We are preparing to leave this week for a missions conference at First UMC in Waco, TX. We are travelling as a family and will be there April 25-30. Hannah and Samuel are excited to see Texas. Their only experience in the state was in the Houston airport as we travelled to and from Mexico City. First UMC is a wonderful church and we are sure they will be glad they went!
After our return, we will leave the next day for the missions conference of Van, Cranberry and Rockland UMC churches in the Cranberry, PA area from May 1-3. These churches are very near the one we wrote about in our last post. Our whole family is excited about being back in that area. It is beautiful and so are the people.
We have so many prayer requests for this coming week:
1. Praise the Lord with us for the opportunity to fellowship with other believers who have a heart for missions.
2. Pray we will communicate effectively what the Lord has been doing in our lives and in His work through OMS in Mexico City.
3. Pray for many new partners to join us on this faith journey.
4. Pray for safety in travel, for good health, and especially for Hannah and Samuel to get the rest they need.
Thank you for praying with and for us.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Fiesta!
What a blessing we had this weekend! We were invited to Seneca E.C. Church in Seneca, PA to share about our future ministry in Mexico and how the Lord is working there. It was wonderful to get a chance to know many people at Seneca. Then to top it all off, we celebrated together with an after-church fiesta, complete with Mexican music, scrumptious food, a pinata and pin the tail on the burro (donkey).
W
e also had Lisa's mother, sister and niece along with us. Everyone really enjoyed the fellowship.
e also had Lisa's mother, sister and niece along with us. Everyone really enjoyed the fellowship. Here you can see Hannah getting ready to take a whack. She was the one who managed to break open the pinata and was so happy about that! Samuel laid claim to its remains. This is a picture of him with his "prize" and a piece of candy in his mouth.
One of the greatest blessings of our friend-raising ministry is having the privilege of getting to know so many believers who have a desire to see the Good News shared throughout this world, and to know they are praying for us.
Praise the Lord with us for the blessed fellowship we have as believers. Please continue to pray for safety as we travel, and for many people to join us in this faith journey.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Cultural Lesson
Last week we participated in our home church missions conference. What a wonderful time we had! It is so encouraging to hear stories of what the Lord is doing close to home and around the world. And, it is uplifting to see people excited to spread the Good News by going and sending.
I had a conversation on the closing night with a missionary to Bolivia that really got us thinking. He pointed out that even through our friend-raising ministry, the Lord is teaching us invaluable lessons about Latin American culture. Isn't it just like the Lord to use every little thing for our growth and benefit? Praise His Name! While we are focused on gaining the prayer and financial support we need to be able to go to language school (and then to Mexico City), the Lord has already begun some of the schooling.
We would appreciate your prayers that we would learn our lessons well. Pray that we would continue to grow daily in godly character, and that we would have many opportunities to learn the Mexican culture and language. Also, please pray with us that we will be fully funded and able to go to language school in the near future.
I had a conversation on the closing night with a missionary to Bolivia that really got us thinking. He pointed out that even through our friend-raising ministry, the Lord is teaching us invaluable lessons about Latin American culture. Isn't it just like the Lord to use every little thing for our growth and benefit? Praise His Name! While we are focused on gaining the prayer and financial support we need to be able to go to language school (and then to Mexico City), the Lord has already begun some of the schooling.
We would appreciate your prayers that we would learn our lessons well. Pray that we would continue to grow daily in godly character, and that we would have many opportunities to learn the Mexican culture and language. Also, please pray with us that we will be fully funded and able to go to language school in the near future.
Monday, March 9, 2009
The Learning Curve
Well, if you want to be a good teacher, you also need to know how to be a good learner. So, here it is...we've finally figured out how to get a blog started. Now that it's up and running, we're excited to be able to share with you on a more regular basis!
And, what a better place to start than Sembimex Biblical Seminary, the place where our family first encountered Mexico City. Our church missions trip seems so long ago now. We went to help with clean-up and painting at the seminary just one week before the building's grand opening. What a mess we all were! It is so exciting to catch a glimpse of what the Lord is doing there since then. Please take the next 6 minutes to watch the video posted on the left side of the blog. It is well worth the time. (If you have trouble getting it to work, right underneath is a link to the OMS International page with the video.)
While watching, keep this quote from the OMS website (link on the left side of this page): "There's an explosion of new Christians worldwide. In many regions, the response to the Gospel is in the millions. This is unprecedented in history. New Christians have spiritually grown on their own, without guidance from a shepherd. Trained pastors are rare in most of the more than 40 countries where OMS International serves."
And there Sembimex is. A place to train and equip people to be shepherds. We are so excited to be a part of that ministry: in the past as a work team and in the future as educators. And, especially now, in the present, as we lift this ministry and its leaders before the Lord.
Will you please join with us in prayer for Sembimex? Pray for the teachers and students to grow in the Lord's grace, and in the knowledge and applying of His Word. Pray for leadership to have a clear vision for the seminary, and the skill to implement that vision.
Please pray we will be fully prepared and funded for this ministry in the near future. Pray for us as we try to learn Spanish here at home, to get a jump-start on language school. The learning curve is pretty big, but we're encouraged. After all, we did finally get the basics of a blog!
And, what a better place to start than Sembimex Biblical Seminary, the place where our family first encountered Mexico City. Our church missions trip seems so long ago now. We went to help with clean-up and painting at the seminary just one week before the building's grand opening. What a mess we all were! It is so exciting to catch a glimpse of what the Lord is doing there since then. Please take the next 6 minutes to watch the video posted on the left side of the blog. It is well worth the time. (If you have trouble getting it to work, right underneath is a link to the OMS International page with the video.)
While watching, keep this quote from the OMS website (link on the left side of this page): "There's an explosion of new Christians worldwide. In many regions, the response to the Gospel is in the millions. This is unprecedented in history. New Christians have spiritually grown on their own, without guidance from a shepherd. Trained pastors are rare in most of the more than 40 countries where OMS International serves."
And there Sembimex is. A place to train and equip people to be shepherds. We are so excited to be a part of that ministry: in the past as a work team and in the future as educators. And, especially now, in the present, as we lift this ministry and its leaders before the Lord.
Will you please join with us in prayer for Sembimex? Pray for the teachers and students to grow in the Lord's grace, and in the knowledge and applying of His Word. Pray for leadership to have a clear vision for the seminary, and the skill to implement that vision.
Please pray we will be fully prepared and funded for this ministry in the near future. Pray for us as we try to learn Spanish here at home, to get a jump-start on language school. The learning curve is pretty big, but we're encouraged. After all, we did finally get the basics of a blog!
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