The Calm After The Storm

Every school season comes to a surprising end.  Of course we know it's coming, but it goes from 14 hour days, with constant attention to schedules, activities, classes, the students, etc. to a sudden peace and quiet that comes over the campus.  In the beginning, the first few days, it feels somewhat normal, as we are used to our students heading out on the weekend.  But the weekend just turns into one week, then two.  The break is always welcome as our tanks are pretty empty by the end - it is not a sustainable pace for longterm, but then it isn't meant to be either.  The students themselves are squeezing out the time from their lives and ministries to be here, and we seek to make the most of it together with them.  So, the change of pace is more than welcome.

After some time resting, along with catching up on a long list of things that have been patiently waiting for my time and attention, it takes some getting used to the new pace - lots to do, but not with the same daily, pressing urgency that those 15 weeks brought.  Evaluations.  Updates (I was able to redo the website - check it out here!) Plans.  We work on mapping out the rest of the year which includes events such as conferences, trips to recruit students as well as efforts to keep in touch with students both virtually and in-person as well.  We get a chance to catch our breath - which sometimes takes longer than others.  This year is perhaps one of those times and so I'm thankful for this stretch to be able to have some time to regroup, plug away at things, and have some time to prepare for the next couple of months, which, as it turns out, will be fairly busy and intense.  It will include participating in a youth camp this coming weekend, a trip down to central Mexico, a trip up to Manitoba, and finally a trip down to the southern part of Mexico.  All of this will bring me to the end of September, when events start kicking off here, on-site.

Apologetics Youth Camp - July 11-15

This came together rather quickly, organized by one of the adjunct teachers who has participated in CEC for a number of years now.  (He is also one of the main leaders who organizes the missions course Consiervos I have mentioned previously, which I have helped with in the past.)  This weekend event will be for youth and university aged young adults who are facing incredible pressure from the world in an age of relativism.  About 25 young people will be attending from Saturday to Wednesday. I'll have the chance to share in a couple of classes together with a number of others as well.  Please pray for me as I share and pray for each of the youth/young people in attendance.  A couple of our CEC alumni will be attending the camp as well.

Recruitment/Visiting Trips - July 25-August 11

As in the past, we are making plans to head down south, this time on two separate trips, to connect with alumni in other parts of Mexico, and also to continue to grow new/existing relationships with churches in an effort to continue to recruit new students.  We are seeing that it takes time to build trust with churches, but we are also seeing that God continues to open doors as new opportunities grow into more opportunities.

An example of this is a church we will return to in Loreta, Zacatecas, a church we visited for the first time last year.  We had two students come from this church, and in our brief visit there last year, their invited us to come back and share an extended workshop/conference with them.  We will be visiting them on this first trip, an opportunity to meet up with these two alumni, and be able to share some teaching with the church as well.  Our goal is always two-fold: first and foremost, to be a blessing where we can, bringing biblical teaching; second, to "whet the appetite" of potential students to come to CEC in the future. 

Our first trip

Our first trip will include:

• Tecuala, Nayarit: visiting a pastor who has sent a number of students in the past, including three who attended this previous year.
• Tepic, Nayarit: visiting a pastor whom we have recently gotten to know and who has connections to indigenous churchs where they have done mission work for a number of years.
• Guadalajara, Jalisco: connecting with some past students as well as several pastors we have come to know over the years.
• La Palma, Michoacan: through Guillermo's family connections, a meeting has been arranged to meet with an alliance of pastors in the area.
• Atotonilco, Jalisco: an opportunity to connect with a number of our past students who have come from the area as a kind of an alumni-retreat.
• Loreto, Zacatecas: the church I mentioned above, where two students came from this past school season, and where we will have an opportunity to spend a couple of days in conferences.

These trips always bring with them ample opportunities to meet new people, share about CEC, teach, preach (often spontaneously), and in general, make many new connections while maintaining existing relationships.  As is typical in Mexico, especially within the Christian community, mi casa es su casa, or my home is your home is the standard treatment - we are taken in like family and enjoy wonderful fellowship at each stop.  This first trip will take almost three weeks.

Manitoba (August 14-September 8) & Oaxaca (September 12-29)

Days after returning back to San Carlos, I'll be heading on the road to spend close to a month on Manitoba, and then upon return, taking another trip down south to follow up on contacts we have in one of the southern most states, Oaxaca, where we have connections with some churches down there, from where students have come, and where we also have a long-standing adjunct teacher.  This will, Lord willing, bring us to the end of September, back in San Carlos for the fall season and its activities here onsite.

As always, your prayers are greatly appreciated!  Here's a few things to keep in mind specifically for this upcoming season:

• This upcoming apologetics youthcamp: that God would use both my teaching time and the entire weekend to encourage these young people in their faith.
• Safety and guidance for the upcoming trips: we continue to see God's hand at work and pray that He would continue to lead us.
• For each opportunity, planned or sponateous, that comes up along the way, that. God would use each opportunity and that He would sustain us and guide us through each one.

It would seem that the calm after the storm is also the calm before the storm of upcoming activities and opportunities.  Thank you for your continued prayers!  ¡Dios les bendiga!

The Class of 2026

Just over a week ago we said farewell to our students. On one hand, 15 weeks seems to stretch out for a long time, especially as energy levels slowly wear down from the long and intense days. But as the end approaches, one asks, How did we get here so fast? What is always amazing, though, is seeing the slow yet steady changes in each one of the students' lives. "Your labor is not in vain..." yet it is not our labor primarily but His work in them. This is the class of 2026 and here are some highlights of God's workings in their lives.  

The graduating class together with the full-time staff.

I had the chance to mentor a young man who actually had already attended CEC many years ago - the five-year-old son of a young couple. Vicente is the first second-generation alumni, his parents having attended in 2011 (the 2nd year of CEC) together with this two sisters. Though he was young, he had fond memories of CEC and those who were leaders at the time (including our founding director who has since passed away, Howard.)  This was one year before I started with CEC, so I didn't know them at the time, but since then as we've made trips to visit past students, I have come to know both his parents and Vicente himself over the past few years. 

While having hit some struggles in his faith in the recent past, God placed it on Vicente's heart to return to CEC, this time as a student himself - something he had wanted to do since the very first time he came. One of the things that quickly became clear as I got to know Vicente more, was how God had been working on him even as a child - the convictions that he had even as an eight-year-old, for example - his desire to serve the Lord even at that early age. Though his later-teenage years had some bumps and bruises, he experienced a type of re-awakening during his time of CEC.  The maturity in his faith - his genuine care and concern for others during the course, wanting to see others grow and step out in their faith - struck me as it is not something that one typically sees from a 20-year-old, let alone even others more advanced in years. Vicente was the first to begin clearing dirty dishes from the tables (we had to tell him at times to sit back and enjoy other people's company...) and also one of the first to cheer his fellow classmates on as they took on new challenges such as preaching for the first time. 

He himself is a deep thinker, and this would perhaps at times get him into trouble, but it was during one of our conversations, and later as he prepared to preach for the first time on life in the Spirit, in Romans 8, that a palpable peace came over him as he grasped more deeply the life we have in the Spirit as opposed to the life (even the Christian life) tried to be lived in the flesh.  This was just one example where it was exciting to witness the truths of the Word sink deep into his heart, taking root.  Still a very young man who is discerning where God might take him, pray for Vicente as he seeks God's direction in his life.

Another student who comes to mind when I think of God's transformational work in the lives of the students over these past months comes from the same church, located in Tecuala, Nayarit - two states down to the south from San Carlos.  We've actually stayed at Uriel's place a number of times over the years, his father being a pastor who has been deeply connected with CEC.  Their home lies just off of the main highway that we take on many of our promotional tours down south.  His father has plugged us into the local community to share about CEC with a number of the churches in the area.  So, it was a pleasure to have these two, Vicente, Uriel, and, Uriel's sister, Karen attend this year.

Vicente together with Uriel (on the right).

What struck me the most about Uriel was, being a very quiet and reserved individual, the transformation that took place as he opened up to the group around him and in taking on new challenges such as preaching for the first time.  It was not only this, though, but also how God really was at work in his heart.  He was heard to read the first half of the course simply because he was quite reserved, quiet, and guarded.  As he shared later on, though, he was led to some points where he was tempted to leave.  For many, in one way or another, the fact that you have to engage with the community around you (one of the priorities of CEC) can create moments of crisis, where you have to either respond or run.  Some choose to run, but Uriel, guided by some people whom God had placed in his life, chose to stay and grow, experiencing an openness and brokenness that perhaps he had not experienced before.  I had the chance of interviewing him in video at the end of the course (later I'll put together some highlight videos with some of the student's testimony...) and as Uriel shared about his experience of the course, he couldn't hold back the emotion as he reflected on God's work in his life.  In his own words, he shared, "I thought I was OK...there were things, though, that one doesn't see until one is put to the test....I thought, 'I can change,' but it was impossible...yet something within me told me to just stay, to just continue on."  

The transformation that came through the time, from beginning to end, was perhaps subtle, but at the same time, evident in so many little ways - like the steady growth of a tree.  From engaging more freely and naturally with his classmates, to sharing his vision for ministry as he returns home to help serve more intentionally in his local church through things like preaching, the Uriel we met on day one became a very different Uriel on the final week.  We are thankful for these glimpses into their lives, knowing that we only see a small amount of what God really does in their lives and hearts.  

Now as the students find themselves in a new "classroom," one outside of the familiarity and relative comfort of CEC, we invite you to continue to pray for them together with us.  One of the encouragements we send them away with is the promise of Philippians 1:6, which says, "He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."  CEC itself was not the "magic ingredient" or catalyst for change in their lives, but God's work in them during this time - and He will continue to work in them as they continue to learn to yield their lives to Him.  

Pray also for us as staff as we set out to plan the rest of this year including other conferences as well as trips to visit students and make new connections with churches.  ¡Dios les bendiga!

12 Disciples

As one month quickly turns into the next month and one year into the next, we find ourselves once again at the doorsteps of another CEC school term, after a one-year hiatus, looking forward to a group of 12 disciples, looking forward for Monday to arrive.

Since my last update, we finished off the year with two major events - one being hosting Millar College of the Bible (Pambrun, SK campus), where ten students spent a week and a half here at CEC in a cross-cultural missions module.  A number of hours were spent in the classroom with various teachers looking at the challenges and realities of what cross-cultural missions look like.  We also spent time off-site at some local churches and ministries, getting a small taste of what it looks like to be and interact in a cross-cultural setting, hearing from those on the ground, and experiencing some of the challenges that one faces in a new culture and a different language than one's own.  

The Millar group of students on one of their off-site ministry experiences.

From there, in mid-November, we hosted our yearly fall conference where one of our regular adjunct teachers, Beto Ramirez, came in and shared about keeping ourselves grounded in Christ through His Word amidst a society that is increasingly turning away from Biblical principals and a Biblical worldview.  About 25 people from the area, including some of our alumni, spent a couple of days with us.

CEC Conference - Nov/25

These events capped off a unique year, where we didn't have our regular course in January, but one full of great opportunities such as these, and many others both on and offsite.  Perhaps what has stuck out the most is how we were able to see firsthand not only the need but also the hunger for God's Word, not just with our on-site programming, but especially as we had more time to invest offsite.  As December rolled around, we were pleasantly surprised to see a number of applications roll in for this year's program, two of which came from one of the churches we first made contact with this last September, when Guillermo and myself took our trip down south.  That church in particular expressed a deep interest in us returning to their area to spend more time teaching in the future.  

By the time Christmas rolled around, we already had eight students registered, probably the earliest we have ever had such a large number of students.  Now as we get the final preparations under way, we have our 12 disciples packing their bags and planning to arrive this coming Sunday.  They come from a number of different states: Sonora, Baja California, Nayarit, and Zacatecas, from places we've been working with for a long time now, and some, as I have already mentioned, from new contacts that have been recently made.  It is encouraging to see the ministry of CEC grow in its reach simply because it affirms the vision for ministry that God has placed on our hearts to do.  As we've learned from 2025, our plans may not play out as we hope they would, but we can still rest in God's leading in our lives and in this ministry as we step into this new year, and this new season.

So, we ask for your prayers for these coming 15 weeks, our final day being May 1st.  12 students, 15 weeks, many opportunities (and challenges!) await us.  

• Pray for our team as we navigate everything from the details to the bigger situations we will face in the coming days.  
• Pray for myself as I get back into teaching some of these materials that have been sitting on the shelf for a couple of years.  
• Pray also for each one of the students, that they would be receptive to God's working in their lives over these next months.  

AND, thank you for your continued prayers for myself and for this ministry!  ¡Dios les bendiga!