Spring Update Newsletter

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God Has Been Good...

Well, this past week has been quite the adventure to say the least!
My youth group from Manitoba left Friday afternoon and I've been in
"recuperation" mode ever since! God was definitely good, though,
taking care of every concern, every anxiety that we had, protecting
us, gaving us a lot of really neat ministry opportunities, and
blessing the socks out of everyone of us! Here's a couple of examples:

On the first fill day here, our team went out to a poor church about
45 minutes away in Empalme with a bunch of clothing to hand out.
When we arrived there, we went door to do, inviting people to the
"cancha", the basketball court just beside the church. Well, when we
made it back there to set out the clothing, we were COMPLETELY
OVERWHELMED with the amount of people that showed up - there were
well over a hundred people, with many children. The need in that
area is so overwhelming, and you could never feel that you brought
enough stuff to help ease their needs! But we had an opportunity to
help the church connect with their community and also to just briefly
share why we were there - to share God's love with them. We also
invited them back to the church later that week for the service that
we were going to be involved in - the one you all prayed for.

The team was also involved with a DVBS style kids club at a local
Spanish church here in San Carlos. It was tough going at first,
dealing with a language barrier and all. Some of the youth had no
problem bridging the gap, though, but for others it was definitely a
stretch. Tuesday, the second day was probably the hardest, just
dealing with fatigue all around and struggling (for some) to make
those connections. But by Friday, as our team was leaving and saying
their goodbyes, you wouldn't have known that there was any language
barrier at all! The way the kids were holding onto the youth as they
were trying to leave just showed how God was faithful to allow them
to bridge that language gap in so many ways. It is amazing how many
ways you can communicate love without words! By the looks of it,
this may have been a DVBS program in Canada where all the kids speak
English - the connections made were just as significant, if not more so!

Thursday evening, which I asked you to pray for was an incredible
blessing as well. The team was really looking forward to returning
to that church in Empalme - it's just such an incredibly warm and
wonderful little congregation - another situation where the language
barrier just wasn't a barrier at all. It's amazing the community and
fellowship that you can experience with little verbal communication.
The entire day though, was filled with a bit of anxious moments and
some wrenches thrown into our plans, but God was faithful in
everything and through all the distractions that were thrown our way,
the evening service went off amazingly! Thanks for your prayers! We
were able to share some songs, both in English and Spanish,
worshiping together with them, share some testimonies, and a drama,
and share a message as well. There were a number of visitors to the
church which was exciting. It was a wonderful closing to the trip,
just sharing in fellowship with these believers.

Needless to say, though, I'm still kinda exhausted. I'm looking
forward to my family coming next week Tuesday, though. But that's
all for now! Adios!

Back in the Groove

Slowly but surely I'm getting back into the swing of things down
here! It honestly has felt like weeks since I've been here, at least
in a "normal" sense. Sure, I was here two weeks ago (for a week)
with my brother and his friends but that week was such a rat race,
hanging out with them as well as taking care of some regular duties
here. The temperature has definitely kicked it up a little - we're
hanging around the mid 30's consistently with high humidity. We've
had two mornings of rain, though, which has helped to not only
freshen things up but turn everything very green! What once was were
desert hillsides are now turning lush and green. We're just entering
the rainy season which will continue on through till sometime in
September or October.

Just a couple of hours ago I bid fairwell to a youth retreat from a
local Spanish church located about 20 minutes from here. This week,
among regular responsibilities, will be spent gearing up for my youth
group's arrival next week Friday. I'm very excited to have the
opportunity to host this group out here for a week of ministry. It's
always a pleasure to have family and friends from home join me in
this adventure out here. These experiences are great to share with
words and pictures but when you can share the experiences themselves,
it makes it that much richer! The group, 11 in all, will be involved
with a VBS program in a local Spanish church during the mornings, and
the afternoons will included various things like a painting project
for that church, doing some clothes and food distribution, and
spending some time at the orphanage that I'm involved with.

You can definitely keep us all in your prayers in several different
ways: (1) None of the members of the group have been to
Mexico...scary and exciting at the same time! But pray that God will
not only take us all out of our comfort zones but that He will show
Himself faithful as well trust Him in those circumstances. (2) Pray
that we will be able to see God's hand work mightily amongst us and
around us as we seek to serve Him wholeheartedly (3) Pray for safety
in travel for the group - over 5000 miles will be spent on the road!
(4) Please also pray for me as I am in a new role. Generally I'm
working under the leadership of Art and Brenda but since they are in
Montana for the summer, I'll be flying solo...the group won't be the
only ones living outside their comfort zones!

I can't thank you enough for your prayers in all of this...they are
what keeps this ministry going and what keeps it effective!