In the Meantime...

So, not much has been going on here that is worthy of much reporting. It's been two weeks of settling in and getting to know my new schedule and activities, etc. However, one thing I thought my readers might enjoy is seeing what Sandy has been doing with her new camera. She is just LOVING it, and I didn't think it possible, but her pictures are even better than they were before...even saying it, I still find it hard to believe! So, I thought I'd post some of the favorites from what she's taken the last couple weeks.

This past week she and I went to Tuxpan to open her own bank account. This is necessary so that we can get her a paypal account so that she can sell her stuff online. The bank account is open, so all that is left is for us to sit down and choose which pictures to offer and set up the site online. Neither of us has had the time to do it so far, but it's coming. So be on the lookout for announcements of her pictures finally being available for sale!! I'm also trying to convince her to start her own blog. We shall see, but if she does, I'll let you all know! In the meantime, enjoy the pics of Sandy's world!!

Critters
They just seem to want to pose for her!

Flowers
The texture in most of these shots just astounds me!

Nature
She loves to capture the mystique and the light in nature!

Settling In & Prayer Update

This might be a little repetitive, but it's thorough. Enjoy
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Hello everyone!

I'm sorry I have been so quiet the last week and a half since my return to Mexico, but I did want to write and let you all know that I arrived safe and sound and that things are going very well so far.

My plane took off from Richmond International Airport around 8:30 am on Tuesday, October 16. After a short layover in Dallas, I arrived in Guadalajara around 4 pm (central time), at which point I passed through customs. Usually this is an ordeal because they don't like to give me the full 180 days on my visa that is legally allowed. So, I usually have to stick around Guad for another two days and pay immigration to extend my visa. However, this time, I had no problems getting the full time allowance, and once I was through those doors and in the taxi, I was on my way! Because I did not need to extend my visa this time, and because Sandy needed me to return pretty quickly to deal with some developments, I headed back to Cofradia on Wednesday, Oct. 17 and arrived around 1 pm (mountain time). It was a busy afternoon of visiting with people, unpacking, and settling in, but it got done. Mili was even able to spend the night after school let out (she's studying high school here in Cofradia during the week)!!

Because the rest of the staff (the Eliases, the TenBrinks, the Klippensteins, and the Taylors) all arrived back in Cofradia that same week, there was no rush to my process of settling in and getting my head screwed on straight since everyone else was doing the same. It was a very relaxing process, and I was even able to clean out my email inboxes!!! It's been quite a long time since they were without scroll bars for having so many messages awaiting attention! YEA!!

Tuesday of this week we had our first staff meeting since July. It was long, but it was productive. Of course we are all looking at having to make some adjustments to how we have done things because of the growth and the circumstances within the different ministries, so this is a time of figuring those things out for all of us!

For me, the changes look as follows:

• Mili is now living in Cofradia during the week studying high school. She has asked me to do a Beth Moore Bible study with her (Living Beyond Yourself), so once her member book arrives, we'll be figuring out schedules for that. She may also be living with me during November and December while the Silbermans are in the states (she lives with them during the week currently). Her teachers also have her helping to teach the English class, which means that I'm teaching her the English first! What I've been trying to avoid is finally unavoidable: I'M AN ENGLISH TEACHER!
• Ana has asked ME to be her mentor (quite a surprise, but a pleasant one). So, I am adjusting my schedule to accommodate a second mentor period during the week and my Bible study load will be increasing with Mili and Ana on top of already mentoring Sandy! Yea!
• Pete and Faye Klippenstein have joined our staff from Manitoba, Canada and do not speak Spanish. Dave has asked me to teach them. Therefore, I'm also now A SPANISH TEACHER(!!) with a weekly Spanish class!
• The high school that has started up in Cofradia meets in the afternoons (1:30-7:30). Therefore, our entire youth schedule has done some flip-flopping to accommodate the Junior High (mornings) and High School (evenings) schedules. It's making for some interesting (read late) schedules!

There are lots of other changes that have taken place within the church's general schedule that are very exciting and evidence of great growth in the believers who have involved themselves. So, we're all getting to know new schedules and doing a little bit of re-evaluating. It's sometimes frustrating, but otherwise I think it's a great challenge and that it's going to serve to sharpen us significantly. I'm especially excited for the increase in my mentoring load with Ana and Mili (although I will not be her primary mentor). And although I don't really like teaching, I think that the Spanish class has potential to be fun! I'm excited to involve the youth some once Pete and Faye are able to start having conversation hours to practice their Spanish!

Anyway, the next couple of months will be hectic with more staff travel and lots of staff planning for the next year. Please keep the following in prayer:

• Our staff planning meetings are coming up November 5-7. This is the time when we meet as a staff and hash our our immediate and long-term ministry goals as well as how we plan to raise the funds to accomplish them (if necessary). Please pray that we will have wisdom in our individual pre-planning and for productive three days of meetings.
• Evangelism Campaign, Nov 9-11. A Mexican pastor from Seattle, Rafael, will be joining us for this campaign, and we're trying to bring some folks down from the YWAM school in Mazatlan to handle the worship portion. We have also invited several surrounding churches to join us, and we're praying for a large turnout of non-believers who need to know the Lord! Please pray for a great harvest!
• The Silbermans will be traveling to the states for about 5 weeks or so (leaving the day after the Evangelism Campaign). Please pray for safe driving and healthy children. Their youngest is constantly catching something and has been sick more often than not in her short 1.5 years. It's always worse when they are traveling. Please pray that this would be a relaxing time for them as well. They deserve it after holding down the fort alone here for 2 months!
• The TenBrinks are trying to nationalize another truck. This is a tricky process that can go smoothly if know exactly how to do it. However, they cannot go to Arizona to retrieve the truck until their FM-3 visas arrive (they've been waiting since June). Please pray for those visas to finally finalize and for safe travels (also leaving just after the Evangelism Campaign) and a smooth nationalizing process for their new truck.
• Dave Elias will be traveling for several weeks in November & December. He leaves after the Evangelism Campaign for Flaggstaff, AZ for directors planning meetings with all the area directors and head office staff of Alternative Missions. Shortly thereafter, he and Pete will be heading to Hermosillo on a missions trip with their church in Canada. They will gone until Dec. 3. Please pray for safe travels, productive planning meetings, and for the Lord's work in Hermosillo.
• Christmas is coming! Which means lots of planning and activity! Please pray for peace and wisdom in this process! Also my sister will be coming to visit for Christmas, so please pray for safe travels and a really fun time!
  
• Short-Term Missions Season is coming! We have three teams overlapping in January to kick off our Short-Term Missions season! We are now entering our planning time for those teams. Please pray for wisdom and smooth communication and planning with these teams. They span the spectrum as far as types of teams, numbers, and activities. It will be exciting, but very hectic. Please keep this in your prayers as this planning overlaps our November and December planning and activities!

We will be busy, but the Lord is working, and it's EXCITING!!! Thank you for your prayers and for your support!! I look forward to keeping you posted on how things progress and what the Lord is doing!!

Happy Harvest Time!

New Look...

I GOT MY HAIR CUT SHORT!!! I was so ready for a change of look, and I really wanted my hair short enough that in a pony tail it would not be on my neck. It get so hot in Mexico in the spring and summer, that even in a pony tail hanging down my neck, it was too hot!! So, I decided to cut it off while I was home. I LOVE IT!!

The last time I had my hair cut really short, I was 20 and had just returned for a discipleship program in NY. It was cut way shorter than it is now, and it looked TERRIBLE! I was hoping that being shorter would help it to curl better. At that time it did not turn out that way, and I learned that my curls curled better long. However, this time around, I definitely have a tighter curl with the shorter cut, and it's SO FUN! So, here are the pics. Enjoy!

FRONT: The day after the cut, still styled

BACK

FRONT Curly

BACK Curly

Home Again

Well, I made it home safely to Cofradia this week. I left Virginia on Tuesday and arrived in Guadalajara around 4 pm Central time. I then headed to my friend Erika's house for the night. We had a good time watching movies while I dozed on the couch since I'd only had 3 hours of sleep the night before and had been traveling about 14 hours total. It was great to get some time with Erika and her family again. I wish I could have had more time to visit with them, but praise the Lord that customs gave me the full 180 days on my visa in the airport, so on Wednesday I boarded a bus for Cofradia and arrived around 1 pm Mountain time. I then proceeded to make the rounds and see people. It was so great to see the girls, my friends in town, and the staff. And of course it's always great to be back in your own home! It took about two days to get fully unpacked and set back up which included pulling stuff out of their storage places (towels, table cloth, etc.). But I'm all settled back in now and about ready to get back to "work"! I even had time to clean out my email inbox!! In one afternoon it went from having 120 messages (all read) to having less than 30!!! WAHOO!!!

I've already had some mentor time with Sandy, and Ana has informed me that I'm her pick for mentor now that she has completed our Navigators 2:7 discipleship class. So, I'll have some scheduling to figure out and my Bible study load is definitely going to increase! Please pray for wisdom as I try to discern what direction the Lord wants us to go in this mentoring relationship.

We have some new staff members, too. Pete and Faye drove down following Dave and Kathy from Canada. They don't speak much Spanish, however, so it seems I'll be doing some tutoring as well. I'm actually looking forward to that! Last year when I completed the Harvest language program, I actually bought the books for the first three levels of their program because I wanted to brush up on a few things that were not covered in my level. However, I never actually used them. Now, I'm glad I bought them anyway because they will be very useful in tutoring Pete and Faye! We'll have them speaking like Mexicans in no time!

Tonight is the first youth group meeting I'll be able to attend since returning, and tomorrow will be my first church service. The whole staff will be there tomorrow also, so it's going to be a ton of fun. We have lots of planning and catching up to do in the next few months as we prepare to end out this year and start yet another exciting one. So, please keep us all in your prayers as we settle in, catch up, plan, and move forward!

Too Cute!

So, I was catching up on the blog belonging to a friend from college, Rebecca Romaneski, and I came across this video that she posted. It was so darn cute that I grabbed it to post here. I am a huge proponent of teaching children to memorize Scripture from very early ages. I have friends who have practiced this with positive results. Here is just another example that yes small children can learn the Scriptures too, and I firmly believe that learning them at a young age increases the chances that "they will not turn" from the Way later on! Enjoy!

WOW!

This is worth posting. I love this videos. Please enjoy!

The "Great Exchange"

So, several weeks ago I began another Beth Moore Bible study. It's called A Woman's Heart, God's Dwelling Place, and it's a study on the Old Testament Tabernacle. The theme verse for Day 3 of Week 3 was this:

"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." ~2 Corinthians 5:21

One of the illustrations she used to paint a picture of what this really means for us was the story of Jonathan's covenant of friendship with David in 1 Samuel 18:1-4. I love how she put it, so I'm just going to share that here. I hope it touches and refreshes you as it did me!

"Although only Jonathan's gift to David is recorded, these verses probably portray the covenant of exchange, a practice in which two persons sealed a binding covenant by exchanging attire. This covenant represented a basic precept: 'I will become what you are, and you will become what I am with the result that our souls are knit together as one.' Because Jonathan was the royal son, the offspring of the first king of Israel, he was dressed in the finest royal robes. The riches of the kingdom were at his disposal, and his wishes were another's commands. But he desired one thing: for David to have everything he had. Jonathan was so intent that he was willing to change places with him and to become what David was.

"David, on the other hand, was only a shepherd boy. He came from a meager home and was a servant to King Saul. He wore a simple cloak, which likely still reeked of sweat and sheep...This covenant was based on Jonathan's love, not on David's. David's love is never mentioned.

"1 John 4:10 -- 'This is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.'

"Having put on Jonathan's robe, David rose as a king's son, dressed in splendid regalia, with teh king's emblem pressed on him. He might have experienced a moment of pride until he looked at Jonathan standing before him, probably having put on David's worn out robe, suddenly a servant. Perhaps as long as David looked at himself, he could almost believe that he deserved this destiny, but he could only feel humble when he looked steadfastly into the eyes of his covenant partner.

"May we never forget that in the 'great exchange' Christ also put on our robe: 'God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God' (2 Cor. 5:21).

"God addresses three kinds of righteousness in His Word: (1) Self-righteousness (see Matt 5:20). (2) Imputed righteousness -- righteousness given to us on the basis of our salvation when we become 'the righteousness of God' (2 Cor 5:21). After we are born again, the state of our imputed righteousness does not change. (3) Imparted righteousness -- the fleshing out or expression of the righteousness we have received in Christ, the Holy Spirit's righteousness applied to the soul. This is the difference between owning the royal robe and actually wearing it!

"Ephesians 4:22-24 -- '(22) You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; (23) to be made new in the attitude of your minds; (24) and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.'

"The key to wearing our new self, rather than allowing our robes of righteousness to hang in the closet, is found in Ephesians 4:23. Are you storing anything of the old self in the new mind? We are new creatures in Christ; but if we still think like the old creatures, we will find it impossible to personify the new. Most of our ways wars are fought on the battlefield of the mind.

"We will never experience the rich righteousness that Christ exchanged for our sins until we learn to love God with our minds."

September Support Request

Hello everyone! I hope that your Septembers have been memorable and enjoyable! I know mine has! I'm coming to the end of my stay in the states, and I find myself so incredibly thankful that the Lord allowed me to come home for September and part of October. I missed this fall-ish (ok, we have had some) weather, the changing of the leaves, the seasonal tastes and smells that come out this time of year, etc. It has been glorious, and I'm positive that heading back to the unimaginable heat of Mexico will be all the more sweet for having had this time to rest up and be home. I've enjoyed the time I've been able to spend with family, my church family, and friends. I know I haven't even made a dent in the list of people to see while I'm home. Hopefully in the next two weeks I will cover more ground. If you will be free at all and would like to get together, please don't hesitate to let me know! My schedule is flexible, and I travel! :)

Well, I head back to Mexico on October 16, and I just wanted to send out different sort of email update before I leave. Yes, this is a support request, but it is not just for me! There are several REALLY exciting giving opportunities in the ministry right now, and I just wanted to highlight them for you as well.

Of course, my first request is for my own budget support. I came home with the goal of raising $300 per month in order to reach 100% of my monthly budget. The Lord has been faithful in providing responsive hearts! Through verbal pledges, the Lord has raised $200 of that goal!! However, I still need $100 more per month before I jump up and down and do the happy dance! This is a really critical goal because I will be required to start paying off the rest of my student loans beginning in January, and that $300/month is the amount of my student loan payment every month. So, if you haven't already spoken to me or aren't already on my support team, please pray about whether or not to join me as a financial partner in addition to your prayer partnership! The Lord is doing REALLY EXCITING THINGS among the people of Mexico, and I'm totally pumped about what we see for the upcoming year of ministry among the youth, among the young ladies, and within the church in Cofradia and the surrounding area! God is preparing something really big, and it's starting to take off NOW! If you would like to hear more about my recent presentations about the last year or see pictures, just let me know. Regardless, thank you for your support and encouragement during the last year and a half. I look forward to enjoying them for the year to come!

As for giving opportunities within the ministry, there are several!

1. Youth Scholarship Fund: Riki and Jose Luis

Because of all the Lord is doing among our youth, we have begun a Youth Scholarship Fund. The design for this fund is to help the youth who feel that the Lord is calling them to ministry where they are required to raise some sort of support in order to follow that call. This fund is available to receive donations all the time, whether we have specific youth in mind or not. So, if you feel the desire to support the Lord's work in the lives of our youth, then please feel free to give any time!

However, we have two young men who are currently in the YWAM Discipleship Training School in Mazatlan who are in need of some pretty quick support. They left for the program at the beginning of September having received all they needed for their lecture phase (the first three months, $1000 each!). The Lord was very faithful to provide that through other supporters like you! However, I have recently heard from our staff in Cofradia that the money for their missions phase (the last three months) is due October 12!! Riki will be staying in Mexico and needs $1700; Jose Luis is hoping to go to Africa and will need $3500!!!!! Even though we only have less than two weeks to raise these funds, we are believing that the Lord is once again going to pour out his generous provision over them. If you would like to support Riki and Jose Luis, then please let me know ASAP!

2. Central Church Construction/Sanctuary Roof

We are still in the throes of construction on our new central church facility. This facility is so thrilling to us as we see this massive seemingly impossible dream taking form and shape before our eyes! We have come to the point in construction where we need to raise funds and specially-skilled teams for the raising of our sanctuary roof. The sanctuary is a gymnasium-sized room and will have a 29' roof! It is LARGE, and it will cost $21,000 just to fabricate and install the roof! We currently have $16,000 for the funds for the roof. Please consider if the Lord would have you partner with us in this amazing dream project! We are in need of more finances, first. To provide one whole rafter section would cost $1800. We have been encouraging folks and churches and organizations to consider raising the funds to donate a rafter section. But the Lord has appointed his givers and their gifts, and we are trusting Him in that.

We also need specially-skilled teams who would be able to donate a week or so of their time and labor to come to Cofradia and fabricate and install sections of the roof. Dave our director has an idea of how this will get accomplished once the teams are in place. We simply need the man-power.

If you and your friends/co-workers/church family, etc are interested in helping on a construction team or in donating financially, please contact David Elias, our director, at david@alternativemissions.com. We would rejoice over your partnership!

3. Radio Ministry

In January, our Pastor, Goyo, began preaching over the radio in our area. His program, "Restoring Relationships", is a half-hour show once a week that reaches not only our towns and the surrounding area but also far up into the mountains to the indigenous villages where the Cora Indians live. Goyo has been preaching once a week on the town PA system for quite a long time. There has been opposition to this, but the Lord has protected him through it all. I heard him say once that even though he has been threatened, he continues because He does not want to hear the Lord say to him one day, "Who told them about me?". When he hears the Lord say that, he wants to be able to answer truthfully, "I did for you, Lord!" This is the heart of his radio ministry, and the Lord has been faithful to provide the funds in our general budget for the once-a-week show.

However, Goyo's vision for this is that it eventually be aired three times a week for a half-hour each time. This, however, is expensive. The Mexican government does not grant radio licenses to religious organizations. Therefore, we must continue purchasing the air time. The cost of the program for three times a week would be $60/month. Compared to the cost of American airwaves, this is extremely inexpensive. However, our general budget would not support that expense. Therefore, we are asking that you pray about whether or not the Lord would have you support this specific ministry and reach not only the people we see but, more importantly, the people we don't see everyday! If you are interested, please contact David Elias, our director, at david@alternativemissions.com.

Thank you all for reading through these opportunities. If you have any questions or would like more information, do not hesitate to let me know. If you have friends or family you believe would like to know about these opportunities, then please forward this email on. If you know of other avenues we should pursue in our fund-raising, then please drop me an email and let me know about them so that I can contact the right people.

You are great friends and family, and I'm blessed to call you mine! Even better, I'm blessed that you are my brothers and sisters in Christ and that I get to spend ETERNITY with each one of you!! Thank you for your partnerships in prayers, financially, and in encouragement. I wouldn't be here if it were not for each one of you!!

Grace and peace to each of you in our Lord Jesus Christ

God's blessings are never ending!

So, this last weekend I had the privilege of spending some time with one of my best friends. We always make a point to spend time together when I'm home, and we always have such a great time! This time took the cake, though, because in addition to getting some quality time together, she also was able to present me with a digital SLR camera which she purchased for Sandy!! It's a Nikon D40, which is a great starter digital SLR. Sandy is still beside herself in the knowledge that I'll be presenting her with her very own camera, and a digital SLR to boot, when I return in two weeks. She is just so excited to be able to take pictures anytime she wants and to have the ability to do the kind of stuff she really wants to do with photography! What a blessing from above!

As an appreciation gift, Sandy had me put together a collage of her/our favorite pictures to present to this friend. She had no idea we were doing this for her, so it was a great surprise. The collage came out absolutely stunning. I showed it to several people in various cities on my trip to visit my friend, and all of them expressed a desire to own one themselves. This was very encouraging as I hope to be able to start making Sandy's photos available for sale sometime in the near future.

Anyway, all this to say that God is just unbelievably good...not because He provided Sandy with a camera, but because He just is. He was good before the camera, and He will remain good for all eternity. I simply wanted to state it for the record and give Him praise for it!