I know I promised to continue the series on poverty and the story about the lady that knocked on my door asking for help.  I will very soon, I promise.  It has proven much more difficult than I thought it would be, but after wrestling to find the right word all week, I am almost there and Sam says it is half way decent.  So stay tuned, I think it will be worth the wait.  In the mean time, here are some photos of a recent mission trip two of our boys were priveleged to be a part of.  Both the boys bonded with the young MK who lives there with his family.

They drove about six hours into the mountians.  This included a lot of curves, dirt roads and some fog, donkeys and turkeys.

 Their objective was to help paint a literacy center.  People will be able to come and learn to read in their indigenous language.  This is very important, since many indigenous people in Oaxaca understand their heart language better than Spanish or only speak the indigenous language.

What a good looking group!  All photo credit goes to Donna Shaver and Anna Perez.

Looking Ahead

As 2014 draws to a close and 2015 is brand new, it is very exciting to be making plans for a medical clinic to the island region.  You can read about our first trip to this area by clicking here.  This will be a collaborative effort of the missionaries currently church planting on the island, our church here in Huayapam, and a local group of doctors that often do mountain medical clinics as part of their ministry.  You can also read our latest prayer letter by clicking here.

Church Planters!

We had the privilege of being a part of something very similar in March of 2014, that you can read about by clicking here.  The trip will help the missionaries and their church on the island reach out to their community.  “We are the bait that the fisherman use,” as one of the doctors likes to put it. It will be exciting for the church members here having the opportunity to be a part missions, we are praying they catch a vision and passion for missions and reaching the state of Oaxaca.  There is much planning, coordinating, and prayer that needs to go into this trip.  We invite you to begin praying with us on this.  

Translators!

How about you, what mission trips or Global Adventures ,as my BIL likes to call them, are you planning on going on this year?

A Mission Trip for Missionaries

I had every intention of posting this back in May or June, but pregnancy and morning sickness really caught up with me.  I am posting it now, obviously.  :) Our missionary friends are in the U.S. on furlough and we really miss them, especially this time of year.  The following is just one of the fond memories we have with them.  

Early May we were honored to be invited along by some fellow missionaries on one of their out reach efforts.  The goal was to assist and encourage a national church planter, as he and his wife live and labor among a very closed neighborhood.  The neighborhood has permitted their children to come for daily after school tutoring and Bible studies, but the adults have been very reluctant to engage with Manuel and Glenda in anyway.  We offered very limited services; a very basic eye exam, dental care workshop, barber (turns out you can trust a bald barber), and ear cleaning.  I was able to weigh a few babies and go over warning signs in pregnancy with some of the ladies in the waiting area.  

All this gave the community a better opportunity to get to know Manuel and Glenda and to speak to some about spiritual matters.  We are thankful to our missionaries friends for allowing us to join them in part of their ministry.  It was a great ministry trip for our visiting niece and our kiddos.  They helped out in lots of areas.  Glamorous things like hauling water, sweeping up hair, and examining and cleaning out ears.  However, the best thing they did, the thing I am the proudest of is, they showed themselves friendly. Well done my young people.  

What do you think?  What makes short-term mission trips successful or not so successful?  What was the most important way you helped on your last mission trip?

Ministry Monday Week #13: On the Solid Rock

One of the songs we sang while traveling around the country on deputation was "I'm Standing on the Solid Rock."  It relays a great message and has a wonderful southern gospel tune.  Well, last year we sang the English version at a church here in Oaxaca, and the response was tremendous.  Many asked if we knew it in Spanish.  Finally, after a year of looking and even trying our own hand at translating it (to no avail), we found it.

Here's one of our first attempts at it.

Missionary School

Since we arrived in Mexico in April of 2010, we have been in our very own specially designed by God Missionary Training Academy.  We spent our first nine months in Jerez, Zacatecas getting to know Mexico and the culture.  Our plans would have included staying there for 2 - 3 years and learning the church planting ropes.  However, we discovered our research on that area had been in error and there are actually two national pastors doing a very good job of taking the gospel to their own people.  Is there room for another church in the town of Jerez, of course, but we felt God moving us to prepare for the ministry he would lead us to by attending some formal language training.  This moved us to Cuernavaca, Morelos for the first part of 2011.  We are still in contact with the national pastors in Jerez and pray for them often as the people there in Jerez have a special place in our hearts.  Recently Sam was even able to go back and visit and encourage one of the local pastors.  He was also able to visit some of the friends we had made while living there and witness and share due to our ever improving Spanish.

Pray request from this time:  For the national pastors still laboring in Jerez and for our continued improvement in speaking Spanish.

The second tailor made "class room" has been filling in for a missionary family while they are on furlough in the U.S. for a year.  Sam prayed for an opportunity just like this and the story of how God worked it all out is...well...a God thing, undoubtedly.  We are so grateful for this time, with the sweet church members here.  I know they miss their pastor greatly while he is in the U.S., but that does not stop them from working along side us.  I have been able to teach children's classes and Sam has begun to teach and preach in Spanish.

Prayer request from this time:  To do our part in returning this work to those to whom it belongs, to finish well, and try to invest what has been entrusted to us, not just return it back the same.  I have often thought of the parable of the talents, where one servant invested and returned more to his master and the other servant hid his talents, much to his shame.  It is comforting to know that this is God's church and as long as we look to Him daily, he will do the work here in Encarnacion de Diaz.

As you know from several blogs back, we have been praying and seeking God guidance about where to go after our time here is complete.  There are no shortage of opportunities and needs all over Mexico and Latin America.  When suddenly God has opened our eyes to an area we had previously been completely over looking.  He has given a passion and fire for a people group, a geographical location.  Could this be our ministry God has for us?  Could this be the people God has been molding and training us through our life experiences and education to reach.  More or less a creative access area to which we with our unique family and God's help could go.  There is certainly a lifetime of work to be done among them and no one else is going.

Where is this amazing place?  These pictures are your clues.....

Oh!  And I am so spoiled now.  Your inner coffee snob cannot be controlled once you have sipped a cup of coffee brought down from the mountain regions and then fresh roasted!  And you thought you were drinking the good stuff, because you grind it yourself!  :)