Getting in shape with MOPS

Yesterday's MOPS meeting was a real blast! We had a speaker on nutrition, Robin spoke on relaxation, and then we had a full hour aerobics class! It is exciting to see as we wind down our second year of MOPS that we have developed a solid core of women who attend and we are seeing some real fruit from the work of the past. Please pray for our group as we have two more meetings this year and then we will begin planning for the year to come.

Warming up for our aerobics session...

Here are some of the kids staring in amazement as all of the mommies exercise!

Frazer Team

We have just been blessed by a team from Frazer UMC in Montgomery, Alabama. It was a wonderful team - the first time (since we have been here) that children have been on a team - and especially sweet for our family as we got to visit with Kelly Parker and her two girls. We stayed in Kelly's home almost 4 years ago when we were preparing to come to Mexico City. Kelly and her girls hosted us as we participated in the Frazer Missions Conference and they were so wonderful to us - it was a joy to see them 4 years later.
Here is a photo of our kids with the four kids that were on the team. Some of the adults on the team are seated in back.

Good Gifts

Matthew 7 verses 9 - 11 say "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"
Indeed the Lord blessed us with good gifts over the past two weeks. One of our fellow missionaries, Julie, had a surprise visit from her parents. We were so excited for her and her husband as we knew it would be a special time for them. Little did we know that the Lord would use Steve and Linda (Julie's parents) to minister to us and to love on us as well. Their visit was a good gift from Jesus for us and we praise Him for His thoughtfulness. Steve and Linda are much too young to be our parents but they loved on us in a parental way - spoiling us, advising us, sharing with us... and we enjoyed every minute of it!
Jesus knew we could use some extra TLC....indeed these past few weeks have been very stressful....it was a special time for our whole family. Thanks Steve and Linda!

Perhaps it is because we are so overwhelmed by the amount of things that are going on that we have avoided trying to encapsulate them into a blog post - but we are desperately aware of our need for prayer and so we want to share with you some of the big happenings and ask that you join us in prayer on some of the major points.
First, Christian has been heavily in the midst of transition to becoming the interim field director. This means his responsibility covers the daily operations of all OMS Mexico missionaries, partnering with our national church and pastors in planning and direction of the churches, providing vision and management to our church planting teams.... and more! Just in this transition time we have become very aware of the need for prayer as the responsibility is great, the pressures are heavy and the issues come at a regular pace. Will you join us in prayer for Christian to have wisdom and discernment in his new role?
Secondly, the Lord has placed several new believers in our path for discipleship. We need prayer as we seek to work with Raul and Lucrecia, Carlos and Vanessa, Eduardo and his family, and Raymundo and Yadira. Two of these couples will be attending a marriage retreat in two weeks and we pray for real revival in their relationships and a new understanding of what marriage can be when you have Christ in your life.
Would you be willing to pray by name for each of these couples?
We can truly say without hesitation that at times we feel overwhelmed by all that is lying ahead of us. It is ONLY in Jesus that we will be able to complete each days tasks. We are clinging to the promise that in our weakness HE is made strong. Please pray that Jesus would be glorified through all we do.
Thank you for praying with us!

In ministry together

Our group of missionary ladies has been meeting for the last 10 weeks doing a Bible study together. It has been a great time of growth.... This photo is special because it is the last time we will all be together for a year and a half or so - and by then we will have more women joining our ranks! One of our members, Carol Agnew has returned to Northern Ireland for 3 months of deputation, another gal, Robin Efing leaves July 1st for a year in the states, Julie returns to Northern Ireland in July until the following year - We are all spreading out! This however is part of missionary life - there are lots of comings and goings - and while this is still so hard for us we rejoice in the chance to be part of so many special peoples lives.On our first day of Bible study we created a commitment to each other... I thought I would share it with you all!

As women after God’s own heart, committed to glorifying Jesus, and to shining brightly so that others may know Him we commit to interact, work, play, and serve with each other in the following manner:

We commit to spending quality time with the Lord Jesus (Hosea 10:12) so that we can overflow with His love (1 Corinthians 13) toward one another. We commit to being kind (Ephesians 4:32), compassionate (1 Peter 3:8, Col. 3:12) and gentle (1 Peter 3:4) toward one another. We commit to listening to one another (James 1:19, Proverbs 1:5) and to serving each other (Galatians 5:13, Phil. 2:14). We commit to thinking the very best about each other (Phil. 4:8, 1 Thes. 5:11) asking ourselves if something is kind, true, and helpful before we say something – being careful with how we speak to each other (Matthew 7:1 & 2, Luke 6:37) We commit to having fun together and to being joyful. (Prov. 10:28, Prov. 17:22) It is our goal to continue in fellowship (Hebrews 10:25) and to be a cohesive (1 Corinthians 12:12) united (Galatians 6:2) group of women who are characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control!
We give each other permission to hold each other accountable to the above. (Proverbs 27:17)
We do all of this to glorify Jesus - Amen