Celebrating the First Year of House Churches

The other day, Christian had the opportunity to be a part of the First Year Celebration for one our house churches. The "House of Vicki" is the name of the church. A little over a year ago one of the ECC teams found Vicki, a person of peace, in the northwest area of Mexico City. A person of peace is someone who is open to the power of the gospel message, a new Christian, and someone who is willing to host a church in their house.

Now, a year later, Vicki and the congregation is celebrating their first year. Although not all the family is on-board, the church continues to thrive. We had 30 in attendance for the service and 5 accepted Christ! God has used 1 person of peace to grow this tiny church to 30 strong!

Isabel, the daughter of Vicki, prays at the beginning of the service.

Vicki, pictured on the left, opens the service in prayer.

Worship time was full and the presence of the Holy Spirit was clearly felt.
The "Wind" blew through the house and congregation!

One of Christian's responsibilities was to transport the youth to the local ECC office. As you can see in the pictures the house living room is very small (about 10 x 12).

Pictured is part of the youth group. By teaching kids over the year many parents have started coming to the church out of pure curiosity of the stories their kids have shared.

Faith vs. Sorcery

Last month Christian was placed on a church planting team just 25 minutes north of our house. During a house church service yesterday a lady by the name of Joany shared that her mother-in-law had "cleansed" her son, Daniel, of a recent sickness. She went on to say that her mother-in-law practices sorcery & card reading. Joany in fact had gone along with her mother-in-law on several occasions, however she is a new Christian she didn't know how sorcery stacked up against Christianity and Faith. Salvador, the team leader for this area, simply called the sorcery what it was: sin, and the backed it up with passages from Deuteronomy. Please pray for this new Christian, Joany, and her family as she puts on the full armor of God to combat this real present danger.

"Cleansing"

At a recent visit to the zoo we came upon some Aztec "cleansers." The people that are receiving this healing actually believe that ancient Indian gods can heal them of any infirmity they may have. This is just another real way that the enemy has gripped this country.

Independence Day

One of our favorite times of the year is the "Dia de Independencia" - Independence Day for Mexico. This year our National Church Assembly invited all churches to participate in one "Noche Mexicana" Celebration. Over 300 people were in attendance at the Seminary Building - one of the best attendance numbers ever. "Viva Mexico" is shouted throughout the evening, but "Viva Cristo" was the reason we really celebrated. Here are some photos of our family and friends from this very fun evening.....

Put you ponchos on.

Robin with the kids.

The 4 of them.

Maddie and Sabdie - Sabdie is one of Maddie's good friends at church.

Robin and the MOPS leadership cooking up "Papas Fritas" - Fried Bananas - YUM!

Traditional Mexican Dancing.After the celebration we went over to some a Mexican friend's home for some great food, fireworks and sparklers. This kids made it all the way to midnight!

ECC Board

Recently Christian was named to the ECC Directors Board. His responsibilities will include working with 4 other men (2 from OMS and 3 from Mexico) to direct the work of ECC which is charged with planting churches in Mexico. Please pray for wisdom and guidance for these men as they lead 5 teams of church planters in the Mexico City area. Their names are Alexis, Joel, Jonathan, Miguel, and of course Christian.

Tultitlan Celebration

On Sunday the 9th our family celebrated the 14th year of the Tultitlan Church. This community is very poor with as high as 60% unemployment. Desperation leads to so many issues, but we pray that it will lead this community to a point of crisis that results in their finding Jesus. We covet your prayers for this church and it's pastor, Jonathan. We praise God as well for 14 years of ministry in this area of the city.
At the end of the evening it was time to cut the cake. As tradition states, everyone starts yelling, "Quiero Pastel" - which means I want cake! The pastor definitely had fun hamming up the histeria with yelling and lots of laughs as you can see with Robin and Ethan.

A Full Turn Around

Today after our church service one of our previous English students was waiting at our car wanting to speak to Christian. His name is Benigno and Christian had eaten lunch with him the week before and shared the Gospel message with him. Benigno told Christian during the lunch that he was not a believer in Jesus and that maybe one day he would consider it but not right now. Today when he met Christian at our car Benigno told him that he had been thinking a lot about what Christian had shared and that he wanted to follow Jesus but he wanted to do it his own way. Christian talked with him for a while and encouraged him to go into the church service that was about to start and arranged to meet with him again this week.
The Holy Spirit is chasing Benigno. As we loaded into our car to come home Benigno walked away from the church, not into the service. Christian said to me, "Look Benigno isn't going in - he is leaving. Well, that is OK, I am meeting him again this week." Then suddenly as Benigno was leaving the church property he turned around and walked back to the church. On the way into the building he stopped at our car window and with a smile said, "I will go in."
We praise God for Benigno's literal turn around - that he went into the church service - and we pray for a spiritual turn around- that Benigno would give his life to Jesus. Will you pray for Christian as he meets with Benigno this week?

UNIFAM National Assembly

This week Christian had the opportunity to witness the UNIFAM National Assembly. The purpose of the assembly was to conduct business and guide the direction of the young national church organization. Their are 10 established churches in Mexico with about 25 house churches. Christian was impacted greatly by the spirit of unity and love amongst the pastors and church board. In the past we have heard that the meetings have been far from unity. We praise God for the Holy Spirit's interceding and intervention.

A bit of background, and why this assembly was so important: OMS started the work in Mexico in the early 90's. However a key purpose of OMS International is to raise up nationals to take over the ministry of evangelism, church planting, and leadership training. Foreigners reaching another nation for Christ is good, but the better option is when nationals reach their own. In Mexico these nationals are represented by UNIFAM (literally a denomination set up by OMS to facilitate this hand-over of ministry). We may be years from handing all of the ministry over to UNIFAM, but they have complete governance over almost all 10 established churches.

UNIFAM will also be directly involved by guiding ECC (Every Community for Christ). In the past this has been exclusively governed and operated by OMS, but now both UNIFAM and OMS are teaming up very much like Paul and Timothy did in the New Testament. In the case of ECC, UNIFAM is starting to have more and more ownership in the work here in Mexico. Christian will be directly involved in the direction this takes as he will be 1 of 5 on a new board directing the work of ECC.

Pastor Alexis

A special ceremony was held Sunday at church as our Alexis Saucedo was installed as Senior Pastor of the Campanario church. Previously a missionary had held the title of Senior Pastor. We praise God for this transfer to a Mexican national. Our goal as missionaries here in Mexico is to train and equip Mexicans to reach their nation for Christ. This hand over of the position of Senior Pastor is a perfect example of what we want to see accomplished. Please pray for Alexis and his wife Alicia as they lead the church.Here leaders of the UNIFAM church pray over Alexis and his wife Alicia. (She is expecting a baby any day!)

WE DO!!!

This past Saturday at our church 11 couples said "I Do" as they wed in a joint ceremony. In Mexico couples must be married in a court by a judge to be recognized as married by the law. Having a church wedding is symbolic of including Jesus in your marriage. Some of these couples had been civilly married for over 40 years but had recently become Christians and thus wanted to wed in the church. Others, we wed civilly only days before the church wedding. Once couple shared that they had been waiting to marry until they could afford a church wedding. This joint wedding offered to couples by the church was free of charge. All the couples had to pay for was there clothing and rings.
It was an awesome celebration as Jesus was invited to be a part of these 11 marriages!

Hello Again!

Two weeks ago we were blessed to visit with a gal that served here in Mexico for three months when we first arrived in 2005. She was an incredible blessing to our family and to the ministry here. It was wonderful to hear how God has used Melissa in the past year and half and to be reunited with her.
One of the most difficult things about being missionaries is that there are a lot of comings and goings. This is especially hard as people climb into your heart and become part of your family. We are in prayer for our kids as it is difficult for them to understand that they may not see people they love dearly again this side of heaven. What a blessing it was for our kids to see Melissa again - she is a real favorite for them!














Melissa with Joshua in Dec. 2005















Melissa and her fiance Barry with Joshua this July 2007.

Festival of Hope

We received this email from a lady who came to Mexico City on a short term missions team with her church last year.... we think this idea is AWESOME!

"You know that Mexico had a big impact on many of us last year and God has been speaking to us. The outcome is that we were really challenged by the way you all have a vision to reach Mexico City for Jesus. We thought of our little home town of 8000 people of whom probably only around 800 - 1000 ever go near Church. We are now holding a mission for a week this year instead of sending a team overseas. We have called it 'Festival of Hope' and are so excited at the opportunities God is opening up for us. The Festival will run from 18 to 25 August and includes loads of events such as: Family Fun Day, Christian Concert for young people, Songs of Praise evening, Kids' Clubs, Lunch for Retired people with a speaker, Lunch for all the traders in our town with speaker, Ladies' Evening, Breakfast for Men, Pub Quiz with speaker for young people, Mums and Toddlers morning, Bar-B-Q and celebration, Bus parked in the town serving teas, having Christian literature, using this to meet with people to talk about Jesus and pray with people. We also have a caravan planned to use for prayer for our town. We've made booklets to go into every home and DVDs of testimonies of people from our Church. Would love you to pray for this."

What could you and your church do to reach more people in your city for Christ?

Armagh Team

One of Christian's favorite things to do in ministry is to help lead short term mission teams to the streets with Proyecto MEFI. Proyecto MEFI is the name of the organization that facilitates the care, compassion, outreach, integration into society, evangelism, and discipleship with key Christian Churches in Mexico City all for street kids. Christian is honored to a part of this effort. Pictured is Christian translating Andrew's testimonial (from Northern Ireland), the street kids praying, Alex (a Proyecto MEFI worker) sharing from Mark 7:14-23, and a street kid with Christian.

VBS Kickoff

Last night we had the opportunity to see Maddie perform in the church's Campo de Verano Obra (VBS Play). You'll notice Maddie say her line like a pro and sing and dance as well. It was great to see Maddie in ministry.

Dairy Queen

One of our closest Christian Co-workers are Alexis and Alicia Saucedo. He's the pastor of our church & she works as a teacher and MOPS coordinator with Robin. We've had the opportunity to visit the Pacific Coast together and while we were there we enjoyed Dairy Queen more than one night (American Style Ice Cream is very difficult to find).

So we've been on a quest to find a DQ somewhere in the central valley. The day before Amelia was born Alexis and Alicia told us they had a surprise to show us. So we traveled for about an hour into the center of Mexico City and sure enough there was a Dairy Queen. It was a complete delight to be with our good friends and their kids....and good old American ice cream!

Short Term Missionaries

Today we said goodbye to one of our short term missionaries - Kristen. Her role was teaching English and video taping the work that UNIFAM and OMS do together here in Mexico. As the short term missionary coordinators we are charged with planning out, following through, and evaluating their work. Kristen made it very easy on us as she often took the initiative to make relationships. The OMS Team and many Mexicans will certainly miss her and her smile.

Acting Field Director

As the current acting field director Christian has gotten to view all the ministries for OMS Mexico while our field director is out of the country. It is interesting to see how all the OMS Missionaries and the National UNIFAM Church work together at all levels. Please pray for us as we balance having a new baby and manage the OMS Mexico Field.

Sowing Seeds......from a long time ago

We received news the other day that a good friend of ours Israel just accepted Christ. His story is a typical one (in the states and in Mexico) where the wife is a Christian and church member and the husband does not want anything to do with church or Jesus. But praise God that he just accepted Christ. He is attending another church, but his wife Alejandra assures us that he is growing. I (Christian) remember a cold night about 7 months ago when he and I stood outside of the church during a holiday program. During that conversation we talked about religion and Christianity. I simply asked him the 4 questions to Christ. He was not ready though, but it goes to show that we must always sow seeds - we never know when the truth of each seed will sprout into a relationship with Jesus for a particular person. I remember being nervous as I shared - but I praise God that he was able to listen and take to heart what the scripture says.

MOPS Year Finale

We celebrated our "closing" MOPS for this school year last Tuesday. It was a wonderful day of testimonials from the MOPS leadership team and the women who had participated during the year. Several women shared how they regretfully used to scream and yell at their children or discipline them too harshly and how different speakers during MOPS had changed their parenting. Others commented on their growth in the Lord and still others about how they have learned how to play with their children..... so many lessons learned through the year. I praise God for the beautiful opportunity He has given me to work with these precious moms and look forward to the coming year.
Adrianna, one of the moms serving on the leadership team shares the lessons that the Lord has taught her this year through MOPS.

MOPS moms gathered at our closing celebration.

Breakfast for MOPS

Our church has allowed our MOPS (Mothers of Pre-schoolers) group to be in charge of cooking and selling breakfast at church one Sunday a month to raise funds for MOPS. This allows us to invite women to participate in MOPS free of charge.
Here we are selling breakfast after our church service. (Notice my big belly.... only two more weeks until due date!)
Two of our MOPS moms looking out of the kitchen area of our church.... We generally have 6 or 7 moms helping to cook and serve and we earn around 70 dollars towards each time towards paying for the expenses of our MOPS meetings.

Foundry Team

Last week our second team for June worked on the drop in center for street kids. During the week of construction I had the opportunity to lead part of the team to the Niños Heroes group.

Pictured are 2 street kids (Salvador and Carlos) that listened to the gospel message. We are very hopeful as they both were very receptive to the word.

Ardamore Team

Two days ago I had an opportunity to lead a team from Ardamore, OK to the streets. They have been working on the drop in center construction as their main focus for the trip. On this day though I was touched by what one team member had to say...

...."The experience of going to the place where the young people hang out was
very heartbreaking. It was sad to see young kids ages 12 to 13 years
old high on sniffing glue and other substances. We were greeted with
smiles and a special handshake, but as they spoke to us, they weaved back
and forth trying to keep their balance. They would only make slight eye
contact with us and many times we would have to repeat ourselves. We
spoke with women who looked older then they really were because of being
years on the streets as prostitutes. One young man who was 24 years old
said that he had been on the streets for 20 years. This was a great eye
opener for the team. We will return home to relate this to our
church, encouraging prayer support for the Street Kids and the
missionaries working with them."

Pictured is the team praying after the gospel had been shared.

Chapel Sharing

Each Wednesday our seminary holds it's weekly chapel. From time to time the seminary asks guests speakers to come and share. Yesterday Robin had a the opportunity to share about an important lesson the Lord had shown her years ago about priorities.

She used potatoes, beans, and rice to explain her point. Each size of food represented importance or priorities of life. The potatoes obviously were the 'big' things in life - the things most important in our lives - important but not always urgent. The rice represented the lower priorities in our life - things that are not necessarily important but urgent. The rice sometimes fills our jars of life so much that there is not more room left for the potatoes.

She visually shared that if you place the potatoes of life in your jar FIRST, then the beans and rice could easily fit in the jar AFTER the most important things in life had been given their time.

It was neat because I (Christian) ran into some of the seminary students later in the day and they shared how much Robin's talk meant to them and how much it impacted their thinking. I know that the Lord used her talents and time to show the students how important it is to "Seek Him First", and then family, and then church, and then ministry, etc.... , etc....

Wesley College Team

We were recently blessed to have another team on our field. Pictured is the Wesley College Team during an orientation at one of our new house churches. Their goal was to pass out all the tracts and invitations seen on the table - Mission Accomplished! Coordinating teams is one of our responsibilities on the field.

A Glimpse of Glory

The fact of what heaven would be like bounced off the top of the new believer's head. Tonight I (Christian) shared with a new believer about our home in Glory. As we read Revelation 21, I started to tear up. It simply overwhelmed me.

I sensed a deeper understanding in his voice as he eagerly asked what he needed to do next - I told him to keep on accepting the free gift and to trust in the Word.

Revelation 21:3-5 - "And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."

This is forever!

This is his new destination! And this should be our ultimate motivation in winning souls.

Prayer - who need's it anyway?

We have been charged with facilitating all staff meetings and training on the Mexico field and find it a great opportunity to challenge ourselves and other missionaries spiritually and professionally. Yesterday Christian led a discussion on the National Day of Prayer from the US (we heard a podcast from Focus on the Family). After the podcast was over, the question was simply asked, “So what do you think?”

The overwhelming response was how much each of us concentrates more on doing than praying. It was a great reminder that even our Lord Jesus needed to pray. If Jesus needed to draw closer to his father in heaven, then how much more do we need to do the same?

Encouraging

Neither of us have the gift of encouragement. But just because it’s not one of our top gifts doesn’t mean that we are notto be doing the business of encouraging. 1 Thessalonians 5:14 – says that we are to encourage the timid.

At a recent birthday party Christian had an opportunity to encourage a church leader who was a bit discouraged about his work. He was discouraged as well at the lack of leaders stepping forward in the church with true conviction and loving hearts for Christ. Pray for our church that more lay leaders will come forward and thus encourage those who are already in leadership.

Discipleship

Tonight a mentee and Christian spoke about deepening our relationship with Christ through the church. His biggest concern with church is that it seemed like there are some church attendees who look at a verse or listen to a sermon once a week and then hang that truth up in the closet only to discuss it again the following Sunday. His faith is growing though and just his questioning of the importance of church is evidence of that.

Conflict resolution

Robin had the opportunity to go a layer deeper in our cultural understanding yesterday. One lady she has mentored had developed what we call in our house a “sour grapes” attitude toward others. She was able to go "in love" to her friend who was guilty of this and “call” her on it. We must say that she felt like walking on thin ice because of the unknown especially confronting in another culture. This culture, like many others, would rather just cover it up and pretend that an offense never happened. But that is not what we are called to do says Matthew 18.

We knew that a wrong attitude by her friend could turn to bitterness, but with God’s grace the lady admitted to a critical spirit and thus things were restored– Praise God!

Easter Lunch

On Easter day we hosted 25 people for lunch and for a time of celebrating the meaning of Easter. In this picture we are having a time of sharing how Jesus has worked in our lives in the past few months. It was a real blessing to remember that He still moves stones!

Working with Short Term Teams

Over the past 3 weeks we have been hosting a wonderful team from Northern Ireland. The highlight for this team was definitely working with the street kids. Christian translated for and led the team around with the help of our fellow Social Outreach Mexican friends.

Pictured with a thumbs up is Edgar - he shared with Christian the following, "So I hear you can help street kids get off the street and off drugs - so what can you do for me? You know I've been living on the streets for 17 years, ever since I was 5 and I'm so tired of this life. I want out now! How can you help?" With vulnerable hearts like this one it is so easy to lead one to Christ, but the hard part is discipleship. Please pray for Edgar as he hopefully attends his first church service this Sunday. May the bond with he and Fidel be one like Paul and Timothy. (Fidel is one of the social outreach workers and is key in building relationships with the thousands of street kids in Mexico City.)

Sowing Seeds

We have a heart for leading short term teams because it was while Christian was on a short term team experience in 2003 in Russia that we received our call to be a part of missions. Pictured is part of the team from Northern Ireland on a street kid visit. One gal is giving her testimony and Christian is translating. There were many tears and prayers for forgiveness during this visit to the group in downtown Mexico City. A girl names Mirah was so moved that she checked herself into a local drug rehab center (for the 2nd time). Please pray for her!

Preparing for Next Year

Above are photos of two posters made by the MOPS Leadership team here to advertise for the next years MOPS (starting in September). Aren't they wonderful? Each of the ladies pictured is a member of our leadership team and is pictured with her kids.
The Leadership Team has also starting preparing and selling breakfast once a month for after the 8:00 am service at church and sandwiches and fruit after the other two services as a way to raise funds for MOPS. This past Sunday was our first sale and we earned 160 dollars! Glory to God for the wonderful things happening in MOPS!

A Ladies Tea

Today the missionary ladies were treated with a lovely tea party. We were blessed with a visit from Sue Smith from OMS headquarters. Sue works in womens ministry and she took some time to share and encourage our hearts. It was a real blessing. And of course, there is Ethan who is joining in at the table!

Pray for MOPS

Here two women from our MOPS (Mothers of Pre-schoolers) leadership team pray as we begin our MOPS meeting.

At our last MOPS meeting a pediatric ophthalmologist and a dentist shared about children's health. At the end of our meeting some women from a local clinic were available to give free vaccinations to the children.
Will you pray for MOPS? While we consistently have 20 women in attendance we believe that we could reach more and we want to see spiritual break through in the lives of the women. Will you pray for Jesus to bless this effort and to reach more women and their families through MOPS? We also need prayer for the leadership team - that Jesus would help these women to catch the vision of MOPS and to be encouraged in their efforts.

Mexico Team Retreat

We recently traveled to a small village a few hours from Mexico City for a 3 day retreat with all of the other OMS Mexico missionaries. We had a wonderful time of planning, praying, and team building. Please pray that the Lord will continue to cultivate a spirit of unity amongst our team.Here our team plays a fun team building game.....

Here is Robin pictured with our three kids and 5 months pregnant with our fourth!

"Christians"

We recieved this poem from a supporter of ours. We really liked the words and thought we would share it with you.

Christians - By Maya Angelou

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin'."
I'm whispering "I was lost,
Now I'm found and forgiven."

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble
and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak
And need His strength to carry on.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed
And need God to clean my mess.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible
But, God believes I am worth it.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches
So I call upon His name.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner
Who received God's good grace, somehow!

Sharing the GREAT NEWS!

On Christmas Eve Christian had the opportunity to preach at the Campanario church. He highlighted the fact that Jesus wasn't just a small baby laying in a manger...but that He was and is our SAVIOR... the only sacrifice suitable to pay the price for our sins. Several people raised their hands to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior that morning. We give praise to Jesus for this opportunity!

Kid's Christmas Celebration at our Church

Merry Christmas from Mexico! Below is a video taken two nights ago at our church here in Mexico. Many of the activities you see are traditional Christmas activities. You'll see Madeline in her first play ever, all three will take a swing at the piñata, and all three will sing and dance to traditional Christmas music.

Thank you for our food...

This week Genesis, a street kid, prayed for our lunch as we took a break from the work at the drop in center. I’ll never forget his request to God, “Please be with those who have nothing to eat Lord.” My mouth almost hit the floor as I pondered the fact that most meal times for Genesis involve only thinking about eating. Lord forgive us for ever complaining.

Drop in Center Construction

From October 21-31 we had the opportunity to help host and work alongside 7 very committed men from Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado. They were successful in completing phase one of the street kid drop in center which will allow us to disciple new believers, teach trade skills, and of course evangelize. Thanks a million to Wayne, Randy, Stan, Chris, Garrett, Doug, and Ed. Special thanks also to Jose, Robin D., Bebe, Angel, Margaret, Alejandro, and Patty.

Drop in Center Dedication

Last Monday Christian had the opportunity to be part of finishing up phase 1 of the Street Kid Drop in Center. Above are Christian co-laborers (prayer team, Mexican co-leaders, contruction team from the U.S., and of course our cherished street kids). The purpose of the center is discipleship, evangelism, and skill building.

Celebrating Salvation

This is a photo of one of our students, Mari, being baptised. She came to the church for English classes and started attending church....she accepted Jesus as her Savior and was baptised in October. Praise God!

On this same day two other English students were baptised and two street kids accepted Christ!

That which you do unto the least of these....

On Tuesday, October 10th we held our third MOPS meeting. It was a lovely time with a speaker on nutrition and health of children - a topic that was of great interest to the moms. We had several new women present. I am always interested to hear who the new women are and how they found out about MOPS. This week there was a sweet petite mom with her one year old daughter. I inquired from Kay, our MOPS mentor, (who had spent time speaking with the woman) about who she was and how she found out about MOPS. Kay told me that this woman had actually come to the church looking for a pastor and that she had come around the day before as well looking for the pastor. She had recently discovered she was pregnant and her husband kicked her and their one year old baby out of the house. He simply could not afford to care for his children and the thought of another baby was too much. He told the woman that before she could come back home she must give the one year old away to someone and that she must not have anymore children. She and her infant slept in a church the night before and they were desperate for help. She said she wanted to return with her child to where her parents lived but had no resources. Kay gave her the bus fare (about 20 dollars) and she gave her the left over food from our MOPS meeting. The woman was beyond grateful. Can you even imagine being in her shoes? She had not one penny - no diaper bag, no car, no cell phone - just the clothes on her back and her baby girl.
I know that there are a lot of details missing from this story that I do not know - but what I do know is this. MOPS in Mexico is changing lives and offering hope - perhaps not in the same way it does in the United States but each meeting we have had has been used by God to seriously impact women.
In my past I have been used to a MOPS where we swap ideas on romantic dates, brainstorm on Christmas traditions we would like to start in our family, or listen to discussions on different schooling options for our children - all of these things were valuable and useful to me and I anticipated we would do similar things in MOPS here. Yet every MOPS I am struck but the harsh reality of how hard life is here in Mexico City for women and their children. Conversations at the tables have been centered on what to do in abusive home situations and where women will get money for food for their children.
The experiences are so very different - but one thing remains the same. We have a Savior that loves us and cares about our deepest needs. We have hope because we have the promise of eternal life. And we have the Lord's promise that His grace is sufficient to carry us through every hardship and every trial.