Open Doors

A lot has happened since the last blog post - two trips down south in Mexico with one trip sandwiched between up to Canada - and just several days to unpack and repack between each.  It's good to be back in San Carlos after just over two months of living out of a suitcase.  But along with it has come many encouraging stories in connecting with churches and many people both connected to CEC here in Mexico, and connected to me personally up in Canada.  So to cover a few highlights over these past couple of months, here goes:

TEPIC, NAYARIT

One of our first stops ("our" including my colleague Guillermo who accompanied me on both of the trips down south) was at a place we had previously visited last year, in Tepic, Nayarita, two states to the south of us.  A local pastor there who has worked extensively in that region with the indigenous group, the Huichol, took us to a somewhat remote community to share about CEC.  Here's a picture of part of our journey:

Our boat ride to the village

(Click here for a link to view a brief video) We travelled about an hour and a half to arrive at a lake, on which we made about a half-hour journey by boat and finally a 20 minute hike to arrive at this village - the only method of arriving there.  Our destination was a large Huichol community and to our surprise as well, a large community of believers.

This thriving church met us with enthusiasm as we shared about CEC's vision to equip and train people for ministry.  Though clearly a healthy and growing church, the leaders shared their desire to grow deeper in studying the Bible and having tools to continue to lead their church community.  There were several couples who were very interested in the possibility of coming to CEC, and they also left us with an open invitation to come and spend several weeks with them to do some basic training.  Upon returning to San Carlos the pastor's son sent me a message saying that we could easily have up to 50 people attending a local workshop, suggesting topics such as Hermeneutics and Spiritual Disciplines, to address both practical needs for ministry as well as personal spiritual growth.

This was just one example of several that we saw on these trips where open doors are leading to more open doors, as we pray and trust God that He will lead us in how to best carry out the vision of CEC.

LA PALMA, MICHOACAN

We returned to the hometown of Guillermo's dad, having visited it in previous trips, staying with his cousins who pastor a small church there.  They have recently become connected with an alliance of pastors in the region and invited them to share a meal together with them.  We had the opportunity to share about the ministry of CEC with them - about 12 different churches represented altogether from neighbouring towns - and again received an invitation to return.  This time, however, it would be to spend several days with them, offering some leadership training.  Doors continue to open...

The group of pastors who we met at La Palma, Michoacan

LORETO, ZACATECAS

In our final stop on the first trip we spent four days at a place we had only briefly gotten to know the previous year.  We were billeted out for meals, three a day for each of the full three days that we were there, at a different house each meal.  Without a doubt, the "memories" that we took from this place went far beyond the people we met and the experiences we had, to include several extra kilos of love-filled cooking.  It is one of the things that always stands out in these trips - the incredibly warm hospitality that is a hallmark of Mexico, augmented by the fact that we are embraced by brothers and sisters in Christ.  We are, in each and every place, so warmly received and cared for, that the laborsome parts of being on the road for so long are far eclipsed.

We are always ready to be of service at each place we go, and Loreto was no exception.  We were plugged into a number of the church's ministries including a rehab center, a small group, a marriage workshop, and of course their Sunday-morning service.

Guillermo sharing at the rehab center

The small group we shared at, at a neighbouring town the church has been involved with recently 

The Sunday morning service at Loreto

All of these opportunities provide chances not only to serve, but ultimately to strengthen ties to the churches, to be able to share about CEC's ministry, in many ways giving them a "taste" of what CEC is all about: being transformed by the Word.  

And this was only our first trip.

Without making this too much longer, our second trip featured much of the same, strengthening ties to previous contacts we've made, making new connections to new churches, as well as having opportunities to reconnect with alumni.  We had a pleasant surprise on our second trip as we were able to reconnect with one of our past students whom we had not seen for years.  He had spent the last couple of years in the US, working to provide for his family.  It seemed, in some ways, that he had abandoned the ministry opportunities that he had here in Mexico to do so, but as we reconnected with him, having been back in Mexico now for only about five months, he was plugged into an outreach project in a community about 40 minutes away from where he lives.  Him and his wife go four times a week to meet in people's homes, have Bible studies as well as a weekly church service, all with the goal of planting a church in a community where there was no evangelical presence.   It was a joy to hear him share about his ministry opportunities and how he was using some of the classes that he had taken in CEC in the field where he was now serving.  He told us how his time at CEC had served as a clear "before and after" watershed period in his life.  These stories always encourage us as we see our students continue on serving the Lord - that the impact is not something temporary, only during their time in CEC, but continues to bear fruit in their lives.

Here's a few things that you can be praying for:

• Impact in the lives of the students in the upcoming missions module we host for Millar College of the Bible at the end of October - a time where we will have both classroom teaching and off-site ministry exposure.
• Our up-and-coming conference in mid-November.
• For students for the coming year - that those who are interested will find the provisions they need to step away for 15 weeks, and that they would have the courage to take the step of faith to do so.

Thank you for the continued support and prayers for myself and for the ministry! It has been a busy stretch with all of the travel, but it is good to be back home in San Carlos.  I trust that you are all well and always enjoy to hear from you!  ¡Dios les bendiga!

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!