Cy-Fair Youth Outreach

So, we just finished up a great team that came down from Cy-Fair Christian Church in Houston, TX! This is the same group that arrived the same day as I did last year when I first moved down here, so it was extra special for me to work with them again this year. Just another way of remembering and celebrating all the Lord has done in my life this year! Anyway, this team was STELLAR! It was such a blast to work with them, and they came down raring to go! Our youth LOVE this team! They had been looking forward to their arrival for months, and especially after the youth leadership conference in February, which was led by the two pastors who come down with this group each year. And from what I can tell, the outreach as a whole lived up to the expectations!

Of course, they too worked on the construction of the new church facility, and man did they WORK! They poured the ENTIRE SANCTUARY FLOOR in four days...actually, in 8 hours total if we want to be really accurate. They worked about 2-2.5 hours each morning on a different section of the floor. In addition, some friends of Dave and Kathy's (a father and son team) came down from Canada to help with this project because the father is a concrete expert! So, not only did this team get it done fast, but they got it done well. It's truly beautiful to look at! Anyway, this is such a feat because this floor is slightly larget than a full-sized basketball court, and it will serve not only as the floor of our sanctuary but also as the site of various sports activities: basketball, soccer, volleyball, relay games, etc. (Yes, we are also installing soccer goals and basketball hoops, which means the ceiling of this structure will also be a gigantor project!). Anyway, like I said, they worked hard and they worked well, the end result being a beautiful sanctuary floor!

An areal view, from the roof of one of the storage rooms next to the platform.

Corner to corner (diagonal). As you can see, this floor is so big, I can't get the whole thing in a picture!

For their outreach, this team focused on our youth once again. The first day of activities, Sunday, they were all divided into four teams, and everyone played get-to-know-you games. Monday, we played more games but in the direction of team building games, including a huge human Sudoku game. For this game, we actually sketched out four huge Sudoku cubes and the kids had a game printed on paper that they had to solve and then transfer to the chalked games on the soccer court. This turned out to be a very interested experience because each team consisted of both Mexicans and Americans, which caused a language barrier, and many of the Mexicans didn't even know how to play the game. Despite these barriers, two of the teams (one girl, one boy) worked well together as a team, overcame their barriers, and finished well. However, two of them did not, and the overall result of this experience provided some extremely useful and practical life examples of what it means to be part of the body of Christ and function as one! Some really great discussion came out of this, and it was only the precursor for the next day's activities!

Tuesday, the kids participated in a mini-Reto (which means "challenge"). This was something like what we do here in Cofradia in our youth ministry during the month of September each year. This was one basically a mini-Amazing Race set-up, and the end goal was that each team was to find the necessary things in order to make hand-made tortillas, which they later had relay races to eat! The cool thing about this is that in Sudoku, the Americans had the chance to teach the Mexicans something (the game!), and in the mini-Reto it was the Mexicans' turn to teach the Americans something (how to make tortillas by hand!).

The RED Team!
These girls called themselves the Amazons and painted one cheek with something girly, and one cheek to represent the warrior inside of them!

The ORANGE Team!

The YELLOW Team!

The BLUE Team!

So, here's how it worked. At the beginning of the race, the first activity had them divide their teams into four mini teams that consisted of at least one Mexican and one American each. Then those four mini teams were given clues to the next location they had to find and the acitvity they had to do there in order to win what they needed for their end project. The four teams were "firewood," "water," "flour," and "griddle." Those were the things that they had to find and then all meet back up at a final location to actually make the tortillas by hand, each one having to measure exactly 13 cm in diameter: any more or less and they didn't count! They had to make 2 per person on the team. In order to win their prizes, teams had to do stuff like clean a yard (with machetes), wash dishes, sweep, mop, play another sudoku game, push a truck around a baseball field back to home plate, and some other fun activities.

The catch in all this, however, was that this time they had to do it all with NO TRANSLATORS! And all of the clues had key words in a mixture of Spanish and English so that no one nationality knew exactly what was going on..they had to figure it out TOGETHER. While the immediate goal was to make tortillas and be the first to eat them all, the overarching goal was for them to learn what it meant to put aside their differences, work as a team, and aim for the very best for the team rather than the individual, just like we have to do in the body of Christ! And let me tell you, it was a very effective activity! In debriefing the teams afterward, by a landslide the most common lesson learned was what it really meant to be part of a team and to leave the individual behind. They learned that their differences didn't make as big of a difference as they originally thought, that they didn't have to speak the same langugage to communicate and work as one. They also learned that if they were just thinking of getting the thing done and finishing first that they fell apart as a team, but if they were thinking of each other and making the team the first priority, then they found it became much easier to reach their goal, and much faster at that! In addition, many of the girls in my group, Mexican and American, shared that before this experience they had never really been able to trust other people when something had to get done or when something important was on the line. But through this, they didn't have the choice, and they learned that trusting other people and allowing themselves to let other people play a part in the thing made all the difference in the world and created an intimacy and unity that all of them admited that none of them had ever experienced before! Praise the Lord for these practical lessons that He puts in our lives in the most surprising ways! Where would we be without them!

Anyway, Wednesday of that was a free day, and the boys went off to play sports in the afternoon while the girls hung out in Cofradia and did crafts! They all had such a good time making picture frames. The team had brought down simple, undecorated wooden frames and unimaginable amounts of decorative papers in all shapes and sizes and patterns, foam sticky shapes, wooden shapes, ribbons, sayings, inspirational words defined, verses, etc. It was a crafter's paradise! And we had a blast! When we were all done, they played a dance game called Little Sally Walker, and while the Mexican girls seemed very shy about this, in the end they were having as much fun as anyone else! It was a great time of fellowship and fun!

Our picture frames! Aren't they GRRRREAT?!

Mili, Sarah, and Cecilia playing one of the group games played after finishing our craft!

Thursday was the culminating event: the Oscars Banquet! And how cool did that turn out! Last year was the first year they did this particular activity. Our cooking staff whipped up a fabulous feast that was given for the Mexian youth, to honor and love on them, by the American youth. The Americans decorated the church in Arrayanes with white tool and candles, white silk flowers, white christmas lights, and just made it all so elegant and beautiful. It was even complete with red carpet for the entrance! When it was time to open the doors for the Mexican youth to enter, all the staff and American youth and leaders lined the red carpet and cheered as each one walked the red carpet and stood for pictures. Man did were those flashes going! It seriously felt like being at the Acadamy Awards (as if I'd know what that actually feels like!)

It was a candle light dinner during which the Americans served and the Mexicans and the missionary staff ate while a slide show of the week played in the background for all to enjoy. Then to end the evening, we presented awards to the Mexican youth for their progress in several areas over the last year. The team had brought down trophies that were similar in style to the Oscars statuette, and they had had them engraved with the winners names (though the winners did not know ahead of time that they were receiving the award). As Steve presented each award, he took time to talk about each youth and their progress over the year and why we decided to give them that particular award.

AND THE OSCAR GOES TO...

The Hospitality Award-- No Winner This award is given to the youth who is consistant about going out of their way to make teams that come down feel welcome, whether that be awaiting their arrival, visiting them during the week, comeing to say goodbye, helping clean to prepare for their arrival or after their departure, etc. We did not award this one this year, though we do have a statuette for it, because we did not see anyone showing hospitality on a consitant basis over the last year. However, Steve told them that we would have this trophy in a very visible place throughout the year to remind them as teams come and go to work towards this particular manifestation of Christian brotherly love.

The Most-Improved Band Member Award: 2 Winners!

Jose Luis (Fursio) received this award for his improvement as a drummer. He typically plays drums both in the morning and afternoon at the services in both Cofradia and Arrayanes. He comes on his own during the week to practice his drumming, and has improved significantly over the last year through his committment to do so.




Jose Angel (Chupa) also received this award for his improvement as worship leader in Cofradia. Steve began training him as one of two youth worship leaders a year ago, and Chupa has grown immensely as a leader in worship as well as a sinSger.





The Spirit Award: Claudia Claudia received this award because she always has a smile on her face and participates in whatever is going on without ever complaining. She never moans and groans if something seems hard or disgusting or unpleasant. She just does it! She has definitely set an example in the last year for what it means to do everything with joy and enthusiasm as though working for the Lord!



The Braveheart Award: Sandy This award is given to the youth who has taken the biggest steps in their Christian walk over the last year, and Sandy has definitely earned it this year. Sandy has shown over the last year an unrivaled willingness to do whatever it takes to follow her Lord and allow Him to mold her for. She has grown into a woman who loves the Word and stands firm on it in the face of strong and intimate opposition, and it has been incredible to see how the Lord has changed her as she has submitted herself to His Potter's Wheel.




The Servanthood Award: Martin Martin has grown by leaps and bounds over the last year as well in His relationship with Christ, but we chose him for the Servanthood Award because of his unequaled willingness to do any task asked of him no matter what it is. He serves always with a smile on his face and a willing joyfullness in his heart that challenges all of us in our own hearts as to having an attitude of servanthood and not just moments.


This week of outreach had some pretty profound effects on our youth, and I believe on the American youth as well. I'm sure many of them don't even realize yet the depths to which this experience has affected them and will continue to discover those effects for years to come as they grow and mature and submit to the Lord's work in their lives. Please continue to keep them in your prayers: for deeper, more intimate relationships with Christ and for more willing hearts to get out there and take the risk of serving Him with their ALL!

February Update

GOINGS ON

"Warm" greetings to you from Cofradia! And when I say warm, I mean it! Temperatures have been heating up since the beginning of February, which was, by the way, and exciting month. It began with a youth leadership conference led by two pastors from Cy-Fair Christian Church in Houston. They will be returning with their youth group for a short-term missions trip in just a few days, and this will be their fourth year coming down here. However, this was the second year they have done a leadership conference. Last year they talked about servant-leadership. This year they spoke on authority. This is not a new topic for our youth, but the angle was slightly different, and it was even a blessing for me to hear it presented in this way: authority = love. That's right. They taught about how authority is not about enforcing rules or putting a damper on our find in life, but rather it's about protecting those whom we care about, and especially so with the Lord. He disciplines those he loves, but he also places guidelines on us so that we may stay away from what will hurt us and run headlong into the goodness that He has in store for us! It took a little tooth-pulling to get the kids to participate in the discussions, but even then there were illustrations abounding of love and lack of love through their honesty or lack thereof. They even used a local soccer game to illustrate our need for authority and the guidelines that the Lord gives us through His love and in His word. It was truly a wonderful weekend.

HOME AGAIN...JIGGIDY JIG!

At the end of that weekend I then headed home to Virginia for a whirlwind, two-week vacation. It was time to renew my visa, and the cost and timing worked out so that I could just take a trip home rather than a border trip. It was able to take care of some much-needed tasks, such as my 2006 income taxes and a new haircut, but more than that it was such a blessing to spend time with my family and friends. I wish I coul dhav ehad more time with each one, but I'm so thankful fo rthe time I did have. I was able to hug and kiss one of my nephews; I was able to hold new babies born to dear friends, although sadly I was not able to meet my new neice, Alison Joy, born Feb 10; and I was even able to get all gussied up and go out wiht some girlfriends in VA Beach one night just before returning to Mexico. That is something I've actually missed a little lately, so it was such a blessing! In addition I got to experience the cold and SNOW for the first and only time all winter!! The Lord knew how much I had been missing that part of winter, and I had told everything that although it had warmer than usual all winter, the Lord was saving the cold for me and would unleash it upon my return, so much so that it would snow! Well, that's exactly what happened! The day I flew home there was an ice storm, and as we broke through the clouds to land in D.C., everything was white. I almost cried in gratitude! Then, the day before I left, it snowed all day. My church services were canceled, and I arose in the morning to about 4-6 inches of real, life, fluffy SNOW! What a great pleasure it was to show the girls videos of snowball fights and sledding, and even more so to actually stand in it! God is truly so good to me!! I also was able to spend some time with friends in Guadalajara since I was there a couple days before and after my flights. That too was a blessing as Guadalajara is about 4-5 hours east of us, and it is difficult to visit for short periods only.

I returned to Cofradia on March 1, just in time to celebrate the one-year anniversary of my "move" to Mexico (March 4, 2006)!!! I am now in the process of catching up on all that I missed while gone as well as preparing for our next short-term group arriving March 10 for a week of youth ministry that is looking to be quite exciting!

IN CLOSING...

Please continue to keep me and this ministry and the Mexican people in your prayers:

• The last 12% of my monthly support that is still lacking: about $150/month. (Also a praise report! Only 12% to go!! WAHOO!!!)
• Sandy and I are beginning a new study: Living Beyond Yourself by Beth Moore--her choice!! It will be a challenge however on my end due to the fact that the videos are not in Spanish, and I'm doing this study in English with the staff ladies as well. Please pray that the Lord will provide wisdom and perseverance on my end and that he will continue to strengthen, encourage, and grow Sandy.
• For Sandy and Mili and their family. They are facing many personal difficulties right now that cause friction amongst them. Please pray for Sandy to continue standing strong on the word of the Lord in the face of opposition, for Mili to stay true to her first love, for her father to give his life over to Christ, and for their mother to have wisdom to know how to navigate all this.
• Our radio ministry is going VERY well, but we would like to expand it to be 2-3 times a week instead of one. This requires funds. We are in the process of seeking supporters for this ministry. It costs us $200/month for one half-hour spot each week. To increase to three it will cost $600/month! Please pray for the Lord to provide consistant support for this ministry.
• We are excited that our Short-Term Missions (STM) season is jam packed. Please pray for the Lord to be preparing and working through the teams on our schedule, for the ground to be fertile for both harvest and spiritual growth, and for stamina and excitement and wisdom for us the staff as we navigate short-term missions and long-term ministries simultaneously!

Thank you for all of your support! Your prayers and encouragement and financial support are precious to me. I would not be here without each one of you. I see the Lord working every day. Some days are easy and others are battles, but how awesome to know that the war is already won! And because of your support, we are spreading that good news here in Cofradia and the surrounding areas and seeing the Lord do great things in each life that receives it! Praise HIM!!

FACE TO FEET
ams :)

PS: Please forgive me for my gross neglegence in keeping my blog and photo site updated. I am in the process of correcting that. I am so grateful for your patience. Please continue to check both from time to time to see the newest, old news. :)

Happy Anniversary to me!

So, one year ago today, I moved to Mexico for the first time. I had no clue what the Lord was up to, but I new that He was moving me into something. I was petrified on one level and thoroughly exhilerated on another. I missed Fredericksburg TERRIBLY, but I new I wouldn't be content if I stayed put. It took a couple months to figure out that the Lord was sending me here for more than three months, but He got that message through.

Now, one year later, here I am marveling once again at how indescribably amazing the Lord is, and how I truly have the best life ever. Sure, there are times when I miss things or the lonliness gets to me, but even then I wouldn't trade this for the world right now. Maybe there will come a day when it's time to trade it for something else that the Lord wants to do in and through me, and at that time it will hurt, but I'll go. Until then, I couldn't imagine anything better than this, and who could possibly ask for more than that in this life?!

One year ago, I made some new friends...
April 2006

One year later, my life has been completely transformed....

Group shot at the end of my first three months..
May 2006

Mili and I at my 27th birthday party, hosted by her mom...
November 2006

Favi and I at the very first Thanksgiving feast at the Arrayanes church...


Me and the girls giving much thanks at Thanksgiving for God's gift of friends...


Mili and I with lights we used to decorate the entire Cofradia church...
December 2006

No one told me there would be KISSING in this movie!!....argh!...

Their introduction to hot apple cider at my Christmas decorating party...

Coffee buddies before church...
January 2007

Claudia and I at Mirna's 13th birthday...
February 2007


And one year later, I'm surrounded by the greatest girls placed on this planet...
April 2007

And God's goodness knows no end!
Happy anniversary to me and Cofradia. Happy anniversary, Lord!

Home Sweet Home

Well, my trip home was glorious. Like I said before, the first couple days were dedicated to resting up and getting my taxes taken care of. But then I was off like a shot, and I didn't slow down until I got back here to Cofradia! The first week I spent in Richmond with my family and friends there. Then I headed to Fredericksburg to be with my church family and see friends and family up that way! It was a little weird because I spent so much time driving from one place to the next, one coffee date to the next, that it felt like I never left. Almost like life just sort of paused itself while I was in Mexico and then hit play as soon as I landed back in the country. It's so easy to get caught back up into all that busy-ness, especially when I have such a short time to cram so much into. But every minute of it was enjoyable and refreshing!

I loved being with the church family at New Life, and we ended up having the monthly pot-blessing that Sunday right after the service. So, I was able to take my time after the service was over and see people and chat and share about what's been going on, etc. That was very wonderful. Then, I headed back down to Fred to The Townhouse, where several of my girlfriends from college live and where I was staying while in Fred. Jen, who owns the house, had agreed to put together and host a gather of my Fred/Small Group friends that evening, so that was much fun as well. I even got to see a couple of friends/supporters from my old job at Northrop Grumman! Yea for shin-digs! The rest of the week I spent driving around, visiting with friends, and holding newborn babies! Several of my friends had babies in January and February, so by the time I got home, there were 4 of them for me to meet. One was my new neice, Alison, and sadly I was unable to meet her. She was born Feb 10, and since I was sick during the week I was home, I didn't go and see her in order to not pass on my germs to one so new and susceptible! But I'm looking forward to meeting her in August!

Meet Eliana Grace Nagy. She was less than a week old in this pic! Her mom and I became friends singing on the worship team together!

This is Jae Keegan Tobias McElvy. He was born in the middle of January, and I had a blast holding him during the church service. After having a mid-morning "snack", he slept in my arms the entire service! Glorious! I worked with his parents in the youth group at my church!

That Monday night, I had the wonderful privelege of having dinner with a girlfrind from college. We have been frinds since the beginning of our freshman year together, and this was especially wonderful because I was able to meet her wonderful boyfriend! We had a good time at dinner and some great conversation! Tuesday I went and spent a night with my grandmother and my aunt in Culpeper. Since my aunt was here from Minnesota staying with my grandma at her house, this was a precious opportunity to be with just the two of them at my grandma's house. She normally lives with my parents now, but every so often, my aunt comes and stays with her at her own house so she can be there and see her friends and do the things she misses doing! So, we had a good time. We watched the video of the Rose Bowl Parade since my cousin's band was one of the invited bands, and I didn't get to see that in Mexico! We cross-stitched and chatted and just had a good time together.

My grandmother's backyard, and the home of many happy childhood memories...covered in ice! Those houses in the background used to be nothing but open fields..

Then on Wedensday I headed back to Fred to hang out with my friend Peggy. We went to coffee, but I accidentally locked my keys in my car, so when we finished coffee, we went and sat by my car and waited for the AAA guy to arrive. Then we walked around downtown Fred, something I haven't done in forever and missed terribly. Finally we headed to her daughter's basketball game, and I had a chance to talk some with her husband about what I'm doing here in Mexico. It was a great afternoon and evening. God is so abundant in his blessings!

Then I headed home because the next day, Thursday, was HEATHER DAY!!! My sister and I got up that morning and got all gussied up to get portraits taken together. We've been talking about doing this for about 6 years now, but everytime we decide to do it someone doesn't have the money or someone won't be home or whatever. So, Heather decided that we weren't missing the opportunity this time. I had just gotten a new hair cut also, so this was especially fun cuz the look was totally different than ever before! When I get my copies, I'll post one! After that we headed into the mall to do some serious shopping. I had a list, and thankfully I was able to get just about everything I had planned to get. Here's the amazing part: we all know that while we're here in Mexico it's not so hard to keep to our budget, but when we go home we pretty much know that we're going to blow the budget out of the water. That's what happened, though I stayed within the amount I had planned for. That was miracle #1. However, for January and so far in March, my spending in Mexico has been under budget, pretty much making up the difference that I overspent at home in Feb. That is miracle #2. THEN, because of how my taxes worked out, I ended up not having to pay as much as I had set aside, and in the end was able to finally pay off my credit card (which was pretty high) including all that I had spent while home. That's miracle #3!! I go home and blow my budget, but in the end the budget not only balances out but I end up getting out of debt also!!! God is just too good to me!! So, that has been a wonderful load off!

Finally, on Friday I headed to Virginia Beach/Norfolk to spend some time with my mom and my girlfriend Beth, another very close college friend and co-English Lit major. I had such a great time with my mom. We did Christmas/birthday, since she saved those gifts knowing I'd be home in Feb, and I showed her all that I'd bought and pics and videos from down here in Mexico. And we just had a good time catching up and talking and being together. We ordered lunch and just relaxed and it was a ton of fun. Then I headed to Beth's appartment that evening, and we hit the town! We got all dressed up in cocktail dresses and went to this great restaurant where I ate the most divine, celestial meal I've ever tasted in my life. It was some kind of shrimp linguini dish with watercress on the side and the sauce was absolutely indescribable! It was truly amazing. Beth's sister Sara joined us there as well, and we had SUCH a wonderful time talking and letting the waiter flirt with us. :) I even enjoyed half a glass of white wine with my dinner, which is totally unheard of; but this wine was GOOD! After dinner Beth and I headed to a bar in downtown Norfolk to attend a fund-raising event for Hope House where another college girlfriend, Dana, works. They had a blues band playing that night, and we had been told that they'd be playing until around 11. We got there around 10-10:30 hoping to catch the last of the band, and that we did: we caught the last 30 seconds of their very last song for the night! HAH! But anyway, we had fun catching up with Dana and watching folks dancing and having a good time. Finally, the two of us headed back to her appartment after picking up oreo pie and some girly alcohol, where we put on our PJs and put on Sense and Sensibility while eating our desert. Saturday we slept in, did some shopping, and then I headed back to Fredericksburg to spend the night at Elena's for church on Sunday.

Beth and I out on the town...oh was it fun to get all dressed up again! I know it's silly, but sometimes I really miss that! Oh, and note the new haircut! I love my bangs!

Little did I know that church was not to happen. It SNOWED that night...real snow, not just ice. And it snowed GOOD. I woke up Sunday morning to about 4-6 inches of beautiful, white, fluffy snow, and IT WAS STILL COMING DOWN! Church services were canceled, and part of me was a little worried about getting my car dug out and getting home because the roads were very slick and icy. But Elena and I enjoyed a leisurely morning and even went out to stand in the snow and watch the kids sled and throw snow balls. We even took a little video so I could share it with the girls down here, as one of their dreams is to one day see snow for themselves! I laughed at myself and my too-little faith. I looked at that snow and stood in it thinking to myself, "I settle for second-best far too often." I had prayed for the Lord to send snow while I was home. When I arrived, the ground was white, but it was all ice. When you walked on it, though it looked like snow, it was hard as a rock and you didn't even leave footprints! But I was okay with that because at least God had sent something, right? Well, that Sunday as I pondered this surprise snow storm, I felt like the Lord was telling me, "stop settling for second-best. You ask me for something dear to your heart and then you settle for something less than my best for you! Trust me to answer your WHOLE prayer, and not just part of it!" Oh it was glorious to stand in that snow and know that God had answered ALL of my silly prayers for snow!

Breakfast at Elena's...she feeds her family well!

Me and the snow on Elena's back deck!

The roads didn't look good at first, but once on the interstate it was smooth sailing all the way home!

I made it home safe and sound to Richmond where it had done nothing but rain all day! HAH! And I spent the rest of the evening packing and getting ready to head to the airport on Monday morning for my flight back to Mexico. The Oscars were on, so my sister and I watched those together while I packed, and my dad and I had a good trip to the airport the next morning. I miss my family, but it was so wonderful to be with them for the short time I was able, and I'm looking forward to being with them longer this summer/fall when I'm home for 4-6 weeks!

Anyway, I flew back to Guadalajara that Monday, and the language school was on vacation that week. Sally had left the Friday right before to move back to Tennessee to live with her family since she had graduated the school. So, it was a little weird to be at Romel and Angeles' house but without my roommate! Erika and I got to hang out all day on Tuesday. I had business to take care of for a short-term team that is coming, so she went with me all over town. We had some good talking and enjoyed each other's company. Then we went back to the house and hung out with the family for a little while and had a good time until she had to head home. The next day I completed my business, and she spent time with her brother, Israel, who is here in Cofradia now spending a month in the home of Jan and Doug. My bus ride back to Cofradia was smooth and it's wonderful to be back home! I got back in town in time to go to the worship practice in Arrayanes. The girls were both playing on Sunday, and neither of them knew that I had come back to town yet. So, they got a great surprise when they got on the truck to head to the church. They saw me and stopped in their tracks! I LOVE surprising people like that! Especially when I know there will be a great reaction to it!

Life is back to normal now, and we're getting ready for the arrival of Cy-Fair Christian Church in just a few days. They are a great youth group who come every year and do construction and youth ministry! They have a stellar outreach planned, and I can't wait to see how it all comes out. The kids are excited for their arrival as well since they have friends on this team!


God is good. Let us never forget it! :)

Student Leadership Conference and then Home Again!

So, February 8-10 saw us in a very youth-specific outreach: a Youth Leadership Conference. Two pastors from Cy-Fair Christian Church in Houston, TX came down, for the second year in a row, to do this conference with our youth. The topic was "Authorith = Love", and they really challenged our kids. Some responded better than others to the authority that these pastors brought with them, but I think that overall it was a very successful outreach. I would describe it all for you, but one of our other staff members, Steve, who is in charge of the youth ministry, blogged about it himself, and he did a great job describing it all, and even included a couple of pics. So, I'm just going to link you to that blog! Go HERE and enjoy reading about what the Lord is teaching our youth! And please continue to keep them in your prayers concerning this area of obedience and submission! It's a biggie! One of the pastors preached on Sunday, and then after the service in Cofradia, they headed back to Guadalajara to fly home. Well, I went with them, since I too was flying home from Guad!

We left Sunday afternoon, and they dropped me off that evening at the Garza home where I lived while in school. It was so wonderful to get to see everyone! Angeles and Romel had planned to have everyone over after church that evening for a celebration dinner to say hello to me and to say goodbye to Sally as a couple weeks later, she was graduating and returning to the states. My favorite part of that evening was the look on Erika's face when she saw me standing there. I was there before they all arrived, and I was sure that she had heard that I would be there. Apparantly, she didn't, however, so as she walked in her face was priceless as she tried to process and figure out who I was standing there! It was great to hug all the dear folk there in Guad, and that night, two of the American students spent the night with Sally and I. Sally and I had a good time watching some Gilmore Girls and chit-chatting while the other two girls studied for classes the next day. Then on Monday I went to school with them and hung out with Erika all morning, after which we headed to Starbucks and hung out some more that afternoon.

Then Tuesday morning, I grabbed a cheuffer service to the airport at 6 am since I had a 9 am flight HOME!!! My flights were all incredibly uneventful, thank the Lord. My trip went more smoothly than I could have even prayed for, especially given the fact that there was an ice storm in DC while I was flying in. I was very concerned, as was everyone else, that my flight would be delayed or canceled due to the weather, but there were no problems at all. I was excited thinking that it was icing at home. I've been missing the winter weather so much. I love the weather in Mexico right now. It's perfect...for Mexico. But it's certainly not winter, and as far as I'm concerned there is a time of year when the cold is appropriate, and I welcome it! I've missed the snow and having my nose freeze, wearing winter clothes and drinking hot beverages under warm blankets in a cozy living room with my friends and family. So, the prospect of such cold was thrilling! However, when we finally broke through the clouds over DC on our descent, I gasped audibly as I was greeted by WHITE on the ground. I had been telling everyone for so long that the reason they were having unseasonably warm weather was because God knew how badly I wanted cold that He was storing it for me to be unleashed fully upon my return, so much so that it would SNOW! Oh me of little faith, even though I knew it was icing, I was not expecting a white ground! It was a glorious moment to break through the clouds and see that God had cared for even such a petty prayer request! :)

The drive home from the airport was even smooth! Since the weather had been so bad, everyone had left work early so that though we were driving home in rush hour on the worst interstate for rush hour, we had no traffic problems cuz most people were already home! Elena and Ken picked me up, and I had a good time visiting with them until my dad arrived at their house. Now, I'm home with my family, taking the couple of quite days that I have to take organize receipts and expense reports, etc. so that I can get my taxes done while I'm here! It is so wonderful to be back with my family: to hug my nephew, to hang out with my sisters, to talk to my friends on the phone and just drive to their homes when I feel like it, to drive my car again (although that took a little getting used to, since I'm now used to a 68 Ford pickup..hah!), etc. God is just so good to me, and I'm eating up his goodness by the bowlfull!

Girls Prayer Group

So, I updated in my January update about our Girls' Prayer Group and the changes that have taken place in that activity. But I wanted to share a little more detail about how that's going. In our first couple of meetings with the girls here in Cofradia, I was very excited to hear what some of the girls shared!

One of the girls, Ana, used to be very involved in the youth group and other ministry areas, and then she just sort of started fading out. Well, recently she started coming back to youth group consistently, and now she's coming to prayer group as well!

Another girls, Claudia, shared from Psalm 1 this past week. Though she has been involved in the youth ministry since The CHALLENGE (El Reto) back in September, she didn't have her own Bible. So, we gave her a New Testament when she shared this at our first meeting here in Cofradia. Last week she shared that this past week she didn't know where to start when it came to reading her new Bible. So, she prayed and asked God to give her a page # to start on. Well, he led her to Psalm 1, and that's the passage she shared in group and what that Psalm said to her. What an amazing thing to share and a perfect place to start, eh?!

We even had a young lady come who has admited that she doesn't have a relationship with Christ but who has participated in youth events in the past. Sandy and she have formed somewhat of a special connection, and Sandy even approached this young lady, Pati, about meeting together each week. However, Pati goes to school in a different town and arrives late each day; for that reason she isn't able to meet with Sandy or continue coming to group, but I was so excited to see Sandy take that initiative and try to reach out to Pati in that way.

Mili and Sandy come each week, but they come very early on Wedensday mornings using the bus that goes between the town. It costs them a little something to attend this meeting, and it's exciting to me to see them making the effort and doing what it takes to participate in something like this. Even though it means that they are away from home all day just for an hour-long prayer group meeting.

Please keep these girls in your prayers: Sany, Mili, Claudia, Ana, Pati, and Cintia. And please pray that the Lord will bring in more girls and build a precious unity amongs our young ladies in this area!

January Monthly Update

JUMPIN’ IN

Well, January has been quite a full month as it kicked off our Short-Term Missions (STM) season! And what a packed season we have ahead of us! As of right now we have 10 outreaches on our 2007 STM calendar from January to August, and there is at least one more in the works! January started with a women’s team from Houston, Texas. They came and ministered to our women through aerobics, crafts, Bible studies, providing a library of books and CDs, and through the building and strengthening of relationships. It’s exciting to see them continue in some of the activities and habits that the women from Texas introduced that week! May these activities and habits become permanent! At the end of January we had a construction team from Washington state. What hard workers these folks were! They worked entirely on our central church facility, which we started construction on just a year ago! While they were here, they finished the platform floor and steps, built the instrument room (minus the roof), and leveled about one-third of what will be the sanctuary floor/basketball court. Two of their men also created our front gate from scratch, welding strips of metal together, and they had it installed by the time they left. What an undertaking! But we are excited to see this facility beginning to take shape as well as the dream behind it! Even more exciting is that our local church members are beginning to catch that dream themselves as they see it coming to life before their eyes, and so quickly! Praise the Lord!

THE MENTOR GAZETTE

In ministry news, I’m very excited about how the Lord is working in our young ladies! I continue to mentor Sandy, and I continue to be awed and humbled as I watch the Lord working in her and growing her into a truly beautiful, strong, and committed woman of God! We just finished studying the book of Ester. It has been a wonderful study in the contrast between worldly and godly character, in submission and obedience, and in having confidence in the presence and working of God in all things at all times! In addition to our study, we have talked about other issues. Discipleship is one of them, and I am encouraged to see her taking steps to reach out to other girls, praying with them and encouraging them in the truth! We have also dealt with issues such as standing firm in the decision not to date non-Christians and in figuring out what kind of man she would want her future husband to be. As the Lord has worked in her life in all these areas, she has been put to the test over and over again both in her own relationships and also due to the attitudes of her parents and sisters on these matters. She is a voice of one more often than not, but she stands on the Word of God so she does not stand alone. I’m so proud of her steadfastness and persistence in the face of strong opposition and from those most dear to her. We are believing that the Lord is doing a changing work in her family, but that takes time and often a lot of pain. Please pray for Sandy and her family.

DO NOT STOP MEETING TOGETHER…

The other very exciting development concerns our girls’ prayer group! This group began in April when I was here during my internship and consisted of me, Sandy, her sister Mili, and her two cousins Lupe and Favi. Favi and Lupe are no longer able to meet with us. However, though we miss having them, we are pleased for the opportunity to open up the group to include more girls. This required us to move our meetings to my house in Cofradía in January, and as a result we have had three to four of our Cofradía girls attend each week. They are all much younger in age and in faith, but they continue to come and do not seem to be deterred by the fact that they are required to share something and pray with us. The point of this prayer group is that each girl would be reading throughout the week so as to have something to share in our meetings, and that we would all pray for and with each other before going our separate ways. By requiring participation from each girl who attends, we avoid having the same ones share each week and increase the possibility of spiritual growth in every one of them! In just our first three meetings, the Lord has done a great deal in each one, and I’m excited to see how He continues to move in their hearts and lives. In addition to Sandy and Mili, please keep Cintia, Ana, Claudia, Pati, Mirna, and Judit in your prayers.

(pics counterclockwise from Top Left. Claudia, Me and Judit, the girls (Ana, Cintia, Mirna, Mili)

More Updated Links

Hey folks! I'm still working on the updates. Things have been crazy busy around here, and now I'm getting ready to head to Virginia at the end of a Youth Leadership Conference at this week. However, I did want to announce that I've added a couple of links:

1. There is a link for the online catalog of our Library here at the church in Cofradia. This library was officially started by the Cy-Fair Christian Church Women's Outreach Team that came down at the beginning of January. Their donation of books, CDs, Bibles, and Bible's on CD have been blessing our church body. We decided to do an online catalog so that folks can search it and know exactly what we have and don't have in case they have an interest in donating more books, CDs, reference materials (study materials, health reference books, etc.), movies (DVD and VHS), or anything else they think might bless the church body here in Mexico. Please keep in mind that anything donated should be in Spanish.

2. There is also now a link to My Yahoo Videos. I noticed that some of my videos when uploaded to YouTube had a delay in the audio. That does not happen with Yahoo Videos. However, since I can't seem to successfully embed the videos uploaded on Yahoo, I have kept the YouTube account as well. So, feel free to check them both out, though Yahoo will be my primary video site!

Well, enjoy! And I promise I'll continue working on those updates!

Painting

So, yesterday I headed to Arrayanes for my weekly mentoring meeting with Sandy, and then afterward spent the day at their house....painting their room! Now, I LOVE painting, so this was a blast for me, but it was hard work too! The girls had never painted before, and I had never painted concrete walls before; so this was an interesting experience for all involved. In the end, although we still need to paint another coat on the upper end of the walls and finish off the details, it turned out pretty well.

Me and Mili painting the two pink walls...

Ok, so these walls go all the way up to the tip of the ceiling!

More painting over the pink..by the way, the new color is pistachio

His Place Construction Outreach

Ok, sorry I haven't posted in a little while. We've been busy with a team from Washington state. They came from His Place Church in Mt. Vernon, WA to do construction on our new central church facility a few blocks away! This construction project started almost a year ago exactly, and it's so exciting to see it taking such form and shape already!!! It's really a huge undertaking, but our God is SO MUCH BIGGER!

Anyway, this team usually comes down every year and does nothing but construction. A few years ago, they came down and started building the Arrayanes church. They are hard workers and accomplish a ton of stuff in short amounts of time! This week they poured the platform floor and stairs; they built the instrument storage room up to the the first "dala" (it's like a concrete beam or something); they leveled about 25% of the sanctuary floor (which is slightly larger than a full-sized basketball court); they extended the re-bar columns on the property wall to their full height; they uprooted and moved several trees to their permanent locations; and two guys took a ton of steel pieces and welded them together to form our massive front gates (complete with man-door); which was installed by the time they left!!!

The greatest part of it all was that the entire week they worked side-by-side with folks from the local churches here: men, women, and even non-church members alike! Even I helped on the construction: shoveling for the mixing of concrete, wetting bricks that were being laid as part of the walls for the instrument storage room, and making steel re-bar cages for the wall cage extensions. I even helped load the massive gates onto the truck that transported them to the church! This project is cool enough as it is, but it's going to be even more phenomenal when it's done and we can each of us, Mexican and American and Canadian, walk around that facility and say, "hey, I helped build this wall!" or "I helped pour this very floor!", or "I helped pour the very platform that He's teaching me from!" What an incredible and tangible way to understand what it is to grab hold of the prize, to press on toward the goal, to take hold of our faith and walk forward in it! Wow, God is good!

The first Sunday that the team was here, they attended both services: in Cofradia and in Arrayanes. Then after the service in Arrayanes, they provided a wonderful meal of Taco soup for them to have a chance to fellowship with that church body. This team has built wonderful relationships with the church body in Arrayanes especially, so it was a really precious time of fellowship and catching up! And it was a ton of fun too!!

The team also went up to Mojocuautla on that Friday to be part of the Bible study ministry there. It was neat to be a translator for that. That is still a pretty tough job for me..translating that is. But even though I'm terrified every time I have to do it, it's just way cool when it all comes out well!

One morning during the week, I even did the unthinkable. Yup, I got up before sunrise! I accompanied three guys and one of the young ladies on a hike up the Cofradia Hill to watch the sunrise. From this hill you can see the entire town of Cofradia as well as all the way to the mountain in Penas, which is about 20 minutes from Cofradia by truck. It was a glorious morning as we welcomed the dawn and then hiked back down the hill to a wonderful breakfast and a day of hard but gratifying work! Praise the Lord for the glories of his creation!

The town of Cofradia from "The Hill". I live just a block or so above the first red roof you see. :)..just to the right of the radio tower!

The sunrise that glorious morning!

At the end of the week, the team went for Tacos in Pilas. There is a man there who has a popular taco stand on the weekends. Last year and this year he opened his home and made tacos exclusively for this team during the week (which he doesn't normally do). The team took probably about 20-30 people from the church with them, so were probably about 60-70 people total! It was SUCH A BLAST!!! Everyone had a good time talking and eating their fill! When it was all over, we at 660 tacos total, and the record from last year was broken for the one person who ate the most tacos. Last year it was 23, and one of our own youth broke the record by eating 24!!! Talk about big eaters!! But we had a wonderful night. I had the priveledge of sitting at a table with Sandy and Mili and one of the young ladies from the team. We had a good time joking around and eating good food.

What a marvelous outreach this team has had in this area. The people here KNOW them, and they look forward to spending time with them. They consider this team precious friends and brothers and sisters in Christ. What a great time of work and fellowship in the Lord this week and a half has been. We're definitely looking forward to next year!

Feliz Cumpleanos

So today is Mirna's birthday. She is Pola and Juan Luis' (the Arrayanes youth pastors) oldest daughter, and she is Mili and Sandy's cousin (Pola is their mom's sister, and Juan Luis is their dad's brother, so they're double cousins). Mirna turnes 13 today. So, last night....or rather this morning...around 12 am...we gathered up a handful of our youth and drove over to Arrayanes and woke her up at the beginning of her birthday by singing Las Manyanitas to her. That is the traditional Mexican birthday song. It was pretty fun, and kind of like an initiation for her. Since she is still in 6th grade, she had to wait until she turned 13 to be part of youth group. So, this was sort of our way of welcoming her into the group as well as to celebrate her in a special way. Since it's Friday, we had youth group tonight. After our meeting, which Mirna attended, Pola invited the whole youth group to their house for Mirna's birthday dinner/party. They served pozole, and it was a great time!

Please keep Mirna in your prayers. She has pretty much grown up in a Christian family, but nevertheless she's still very young (obviously!). Please pray for the Lord to awaken a fire for him in her heart instead of her understanding of God being about church on Sundays and Fridays. She is part of a Christian youth rap band, which she really enjoys and which is led by a young man on fire for the Lord. Please pray that his enthusiasm will be contagious and that this young lady will grow into a powerhouse for her God!

Enjoy the pics.

Mirna, now age 13!!

Steve and Gena eating pozole at the party!

Mirna and the guys
(L-R: top--Pedro, Gollito; bottom--Lorenzo, Martin, Mirna, Ruben, Chicle)

Mirna and some of the girls
(L-R: Ana, Cintia, Mirna, Mily)