Feliz Navidad!

Wow...it's hard to believe that Christmas is here! For those of you who grew up with the usual snow on the ground and Boney M version of Feliz Navidad playing on the radio in the background, you would know what I mean! (Thankfully...) there is no snow on the ground! And well, no Boney M...I think I'll survive! But Christmas in Mexico will be exciting as well! Here's a look back on the last couple of weeks and what's been keeping us hopping here since our trip into the Copper Canyon:

Putting on a church roof...

Over the past two years a church in Guaymas, Iglesia de Dios has been tirelessly working at building a new church building. A church from Crystal City, MB helped purchase the bricks over a year ago and they have been busy ever since putting up the walls. This past November a good friend Jeremy and his wife Alana came down from this same church in Crystal City with the intent to construct a metal roof for this church, a fair sized undertaking considering it is about a 30' by 60' building. And over the past couple of weeks with the help of various teams we were able to get the roof done as well as the electrical wiring for the building. Praise God! We are pretty exciting in seeing this project come to a completion! This was probably one of the first churches that I remember visiting during my first year here. I remember it quite distinctly because it was a dark, dingy, small building built of wooden pallets nailed together with a tin roof. I know that God never puts much thought into where He "takes up residence" (especially considering that His first "earthly home" as a human was in a stable of all places!) But I remember when we visited as a team, we had to cram into that place to find a place to sit! If nothing else, a larger place of worship as definitely in order!

So, to see this project come together after the sacrifice of not only a number of teams but seeing the church itself pour hours of fund raising and hard work into it as well, has been a blessing! One evening, after the first pieces of tin were fastened on, we took part in a moving evening service with them where the pastor himself was in tears overwhelmed at seeing the project coming to a completion. An elderly man shared, through tears as well, how for years he had been praying he would live to see the day when a new church building could be built to replace the old shack they used to worship in, something worthy of the God they served!

Backpack Ministry

The San Carlos Community Church, a local body of English speaking believers takes on a ministry of giving out backpacks every Christmas season. This year well over 600 backpacks were packed and distributed to different local churches in the days leading up to Christmas. Each pack is filled with some school supplies, age appropriate toys and most importantly a Bible. We visited about five or six different churches having a bit of a program with the children and then handing out the backpacks.

One boy in particular sticks out in my mind, really bringing into perspective the whole idea of gift giving in this Christmas season. He was the son of a pastor whom I had gotten to know well over the past couple of years. After receiving his backpack he came to me super exciting over one of the things in particular that he had received. He shared, almost with tears in his eyes, how he had been praying for this exact thing. Any guesses as to what it might have been? How about this: a little LED flashlight...nothing special - something you could probably pick up at a dollar store, but this more than made his day! Kinda helps to put into perspective the whole idea of gift giving...or perhaps more so gift receiving! Also kinda neat to see how God takes care of us and even these smallest desires that we have! How much joy He must have had in answering this boy's prayer of faith?!

Looking ahead...

A couple of days after Christmas things are really going to start hopping as a youth group from Winkler, MB arrives. Along with them and the financial help from their church we will begin one of the bigger projects this winter: building a pastoral house. I look forward to keeping you posted not only on the project but also the stories along the way of how we see God moving!

Thanks so much for the prayers along the way! Feliz Navidad!

Beautiful Feet

"How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news..." (Isa 52:7). Who ever knew that pedicures could be so enjoyable? I don't know that my feet are that much more beautiful than they were before but what a blessing it is to be a part of what God is doing, and to share this good news that we have!

As you can tell by reading this post, we made it back, safe and sound with many adventures and stories of how God was at work. We traveled in a caravan of 4 motorcycles, 2 quads, and a Tahoe loaded with equipment and about a 1,000 Bibles and covered about 700 miles altogether. God kept us safe, with no major mishaps or accidents...the odd bruise and a bike or two may have taken a spill but nothing major!

I hope to get some pics posted soon but in the mean time I just wanna share a couple of neat examples of how we saw God moving. Our second night we found ourselves in the town of Chinipas, where we have been in the past. It's a hard town with no evangelical church, just the local Catholic church. Though the people are warm and friendly, we have always felt that there is a different kind of feeling in this town, with many obvious affects of the drug trade. In the past it has been hard to set up a film, not getting the necessary permission to do it in a public place. But this year, God really opened the door. Within in minutes of talking with the Comisario, the town mayor, we had not only permission that evening and the evening later on in the week when we would be on the way back, but he said he would make arrangements with the Comisario of the next town we were going to as they were good friends. And so we were able to set up in the town square. I'll share a little later how God moved the second night we were there.

From Chinipas we set out to an neighboring town called Temoris to work again with a pastor we've gotten to know well over the past years and each year I've come to appreciate more and more. He's more of a quiet, almost timid pastor but the passion he has to reach out especially to the small villages around his town is very evident. Temoris itself is located high up in the mountains, at about a mile in elevation. The first night we were there the pastor took us deep into the valley on one side of the town, not very far away but it took us about an hour to make it down the road. With no electricity we were the only attraction in town that night! I have to say I haven't seen the stars like I did that night for a long time! The next night, the pastor took is in the opposite direction down another valley, even a little further away. This was an even more remote village, once again with no electricity. It was inhabited by local natives with whom the pastor had also been working with over the past years. This was a particularly chilly evening, probably somewhere between 10 to 15 degrees and these people where showing up in barefoot sandals! (the only footwear they had...) I was sitting there in many layers, a toque, socks, shoes, gloves, barely keeping warm myself!

From Temoris we went to a town called Urique in the Urique canyons, one of the deeper valleys in the Copper Canyon area. The road arrives literally at the canyon edge and the town is at the very bottom. It's about a vertical mile from top to bottom and it took about an hour of back and forth driving to make it from top to bottom...25 kilometers to travel that vertical mile! But we were once again able to work with another wonderful pastor who took us to several villages surrounding the town and share the Gospel with them as well as hand out Bibles.

From there we backtracked and made our way to Chinipas once again where the final showing took place. The mayor had made arrangements for another showing in the town square and had also spread the word. As we were setting up, though there were people around, there wasn't the usual crowd coming together as there often was. As we were setting up, for whatever reason God had put it in our hearts to pray specifically for the men, that the men would be drawn in and come. However, at the point we had decided we would start, there wasn't a single person in the benches. But as soon as we pressed the play button, the people started to trickle in to the point where the seats were close to full. And sure enough among the children, there were more men than usual who were intently listening, some inconspicuously on the edge, others right in the center of it all. At the end, one of our team members shared and invited those who wanted to respond and there was one man in particular praying to receive the Lord as his Savior. He came up in the end as we invited those who wanted a Bible or a pair of reading glasses. When asked he came up and was asked if he wanted a pair of of reading glasses he emphatically replied that no, he had come for a Bible! Praise God for these changed lives! And now we can only pray for these new believers and for a town like Chinipas in particular, that God would raise up a church in this town!

Though we didn't give out all the Bibles, there are many more who now have a copy in their hands. Pray that the truth would grab a hold of them and change their hearts! After sharing the Jesus film in eight different locations, pray that those who made a decision to follow Christ would be encouraged and built up in their faith. Pray also for those pastors that we worked with, that they too would be encouraged in their work!

I'm hoping to get some pics posted soon so there is a little bit of visual accompaniment to these stories. Also, thanks so much for your prayers along the way...the preparation of hearts through prayer is as important as sharing the truth of the Gospel! We could see God working in many ways, and we owe a lot of that to you!

Just a Moment to Breathe

Looking back

We've just made it through our first team - a group that comes down from a church in Phoenix twice a year. It's a bit of a whirlwind trip for them with one day of travel here, three days of work, and one day to return. Backing up just a bit, a couple of weeks ago we had a couple from Crystal City, Manitoba whose church raised the money needed to put a roof on a church here in Guaymas that has been in construction for the past year or so. This was probably one of the first churches that I work with during my first year - a very much alive church and a joy to work with. Their building however, was nothing more than wood pallets nailed together and a flimsy metal roof. This church from Crystal City raised the money to buy the bricks for the walls, which the church has been working on building over the last year. Now, over this past week, with the help of this couple as well as this team from Phoenix, we have been working at putting a roof on the church.

This last Sunday evening the team was able to take part in their service and what a service it was! Several members of the church were so overwhelmed seeing the building come closer and closer to completion. Perhaps one of the most touching moments was when an elderly man shared how for 15 years it had been a dream of theirs to see a new church building put up. He shared how he prayed that God would not take him until he could see a new church built. And he shared, overwhelmed with tears not only with the fact of having a new building but with the desire to reach out into their community.

Looking Forward

And now onto the next adventure! The bags are back, and the bike is nice and shiny (for now...) and tomorrow morning a group will be heading out into the Copper Canyon in neighboring Chihuahua. 4 motorcycles, 2 quads, and a 4x4 Tahoe will be heading into the boonies loaded with Bibles and equipment to show the Jesus film in remote mountain towns. You never know what God has in store but you always know that it is going to be an adventure seeing how He will move in people's lives. Just about every night we will find ourselves in a new town, some towns we've never been to before and others that are familiar from past years. In some towns we already have contacts with existing churches, and others we will be looking for new contacts, new churches with a desire to reach out into their community.

I can't tell you how much we as a group covet your prayers on this trip! Not only for safety as we are traveling some treacherous mountain roads and traveling into some more intense drug-growing country but just that God would already be working in these towns, that the existing churches would be encouraged, and that we would be desponible, available for whatever God has in mind!

If you want to follow along with us in prayer, keep these places in mind:

• Day 1 - Alamos: showing a Jesus film.
• Day 2 - Chinipas: a hard town with no evangelical church; pray that God would raise up His church in this town!
• Day 3 - Temoris: we've been here a number of times and worked together with a wonderful pastor; pray for their continued outreach into their community.
• Day 4 - Bahuachivo: a town we've passed through on previous occasions. Pray for a new contact, that God would open the doors to work with an existing church that has a passion to reach out to their community.
• Day 5 - Ceracauhi: another town we've passed through on previous occasions. Pray again for God to lead us to an existing church in this community.
• Day 6 - Urique: A beautiful town at the bottom of a canyon more than a vertical from top to bottom! Pray for the pastor and his church as we reach out into their community.
• Day 7 - Urique: We will spend some time in neighboring villages - pray for opportunities in these villages.
• Day 8 - Chinipas: on the road home again, perhaps making some connections again in this town.
• Day 9 - San Carlos! Con el favor de Dios returning safely to San Carlos!

Thank you to the faithful prayer warriors! We wouldn't want to embark on a journey like this without you! I'll be looking forward to sharing what God does on this journey and how He will answer your prayers!