Kick-Off Breakfast

On Saturday our church held a "kick-off" breakfast to start the new year of MOPS (Mothers of Pre-schoolers) and our "Women in Growth" group. I praise God for this awesome event. We had over 120 women in attendance - and well, I will let the following pictures tell the rest of the story...
Above a photo of the women in attendance at the breakfast. Below, notice all of the empty seats? That is because women who prayed to accept Jesus for the first time during the breakfast were asked to get up and meet in some of the classrooms! More than half of those in attendance gave their lives to Jesus! It was AWESOME!

Above is a photo of this years MOPS leadership team. Please pray for us as we seek to reach more women and share with them how they can live an abundant life with Jesus as their Lord and Savior!

Training

Alexis and Christian are at OMS Headquarters receiving some great training on church planting movements.  Please pray for our National Church and Missionaries as we implement the principles of multiplication in Mexico.  We have the sense that the we may be on the edge of explosion and revival!!  Pray that we will have a plentiful harvest as we train trainers in the upcoming year.  The new plan for multiplication will be implemented as soon as next month!  

Pray for the fruition of II Timothy 2:2, "And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others."

A real sense of unity...

We praise God for three days of awesome meetings for the national church here in Mexico (called UNIFAM). The annual meeting serves to bring together members from each church, pastors, and church planting workers in an effort to discuss the upcoming year, to vote on pending issues and to report on ministry from the previous year. Several people who have participated for many years said they believe this was the best meeting ever as there was an incredible sense of unity! We praise God for the way He is working to create real synergy amongst those involved in ministry here.

Preaching

Last Sunday Christian preached at Tultitlan Church.  We find it very hard to prepare for a teaching or a sermon because it takes so much time and effort.  Sunday's effort was worth it though.   Read  Christian's blog to find out what happened.

National Church Meetings

Tonight...continuing through the rest of the week begins the annual national meeting of all of our church pastors, church planters, and other national workers. Please pray that God would work mightily in the hearts of all and that there would be a great sense of unity. Christian has been so encouraged and excited by the planning meetings that have taken place for this event and He is eager to watch how the Lord will direct the planning for the upcoming year. Specifically the churches will be talking about church multiplication and how everyone can join in planting churches throughout Mexico. There is an awesome sense of the Lord in the midst of all that is happening right now in Mexico..... We will post updates on how the meetings are progressing.

Welcome Back Agnews!

The mission field often feels like a revolving door - there are constantly missionaries coming and going.....We prefer the coming.....and yesterday we welcomed back the Agnew family who were in Northern Ireland for the last three months. We don't have many details about their time at home because our kids monopolized every moment with them and we barely got a word in! But we are so thankful for their safe arrival and for their refreshing wonderful time back home in N. Ireland with family and friends. Please hold them in your prayers as they hit the ground running with ministry in the next few weeks.

When are Mr. Jonny and Mrs. Julie coming back?

This is the question that has permeated our home since our dear friends, Jonny and Julie, returned to Northern Ireland on Monday. It may sound trite but it is definitely true that your fellow missionaries become family - and right now our kids are missing their Mr. Jonny and Mrs. Julie. When you serve together in a foreign country and walk through intense situations together the intense-ness (is that a word?) of your relationship is heightened - and deep bonds quickly form. We can testify that this is true for us - and for our kids. We miss Mr. Jonny and Mrs. Julie....and look forward to their return next year. Jonny and Julie will be funding during the next few months in Northern Ireland so that they can return to Mexico for a two year term in early 2009. Please lift them up in prayer as they are on homeland missionary assignment. Also, if you are looking for some incredible missionaries to support financially - look no further.... If you are interested in supporting Jonny and Julie monthly please send us an email and we will give you the necessary information.

Womens Retreat

This past weekend our church, Campanario, held its first ever women's retreat! It was an amazing success! We had 54 women attend..... 4 accepted Jesus as their Savior for the first time, many recommitted their lives to the Lord - it was a humbling, incredible experience. For me (Robin) it was one of the most powerful experiences with Jesus that I have had in my life! Jesus is working mightily here in Mexico! Thank you for praying and for partnering with us in the work that is happening here!

Above is a picture of the women gathered together for a time of worship.

I had the privilege of being the speaker for the retreat.... The Lord clearly impressed upon me a message for the women that revolved around Proverbs 3:5&6.....He guided me so clearly and gave me the ability to easily communicate everything He laid upon my heart in Spanish. I felt so carried by the Holy Spirit..... it was incredible!
After each session the women had a time of reflection and journaling...( I am a HUGE fan of journaling) and then they met in small groups to share. I had planned for each small group to meet for 3o minutes but each time the women refused to stop meeting and sacrificed "free time" to keep sharing, praying, and growing together. The small group sessions lasted up to two hours! Jesus was working and it was so evident!

In the evenings we enjoyed gathering around a bonfire and singing and sharing.... (we roasted marsh-mellows as well!)
There was also lots of time for fun! Above the ladies are participating in a mixer....This photo captures the women in a game of American football using a watermelon in the pool.....I can not remember the last time I laughed so hard! It was a blast!

Womens Breakfast

On Wednesday morning Robin hosted a women's breakfast with the wife of the pastor of the church in Cuautitlan Izcalli. It was an amazing time of sharing and growth. One women shared her powerful testimony of how God had transformed her life after several suicide attempts and how she now lives victoriously, joyfully as a child of God. There was not a dry eye in the room! We praise God for the way He is moving in this church through women's ministry!

Tepohaco

About twenty minutes from our house is a town called Tepohaco. Some friends of ours are building a home there and we know several other families that have recently moved to this area. We feel burdened for this area to be reached for Jesus. Currently our mission is not working in this area. Will you join us in prayer for how the Lord would like us to reach out to this community?

Rows and rows of houses like those in this photo cover the landscape of Tepohaco.

Celebrating Two years of MOPS!

Today we had the closing session for this year of our Mothers Of Pre-schoolerS (We follow the school year). It was an awesome time.... I can hardly believe that we have had two years of MOPS already! Below are some of the highlights of the day.

Here is a photo of all of the women gathered together this morning.

Several women shared their testimonies this morning and it was AWESOME to hear how God has been working in their lives through MOPS. Maribel, pictured above shared that MOPS has been a school for her where she has learned to be the mom that God wants her to be. She talked about the many lessons she has learned through the year....it was particularly neat that she brought her mother along with her so that she could hear her testimony. There were lots of tears!
The mommy above shared that she was feeling so discouraged and down. When her husband dropped their children off at pre-school one of our MOPS leadership gals was their handing out flyers for our MOPS program. She was hesitant to hand it to a man but decided to anyways. He then passed it to his spouse and encouraged her to go. He was worried about his wife's depression and really thought it would help her to get together with other women and talk and share. She attended and shared how the year has changed her life. She said her days are full of hope and joy now.
Here is a photo of our MOPS leadership team.... what an amazing group of women! It has been a privilege for me to work with them. Here I am recognizing them for their efforts during the year.
Three of the gals from our leadership team sang two beautiful praise songs during our celebration today. It was a real treat and wonderful to be giving all the glory and honor and praise to Jesus!

Prayer Request

Today at church the MOPS leadership team and the "Mujeres en crecimiento" (Ladies in growth) leadership team cooked food to sell at church as a fund-raiser for our upcoming women's retreat. Robin will be the speaker for the retreat. Please pray for Robin as she prepares to share during the weekend of the 11, 12, and 13th of July. Specifically pray that Robin can communicate all the Lord is putting on her heart effectively in Spanish.

Back Home Again in Indiana...

At least Christian is back home in Indiana.... for 10 days of meetings at the OMS Headquarters in Greenwood. Please pray for him as he is brand new at his role of field director! The time at OMS Headquarters will be intensive training for sure!
What are Robin and the kids going to do while Daddy is gone? Check out Robin's blog to see photos!

Working Together

One of Christian's big projects lately has been the unification of a team in a nearby municipality. OMS and UNIFAM (Our national church) have been working together to bring all OMS churches under UNIFAM. This is vital because our belief is that Mexicans must take on a more active role in leadership if Mexico is to be reached for Christ. So recently Christian along with 3 other UNIFAM leaders have been training local leaders in the area of teamwork. Teamwork is often absent in this culture and so this work will continue to be a huge prayer request. Please pray for Daniel, Laura, Salvador, and Jonathan as they start working together to reach the over 1 million people in their municipality just outside of Mexico City.

Marriage Encounter

One year ago we attended Marriage Encounter here in Mexico. Last weekend we were the sponsors of 2 couples. Words cannot express how God worked in each of their lives. We heard comments from them like, "Our lives have been completely changed" and "I came here to learn about marriage but instead I had an encounter with God." Please pray for Raymundo, Yadira and Raul and Lucretia. We praise God for their lives.

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