Merry Christmas!

It has been a good year for us despite some of the challenges that have come our way. We are reminded of the hope that we find in the Scriptures that All things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose.

I am blessed to say that we Love Jesus and still sense an overwhelming call to serve Him and his people, wherever He leads us.

After the death of my brother Donny, the YUGO board suggested we take a few days off to strengthen ourselves again and get some rest. We had obligations to fulfill up till the end of this week and so after that we are going to take the kids to the mountains in search of some snow for them to play in for a few days! Please pray for snow, as it's been a bit warm in the mountains the last few days and most of the snow has melted!


Ministry has been going well. I was at the graduation of the Men's School of Ministry at Calvary Chapel, Rosarito (where we attend.) It was a time of encouragement to see these fellas, most of whom have been rescued from some pretty horrible life situations, take more time to prepare themselves for whatever God has in store for them!








Family life is progressing as well!















Jacob is our soccer man. He seems to live and breathe "futbol". Jacob participates on a team here in Rosarito- "Club Atlas". They practice 3 days a week for 2 hours at a time. Mondays they get to practice on a real grass field, but the last half of the practice it gets dark. It becomes difficult to distinguish which shadows are your team!
Jacob struggles with asthma, but Praise God, we were able to see an asthma specialist in California last month and she is helping us to get control so he is able to play without incident!









Caleb is our resident music man. He and Sharlene have been taking guitar lessons for about 3 months for an hour a week. I'm amazed on how quickly he has picked up learning to read music and find the notes on the guitar. He practices willingly (and sometimes incessantly) and has learned 3 songs by heart ( jingle bells, Twinkle twinknle, ode to Joy) and has almost mastered "o come all ye faithful". He bought the guitar with his own money saved from Christmas and birthday and his weekly chores. I can see this being a passion for him for years to come.



Elijah loves to read. We had a time where we weren't to the library for a few months. Elijah refers to these as the "dark ages". He will regularly take out 10-15 books and finish them all before they are due again in 3 weeks. His other main activity, besides researching stuff he finds interested on the internet, is Tae Kwon Do. Elijah has his yellow-green belt and has been progressing well and rapidly over the last 8 months.





All of our boys are homeschooled which they alternatively like and dislike, depending on the day (and sometimes the hour). We are blessed that Sharlene is home to be able to school them and we see them regularly growing in stature and in wisdom and in favour with God and man. God has been actively working in their lives and we have been able to witness their growth in Christlikeness over the years.






We thank God for each of you and how you have supported us in prayer and finances over the years we have been here in Mexico! We believe that God is being glorified as we see Churches strengthened, people saved, Disciples being made and people sent out in ministry! May God bless each of you as you place treasures in heaven by faith!

We could not be here without you!

Merry Christmas,

Mike, Sharlene, Elijah, Caleb and Jacob McDonald

Testimony

This is a brief testimony of one of our national pastors- Abellino Jacome. Abellino has started an open-air church (meaning no walls nor roof) in his neighbourhood on a borrowed piece of land. Each Sunday he preaches to a few people in the seats in front of him and (thanks to a donated sound system from a church in Swan River, MB) to a plethora of people in the hills around him as well! He seems to meet people all the time who say-- I know we don't come down to the church on Sundays, but we want to- for now we're listening every Sunday and God is speaking to us!

Please pray for Abellino and his family- espescially his wife Mirellya. She has been in poor health for 4 years.

Que dios les bendiga .

May God bless you.

Mi nombre es Abelino Jácome Ochoa.

My name is Abelino Jácome Ochoa

Mi esposa Mireya blanco de Jácome nuestros hijos son…

My wife is Mireya blanco de Jácome and our children are:

Kenia yareli Jácome blanco 16 años.

Abel de Jesús Jácome blanco 9 años.

Kevin Abel Jácome blanco 8 años.

Ángel de Jesús Jácome blanco 6 años.

Esta es mi familia que dios ha puesto en mis manos pero ahora dios ha puesto más familia de la cual yo tengo que guiar aconsejar instruir a través de la palabra de dios.

This is my family that God has placed in my hands. But God has given me more family than that! Those whom God has given me to guide, counsel and instruct through His Word.

Mi vida sin Cristo era un caos siempre con muchos problemas sin tener en quien confiar verdaderamente, hubo un momento que vivimos mi esposa y yo muy difícil en el cual ya no mirábamos otra solución y creíamos que separarnos seria lo mejor , sin importarnos que pasaría después pero gracias a dios que ella lucho contra todo cuando conoció a Cristo Jesús ……

My life without Christ was one of constant chaos, with many problems and without anyone to truly trust. There was one very difficult time that my wife and lived through. We didn't see any other solution except to get separated, regardless of the the consequences. But Thanks to God that Mirellya found Jesus Christ and began to fight against the idea of getting separated.

Y dios comenzó a enseñarnos que había esperanza si confiábamos en el ,ella comenzó primeramente a caminar en el camino de dios y luego dios me alcanzo a mi aunque me puse un poco difícil al principio, pero ahora la palabra de dios me ha enseñado que Satanás vino a robar a matar y a destruir pero Cristo vino a buscar y a salvar lo que se había perdido y darle vida, ahora se que Cristo es el camino es la verdad y es la vida ………

God begain to teach us that there was hope and we both put our trust in Him. My wife did first, and later God reached me. It was a difficult walk at first, but now the word of God has taught me that we have an enemy who wants to steal, kill and destroy our lives and that Jesus has come to seek and save those who were lost and give them life! Now I know that Jesus is the Way the Truth and the Life!

Gracias a dios que ahora puedo compartir este testimonio con ustedes . porque todo lo puedo en Cristo que me fortalece……

I thank God that I can share this testimony with you today! Because I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!

Hace aproximadamente como 4 años que a mi esposa los médicos le dijeron que solo le quedaba una semana de vida, después de una cirugía en el corazón dieron ese diagnostico …. Pero ese dios que tu y yo servimos a tenido misericordia y hasta el momento la a dejado con nosotros ahora después de otra cirugía sigue la amenaza contra su vida ………

About 4 years ago, after my wife had had heart surgery, the doctors gave her one week to live. But this God that we serve had mercy upon her and she is still with us today even having come through another surgery (gallbladder) in these last few months! But her life today is still precarious.

Pero un día mi hermano Mike e Iván me dijeron si dios ya la ayudo otras veces puede volver a hacerlo, y nosotros seguimos adelante porque creemos que el es el que nos guía y nunca nos dejara solos. Y por encima de la tribulación y la prueba cuando nos damos cuenta que aun hay gente que les interesa saber de nosotros conocer de nuestra vida nos gozamos de poder compartir nuestras debilidades con ustedes , pero esta debilidad nos enseña y nos hace sentir fuertes en el señor para su honra y su gloria.

But one day, my brothers Mike and Ivan told me that God had healed her before and taken care of their financial needs, He can do it again. So we continued forward because we believe that He is the one who has been guiding and leading us and He will never leave us alone! Through all the tests and tribulations we relaize that there are even people who are interested in knowing about us and hearing about our lives it gave us joy to be able to share our weaknesses with you. But this weakness has taught us we can feel the strength of the Lord for His honour and His glory!

Por el momento es todo lo que puedo compartir de mi vida y mi familia les pido de su oración por el pueblo de dios y por todos los pastores.

For now this is all I have to share with you about my life and family. We ask for your prayers for God's people here and for all the pastors in the churches here.

Que el señor los bendiga.

September Prayer letter

Hello Valued Prayer Partners!!

I received an email the other day asking about one of the previous prayer requests I had sent out and it dawned on me that I hadn't sent out a praise report lately! I'm going to give you an update on how things have gone this summer and also a small taste of what we think God might be leading us to be a part of in the future...

UPDATES

- Church Plant
We had a very good evangelism training week in August with the Penners down training 2 churches in evangelism. It was a good time and many people were blessed to receive the training. We followed it up with an open air evangelism meeting where we saw 6 people come to Christ. The church has been started and is going along week by week. Please pray for these new believers and the Abellino and Mirellya in their first pastorate.

- Mirellyas Health
Mirellya was able to have her gall bladder taken out the week after the tent meetings. They sent her home the same evening still woozy from the anaesthetic! She has been progressing well and their work health insurance was able to pay for the surgery, praise God. Her husband was scheduled to be laid off in the beginning of August, but God has provided him with work week by week in the same company!

- Provision for Abelino and Mirellya
We had asked for pray for their provision, and God has answered! Abelino has been kept on at his work on a week by week basis and is still there now, 6 weeks after he was supposed to lose his job! Not only that but God has provided about $180/ month for them to assist him in working in ministry part time. We are hoping to have enough ($400/ month) to allow him to serve his people and neighborhood full time in the near future! Praise God for His provision!

- Spanish Classes
We had Spanish classes for a good part of this summer with Joseph fruin and myself being the teachers. It went well and we've noticed a huge amount of improvement in every ones Spanish skills (even mine!) as a result of this extended time of study. The kids and Shar understand alot more and are much more confident to speak in Spanish now which helps them continue to grow!!

- Comedor Ministry
God provided enough for Dolores to continue to provide the kids in her neighbourhood with decent food 3 days a week for another year!! However, about a week ago their 25 year old panel van finally gave up the fight and died. It had been a blessing for them to have, but an expensive one in that the gasoline costs to run it were unsustainable. A few days after, as we were trying to figure out how we could get them a car, I received an email asking if they had received enough funding to continue. When I explained the vehicle issue, our friend offered to help buy another car! We are waiting for the money to be processed and sent to us and hope to have them a decent, reliable, rugged, affordable to run vehicle soon! Praise God!

- Pastors and Leaders Training
The training is finally underway and is growing rapidly. At this point in time we have 3 classes in Eastern Tijuana with a total of 72 students; 1 class in Mexicali with 7 students and 1 class about to start in La Mision (45km south of Rosarito) with 21 students for a total of about 100 students in 5 classes!! Not all are pastors, many are sunday school teachers, worship leaders, youth sponsors, deacons and elders of the churches. Several are young people who are interested in being missionaries or pastors in the future. I have another group interested in taking the training in Maneadero about 100km south of Rosarito. The potential teacher has been trained and is going to spend a couple months in one of the classes to get a feel for how to present the material. He says there could be as many as 50 interested students down there!

God seems to be growing this aspect of the ministry exponentially and we are glad to be along for the ride, following Him and joining Him in His desire to raise up Godly leaders in Mexico!

Some thoughts have come to me lately and it seems God may be moving the ministry in a further direction in the coming years. The issue I am seeing is that there are many churches here in the Northern Baja area, although quite a few are struggling and can use some assistance. The question I have is: what do we do with these students who will be graduating the classes in the upcoming years? We could have as many as 150 trained leaders--- and if even only 10% of them offer themselves up to be pastors/ missionaries/ church planters-- that is 15 people who will be willing to go, but few means to go anywhere.
Most of the churches we serve are amongst the poorest of the poor in our area and can not afford to pay their pastor, never mind send missionaries out. So what inevitably ends up happening is that the leaders go and plant another church down the road from the sending church. What that has caused is countless little struggling churches in an area that hardly needs any more!
In contrast, we keep hearing of areas in Mexico's south where there are no churches, missionaries or Christians at all! I have heard that one state alone has 1000 villages, towns and cities with no evangelical churches nor witnesses! The need in Mexico is still great, but the harvesters are all living in one small area hugging the US border- because that is where the work was.
I believe God is asking us to partner with local churches here to help finance the sending of missionaries to Mexico's unreached spiritual frontier. We certainly don't intend on anyone getting rich in this ministry, but would like to provide these folks with the freedom to do the ministry, that they will be doing anyway, in an area of great spiritual need where there are often no jobs, or the pay is so poor a person must work 12+ hours a day to feed their family. The average income a person would need to get by in most of those areas is about $500/ month. We would hope to be able to provide at least a portion of that to give the missionaries freedom to do the work that they will be doing anyway (because the called serve, regardless of compensation--we see that daily down here!!) only do it in an area of great need.

We'd appreciate you praying about this. I am still in the process of working out details of the proposal to give to the YUGO International Boards. I'd appreciate prayer for that as well, that God would give us vision and clarity of thought as I present what I believe God is leading us to do here.

Final thoughts,

I'd also appreciate prayer as we are contemplating taking a trip to the southern Baja Peninsula in November. One of my students at the Calvary Chapel Bible College in Ensenada is from there and we are going to scout out the potential for ministry there. I have heard that there are only a few churches there, but am more interested in seeing if God is opening a door of opportunity there to train pastors and leaders in the southern peninsula. It is a 22 hour drive over harsh, mountainous, hot, desert terrain. Please pray for safety, for the vehicle to work well and for God's favour as we meet with pastors and leaders to explore the possibility of equipping saints in the southern Baja.


Thanks again for all your prayers and sacrificial giving! There is a saying here when we give to people-- "May God return the blessing back to you multiplied!"

Partnering with you in this service to Christ and the Mexican Church,
Mike, Shar, Elijah, Caleb and Jacob McDonald

Romans 15:20
It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation.

Launching a new Church Plant!

This next week is going to be an exciting one for us!

We are assiting Abellino and Mirellya in launching their new church plant!

Abellino was a student of mine these last 3 years and graduated as the "Standout Student" and so gave the message at our graduation last May. He will be planting a church in his neighbourhood starting next week and we have an Evangelistic Campaign planned out to help him in his launch.

A friend of our from Swan River Manitoba, Irv Penner, and his family (wife Mari and kids Leah (14) and Jaxson (1) ) are coming down to give some evangelism training to the church that is sending out Abellino and then conduct a "tent meeting" to share Jesus with the neighbourhood. We will also be having a local Christian rap artist to attract youth as well.

A few prayer requests during this time:

Safety
As in alot of the areas that we work, this is a concern for us. There are gangs working in the area and we're hoping to reach some of them for Christ, but please pray that the Spirit of God would place his very Hand around us to protect us as He speaks to the hearts of the gangsters who live each day knowing that it could be there last.

Power
Please Pray that the Holy Spirit will speak to Hearts and that people will be drawn to the Saviour and away from a life of hopelessness and dead religion. Pray that He would fill our speakers, translators and those who will be inviting people to attend. Pray that we will be willing to listen to His voice and follow Him where He leads us!

Health
Mirellya, Abellino's wife is in her mid 30's and has a pacemaker and other significant health problems. She is currently waiting for a hospital bed to have her gallbladder out, but please pray that her recent change in diet will alleviate the pain in the meantime. Please also pray for the health of those who are serving this week.

Provision
Abellino is one of many Tiajuenses who has lost a job recently due to the economic downturn. God has been gracious to Him and given him 2 extra weeks of work, but he faces a layoff every week. Please pray for provision for the church people, their new pastor and the neighbourhood they live in. I recently found out that the averae income in many of these families is about $200/ month or less, with many having no steady income at all. Abellino and Mirellya ( who are quite poor themselves) have been feeding kids int he neighbourhood with donated food from our YUGO missionary Cindy Pesina and when they do not have that, they sacrifice their own needs to feed others. Please pray for God to provide what the people need.

















The current church building-- it is in front of their house and is about 200 Sq feet or so















The empty plot of land across from their house/ church where we will have the tent meetings.

Nice Blog update from a friend...

Here is a link from the blog of our friend and pastor here in Rosarito- Mike Vincent. The Intern program he's describing is an incredible bit of ministry and I have the privilege of serving these guys and others by teaching at the Bible School and Men's School of Ministry at the church occasionally.

It is a privilege to work together with Mike and Sarah Vincent-- check their blog out HERE

July Update

McDonald's in Mexico
July update and prayer letter
July 2010

In June this year we graduated our first generation of Graduates from the Pastors and Leaders Training! We had a great celebration at Rancho las Palomas in Tecate (East of Tijuana-) at a beautiful location! Praise God for all the graduates and their friends and family who came out to support them. In Typical Mexican fashion, our 90 minute celebration lasted for 3 hours! The students had a lot to say!!

2 weeks after that I trained almost all of these students pictured on the left along with another pastor from Mexicali ( a city 3 hours east of here in the desert) and a couple more from La Mission (town about 1 hour south of here) in how to be teachers so that they can take this training to pastors and leaders that they know. This summer I've been helping them with the paperwork necessary to enroll students for the fall. We have about 70 applicants as of today and I'm hoping to hear from some more-- we are probably looking at 80-100 students in total taking this training next year!! Praise God the the growth he is bringing and for the interest in the part of the potential students.

The main reason this is so popular is its affordability. I just receives some scholarship applications the other day and am continually amazed at how great the financial needs are in the area we work. Most of the people declare their income to be about $150 -$300/ month- which for an average family of 5 is $1-$2/ day / person. What they lack in finances, they make up for in zeal and desire to serve our Lord! There is a movement about that has people excited to go south and plant churches in areas where their currently are no or very few churches or Christians!

The cost to attend is US$150/ person over the course of 2 years-- but for many people struggling to feed their children on such little income-- this is 2 weeks or 1 months pay and is really undoable- even over the long term.

Praise God that this Spring we received donations to cover half the costs! Please pray for the remaining $6000 to be raised over the course of the 2 year program!

I'm looking forward to seeing How God multiplies the ministry in the coming years and sends workers to the unreached parts of Mexico and across the World!


SPANISH CLASS

This summer has been busy with Spanish class for Shar and the boys. I am teaching Sharlene and Elijah and they are having oodles of fun learning how to conjugate irregular Spanish verbs! A local MK, Joseph Fruin is teaching Caleb and Jacob, but they are not having nearly as much fun as their teacher teaches them spanish by making them play games and build puzzles and do stories. :)

We're hoping that this concentrated time in Spanish class will help them to become more confident in their language abilities and enable them to interact more in the community!

COMEDOR/ FEEDING KITCHEN MINISTRIES
This Spring Andrew Fruin- our local handyman/construction guy was very helpful in helping to finish off the feeding kitchen that a group of Canadians had come down to build this winter. With the extra money they had raised he was able to put in tile flooring, counters and shelves, build benches, buy tables and set them up with indoor plumbing (for a sink, anyway). He has been a great help and this ministry is now flourishing.

Dolores feeds about 50 kids a day/ 3 days a week in one of the poorest areas in Tijuana and she does it on $200/ month. That works out to be about 30 cents/ meal. But God has blessed her efforts and multiplies them as well and she is able to feed these poor children well for that little amount!

Please pray for the feeding kitchen, her 1 year of funding runs out in September and she needs that $200/ month to continue this ministry and would like to feed these kids 5 days/a week if the Lord provides.

CHILD TAX CREDIT

Thank you so much for praying! God has worked out our Child tax credit fiasco and we have been justly reinstated until June 2011!!

FURLOUGH

We will be taking a 6 month furlough from June 2011 until January 2012. We will use this time to reconnect with you folks, our supporters, and hope to spread the word of what we are doing with others as well.

We have been excited to see all that God has been doing through our ministry- yours and ours- together here in Mexico:
10 Grads from the pastors and Leaders Training.
70+ new students set to start in September.
10 grads from the Calvary Chapel Bible Institute where I teach.
1 church planted- and another one to be started this fall.
2 Feeding kitchens feeding 85+ needy kids a day.

Thank you for your faithfulness in praying and giving toward this ministry. I am certain you are storing up treasures for yourselves in Heaven that will never rust or rot away!

God bless you all!,


The McDonald Family

MT 6:19-20
¹⁹"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

For Caleb's birthday ( July 14th) his bestest buddy in the whole world, Matthew Sauers, came to visit us from Mossbank, SK Canada. It was a complete surprise-- as you will see on this video

Comedor ministry

One of the ministries we have the pleasure of serving are the comedors in Eastern Tijuana. In these neighbourhoods poverty is rampant and because of unemployment, abandonment and addictions, many kids are lacking good nutritious meals.

Some of our local churches we work with have been working at feeding kids in these neighbourhoods. People from Alberta and Ontario have come alongside them and funded these worthy ministries.

Here are some pictures from Dolores' Feeding program in East Tijuana...















This is a typical house in the neighbourhood of squatter homes. Folks live in these dirt floor homes built from scrapwood along the railway tracks in East Tijuana.

















This is the Kitchen part of the dining room--

















Some of the 40+ kids who come for lunch 3 days a week. We are hoping to raise enough finances to offer food five days a week...
















Dolores' Daughter making empanadas. Empanadas are like perogies made from Maseca (the flour you make corn tortillas from) and filled with meat and or cheese and deep fried. They put lettuce, sour cream and dry cheese on them. Today they ate these with macaroni and cheese and jamaica juice (juice made from Hibiscus flowers...)

If you are at all interested in helping out by partnering with these ministries please contact us!!

child tax benefit 4.0

Hello!

We received an update (kind of) on our tax situation...

We only found out that I need to personally take up the case with Canada Revenue Agency Monday and negotiate another year in Mexico with them. It is possible, and probably likely that we will get it.

If so, the plan will be to stay around in Tijuana until spring 2011 and then take a 6 month furlough back to Canada. We will need to set up residence somewhere, reestablish healthcare and drivers licenses, register our kids with a homeschool group in Canada and establish other ties with Canada to enable us to be re-posted for an additional 4-5 years in Mexico.

We'd appreciate your prayers that we would find favour with the people we talk to in government and that we could get this extension. When my new teachers heard we may be going back, the one who I thought would be best prepared to give the classes with minimal help was very concerned that he would have no one to help him. I'm concerned that if we go back to Canada this year that the pastoral and leaders training will not continue on and that the momentum we've achieved will stall.

Thank you so much for praying! There are a lot of other people and situations we covet your prayers about for the people we work with- I'll get those to you separately soon!

God bless!!

Mike

Prayer Update-- Child Tax Credit!

Hello from Mexico,

Just a short update to ask you to continue praying.

We heard from our MP's office last week that the government required 1 more piece of paper to determine if we are eligible for the Child Tax Credit. We provided it for them the next day and are still waiting to hear how things are going.

We have to renew our Mexican Visas for staying here by the beginning of June. In order to do that, it seems to us that we need to have this dealt with because of the Mex. governments insistence on a proof of a certain income level for them to allow us to stay here. We will not reach it without this issue settled!

Also- those Visas will be quite expensive- probably between $700-$1000. We don't know exactly how much now because our immigration lawyer in Mexico City tells us that everything changes May 1, 2010 and so there requirements, costs and her fees may all change at that time. We need to wait to see!

PRAISE: That God has been providing for all our needs and expenses during this time- sometimes in very unexpected ways! Praise Him for His daily bread (and gas, rent, utility bills!)

Thank you for praying!

God bless,

Mike, Shar and the boys.

PRAYER !!!

Hello valued prayer partners!

We've run into a bit of a financial hitch here that we'd appreciate your prayer about.

As Canadian Citizens living abroad, we still file Canadian taxes and are responsible for paying our taxes and CPP and EI payments. We also are eligible to receive any tax credits that anyone else is eligible for.

The Child Tax Credit people asked us to fill out a questionairre to determine our residency status and continued eligibility for the Child tax credit and GST Credit. Through a miscommunication, I did not get all the information to them on time. They have cut off our Child Tax Credit which is 25% of our income!

I immediatley sent them the info they wanted and they received it. They accept the fact that we are factual residents (according to Canada Revenue Agency) but are now asking for more information.

Our contacts in the Canadian Government as well as Canadian Council for Christian Charities all agree that we are still eligible for this benefit- but the government can be fickle and it seems that they are intently looking for information to disqualify us permanently.

Please pray for this need-- for our current and future financial needs-- even if they reinstate us- it likely won't be until May or June! We've lost 25% of our income this month and perhaps for the next several months.

Please also pray that this may be handled correctly so that the government does not begin to target Canadian missionaries who are currently eligible for these benefits!

Thank you for praying!

Mike

expanding ministry!

Hey folks,

We're coming up to the graduation of the first class of our Pastors and Leaders training ministry! We're all pretty excited and proud of the accomplishments of these incredible students!

We have been meeting for 4 hours Saturdays and 2 hours Monday nights for more than 2 1/2 years. Many of the students have other secular jobs on top of ministry responsibilities. They have sacrificed alot of time to be at class and it is almost finished! We will have our graduation on Saturday June 5th for 10 students! And then we begin to look ahead to the next groups!

Thank you so much for your faithfulness in partnering with us! None of this could have been done without you! We are partnering together in the "Great Commission":

MT28:
¹⁸Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

The whole idea behind the classes is to train pastors and leaders and empower them to train others. It looks like this wil be happening and the amount of students will be multiplying next year!

I was talking to one of my current students about him starting classes in his church. He has 4 or 5 pastors interested already- and they are looking at bringing their leadership out to the training. He is hoping and praying for 20 faithful students! That's twice as many as I had!

I have 2 other students who are considering starting up classes in their neighbourhoods for pastors and leaders.

I am also praying about going to Nayarit ( southern Mexico-- 2-3 day drive away) for a few weeks to train a local pastor who has several mission churches started by Seve- one of my students (a 65 year old gramma!) as she traversed the villages sharing Jesus last summer. She saw 15 people come to Christ and last December went back and baptized the believers, saw a few more saved and found a pastor to disciple the new followers of Jesus! I'm hoping to help them train the lay leaders of these new groups of Christians! Please pray with us as we seek to make disciples of the disciple makers!

I was in Mexicali , Mexico today talking to a pastor who works closely with our YUGO missionaries in that city. He is looking for some training to give his church. So we drove for 3 1/2 hours through a driving rainstorm, snowy mountain passes and back down into the rainy desert to meet Pastor Loreto for an hour and a half to talk about the training ministry. He seems like a very humble servant leader who would be a good teacher. We think similarly on many points and both have a heart to see northern Mexicanos reach out to their southern neighbours where there are more witches and spiritists than followers of Jesus. I'm planning on returning in April after hes had a chance to look at the material to see if he is interested in starting a class in his area.

I am also praying about starting another class myself closer to where we live in Rosarito or on Tijuana's west side.

So, We could potentially have 50-80 people taking this incredible training over the next few years! Can you please pray with us for the needed finances to do this work?

It costs CDN$150 over 2 1/2 years to train each student. That includes an NIV Study Bible plus their 10 workbooks for each of their courses. So with CDN$7500 we can train 50 pastors and leaders! We will ask the students to pay a nominal fee to help with the gas of the local pastor-teacher, coffee and snacks and the use of the church. But what we found out is for people trying to feed families of 4 or 5 people on $15/ day (sometimes less) the $10/ course cost was enough to keep them out of the course.

If you would like to donate to this ministry Please send donations to:

YUGO Canada
Box 231
St. Albert, AB
T8N 1N3

Or, for more information contact Marylyn at:
(780) 461-0891
yugoministries@cruzinternet.com

Please send a small note designating the donation to: "Tijuana Colonias Pastoral Training (Mike McDonald)" and it will get to us to be able to help make disciples in Mexico!

In our other ministry at the Bible College, things are going very well! I am teaching 2 classes of about 11 students each- 1 Corinthians and Exodus. I once again have some excellent students and love going down each Wednesday and Friday to teach the classes. It seems to me to be a great investment in eternity to build into these young lives- most of whom are sensing God's call to pastoral, missionary or other church leadership callings.

New this semester is a Discipleship class I am also participating in. We are training 6 of the young people (3 guys- 4 ladies) to disciple up to 3 of the other students each. It has been an excellent opportunity to build into the lives of each other as we spend an hour a week, one on one, talking about our walk with Jesus as well as giving them counsel on their discipling ministry. All 3 of my guys are excellent servants of Jesus and I look forward to hearing from them in the future as God works through them!

Thank you so much for your partnership in prayer and finances with us! We appreciate each one of you and could not do this without you!

Partnering together with you to make disciples in Mexico,

Michael and Sharlene McDonald

Traffic jam on the way home from classes at Calvary Chapel Bible College- Ensenada

Videos--- my drive to Calvary Chapel Bible College- Ensenada...

January...

Wow-- it's been a while since I've updated...

We had a good December and first half of January. The weather was unusually warm and dry which allowed us to have some very pleasant firework displays for both Christmas eve and new years eve. Usually it has been cold and windy which makes the fireworks a little more dangerous and neighbour disturbing.

A few years ago we had a bit of a wind and it was our first fireworks day. I sent up an explosive kind and the wind took it sideways at about 25 feet above the ground- right over to our neighbours house where it exploded near his roof. They were not impressed... so we adjusted the direction and sent another up- it too only went up 25 feet and then a downdraft took it down the canyon and onto a neighbours porch where it exploded... thankfully no one was hurt and we learned to send them up with a higher trajectory.

This year the only casualty was a tree. I lit an M-80 firecracker and threw it left-handed over our fence into one of our Spanish dagger trees... It exploded and took out the center part-- which means the tree will probably eventually die.

This new years was the first time we all stayed up past midnight. We launched fireworks- watched movies, played games and waited till midnight to wish each other a happy new year. Here in Tijuana the last hour or two till midnight is HUGE firework time. So at midnight it is nuts- and all over the city you can see and hear explosions. Because we are on a hill overlooking the city we get quite a show!

PROJECT JOY

We did project Joy again this year. We received lots of gifts to hand out in the poorer communities of Tijuana. One church I work closely with (5 of my students are from this church) had 500 kids show up. The partner church from California brought about 270 gifts and we had had several other things donated that we brought out. when all was said and done- everyone who attended the event went home with at least a small gift. There were about 50 kids who came up to receive Jesus as their Lord and saviour as well. Please pray for their follow-up that this church may be able to make disciples of these kids...

PASTOR'S TRAINING

We started classes back up after a brief Christmas break. We are studying church history. It has been good for me because I'd forgotten a good chunk of what I learned in Bible College. It has been eye opening for the students to see the churches history and how we got to where we are today. Espescially interesting to me has been to see that many of the church practices that were occurring prior to the reformation- are still alive and well here in Mexico.
The Dominant Mexican church still practices the selling of indulgences for the forgiveness of sins. You can still, today, buy forgiveness from the priest! You can also purchase your loved ones release from purgatory through a series of "Masses" that are said on their behalf. The more money you pay the priest, the more effective the mass- and the shorter time the loved one stays in Purgatory paying for their sins. Also, in order to expedite healing, the people will gold pieces to the church to buy healing from the saints. So, if your child broke a leg, you could break a piece of gold off of a piece of jewelry that looks like a leg- give it to your favourite statue while you ask the saint that it represents to ask God to heal you. The priests take the gold for their own purposes.

This group of 10 students will be graduating this spring (June 5)! It Will have been almost 3 years of intense study 6 hours a week- when many of them have full time jobs on top of ministries and other obligations. I'm looking forward to seeing them complete their studies!

TEAMS

We have a couple teams coming down this winter to assist us in ministry here in Tijuana. One team of 3 families from Saskatchewan and Manitoba are coming for 2 weeks in February to help out at a mission church along the railroad tracks. The first week they will be building a little portable building to be used as a "comedor" to feed kids in the neighbourhood breakfast. Many of the children in that neighbourhood are malnourished, hungry and very needy of physical and spiritual food. Dolores ensures that they get some of both, thanks to the generous donations of some Canadians. She feeds 35 kids 3 times a week. The need is so great that, if finances allowed, she could feed 100 kids a day. Please pray for these needs!
The second week they will be doing a Vacation Bible School in the same place and feeding the children over lunch. Here in Mexico the kids go to school in shifts-- a morning shift and an afternoon shift. So the families are going to be doing a VBS for each shift when they are not in school- and feeding the kids in between the shifts.

Our second team will be a regular group of folks from Langley BC who come down each year to help with ministry in orphanages and the colonias over the March Break. They are a fantastic group- one of the best- and we're looking forward to seeing what God will do in and through them!

BIBLE COLLEGE
The Bible College in Ensenada I've been teaching at has a long break over Christmas. classes don't start again until February 5. I'm teaching 2 classes this semester- Exodus and 1Corinthians. I've been doing some prestudying and am looking forward to teaching these books this Spring!

I'm also helping out once a month with the School of Ministry in the church that we congregate at- Calvary Chapel Rosarito. There are 25+ men who believe God may be calling them into ministry. Our job is to give them some frank ministry training and then evaluate their preaching and teaching progress. This is once a month for a year. We had our first session last week. Pastor Mike Vincent sprang a surprise on them when he gave them 10 minutes to study a passage and give a 10 minute message on it! Then we split into groups of 3+ a teacher and they gave their messages. Talk about deer in the headlights! One of my student's wife told him to come to church that day- he had NO IDEA what he was coming to. He is quite new to following Jesus and was shell shocked- to say the least! poor guy! Another one is also quite new and spoke all of two minutes. That was after I prodded him to give me more because 1 minute wasn't enough!

I'm looking forward to seeing their progress over the next 12 months and then to see what God will do with them afterwards.

Calvary Chapel Rosarito has been a tremendous blessing to us- it is a balanced, Biblical church with a grand worldview. At 6 years old- they have already sent out their first missionaries to Mexico's south. They also have a large leadership team that serves this growing bilingual church of 700+. When we started coming 2 years ago- there were about 200+ people coming. They baptise many people each month and almost every week sees people getting saved. We are very blessed to be a part of this movement of God in Rosarito.

I have started to take training in the sound booth at church and once I am trained I will bring Elijah in with me so we can serve together.

FUTURE MINISTRY

We appreciate your prayers for our ministry here in Mexico! After this spring when my pastor's training class graduates we need to be seeking God for his wisdom as to what to do next!
As of this time, I think I am going to team-teach a class in the colonias with one of my students. He has many contacts with pastors in that area and may be able to get a good group together. I just found out this month that the government of Mexico is contemplating requiring all pastors to have theological training or face being shut down. What we've found is that there are only a few current pastors who see a need to get training- and it is easy to get your pastor's card without having any training or evidence of a call to ministry even- as long as you are strong and charismatic. As a result their are many problems in the evangelical church with false doctrines, false practices and lack of humility in the pastorate. We see this government move as a blessing and hope to be able to continue to provide low-cost training to the many untrained pastors in our area.

I've also been approached to help do some training of potential leaders and pastors down south- in Nayarit, Mexico where one of my students takes evangelistic trips twice yearly to previously unreached areas. Please pray for wisdom, direction and finances, if this is God's direction. I would likely go down with one or 2 of my students for a week or 2 at a time and offer this to them- their is alot of desire for it down there, I am told!

Thank for partnering with us!

God bless,

Mike