Retreat

We had our annual YUGO Retreat last week.

It was a 1 1/2 hour drive north of the border at Murrietta Hot Springs. Calvary Chapel church as a Bible school and conference centre on the grounds there. I tell ya, if I had've known that there was a Bible College like this, we'd've been there cramming a 3 year degree into 6 years! It was by far one of the nicest places I've seen!

It used to be a 5 star resort for Hollywood's rich and famous in the 1920's -60's and then it fell into disrepair. Calvary chapel bought it in the 90's and turned into an incredible place with a small hot-spring creek flowing into little pools and eventually into a pond with ducks, swans, egrets and other birds.

The first night there after our meetings, we went to the hot-tub / pool from 9-11pm. the kids loved playing in the hot water ad even though the temperature dropped to about 11C that evening, the water was about 40C. It was really good for Shar's arthritic hip too!

We were there from Monday afternoon till Wednesday after lunch. It was a great time to get to know some of the missionaries we hadn't met yet and to spend some time with the YUGO Canada board members too. We took most of Monday night and Tuesday mornings sessions hearing from the missionaries as to what their heart for ministry was. It was good to hear form one another and celebrate together!

I had the opportunity to show a couple of the YUGO Canada board members around Tijuana area when they did a whirlwind tour of the area. They get to hear a lot about the places and people, it was good for them to see first-hand what we are all doing and how they can come alongside and assist!

We have friends from Canada coming down to the area for a few days this week. We are going to give them a tour of life in Mexico for us while they are here. They have 3 kids almost the same ages as our kids. It'll be a huge blessing to see the Sauers again!

Prayer items:

- Language study.
- I am doing well with mine, but we don't know how to do it so that Shar and the kids can excel in Spanish as well. Please pray for wisdom in that area.

- Deputation
- I will be going to Ontario in March for 11 days for deputation. Please pray that I'll have a good opportunities to make contacts with people as we seek for God's partners in ministry for us.

- Vehicle.
- our current van is doing well, but there is a need for a 4 wheel drive here. The roads are treacherous, they beat up a low riding vehicle like our van ( the bumps have broken our stabilization bar, oil pan and busted a brake fluid line. The dust has ruined our door locking mechanisms.) Last week I was supposed to be preaching at our church and soon after we left, we realized what the rain had done to the roads. the church is in a canyon and the roads are very difficult to navigate in the rain. We were slipping and sliding on the clay mud and almost slid sideways down the hill! We could not negotiate the turn to go down the road to church and had to keep going on at about 5km/h with wheels spinning wildly. We made it to a dry spot in the road, but now not sure if we could make it back to our house, never mind to the church. We followed the road to a paved road. thankfully the rest of the way was dry and rutted, but not slippery. we made it to the paved road and back to our house the round-about way. Unfortunately, we'd missed church. Did I mention I was preaching? Thankfully, this IS "Flex-ico" and the folks adapted to our absence. When it rains, you often cannot get out of the house for a day, and we definitely cannot get to church or the orphanage for 3-4 days. For us, Ministry stops when it rains without a 4x4... Please pray for us in that regard.

-Homeschooling.
- please continue to pray- Caleb is advancing well as is Elijah. They enjoy the homeschooling, but need help seeing a need for Spanish!

-Finances
- Praise God for His provision last month. Please continue to pray for our regular monthly support as well as our extras, like health insurance this month ($350.00 extra (insurance till June 15th) Deputation in March (Rental car, gas, food etc) And summer deputation to Saskatchewan to shore up enough support for us to enter the ministry phase, hopefully next September! {Lord willing!})

Thank you so much for your partnership with us! God bless and keep you all!!

Until next time,

mike and shar and boys