Changes to report

Hello Blog readers.

We have lots of news to report.

The first: Erin is pregnant with a girl that we

are expecting in October! We are very excited about this big change in our lives! We feel very blessed with this new arrival!

Second: We are moving! Erin and I moved down to Mexico believing that we should stay for at least two years…and then we would pray and see what God has for us. So, in January, at the 2 year mark, we started praying to see if we were supposed to commit to being in Mexico, or if we were to move back to the US. Little by little, God revealed to us a plan. I was supposed to start applying for jobs in ministry and we go where God calls us.

After applying to all sorts of jobs all over the US, I found one. It is in Chico, California where I will be working for Bidwell Presbyterian Church as the College Ministry Coordinator. The church is located next to Chico State which has 16,000 students. The community college also has 16,000 students. Therefore, my mission field is now to college students. And I am very excited about this!

It is with much sadness that we leave La Mision. We love it here. We love our family. We love the community. We love the work God has called us to do here. And we love the fish tacos in Ensenada!

But we know that God has taught us a lot about life and living with faith and we are grateful for the time we have spent here.

So what happens to La Mision Ministries?

La Mision Ministries will continue!!! The shift will occur when Erin and I move away. The donations we needed to exist down here will then be put toward to our building ministry.

Jarilyn Wilson (shown on the right with a family we want to help) will be leading the Mexico operations where we try to procure donations for specific building projects for poor people in the community. The money will go toward supplies and paying local workers to complete the projects.

We know that this is a big change, but we also know that we serve a big God who is calling us to trust Him as we head into another unknown.

Things are happening…

We have a lot of things going on here in La Mision and we love it! And we need help!

Here are the details.

1. School sponsorship. We believe in education. Especially for the young women here in the community. Our friend Laura (who is a volunteer for the youth group) has wanted to go to school to become a teacher. But she hasn’t had the money. She has been working off and on and trying to save money, but her family has needs as well. Her mom died when we was younger and her younger sister is still in elementary school. Her dad can’t put her through school…but has offered to help.

The school is in Ensenada. The tuition cost is $2405 pesos (or $220 US) per month for 20 months. Her father has agreed to pay for her studio apartment, transportation, food and her books.

We are looking for sponsors to help put Laura through school to become a teacher, which is a great job in Mexico.

2. For the past year, the medical team from Siloe Clinic has been joining forces with another group to provide no-cost healthcare to a very poor community. We decided that we wanted to put on a  service to demonstrate love in a different way as well.

Our friend Daniel (who runs the daycare with his wife Heidi and is going to seminary right now)is going to give a message. We are going to bring a band for music, give away hot dogs on the grill, and hopefully give some basic necessities like rice and beans.

This is a new venture. Therefore we need prayers for people to receive the message, for the details to work out, and for relationships to be made and continued.

3. Our friends Nancy and Vance Ekrem are coming to visit us for Easter along with Andrew Appelwick. We are excited to spend time with them and working with them to be a blessing to the community. We ask for prayers for God to give us opportunities to serve Him and encourage the church and community.

4. More projects. We also have more projects that come to our attention that need resources and people so that we can support people and give work to those who need it. We dream of using our website to gather resources so that we can make things happen. If you would like to know more about this and maybe partner with us, please email us!

So please put us on your list of things to pray for and we promise to show you what happens through pictures and stories!

Missions

I want to take a moment to write about what I have learned here in La Mision about mission work.

Erin and I moved down to La Mision without much training. We just came with a heart to be obedient to God. And that is fine, but we really have loved getting to work with the ministries that are happening down here.

One of them is Open Arms (Brazos Abiertos). Their website is www.openarmsmexico.com

It was started five years ago when two people, Heidi and Daniel Elizarraraz, moved to La Mision. They prayed and decided to open up a daycare for children in the community.

They had, and continue to have a great strategy. Daniel grew up in an orphanage in Mexico. His family was unable to take care of him and so they put him and his brothers in an orphanage.

That is a reality here in Mexico. Many people consider the orphanage a better alternative than keeping the family together because they can’t afford to eat. Sometimes kids choose to be in the orphanage because of the abuse that they are running from.

I have been blessed (and horrified) to hear the stories of the kids who live at Door of Faith Orphanage. Kids shouldn’t have to face that kind of stuff. No one should!

Door of Faith Orphanage is a blessing to the community. They do a great job of raising the kids in a family environment.

Heidi and Daniel understood the culture. They prayed and sensed God calling them to start the daycare. It is a great strategy. This is why…

The children at the daycare come from families in the community that need to work. The parents would have to leave the children unattended or else someone would have to stay home. This frees up the parents to work.

The children love it. They have activities and friends to play with, and food.

 Each week at kids church, the kids pray for things that they are thankful for. Kids in La Mision understand that food is a blessing. They make a point to say that they have food on their table.

Through this gift to the children, the parents have been invited to learn more about the ministry. They love the freedom to leave their kids in a place they can trust, and be free to work, or find work.

Every so often, the daycare then puts on a service full of worship and a speaker that is able to communicate the Gospel. Many parents have been transformed into a life of following Christ, because they have seen the effects of the love of Christ on their children. They see the hope.

This not only benefits the children and their families. Many employees are hired to work with the kids or build the grounds for the daycare. It is a great job for a mother because she can be with her children, have support, and earn money for her family. One worker just had her child a month or two ago and is already back to work, because she can. And she doesn’t have to leave her child.

  The momentum is strong for this ministry. They are impacting families in a very real way and lives are being changed.

The only problem is that groups are cancelling on them. This ministry depends on support from the US. But many groups are not able to come down here because of the fear. More groups have cancelled this year than any other.

And when people don’t come down here, they forget about the ministry that is happening. 

Out my window

I just wanted to write to tell you what I am looking at. I sit at the desk in our office, and look out my window at the big mountain. In the fields behind us is a dirt road. Walking down the road was a goat (or a sheep, or a ram, I don’t know). It is black and white and has some little horns. It strutted down the road, and checks out the pony that is feeding from his mother, who is tied up to eat the grass in this area. They eyeball each other but he continues on. He then avoids a horse that is not tied up and runs around a puddle from last night’s rain. Then he gets to a pack of four dogs that are hanging out. The goat/sheep/ram/thing charges at the pack of dogs, and one of the dogs starts barking at him and then chases him as he tries to get away. But he doesn’t chase for long.

The goat then heads toward the pony, but the pony is now closer to his mom and so this scares the goat and the goat runs into the trees.

Meanwhile, three calves are in the road. Soon, a man riding a bike and smoking a cigarette tries to round them up. One gets away, so he has to get off of his bike and walk his bike up a hill. Soon, he manages to get his calves headed back to the farm and all is good.

I love looking out my window!

Joy and Loss

Here is my first attempt at being a wedding photographer.

Berenice is the sister of Miriam, the nurse who works with Erin at the clinic.

Berenice was walked down the aisle by her father Rudolfo.

Berenice and Raul were married at the church and had a reception there as well.

It was a very nice wedding filled with joy. Weddings are definitely different than the ones I have been to in the US. People show up late, the couple gets lassoed ceremonially. And the supporters of the couple help to pay for the ceremony, rings, and the reception.

It was a very joyful occasion.

But only a week later, something sad happened.

Berenice’s sister, Yolanda, got sick and passed away.

The picture above is Yolanda. She was only 48 years old. Erin and I really loved her. She was one of the first people in Mexico to invite us over for dinner and reach out to us.  At church services I would run to her and say “Hola Yola.” And if I didn’t say hello to her, she would get really mad. But she would get over it very quickly when we would say we were sorry and give her a hug.

She had been feeling sick all week but it turned worse quickly over the weekend.

This was a shock to all of us. Especially her husband, Jose, and her two children.

Erin and I went to the funeral service. In Mexico, the body is delivered to the house of the family and they spend all night with it. Erin and I didn’t stay all night, we only attended the service where there was music, sermons, and sharing. And left at 11:30pm.

We returned the next day for the second service and then went to the grave to see her buried.

It was a very difficult time for the family. And for us. But I really love how much the community comes together to support one another during these difficult times.

“Rocking” Daycare Wednesday Worship

As some of you know, every Wednesday Chad and I lead worship for a kids church service at Open Arms Child Care.  Open Arms is a ministry which provides free daycare to families to prevent kids from ending up in orphanages.  They provide a huge blessing for many families in our area. 

So, back to Wednesdays. This is how it goes: 3pm all the kids come running into the sanctuary, a nice room with lots of windows over looking the valley.  Chad and I, and sometimes a drummer, lead the kids in about 4 songs. Of course we have lots of motions and we like it when the kids have high energy because they really get into the worship, sometimes literally shouting the words out.  After worship, there is a time for the kids to come up front and share why they are grateful to God, then one of the daycare leaders gives a small sermon and then after the sermon they a worksheet that relates to the message.

This Wednesday was great and it was unique because Chad gave the sermon. And he mimed. Here is a video of his friend who he got the idea from, this is the message he shared.

The kids really loved it, bursting into laughter, and it held their attention amazingly well!

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
   and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways submit to him,
   and he will make your paths straight

Our adventure today

This morning, Erin and I got into our jeep with Jarilyn Wilson, our friend who works at the orphanage, and we headed out to Santa Rosa.

We were given a tour of a school from one of the teachers, Raquel,  who works there.

                                     Raquel with her mother Alma

Santa Rosa is only 10 miles from La Mision, but it is tucked away in the mountains. It feels very remote. The children don't have a school and so two women from La Mision have been traveling to Santa Rosa with their child (they each have one) and spend the week teaching the kids.

We learned lots of things:

 

1. They aren't supported by the government. So the parents are asked to pay the teachers. They don't usually pay, but if they did, they would receive $30 per week! (not per hour, not per day)

                     tires make up the playground equipment

 

2. The school is falling down. They recently had someone donate some bathrooms. So they are better. But the building itself is small, rotten, and falling apart.

3. The teachers used to have a car, but now they don't. So they have to live in the community and walk with their child and stuff for 2 miles on a rugged dirt road.

4. We met a man named Luis. He was an older Christian man who invited us to his house for the church services and worship that they do there.

               the two woman live in this camper with their two kids

5. The school has two "rooms" for the teachers to live. But the rooms are overtaken with bees and is completely rotted out.

 

6. The teachers don't get paid very much, but they are willing to sacrifice because they believe that the children should have the opportunity to learn. It is quite inspiring.

The mother of the teacher came with us, and she cried because she saw what her daughter was doing. We are not sure if it was because she was inspired, or concerned. (probably both)

All in all, we were very inspired to help this community and these teachers to give hope to the children. We are working to put together a plan to help build or rebuild a school building, pay for their work, and to provide housing for the teachers. All of these things would be a huge blessing. Also, we were invited by Luis to worship, and we believe that a church could be planted in this community.

Please contact us if you want to get involved as well!