The McTighes in Mexico

Good friends, good food and much to be thankful for!

2008-11-28T18:51:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving food!

Lisa ready to cut the turkey!

Jim cutting the turkey

Yolanda and Lisa

Pre-dinner prayer with sweet friends

John C and Pina

More kitties....more thanks!

Lillian and Missy

Julio and Missy Rios

Servant's Update October 2008

2008-11-02T06:02:00.000-08:00

Dear friends and family,

We hope this finds you well. In the interest of everyone’s time we are going to try a new shorter format for our newsletters. We hope you like it and we look forward to your comments!! All is well with us here. We were glad to see so many of you on our recent visit to the states. We were blessed by your warm welcome and by the dessert gathering hosted by Ericka Edwards, Cindy Long and Heidi Eller. Thank you again for you kindness.

Family news: Patrick is back in school and so far is making straight A’s and has a lot of new friends. Had a great summer visiting his grandfather in Ga. and going to a 2 week evangelism training church camp here in Mexico, in July, called Terremoto.

Britany our oldest (29) got married, in Nashville, August 31 to Judd Rothstein. They live in NYC and teach high school in Westchester County.

Kristen, Jim, Lisa, Patrick (back)
Britany and Judd (front)

Kristen our next oldest (27) finished a CD with her band “Polly Pry” and she has a new job teaching high school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Polly Pry myspace

Lisa had the opportunity speak and sing a number of times while she was in the states and it was a blessing for her to have the opportunity.

Jim kept the home fires burning while Lisa was in the states and has been coordinating our efforts at La Roca and continuing his weekly men’s group.

La Roca is in full swing with after school activities for the children from the Mercy House orphanage and the La Roca neighborhood. Campus Ventures, an arm of Campus Crusade for Christ, has asked to be a part of our ministry at La Roca and we are training them to be a part of our team. They will also be having their leadership trainings and other events at La Roca as well. These are college students that are being discipled by CV leaders here in San Luis. It is an exciting opportunity for us to partner with them and again evidence of God’s never ending supply of delightful surprises as we press on in His service.

Vroooom!

Some of the orphans that came to have
play time at La Roca. 40 orphans live together in a very
small orphanage called Casa Misericordia and have little room to play.

Kids from the orphanage playing with a
few of the millions of kittens at the McTighe's home!

Lisa talking to the kids at La Roca

Prayer Requests:
- Financial support for the ministry
- Good health
- Sat. Kidz Klub starting Nov.1 Evangelism outreach for kids!
- Lisa as she teaches 4 weeks in local Bible College

May God bless you richly. We love you.
Jim, Lisa and Patrick
http://www.servantslove.org/
http://www.mextraordinary.com/

VBS at La Roca

2008-07-21T16:14:00.000-07:00

Wow! What an exciting time we have had over the past three months! With interns here from Grace Covenant as well as students from the George School in Pennsylvania, we have done construction, clean up, Bible schools, delivered hygiene bags and clothes to the rancho, opened La Roca and had incredible devotional times in the midst of it all.

So, since there is more to tell than we can write in one short letter we are going to let the photos tell the story. God bless you. Keep us in your prayers and if God lays it on your heart to help us in anyway financially we would greatly appreciate it. God has moved in mighty ways here and there is much more to come. We invite you to be a part of it!

Here’s a look!

Worship Time! The kids sang songs about honesty, faithfulness, teamwork, and following the Lord!

Yum!

This young lady has had a good day :)

Carolyn, Fernando, Lisa and John prepare hot dogs.

The children play in the recently cleaned JARDIN (garden)!

La Roca's new sign!

Time to listen to God's word.

Coloring

Lisa's new friends

Jim talks with the kids.

Being the first of its kind in San Luis, La Roca opened on July 18^th with a Vacation Bible school that, at first, we were not sure would be attended!

The VBS was to start at 10:00. At 10: 20 we had no children. We were so disappointed but we just kept praying and believing that this was something God wanted us to do. Finally, close to 11:00 one little girl shyly entered the door. As the morning passed kids kept trickling in and by the end of the day we had 18 kids! They are loving the VBS and the attendance has been doubling each day to end the week with 76 kids!!!!!!! God is blessing us not only with the presence of these children but with volunteers from the neighborhood who are offering to help us in any way they can.

One example is Erial and Flore an artist couple from across the street who brought their son Giovanni to Bible school. They caught the vision for what the Lord is doing at LaRoca and though they are not yet believers have offered to volunteer free art classes to the kids who come to La Roca twice a week!

To hear these children squeal with excitement as they come through the door and participate with all their hearts in every activity has been a blessing that is hard to describe. Thank you so much for helping make this possible. We know that this is just the beginning of what God is going to do in this neighborhood and it would not be possible without you.

May God richly bless you and your family as we work together to build the Kingdom of our Lord and Savior.

Sincerely,
Jim and Lisa McTighe

Servants International

April 2008

2008-06-26T17:28:00.001-07:00

Dear friends and family.

We hope this letter finds you doing well. Things have been busy as usual this month as we wind down the school year schedule and get ourselves geared up for a ministry packed summer.

W.O.W. Bible Study:

The Women of Worth International Bible study is still in full swing. We are studying the Purpose Driven Life this term and have had many incredible discussions about how to get our lives fully lined up with God’s purposes .We have also had 6 women accept the Lord as their Savior and have had many answered prayers that have encouraged our faith! God is so faithful!

La Roca: The youth group from one of the churches that’s working with us at La Roca held a work day to clean up construction debris and prepare the entrance for flowers that they have decided to sponsor. It is so awesome to watch as the body of Christ works together. The kids are pumped about La Roca and are looking forward to hanging out and inviting their friends to the new digs! A youth alliance has been formed in San Luis for the purpose of bringing youth groups from many different churches together at one time for conferences ,concerts, outreach projects etc. We are hoping to host these events at La Roca and be a part of what God is obviously doing here.

We also had a leadership meeting this month and are putting the different facets of the plan into action. There is much to do but everyone is looking forward to what we sense God doing in our midst.

Meetings with Pastors: Partnering with local churches for outreach is one of our goals for 2008. Part of our vision is to establish relationships with local churches in order to have churches that are willing to disciple new believers .This month we met with two pastors and their wives to tell them what God has laid on our heart. Both couples were very excited about working with us and have offered to help us in any way they can. One of the pastors we met with has planted 11 home churches in San Luis. We all share the same passion of spreading the gospel in San Luis and look forward to seeing those small home groups grow as people get saved during the summer outreaches.

Guadalupe Victoria: Discipleship classes are proceeding as usual at Guadalupe Victoria.

There is a team that is covering everything on Saturdays that is independent of our efforts. We really sense our season there ,for the most part, has come to a close. Though we are still planning to bring some of our youth from GV to help us with out reach this summer, we sense that the work there is in good hands and it is time for us to focus on La Roca. We will miss them terribly but there will always be visits from time to time.

Prayer requests:

* La Roca- preparation, training and outreach for the summer and beyond

* Health- Jim has been in a lot of pain with his back

* Materials and man power needed for the outreaches

*Favor with officials and people in general

*Right school for Patrick for next year

Thanks again to all of you are so faith fully support us each month with you finances and your prayers. We could not be here with out you. God Bless you.

His in Mexico,

Jim, Lisa and Patrick

February 2008

2008-06-26T17:19:00.000-07:00

Dear friends and family,

We hope this letter finds you well and blessed. First quarter has certainly gotten off to a running start. This month has been filled with family news as well as activity in the ministry here.

As many of you know Patrick had to be taken to the hospital in San Luis for an emergency appendectomy. A bit scary to face surgery in a foreign country, but he faced it like a trooper and was very comforted knowing so many of you were praying for him.

W.O.W. International Bible Study: The Women of Worth are moving forward and our meetings have been rich. We meet every Thursday morning and have been growing in number every week. Our most recent member is Sylvia from East Germany. Though she has no background in church what so ever, she is eager to learn and is asking some very challenging questions. It’s a thrill to get to be a part of her journey. We are up to 21 women now from 7 different countries! It is incredible to watch God work!

English Church Service
We finally have a church service here that is in English. Though we are working hard on our Spanish, it is nice to be able to go to church in our native language. There is a wonderful church here that is very missions oriented that has started an English service on Sunday mornings. We are really enjoying the services and Lisa is getting to sing on the worship team which, of course, she loves. We are planning to work with the

Children’s pastor this summer for VBS at La Rocca. Lisa was also invited to speak at a marriage conference sponsored by the church of another missionary here from the states. We never cease to be amazed at how God uses all of the twists and turns in our lives for His glory. Romans 8:28 is definitely true!

La Roca: Jim and a team of men from San Luis and Guadalupe Victoria have been cleaning out debris and building stairs to get La Rocca ready. Thank goodness for the internet and the “how to” websites! Please be praying that the man who owns the building will follow through with his promise to put in bathrooms and electricity.

We are also planning our outreach team trainings that will start in April. So far, we have 35 people that want to be on the La Rcca team. We are humbled and amazed at how God is drawing people.

Moving: We found out a few weeks ago that the house where we currently live has been sold and we are going to have to move. This will be our 6^th move since our house burned 3 years ago! We were shocked at first because we really like the house where we live and it is really feeling like home. But we kept praying that God would bring us a house that we liked as well. The market here has gotten very pricy and it was not looking good. But, Jim believed we would find one that would be even better and less money. And that is exactly what happened. We found a great house and it’s much less expensive then the other one! God is so faithful. Plus, the landlord has said that we can live there as long as we need to. They want to keep the house in the family and have no intentions of selling it.

Thank You so very much for your faithful financial support. Without your help this ministry would not be possible. Thank you, Thank you Thank you! May God richly bless you for your heart to serve through your giving?

Prayer requests:
* We are looking for 30 people to be intercessors for this ministry. Our vision is that each person would take one day a month that they would pray fervently for us. Pray and see if God lays it on your heart to be one of them.

*Lisa’s dad is having some problems with headaches and pressure in his head. Doctors not sure what it is .Please pray for his healing.

*We want wisdom in the area of Patrick’s schooling. Where he should be next year for High school

*Interns: Please pray about the interns we want to come from the states this summer to help us with La Rocca (information at available on World impact board at GCC)

* Trainings for outreach

*Good health for all of us especially Jim

January 2008

2008-06-26T17:16:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends and family,

We hope this letter finds you well. We are all healthy and blessed, though a bit chilly! The temperatures have been down in the 40’s and 50’s, which would not be too bad except that houses in Mexico don’t have heat! Thankfully the cold weather only lasts a month or two.

January has been a time of setting our yearly personal and ministry growth plans in motion and looking to what God has for us in the New Year. So far, plans for La Roca, the Christian Community Center, are coming along. We have been getting quotes to have the building fitted up with the amenities we need to accommodate our needs. Soon we should be on our way to having it completed. We are looking to start our outreach trainings at La Roca by early spring. In the mean time, there is much to prepare.

W.O.W. (Women of Worth)

Our Women of Worth Bible study has just started its third session. We began last April with 4 women. This fall we had 12. This session we are up to 18 and there seem to be more coming each week! God is so faithful. Of the 18, we have women from Germany, India, Spain, Mexico, Canada and Korea as well as 6 states in the U.S.! Plus, over half of them are not saved, but curious. It is so exciting to have this opportunity! It was prophesied over us before we left North Carolina that we would be ministering to people from many countries other than Mexico. We had no idea that we’d be doing it in Mexico! Walking with God is always filled with delightful surprises!

Guadalupe Victoria (the rancho)

We are back in full swing at the rancho. We started classes on January 19. It was good to see everybody again. Everyone was glad to be back in class. Through some miraculous circumstances, we have become friends with a wonderful brother in the Lord from Arkansas by the name of John Clendenin. Though his primary purpose here is to facilitate adoptions in the U.S., he will be joining Jim in teaching a new youth and young adult class for the guys. Lisa will continue with the girls.

One of our goals for 2007 was to raise up at least 6 leaders in the youth and young adult class. We did that and are continuing that discipleship this year and are preparing them to join us in San Luis at La Roca for out- reach training. We are excited to see what God is going to do in the lives of these young people who ,for the most part ,have never been anywhere off of the rancho.

September/October 2007

2008-06-26T17:11:00.000-07:00

Dear friends and family,

We hope that this finds you all doing well. Life here has been extremely busy as we are sure it is for you. School is back in session and we have been busy working at Guadalupe Victoria, resuming our Thursday Bible study in our home and building an evangelism team for outreach.

Guadalupe Victoria:
We have continued our discipleship classes and we are seeing a real understanding take place in our group. We are teaching a lot on evangelizing and they are all anxious to learn how to share their faith. It is very exciting. These teens that usually start having babies by age 18 are now starting to believe in a future they never thought possible. God is so faithful!

Waters of Grace is continuing and we are investigating the possibility of drilling another well. The “trading post” where people, come to “shop” for needed items like clothes and shoes, is also going well. They trade services like cleaning the buildings and grounds for goods. They love it!

Going back to school was made an exciting time At Guadalupe Victoria. This year, for what usually is a stressful time due to the lack of needed school supplies, the families enjoyed a happy time with the generosity of the International Club of San Luis who helped us purchase back packs and supplies for all the children. Team work is an awesome thing… everybody wins!

Bible Study:
The (English) Bible study is going great! We have 10 women now from three counties and 7 different U.S. states who are taking the class. These women are mostly wives of corporate executives who have been transferred here with their jobs for a period of 1-4 years. They are from many different religious backgrounds (or none) and it has been beautiful to watch God move in our hearts as we gather each week and share the Bible and pray for each other.

“La Roca” The Rock
Through some miraculous circumstances, we have made a friend who has offered to bless us with a warehouse space to use for our ministry. This space is right between a rather affluent area and a very poor neighborhood. We are not exactly sure what God wants us to use it for, but our sense is that it is to be a Christian Community Center where families can come with their children for recreation and classes .We are also believing that this is the place where we will be able to disciple and train evangelism outreach teams to not only reach the ranchos but the inner city of San Luis Potosi as well. God is putting the team together and we are praying, watching and walking one step at a time.

Well, that’s all for now. Thank you again for your faithful support. Without your financial help sustaining and expanding this ministry would not be possible. May God bless you richly for your generosity for the Kingdom.

Serving the Lord in

Mexico

,

Jim, Lisa and Patrick McTighe

La Roca

2008-06-26T17:05:00.000-07:00

Welcome to La Roca (The Rock) Servants International’s new home in San Luis Potosi, Mexico! Here are some before and in progress shots.

Pretty rough to start!

But now after some months of progress La Roca is taking shape...

It's a lot of work but it will be awesome one day! Can you see the change?

Some clean-up, wiring for electrical, a few bathrooms, some furniture and we can get started!

Just a reminder:
We are coming up to the Christmas season and our customary Christmas fiesta at the rancho is a big part of what the 160 people there look forward to each year. (Sixty percent have no jobs and only one parent (a mom) the other forty percent of families that are employed make only $60 per week.) The celebration includes warm clothing, blankets, food, toys and candy for the children. Of course this takes extra money.

You can help! A little can go a long way... so any help would be great!
As the year ends, please remember that any funds contributed to Servant’s International before December 31, 2007 will be tax deductible for 2007. Muchas Gracias!

Servants International, Inc.,

16103 Weatherly Way, Huntersville, NC 28078

http://www.servantslove.org/

June/July 2007

2008-06-26T16:44:00.000-07:00

Dear friends and family,

Wow what a busy summer this has been and it is not even over! June started out with Lisa attending a two week missions encounter in L.A. that is a requirement for Foursquare missionaries. Jim stayed back in Mexico with Patrick to finish out the school year and keep things going at Guadalupe Victoria. Lisa learned a lot about how missions works in Foursquare and got to hear many inspiring stories from other missionaries who had been on the field for many years. She was in a class with 15 other missionaries who are going to be stationed everywhere from Ireland to South Africa. It was an incredible experience for her to be with these wonderful people and we look forward to keeping up with them through the years to see what God will be doing in all their lives and ministries.

A Divine Appointment!

Just when she thought it was all winding down, Lisa met an incredible young woman on the plane home who was on her way to San Luis Potosi for the second year with a group of young people from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Her name is Shelli Brown and she and Lisa hit it off like sister from the moment they began to talk. They exchanged numbers and we had the opportunity to join their team for a day of ministry in the town of Rio Verde where they partnered with a local church for VBS and conducted a sports camp in a local public park. It was awesome to see over 200 kids have the opportunity to engage is sports with these Christian athletes.

Karla, Lisa, Shelli Brown, Missy

VBS for the small children was a huge hit!

The Barretts inspiring and working with the children

FCA college athletes working with the kids

These mission trips have come about through a vision of Jean Barrett. Jean has a manufacturing company in Rio Verde, SLP, Mexico and is a former NFL player with the San Francisco 49ers. He has had FCA sports camps in his home state of Oklahoma for 10 years and had the vision to bring the same camp to Mexico. We are glad he did and look forward to seeing them again next year. We continue to marvel at the creative ways God makes Himself known and the beautiful way the body of Christ functions together. Many came to know Christ as a result of their being here and the week ended with a big cook-out where they served hundreds of hamburgers, chips and cokes!

P.S. Did I mention that Shelli is moving to Charlotte and is going be attending Grace Covenant? ............ is God good or what?! Please find her, say hello and give her a warm welcome!

July took us to the states where we met our girls Kristen (26) and Britany (28) as well as Lisa’s Dad (81) for a week at the beach at South Padre Island. It was the first time since Christmas that we had all been together. Needless to say we were thrilled to get to be with them.

Top: with Britany Bottom: Patrick with Kristen

Patrick's cratering birthday cake flambe'

While there we celebrated Patrick’s 15th birthday complete with a homemade chocolate cake, his favorite meal of pork chops and mashed potatoes and ended the day with a rousing game of Apples to Apples. It was a perfect day. There is nothing like family. It was just all too brief. The week ended with Britany going back to New York City where she will be teaching for the 3rd year a Rye High school. Kristen and Patrick went with Papa back to Rome Georgia where they attended his infamous “Papa Camp” that included 4 wheelers, fishing, horse back riding, shooting guns and wearing the grass off in the back pasture with a go cart! After having a blast with their forever young Papa (81), Kristen returned to Baton Rouge where she is finishing her 3rd and final year of Graduate school at LSU and Patrick came back to Mexico on July 29th to help interpret for a mission team from Massachusetts in La Huestecta (Mexican jungle).

Guadalupe Victoria
Things are still progressing at the rancho. We are having church services one Sunday a month, special Bible institute classes for leadership and doctrine classes for the local pastors in the area. We saw one woman (Juana) healed from a shoulder injury that kept her from raising her arm. She came for prayer after a church service and she was moving her arm above her head and praising God for her healing! Luisa also came for prayer and was healed from strong headaches that have plagued her for years. God is so faithful and He is proving Himself over and over at Guadalupe Victoria in many ways. Jim taught the discipleship classes while Lisa was in L.A. and has been building shelves along with some of the guys at the rancho, for the trading post we have started.

Lisa and Karla addressing a women's group.

Following the lead of some of the women who would bring us tortillas or tunas (fruit from the cactus) to exchange for clothes and shoes, we decided that the people there are really wanting to have a hand in bettering their lives rather than just getting a hand out. It has been a beautiful thing to watch and is proving to be a blessing to all. The women and some of the youth leaders are arranging the clothes and other items in the “store” and are really doing a great job organizing things and setting up the system for disbursement.
We are also getting the sense that God wants us to build a church building there. We talked to a Christian friend who is a builder and he has agreed to help us make the plans and clear the land. We will keep you posted on the progress. This same builder is going to also help us access some of the housing needs so that the team from GCC can help with repairs when they come in November.

Jim and the boys building shelves.

The weather here has been extraordinarily wet and cool this year. This has been a fantastic blessing for the crops and the livestock as God has not only changed the spirit of the people but completely changed the complexcion of this desert community.

Pigs love puddles!

Well those are the highlights of what has been going on in our end of the world. We hope that you are having a great summer and that you are taking time to enjoy your families. We also want you to know that we appreciate your support of our family here in Mexico. Without your prayers and financial support we would not be able to be here doing what God has called us to do. Thank you for your faithfulness. We know God will richly bless you as you sow into His Kingdom. We love you and pray God’s richest blessings upon you. May His presence be your portion in all you do.

Serving Him in Mexico,

Jim, Lisa and Patrick McTighe

May 2007

2008-06-26T08:28:00.000-07:00

Dear friends and family,

We hope this letter finds you all we healthy and blessed. Things here are busy as usual!

Guadalupe Victoria:
The first week end in May Jim spoke to a group of leaders at Guadalupe Victoria to announce a series of leadership trainings we are going to be having there this summer. There will be trainings two Saturdays a month in June, July and August. The trainings are for Pastors of areas churches at other ranchos as well as potential leaders in those churches. The trainings will be facilitated by us as well as other members of our G.V. team. The concept of doing ministry as a team is really a new concept for them but one they are guardedly open to and one we feel would help them sustain healthier churches. Please be praying for this.

Forteleza de Amor: (the church at G.V.)
The church is still growing and actually had a guest speaker two weeks ago from Dallas Texas. The people were affixed to every word as Pastor Terri talked to them about the Holy Spirit. Following his preaching there was a time of ministry and the Holy Spirit moved in a mighty way. People were set free and the joy of the Lord filled the room.Jim also preached at Sunday service this month as well and gave his testimony. It was a powerful time of testimony of the saving grace of the Lord. Many were very moved to tears at hearing his story and came down front for prayer and healing afterwards. God is good and so faithful.

Bodega:
There is a small room in one of the buildings at G.V. that has been used to store clothing and other donated items. The room was not organized or efficient for distributing things. This month Jim and two other men hung shelves (donated by Don Hall) in the room and moved things around in such a way that we are now able to distribute the items in an efficient way. Seven women and youth helped us separate the clothes and in return they got to “shop”. We are setting up an economic system where things they receive are earned. They actually started this system on their own by trading us tortillas and nopales (eatable cactus) for shoes, clothes etc. We use this food as a suppliment for shut-ins in the community who can't get out for food due to health reasons.

Economic Picture:
Also this month we had a “State of the Rancho” meeting with the adults in G.V... We have been going to the rancho for 18 months now so we felt it was time to see (from their perspective) where we are with regard to water problems, food, economics etc. We got some very valuable information from them that will help us direct our efforts in a more effective manner. We have also elicited the help of two of the most faithful youth to conduct a new census so that we can know precisely how many reside in the community and which houses they live in.

Bible Study:
Lisa’s Bible study is going well .For the most part, the women in the group are spiritually very young. They are from a number of different church backgrounds. It has been a joy to teach the basic fundamentals of the gospel to these precious women who are so eager to learn. With school getting out we will be taking a break for the summer but will convene when school starts the end of August.

Praise Report!
As some of you know Pacoito the six year old grandson of Patrick’s tutor was put in the hospital last week for renal (kidney) failure. When he was admitted his kidney were functioning at only 40% or less and withing 12 hours they totally stopped and he began to swell. It was a shock to his family and all of us who love him. The prognosis was bleak and the financial implications of the situation a huge concern to the family. But …God intervened and after only four days in the hospital Paco woke up and had energy to play and the doctors were astonished. So much that they ran more tests and were completely baffled when the results came back that his kidney were functioning perfectly! The doctors were so sure the test was wrong they did another set of tests and found the same result! God healed him! The entire situation was a testimony to the power of God and all who knew the circumstances were amazed. Then when they left the hospital bill came rather than the $5000 they had expected it was only $250.00. An old friend that heard about the problem came and took care of the bill! It was a miracle all the way around! Thank you for all your prayers.

Thank you again to all of you who have partnered with us in this ministry. Our work in Mexico would be possible without your prayers and financial support. If you are interested in partnering with us you can go to our web site at http://www.servantslove.org/ and find out how you can help with a tax deductable donation.

March 2007

2008-06-26T08:17:00.000-07:00

Dear friends and family,

We hope this letter finds you all well. Things have been busy as usual here in Mexico. However, this month has not been without its challenges. Jim has had some health problems that had him in the hospital for some tests because of flashing in his right eye. He has had the problem for seven weeks now and it just doesn’t seem to go away. After all of the tests they still don’t know what is wrong, however, he is being treated now with some medication they give for migraines and it seems to be helping somewhat. We just need for God to heal him. Please pray for him.

Patrick also met with an accident at school playing soccer and tore a tendon in his foot at the ankle. He was in a cast for three weeks but he is on the mend now. Then Lisa ran into a glass sliding door and cut her nose (don’t laugh it really hurt! But it was pretty funny after the fact!) Then our car broke down on our way to Guadalupe Victoria and we had to wait 5 hours in the middle of the desert to get picked up. Of course Jim used this time to take some pictures.
We couldn’t find the right part in Mexico and had to have it shipped in from the states. Thanks to Marty Rhyne and family we are back on the road after 9 days without our Suburban. All of this plus the expense of it all has made for a very challenging month. But, God is faithful and has provided for us in so many ways. One example is that we had to go to this one doctor and the tests cost $100.00. We were both bummed that it was extra money that we just didn’t have. Then when we got home we had a check in the mail from Jim’s sister Donna in Raleigh

Guadalupe Victoria:
Our church services are going very well at the rancho. We have been averaging about 140 people at each service in a room built for 50-60. There is usually another 30-35 more adults standing outside. Lisa preached twice this month and 31 people accepted the Lord. The praise and worship at our services has been awesome. Jim hooked up a projector with the words to the songs and they are really singing out much more than ever. It sounds so beautiful to hear the people singing from their hearts to the Lord. We also need to provide a children’s service while the adults are meeting. We have over 70 children in the services and we really need to have an age appropriate service for them. Please pray for God to bring us people with a heart to help us.
for $100.00. Things like that have been happening over and over. God is so good. The doctor bills have been steep but we know God will provide.

God story! We wanted palms for palm Sunday but had no money to buy them. Told no one but then on the way to church at G.V.we saw the pruned branches from the palm trees in our neighborhood lying on the side of the road for trash pick up. We loaded them in our car and had our palms for Guadalupe Victoria! God knows our hearts and loves to bless us!

Iglesia de Gracia (the church we attend here) bought a new bed for Maria, the 78 year old woman at G.V. that is bed ridden with a broken back. She was so happy to have us visit and bring such a wonderful gift.

General:
We are still taking our Spanish classes and both got A’s on our recent exams!
Patrick continues to do well in school land we are constantly amazed at how God has blessed him with the ability to function so well in all his classes that are totally in Spanish. Imagine... chemistry, biology, physics, history and geography all in Spanish. It was tough for us in English. God is so good!

Jim had the opportunity to bless a couple in a neighboring rancho with pictures of their wedding. It was a beautiful event and the entire village was invited. No matter what their economic level Mexicans go all out for special events like this. It was an honor to be there! It was encouraging to us to find out that the pastor that officiated the wedding was saved through missionaries who came to his rancho when he was a boy. God is faithful.

Coming up:
Lisa is starting a Bible study in our home for English speakers. As we told you earlier we are constantly meeting people from all over the world who speak English and there are no English church services here. We are going to start with a Bible study and see what happens. Though we didn’t have any idea that we would be ministering to Americans and people from other countries while we were in Mexico, it just seems to be something the Lord has put in our path and keeps prodding us in our hearts. It has been a test of our obedience as we just “do it” even though it is not what WE thought we were coming here for. It is not the first time and it will not be the last time that we see again that God’s ways are far higher than our own and His plans are far greater.

We will close for now. We love you and thank you for your continued prayers and support!

Serving Him in

Mexico

,

Jim, Lisa & Patrick

February 2007

2008-06-25T10:25:00.000-07:00

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!

Who are we?

2008-06-25T10:19:00.000-07:00

Jim and Lisa McTighe are people that love people. Their passion to love and serve others has been evident throughout their married life for the past 18 years and has now taken them to serve the Lord as missionaries in the country of Mexico.

Stemming from a successful career as a marketing consultant, entrepreneur, television and radio show producer, as well as a college and professional football player with a degree in Design, Jim had no idea that one day he would be called to serve the Lord on a foreign mission field. A Christian since 1975 Jim has always been active in his church whether at Christ Church in Nashville Tennessee or Grace Covenant in Cornelius North Carolina.

Jim attended the Grace School of Ministry and has served as a Sunday school teacher for classes age 4 to high school, a life group leader and short term missionary on evangelism teams as well as photo journalist on numerous mission trips to Mexico, Nicaragua and Trinidad. With Jim, whether the task at hand is serving as a life group leader or as the “tree” in the story of Zacchaeus in the 4 year old Sunday school class, he freely shares the Love of Jesus and serves the Lord with a cheerful attitude and compassionate heart.

Lisa attended the Grace School of ministry and is a licensed Foursquare pastor.

Subsequent to graduating Cum Laude from Georgia State University with a B.A.

degree in education she was blessed with a 25 year career as a national television and radio host. Having hosted over a thousand televisions shows, Lisa enjoyed an exciting career interviewing many Country music favorites as well as a vast array of other celebrities from first lady Barbara Bush in the white House to Dale Earnhardt at the NASCAR track in Talladega.

Simultaneous with her career in television, Lisa has served in the churches she’s attended as Sunday school teacher, conference speaker/trainer and worship leader. She also served for two years on the staff at Grace Covenant Church as the director of the Early Childhood Department and was the Bible teacher for Mooresville Christian Academy for grades 6-12 the year prior to going on the mission field. She and her husband Jim were life group leaders for 5 years and have served together on evangelism teams to Nicaragua and Mexico.

Through a series of miraculous events that transpired in their lives, this couple became aware that God was calling them to serve in the county of Mexico. They and Patrick, the youngest of their four children, now live and serve the Lord in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.

Servants International exists to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ through demonstrating the Love of Jesus. We serve by discipling and partnering with local Nationals to address physical, spiritual and educational needs in the city of San Luis Potosi, Mexico and surrounding rural rancho communities. Our passion is to not only address current needs of people, but to disciple, train and equip Mexican Nationals as leaders that will impact the next generation in Mexico for Jesus Christ.

Areas of ministry include:

Rural Community Ministry

Clean Water, Discipleship and Leadership Training,

Children’s Ministry, Nutritious Food, Clothing

Inner City Ministry

(La Roca Christian Community Center)

Evangelism and Leadership Training

Bible Study, Drama/Puppets/Crafts, Testimonies

After School Enrichment for Children and Teens

Basketball, Soccer, Volleyball, Homework help, Classes in Bible,

English, Computer skills, Music, Dance, Drama & Art

Internship Intensive Trainings

(1-3 weeks)

Presenting the Gospel, Cultural Considerations, Evangelism Techniques

Hands- on Application

Community Centers, Parks / Plazas/ Rural Communities, Churches

Servant's International

2008-06-25T10:17:00.000-07:00

What is Servants International?

At the recommendation of our pastor and others that we trust in ministry, we have formed a nonprofit organization called Servants International Inc. We also have a web site at Servantslove.org where you can read more about the ministry. Our purpose in having this web site is to keep everyone informed and to be a way that, if people feel led, they can partner with us financially. We don’t have the pay pal part set up quite yet so that you can make a contribution on line, but that is forth coming. In the mean time, should you decide to partner with us financially, you can mail a check payable to:

Servants International

Mail it to:

Servants International

16103 Weatherly Way

Huntersville, N.C. 28078

Please pray and ask God to show you how you can help. The reality is that we have to have monthly support in order to stay here and do what we feel God us to do.

Please visit our website and then please pray. Should you want to hear form us personally about our ministry we would be happy to call you .Please just e-mail us with your phone number and the best time to call. Our e-mail is: llmctighe@hotmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you and are happy to answer any of you r questions. Lisa is also available for speaking engagements for retreats and conferences and can be reached at the same e-mail address.

We love you and pray God’s richest blessings on you and your family today and always.

Serving Him in Mexico,

Jim, Lisa, Patrick

October/November/December 2006

2008-06-25T09:59:00.000-07:00

Dear friends and family,

It is so hard to believe that it has been nearly three months since our last news letter! We hope that you and yours are well and that you have had a good fall and a blessed Thanksgiving.

October was beautiful month here. The weather was warm and Lisa had the opportunity to preach in the Saturday night and Sunday morning service at our church while our pastor was out of the country. Patrick made it through his first round of finals without any blood shed (ha!) and Jim worked hard with Mike, Chetan and Vinay on getting our Servants International web site up. (www.servantslove.org)Please check it out!

We are populating the site on a regular basis and would appreciate your passing the address on to anyone you think would be interested in it. October also brought the “first fruits” (see photo) of the new business we have helped set up at Guadalupe Victoria. To date we have received 36 scarves (bufandas). The women make them, we pay them for their work, sell them and put the seed money back into buying more yarn. The scarves are beautiful but not nearly as beautiful as the faces of the women and young girls who make them. Their obvious joy at accomplishing something on their own and being rewarded for it is an incredible sight and that we will never forget. To be able to participate in giving these women dignity as well, as a financial means to support their families, is a blessing unspeakable. The plan is to continue with the making of scarves and also expand the product line to include hats, socks and whatever else we can think of. We are open to new ideas! We are also trying to come up with something for the young men to do. Let us know if you have any ideas.

We also took at team to Maria’s house (the lady we told you about in our last newsletter)

Since she has been basically bed ridden for the past six years, her house was in desperate need of attention. We took a team from our church there and along with a few of the kids in my Bible study class, we cleaned Maria’s house from top to bottom. Using a plastic chair as a make shift wheel chair a couple of the women were able to get her to the kitchen, heat a dish pan of water on the stove and give her a much needed bath. Maria told us that she didn’t remember the last time she had had a bath. It was a joy to be able to bless her.

November brought much colder weather and a move for our family to a different house. We were constantly having problems with having no water in the house and the way the house was arranged, having ministry activities there became increasingly difficult. Through a friend at church we a were able to find this house and it is much better and for almost the same rent as the smaller house. One of the pluses of this house is that it has a separate room over the garage that we are converting into a little store where we are carrying some of the products we have on Mextraordinary.com. We are looking to supplement our income here through sales from the store.

Two weeks after we moved into our new house, we were delighted to have Pastor Michelle (our missions pastor from Grace Covenant) and her husband Walt come to visit us for a week. It was wonderful having them here. We had a crowd of 24 people at our house for Thanksgiving that included our pastor from our church here and his family of eight plus Patrick’s tutor Areseli and her husband Poncho, Fransisco our 83 year old teenage friend that tutors Jim and I in Spanish, Karla the girl who interprets for us, Mike and his family, Debbie a single woman who is also an American and has no family here, plus the Jenson family that I met at an international breakfast. They are here with the new GM plant. They’re not believers but have tender hearts and we look forward to getting to know them better.

While Pastor Michelle and Walt were here they went with our team to Guadalupe Victoria. They were able to see first hand what we are doing there as well as share some insights on some possible solutions for the problems with the water and food supplies. Most important of all they go to go with us and witness Maria accepting Jesus as her savior. It was a wonderful day at Guadalupe Victoria.

We also did some sight seeing and just generally had a great time of fellowship. We were refreshed by their being here and we hope they were as well.

Pastor Scott Rainey from Grace Covenant is heading a campaign to collect “Coats for Kids” at GV. We have been busy taking pictures of each of the kids in hopes that none of them are left out. They are really excited about getting the coats as the temperatures get down in the single digits Fahrenheit in January and February and most of the adobe houses they live in have only a blanket for a door. We will be bringing the coats back with us when we return to Mexico from the states on Jan 4.

Lisa has also been doing a teaching about giving. That may sound strange because these kids have so little but the point is to give them the joy of giving. (Found out from Pastor Michelle that Oprah has been copying the idea! Ha!) Anyway they made presents for each other and drew names. Most of them have never given anyone a present before. It was an amazing experience for them and something that we hope will stay with them year after year and not just at Christmas.

This year’s Christmas celebration at the pueblo was great fun for everyone. Last year Missions Imports carried the expense of the party and presents but this year financial circumstances would not allow us to contribute much. However, God came through in an amazing way prompting the hearts of Mexicans in San Luis Potosi (Christian and non-Christian) to donate presents. The big hit for the boys came through the two individuals from the states, Anthony Lucarini and Chris Healy. When told of our desire to give each of the boys a glove and ball they were able to totally outfit a team of 17 boys with baseball gloves, balls bats.

August/September 2006

2008-06-25T09:39:00.000-07:00

Dear family and friends,

We hope this finds you all back in the swing of things for fall. We have been busy getting Patrick into school and back into a routine. Our days are really early now. Patrick has to be at school at 7:15! So far he seems to be enjoying it, although of his NINE courses, only his English class is in English! School is pretty tough here but he is making friends and is happy. Through some other American missionaries here, we found a tutor to help him with his homework. Her name is Araseli and she is bilingual, a Christian; a psychologist and a teacher with an emphasis in Dyslexia! Is God good or what? She is awesome with Patrick and he likes her a lot.

The first week of August Britany came down for a visit and joined us for a much needed vacation. We drove to a remote beach about 10 hours from San Luis and had a really wonderful time. Mike (our Mexican son) went with us too and he and Patrick caught our dinner one night! (See photo)

Rancho News:

The rancho is doing well .Things continue to progress there and we have been having some fresh fruits donated lately. The kids have really enjoyed it. They don’t get fresh fruit very often so the apples and watermelons were a delightful treat. There has also been a lot of rain over the past two months. According to people who have lived there for years, this has never happened. Everything is green and the animals are enjoying green pastures. The corn which is usually stunted due to draught is growing tall! We believe that this is just another way God is showing His favor and blessing on Guadalupe Victoria. We also believe it is an answer to prayer.

My youth Bible class continues to grow. We are averaging about 20 kids per Saturday. Jim continues to develop relationships with the young men. They are so hungry to know about God. Some of the boys are even coming and are proving to be some of the most faithful! They were thrilled to get the Bibles that the Rhynes brought and they were memorizing scripture the day they got them. They loved it! Twelve of the youth accepted Christ two weeks ago. I am continually amazed at God’s faithfulness and the power of His word that sets us free. My heart is really turned toward these kids.

I long for the day when I don’t need an interpreter to talk to them

There is also a new area of ministry with the women .We purchased knitting needles crochet hooks and yarn for them to learn how to make scarves that we are going to sell

during the winter. Our vision with this is to have them make the scarves, sell them to vendors here and then give the profits to the women. This is a model used by some missionary friends of ours in Nepal and we hope it will work as well for these women as it has for the women they work with. They are so happy to be learning a skill and to have a way to provide money for their families .Some of the younger women are learning as well. It has been a blessing to see their hope grow as they develope their skills and anticipate the outcome.

September brought us a real blessing!

We had Mary, Sherri, Madalyn, Hannah and Mary Beth Rhyne visit us for 6 days! They blessed us with Spanish Bibles and teaching materials and many things that we can’t get here. It was great to have them here All of the things they brought us were great but the biggest blessing was their presence. Their encouragement meant more than we can ever express. They went with us to the Rancho and just blended in with our lives. They were a blessing to everyone who met them.

July 2006

2008-06-25T09:31:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends and Family,

What a month this as been! A team of 18 people from a four square church in Massachusetts came for a week and then another team of 6 people from Washington state came for 10 days. We had the privilege of hosting three of the Massachusetts team members in our home. One of which was an 82 year old woman named June who was an inspiration and a blessing to us all. .

The Massachusetts team was honored by Susy (the lady who began the ministry at the rancho), for giving the money to build the ministry buildings. We had a dedication service and a time of ministry where John (our pastor) preached and two young men came to the Lord. (Dedication picture)

The thing is that these two boys are part of a group of young men who usually just stand off at a distance and watch. But this day John spoke right to them and they were really touched by God. They knelt down in front of the entire crowd and confessed Jesus as Lord. It was a beautiful thing. We believe that these two young men are just the beginning of what God is going to do with the young men in this community.

Jim and the team also got up a game of “futbol americano” with the guys from the Rancho. It was awesome to watch. Most of them had never played before and one particular young man, who is a gang leader in a nearby town, was standing in the distance watching until Jim challenged him to play and made him the captain of the team. The guy’s eyes got big and he listened intently as Jim explained what to do. He did it and he turned out to be pretty good. The look of joy on his face at being a part of it all was something to behold. Moments like those are the ones we reflect on when it’s hard and things don’t “seem” to be changing.(football picture

We also went with the Massachusetts team to city 2000 a poor inner city community. Over a hundred children came out to be a part of the ministry time of dramas, face painting, Bible stories and crafts. (inner city picture)

The Washington team helped with repairs at a school for mentally challenged children and also ministered at the rancho. They helped finish putting the sealant on the roofs of the ministry buildings there and got to help in dedicating a small church at another Rancho thirty minutes up in the mountains. They also had a burden to buy shoes for the children of Guadalupe Victoria. So, while part of the team was with the children telling Bible stories, making balloon animals and doing crafts, others were measuring feet! The team then went to Leon a town an hour and a half away to purchase the shoes. Leon is the capital of leather making in Mexico, so Susy was able to get a really good deal on the shoes. (Measuring feet)

Many were blessed because the teams were here. None of the least of which were the team members themselves. During the debrief the night before they left many expressed how God had touched their lives and the changes the experience has evoked in their lives.

Gloria Dios!

Over all our family is doing well. Patrick turned 14 on July the 12^th and I turned …...well older….(.cough 54)…. on July 31.(picture of Patrick and I back to back to see how tall he is)

My days are spent doing house stuff,( those pesky dirty clothes and dishes seem to always show up even down here in Mexico) carting Patrick around to visit friends and basketball practice, journaling our life here and helping Jim with writing descriptions for the web site . Jim works his advertising job as well as developing the web site.

On Monday nights we have a meeting at our house for a time of prayer and planning for the rancho. Some new facets of the ministry team have been added We have a woman who is going to teach the women how to crochet and knit. We hope to purchase yarn for them in the fall and have them make scarves that can be sold in San Luis. Eventually we hope to offer them on the web site as well. Then we will give the profits to them so they can better provide for their families. We want to help them develop skills so they can grow in dignity as well as financial relief. One man on our team is going to be teaching them to read and write. Many of the women there are illiterate. We also have a visitation group that will go out into the village and visits those who are reluctant to come to class or who are physically unable to come. This is as another step in establishing relationships.

On Saturdays we go out to the Rancho and help with the teaching classes, pass out any food we have and just love them up in general. We are limited some what right now because of the language but we are learning more Spanish all the time, But, what we are learning is that just showing up speaks a language all its own. We are so grateful to be here.

We know that playing football and knitting and reading and writing are just activities. There is no preaching or Christian tracks involved in it. But, relationships are being established and our love for the people here and their love for us is growing all the time. We believe that out of that love will come their desire to know Jesus.

Thank you all for your continued interest in our work here. We love hearing from you. Your encouragement means so much. Please continue to pray for us.

Prayer requests:

*That we will find a good place to continue our Spanish classes and that we will have the finances for it.

*Our 501C3 is now official. If you feel lead to help us financially, you can make a tax exempt contribution to Servants International.

*Our Web site is up! PTL! www.mextraordinary.com Please pray for its financial success so that we can make our living from it.

March/April 2006

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Hola !

Well, the past 2 months have been filled with …..LIFE !!! What I mean is that we have been so busy living that we havn’t stopped to get our newsletter out ! But, we hope that this one will catch you up on the happenings here. March was a windy month here just like in the states, but to the 100^th power. There were nights when we were sure the roof was going to blow off the house! Other than that the temperatures have been in the 80’s and beautiful. We also have been enjoying our little “jardin” (backyard).( I love digging in the dirt!)

Patrick continues to do well with his home schooling and he recently got to travel on a bus to a four day basketball tournament! It was a big adventure for him and he is making some really nice friends. We all continue to be active in our church here. I had the opportunity to bring the Sunday morning message at our church when our pastor was out of town and speak at our women’s group here. It was such a blessing for me. There is nothing I love more than talking about the Lord.

Jim was back in the states working his job. I know he got to see many of you while he was there. (I’m jealous)

He is doing well at his work there and is simultaneously working with Miguel in developing a web site for Mexican products that we are hoping to get up soon. It is a lot of work and has taken much longer that we had hoped to get it up and running but we are making progress and look forward to the day when it is finished! It has some really wonderful products .We’ll let you know when we launch it. This website is a part of Missions Imports but will feature only Mexican products. Our hope is that the web site will eventually provide us with enough income steam that we can let the other job go and be able to focus more of our time on ministry. It is hard for on all of us for Jim to have one foot in the states and one foot here. But, we know God has it all in control.

April brought Easter which they really don’t celebrate here the way we do in the states. They have a celebration called Semana Santo which is Saints week but it is all about the Virgin Mary. We sat through a 2 plus hourlong parade down town with over 150 thousand people and after the whole parade depicted the crucifiction of Jesus, they grand finale was a 20 foot Virgin Mary! It was so sad. The people here are well intentioned and devoted . They are just deluded and need Jesus. It really confirmed in our hearts again part of why God has called us to Mexico.

Guadalupe Victoria:
Life is marching on at the rancho. We went there twice in March and twice in April . Our last trip there was very special. They have a big holiday here called The Day Of The Child . We basically did a VBS type day with crafts and music and games! It was awesome and everyone had a great time. Jim has his “boys” that he loves to hang out with. They love it when he gets the footballs and base balls out. There are a couple of boys who want to try out for a local team in the area but they need gloves and a ball to practice, Jim is going to be getting those for them. These guys have had little or not positive male attention and Jim really has a great rapport with them. They are prime for Jesus and I know one day they will be saved.

The other exciting thing that happened on the trip was that we used a lot of the youth to help with the other children. This has never been in the past but it proved to be a real blessing for everyone involved. We could see the confidence growing in some of them as they were given responsibilities with the team. It was a beautiful thing to watch. I know that this is just the beginning of training the leaders for this community. We also were thrilled to have some supplies that were sent to us by Theresa Loth and her family. The kids loved having new crayons and crepe paper streamers to put on their crafts! It was great. Our theme was Praise! and they made praise instruments (paper plate tambourines) and used them in the music time.

State of the community:
We were very encouraged also at the progress that is taking place. Not only are there more farm animals there but the government is building a paved road to the village. This will help tremendously in getting things there and hopefully bring opportunities to them for their general welfare. The teams that are coming this summer from Washington, Colorado and Massachusetts are going to be painting the buildings and we are talking to some other missionarys here who coordinate medical clinics . We are hoping to get GV on their list. They are doing one in another village in May but will have another one in the fall. Many of the children at GV have coughs and pink eye and the women have many medical needs as well.

Non-Profit:
As we told you in our last news letter, we are in the process of establishing a Non-profit so that we can properly receive funds for ministry. The process will be several months. In the mean time the Helping Hands Ministry ,which is a well established non-profit, is receiving funds on our behalf . So, if God lays it on your heart to help us in this ministry you can make a contribution to Helping Hands with Mexican Mission in the memo and we will get it. You can do this by contacting John Youngblood @704-875-2031(home)

We Love you all so much and we look forward to hearing from you when you can. God Bless you.

Blessed to be in Mexico,

Jim ,Lisa & Patrick

February 2006

2008-06-25T09:12:00.000-07:00

Dear friends and family,

Hola from San Luis Potosi, Mexico!

It is hard to believe that we have already been here for almost four months! Time is flying by and yet in other ways it seems as though we have always lived here. Since our last letter we have continued on our Spanish lessons each morning and our whole family has become far more proficient. Every day we learn more useful phrases. Thanks for your prayers! We all desperately want to know the language. Pray for our patience to grow as well as our knowledge of the language!*

Guadalupe Victoria (the Rancho)
Things have begun to really take off at the Rancho! I guess by now we should expect great things of God, but when and how He shows up continues to amaze us! In the beginning of the year all we could see were needs and hardly knew where to begin. We pray on Monday nights as a team for God’s guidance and provision. Both always arrive in God’s usually unexpected ways.

In January and February we went with local teams from Iglesia de Gracia to do Sunday school classes and distribute yogurt and cheese that had been donated by a local dairy company here in San Luis. Lisa had the opportunity to give her testimony and share with the women her heart for getting to know them better.* We really want to establish relationship and not just be a “gimme program”. The ladies were delighted and some of them spoke out and shared a little about themselves with us. The fact that they talked much at all was a miracle in itself! Poverty and timidity seem to go hand in hand.

In February we distributed nearly 100+ pairs of used shoes that had been donated some time ago but has been stored in a lady’s house here. We were told that there had been no one who had time to organize them, so we took the Suburban over, got the shoes and made them ready for the next trip to the “rancho”. It was such a simple task but what a blessing to be a part of it! Shoes are always an issue out there. The children are growing fast and the rough terrain is tough on shoes. They walk everywhere so sturdy shoes are really needed. Many of the little girls wear dress shoes that have been donated but they are really not appropriate for their feet in such rough terrain. They asked me over and over for tennis shoes but there were not enough of the right sizes to go around. We are going to measure everyone’s feet next week and add that info to the data base we are establishing. This will give us an idea of how many of each size we need to go around. Our hearts break when we don’t have enough. We are gathering info about every person there in an attempt to get a true reading on the needs as well as have enough information about them so that we can start to really know them.

A major breakthrough also took place this past weekend. Consistent with the Latin culture, teenage boys and men at the rancho tend to stay outside of the meetings, classes and even aid especially when “God” could be a topic. To them “It‘s not macho to be godly.’

Jim has had a heart for these boys since he first saw them. No one has been able to reach them .They never went to classes or participated in any of the activities in all of the years teams have been coming here. They would just stand around the perimeter of the activity with a little “macho’tude”! Then along came Jim and his American football. Wow! It was awesome to watch them as he just casually passed them the ball and talked with them. They not only played ball but came inside for Bible class when he asked them to! They came in, sat through a 30 minute teaching about Jesus and all of them listened intently and responded with questions! They said they would be looking forward to us coming back for more lessons about Jesus and of course in passing, catching, punting! This is huge! God is working! We know this is an answer to prayer.

The family is so important to God. We believe that winning these young men to the Lord and discipling them to become godly men and fathers could cause a tremendous change in the culture at the rancho.*

The well:
As we told you in or last letter the well has been upgraded with a wind driven pump and storage tank .As of a few weeks ago it is now fully functioning. However, when the wind doesn’t blow they still have to pull the water by hand and with the falling water table it is always a big job. We are approaching several organizations that dig wells and are hoping to get some help with the water situation.* We have also contacted a group called Heifer International who sets up farm like settings in impoverished areas around the world by training people to raise farm animals for profit and food. We are “in the process” to see if the rancho meets their criteria for assistance. Please Pray!*we’ll keep you posted.

The facilities:
The power lines are pulled to the two buildings on site and we recently received $1000 from a lake Norman business man to help with the purchase of a switch box and fixtures and other electrical needs.* A church in Massachusetts has sent $1000 to get acrylic windows for the classrooms. These are much needed as the wind blows sand and dirt in the rooms and makes it difficult to use the rooms .The windows will also help with security. This church is also sending a team in July to help with the painting and sealing of the roof. PTL! But, there are still many more things to be done.*

They could have danced all night!.... (and they did!)
THANK YOU ! to… Kim Donaldson’s girl’s life group @GCC for the dance-a–thon they did to support Guadalupe Victoria!! What a blessing! It thrills us to know that God is raising-up such awesome young women who are “sold out to Jesus”! Thank you so very much for the funds for the rancho and especially for your heartfelt prayers.

We so appreciate you all standing with us in our ministry here. God has always been on time to meet every need and we are sure that your intercession on our behalf is a big part of it all! You are awesome friends and we love you all!

May God bless you richly in every way!

Sincerely His,
Jim, Lisa and Patrick
(* indicates prayer request)

Other prayer requests:

1. We are in the beginning of setting up a 501c3 non-profit corporation called MICA (Missions in Central America). We’ve been advised to do this as a more efficient means of receiving funds for the ministry here. Please pray for wisdom and resources.

2. Jim’s health he has been fighting his high blood pressure.

3. Jim’s work with stateside clients would continue so we can continue to have money to live here. This is important since we are self supported.

4. Missions Imports we are setting up a web site and we are almost read to launch it. We’ll send more info on this next month