A visit from our family....

We have been so blessed this Christmas season with a wonderful visit from Christian's mom and dad and his sister and her husband..... For us, being so far from family is the greatest sacrifice in missionary life. Yet, we are so thankful for the wonderful blessing of having friends and family visit us. The time spent this Christmas with family was precious and we will always remember the special times we had!

Amanda, Christian's sister, with Amelia after Amelia had just
enjoyed a green Christmas cookie!

Mimi and Maddie

Grandpa and Ethan

Rudy, our brother in law and Joshua in the process of decorating Christmas cookies.

No more parties, ok?

That was a recent request by Ethan, our 3 year old. Indeed, we have been to our share of Christmas celebrations this week..... Here are some photos of the latest ones!

Our church leadership (the people in charge of coordinating each of the ministries) gathered for dinner and games on Monday night. It was an excellent time of fellowship although the party did not start until 8:30 and ended around 11:30 at night! Then the next morning at 9:00 am the boys had their school Christmas celebration. Pictured below are their class mates as they sang three lovely Christmas songs.
The week prior to the party the boys were excited to tell us about their adventures in making a pinata by hand at school...but they enjoyed hitting it even more!
Then Tuesday evening all of our Pastors, church planting workers and the missionaries gathered together for an awesome celebration. There is such an incredible spirit of unity amongst everyone....and it was so evident at this celebration. We played some incredible games (led by Andrew and Carol), ate dinner and enjoyed each others company.
Towards the end of the evening Christian played "Santa" as gifts were handed out to each of the families as a thank you for their tireless efforts. We are so blessed to have the opportunity to work with such an incredible group of people!

Tis the Season....

For lots and lots of celebrating! Here are a few of the latest happenings here in Mexico City....
Our MOPS group partnered with the Women in Growth Ministry at the Campanario Church to have a Christmas breakfast....It was a wonderful time of singing, games, wonderful food and an awesome message based on Isaiah 9:6. We praise God for the way He is working in the lives of the women here.

Below is a photo of some of our MOPS coordinators enjoying their breakfast!

Our missionary family got together last night for the traditional Christmas gift exchange.... We had a wonderful time.....here are a few pictures from our time together...

The missionary ladies together...

All of the kids together...

Joshua and Ethan both got one of these awesome airplanes from Aunt Kay and Uncle Leroy! They were so excited!

Stay tuned for more photos of holiday celebrations....This week we have an event almost every day!

A blast from the past....and present!

We were so incredibly blessed this past week to have our dear friends Gary and Karyl visit us from Indianapolis. Gary and Karyl have been mentors to us for over 10 years now. They led our young marrieds group at our church in Greenwood for several years, Karyl was the mentor mom for Robin's MOPS group in Greenwood, Gary served on the school board for STAR Academy when Christian taught there... and the list of sweet connections between us and Gary and Karyl goes on and on... including the fact that they have been faithful supporters of our work here in Mexico.
They spent 5 days with us this past week and it was one of the sweetest most wonderful times for us. What a joy to talk with them, laugh with them, show them our life here in Mexico and to have a taste of home!
We praise God for Gary and Karyl and for the way they have willingly invested themselves in the lives of others. They are an amazing Godly example for us and for many, many others! Thank you Gary and Karyl for your time and your encouragement! Come back soon!

Maddie and Karyl....

.....Gary taking a swing at Piñata!

DEPI

We've shared that the 18th of November was a monumental day.  One of the things we wanted to share was about the new Department of Evangelism and Church Planting or DEPI.  The reason that this new department is so significant is that UNIFAM has decided that evangelism and church planting has to be "theirs" and not a foreign owned entity.  In other words Mexicans are taking their new mantle of leadership very seriously.  

Even though we will cease to use ECC as a 'name' in Mexico the vision and goals will remain the same with DEPI.  We still want to reach Mexico for Christ but it won't be the missionaries leading the way, but rather the Mexicans.  They have "Mexicanized" what OMS has been doing for over 100 years around the world.....and that was the goal from the beginning.  We praise God!

In one area the growth in house churches has increased from 3 to 17 new house churches since mid September!

What a privilege it is to witness all of these new changes and to see the Mexicans lead the way!  Please pray for revival as both OMS missionaries and UNIFAM workers continue to preach the good news.  Pray also for Christian as he continues to co-lead this effort.