Changing of the Seasons...

I've come to adjust to a whole new concept of what it means to have the seasons change! It used to mean going from beautiful, sunny summer to chilly, leaf color changing fall, to freezing cold, white winter, to muddy, and wet spring, and all over again. There was no question about what time of year you were in or really what to expect, although sometimes you would get snow super super early and then the next year wonder if Christmas would have even a single snow flake!

Well, the seasons down here in Mexico are as follows: Nice with a little chilliness in the evenings and mornings (winter), to hot during the day and pleasant during the evenings (spring), to just plain blazing hot 24-7 (summer), to not quit so hot (fall), and the cycle starts again! It's pretty much the same sunny weather year round with different levels of heat throughout!

What is also odd is what I now consider to be "cool" or "chilly". For example, these nights we are having currently are a "cool" or even "chilly" high teens, hovering close to 20 degrees, and for you American folk, that is Celsius, not Fahrenheit! When would I ever have thought that 18 or 19 degrees could be considered cool?! How quickly we adjust to our environment!

Enough about the weather, though! As you can tell, we are in the midst of season change out here as well, and that includes not only the weather but our seasons of ministry. The team has arrived back at the centre including Art and Brenda, the couple who runs the mission centre as well as two new staff members, one of which many of you probably know, Shorty. For the few of you who may have not met the legend Shorty, he's a young man who's here from San Carlos and spend the last year and a half up in Manitoba studying and serving at Winkler Bible Camp through their Crosscurrent Discipleship Program. Prior to that he was somewhat of an adopted son here at the centre, helping out, learning English, and hanging out with the teams during the winter. For those of you who have had the pleasure of meeting him have witnessed his craziness and passion for life and you won't soon forget him! Having recently come back from Canada after spending more than a year there, there are always lots of adjustments to be made coming back "home", especially when home is as different as Mexico is from Canada. But for those of you who have kept him in your prayers at any point, it has been so encouraging to see how God has been shaping and forming him! To see the spiritually growth that he has taken place in his life is wonderful to see! I mention this first of all to give God the glory and second of all to encourage you to keep praying for him as God puts him on your hearts. One could imagine the shook of spending so much time in a culture different than your own and then suddenly being reimbursed in your own culture. And then you throw in the intense discipleship experience that takes place in a place like camp and then suddenly being taken out of that situation and put back into your "normal" life and to try to bridge that gap!

As a team we are in the midst of preparations for the coming busy season of hosting missions teams. It all begins in November with the first team coming in on the 13th, a small group from Crystal City, Manitoba that will help to construct a roof for Pastor Pablo's church. It's a building that has been in the process for that past couple of years. Their former church was constructed with wooden pallets as the main material and with the help of some teams that have come down as well as many hours of work on the part of the church, their building is close to being completed.

Thanks for the many prayers that have been offered up on my part and on the mission's part! You are all a huge part of the ministry that takes place here! I've gotta go and refill my cup of coffee here…it's a chilly 18 outside right now...

My ways are higher than your ways...

It's interesting how God works things out, sometimes, the people He brings across your path. This past little stretch has been that way - some people in real need, not just physically but spiritually.

Summer is always a hard time here in this area. Jobs are scarce, not just with the economy the way it is, but as many people depend on tourism in this area, summer is a slow time. This morning as I was on the way to Guaymas, about 15 minutes from the center, along the highway I came across this young lady also on her way to Guaymas, walking along the highway with her 2 year old daughter. Oddly enough, I had come across her before a couple of months ago at the exact same spot, carrying her daughter, in the heat of the day, making the 5 mile walk to Guaymas cause she didn't even have money to take the bus. Her name is Rosa and she is more or less on her own with her daughter. Her husband has left her alone to care for her child and she has not heard from her family which lives a fair distance away for a long time. Over the course of the past couple of months we've been able to help her out at times with food and had some opportunities to encourage her, share the Lord with her, and pray with her. But it is difficult when there is little if any work and one is looking not only after herself but a two year old as well.

Another crossing of paths has taken place with a young man named Jesus. Wanting to learn English, he has come along with another couple to the English church, San Carlos Community Church faithfully for the past couple of months. He is 15, living in Guaymas, and having recognized me from some of the work we've done in their community, quickly sought me out to see if I would teach him English. So, for the past couple of weeks he's faithfully make the trek out Tuesdays and Fridays to spend some time with me here at the center. Between helping me out with some work here and sitting down in some not-so-official English classes, he's slowly been learning and soaking it in. Last Tuesday when he came over, our conversations took on a different nature as he started sharing some of his past and some of the difficult things that had taken place in his life, many years ago. Our conversations turned towards God's plan for our lives, and the hope and healing that He alone can bring. Jesus hasn't yet committed his life to Lord and through things that have happened in his life is really searching for meaning and understanding. To this point he hasn't turned to the Lord, but pray that he would! Our English lessons have been great opportunities to talk about all kinds of things, but pray specifically that God would touch his life, and that he would see the hope and purpose we have in Jesus!

As you think of them, please pray for both of these people, Rosa and Jesus. You never know what God has in store, but we know that God is not wanting "any of these....should be lost!" Matthew 18:14. Thanks for your continued prayers!

La Paz En La Tormenta

Many of you have met Pastor Omar personally. We have had the privilege of working together with him and his wife over the past couple of years and they have become my adopted Mexican parents. They even gave me a key to their house if ever I need to get away for a bit and they are not home! They are the pastor couple that we built a house for this past spring. It has been awesome to see not only their pastoral heart, but also the heart of their church for their community.

Over the course of the last couple of months, they as a church, have adopted a Christian rehabilitation center that takes people in for a period of several months who battle with drug and alcohol addictions. Once a week, members of the church put on a service with worship and a teaching and yesterday I had the privilege of joining them. The service began with a time of worship as we sang along to some videos with words followed by a time of teaching. What a powerful reminder of God's grace and hope it was seeing these men and woman pouring out their hearts in worship! There was one song in particular, a favorite of theirs, called La Paz En La Tormenta, Peace in the Storm. There's no doubt that many of them had faced and perhaps were facing some pretty serious storms in their lives but they were passionately claiming that peace that only God can bring, no matter what our circumstances are! Following a time of teaching we spent some time also praying for those who had some specific needs. It's always inspiring seeing the heart that so many of the churches here have for their communities, for the people around them!

On a side note, for those of you who know Pastor Omar and his wife Cristina, Cristina fell and broke her foot a few weeks back and has been confined to bed rest ever since, never an easy task for anyone, much less her who is always up and about, visiting people. Her spirits were up yesterday but at times I think she's been somewhat discouraged as one could imagine! Pray for her when you think of her!