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.

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.

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.

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!

Oaxaca, here we come!

We are leaving in the morning for Oaxaca! The boys and my first time! (Marc's 6th) I'm very excited to be going. We may not have access to the internet for the next week or so. Family and friends, you should still be able to reach us by cell phone if need be. We would appreciate your prayers as we travel many miles and as we minister (sing and preach) in our Bible Methodist Church in Oaxaca City this weekend. We count on your prayer support!

Campmeeting in Saltillo

This past weekend we enjoyed the Campmeeting services here in Saltillo. Bro. Rusty Rundell did a fantastic job preaching and really ministered to all of us. The Lord's presence was close in the services we were able to be a part of (we didn't return from our trip up north until Sat. afternoon). Thank the Lord for victories won and spiritual ground gained.

Bro. Rundell speaks absolutely impeccable Spanish - I'm serious! I'm in awe! :-) Really, for a person who has worked for almost 4 years to learn this language, I am amazed at his ability to effortlessly jump in and out of the subjunctive tense, making correct use of the gender and pronouns, never seeming to pause to think of a word. (sometimes it feels like that's all I'm doing....smiles....today I couldn't even think of how to say "I 'unplugged' the fridge'. "Unplugged" just really got me. My friend Sylvia pulled me through as she does so many times. :-)

He grew up in Peru and was a missionary in Honduras for many years, hence the fluency. I want you to know, Bro. Rundell, how much I enjoyed your messages (although I did tell you when you were here). Not simply because of your amazing Spanish - loved that! - but for the clear truth and hope you brought to us. I don't think I'll ever forget your Sunday night sermon - "It Still Can Rain". Thank the Lord for the rain of His presence we felt during the Campmeeting!

We also enjoyed having Bro. Rundell in our home on Saturday night for the classic Sankey dessert - vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup!

Bro. Jose Correa leading the singing on Sunday.

The altar scene on Sunday night. There were also people praying at the front seats.

Stetlers' Missions Service

We were happy to be able to attend Steve and Beth's Missions Service at Faith Mission Church on Sunday night. They did an excellent job presenting their ministry here in Saltillo with Bible Methodist Missions. We are so blessed to have them as our co-workers.


The altar scene at the close of the service. Marc prayed a prayer of consecration for those who came to offer themselves to God in full surrender to His will.

This picture turned out a little blurry but I still love it - the 3 Leonard Sankeys. L to R: Leonard Jordan, Leonard Lewis, and Leonard Marc.

A "meeting of the minds" after the evening service....I'm sure what they were discussing was of utmost importance. :-)

Dad and Uncle David