragement to hear how God has been working in their lives!
Finally, we went down to the river. Here’s a video of the baptisms – for reasons which will be clear, it’s hard to hear what’s being said. But you’ll get the idea!
After that, we enjoyed some delicious food and some wonderful fellowship and some walking and swimming (and sleeping!) as people desired, before heading back as night began to fall.
Thanks to everyone who was praying! Your prayers are not taken for granted. There were some challenging issues in the congregations – such as a fall, sickness, an accident – which could have caused problems. But God was good. Please continue to pray for those three teens who were baptized, and their families.
For more detailed information, with more videos and photos, check out Rod’s blog Mexico Matters!
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here! Many of you are probably feeling like you’re well into the Christmas season as well.
Our December began – well, with a heartbreaking loss by Canada at the World Cup… just after Mexico was eliminated. *sigh*
But on the bright side, it also began with a visit from our friends Greg and Shelli! A rare pleasure indeed. 🙂
We also started listening to some devotions for Advent as a family – it’s not too late to start, if you’d like to join us! The book is called The Dawn of Redeeming Grace: Daily Devotions for Advent, and we’re listening to the audiobook version. We’ve already had some great times to learn about and meditate on the coming of our Saviour this year.
If you’re praying for the ministry here, there are some neat things coming up!
This coming Sunday driving about an hour or so out of town to a water park, where we’ll be having a baptism service. One or two people will be baptized, as far as I know. Please pray for them, their families, and for the church, during this special time together.
The following Sunday I’ll be preaching a Christmas sermon, from a fascinating section of Jesus’ family tree. So I would appreciate prayer as I prepare for that. And after that we have more special services in December, fellowshipping with our brothers and sisters.
As we enter into the holiday season, it’s a wonderful time for believers here. But it’s also a challenge, as so many spend time with unbelieving family and friends. Please pray for our witness during these days.
Nathanael has a lot of heavy schoolwork right now, so you can pray for him as well, as he tries to get done in order to have some time off.
And, as many of you know, we’re looking forward to having Hannah here for a few days over the holidays! So a very special Christmas indeed. They’re all special, of course. 🙂
There are about a million other things going on, but I’ll leave it at that for now! Thanks for your prayers.
May Christ be glorified this month, and into 2023!
On the 22nd of October, our friend Edgar was on his way to a men’s Bible study. He never arrived.
Edgar (in green) grilling up some cactus at a men’s retreat in 2021.
We found out later that he had apparently lost consciousness and collapsed on the way, and somehow was taken to the hospital.
Edgar never regained consciousness in this world. He passed away just short of 13 days later. He was 42 years old.
Those of you who receive our email update were likely praying for Edgar and his family over those days. We appreciate your continued prayers for his family – his wife’s name is Violeta, and his children are Frida and Pablo.
I want to take a moment to remember Edgar here. He was not only an important part of the Las Palmas church, he was (is) also a good friend and an example to me. Of course, I’m nothing special – he was a good friend to many!
The word “deacon” in the Bible simply means servant. From the time we got to know Edgar a few years ago, we could see that the word applied to him. Without being asked, many times probably without being noticed, he was setting things up, cleaning things, and taking things down. He constantly showed interest in other people, especially in the youth. Both believers and unbelievers knew that he cared about them, and wanted them to seek the Lord in their lives.
Edgar leading the service.
Edgar would often lead the service. The last time he led was on the 25th of September. What he shared at the beginning of the service will always be a reminder to me of his Christian testimony.
Edgar read from God’s Word at least a couple of times during the service. He reminded us at one point that it’s very important to carefully study the Bible, so that when something false comes along, we’ll recognize it.
That week there had been an earthquake in Mexico, which most of us had felt. He started by asking if anyone had been afraid. It was, of course, the topic of conversation that week.
He chose to start the service with this text, from Romans:
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:35-39
Yes, I think Edgar would want every believer to be reminded of that today.
Actually, without it being planned, God’s love seemed to be a major theme at our church during those almost two weeks when Edgar was in the hospital. And God did show His love and care for the family in many ways during that time. We’re very thankful for the testimony that his immediate family has had during these difficult days, not only to us as a church, but also to unbelievers around them.
Violeta, Pablo and Frida – after they were baptized in July 2020. (Photo courtesy Rod Fry)
But as Edgar’s family moves into the unknown future, do keep praying for them. We’re all moving into an unknown future, aren’t we? And I think that Edgar would want us to be reminded that nothing can separate God’s people from His love.
And I still remember the smile on his face when he asked, “Was anyone afraid?”
Well, is anyone afraid?
Today, with more confidence than ever, I think that Edgar would say with a smile, “No need.”
This past Sunday, the Las Palmas Path of Life Bible Church celebrated its 6th anniversary! You can see our theme in the banner below (click for a slightly larger version). For those who can’t figure it out, it’s Matthew 28:18-20. The theme was chosen by the preacher, Ezequiel.
6th Anniversary Service banner
All was chaos before the service, I have to admit. Some people were trying to put up banners from our past anniversaries, with eventual success, but with many trials along the way! I was supposed to be practising with the worship team, but just had to get a video working – didn’t work on that laptop, didn’t work with that software download, connected another laptop… and on and on. The sound system stopped working, so we pulled out an old sound system which we limped along with. The video never did happen, but after we caught our breath – it was a great day! 🙂
Oscar led the service (he’s the first person you’ll see in the video), and did a great job. I made the video below a little longer than I intended to (obviously it’s all in Spanish, although I did subtitle one or two things at the beginning), because I wanted you to see just how many people were involved. People sharing testimonies, playing music, praying… and, of course, after the service – bringing food! And leading games! You’ll see some of that too.
The sermon was a great challenge to us all – very practical. And if we do what we did last year, we might keep this banner up at the front of the church for the year, as a reminder. It’s interesting how various parts of this passage have come alive in recent months – the authority of Christ, our responsibility in ministry – and especially over the last few weeks, the reminder that He is with us – a theme that has been strong in our study of Exodus as well (which we will be finishing in tomorrow’s service!).
You might recognize the song I was leading at the end, at the request of the preacher. If not, here it is in English, one of my current favourites.
Thanks again to so many of you who have prayed for and supported this ministry. Without further comment, here are some clips from Sunday.
If you would like to see the full service, just go here and go to the link for the 6th of November (6 noviembre 2022).
These have been difficult days for our church. Difficult days drive us to God’s throne in prayer.
An elderly lady recently passed away, after some very difficult final weeks. She didn’t attend our church, but has children and grandchildren and a great-grandchild who do, so her passing affected our church quite a bit.
If you get our email update, you may have been praying with us for our friend who suddenly collapsed two weeks ago, and has not regained consciousness. He is not only a good friend, but a man who has been a key servant to the church. We continue to pray earnestly for him and his family. [Edit: As I was posting this, our brother in Christ Edgar passed away.]
Last week his family and some of his wife’s family came to the service. His daughter and son volunteered to join the worship band, and they helped lead us in praise to God. It was a moving service, as we prayed together for this and many other needs in the congregation.
In the midst of all this, we’re preparing for the 6th anniversary of the church – this Sunday. We’ve simplified the celebration somewhat due to the circumstances, but we’re still looking forward to thanking God for His faithfulness over the past few years.
(The photo above is from the music time last week – Rod is leading, and you can see Nathanael on the ukulele to the right. The banner in behind is actually from last year’s anniversary service, with text from Exodus 6:7 – “I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God”. We’re just finishing our study of Exodus now, seeing the fulfillment of this promise in the book, and the application for us.)
You may have also been praying for our fellow missionary Chalo, who was in the hospital. He’s doing much better, and we were able to visit him last week. He’s home and already working, although he probably should be resting some more! 🙂
In the mundane of our own lives, this has also been a strange time. Without going into details, we’ve had some doctor’s visits. And as I mentioned in the last podcast, we went on an overnight trip to get Nathanael’s visa, only to find that the person who needed to complete the process wasn’t at the office! So this past week we made the trek again, and this time – success! Thanks for your prayers.
So in the end, the last few weeks have included a lot of unusual travel and appointments. It makes it hard to keep up with regular work (including Nathanael’s school). On the bright side, we’ve enjoyed some good family time together in the midst of it all. The “unusualness” will probably continue for the next couple of weeks, as we have at least one more appointment, the anniversary service, a wedding, rather urgent van maintenance…
So we appreciate your prayers as we navigate these turbulent times; that we would have the strength to deal with the “mundane” and still to be a light and an encouragement to others. I guess that’s a good prayer request for us all, isn’t it?
I’m sorry I haven’t been writing here more, but we’ve been trying to catch up on a number of things, as I mentioned earlier.
A chicken at church. That’s all.
But that’s not to say that nothing has been happening!
For example, one Sunday this chicken ended up on the church property. (No, this has nothing to do with Church’s Texas Chicken.) It did get out alive, you’ll be glad to hear (although there was some talk about wanting to illustrate the burnt offerings in Exodus). (Many of us may or may not have been inspired to have some yummy chicken dinners, though…)
For example, the last class of the Church History course was completed, with certificates being handed out. These are currently being given under our “civil association”. That’s how our community centre is recognized by the government.
This last class marked the end of three years of classes, with four churches involved, covering five college-level courses. We will likely be continuing with something in the new year, but we’re not sure yet what that will look like. We would like to do some more pastorally-focused courses (such as a preaching class), but I’m sure there are others who would like to continue their education as well, so we’ll see.
Shari and Nathanael enjoyed some time with other missionaries to Mexico at the annual InterMission Conference. What happened to Jim? Well, he was a little sick and so decided to sit this one out. Thankfully, it was a quick recovery.
Last Sunday I spent some time with some of the leaders of the churches in the Mexico City area. We’re hoping to restart having some meetings and activities on a regular basis, starting in the New Year. It was great to see some familiar faces and share and pray together.
Services and studies continue, of course. I won’t speak for everyone, but I’ve really enjoyed our study of Exodus! Lord willing we’ll be finishing our study in November, after more than a year. Right now we’re talking about the priests – their special clothes and their consecration.
Shari was teaching Sunday School last week. Look – rainbows! As you might guess, they were in Genesis 9. A wonderful testimony of the mercy of God in the face of our sin. They’re going through the Generations of Grace curriculum, which takes them right through the Bible.
And meanwhile, we’re trying to get some personal things done – some fixes around the house (our internet is still suffering, but a lot better than it was!) – Nathanael catching up with school – some doctor’s appointments – and working toward Nathanael’s new permanent residence visa. (Yes, he already has a “permanent” visa, but because he got it before he was an adult he needs to renew it once to get his adult version.)
There’s lots of planning going on as well. We’re already looking toward next year and what will be happening in the church. But more immediate is our church’s 6th anniversary – on the 6th of November! Lord willing I’ll be able to show you some pictures – maybe even some video, if I’m on the ball.
