February 2007

Dear family and friends,

Blessings from San Luis Potosi! We hope that this letter finds you well. We are moving right along with our plans for the new year. We are still taking our Spanish classes every day and Patrick doing well and working hard in school.

Guadalupe Victoria:

Well, as you know we got our trailer across the border finally and were blessed to take the coats and other clothing out to Guadalupe Victoria last week end. It was such a blessing to watch their excitement as they received the coats. We had to turn our heads more than once to hide the tears of joy that ran down our faces as we handed them out. We wish you could have been there. However, we are including some photos so that you get a glimpse of what it was like. The coats were so appreciated and the hats and blankets were also a much needed blessing. Though the weather is warming up some, it is still really cold out there especially at night.

News:

Our team of 12 that goes to the rancho on a regular basis has started having Church services on the first Sunday of each month. The name of the church is Forteleza de Amor, which means fortress of love.

Suzy, the lady that started the ministry 5 years ago has always had a vision to start a church out there and we are blessed to be a part of fulfilling that vision. The services have been sweet and the people there are so eager to learn the worship songs and to learn more about following Jesus. Along with having the church services, we are still having our regular Bible classes on Saturdays. We are teaching the youth class and are working towards making a puppet stage for the children’s class that will use the great music CD’s that the Rhyne’s brought for children when they visited last fall. We met a woman in SLP that is a puppeteer and we are hoping to have her give us some tips on contructing our own puppets and with putting the whole thing together. Please be praying for us in this.

“My people perish for lack of knowledge.”(Hosea 4:6)

Plans are also in the works to put together leadership materials to help us with workshops we want to have this spring for the leaders we are mentoring in G.V. as well as pastors and leaders from other surrounding ranchos in the area. They have a desire to learn and most of them have had limited, if any training, in leadership.

We also plan to make it a time of encouragement for them. Understandably it is sometimes hard for them to stay encouraged when they are as isolated out in the dessert areas.

WATER!

We are also in the process of a strategy to deliver fresh water to the families of Guadalupe Victoria. As you know from our letters there is not enough water there and the water they have is highly contaminated .The singles at Grace Covenant have committed to buy water in 5 gallon jugs that will be delivered weekly to families in Guadalupe Victoria.

There is also an on going collection of coins from the kids in the Kids Construction Zone at GCC that will also go toward buying water.

Friday Night Fellowship

Friday Night Fellowship started this month at our house. So far it is a group of young adults (plus us oldies) that are from Mexico, U.S.A. and Switzerland! We are at this point just getting together for food, talking and playing games. It is really turning out to be a great group. Conversations are being stirred toward talking about the Lord and we have plans to make a time of “God talk” a regular scheduled part of the evening. Several member of the group play instruments and want to also incorporate praise music into the evening! Bring it on!! God is so awesome!

Relationships are being built and we sense the Lord’s blessing in it. One young man has never been to church in his entire life and he is 20years old. All of this is really new to him but he still comes back and always has a smile on his face.

Television Workshop:

As most of you know, for 20 plus years, both our careers were in Radios and Television. Jim was asked to speak this month to senior pastors from 10 different churches in Mexico as a consultant for syndicating some new Christian programming that is going to be produced in Mexico. Once they are ready, they will be made available on cable in Mexico as well as the U.S. Currently, to our knowledge there is no Christian programming in Mexico.

I am scheduled to be speaking to them next month on “Dos and Don’t s” for the camera etc. We marvel at how God uses everything we have experienced in our lives. We never had any idea that we would be using our television background here in Mexico! God’s ways are so much higher than our own!