As missionaries we never really know how much we are going to get each month. We set a budget as to what we usually need, but the Lord decides how much comes each month... This last month we've had some financial setbacks, but have not gone without- we've had the resources to do what needed to be done. This last week, both vehicles broke down and some other unexpected things have come about to make us wonder what was up. Yesterday I got a phone call saying that we would not be getting a full paycheck today because not enough money came in to cover it. So we're planning on going to language school in May and we don't even have enough to pay our monthly bills for April!
Lord what's happening!!??!?
Maybe the timing is wrong for language school-- ok, Lord you have our attention... we thought.
Or maybe there is something up and you are trying to get our attention so we can deal with you-- you got it!!
Or maybe this is another opportunity to trust You when it looks like nothigns working out in our favour...
Which of the three is it? We weren't sure. Then in this mornings devotions (My Utmost for His Highest) is about following even if it seems we may have misunderstood Jesus...
Are you debating whether you should take a step of faith in Jesus, or whether you should wait until you can clearly see how to do what He has asked? Simply obey Him with unrestrained joy. When He tells you something and you begin to debate, it is because you have a misunderstanding of what honors Him and what doesn’t. Are you faithful to Jesus, or faithful to your ideas about Him? Are you faithful to what He says, or are you trying to compromise His words with thoughts that never came from Him? "Whatever He says to you, do it " ( John 2:5 ).
So Shar and I concluded that we should still plan on going to Language School anyway, despite how it looks or sounds (Crazy!).
An hour later I check my bank statement to find that a full check is in the account!?!?! What happened?! I call the YUGO rep in Canada who tells me that a sizeable check came in the mail this morning before she went to the bank! Enough to give a full check and a little more! PRAISE GOD!!
Please pray that we would be faithful to follow Jesus and trust Him daily- and Praise God with us for His incredible provision and faithfulness!!
Thank you all for coming along for the journey with us!!
Friday, March 28, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Stuff Happening
Easter Week is pretty busy around here. YUGO has an evangelistic outreach in Mexicali which takes quite a few of our missionaries out there (2.5 hours East to the desert) for 2 weeks. But for us this year, we had a Canadian group coming to do some VBS ministry and construction ministry in Tijuana area.
FRIDAY
I had the pleasure of leading these Langley-ites from BC around Tijuana for Easter Weekend. First they went to Pastor Felicianos and Maricellas house (Maricella is in my class and Feliciano sub- teaches my class for me and will likely be startign a class of his own in September). Their bathroom is a bit rustic. The shower is a 50 gallon barrell full of water that they use a small pail to pour over themselves to shower. The water has rotted all the walls on the bottom and the rain was threatening to do the same from the top. So we put new roofing on it and some Durock (concrete board) on the bottom walls. I hope to be able to find a shower for them some day and have someone plumb in a shower for them! We also painted a baby's room green and the outside of their house a wonderful, Mexican bright peach colour with white "trim". We could not finish it off so went back Tuesday to do the rest of the work with a few teens from the group.
SATURDAY
Saturday had us at Daniel and Dolores house. They are trying to start a small church in a poor- railroad-track area in Tijuana. Last year I heard that they had a really leaky roof. It turns out that they just had the wood down on the roof- but no paper, no shingles-- nothing. So when it rained outside- it rained inside too. We gave them a bunch of tarps for this winter, but got to give them a real roof this weekend. The other part of the group did vacation Bible school for the kids around the church's neighborhood. they had about 25 kids out who all thouroughly enjoyed themselves!
SUNDAY
Sunday we went to Calvary Chapel Rosarito for church and then off for Tacos and then to Ramiro's church. Ramiro has planted a church in a very poor area in East Tijuana right on the outskirts of the city. We had a VBS before church for the kids and a service after that where I got the opportunity to preach. We had around 75 people out to church. The team did some puppets for the kids and some dramas and testimonies as well. In the inland areas it was over 90F that day and in the church it was even warmer. But as soon as the sun went down the temperature dropped significantly outside, but the body heat kept the church nice and warm! This is the church we are looking at putting up a building for. They are doing a great work in their community and are really a light in the midst of darkness. As the team was walking around inviting people to church- they were struck by the amount of drinking and neglect going on. This is the only church in this area and they are doing a great job sharing the love of Jesus Christ with their neighbours!
MONDAY
Monday we went to the Vision B orphanage. There was lots of work to be done here - and it took them 2 days to finish it. The girls bedroom had profuse amounts of mold all through it from a leaky roof. They cleared out this little room and scrubbed it with bleach from top to bottom removing and killing the mold. The next day they painted "KILZ" primer all on it to keep mold form growing again and to keep stains from poking through. Apparantly, it was like being in a room with a thousand onions the way the fumes made the group tear up and such. They also painted an outside roof/overhang and built a fence-like structure and played with the kids! It was a busy couple of days.
TUESDAY
Tuesday had the group split up into 3 and some went to the orphanage, some to Felicano's houe and some to our place. At our house they pulled out wall panels and carpet (in our moldy bedroom) and did some landscaping and painting too
. Today a few are coming back to finish putting up walls and we will, with the help of some knowledgeable friends, put down the tile flooring in our bedroom. We may be back in our room by this weekend! WOOHOO!! We have been sleeping in the living room for the last month or so and it will be very nice to get back into our bedroom!
Vehicle Trouble
FRIDAY
I had the pleasure of leading these Langley-ites from BC around Tijuana for Easter Weekend. First they went to Pastor Felicianos and Maricellas house (Maricella is in my class and Feliciano sub- teaches my class for me and will likely be startign a class of his own in September). Their bathroom is a bit rustic. The shower is a 50 gallon barrell full of water that they use a small pail to pour over themselves to shower. The water has rotted all the walls on the bottom and the rain was threatening to do the same from the top. So we put new roofing on it and some Durock (concrete board) on the bottom walls. I hope to be able to find a shower for them some day and have someone plumb in a shower for them! We also painted a baby's room green and the outside of their house a wonderful, Mexican bright peach colour with white "trim". We could not finish it off so went back Tuesday to do the rest of the work with a few teens from the group.
SATURDAY
Saturday had us at Daniel and Dolores house. They are trying to start a small church in a poor- railroad-track area in Tijuana. Last year I heard that they had a really leaky roof. It turns out that they just had the wood down on the roof- but no paper, no shingles-- nothing. So when it rained outside- it rained inside too. We gave them a bunch of tarps for this winter, but got to give them a real roof this weekend. The other part of the group did vacation Bible school for the kids around the church's neighborhood. they had about 25 kids out who all thouroughly enjoyed themselves!
SUNDAY
Sunday we went to Calvary Chapel Rosarito for church and then off for Tacos and then to Ramiro's church. Ramiro has planted a church in a very poor area in East Tijuana right on the outskirts of the city. We had a VBS before church for the kids and a service after that where I got the opportunity to preach. We had around 75 people out to church. The team did some puppets for the kids and some dramas and testimonies as well. In the inland areas it was over 90F that day and in the church it was even warmer. But as soon as the sun went down the temperature dropped significantly outside, but the body heat kept the church nice and warm! This is the church we are looking at putting up a building for. They are doing a great work in their community and are really a light in the midst of darkness. As the team was walking around inviting people to church- they were struck by the amount of drinking and neglect going on. This is the only church in this area and they are doing a great job sharing the love of Jesus Christ with their neighbours!
MONDAY
Monday we went to the Vision B orphanage. There was lots of work to be done here - and it took them 2 days to finish it. The girls bedroom had profuse amounts of mold all through it from a leaky roof. They cleared out this little room and scrubbed it with bleach from top to bottom removing and killing the mold. The next day they painted "KILZ" primer all on it to keep mold form growing again and to keep stains from poking through. Apparantly, it was like being in a room with a thousand onions the way the fumes made the group tear up and such. They also painted an outside roof/overhang and built a fence-like structure and played with the kids! It was a busy couple of days.
TUESDAY
Tuesday had the group split up into 3 and some went to the orphanage, some to Felicano's houe and some to our place. At our house they pulled out wall panels and carpet (in our moldy bedroom) and did some landscaping and painting too
. Today a few are coming back to finish putting up walls and we will, with the help of some knowledgeable friends, put down the tile flooring in our bedroom. We may be back in our room by this weekend! WOOHOO!! We have been sleeping in the living room for the last month or so and it will be very nice to get back into our bedroom!
Vehicle Trouble
My 1994 Plymouth grand voyageur was giving me some problems the last month with some clunking sounds in the front end. I took it in and found out I busted a tie-rod. This is not the first time I've had to repair a tie rod or ball joint. As a matter of fact, we got new ones put on just before we left a year and ahalf ago. The roads here are vehicle killers and I am but one more victim in a line of thousands... After I got that fixed, the check engine light wnet on the next day! I took it in and found out it's not immediately necessary to fix (o2 sensor) so i could continue driving for a few days until I could spare the van. Later that afternoon I was driving my 1991 Ford Explorer when I hear a "HISSSSSSS" sound coming from the radiator-- I parked it and took out the van instead. 30 minutes later the "check gages"
light comes on along with the "Check engine" light (and the need gas light too). It was quite a pretty, decorative display on my dashboard that provided me with the adrenaline rush I needed to get it to my mechanic right away before it died in the streets of Tijuana. Most times, vehicles that get left by the side of the road here are never the same way again. They will be cannibalized for whatever good parts are left- so I was anxious to get it to the shop. I did and found I need a new alternator or a rebuilt one. So it's in the shop until after payday at the end of the month. Problem is, that my truck is leaking antifreeze from somewhere- so it's grounded too!
We'd appreciate your prayers for the provision of our needs for the truck and van.
We are also still praying for the complete provision of our needs for Language school in May!
Thanks for praying! God bless and keep you!
until Next time,
Mike
light comes on along with the "Check engine" light (and the need gas light too). It was quite a pretty, decorative display on my dashboard that provided me with the adrenaline rush I needed to get it to my mechanic right away before it died in the streets of Tijuana. Most times, vehicles that get left by the side of the road here are never the same way again. They will be cannibalized for whatever good parts are left- so I was anxious to get it to the shop. I did and found I need a new alternator or a rebuilt one. So it's in the shop until after payday at the end of the month. Problem is, that my truck is leaking antifreeze from somewhere- so it's grounded too!
We'd appreciate your prayers for the provision of our needs for the truck and van.
We are also still praying for the complete provision of our needs for Language school in May!
Thanks for praying! God bless and keep you!
until Next time,
Mike
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Ikea Makes Cars!
Maybe you've seen this already... but I got this today and don't particularly like FWD'ing things to 200 people-- so here it is for your enjoyment...
IKEA's new line of cars...
IKEA's new line of cars...
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
To the Chihuahua
I've been mentioning a bit lately that we are hoping to be able to go to language school in Chihuahua, Mexico in May.
I was telling this to my class last Saturday and I was speaking mostly in Spanish as we were conversing about upcoming plans and such. When I said it I said that we were going " a la Chihuahua" which literally means "to the Chihuahua."
Mexican and Spanish are not always the same thing... and in Spanish I was off gramatically a bit because I didn't need to put the "la" or "the" in front of Chihuahua- it should have been "a chihuahua". The class started to laugh and the only reason I could figure they were giggling was that putting the "The" in there indicated that the Chihuahua I was speaking of was not the city but the dog... so I confusedly laughed along with them and corrected myself. Then I thought that saying "The Chihuahua" was giving it a grand importance as in "THE George Bush" so I said- yes- Chihuahua is a VERY important city to me- that's why I say "THE Chihuahua" the laughing is growing and my translator is falling down laughing at me and he says "DON'T SAY THAT!!- It's kinds like Swearing!!"
What did I say? I ask him- "I'll tell you after class"... so then I go on to tell the class in Spanish that it's obvious I need to go to Spanish classes so that I don't go around saying "The Chihuahua" which illicits even more laughter and a plea from my translator, Ivan, to stop saying that...
After class I'm talking with Ivan and I can't imagine what it is I said... He goes on to tell me that it is a saying in Mexico that is essentially a quite vulgur command. The word sounds a bit like chihuahua so folks have substituted the word Chihuahua for the other one. if you say "a chihuahua" it just means that you are going to the city of chihuahua.. if you put a "The" in there you are giving someone a vulgar command ... And I said it 3 times!!!
so, again, please pray that The Lord provides the needed funds for us to go to language school so I can stop swearing at my students!!
Until Next time,
I was telling this to my class last Saturday and I was speaking mostly in Spanish as we were conversing about upcoming plans and such. When I said it I said that we were going " a la Chihuahua" which literally means "to the Chihuahua."
Mexican and Spanish are not always the same thing... and in Spanish I was off gramatically a bit because I didn't need to put the "la" or "the" in front of Chihuahua- it should have been "a chihuahua". The class started to laugh and the only reason I could figure they were giggling was that putting the "The" in there indicated that the Chihuahua I was speaking of was not the city but the dog... so I confusedly laughed along with them and corrected myself. Then I thought that saying "The Chihuahua" was giving it a grand importance as in "THE George Bush" so I said- yes- Chihuahua is a VERY important city to me- that's why I say "THE Chihuahua" the laughing is growing and my translator is falling down laughing at me and he says "DON'T SAY THAT!!- It's kinds like Swearing!!"
What did I say? I ask him- "I'll tell you after class"... so then I go on to tell the class in Spanish that it's obvious I need to go to Spanish classes so that I don't go around saying "The Chihuahua" which illicits even more laughter and a plea from my translator, Ivan, to stop saying that...
After class I'm talking with Ivan and I can't imagine what it is I said... He goes on to tell me that it is a saying in Mexico that is essentially a quite vulgur command. The word sounds a bit like chihuahua so folks have substituted the word Chihuahua for the other one. if you say "a chihuahua" it just means that you are going to the city of chihuahua.. if you put a "The" in there you are giving someone a vulgar command ... And I said it 3 times!!!
so, again, please pray that The Lord provides the needed funds for us to go to language school so I can stop swearing at my students!!
Until Next time,
Friday, March 07, 2008
Post # 150-- a DAY AT THE PARK...
We had planned on taking a day at the park after I came back from 11 days away in Arkansas, but I was too tired and sick to do it. So yesterday we woke up and decided it was a great day to go and headed for the Border!
We had a quick 45 minute wait at the border and then went to Chula Vista Nature Center where we go to see all sorts of cool things...
This is a Bald Eagle. He was very big. And bald too.
This is a cool pic of Shar with the skyline of San Diego behind her. This nature center is halfway between Tijuana and San Diego Downtown and is a nice buffer zone between the two...
This is a Western Fence Lizard. We saw quite a few of them that day. They like to spend time on fence posts- thus their name. We actually have one in a terrarium in our home as a science project for Elijah's homeschooling.
After the Nature Center, we went to Balboa Park- San Diego's most famous green space-- the San Diego Zoo is in this park- but we will go to it in October when kids get in free...
We found a playground. There are no quality playgrounds that we have found in Tijuana, so this was a real treat for the boys...
Jacob on his way down the slide.
The Great Adventurers climbed trees too. Again, there are no real naturally growing trees around here so these excellent climbing trees were a bundle o' fun!
This one was really cool... you can see Jacob climbing on the side of the roots-- the holes that are in the midst of the roots are as deep as Elijah is tall. They had a great time climbing on them--
And we found this little fella (about 12-16 inches long) on the pathway through Palm Tree Canyon. Elijah must have walked right by him because he went ahead of us and turned around and yelled out "Snake!!" which sent his brave father into a snivelling tizzy. Well' not that bad, but as we turned around and went the other way, I periodically looked back to be sure it wasn't following us-- too many Discovery Channel Snake shows, I guess...
It was a good family day- the first park day we've had since last spring and one of only a few days we've had family fun since Shar's surgery. It was therapeutic and enjoyable! We feel very blessed to live close to San Diego!
On a side note, We applied the other day for our SENTRI Pass which is a special pass that allows you to cross the border much more quickly-- i.e a 5-20 minute wait rather than a 1-2 hour wait. Please pray that it goes through without a hitch! It will make the times we need to cross for personal and ministry reasons ( usually a couple times a week) a lot more productive!
Until next time,
Mike
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Mike's Interview
Jason Elford, Alumni president of Nipawin Bible College, my Alma Mate, interviewed me for this months Alumni newsletter "Rivers". Here is a link to the interview excerpt that appeared in the Newsletter as well as the extra stuff that didn't make the edit!
Mike
Mike
Saturday, March 01, 2008
back in Mexico
I'm back in Mexico now- doing better, but still not 100%. I have a bad cough, but it is nothing like what it was last weekend!
Thank you for praying!
So I had 2 people offer me a home remedy for night coughing... Same one from two sources, so I had to try it out...
Put Vicks Vapo-rub on your feet at night and cover with socks. And for some reason it calms down the cough at night so you can sleep- and sure enough, I've had 2 very good sleeps with minimal or no coughing at all... I have no idea how it works, or why... but it seems to work, nevertheless.
I'm back into stuff here starting this weekend when I get a chance to visit with a pastor at a special ceremony at his church- and we also start New Testament Survey as well with the class this evening. This coming week I'm going to be checking out and taking pics of some work that needs to be done in our communities because we have a Canadian group coming down that will be doing some construction work. I'll also check out Mitzi, our little cleft pallette patient to see how she is doing and I need to look for a pastor in the colonias who wants a medical mission at his church sometime!
Please pray as I make the connections needed this week! Pray that relationships will grow and Jesus will be glorified by our service to Him.
Please also pray for our Language School plans. We are planning on taking a month to get some intensive language training in May. We are praying that God will provide the needed finances (about $4000) as well as someone to stay at our house in May-- If you'd like to spend a month in Mexico to house sit-- please let me know!!
God bless until next time!
Thank you for praying!
So I had 2 people offer me a home remedy for night coughing... Same one from two sources, so I had to try it out...
Put Vicks Vapo-rub on your feet at night and cover with socks. And for some reason it calms down the cough at night so you can sleep- and sure enough, I've had 2 very good sleeps with minimal or no coughing at all... I have no idea how it works, or why... but it seems to work, nevertheless.
I'm back into stuff here starting this weekend when I get a chance to visit with a pastor at a special ceremony at his church- and we also start New Testament Survey as well with the class this evening. This coming week I'm going to be checking out and taking pics of some work that needs to be done in our communities because we have a Canadian group coming down that will be doing some construction work. I'll also check out Mitzi, our little cleft pallette patient to see how she is doing and I need to look for a pastor in the colonias who wants a medical mission at his church sometime!
Please pray as I make the connections needed this week! Pray that relationships will grow and Jesus will be glorified by our service to Him.
Please also pray for our Language School plans. We are planning on taking a month to get some intensive language training in May. We are praying that God will provide the needed finances (about $4000) as well as someone to stay at our house in May-- If you'd like to spend a month in Mexico to house sit-- please let me know!!
God bless until next time!
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