This is for those of you who didn't get to hear a report of our last 5 years ministry in Mexico and our plans for the next 5! click at the bottom (MINISTRY REPORT) to see it our report given at our sending church- Martensville Baptist Church on Nov. 13th!!
It has been great visiting with many of you over these last several months! We have been blessed by countless great meals, scrumptious deserts and excellent company!
Thank you to all of you for your encouragement, your hospitality, your support, your partnership and your interest in what God has been doing in Mexico!
You are appreciated!!
MINISTRY REPORT
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Thursday, October 06, 2011
September Prayer Letter
Thank you to those of you who have been faithfully standing behind us during our time on Home Assignment! We have been praying that we'll be a blessing wherever we go, and while you'll have to ask those we visited with about that.... we certainly have been blessed meeting with many of you during this time.
At the end of this letter, there is a bit of a serious prayer request, but first- let's talk about the last month!
This part of our journey was spent primarily in Ontario.
We st
arted out speaking at 2 churches in Ottawa- Calvary Chapel Ottawa and it's church plant in a suburb called Orleans.
We loved sharing with both fellowships what God is doing in the World, specifically in our part of Mexico. Andy Falleur, originally from Florida, is doing a great job pastoring these people in Ottawa. It was encouraging to see God working powerfully in Canada's capital.
After a short detour to Quebec City we traveled to Hamilton Ontario, Sharlene's hometown, to visit with family and her original church. We spoke in 2 churches - 1 in Hamilton and the other in nearby Oakville. While there we stayed in a camper trailer that my sister and brother and law lent us. It was a blessing to have our own space. We started Homeschooling the kids again out there in the mornings and in the afternoons we either visited family or went to the Library to continue school.
In Oakville we spoke at the Calvary Chapel Sunday morning. They have a great little multi-cultural church where we were able to speak Spanish again! We loved being a part of their Missions focus Sunday! I'm looking forward to hearing how they do as they follow God's path for their fellowship.
After that we went to my hometown, Wasaga Beach Ontario to visit family and supporters. We had a very busy time there as we often had a lunch meeting and supper meetings in the same day. We were able to accomplish a bit of school and were incredibly blessed to reconnect with people who have been so faithful towards us over the years. Faith Evangelical Missionary Church has been a part of the McDonald family since its inception many moons ago and its where Sharlene and I first went to church as new believers 20 years ago. It's their fault we're in missions now :) !! This body of believers continues to live out the Great Commission locally and globally and we're glad to be partners with them!
After a month in the East, we headed West. We saw beautiful autumn displays of maple and oak trees. It has been one of the things we missed the most about Ontario since moving away 19 years ago! It was a stunning display!
We spent some time in Manitoba with friends who have come down to do missions with us as families in Mexico. The 2 families both live on farms off the beaten path and it was a great time for us to unwind. The boys particularly loved the animals and the freedom to play games on the huge lots at night in pitch black darkness. The highlight for the boys had to have been the night they spent in a log cabin in the woods about 1km away from the house with the Abrahamson boys. They all had a great time without the parents and noone was eaten by bears! It was great!
And now we find ourselves back in Saskatchewan, our Canadian Home. We have bookings for almost every Sunday from now until we go back to Mexico. If you are in the Saskatchewan area and would like to have us over for a visit, we will do all we can to make it work! Our October Sundays are booked as follows:
Oct 8- Northwest Community Church, Meadow Lake, SK
Oct. 16 visiting friends in Moose Jaw, SK
Oct 23 Bagley Baptist Church- evening
Oct. 24 NBC Chapel
Oct. 26-30 LaRonge, SK
November will bring us to Meadow Lake, Martensville and North Battleford, SK with one Sunday still open!
PRAYER REQUEST
It is normal over the years to gain some new supporters and lose others for one reason or another. But, mostly due to economic reasons of our partners, our monthly regular support has slipped about $900/month over the last few years. That is one of the reasons we are back: to reconnect with current partners and see if God is leading new people or churches to partner with us. God has been good and His people have been generous and through many larger one time gifts, our needs have been met. But now we find ourselves in a difficult situation. We have kept our support level low to reflect the area that we live and work in as well as the hard working people we partner with. But the last few months, we have used up any reserve fund we had.
Simply put, we're asking folks to pray with us that God will supply our needs here in Canada and when we return to Mexico. We are also asking that if you are not a regular financial supporter of ours- if you would pray and ask God if He would be leading you to become one. I get Facebook messages and emails regularly from our people in Mexico asking when we will return to the work there! Your prayer and financial support over these last 5 years have resulted in many people coming to Christ, in men and women being made disciples and planting churches, training others and glorifying God. I believe that the first 5 years were foundational but that in the next 5 we will see the investment of time, prayer and finances grow as the ministries we partner with grow exponentially!
Thanks again for all you mean to us, we love each of you and appreciate you very much!
May God bless you all!
If you would like to partner with us please contact our office at:
YUGO Canada
PO Box 231
St. Albert, AB
T8N 1N3
780-461-0891
yugoministries@cruzinternet.com
YUGO USA
PO Box 58
National City, CA
91951-0058
619-336-9003
outreach@yugo.org
At the end of this letter, there is a bit of a serious prayer request, but first- let's talk about the last month!
This part of our journey was spent primarily in Ontario.
We started out speaking at 2 churches in Ottawa- Calvary Chapel Ottawa and it's church plant in a suburb called Orleans.
We loved sharing with both fellowships what God is doing in the World, specifically in our part of Mexico. Andy Falleur, originally from Florida, is doing a great job pastoring these people in Ottawa. It was encouraging to see God working powerfully in Canada's capital.
After a short detour to Quebec City we traveled to Hamilton Ontario, Sharlene's hometown, to visit with family and her original church. We spoke in 2 churches - 1 in Hamilton and the other in nearby Oakville. While there we stayed in a camper trailer that my sister and brother and law lent us. It was a blessing to have our own space. We started Homeschooling the kids again out there in the mornings and in the afternoons we either visited family or went to the Library to continue school.
In Oakville we spoke at the Calvary Chapel Sunday morning. They have a great little multi-cultural church where we were able to speak Spanish again! We loved being a part of their Missions focus Sunday! I'm looking forward to hearing how they do as they follow God's path for their fellowship.
After that we went to my hometown, Wasaga Beach Ontario to visit family and supporters. We had a very busy time there as we often had a lunch meeting and supper meetings in the same day. We were able to accomplish a bit of school and were incredibly blessed to reconnect with people who have been so faithful towards us over the years. Faith Evangelical Missionary Church has been a part of the McDonald family since its inception many moons ago and its where Sharlene and I first went to church as new believers 20 years ago. It's their fault we're in missions now :) !! This body of believers continues to live out the Great Commission locally and globally and we're glad to be partners with them!
After a month in the East, we headed West. We saw beautiful autumn displays of maple and oak trees. It has been one of the things we missed the most about Ontario since moving away 19 years ago! It was a stunning display!We spent some time in Manitoba with friends who have come down to do missions with us as families in Mexico. The 2 families both live on farms off the beaten path and it was a great time for us to unwind. The boys particularly loved the animals and the freedom to play games on the huge lots at night in pitch black darkness. The highlight for the boys had to have been the night they spent in a log cabin in the woods about 1km away from the house with the Abrahamson boys. They all had a great time without the parents and noone was eaten by bears! It was great!
And now we find ourselves back in Saskatchewan, our Canadian Home. We have bookings for almost every Sunday from now until we go back to Mexico. If you are in the Saskatchewan area and would like to have us over for a visit, we will do all we can to make it work! Our October Sundays are booked as follows:
Oct 8- Northwest Community Church, Meadow Lake, SK
Oct. 16 visiting friends in Moose Jaw, SK
Oct 23 Bagley Baptist Church- evening
Oct. 24 NBC Chapel
Oct. 26-30 LaRonge, SK
November will bring us to Meadow Lake, Martensville and North Battleford, SK with one Sunday still open!
PRAYER REQUEST
It is normal over the years to gain some new supporters and lose others for one reason or another. But, mostly due to economic reasons of our partners, our monthly regular support has slipped about $900/month over the last few years. That is one of the reasons we are back: to reconnect with current partners and see if God is leading new people or churches to partner with us. God has been good and His people have been generous and through many larger one time gifts, our needs have been met. But now we find ourselves in a difficult situation. We have kept our support level low to reflect the area that we live and work in as well as the hard working people we partner with. But the last few months, we have used up any reserve fund we had.
Simply put, we're asking folks to pray with us that God will supply our needs here in Canada and when we return to Mexico. We are also asking that if you are not a regular financial supporter of ours- if you would pray and ask God if He would be leading you to become one. I get Facebook messages and emails regularly from our people in Mexico asking when we will return to the work there! Your prayer and financial support over these last 5 years have resulted in many people coming to Christ, in men and women being made disciples and planting churches, training others and glorifying God. I believe that the first 5 years were foundational but that in the next 5 we will see the investment of time, prayer and finances grow as the ministries we partner with grow exponentially!
Thanks again for all you mean to us, we love each of you and appreciate you very much!
May God bless you all!
If you would like to partner with us please contact our office at:
YUGO Canada
PO Box 231
St. Albert, AB
T8N 1N3
780-461-0891
yugoministries@cruzinternet.com
YUGO USA
PO Box 58
National City, CA
91951-0058
619-336-9003
outreach@yugo.org
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
July/ August Prayer / praise letter
It's mid-summer already!
We are almost 2 months into our home assignment time here in Canada. We've had a great few weeks here speaking in camps, visiting friends and speaking in churches!
Camps
We had 5 weeks of Bible Camp service from Northern Manitoba to Southern Saskatchewan and almost everywhere in between! This year was different from years past, because the boys are getting bigger and more able to serve at camp themselves.
I spoke at 4 camps this summer and served as program director at one.
Sharlene spoke with me at 2 camps and worked as a counsellor and kitchen help in 2 others.
Elijah was a camper for 2 camps and a junior cabin leader for 2 weeks.
Caleb was a camper for 4 weeks and worked in the kitchen for 1- and Jacob was a semi-camper for 3 weeks, full camper for 1 and kitchen helper/ big brother to camp kids for another week.
All in all it was a great camp ministry experience. We started off in camping ministry and love coming back to it every so often to serve churches that support us and also to speak into the lives of young Canadians. It also helps me hone my speaking and preaching skills. I am of the opinion that if you cannot speak to kids and keep their attention, you may not be keeping the attention of the adults you are trying to speak to! So this is an incredible help in my preaching and teaching ministry as well!
We saw God do some amazing things those 5 weeks of camp- from providing vehicles and accomodations and finances to speaking into lives and turning hearts towards Him. We were not after many easy "converts" but were going about our Fathers business making "disciples", followers of Jesus who are willing to turn from their sin and follow and trust in Jesus. We sowed the seeds and will not really be able to see what grew- maybe ever in this lifetime! But God is in charge of the growing and many kids expressed a desire to follow Jesus! Praise God!
Churches
Almost every Sunday was spent speaking in churches as well. It's been good to reconnect with supporters this summer. For those of you in Eastern Canada- we plan on being out there for the month of September. We'll be in the Golden Horseshoe area in the first 2 weeks of September or so- and the Georgian Bay area for the second 2 weeks of September. We have some churches lined up to speak at during that time, but we would love to get together personally with all of you if you can make it work! This is what this time is about!
Vacation
We are currently on a short vacation to one of our old stomping grounds, Victoria, BC. Jacob was born here and has been praying for a long time that we could come back so he could see his "homeland". So we have been exploring the places that we often speak about, but he doesn't remember. He now has some pictures in his mind to put to those stories-and we have a few new stories to share with each other as well!
After this we travel to Alberta to officiate at the wedding of Rebecca Hoople an MK from Mexico who is getting married August 20th. She was our faithful and excellent babysitter in Mexico. Sharlene and I stodd up for Rebecca for her grad as "Padrinos" -kind of like "godparents" and we are all looking forward to being there for this next step in her life as well!
From there we head to Ontario to speak at a church in Ottawa and then a short stint to Quebec City before coming back to Southern Ontario to visit family and supporters and perhaps some potential supporters.
It is inevitable after being on the mission field for 5 years to need to re- establish full support. So we are again on the lookout for people whom God has chosen to partner with us financially in this ministry. If you are interested in investing in this ministry of training pastors and leaders and church planters for the unreached and needy parts of Mexico- please feel free to call or email us and we'd love to sit together with you over coffee or a meal and tell you the wonderful things God is doing!
If you are already a faithful supporter and won't be able to make it out to one of our church dates but would still like to get an update and visit with us-- please call or email us! We'd love to come see you!
Thanks again for your faithfulness in financial and prayer support. We could not do this without you!
Mike for the family.
We are almost 2 months into our home assignment time here in Canada. We've had a great few weeks here speaking in camps, visiting friends and speaking in churches!
Camps
We had 5 weeks of Bible Camp service from Northern Manitoba to Southern Saskatchewan and almost everywhere in between! This year was different from years past, because the boys are getting bigger and more able to serve at camp themselves.
I spoke at 4 camps this summer and served as program director at one.
Sharlene spoke with me at 2 camps and worked as a counsellor and kitchen help in 2 others.
Elijah was a camper for 2 camps and a junior cabin leader for 2 weeks.
Caleb was a camper for 4 weeks and worked in the kitchen for 1- and Jacob was a semi-camper for 3 weeks, full camper for 1 and kitchen helper/ big brother to camp kids for another week.
All in all it was a great camp ministry experience. We started off in camping ministry and love coming back to it every so often to serve churches that support us and also to speak into the lives of young Canadians. It also helps me hone my speaking and preaching skills. I am of the opinion that if you cannot speak to kids and keep their attention, you may not be keeping the attention of the adults you are trying to speak to! So this is an incredible help in my preaching and teaching ministry as well!
We saw God do some amazing things those 5 weeks of camp- from providing vehicles and accomodations and finances to speaking into lives and turning hearts towards Him. We were not after many easy "converts" but were going about our Fathers business making "disciples", followers of Jesus who are willing to turn from their sin and follow and trust in Jesus. We sowed the seeds and will not really be able to see what grew- maybe ever in this lifetime! But God is in charge of the growing and many kids expressed a desire to follow Jesus! Praise God!
Churches
Almost every Sunday was spent speaking in churches as well. It's been good to reconnect with supporters this summer. For those of you in Eastern Canada- we plan on being out there for the month of September. We'll be in the Golden Horseshoe area in the first 2 weeks of September or so- and the Georgian Bay area for the second 2 weeks of September. We have some churches lined up to speak at during that time, but we would love to get together personally with all of you if you can make it work! This is what this time is about!
Vacation
We are currently on a short vacation to one of our old stomping grounds, Victoria, BC. Jacob was born here and has been praying for a long time that we could come back so he could see his "homeland". So we have been exploring the places that we often speak about, but he doesn't remember. He now has some pictures in his mind to put to those stories-and we have a few new stories to share with each other as well!
After this we travel to Alberta to officiate at the wedding of Rebecca Hoople an MK from Mexico who is getting married August 20th. She was our faithful and excellent babysitter in Mexico. Sharlene and I stodd up for Rebecca for her grad as "Padrinos" -kind of like "godparents" and we are all looking forward to being there for this next step in her life as well!
From there we head to Ontario to speak at a church in Ottawa and then a short stint to Quebec City before coming back to Southern Ontario to visit family and supporters and perhaps some potential supporters.
It is inevitable after being on the mission field for 5 years to need to re- establish full support. So we are again on the lookout for people whom God has chosen to partner with us financially in this ministry. If you are interested in investing in this ministry of training pastors and leaders and church planters for the unreached and needy parts of Mexico- please feel free to call or email us and we'd love to sit together with you over coffee or a meal and tell you the wonderful things God is doing!
If you are already a faithful supporter and won't be able to make it out to one of our church dates but would still like to get an update and visit with us-- please call or email us! We'd love to come see you!
Thanks again for your faithfulness in financial and prayer support. We could not do this without you!
Mike for the family.
Monday, August 08, 2011
5 weeks of Camp...
Camp blog
Pre-Camp...
We started off with a new to us chevy Astro van from Turtleford , SK. We were headed to Swan River, MB to speak in a church and visit some friends/ supporters prior to going to our first week of camp.
Another friend lent us a tent trailer to help us make our trips a little less expensive and also to accommodate us should any camps not have enough room for a speaker family of 5...
The van-camper combination didn't last long as just a short time into the trip we realized that the camper was too heavy for the van. Every time we slowed down, we lost brakes and steering! So we CAREFULLY made our way as far as we could until the check engine light came on! We found a campground near saskatoon and bunked down there for the night. Our friend who had lent us the van brought us another vehicle ( chevy suburban) to help us out.
The suburban seemed to be doing well for a while. Then, in the last half of our trip for that day it just stopped for no apparent reason. It would eventually start again- it did this four times in the last 200 kms of our trip- meaning we arrived later into the evening. Thankfully the northern summer sun still shone nicely until almost 11:00pm and we had enough light and time to set up the camper.
It was a blessed week as we visited with friends and a brother in Christ/ mechanic gave the truck a look over to help us get on our way to our next destination.
Steeprock Bay Bible Camp...
It's always better coming back to somewhere than going there for the first time. I remember a couple years ago arriving at steeprock to the accomodations they had for us and being a little shocked! This time, we had our tent trailer--- but we were not prepared for the welcoming party.
It was the most insect-filled place i'd ever seen! There were bulldogs (large horseflies that take chunks out when they bite) millions of mosquitoes (more than i've ever seen anywhere) and other various bugs... when we finally got our trailer up (in the dark) we had to use some mosquito poison (coil) to kill the hundred or so that were planning on emptying us of our excess (and not so excess) blood...
It did a good job, but then the camper was filled with smoke we had to get rid of, so we opened the windows – only to find another problem. No-see-ums... a tiny little biting bug that is small enough to fit through the screen holes-- and soon we were filled with them-- so we closed up the windows and killed off whatever bugs we could see--- it was now 1am and time to maybe get some sleep.
After trying for an hour- we realized that somehow, more bugs were getting in-- we kiled another 50+ mosquitoes and duct taped any openings we could find-- then drifted off again to sleep- kinda- until about 4am- when the ubiquitous sounds of 50+ blood sucking mosquitoes filled our trailer again and I could no longer sleep... I killed what I could and took some of the boys with me to the truck where we tried to sleep-- but the sun was already up and it was difficult...
That day they put us in the same accomodations we had last time, but this time it was like a luxury palace compared to the insect infested tent trailer! We slept REALLY well the next night!
The camp itself went very well- there were about 40+ kids from the surrpunding area and moose lake, MB. We only had 1 chapel session at this camp, but I also had the opportunity to speak to the staff in the mornings about discerning God's will and following Him. God blessed the time we had there and the Good news was presented clearly! Seeds were sown and we'll find out in Heaven what took root! Elijah also had the chance to serve as a jr. counsellor that week- it was a growing- stretching experience for him too!
Big River Bible Camp
We were given a cabin to stay in in Big River- and our boys were not with us that week! They had been picked up and taken to Silver Birch Bible Camp for their own week of camping without mom and dad...
BRBC used to be a place we dreaded to go--- we had OUR camp (Pine Ridge) and used to dislike this camp a lot! But Jason and Anita Boucher have been used by God to develop an excellent discipleship center / camp and we saw their heart and dedication for the kids and for the staff... they have been raising up local First Nations and non-first nations staff for the last few years and have a great group of people there. There was an awesome feel to the camp as Jesus Christ was lifted up and it was obvious that He was first in that camp!
We heard testimony of many kids and staff saying that they were blessed by the messages- God had touched them and taught them about himself... Praise God!
Silver Birch Bible Camp.
Silver Birch is the camp our kids consider “their” camp. We pastored here for a few years and directed camp for 3 summers here. Our kids were “camp kids” their before becoming real campers themselves!
This week, I was the director and Shar was helping in the kitchen. Caleb and Elijah were both able to join a cabin and enjoyed their week of camp. Jacob helped out in the kitchen and was “big brother” to a few of the younger kids whose parents were working at camp that week. We were all blessed...
The Monday night we were about to have our campfire when we heard rain coming across the lake... we quickly decided to cancel the fire and send the kids to their cabins.
In the 4 minutes it took me to help clean up some stuff and take it to the kitchen, a fierce wind blew across the camp and blew the dining tarp (about 20x30 feet big) clear off its frame as soon as I was in front of it. We ran into the chapel and called for all the campers to come to there-- we watched as trees were bending in abnormal ways and rain pounded the building. The power went out and we sang and prayed for the hour and a half that the wind continued. After it abated, we all went back to our cabins and got to sleep.
The next day were were met with the aftermath of the storm. A tree had fallen on the path we all took from the campfire to the cabins / dining hall. Thankfully, noone was hurt! There were 5 trees down in camp in all and several that had the tops blown off. We spent the first part of the morning all helping to clean up the trees, branches and other stuff that had blown around.
About 100 Meters away there was a swath of land where probably 40-50% of the trees were either blown completely down or their tops were blown off-- it was not far from us and was far worse than what we experienced-- we only got the sides of that wind, praise God!
We survived for 44 hours of a power outage thanks to the hard work of the maintenance crew and the generous lending of a couple generators to keep our kitchen going well!
The chapel messages for the first few days had been about darkness- the darkness of sin within us. We were in the darkness during this time! As soon as the chapel messages changed to being about the Light, the lights came back on!
We saw God move mightily at this camp and we're thankful for his including us in this aspect of His work!
Island Lake Bible Camp
Island Lake is the camp run by another of our sister BGC churches in Turtleford, SK. It was a pleasure to serve with them again. It's the 3rd time in the last 6 years we've been able to be speakers at this camp.
There were 43 teenagers and only about 11 staff- including cooks and speaker! Thankfully the campers never caught on as to how much they outnumbered us, or we may have been in trouble!
I was speaking on offering ourselves as living sacrifices and what that looks like- to not be conformed to the world, and to be transformed in Christ's likeness. The campers were challenged to Love Jesus with al their heart soul and strength and serve Him by loving everyone else like themselves. I think they really understood what that meant, because many were wrestling with what that realy meant, to give up even our own lives for Jesus- to make Him first. Seeds were sown, we'll see in the coming years if and how they grew...
Glad Tidings Bible Camp.
This was a VERY different camp then we were used to. We are northern- Saskatchewanians, for the most part. All of our camps have been on lakes in heavily treed areas-- This camp brought us down to the bald prairies of Southern Saskatchewan where trees are an oddity!
This camp was built on a man made "lake" (kinda more like a slough) that someone in the neighbourhood thinks is big enough for a motor boat and waterskis! They have a pool, but it is in need of repair and was unavailable for swimming. Some fo the brave kids would go into the slough to swim- and had a good time doing so!
The biggest attraction at this camp was the horse program! They have a bunch of horses (and donkeys) for the kids to use at this camp. They do a great job of teaching about following Christ through the horse program.
Caleb got to be a camper during this week- for the 3rd time this summer! He was in a cabin with his best friend Matthew (who used to live in the area). Their cabin was notorious for its "man-smell" that emenated from it at all times of the day. I think they'll have to burn it down to get rid of that awful stench.
Elijah was a jr. cabin leader this week and seemed to enjoy his time there. He got the opportunity to give a devotion, and like a good calvary chapel-er he did a verse by verse message for his campers. Elijah's sr. counsellor was impressed with his ability to communicate to the guys!
We spoke that week and it went well for the most part. It was the toughest group I've ever spoken too in my memory! They weren't as attentive as I'm accustomed to. I've spoken to this age group before- but usually to northern youth- primarily Native kids. This is the largest group of "church kids" I've spoken too before.
God was still working as 2 kids came to know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. One was a recent immigrant from Zimbabwe, Africa. He was telling us in his testimony that he used to be a bully and would beat up on kids- even though he went to Church in Africa- he was a very bad boy. He repented of his sin and placed his faith in Jesus that week! During the last night, some of the kids started a pillow fight. He got excited and said " a fight o good, i must get my pillow... ahh wait, I cannot do that any longer, I am a man of God!"
All in all it was a great week and a great summer! Thank you for praying for us!
Mike for the family.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Home Assignment
The other day I heard the term "Furlough" somewhere and was surprised. The usual context I hear that word is in relation to missionary topics. But this time it was in a different context. So I quickly looked up the word to see how they were using it...
To my surprise- here was the definition...
A furlough (pronounced /ˈfɜrloʊ/; from Dutch: "verlof") is a temporary leave of absence from employment, duty in the armed services, or from a prison term. It may be voluntary or involuntary.
Voluntary furloughs from employment or armed services are essentially a vacation (holiday).Well, we're not leaving prison or the army... and looking at my schedule this is definitely not a vacation!
So we'll use the term "Home assignment" to describe what we are doing for the next 6 months!
On June 21 we head back to Canada for about 6 months or so. During that time we'll be basing ourselves out of Turtleford, SK. Friends of ours have offered us their basement suite for the time we are back in Canada to stay in.
For the first 3 months, though, we will be travelling across the country from BC to Quebec sharing in churches, homes, Camps and Bible Study groups. We have a van and a tent-trailer awaiting us to be our home on wheels for the next 3 months!
July and the first week of August will be spent speaking at Bible Camps and churches. We'll be in Swan River, MB (Steeprock Bay Bible Camp), Big River Bible Camp (SK), Silver Birch bible Camp (Loon Lake, SK) Island Lake Bible Camp (Turtleford, SK) and Glad Tidings Bible Camp (Mossbank, SK).
From there we head west. We'd like to be able to go to Vancouver Island. Jacob was born there and is the only one in the family who has no memories of the area. He's been praying that we could go back to see his "hometown" and then have pictures in his mind of the places we talk about! We'll see if we get a chance to do that. The main issue is taking a van and tent-trailer across on the ferry is crazy expensive- so it will depend on finances at the time.
On our way back East we will be attending and I'll be officiating at the wedding of a YUGO ministries MK- Rebekah Hoople!! after that we go WAY East to Ontario. We will be sharing with some Calvary Chapel Churches in Ottawa and Toronto as well as their men's retreat.
We are also planning on making a side-trip to Quebec City for a homeschool field trip! Living away from Canada our kids are woefully ignorant of Canadian History and geography. So we plan on spending some time teaching them about Canada in an interesting way- by visiting some of the countries most important early sites! While in Ottawa we'll take museum tours and parliament tours while I get to teach them about the early History of Canada. We'll be salting our entire trip with homeschool lessons on history, geography and Civics. Don't tell the kids though, if they find out they are in school they may not like it! :)
Most of September will be spent in Ontario with our families and our original home churches. We're looking forward to spending some good time there sharing with supporters and family what God has been doing through us in Mexico and what our vision is for our return to Mexico!
October-December I have almost all of our Sundays full. Daytime with Shar and the kids will be spent with regular Homeschool days during those months. We'll be in Turtleford and hope to get some normal-like family routine during that time!
We have not yet discussed with YUGO Canada what our new assignment will look like in it's totality. There have been some interesting possibilities come up in the last few months and we are seeking God's direction in those choices.
We appreciate your prayers for us during our time in Canada! We will continue to be supported by your faithful and generous gifts through YUGO ministries. We will still have our rent to pay here in Mexico as well as travel expenses and living expenses in Canada. God knows what we will need and when and we are excitied as always to see how He will provide for us during this time!
Prayer requests
- that all of our needs would be met during Home assignment
- that things will go well with the ministry here in Mexico while we are away.
- that we will be a blessing where we are serving in Canada
- that many young people at the camps would surrender their lives to Jesus.
- that we will adjust well to the cultural differences in Canada that we are no longer accustomed to.
- for safety as we travel 15,000KM (9500 miles) across Canada and back during our 3 month tent-trailer adventure!
- for our relationships with each other during this time!! That we would behave in loving ways despite the close quarters!!
- That God would be Glorified in all!
- We found someone to watch our house and animals for us while we are gone! Miguel and Gabby are a young couple who love Jesus from our church. Gabby works at YUGO's Grace Children's Home and Miguel is an intern at Calvary Chapel Rosarito. They are living in inadequate housing without even a bathroom! They had been praying for something they could afford. So we are going to pay the rent while they are here and they will pay for their utilities. They will care for our animals and stuff. This is a huge answer to prayer because most houses that are left here get so robbed that they will even steal the wiring and plumbing which would make the place unliveable when we return! Thanks for praying!
See you soon!
Mike, Shar Elijah, Caleb, Jacob
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Breaking the Silence in the Circle of Silence
Mexico is a place of contrasts.
In the extreme north where we live there is extreme wealth with people who work in the US co-existing with extreme poverty as people come here hoping for a better living without finding it.
Here in the North there are neighbourhoods with an abundance of churches, most with untrained pastors and hurting sheep.
In the south- there seems to be less poverty in the cities, but a Spiritual dryness that permeates the land. The "Circle of Silence" is an area in Central Mexico where less than 2% of the population would consider themselves followers of Jesus Christ.
I was glad to get an opportunity to go south to one of the most beautiful cities I've ever seen- Zacatecas, Zacatecas Mexico.
Jason and Rebecca Villalobos are Mexican-
American Church planters who are planning on starting a church in the City Center of Zacatecas. It is a spiritually needy place whose need is only superseded by that of the countryside around it. We spent 4 days examining the city, walking its streets, praying on its mountains, speaking to it's people to see what God was wanting to do in this place.
We all became convinced that God
is calling the Villalobos to plant a vibrant, loving, Jesus following church with a purpose. The purpose is to raise up leaders, train the called and send the willing to the spiritually neediest parts of Mexico- in this "Circle of Silence".
Pastor Mike and I both agreed that we'd love to participate in this ministry by equipping saints here in the north and sending down the called and the willing to this important work in the 10/40 window of Latin America!
Mexico's north is saturated with churches and Christians--- many from the south originally and we have been seeing God call them to Himself, equip them and give them a burden for the south. There really is no more need for church planting in the north- the focus here ought to be on strengthening the churches and equipping the called to fulfill their obligation to their own countrymen!
I am excited about what God will do through this family as they leave behind the comforts of home in southern California to one of the most hardened areas in the Americas. We believe God is going to do as much as we dare to ask Him and trust Him for in this area for His Honour and glory!
We will continue to work here in the North raising up saints and calling them to action and then assisting them in whatever way God directs in breaking the silence in the Circle of Silence!
Thank you so much for your partnership with us here in Mexico! Without you we could not do what we do and we are very thankful for your investments in eternity through this ministry!
Please continue to pray with us as we are heading back to Canada to report on the work here and serve in camps and churches over the next 6 months.
Praise Report
Thank you again, may God bless you all-- We hope to see as many of you as possible in the upcoming months- we will pass on our cell number as soon as we get a Canadian Cell phone!
Co-labourers with you in Mexico,
Mike, Shar, Elijah, Caleb, Jacob McDonald
In the extreme north where we live there is extreme wealth with people who work in the US co-existing with extreme poverty as people come here hoping for a better living without finding it.Here in the North there are neighbourhoods with an abundance of churches, most with untrained pastors and hurting sheep.
In the south- there seems to be less poverty in the cities, but a Spiritual dryness that permeates the land. The "Circle of Silence" is an area in Central Mexico where less than 2% of the population would consider themselves followers of Jesus Christ.
I was glad to get an opportunity to go south to one of the most beautiful cities I've ever seen- Zacatecas, Zacatecas Mexico.Jason and Rebecca Villalobos are Mexican-
American Church planters who are planning on starting a church in the City Center of Zacatecas. It is a spiritually needy place whose need is only superseded by that of the countryside around it. We spent 4 days examining the city, walking its streets, praying on its mountains, speaking to it's people to see what God was wanting to do in this place.We all became convinced that God
is calling the Villalobos to plant a vibrant, loving, Jesus following church with a purpose. The purpose is to raise up leaders, train the called and send the willing to the spiritually neediest parts of Mexico- in this "Circle of Silence".
Pastor Mike and I both agreed that we'd love to participate in this ministry by equipping saints here in the north and sending down the called and the willing to this important work in the 10/40 window of Latin America!Mexico's north is saturated with churches and Christians--- many from the south originally and we have been seeing God call them to Himself, equip them and give them a burden for the south. There really is no more need for church planting in the north- the focus here ought to be on strengthening the churches and equipping the called to fulfill their obligation to their own countrymen!
I am excited about what God will do through this family as they leave behind the comforts of home in southern California to one of the most hardened areas in the Americas. We believe God is going to do as much as we dare to ask Him and trust Him for in this area for His Honour and glory!We will continue to work here in the North raising up saints and calling them to action and then assisting them in whatever way God directs in breaking the silence in the Circle of Silence!
Thank you so much for your partnership with us here in Mexico! Without you we could not do what we do and we are very thankful for your investments in eternity through this ministry!
Please continue to pray with us as we are heading back to Canada to report on the work here and serve in camps and churches over the next 6 months.- pray that our needs would be met
- pray that our ministry here would continue to flourish in our absence
- pray that we would have wisdom to know what do with our "stuff" while we are gone. We are most concerned with our 2 dogs and cat who as of yet do not have a home when we leave.
Praise Report
- Praise God for the excellent vision tour to Zacatecas- we have seen a need so great it could keep us busy and fruitful for the next 20 years.
- Praise God for His provision- we continue to be amazed at how He uses his loving, generous saints to care for our needs. We have had many extra needs such as flights, Visa renewals and up to know all have been met as we needed them to be!
- Praise God for 4 new graduates from the Bible College in Ensenada.
- Praise God our calendar is filling up for our home assignment!
- Praise God for a vehicle to drive in Canada!
Thank you again, may God bless you all-- We hope to see as many of you as possible in the upcoming months- we will pass on our cell number as soon as we get a Canadian Cell phone!
Co-labourers with you in Mexico,
Mike, Shar, Elijah, Caleb, Jacob McDonald
Saturday, March 05, 2011
March Prayer Letter
McDonald's in Mexico
301 W. 28th Street, Suite L
National City, CA
91950
Dear Partners in Ministry,
Thank you so much for your partnership with us in this ministry! It has been a blessed month as we continue the ministries that we are so fortunate to be a part of.
Bible College
I've been teaching twice down in Ensenada at the Calvary Chapel Bible College. I thoroughly enjoy this ministry and look forward to my twice weekly trips down there. I've been teaching Galatians on Wednesdays and James on Fridays. I'm also a part of the "Disciplemaking" course as a mentor to the student leaders. That ministry has been an incredible blessing for the school. Leaders are being trained and students are having a place to work through the inevitable issues that come up as the follow Christ. We are seeing much growth and good fruit in this ministry.
I also teach at the extension College here in Rosarito where we live. I've been teaching James there as well to 7 students. All the classes are either at night or saturday morning at the extension college. It is an interesting dynamic there with a good cross section of ages and length of Christian experience.
My other teaching assignment right now is doing the missionary training for 3 new YUGO Missionaries. We will be going over such topics as Cross Cultural Communication and Cross Cultural Servanthood. The hope is to prepare these new missionaries for a long term of fruitful service here in Mexico. One of the students, Kristy Struska, is also making a video of the training so that we can offer it to other incoming missionaries in a DVD format.
Home Assignment
Thank you for praying for our home assignment plans. We are continuing to fill the calendar with speaking opportunities. We have plenty of dates open as well! please let us know if you'd like to have us share in your church, youth group, home group or even just one on one over coffee! God has been doing some amazing things here in Mexico and we'd love to share some of those stories with you!
We are planning on Flying back to Canada around June 21. That gives us plenty of time to try to finish the Homeschool year here and get us back in time to start our camping ministry in July. Flight prices have gone down to a reasonable price for that time lately. Unfortunately our "reserve" account for such expenses as that has run dry! If you could be in prayer for these aspects of our finances, we'd be grateful! We need to buy tickets ($1000 for 5 one-way flights right now) as well as a good, reliable van for driving across the country pulling a borrowed tent trailer this summer. Thanks for your prayers!
Future Ministry Update
We are becoming more convinced that God is calling us to work with the Calvary Chapel Bible College in Ensenada in an almost full-time capacity. We would also still be working with the Pastor and Leader Training Ministry as well, but in more of a support / administrative role. I'd like to train one of my current teachers to take over my role in a full-time capacity as this ministry grows exponentially. Please pray for the finances to do that and the wisdom we need to pass off this aspect of the ministry so that it thrives.
Please also pray for the necessary steps that need to take place within YUGO to make this happen. Pray that we would have unity of vision and wisdom on how to administrate this change.
Prayer Updates
Prayer Requests
- Please pray for our finances. Moving back to Canada will be a significant expense.
- Please pray for our future ministry direction, that we would have the mind of Christ.
- Please pray for the ministry, that it (esp. the pastors and leaders training) would thrive while we are on home assignment.
- Safety- that God would continue to keep us safe as we serve in a dangerous area.
- Adjustments- that we would adjust well to life back in Canada.
- That God would be glorified in our lives and in our service to Him.
- For a great bunch of students.
- For the faithfulness of the students and teachers of the Pastors and Leaders Training ministry
- For all of you and the important part you play in prayer and/ or financial support! We could not be here without either of those!
May God bless you!
In Jesus name,
Mike, Shar, Elijah Caleb and Jacob McDonald
301 W.. 28th St. Suite L
National City, CA
91950
Sunday, February 13, 2011
McDonald's in Mexico
301 W. 28th Street, Suite L
National City, CA
91950
February, 2011
Dear valued partners in Ministry!
Thanks so much for your partnership with us in this ministry, God has been blessing us and continues to take care of us in this place!
La Paz Vision Trip
We had our trip down to la Paz, and if you'd like more detailed information on how that went, you can follow our blog at http://mcmexicomission.blogspot.com/ .
Our basic conclusion has been that it is a place with a definite need for more churches. There is 1 church for every 10,000 people- which is considered underreached. The Christian population is about 3% of the whole. This is also considered underreached. But we still do not believe that God has called us to church plant, although we see the need and would like to help to fill that need, God seems to be keeping us from doing so and leading us still in the area of teaching and training pastors, leaders and future church planters and missionaries.
There is a missionary down there that has shown some interest in teaching and training the pastors and leaders. He is currently discussing things with his church leadership. The Alliance of Pastors in La Paz are meeting on Feb 14 to discuss the interest that churches, pastors and leaders may have in taking this type of training. It seems that God may be moving to provide training down there without us having to be physically present. Praise God!
The drive down and back was great and unenventful until the last 160 KM... We blew a headgasket and overheated the engine (heat gauge didn't work either, it seems). Thankfully we broke down in the daytime on an area where there was a shoulder to pull over onto safely. There are hundreds of kilometers on that trip where there is no shoulder- only mountain on the one side and 3 foot drop off (at best) or cliff (at worst) on the other side.
We broke down in a place where there was no cell service and only a couple people stopped. We eventually let the engine cool down enough to drive to a place where we could get cell service and call for help. That is usually a bad thing to do, but stuck on a highway all night in Mexico is worse! So off we went. A fellow YUGO Missionary (Ron Struska) came to pick us up with the car dolly and got us back home safely. I just got the van back this week after almost 2 weeks in the shop with a bill of $630! Not bad for a 3/4 rebuilt engine, but please pray that all of our other needs will be met this month as well!
Home Assignment
Things are starting to shape up for Home Assignment time. We have camp speaking engagements in Turtleford, SK, Swan River, MB, Big River, SK and Mossbank, SK for most of July until the first week of August. We will do some church speaking on weekends and I am hoping to be able to officiate at a wedding at an MK from down here in Alberta nearing the end of August. After that we will be going to Ontario for a month or so to connect with supporters and family back there and then back West to spend the fall connecting with supporters and serving in churches in whatever way is needed.
If you'd like to have us speak at your church or home group- we will be available in Ontario from around Aug. 25- Sept 25 (depending on engagements).
We will be free in Western Canada from Oct. 1- Dec 15 or so if you'd like to have us by to share about what God has been doing in Mexico.
Future Ministry Plans
We are still praying about what God would have for us when we return to Mexico. It seems likely that we will be staying in this area and working at least part-time with our current group of pastor's and leaders and their classes. I will probably shift down to an administrative and support role as they grow the ministry and serve other communities. I'm hoping to be able to train one of current graduates to take over the majority of my work and to raise sufficient support for him to dedicate himself fulltime to administrating, teaching and supporting the teachers.
The Calvary Chapel Bible Institute in Ensenada has asked me to consider coming on full or 3/4 time as a teacher, counselor and promoter of the school in Canada and Mexico. I have come to really appreciate the ministry at the college and the quality of students that come through there. We are praying about this opportunity and are open to God's guidance.
Prayer Requests
- Please pray for our finances. Moving back to Canada will be a significant expense.
- Please pray for our future ministry direction, that we would have the mind of Christ.
- Please pray for the ministry, that it (esp. the pastors and leaders training) would thrive while we are on home assignment.
- Safety- that God would continue to keep us safe as we serve in a dangerous area.
- Adjustments- that we would adjust well to life back in Canada.
- That God would be glorified in our lives and in our service to Him.
- For safety on our vision trip to La Paz
- That some have shown an interest in teaching and training there.
- For the 26 students at the Bible Institute (in our 3rd year)
- For the faithfulness of the students and teachers of the Pastors and Leaders Training ministry
- For all of you and the important part you play in prayer and/ or financial support! We could not be here without either of those!
In Jesus name,
Mike, Shar, Elijah Caleb and Jacob McDonald
301 W.. 28th St. Suite L
National City, CA
91950
619-400-3326 (US home number)
Send Canadian Donations to:
YUGO Canada
PO Box 231
St. Albert, AB
T8N 1N3
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
La Paz Trip day 7
We had two meetings on this day, one with the local English church pastor and the other with the missionary who originally opened up the field here and in some other areas on the mainland in the 1950's. Both were interesting.
The English Pastor has been here for about 10 years and has a good handle on the ministries here in La Paz. The city is small enough that one can know all the churches, pastors and ministries pretty well. He also teaches at the Baptist Bible Institute here in town.
He had a few interesting things to say. He feels that there is a need for good solid biblical training of the leaders, but something that is interdenominational. It is difficult here in this small city to get the churches together on things. The baptists tend to stay to themselves and are not interested in gathering with other believers. He took a program summary manual and seems very interested in the pastor and leadership training materials.
I've been invited back in March for a quick trip to the Alliance of Pastors to give them an overview of the ministry and see who may be interested. I'd also like to talk some more to the English Pastor then to see how interested he is in possibly teaching.
He is also hoping to transition his way out of the job of pastoring the English speaking church- so if anyone knows a decent pastor who might be interested, there will be an opening here in the near future! It would have to be someone who does not mind being away from the snow and who enjoys living close to the water.
The second meeting was with the 80 year old pioneer missionary lady who opened up this field in the 1950's. She was a wealth of information with too many stories to tell at one sitting! We were very blessed by her counsel and wisdom.
She and her husband came to the southern Baja when it took 15 days to drive down the peninsula on trails. There were no believers or missionaries when they came. They not only worked here, but in many areas on the mainland- espescially in Nayarit.
AT 80 YEARs old, she still flies out to the Cora Indian people that they started serving 40+ years ago to encourage them. Her son flies there monthly to bring literature, or some training, or some other help to continue to build up the church.
Before she was a missionary, they had a farm with strawberry fields in Oregon. she told us the story of when she was picking the strawberries and noticed that each person had their own row of strawberries from which to pick- not everyone was concentrating on the same area- they were all spread out. and she sensed the Lord saying to her that that's the way it should be in ministry- not a bunch of people on the same row- but people going to rows or places where no one else was to pick there instead.
She knows very well the needs of the mainland and the abundance of work and missionaries here on the baja. she lovingly pleaded with us to consider the mainland rather than here. She then told a story about how they were teaching amongst a group of already evangelized people in the mountains. They had been very warmly welcomed and nicely received, but the people didn't seem to grow much under their ministry. The place where they saw the most growth in the lives of people were the ones they had reached themselves. She shared from her experience that it is much more productive to work in your own fields than in someone elses.
She spent an hour and a half with us and finished off praying for us. She prayed that God would give us the desires of our hearts- people saved and discipled to serve Jesus. It was then that I began to cry (just a little bit- and they were very manly tears, too...). God has been saying only one thing to us this week: i posted the verse on facebook a few days ago because it keeps coming and going in my conversations with Him:
Delight yourself in me, and I will give you the desires of your heart.
All week long i have been asking myself the question- what are the desires of my heart? This can be a tough question!
But when all is said and done-- there are many things that we like- that are nice, that are special and that make life nice and pleasant. But those are not the things that make my heart beat faster, or that get me excited as I contemplate them... i want to see Jesus glorified and lifted up by seeing the people He loves set free from their darkness and pain. I want to bring a smile to my saviour's face by investing our lives in those who carry the image of God- yet are lost and far away from Him.
This day was a tremendous blessing and a focussing moment. How this works out in real life remains to be seen. We will ask, seek, knock and follow and see where He leads.
Please pray for continued wisdom for all involved in a decision making process like this. Pray that we would have the mind of Christ.
Thanks for coming along with us on this journey. Please continue to pray for us!
I think the next day will have some math class in it for the boys and maybe some fun time for us.
God bless,
Mike
The English Pastor has been here for about 10 years and has a good handle on the ministries here in La Paz. The city is small enough that one can know all the churches, pastors and ministries pretty well. He also teaches at the Baptist Bible Institute here in town.
He had a few interesting things to say. He feels that there is a need for good solid biblical training of the leaders, but something that is interdenominational. It is difficult here in this small city to get the churches together on things. The baptists tend to stay to themselves and are not interested in gathering with other believers. He took a program summary manual and seems very interested in the pastor and leadership training materials.
I've been invited back in March for a quick trip to the Alliance of Pastors to give them an overview of the ministry and see who may be interested. I'd also like to talk some more to the English Pastor then to see how interested he is in possibly teaching.
He is also hoping to transition his way out of the job of pastoring the English speaking church- so if anyone knows a decent pastor who might be interested, there will be an opening here in the near future! It would have to be someone who does not mind being away from the snow and who enjoys living close to the water.
The second meeting was with the 80 year old pioneer missionary lady who opened up this field in the 1950's. She was a wealth of information with too many stories to tell at one sitting! We were very blessed by her counsel and wisdom.
She and her husband came to the southern Baja when it took 15 days to drive down the peninsula on trails. There were no believers or missionaries when they came. They not only worked here, but in many areas on the mainland- espescially in Nayarit.
AT 80 YEARs old, she still flies out to the Cora Indian people that they started serving 40+ years ago to encourage them. Her son flies there monthly to bring literature, or some training, or some other help to continue to build up the church.
Before she was a missionary, they had a farm with strawberry fields in Oregon. she told us the story of when she was picking the strawberries and noticed that each person had their own row of strawberries from which to pick- not everyone was concentrating on the same area- they were all spread out. and she sensed the Lord saying to her that that's the way it should be in ministry- not a bunch of people on the same row- but people going to rows or places where no one else was to pick there instead.
She knows very well the needs of the mainland and the abundance of work and missionaries here on the baja. she lovingly pleaded with us to consider the mainland rather than here. She then told a story about how they were teaching amongst a group of already evangelized people in the mountains. They had been very warmly welcomed and nicely received, but the people didn't seem to grow much under their ministry. The place where they saw the most growth in the lives of people were the ones they had reached themselves. She shared from her experience that it is much more productive to work in your own fields than in someone elses.
She spent an hour and a half with us and finished off praying for us. She prayed that God would give us the desires of our hearts- people saved and discipled to serve Jesus. It was then that I began to cry (just a little bit- and they were very manly tears, too...). God has been saying only one thing to us this week: i posted the verse on facebook a few days ago because it keeps coming and going in my conversations with Him:
Delight yourself in me, and I will give you the desires of your heart.
All week long i have been asking myself the question- what are the desires of my heart? This can be a tough question!
But when all is said and done-- there are many things that we like- that are nice, that are special and that make life nice and pleasant. But those are not the things that make my heart beat faster, or that get me excited as I contemplate them... i want to see Jesus glorified and lifted up by seeing the people He loves set free from their darkness and pain. I want to bring a smile to my saviour's face by investing our lives in those who carry the image of God- yet are lost and far away from Him.
This day was a tremendous blessing and a focussing moment. How this works out in real life remains to be seen. We will ask, seek, knock and follow and see where He leads.
Please pray for continued wisdom for all involved in a decision making process like this. Pray that we would have the mind of Christ.
Thanks for coming along with us on this journey. Please continue to pray for us!
I think the next day will have some math class in it for the boys and maybe some fun time for us.
God bless,
Mike
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
La Paz trip, day 6
We took the day and got to know the city a bit today.
We drove around the cities different parts to see what we could see. I was particularly interested in the colonias of the city. It was very different from what we are used to seeing in tijuana. In stead of many houses crammed close together, these were little plots of land in the desert where people could raise some animals or food (if they have enough water). The houses were all quite humble and the area was generally very poor. We didn't see any churches in that area in particular, nor in the area around it.
I found out later that there are 3 works started in that area. That is something a little different than what we've found in Tijuana. In TJ there seems to be no knowledge or care of what someone else is doing in an area. willy nilly churches seem to go up overnight- some with the hope of US help- others with it already. One area in TJ where we have been helping along the railroad tracks had no churches anywhere near it when we got there. But it seems when one church goes up- a half dozen follow it. A short while later another church (both of a similar doctrinal persuasion) when up about 3 lots away. A couple years later and there is another large one and another small one, all of them with such small differences in doctrines they are indistinguishable.
Here there seems to be alot more influence from the individual churches and/ or denominations and/ or missionaries. So it is a little more organized here.
There are definitely some areas that look like they need churches, but it also seems that the churches and missionaries currently here are aware of the need and willing and able, with God's help and leading, to meet those needs.
On the way back from the journey around town are van sprung a leak in one if the hoses. The car was overheating so we stopped for a while, prayed, waited and then drove on. About 3km later it was again overheating and steam was escaping from somewhere under the hood. so we pulled over again and this time I could see clearly the hose that had burst. It's the one from the engine into the heater beyond the firewall.
We let it cool down and Shar spotted a hardware store where I purchased some duct tape to do a Mexican repair job! And we got it fixed! we were able to make it home safe and sound, praise God!
Tomorrow (Tuesday) I have 2 more meetings- one with the pastor of the English church and the other with the lady missionary who opened up the field here in 1955. I'm looking forward to both of those!
Thanks for praying,
Mike
We drove around the cities different parts to see what we could see. I was particularly interested in the colonias of the city. It was very different from what we are used to seeing in tijuana. In stead of many houses crammed close together, these were little plots of land in the desert where people could raise some animals or food (if they have enough water). The houses were all quite humble and the area was generally very poor. We didn't see any churches in that area in particular, nor in the area around it.
I found out later that there are 3 works started in that area. That is something a little different than what we've found in Tijuana. In TJ there seems to be no knowledge or care of what someone else is doing in an area. willy nilly churches seem to go up overnight- some with the hope of US help- others with it already. One area in TJ where we have been helping along the railroad tracks had no churches anywhere near it when we got there. But it seems when one church goes up- a half dozen follow it. A short while later another church (both of a similar doctrinal persuasion) when up about 3 lots away. A couple years later and there is another large one and another small one, all of them with such small differences in doctrines they are indistinguishable.
Here there seems to be alot more influence from the individual churches and/ or denominations and/ or missionaries. So it is a little more organized here.
There are definitely some areas that look like they need churches, but it also seems that the churches and missionaries currently here are aware of the need and willing and able, with God's help and leading, to meet those needs.
On the way back from the journey around town are van sprung a leak in one if the hoses. The car was overheating so we stopped for a while, prayed, waited and then drove on. About 3km later it was again overheating and steam was escaping from somewhere under the hood. so we pulled over again and this time I could see clearly the hose that had burst. It's the one from the engine into the heater beyond the firewall.
We let it cool down and Shar spotted a hardware store where I purchased some duct tape to do a Mexican repair job! And we got it fixed! we were able to make it home safe and sound, praise God!
Tomorrow (Tuesday) I have 2 more meetings- one with the pastor of the English church and the other with the lady missionary who opened up the field here in 1955. I'm looking forward to both of those!
Thanks for praying,
Mike
Monday, January 24, 2011
La Paz Day 5
We had a good day of rest today.
We started out going to a local church plant of the missionary with whom I spoke. It was a nice service, though we didn't know any of the songs! They have a temporary structure up as they are in the process of building. Right now we met under a thatched roof ( palm leaves) connected to a handmade rock wall. They only had 2 walls and because it rarely rains here (except for tropical storms and hurricanes) they have only missed one Sunday under the roof in 2 years! It is warm enough year round to do this here-- much unlike Tijuana where it can get chilly and wet alot more often!
Afterwards we went out for "burros" which are like burritos, but bigger. These weren't just burros, though, they were SUPER Burros. They were HUGE steak burritos for about $4 each that could be shared.
Something they seem to do differently here is that they don't seem to put toppings on for you, like they do in rosarito-TJ, they give you everything on the side to put on yourself.
From there we went down to a beach, with our burros, to eat and wade in the water. It was very odd to be at a beach without waves. we are in a protected bay area here and there were no waves at all. The tide was going out and the kids could walk out abou 200 meters or more and still be only up to their knees in warm water. Along the edge of the water were lots of rocks. We found a starfish, some sea-snails, hermit crabs and some other creatures in our explorations.
From there we went to another beach about 20 minute drive away. It was one of the most amazing places I've ever seen! There are cactus on the hills right next to the ocean. It was like being in arizona only with a beach! The water was very shallow in this bay with about 5 beaches all around it. there were exposed sandbars in the middle of the cove where the kids went to play. We took a walk around the cove to the end of it and found La Paz' most famous landmark- a mushroom shaped balancing rock.
it was a nice day of rest, even though we weren't totally healthy. It was shar's turn to be really sick and she spent most of the time laying down on the beach trying to sleep.
Today we are going to go out to the colonias (neighbourhoods on the outskirts of the city- usually poorer neighbourhoods) and pray in the areas and see what God shows us. We've spoken a bit to the leaders, but I am interested in speaking to some of the pastors and I hope God leads us to some.
Thanks for praying!
We started out going to a local church plant of the missionary with whom I spoke. It was a nice service, though we didn't know any of the songs! They have a temporary structure up as they are in the process of building. Right now we met under a thatched roof ( palm leaves) connected to a handmade rock wall. They only had 2 walls and because it rarely rains here (except for tropical storms and hurricanes) they have only missed one Sunday under the roof in 2 years! It is warm enough year round to do this here-- much unlike Tijuana where it can get chilly and wet alot more often!
Afterwards we went out for "burros" which are like burritos, but bigger. These weren't just burros, though, they were SUPER Burros. They were HUGE steak burritos for about $4 each that could be shared.
Something they seem to do differently here is that they don't seem to put toppings on for you, like they do in rosarito-TJ, they give you everything on the side to put on yourself.
From there we went down to a beach, with our burros, to eat and wade in the water. It was very odd to be at a beach without waves. we are in a protected bay area here and there were no waves at all. The tide was going out and the kids could walk out abou 200 meters or more and still be only up to their knees in warm water. Along the edge of the water were lots of rocks. We found a starfish, some sea-snails, hermit crabs and some other creatures in our explorations.
From there we went to another beach about 20 minute drive away. It was one of the most amazing places I've ever seen! There are cactus on the hills right next to the ocean. It was like being in arizona only with a beach! The water was very shallow in this bay with about 5 beaches all around it. there were exposed sandbars in the middle of the cove where the kids went to play. We took a walk around the cove to the end of it and found La Paz' most famous landmark- a mushroom shaped balancing rock.
it was a nice day of rest, even though we weren't totally healthy. It was shar's turn to be really sick and she spent most of the time laying down on the beach trying to sleep.
Today we are going to go out to the colonias (neighbourhoods on the outskirts of the city- usually poorer neighbourhoods) and pray in the areas and see what God shows us. We've spoken a bit to the leaders, but I am interested in speaking to some of the pastors and I hope God leads us to some.
Thanks for praying!
Sunday, January 23, 2011
La paz Day 4- the meetings!
The family was pretty sick yesterday, although it doesn't seem to be something that is too bad for too long. So they stayed home and recovered while i went around and did some investigating and questioning.
I first spoke to the pastor who is the president of the local alliance of pastors. Afterwards i spoke with a missionary who has been here for 18 years. They were a wealth of information and help. here are a few of the things i learned:
I'm hoping to be able to go to some of the poorer areas / colonias to look for some churches and maybe pastors and get their perspective. There is also a "retired missionary" here that started things in 1958, so we hope to get her perspective as well.
When we asked about the poorer areas, we got the same response- there is one here, but it is different than in tijuana or Ensenada. There has been little reason for people to migrate here to work in fields etc. so they do not have the same level of insufficient housing or unaffordable schooling that we see in Tijuana. I'm looking forward to speaking to some of those folks personally to see how they view that!
Both people said that the vast majority of the really needy in this area is in Cabo San Lucas area. Many people came over during the boom years to work in construction of hotels and businesses to serve tourists. But when the economic crisis hit, the employment bubble burst and left many thousands of already poor people without jobs. so apparantly there are many areas down there with migrant workers living in houses of cardboard and pallets and with very real and severe needs. We're hoping to get down there to talk to a Calvary Chapel pastor who is down there to get his perspective on things as well.
We appreciate your prayers for us!
May God bless you all!
Mike
I first spoke to the pastor who is the president of the local alliance of pastors. Afterwards i spoke with a missionary who has been here for 18 years. They were a wealth of information and help. here are a few of the things i learned:
- there are 40 churches in town
- 20 of those are "pentecostal"
- 10 of those churches have trained pastors- about 10 don't.
- Many of the pentecostal churches are influenced by the G12 movement- a discipleship movement which many believe have cultic-control issues.
- about 5 churches are between 100-200- the rest are smaller- and he majority are very small- between 10-25 people.
- of the 20 non-pentecostal churches in town, several are baptist.
- they have their own training.
- the rest are 7th Day Adventist or Apostolic. Apostolics are very legalistic and do not believe in the Trinity.
- there are around 1% to 2% born again believers in La Paz.
- It is a city of 300,000
- There is somewhat of a need for training, but not sure about the desire for it.
I'm hoping to be able to go to some of the poorer areas / colonias to look for some churches and maybe pastors and get their perspective. There is also a "retired missionary" here that started things in 1958, so we hope to get her perspective as well.
When we asked about the poorer areas, we got the same response- there is one here, but it is different than in tijuana or Ensenada. There has been little reason for people to migrate here to work in fields etc. so they do not have the same level of insufficient housing or unaffordable schooling that we see in Tijuana. I'm looking forward to speaking to some of those folks personally to see how they view that!
Both people said that the vast majority of the really needy in this area is in Cabo San Lucas area. Many people came over during the boom years to work in construction of hotels and businesses to serve tourists. But when the economic crisis hit, the employment bubble burst and left many thousands of already poor people without jobs. so apparantly there are many areas down there with migrant workers living in houses of cardboard and pallets and with very real and severe needs. We're hoping to get down there to talk to a Calvary Chapel pastor who is down there to get his perspective on things as well.
We appreciate your prayers for us!
May God bless you all!
Mike
Saturday, January 22, 2011
La Paz Day 3
We Arrived!!
It was a short, but interesting drive today- about 4 hours starting along the sea of Cortez and then into the interior flatland for a while and then back down to the sea of cortez at La Paz.
The day statred early as Caleb and Jacob ran down for a quick swim at the pool- it was a little chilly out so they did not last very long. Then we got all packed up and got ready to go on our excursion to the timeshare sales pitch.
We have had a little cold passing through our family (starting with Caleb) and he was not doing well on the twisty roads leading to the breakfast / timeshare place. Sharlene had the forethought to hand him a little emergency bag in case he felt sick... and he did. The poor fella had his little bag of fun with him when we got out of the car. We were looking for a garbage can and could not find one- so he held onto it until we forgot about it...
They took us about 25 minutes away (towards our destination, thankfully) past a humble little fishing village to the resort that was under construction. It was a beautiful area, but likely very much a disturbance to the local fisherman that lived there.
They fed us breakfast and it soon became obvious through the questions that we were not a good clientele for them. Carlos kept trying to pry and see if we would like this sort of thing and then took us in for a "presentation". We didn't ask many questions, and he finshed his presentation much earlier than he expected- so he took us to see the only suite they have finished at the resort.
Before we left over there I told Carlos that he had drawn the short straw today, that we were not buyers and we didn't have money for this type of thing- and even if we did- this was not really our style. He insisted we let him finishg his job- which we did- otherwise he would've gotten in trouble with his boss, for sure. So off we went to see the suite.
It was nice.
We went back to the sales building where he ran some numbers across us. It was pretty obvious quickly that it was well out of our price range. If we go on vacation, we stay with people or get hotels on hotwire for cheap-- so there was no way he could make this look better for us.
We asked no questions at all. We didn't really say anything, we just listened politely. He answered questions that people would normally ask while we listened quietly.
At the end he said-- would you like to pay the yearly fee for one week at the resort even if membership was $1.00. We said no, not really. It wasn't us, but thank you for your work!
The membership fee wasn't $1.00 it is $25,000!! The shock was probably evident on our faces! We were WAY over our heads...
He said we could do payments- we told him we don't borrow.
He was pretty dumbfounded at that point. As is normal, his boss came over to try to encourage us to rethink, but when he heard our situation- he let us out!
I'm not sure exazctly what it was all about- if God just provided us with a cheap room in exchange for our word. But Carlos told us that his mom and sisters were christians where he is from- Cancun. so maybe we were a little bit of light away from home- a part of an answer to his families prayers. We were very clear as to who we were in Christ and that because of that we weren't living for just the pleasure of this life- but living a simpler life for Jesus in service to Him and his people in Mexico.
We are hoping we were a bit of a witness to Carlos and that God will bring others in his path.
So we finally made it to La Paz, "the Peace". We are staying in a nice house of some missionary folks we don't know who have gone away for a while. It is on a campground with lots of room for the kids to run around and play- with a pool and a trampoline! All we need is a soccerball and everythign will be perfect!
Except that we're ALL sick now! Please pray that we would get better, quickly!
I have a meeting today with the president of the local ministerial to show him what we do and ask him for his insight as to the needs in the community. I'm also going to try to take a drive out to the poorer areas to see some of them for myself and see what the needs are out there.
Monday I have an appointment with another missionary to hear what he has to say- and a third person with whom I want to talk has not gotten back to me as of this morning. Hopefully with those 3 insights as well as some exploring of our own, we'll have a good idea as to what God is doing here!
Thanks for praying...
It was a short, but interesting drive today- about 4 hours starting along the sea of Cortez and then into the interior flatland for a while and then back down to the sea of cortez at La Paz.
The day statred early as Caleb and Jacob ran down for a quick swim at the pool- it was a little chilly out so they did not last very long. Then we got all packed up and got ready to go on our excursion to the timeshare sales pitch.
We have had a little cold passing through our family (starting with Caleb) and he was not doing well on the twisty roads leading to the breakfast / timeshare place. Sharlene had the forethought to hand him a little emergency bag in case he felt sick... and he did. The poor fella had his little bag of fun with him when we got out of the car. We were looking for a garbage can and could not find one- so he held onto it until we forgot about it...
They took us about 25 minutes away (towards our destination, thankfully) past a humble little fishing village to the resort that was under construction. It was a beautiful area, but likely very much a disturbance to the local fisherman that lived there.
They fed us breakfast and it soon became obvious through the questions that we were not a good clientele for them. Carlos kept trying to pry and see if we would like this sort of thing and then took us in for a "presentation". We didn't ask many questions, and he finshed his presentation much earlier than he expected- so he took us to see the only suite they have finished at the resort.
Before we left over there I told Carlos that he had drawn the short straw today, that we were not buyers and we didn't have money for this type of thing- and even if we did- this was not really our style. He insisted we let him finishg his job- which we did- otherwise he would've gotten in trouble with his boss, for sure. So off we went to see the suite.
It was nice.
We went back to the sales building where he ran some numbers across us. It was pretty obvious quickly that it was well out of our price range. If we go on vacation, we stay with people or get hotels on hotwire for cheap-- so there was no way he could make this look better for us.
We asked no questions at all. We didn't really say anything, we just listened politely. He answered questions that people would normally ask while we listened quietly.
At the end he said-- would you like to pay the yearly fee for one week at the resort even if membership was $1.00. We said no, not really. It wasn't us, but thank you for your work!
The membership fee wasn't $1.00 it is $25,000!! The shock was probably evident on our faces! We were WAY over our heads...
He said we could do payments- we told him we don't borrow.
He was pretty dumbfounded at that point. As is normal, his boss came over to try to encourage us to rethink, but when he heard our situation- he let us out!
I'm not sure exazctly what it was all about- if God just provided us with a cheap room in exchange for our word. But Carlos told us that his mom and sisters were christians where he is from- Cancun. so maybe we were a little bit of light away from home- a part of an answer to his families prayers. We were very clear as to who we were in Christ and that because of that we weren't living for just the pleasure of this life- but living a simpler life for Jesus in service to Him and his people in Mexico.
We are hoping we were a bit of a witness to Carlos and that God will bring others in his path.
So we finally made it to La Paz, "the Peace". We are staying in a nice house of some missionary folks we don't know who have gone away for a while. It is on a campground with lots of room for the kids to run around and play- with a pool and a trampoline! All we need is a soccerball and everythign will be perfect!
Except that we're ALL sick now! Please pray that we would get better, quickly!
I have a meeting today with the president of the local ministerial to show him what we do and ask him for his insight as to the needs in the community. I'm also going to try to take a drive out to the poorer areas to see some of them for myself and see what the needs are out there.
Monday I have an appointment with another missionary to hear what he has to say- and a third person with whom I want to talk has not gotten back to me as of this morning. Hopefully with those 3 insights as well as some exploring of our own, we'll have a good idea as to what God is doing here!
Thanks for praying...
Thursday, January 20, 2011
La Paz Trip, -day 2
The good news is that noone got violently ill after last nights supper!
We even had 75% of a good trip today. I could not believe some of the scenery we were seeing! In the final part of Baja North we were climbing up some pretty tall mountains in the fog and by the time we got to the top- we were above the clouds! The desert flora was amazing too! Boojum trees were amongst the strangest things we've ever seen. It was on a very narrow road with few pull offs to take good pics, so we plan on doing that on the way back.
We also saw forests of Cardon Cactus which kind of remind me of Saguaros that you see in Arizona, but a bit different. There were several places where both grew together and some places where they grow together with a plethora of other cactus and succulunts in what can only be described as a lush desert!
We crossed into Baja Sur at about noon and went into Guerrero Negro for lunch. We settled on a little gordita place ( stuffed maiz pocket) and had a good meal there. We were thankful to get into baja sur with little problem, because we didn't have all our visa's with us. We prayed that it would go well and immigration didn't even come out to ask us any questions!
We stopped at a place in Baja Sur called San Ignacio-- A friend had recommended that we drop in- I'm glad we did! It was an amazing little oasis in the middle of the desert! After a very long time in coastal scrubbrush and then driving through desert, we run into this natural oasis where the jesuits had planted date palm trees in the 1700's when they first arrived. An entire little town had grown up around it and the downtown looked like an old Mexican town with a town square ( with HUGE old trees that covered the entire park).
We walked into the church ( built in the 1780's) and were amazed at the old spanish architecture... I had been told about how the Catholic church treats saints here and I was able to see it firsthand. The people will buy gold jewlelry of the body part that they want healed- and then hang it on the statue of the saint as they ask the saint to heal them. There was a statue of a saint, or at least early priest from there that they are hoping will become a saint- with gold jewlry on him as well as money tucked into his robes. They are hoping that but offering money or gold that the saint will more fervently pray for their needs.
From there we drove a little further into a town called Santa Rosalia, along the mar de Cortez. It was an amazing drive from where we were down to sea level down a steep, winding road. The Sea of Cortez there was an incredibly deep blue colour that we don't see on the pacific side of the peninsula. There were whitecaps out on the water and little waves like we see on the great lakes in Canada. Santa Rosalia is famous for it's French architecture that was built in the 1800's when a french company ran the town. The centerpiece is a church that was built buy gustav Eiffel, who also built the Eiffel tower, and was displayed at the world fair in the mid to late 1800's. The town had an entirely different feel to it than any other town we'd been in. The buildings were almost all made from wood with high peaked roofs and balconies-- kinda like pictures I've seen of New Orleans. The roads were very narrow and what I imagine some places in eurpoe would look like with a few taco and BBQ chicken stands thrown in!
We were planning on stopping in Mulege but when we got there, the motel I had booked did not live up to expectations. It looked more like a trailer park for those folks whose trailers aren't fancy enough for the regular red-neck trailer parks... we decided to check out some others and got lost in Mulege and still could not find a decent hotel- so we decided to come here to Loreto.
it was 100km about 1/3 of it in the dark- some of that behind a transport truck ( a cow pusher, I called it) in some of the windiest roads we've seen! It was a little stressful, but we made it here safe and sound.
We finally found a motel for the night after quite a while searching. The cost started out at 1400 pesos ($115) for the night. when i almost left they knocked it down to $95. I said I'd go discuss it with my wife when another lady came up to me offering the place for $50, I just had to agree to go to a sales meeting about a timeshare property they have about 25 minutes south of here. Again, I discussed it with my wife (and used the free hotel wifi to check out other hotel prices and reviews and decided we had the time to do this and we wouldn't get a better deal anywhere else. They sweetened the deal to $44 and gave us a nice room with a kitchen. It has worked out well so far, and the kids have the ok from us to "let loose" at the meeting tomorrow if it goes beyond the 90 minutes they said it would!
We'll let you know how that goes!
Tomorrow we get to la Paz, Lord willing. Caleb has come down with a fever and is not feeling very well at all. He is getting his sleep at night and resting in the car and we all hope and pray he gets better quickly.
hasta manana,
After that w
We even had 75% of a good trip today. I could not believe some of the scenery we were seeing! In the final part of Baja North we were climbing up some pretty tall mountains in the fog and by the time we got to the top- we were above the clouds! The desert flora was amazing too! Boojum trees were amongst the strangest things we've ever seen. It was on a very narrow road with few pull offs to take good pics, so we plan on doing that on the way back.
We also saw forests of Cardon Cactus which kind of remind me of Saguaros that you see in Arizona, but a bit different. There were several places where both grew together and some places where they grow together with a plethora of other cactus and succulunts in what can only be described as a lush desert!
We crossed into Baja Sur at about noon and went into Guerrero Negro for lunch. We settled on a little gordita place ( stuffed maiz pocket) and had a good meal there. We were thankful to get into baja sur with little problem, because we didn't have all our visa's with us. We prayed that it would go well and immigration didn't even come out to ask us any questions!
We stopped at a place in Baja Sur called San Ignacio-- A friend had recommended that we drop in- I'm glad we did! It was an amazing little oasis in the middle of the desert! After a very long time in coastal scrubbrush and then driving through desert, we run into this natural oasis where the jesuits had planted date palm trees in the 1700's when they first arrived. An entire little town had grown up around it and the downtown looked like an old Mexican town with a town square ( with HUGE old trees that covered the entire park).
We walked into the church ( built in the 1780's) and were amazed at the old spanish architecture... I had been told about how the Catholic church treats saints here and I was able to see it firsthand. The people will buy gold jewlelry of the body part that they want healed- and then hang it on the statue of the saint as they ask the saint to heal them. There was a statue of a saint, or at least early priest from there that they are hoping will become a saint- with gold jewlry on him as well as money tucked into his robes. They are hoping that but offering money or gold that the saint will more fervently pray for their needs.
From there we drove a little further into a town called Santa Rosalia, along the mar de Cortez. It was an amazing drive from where we were down to sea level down a steep, winding road. The Sea of Cortez there was an incredibly deep blue colour that we don't see on the pacific side of the peninsula. There were whitecaps out on the water and little waves like we see on the great lakes in Canada. Santa Rosalia is famous for it's French architecture that was built in the 1800's when a french company ran the town. The centerpiece is a church that was built buy gustav Eiffel, who also built the Eiffel tower, and was displayed at the world fair in the mid to late 1800's. The town had an entirely different feel to it than any other town we'd been in. The buildings were almost all made from wood with high peaked roofs and balconies-- kinda like pictures I've seen of New Orleans. The roads were very narrow and what I imagine some places in eurpoe would look like with a few taco and BBQ chicken stands thrown in!
We were planning on stopping in Mulege but when we got there, the motel I had booked did not live up to expectations. It looked more like a trailer park for those folks whose trailers aren't fancy enough for the regular red-neck trailer parks... we decided to check out some others and got lost in Mulege and still could not find a decent hotel- so we decided to come here to Loreto.
it was 100km about 1/3 of it in the dark- some of that behind a transport truck ( a cow pusher, I called it) in some of the windiest roads we've seen! It was a little stressful, but we made it here safe and sound.
We finally found a motel for the night after quite a while searching. The cost started out at 1400 pesos ($115) for the night. when i almost left they knocked it down to $95. I said I'd go discuss it with my wife when another lady came up to me offering the place for $50, I just had to agree to go to a sales meeting about a timeshare property they have about 25 minutes south of here. Again, I discussed it with my wife (and used the free hotel wifi to check out other hotel prices and reviews and decided we had the time to do this and we wouldn't get a better deal anywhere else. They sweetened the deal to $44 and gave us a nice room with a kitchen. It has worked out well so far, and the kids have the ok from us to "let loose" at the meeting tomorrow if it goes beyond the 90 minutes they said it would!
We'll let you know how that goes!
Tomorrow we get to la Paz, Lord willing. Caleb has come down with a fever and is not feeling very well at all. He is getting his sleep at night and resting in the car and we all hope and pray he gets better quickly.
hasta manana,
After that w
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
La Paz trip Day 1
We had a good drive today- the baja peninsula roads so far don't deserve the reputation they've received. We left at about 11:30am, picked up some fish tacos in Ensenada and then headed south. We arrived at our first stop at about 5pm-- you shouldn't drive at night because of roaming cows and horses. we've seen some of those already by the side of the road, it's just that it is much more difficult to see them at night...
Our first stop is in El Rosario- we're staying at the BajaCactus motel- for about $38 we got a room with 4 beds on 2 floors! the beds, trim and stairs are all made out of old, weathered wood that reminds me of wood from a prairie grain elevator. It's the biggest room we've ever had in a motel and probably the nicest- and also one of the least expensive!
We're about to go eat out at the famous Mama Espinozas restaurant- a pit stop on the baja 1000 race (for you offroad race fans...)
tomorrow the plan is to go across the spine of Baja north and then back to the pacific ocaen at guerrero Negro where we cross into baja Sur-- from there we cross the peninsula again to the sea of cortez. I'm hoping we have enough time to slip into santa rosalia- a little town that was built during a brief french occupation-- the church in town was designed by some guy names eiffel (who apprantly built a tower of some type in europe) :) And we stop at Mulege for the night to rest...
Off to supper we go...
back from supper... ok-- that place is not famous for it's food... it was filled with gringos and the food tasted like it was for gringos and not mexicanos... it was ok- but was THE most expensive Mexican food I've ever had!
Caleb is feeling a little sick today- coughing and feeling cold... we're hoping that doesn't get worse or spread.
Our first stop is in El Rosario- we're staying at the BajaCactus motel- for about $38 we got a room with 4 beds on 2 floors! the beds, trim and stairs are all made out of old, weathered wood that reminds me of wood from a prairie grain elevator. It's the biggest room we've ever had in a motel and probably the nicest- and also one of the least expensive!
We're about to go eat out at the famous Mama Espinozas restaurant- a pit stop on the baja 1000 race (for you offroad race fans...)
tomorrow the plan is to go across the spine of Baja north and then back to the pacific ocaen at guerrero Negro where we cross into baja Sur-- from there we cross the peninsula again to the sea of cortez. I'm hoping we have enough time to slip into santa rosalia- a little town that was built during a brief french occupation-- the church in town was designed by some guy names eiffel (who apprantly built a tower of some type in europe) :) And we stop at Mulege for the night to rest...
Off to supper we go...
back from supper... ok-- that place is not famous for it's food... it was filled with gringos and the food tasted like it was for gringos and not mexicanos... it was ok- but was THE most expensive Mexican food I've ever had!
Caleb is feeling a little sick today- coughing and feeling cold... we're hoping that doesn't get worse or spread.
Saturday, January 08, 2011
Project Joy ministry
We handed out gifts and necessities in this poor colonia-- We took names and family information and figure that we served close to 700 people this day. Here is a picture of the line during part of the day...
These were some of the gifts we handed out to about 200 kids!
This is a picture of the neighbourhood. There is an arroyo (temporary river when it rains) running through the colonia. People have built their little houses of scrapwood along the side of the arroyo walls. They use old tires for stairs and retaining walls.
This is Hector. Hector is a student in one of my pastors and teachers training classes. His ministry focusses on giving practical life and skill training to people in the community, espescially people leaving orphanages and Drug and alcohol rehab centers. He came into contact with this neighourhood through Mario- a fellow from here who sells things in Hector's neighbourhood. Now Hector is teaching Mario and his family how to read and write as well as giving them the chronological teaching through the Bible. The hope is to see people come to Christ and plant a church in whatever way Jesus sees fit in this neighbourhood...
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