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 very large reservoir, on which we made about a half-hour journey on boat and finally a 20 minute hike to arrive at this village - the only method of arriving there - to get to this large Huichol community and to our surprise, a large community of believers.

This large, thriving church met us with enthusiasm as we shared about CEC's vision to equip and train people for ministry.  While large and thriving, much evidence of a growing and healthy 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 who were very interested in the possibility of coming to CEC, and 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 to where He wants us to go as CEC.

LA PALMA, MICHOACAN

We returned to the hometown of Guillermo's dad, 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 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 our 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 are far eclipsed.

Here in Loreto, like in many places, we come ready to serve in whatever way we can, and 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

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 only about five months, he was plugged into an outreach project in a community about 40 minutes away, going several times a week to meet in people's homes and plant a church in a community where there was no evangelical presence.  He was on the road up to four times a week, visiting people, having Bible studies, and leading a weekly service - something that was a joy to see as he shared how he was using some of the classes that he had taken a number of years ago 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!