Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Back to School Project
Thanks to Pam Wilson and the wonderful people at the Bible Methodist Church in Fairmont, WV (Heartland) for their contribution of items for this Back to School Project. They sent notebooks, glue, pencils and crayons. The children and youth go back to school tomorrow morning so these supplies are a very timely blessing! Thanks, Pam and the Fairmont people! We were able to not only give these supplies out today in Saltillo, but have already given a big box to the 4 pastors in the border region - they were to give out the supplies to their church children today.
Melisa Correa
Kevin, one of the students in my SS Class - he's such a sweetie! He keeps us laughing in SS with the witty things he says.
Diana Hdz.
Kevin's twin, Dariela..also in my SS class. Such an angel.
Miguel, Cameron's friend in his SS Class. Sis. Ana Correa is their teacher.
Melisa Correa
Kevin, one of the students in my SS Class - he's such a sweetie! He keeps us laughing in SS with the witty things he says.
Diana Hdz.
Kevin's twin, Dariela..also in my SS class. Such an angel.
Institute Planning Session
This past week we met with Institute President Eli Balderas, his wife Isela and their two boys at the guest house at RGBI to discuss and plan the next session of Bible Institute Classes coming up in October in Salamanca, Mexico. We visited the wonderful bookstore there on the campus, full of resources and books in Spanish and were able to purchase all the books for the upcoming classes. We're so excited to announce the details of this next Bible Institute session - watch for those details coming soon!
Another exciting thing happened recently...I was telling my good friend Isela (pictured here) about our ladies meetings/scrapbook classes here in Saltillo. She told me that for some time she has been wanting to organize Ladies' Activities in their church in Rio Bravo. I brought a "starter kit" box full of things for her to get started with this new venture. She has done some SBing in the past and will be able to help the ladies work with their photos. I am so excited about this expanding ministry to our Mexican ladies!
Afterwards we went to Denny's to enjoy a good American meal! Here are their two boys, Irving and Ervin.
Jordan and Ervin - good friends for almost 4 years now.
We thank God for our dedicated Bible Institute President and family. Please continue to keep them in your prayers!
Checking out books and resources in the bookstore.
Another exciting thing happened recently...I was telling my good friend Isela (pictured here) about our ladies meetings/scrapbook classes here in Saltillo. She told me that for some time she has been wanting to organize Ladies' Activities in their church in Rio Bravo. I brought a "starter kit" box full of things for her to get started with this new venture. She has done some SBing in the past and will be able to help the ladies work with their photos. I am so excited about this expanding ministry to our Mexican ladies!
Afterwards we went to Denny's to enjoy a good American meal! Here are their two boys, Irving and Ervin.
Jordan and Ervin - good friends for almost 4 years now.
We thank God for our dedicated Bible Institute President and family. Please continue to keep them in your prayers!Youth Activity
Last Saturday evening, Marc and I were in charge of the Saturday Youth Activity. We met at the church for a devotional and choir practice, then brought everyone here to our house for nachos and games. We taught them how to play Dutch Blitz. They had never played it before - it was hilarious! But they did a great job. Love our young people - they're the best!
Jordan's borrowed shades crack me up!
Friday, August 21, 2009
Ladies' Meeting and Scrapbook Class
Last Friday evening we had another activity for our ladies and young girls (we even managed to include one guy who wanted to participate) :-)
It was another wonderful time together - so much enjoy these times!
Sis. Sylvia (pastor's wife and my awesome friend) gave us a great devotional from Proverbs on God's promises. We had a good time of prayer for several special needs among us, then we got to work.
We have recently received LOTS of scrapbook materials from so many kind donors and we're so excited!! The ladies just couldn't look through them fast enough and kept saying "how nice for the sisters in the north to send us these" etc.....Your contributions have been SO much appreciated. More on that later.
Just look at that big table full of SB materials!
Sylvia choosing the accents for her layout.
Havin' fun! (check out Kenya perched on the table; that's where she stayed most of the night)
mothers and daughters working together....
And of course, you always have these 2 little guys running around; where you see 1, you see the other.
Sylvia's pretty layout of herself and her husband Dolores. I thought she did a good job scrapping in English. :-)
mothers and daughters again....
and again.....
Putting frosting on those "pastelitos".
A few of the cupcakes I took....some of the men wandered in JUST at the right moment to see what was going on (and to take advantage of the pastelitos) :-)
Ladies, to all of you who have so kindly donated SB materials, we thank you. Since there are so many of you, we decided to make a SB page to thank you altogether. Each lady present wrote her thanks and a little note. I reminded them that you all wouldn't understand if they wrote in Spanish, so they needed to write in English. After much asking and conferring and examples written, they got started. I thought they did a great job. (I hope you can click on this picture to enlarge it so you can read their sweet thank yous!) 
It was another wonderful time together - so much enjoy these times!
Sis. Sylvia (pastor's wife and my awesome friend) gave us a great devotional from Proverbs on God's promises. We had a good time of prayer for several special needs among us, then we got to work.
We have recently received LOTS of scrapbook materials from so many kind donors and we're so excited!! The ladies just couldn't look through them fast enough and kept saying "how nice for the sisters in the north to send us these" etc.....Your contributions have been SO much appreciated. More on that later.
Don't be bashful, folks..step right up! (Believe me, they're not a bit bashful when it comes to SBing)
Just look at that big table full of SB materials!
Sylvia choosing the accents for her layout.
Havin' fun! (check out Kenya perched on the table; that's where she stayed most of the night)
mothers and daughters working together....
And of course, you always have these 2 little guys running around; where you see 1, you see the other.
Sylvia's pretty layout of herself and her husband Dolores. I thought she did a good job scrapping in English. :-)
mothers and daughters again....
and again.....
Putting frosting on those "pastelitos".
A few of the cupcakes I took....some of the men wandered in JUST at the right moment to see what was going on (and to take advantage of the pastelitos) :-)
Ladies, to all of you who have so kindly donated SB materials, we thank you. Since there are so many of you, we decided to make a SB page to thank you altogether. Each lady present wrote her thanks and a little note. I reminded them that you all wouldn't understand if they wrote in Spanish, so they needed to write in English. After much asking and conferring and examples written, they got started. I thought they did a great job. (I hope you can click on this picture to enlarge it so you can read their sweet thank yous!)
Thank you from me, ladies. You have blessed us so much.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Family Trip to Oaxaca
Yes, that’s right – all 5 of us just took our first family trip to Oaxaca. I think this was Marc’s 6th time to go, but for the boys and me, it was an exciting first! I’m so glad we got to go and meet our wonderful Mexican brothers and sisters there in the southern part of Mexico and to minister in the weekend revival and Church 9th Anniversary Celebration in Oaxaca City.
On the way south, we stopped in the city of Puebla which is the capital of the state, also named Puebla. It is a beautiful city!
Here's the huge Catholic church on the centro.
A group of nuns crossing the centro.
Marc getting his shoes shined.
It's not "Old Glory" but the Mexican flag sure is pretty flying in the breeze!
Heading down south over the mountains into Oaxaca.
Marc and me with the beautiful mountains of Oaxaca behind us.
Our first supper in Oaxaca: delicious grilled chicken, rice, tortillas (and salsa that I didn't get a picture of)
Pastor Benito leading the people in worship.
Our Bible Methodist Church in Oaxaca City (the lower church)
Love this picture of the boys in our hosts' back yard. Their house is high on the mountainside in Oaxaca City. Their back yard wall is literally "the mountain".
Marc studying on the back patio of the house where we stayed. Love this man.
The house where we stayed in Oaxaca City.
Our very kind hosts: Hno. Moises, Hna. Irma and one of their daughters, Celene.
Pastor Benito, wife Ana and their boys, Isai and Bryan.
We spent an hour or so on Saturday at Monte Alban - the site of ancient ruins outside Oaxaca City. So interesting! From L to R: Co-pastor Hno. Luciano, Eliezer and Isela Balderas (Bible Inst. Pres) Benito and Ana and kids, Jordan and Marc. Cameron and Logan are in front on the left.
This picture was taken from the top of the south platform after we had climbed all those steep steps.
About 6 inches behind us was a "sheer dropoff" - with sharp rocks at the bottom. :-)
The Saturday night revival crowd.
Marc preaching on Sat night.
Cameron tending the fires to grill the tlayudas.
Here are the tlayudas on the grill. Tlayudas: HUGE corn tortillas filled with black beans, lettuce, and Oaxaca cheese, then grilled over an open flame.
The Lord helped Marc teach a wonderful Sunday School class on Holiness.
One of the pastor's sons, Bryan. This picture just depicts him to a "T" - he's an adorable handful. :-)
Some of the church people formed a choir, led by Pastor Benito, to provide the special music for the weekend. They sang beautifully.
Our hosts and some of the young guys from the church took us up to a lookout on Sunday night to see night time Oaxaca City. 
Our family in front of the beautiful old church on the centro.
Climbing the steps up to our other BM church in Oaxaca City - what a climb!
I so much enjoyed getting to accompany Marc to Oaxaca this time. 
Beautiful Oaxaca City 
The boys with our hosts with some family members and church people - taken just before we left.
My and my two new friends - they are precious. In the next picture you'll see what's in the basket.
Bro. Daniel's wife (on the left) made me these beautiful little sugar cookies.
One of those "seize the moment" opportunities - communicating the Truth to 3 fertile minds. These boys are our first mission field. 
Outdoor restaurant on the centro.
And there's Pico de Orizaba - the highest point in Mexico. It was an awe-inspiring sight.
On our way back north we stopped to see the Pyramids of Teotihuacan. They were just awesome! The boys and I in front of the pyramid we climbed. The view from the top was unreal.
We got to eat those delicious tacos again in Salamanca. We stopped by to meet the new Pastor Abel and to begin planning sessions for the Bible Institute Classes that will be held there in the HIM building this fall. SO love these tacos!
On the way south, we stopped in the city of Puebla which is the capital of the state, also named Puebla. It is a beautiful city!
Here's the huge Catholic church on the centro.
A group of nuns crossing the centro.
Marc getting his shoes shined.
It's not "Old Glory" but the Mexican flag sure is pretty flying in the breeze!
Heading down south over the mountains into Oaxaca.
Marc and me with the beautiful mountains of Oaxaca behind us.
Our first supper in Oaxaca: delicious grilled chicken, rice, tortillas (and salsa that I didn't get a picture of)
Pastor Benito leading the people in worship.
Our Bible Methodist Church in Oaxaca City (the lower church)
Love this picture of the boys in our hosts' back yard. Their house is high on the mountainside in Oaxaca City. Their back yard wall is literally "the mountain".
Marc studying on the back patio of the house where we stayed. Love this man.
The house where we stayed in Oaxaca City.
Our very kind hosts: Hno. Moises, Hna. Irma and one of their daughters, Celene.
Pastor Benito, wife Ana and their boys, Isai and Bryan.
We spent an hour or so on Saturday at Monte Alban - the site of ancient ruins outside Oaxaca City. So interesting! From L to R: Co-pastor Hno. Luciano, Eliezer and Isela Balderas (Bible Inst. Pres) Benito and Ana and kids, Jordan and Marc. Cameron and Logan are in front on the left.
This picture was taken from the top of the south platform after we had climbed all those steep steps.
About 6 inches behind us was a "sheer dropoff" - with sharp rocks at the bottom. :-)
The Saturday night revival crowd.
Marc preaching on Sat night.
Cameron tending the fires to grill the tlayudas. 
Here are the tlayudas on the grill. Tlayudas: HUGE corn tortillas filled with black beans, lettuce, and Oaxaca cheese, then grilled over an open flame.
The Lord helped Marc teach a wonderful Sunday School class on Holiness.
One of the pastor's sons, Bryan. This picture just depicts him to a "T" - he's an adorable handful. :-)
Some of the church people formed a choir, led by Pastor Benito, to provide the special music for the weekend. They sang beautifully.
Our hosts and some of the young guys from the church took us up to a lookout on Sunday night to see night time Oaxaca City. 
Our family in front of the beautiful old church on the centro.
Climbing the steps up to our other BM church in Oaxaca City - what a climb!I so much enjoyed getting to accompany Marc to Oaxaca this time.
Beautiful Oaxaca City
The boys with our hosts with some family members and church people - taken just before we left.
My and my two new friends - they are precious. In the next picture you'll see what's in the basket.
Bro. Daniel's wife (on the left) made me these beautiful little sugar cookies.
A huge Catholic church in Oaxaca City.
One of those "seize the moment" opportunities - communicating the Truth to 3 fertile minds. These boys are our first mission field.
Outdoor restaurant on the centro.
And there's Pico de Orizaba - the highest point in Mexico. It was an awe-inspiring sight. 
On our way back north we stopped to see the Pyramids of Teotihuacan. They were just awesome! The boys and I in front of the pyramid we climbed. The view from the top was unreal. 
We got to eat those delicious tacos again in Salamanca. We stopped by to meet the new Pastor Abel and to begin planning sessions for the Bible Institute Classes that will be held there in the HIM building this fall. SO love these tacos!
And that about does it for Blogger. On my Facebook page, I have tons more pictures with captions if you'd like to see them.
This trip was the last big event on our summer calendar and I want to thank God for His strength and protection all summer long. We travelled thousands of miles and He protected us on every one. So happy to be serving God where He has placed us - in Mexico!
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