Vida en México

It's hard to believe how quickly the time has gone and that we are already quickly approaching the end of November!  It seems it's harder to keep track of time here in Mexico without the drastic change of seasons that I had accepted as "the norm" growing up in Winkler.  "Cool" nights of about 15 degrees C are the equivalent of freezing temperatures and snow beginning to fall in southern Manitoba!

Enough about the weather though!  Looking back over the past month I'm grateful to God for how He has answered both your prayers and mine.  So much has happened and I feel very much at home here in this ministry and with the team that I am working with.  Here's a few highlights over the past couple of weeks:

Ministry Team from Salmon Arm, BC

In the four years that the couple who started this school have been here they haven't once hosted a work team, but wouldn't you know it, about a month into my time here towards the end of October, they hosted a team of about 20 adults from a supporting church in Salmon Arm, BC, who came to help with various work projects here at the school.  There were two projects in particular, a small storage/workshop, and a second story classroom/nursery/suite over an existing building.  Though none of them were masonry experts, by the time they left, about 1,500 cement blocks had formed the walls for these new buildings, and they left as Mexican certified block layers.

Second story classroom with workshop going up in background

Apart from that the woman used many gallons of paint, painting parts of the school and dormitory and lead some craft sessions for woman and children in different areas.  For the final day, which was perhaps the hardest test of them all, the team travelled about an hour away to help Pastor Martin and Rosa, whom I have mentioned before, pour a floor for the house that they are constructing.  If you don't remember from my previous post, they had lost their house this summer due to flooding and are joyfully waiting in the Lord has He provides for them a new home.

Pastor Martin and his wife with the newly pour floor for their house behind them.

It was about 1000 square feet, 45 bags of cement and about 6 hours of non-stop cement work!  We were blessed to be able to serve them in this way.  They are building as resources come in and in the meantime are living in some rather crude wood and tarp structures, as well as one room from their original house that survived the flooding, but they are waiting and serving with joy despite that hardships that they have had to endure!

I believe the team from Salmon Arm left exhausted but blessed and we enjoyed immensely our time with them.  Here's some pictures of the two (almost) completed projects, the workshop and the classroom:

Workshop

Second story: classroom/dormitory/suite

Pastors and Church Leaders Conference

Since then, we have shifted gears getting ready for a conference that is currently in session this week.  Three different speakers have come from different areas, one a Scottish born evangelist and teacher who lives on Vancouver Island and travels around teaching at various Capernwray Schools, Clayton Dugan, is teaching during the mornings from the book of Judges.  Oscar Escalada from Tijuana is teaching in the afternoons on the subject of Stewardship.  In the evenings Eric Ericcson, who, along with his wife are on staff here during the winter school term and do a fair bit of teaching themselves, is teaching on the theme of Spiritual Disciplines.  About 25 people have come in for the conference from different parts of Sonora and a couple from as far as a 15 hour bus ride from here.  It's been a very special time as these pastors and leaders come together to be recharged and rejuvenated and also to enjoy the fellowship of their fellow servants, encouraging one another.  Please continue to keep the conference in your prayers as it runs this week through Friday.  On Saturday, one of the teachers will be giving a day conference on the theme of marriage and we are hoping that more will be able to come in for this day of teaching.  Pray that He would bring those who need to hear what will be shared!

Also on the agenda...

So what's keeping me busy these days?  Apart from finishing the above mentioned projects that the Salmon Arm team were able to start on, the school has recently purchased two lots across the street from the existing facilities.  The hope for the future is to build a kitchen/dining room there as well as more space for dormitories.  Currently, the school uses the kitchen from the neighbouring San Carlos Community Church, the english church here in San Carlos.  They have graciously allowed the school to use their kitchen facilities whenever needed.  However, the future goal is to construct their own kitchen and dining hall facilities to accommodate the growing ministry here at the school.  In addition to this, a couple of RV sites will be developed as well, where I will hopefully be able to call home sometime in December.  So for now, walls are going up around the property and we are focussing on putting in the water, electricity, sewage, etc. to be able to park some campers there soon.

The new lots

Thanks for your continued prayer support!  There's lots of work to be done but more than that, pray for these conferences this week.  Also pray for the coming school term which will begin in January.  Pray that those who God wants here would sense His irresistible call!