This past Saturday, we joined together with the youth group for a special birthday party and goodbye party for Nathanael! As you may know, he’s planning to work in Canada for a while, so this is one of the last youth events he’ll be at.
Above is the banner we printed, showing the theme. Chess! And making the next move, of course – to Canada. Our theme verses were Joshua 1:8-9.
Of course, one of Mom’s cakes was involved…
Those chess pieces are homemade chocolate, by the way.
There were some games…
And a potluck meal. Yum.
There was also a Bible study time (part of the normal youth group schedule), and a time of sharing and encouragement for Nathanael, and a time of prayer.
There was even some actual chess playing!
We’re so thankful for these wonderful friends – and brothers and sisters in Christ!
We were so thankful for the leadership recognition service on the 30th of April – so why didn’t we post anything about it? Well, for those who know us well, we could just say “it’s May” (hence crazy busy) and that might be enough. But we were also trying to get the news out to our Support Team first, so hopefully many of you have already heard the news! If not, there is probably a letter on its way to you. 🙂
(left to right) Ezequiel, Esther, Viri, Oscar
Anyway, yes! On the 30th of April we had a special service to recognize the first national leaders of the Path of Life Bible Church Las Palmas (Iglesia Bíblica Sendero de Vida Las Palmas)! Ezequiel and Oscar have already been doing the work of elders, but this service was a time to specifically honour them and their wives, to talk about leadership in the church, and to lay hands on them and pray for them.
I (Jim) had the privilege of leading the music, with Nathanael as one of my fellow musicians, and all the songs were chosen by Oscar and Ezequiel. It was neat because the songs all emphasized their desire to look to the Lord and put Him first. In fact, every song except one was directly a prayer – and the one that wasn’t was instead a testimony. (I don’t know which songs have English versions, but you might recognize songs such as “Psalm 5 (Give Ear to My Words)” and “Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me”.)
Oscar shared a little bit about our friend Edgar, who passed away this past November. It was important to us that he be remembered in this service, because he had had a leadership role as well. We miss Edgar, but look forward to seeing him again soon.
Rod preached about the role of pastors in the church from 1 Peter 5, and other texts. Martín, pastor of the church in the community of Santa Barbara, gave the charge to the congregation.
Next the two couples were presented with various symbols representing different aspects of the ministry…
Shepherd’s staff, representing pastoral leadership (1 Peter 5:1-4).
Basin and towel, representing humble service (John 13:3-5).
“My house is your house” decorative plates, representing hospitality (Titus 1:7-8).
Framed verses – 2 Timothy 3:16-17, representing the Bible as our authority.
Shari and I presented the last one.
Then we laid on hands and prayed, along with other elders and pastors and their wives from the area.
Time of Prayer (photo courtesy Nathanael)
Of course, no special service would be complete without some food and a time of celebration! And some cakes! Maybe even some impromptu games!
A cake featuring 1 Timothy 3:1-7
No one really wanted to leave, so I think it was evening by the time everything wrapped up. 🙂
Thanks so much to everyone who was praying – and who is praying! We’re so thankful for these men and their families, and for many other men and women who are already helping with the ministry of this congregation. But the work of this young local church is only beginning – may God grant that it would be a light here in Ixtapaluca and around the world! Please continue to pray for this church, and especially these leaders, who are finding their way into the service of this growing congregation.
Actually, mixing with missionaries isn’t something that we do all that often! But as you saw from our newsletter, it’s been a bit of a theme in the early weeks of 2023.
We enjoyed, for example, a visit from two couples from the US who are part of our mission (at two different times). We had some fun time to hang out and chat.
We recently enjoyed some “cultural orientation” time in Mexico City, and, of course, some fellowship, with a missionary family who has been on the field for a few months (but I had not yet met them) (picture above). So we saw the sights and had some tacos, and then we all came back to worship with our church on Sunday.
A tradition has been “MK Camp” every spring, and this will likely be the last one for a while for Nathanael! We’re there right now. 🙂 Shari is the counsellor for the younger girls.
We’re in prayer for our church, and other churches in Mexico City, as this week is also a youth camp! Due to previously mentioned conflicts, we’re not there. But I’m sure they would appreciate it if you join us in prayer for the youth and the leaders and organizers. They’re there at a camp out of state until Saturday.
And then – Resurrection Sunday! If everyone coming back from all their camps is still awake to celebrate properly. We’re looking forward to the weekend, which gives us an extra reminder to meditate on and celebrate our God’s great work of salvation for us.
So a bit of a breather over the weekend before plunging into a few weeks of absolute chaos. But we won’t talk about that right now! Just stopping by because I realized I hadn’t updated you all for a while.
Our worship service on the 12th of February was kind of cool – because all three of us were involved! Yes, it happens sometimes.
Music practice, David leading
Shari was leading the kids’ teaching time, with a lesson about Jacob and Esau (Genesis 27:1-46; Romans 9:13). Nathanael grabbed his trusty ukulele and helped with the worship music. And I led the service.
We’re keeping busy, but there are a lot of other people working hard too! We’re still trying to get the “shade” just right, with some new mesh tarps. This Sunday will be attempt #3, but things are improving each week. It’s partly a matter of making things easier to set up, and partly a matter of covering what needs to be covered.
A Sunday morning in February 2023
Last Sunday we had another practical problem, however – we ran out of chairs. Two men rushed out to get some stools so that everyone could sit down under our nice shade.
So… I’ll be buying some more this week. However, finding a place to store them all is becoming a problem. Good problems, but problems.
As God continues to work in our local church, the world, the flesh and the devil attack. So we would appreciate your prayers for people in our church who are struggling with health issues, family problems, and bereavement. It’s a challenging time.
We’re also looking forward to starting up a couple of Bible studies – a general one starting this Friday, and in the near future a new study for the women. Please do pray that people will come and that God’s Word will be applied to their hearts.
I realized recently that I don’t like blog posts that look back over the Christmas season after it’s over. Having launched into a new year (and for us, getting past the end of the holiday season on the 6th), it seems so anti-climactic to go backwards again.
And yet, here I am, sharing a few random notes and facts from the past three weeks. I’ll try to keep it short.
New Year’s Service
Hannah in Ixtapaluca: Hannah was able to visit us, thanks to a program through our mission that helps pay for a visit home for MKs. What a blessing to enjoy our first Christmas in four years together!
Shortages: Like most of the world, we’ve been dealing with random shortages here. For example, over the fall it was certain sizes of paper. This week I discovered that my brand of deodorant was completely gone (don’t worry, I haven’t run out yet!). But for us who have our special recipes over the holiday season, our challenge was to find heavy cream, which has oddly been very hard to find at certain times.
Dedicated mail carrier: Here’s dedication for you. Our mail carrier happened to see us driving down the street, and he had a small package for us. He chased us for several blocks on his motorcycle and flagged us down so that he could make his delivery.
Two chilly services: We enjoyed two special evening services at our church, by a campfire. One was oddly rainy (add because it’s dry season). But we put up some tarps and warmed ourselves by the fire and ate tamales, and were all right. In the end, both services were great times of reflection and worship.
New life: Hannah and I were walking to the store when we saw a pregnant lady on the street a few blocks from our house. We didn’t stop and help, because there were already some people there and a police officer was walking over. But when we passed by again, there was no doubt anymore what the problem had been. The lady was still in the street, and we heard the newborn baby crying.
Games: We were able to get some time off over the holidays, and we enjoyed playing games together. One of these days I should write some reviews for you! But anyway, for new games we’ve been enjoying Space Park, Furnace, and an expansion for Galaxy Trucker – Galaxy Trucker Keep on Trucking.
Luggage: From the time it was put on the plane to the time it arrived at our house, Hannah’s luggage took almost exactly 6 days to get here. It arrived on Christmas morning. But hearing other people’s stories, we were very thankful that Hannah made it – even though she arrived a day late!
John: This year we’re very excited to be studying the Gospel of John as a church! For Christmas, Shari gave me a “Journible” of John, which is basically a good quality journal in which you write out the entire Gospel (see Journibles here). So I’ve been enjoying starting the year out in John.
Tea: If there was a gift theme this Christmas for our family, it was probably tea. Everyone got some tea. Because, after all, everything is better with tea.
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!
