Baby Shower for New Nephew

Paco and I are blessed with a new nephew: Paco´s sister, Erika, gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby boy on August 25^th.  We had the movie experience of getting the 4am telephone call that she was having bleeding and labor pains, and rushing into the ER, and pacing in the waiting room for news of a healthy birth.  We loved being the very first ones to meet and hold our nephew. 

 

The ladies of our congregation had been planned a baby shower for Erika, but the baby beat us to it!  So, the baby was

 

presented at the shower just 6 days after his birth.  It was a joyous time.  We all prayed for Erika and the baby, and Erika said a special prayer of dedication of her son to the Lord.

 

Erika felt very special to be supported and loved by the sisters in the congregation.  As a single-mom, she is overwhelmed by the weight of responsibility, but I know the Lord confirmed His promise to care for Her and her children by blessing her delivery and showing her the love of His body, the church.

 

1st "Operation Christmas Child" Meeting with Churches

Our Samaritan’s Purse Tlaxcala Team held its first information meeting of the year with Tlaxcalan churches to inform them about “Operation: Christmas Child” (Shoebox gifts and discipleship program), and invite them to participate.  Pastors and teachers of 26 churches attended the meeting!

 

I loved meeting brothers from other churches.  Paco and I were already enthusiastically invited to visit two different congregations by pastors and teachers we met.  I realized that these small churches do not have much contact with other congregations, so were excited to meet with other brothers.

 

One teacher, the only attendee from her church, struggled to read and write, so I helped her to fill out her information forms.  I marvel that even believers with educational limitations such are hers are not swayed from responding to God´s call to teach His truth! 

 We are still far from reaching our goal of blessing 60 churches with the opportunity to participate in “Operation Christmas Child”, but

are struggling to find churches and missions in northern Tlaxcala, where the Gospel is very scare.  We pray that the Lord would guide us to find, invite, and encourage these small congregations. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Youth Group at House

With the new school year, we have made new changes to youth group.  We will have the gatherings at our home on Saturday nights, with is more centrally located for the youth, and better equipped for youth activities (with our kitchen

and goodies, tv and videogame console!)

In preparation for the new school year, we led a “Divergent” lesson series, based on the movie, reminding the youth that instead of following the crowd, we are called, as

Christ´s followers, to be different from the world and like Him.  Paco also taught, from the Bible, of the importance of choosing edifying friendships, now that they are entering new schools and making new friends. 

We pray that the Lord would continue to guide these youth in His Way!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Youth Camp: "Operation: KRONOS"

20 youth, 3 days, 1 mission: use every minute to obey your commanding officer and Lord. 

 

“Operation: KRONOS”, our summer youth camp, was based on biblical studies of 1Peter with the theme of submitting to God’s will in every moment.  Each “agent” was given a wristwatch, with the command to constantly be aware of the time, both to arrive punctually at every activity, as well as to maintain

“communication with their commanding officer” (prayer time with the Lord) every hour on the hour.

 

Most of our activities revolved around the “agent-on-operation” theme, such as finding hidden “bombs” on camp, recovering classified objects (scavenger hunt),

Operation Rescue (capture the flag), and the “Final Mission” (a obstacle course), besides other camp activities like canoe races, zip-line, soccer, bonfire (with American smores, which the Mexican youth love!)

 

Our plans were changed multiple times due to rain, thunderstorms,

and even hail.  A couple of the tents flooded with water, our playing fields turned into mud, and zipline was closed during our activity.  But, even storms did not get in our way- we enjoyed fun indoor challenges, pool and ping-pong tables, and a covered area to fit our tents at night out of the rain. 

 

The trip was amazingly blessed!!  The group was very united in friendship (among many different ages of 12-22 years old, and different walks of faith between new believers and experienced believers), participative in all the activities, and attentive during messages and devotionals. 

 

Henry, age 19, gave a testimony at the end of the camp that he had fallen away from God and the church this last year, but was now renewed in his conviction to follow Christ and rejoin the church who so openly received him again.  Wow.  Miguel, age 13, who is brand-new to the church and faith, reminded me not to worry during an activity because we have “an inheritance in

heaven waiting for us” in Jesus.  I marveled that even he understood the message!

 

May the Lord continue to guide these youth on His path and remind them of His Word spoken to their lives!

 

 

 

"Chiles en Nogada"- Traditional Mexican Cuisine

The month of August marks the season for the traditional, very elaborate, Mexican dish: “chiles en nogada”.

 

"Chiles En Nogada" is a poblano chile filled with a groud-beef and fruit mixture, all covered in a creamy, sweet walnut sauce and sprinkled with pomegranate seeds.  The dish originated in Puebla, and is nationally famous for its Mexican colors: green chile, white sauce, red pomegranate seeds. 

 

I “helped” (or, observed J) ladies in our congregation prepare this dish for an August celebration.  It is so much work!- and includes so many ingredients that need to be peeled, diced, cooked, and fried!  The basic recipe includes ingredients like: apples, peaches, pears, raisins, many spices, pomegranate, walnuts, groundbeef, poblano chiles…

 

And, it tastes amazing! J

 

Vacation Bible School: "Train to Win"!!

Wow- God blessed VBS!  Approximately 50 children, both from our congregation and the surrounding areas, attended our week-long camp, themed “Train to Win” (soccer theme- for the World Cup craze that caught up even Mexican children J) based on the life and biblical book of Joshua.

 

Each day, a Bible lesson was taught, focusing on Joshua´s obedience to his “trainer” (God) and his “victory” in the promised  land with God´s power and blessing.  Following the lesson, the children rotated through 4 stations of activities which reinforced the Biblical message in a fun and different way: music/choreography, arts & crafts, sports & games, and kitchen crafts.   For example, they painted trophies to represent our victory in Christ (Rom

8:37), practiced soccer drills to remember the Bible training we need to succeed (Jos 1:8), crafted an edible tortilla-sun to remember God’s miraculous answer to our prayers (Eph 3:20), sang their decision to be on Christ’s team for the rest of their lives (Jos 24:15), and much more!

 

God’s blessing was obvious in many ways: perfect, sunny weather (though we are right in the middle of rainy season in Tlaxcala), many adult/youth volunteers from the congregation (when most had earlier said they would not be able to participate, the Lord changed many schedules in the last minute!), memorization of daily Bible verse by almost every child (even the littlest

ones!!), and more.  Even though Paco struggled with intense back-pain one day, the Lord strengthened him to continue serving the following.

 

Almost every child participate attended the closing ceremony at Sunday service- and four new families attended to watch their

child’s participation!  We pray that the Lord would continue to call these families to know Him, and that the seed of God’s truth and salvation would continue to grow in the heart of each child.