November News

The month of November can be described in one word; FUN! We had a lot of excitement this past month. From going to my first college level football game, two Thanksgiving meals, a praise night, and a trip to the zoo…we had fun as a family and experienced great opportunities getting to know new people and getting closer to those with whom we already have relationships. We also are two weeks away from an exciting time for the Benito Juarez congregation…more of that later.

November started with the addition of two more children in our congregation. Minerva and her two children, Marcos and Zaritzi (Sa-reet-see) have moved here to the city and are now a part of our congregation. Minerva is the younger cousin of our dear Vero.

Now just let me tell you about the type of woman Vero is. If you have been here to visit and have had the privilege to be in Vero’s home, you know how hospitable she is, but you also know the size of her apartment; TINY! Vero lives in a VERY small two bedroom apartment with her 3 sons. The guys share a room and she gets her own. Most of the time the Marquez family eats together by squeezing onto their couch, however if there are guests, they stand. Well when Minerva and her 9 &10 year old children showed up to our Halloween party, she explained to Vero that her husband had left her and that they were almost at the point of living on the street. Of course without hesitation, Vero moved the three of them into her home. Now, Marcos (10) rooms with Vero’s three sons and Vero now sleeps on her couch and willingly gave Minerva and Zaritzi her bed.

The first week they were here, Vero put the kids in school and found Minerva a job. Needless to say, the Marquez household is under a lot of stress and Vero reaps most of that. We ask you to keep this entire household in your prayers. Minerva is NOT a believer, but her children push her every week to go to services on Sunday, and now without choice, they participate in Vero’s Thursday night small group. It’s amazing to see the thing Minerva’s CHILDREN are teaching her. Things such as; God is bigger than us…we have to be thankful for all of our blessings…and even thanking God for difficult things that happen, because that’s how we come to rely on God. Yes, these statements have come from the mouths of a 9 and 10 year old.

See by the three of them coming to Mexico City, a prayer of the Benito Juarez congregation was answered. We’ve been praying for more children and an opportunity to showing God’s outpouring love. Now our kids’ class is being used every Sunday and every member of the Benito Juarez church is taking turns teaching the children. At the end of services, each child (yes Jax too) shares what they learned during class. They are going through The Story with us, which is very very exciting. Please be praying for our kiddos! We love them and they are the future of the Church here in Mexico!

Mid-November Alejandro took us to a Pumas vs. PolyTech football game (GO PUMAS!). Now that’s American Football, not Futbòl (soccer). I have never been to a football game outside of high school (stop cringing!). Of course, Alejandro had to explain everything to us, but it was fun to learn and now I appreciate the game a lot more. It was a great opportunity to spend time with Alejandro and his family. We even brought Jax back a hat from the game.

The day before Thanksgiving we took Jax to the Chapultapec Zoo. Chapultepec Zoo is FREE! Can you believe it?! We had a ton of fun and Jax sure did love his day out. Usually we have a “park day” and we just go to our local park, but last week was a special treat. Jax got to see monkeys, a rhino and some giraffes. The monkeys were his favorite by far. However, I think his MOST favorite thing was running around and being more of a spectacle than the animals. Everywhere we turn people are saying how beautiful he is…at this point I’m pretty sure Jax knows how cute he is and he eats it up! At the end of our zoo trip he got to have his picture taken with Spiderman, Elmo, Winnie the Pooh, and Tiger. He was alright with Spiderman, but really nothing compares to Elmo.

Thanksgiving Day, we hosted the congregation that meets in Tlalpan. The missionaries down there met at the Pink House and served their church members a traditional Thanksgiving meal. Of course, we got to eat and it was fun! I think they had a total of 60 people. What a great turn-out!

This past Saturday, we did Thanksgiving on a much smaller scale. Ryan and I wanted to share the Thanksgiving tradition with the Benito Juarez congregation, so we planned a praise night focusing on thankfulness. Ryan and I cooked all day…all the works; turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, roasted potatoes, broccoli casserole, rolls, deviled eggs, pumpkin pie and everything else. After our praise night we began to eat at 11pm and then ended the evening with the Lord’s Supper. The last people left at 1am. It was a great night of reflection and we even learned some new songs.

Now, we are gearing up for a Christmas party here at the house. The 5th of December we are looking forward to the surrounding congregations coming to the Pink House and celebrating the holiday season with us. We’re planning a potluck and some Christmas carol singing. Please pray for this time together.

Now for something new and exciting; on the 13th of December, the Benito Juarez congregation will have their Mission/Vision 2010 Sunday. We’ll be talking about plans, goals, and dreams for the New Year. Topics that we will be discussing are the importance of small groups and renovating them, Sunday morning commitment, financial goals and responsibilities, and community outreach. We ask remember us on the 13th. We are hoping to end this year with a bang. I will try to post again before we leave for the holidays. I have a follow up doctor’s appointment on the 22nd to see if my medication is working and also to have another ultrasound on my neck. Please pray for those things also. We love you all and hope that while you are reading this, you are remembering all of our Lord’s blessings in your lives!

More Treats, Than Tricks!

Wow…the month of October has been full of excitement! We’ve had a lot of dreaming, a baptism, I was able to go to a women’s retreat, and we closed the month with a successful Halloween party.

Leadership Growth
Many of you know that we have small groups that meet throughout the city during the week; well we also have a leaders group. This is a time where the leaders of these small groups can get together and share the things that are taking place in their individual groups. We are meeting on Friday evenings and as leaders, we’ve decided to use our time together differently.
As a church we are going through The Story. If you haven’t heard of or read this, I highly recommend it. Now with a new cover and refined storyline, The Story reveals the unfolding, grand narrative of the Scriptures. Using the clear, accessible text of Today’s New International Version, this rendering of the Bible allows its stories, poems, and teachings to come together in a single, compelling read. We are reading this together and spending the first half of our Friday evenings going over how being in the Word of God has impacted us that week.

During the second half of Leaders’ Group, we spend time in prayer, planning, and dreaming. This is where we share the things on our hearts as far as vision for the congregation, for groups, and ways that we can reach out to the community. This is an exciting time for us and a time where we know we can throw any idea out there and then as a group, bring it before the congregation to get some feedback. Please continue to pray for our leaders. God is using them in great ways. There is a fire within each of them that excites us and spurs us on to work harder.

News from La Viga
We have great news from the central eastside of the city. La Viga is the home to Vero Marquez and her three sons. It has also been a meeting place for a small group that meets in her home on Wednesday evenings. Raul has been a long-time friend of the Marquez family and has played a huge role in the three young men’s lives. Ryan and I remember working with The Marquez family when Raul was a constant presence in the group. He would come to group every week. However, he would simply sit there. Participation was not something he was interested in. The participation he would have would be at the end of group saying, “The Bible says wonderful things, but it’s not for me.”
Well loved ones, it goes to show that God’s power and love is mighty. On October 15th, the Benito Juarez congregation met together to witness Raul be baptized into Christ. Oh how I wish you all could have known him before and then see him now. There is no doubt that God changes people. Raul, who was once a man who kept to himself and really never greeted anyone, is now giving out hugs freely. He often shares of his struggles with his daughter and how he longs to set a Christ-like example for her.
After Raul’s baptism, we returned to the house and celebrated with a meal. There is nothing like celebrating a new life in Christ. We concluded by sharing the Lord’s Supper together…Raul’s first as a Christian man. Please pray for Raul and his new walk in God. The La Viga group continues to minister to him. He is also asking for prayers that his work situation will change so that he can join us on Sunday mornings.

Women Of The Harvest
From October 18 – 21, I was privileged enough to attend an all women’s retreat in Cancun, Mexico. This retreat was organized by The Women of The Harvest. Thanks to supporters from Monterey Church, I was able to attend this retreat. After the year I’ve had with health scares and readjusting here, this was a great time for me to get refocused. I was reminded what my role is as a woman here on the mission field. It was also a great opportunity for me to meet some other woman missionaries within the city. It doesn’t get lonely from time to time, so now I have connections with some other women. God is good and always provides refreshment and encouragement. Thank you Monterey Missions, for sending me to wonderful retreat!

Halloween Fun!

David and Marilyn Burnett from the Monterey Church in Lubbock just left this morning. Their mission while they were here was to help the Benito Juarez Church a successful Halloween party. Well, mission accomplished! It started with careful planning and list making. There was no problem with getting the church excited. However we had a different plan this year. Instead of it simply being an event that was spread by word-of-mouth, we decided to target the Del Valle area. Del Valle in the colonia where the Pink House resides. This area tends to be very difficult to reach out to. People are more closed and tend to stick to themselves and in their homes.
With much prayer, we spent one Saturday morning dropping invites into the mailboxes of our neighbors. Our party was intended to focus on a family outing and something fun for the children. The Children’s Mission Ministry of Monterey church sent down Halloween crafts for our visitors to make. The children spent the evening making photo frames and door hangers. We snapped pictures of the families as they came in and then printed pictures for them as souvenirs of their evening. We ended the evening with the children taking turns at smashing the piñata! It was a great success. We had just under 80 people in attendance. More than half of that number was children and about 70% of the attendees stopped by due to receiving invites. I would also like to thank the Brednich and Henderson families for coming up and helping us out. We’re do glad you could join us. This is so exciting for all of us. Now for Ryan and I, since we live in this neighborhood, it opens up a lot of opportunities to connect with our neighbors as we are out and about daily. Please pray for the area of Del Valle. A change is coming with this fall season. We are excited and prayerful!

Falling Into Step
As a family we are quickly coming to the point of completely our first year back. We are in the groove and falling into step with our routine and family here. Although we miss our families back in the States, we are convinced more than ever, that Mexico City is where God wants us to be at this point in our lives. It is hard to doubt when there are so many positive things taking place. With so many great things happening we remind mindful that Satan is lurking and ready to attack. We ask that you keep Benito Juarez and all of her members in prayer. We are starting to talk, plan, and set goals for the coming year. Please pray for hard workers and open hearts. We know as a Church, we got our work cut out for us…but then again…it’s God who is doing it all. Praise his name!