Friends in Ministry

We had friends here for the last 2 weeks of January. We had a good time doing some sightseeing with them, doing some fun stuff, showing them a cross cultural experience and involving them in Ministry too.






Irvin, Mari and Leah Penner started in Ministry with a bang as we went out together to a "Spectrum Ministry" outreach. We went to one of Tijuana poorest urban colonias. Most of the folks in this area do not have running water so Spectrum Ministries goes out to the communities every few weeks with a team of Mexicans and Americans to bath the kids in hot water showers. After we got done setting up the canvas tents that would be our shower houses, Mari and Leah began working in the girls tents fixing the newly washed hair of the girls as they came through. Before that they had a lice check, treatment if necessary, a shower and then got to pick out nice new to them clothes and a treat/toy. After they were done, the parents picked out some food before they went home.

In the boys tent Irv got put to work right away washing the feet of the boys before they had their shower. I helped towel them off before they also picked out some clothes and went for a haircut.

It was a real eye opener to begin a week of culture shock and ministry!

As I was nursing a severe toothache, Shar took the penners down to an orphanage that we work with to meet the folks and hang out with the kids. The next week we went over to the US and purchased over $700.00 in groceries for the orphanage. Before they had come down, Leah (11) had organized a group of her friends to have a piano recital and coffee house fundraiser to provide forthe needs of the orphanage. They raised over $1000 CDN.




A few days later, we were able to purchase medicine, groceries and leave a cash donation as well so that they could purchase meat or anything else that they needed int he coming days.










After we handed out the groceries, Victor and Gabby (orphanage parents) invited us in to pray. I struggled to translate Irvs prayer and then Gabby prayed for us and thanked God for the provisions of their needs. Then the children all gathered around us and in a group prayer they all laid hands on the Penners and I and prayed for us- thanking God for His provision and praying for their protection and that He would double His blessings on all those who gave to help them out. It was a moving, tear-jerking moment as we stood there praying in two languages to a common Heavenly Father, understanding that we were all uniquely family- brothers and sisters in Jesus.

They spent a few days doing touristy-things in San Diego, blessing us by taking us out to SeaWorld with them!!











I took them out to see the Colonias where we work. It was after 3 days of rain so we struggled in the mud-bog, but had a good time playing in the dirt! We were again moved at the sight of extreme poverty. I was reminded of the need to pray for the families of this community as most have ramshackle homes and after 3 days of incessant, cold rain- sickness is not often far behind.






Afterwards, they still felt that the time at the orphanage was the best part of the trip. They hope to be able to come down next year as well and spend more time serving at the Vision B orphanage in Tijuana...

If you are interested in a Vacation with a Mission- let us know and we will help you facilitate a life-changing experience for you and your family!

Buenas Dias from Mexico,

Just a quick note with a prayer request...

In my last email I mentioned a few plans we had for 2008--- the first is coming upon us pretty quickly in February!! I was asked to help out with the YUGO's Medical Missions program as a liason with the pastors when we do an outreach at a church as well as teach Missions to the medical interns in the summer. As a result of this I am taking some training on the Perspectives on World Missions course in Fayetteville, Arkansas from February 18-27. It is a one week intensive course (Condensed form the usual 3 week long course!!). But with that are some additional costs that need to be covered and I'm asking that you would pray with us in this regard:

Flight - $250.--
Food-$250
Accomodation- $580
Course Tuition- $350.00
Car rental- $300

Total $1730.00

As for an update on Lupita--- she is doing well. Pastor Martin had an appointment with the hospital and she has been looked at and is doing well. He will have another appointment for her next week to see how things are continuing to go. Missionary Cindy Reid is going out there today to visit with the family. We are looking at the best way to get them power- we have a donation to cover the cost of either a generator or a power pole-- right now they burn $30.00 worth of candles each month for light-- We're going to ask them which would be less likely to be stolen, the generator or the power pole... it's a toss up!

And a small praise report / prayer request.

I was asked to go to the Colonias in East Tijuana to find a lady who is scheduled for surgery February 8th- only she did not know about it! So I had to go to this area with a picture and general idea of which colonia she lived in. Think needle in haystack.
Ivan, my interpretor came by to visit so we decided to go out last Wednesday to find her. I talked to 2 pastors who know the area and who may have been able to help us, but by the time we made it out there- neither one of them could help. So off we went looking for another fellow who may know too. While on the way we met up with Feliciano and Marisella who were waiting at the side of the road. We chatted and they asked what we were up to so we showed them the picture of the lady. "she lives across the road from our church!!"-- so off we went in search for her. she wasn't around, but her husband was on his way to work so we spoke with him-- It turns out she is in Southern Mexico- Guadalajara- and he didn't know when she'd be back (maybe 2 or 3 years he shrugged his shoulders???) But we have a new cell number and a landline as well and hope to get a hold of her in time to get her surgery done. She has a very bad burn-scar on her throat / chin that keeps her face pulled towards her chest.

Please pray for Rosa Maria!!

Also pray for Mitzi and her family-- a 2 year old girl who is the 2nd youngest of 7 children. She has cleft palette and cannot talk. She is hopefully getting surgery too via YUGO's medical missions and Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego in February!

Thank you for being a part of this ministry!! May God bless you!!

Happy Birfday Jacob~~

Jacob asked today that we call him "Birthday boy" for the entire day. It was alot easier to do than to comply with his first request- that we call him "King" and let him make all the decisions for the day...









We pulled the traditional Christmas Crackers we had leftover from Christmas and wore the funny hats, read the jokes and played with the cheap little toys while we ate hamburgers for supper....










Until it was time for Jacobs Birthday Pie. Yup, birthday pie. It's becoming popular fare in our house to have key-lime pie for your birthday...











Elijah and Caleb gave Jacob a set of Hockey sticks for Christmas. We found them at Toys 'R' Us In San Diego. We may have been the first ones in the store to even know what these were for!!









Gramma (Mike's Mom) got him a Stuffed puppy that looks like our other dogs and a set of Army men that he'd been asking about! Mom and Dad's gift comes when he has the "friends birthday" in a week or so when Irv, Mari and Leah Penner come down from Canada to visit us!








HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY, JACOB!!!!

Puppies

Here are the three puppies that have been trying to adopt us... They live in a house kitty-corner from us. As they've been growing up, the boys have gone over there to play with them and pet them- lots of times through the gate. The owners left for almost 2 weeks over Christmas and the puppies migrated to our house with their mother.

We fed and played with them and have a couple pics-- one of them (the boys named her "Junie") looks just like our other 2 dogs (moose and Moose Junior).

The other 2 are named Spots (black and white one) and Bites ( the golden one...)

Christmas pics...

Here are the obligatory Christmas pics!!

Christmas eve we had "supper" with friends from our mission. It has been our McDonald family tradition to have Trifle (an english desert with fruit, cake, whipped cream and custard) for supper on Christmas Eve. It started off on the First Christmas Shar and I were married. I was working Christmas eve and she was shoveling the never ending lake-effect snow most of the afternoon and did not have supper ready when I got home. I asked what we were eating and she said she didn't have time to make anything - all she had was the trifle we were going to take with us to my family's Christmas Eve gathering and a second bowl for Christmas Day.

"So", she said, let's eat Trifle.

"We can't" I protested.

"Why not", said Shar... "our parents aren't here, we can eat whatever we want!"

And so a tradition was born. We have Trifle for supper every Christmas eve. Only this year, people brought over veggies, chips, cookies, dips, and all sorts and sundrie of things! We had a great time lighting fireworks too. Here in Mexico they are legal, so we got quite a bunch of screamers and bottle rockets and fireworks together. Some of them were on 3 foot long sticks and flew into the air before blowing up! We had a bonfire, lit off fireworks and pretended we were shooting down Santa Claus...

A fine time was had by all!

Bonfire-ing-- a Christmas and New Years tradition in Mexico.













Here is Fellow Yugo-er Trevor Robinson from Red Deer Alberta lighting the 3 foot high sparklers.













Christmas morning started at 6:am (as per McDonald household rules) with the stocking opening and 7:00am for general gift opening...

Here is Elijah getting a Technic Snowmobile LEGO set. He was extremely happy!









King Jacob finally received the proper attire for a man of his position...













And Caleb got a Batman Lego tank which he thought was not able to be purchased in North America... He was very happily surprised!!



We had a good Christmas!!