It's Cold

Woke up this morning and needed a sweater! It seems like everyone is battling colds and trying to keep healthy. However, the cool air is a nice change for here.

We're getting back into normal life; disciplship classes, worship practices, visiting people, etc. It's been nice to have had a rest, and it's nice to be back.

I was talking to one of the youth last night who plays drums for us. He has been kind of stand-offish which is not like him at all. I was concerned that I had offended him or he had done something wrong and expected me to confront him about somthing. After talking last night, come to find out that he is going through what most teenage Christians go through at one point or another. He mentioned that right before we came back, his friends from school were making fun of him and telling him that he shouldn't be hanging out with the Christians..."you cannot go anywhere in life as a Christian," they told him. That hurt his feelings and so he shyed away for a little bit. After our talk last night he was encouraged. The truth is, you can't have life without being a Christian. Please pray for Jose Luis.

Back in Cofradia

We arrived in Cofradia Saturday evening. The trip went well, and the truck runs great! Sunday service was really good. Pastor Goyo is doing so well with his preaching. The Holy Spirit is speaking through him very passionatly...it's a lot of fun. We've been working on getting back into the swing of things these past couple of days. Lots of stuff to do. This is all for now. We are all doing well.

Off To Cofradia!

They finished the truck late afternoon and we're ready to go. We'll be heading out early to cross the border and drive as far as we can arriving in Cofradia sometime on Saturday. Looking forward to getting back into the swing of things. Thank you so much for your prayers.

The Differential...$1,162; Other parts and Labor...$689; New Tires...$106; Tie-Rod...$41; Total costs...$1,998; Great customer service from the mechanics and salesmen...priceless!

A special thanks to Mike and Pat at Alignment, Brake and Suspension and Don at Aviation Auto for making this a lot easier than it would have been. They are some of the greatest guys in the business!!!

More Truck stuff

I called the mechanic this morning because I didn't hear anything yesterday after we talked on the phone. He said they got another axle for the truck and all they have to do now is align everything. It should be done this afternoon.

Truck Update

Just got off the phone with the mechanic. The replacement differential has a bent axle. The salesperson who sold me the differential is not in until the afternoon. There is a warranty, but we need an axle or a different differential. I don't know what's going to happen, but labor costs will be much higher than anticipated. I'll know more this afternoon. It looks like the earliest we could be out of here is tomorrow afternoon now. We are soooo anxious to get back to Cofradia. We're just trying to take advantage of much needed rest time. God is in control and He knows the reasons for all of this. May He be glorified!

The Truck

I called the mechanic today to see how everything was going. He said it was going. They won't be finished until tomorrow at the earliest. They finished the differential today, however, the drive shaft is damaged as well. He said they were trying to fix it so I would have to order another one. Fun. This may end up being a little more than the 1500 dollars we planned on. Oh well, God is faithful.

Los Angeles

We rented an economy vehicle, 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt, and went to Perris (east of LA), CA to visit Gena's sister Julia for thanksgiving. It was a great time. Rebecka was soooo excited to be with her cousins and Gena and Julia had a good visit. I preached at Julia's church on Friday night about John 15...being connected to Christ. We came back to Tucson on Saturday, went to Bob and Dorothy's church on Sunday and watched the Seahawks accidently win against the Giants. Today is monday and the truck is getting worked on finally and should be done sometime tomorrow, given that nothing else needs to be ordered for it. We finished our errands today and we'll have time to rest and wait until the truck is done now. Thank you for your prayers.

Arryanes Church Robbed

We just received word that last Thursday, one of our churches was robbed. They broke in through bending the security bars and opening the door from the inside. They took a brand new bass guitar (which belongs to one of the youth), the bass amp, a cassette player, the transformer for our piano and oddly enough, the clock. A police report has been made up, however there has been no action taken. This is the same church that was set on fire a few weeks ago. Please pray for the church body to not let this become something that will discourage them in their faith or point fingers. We know that the enemy likes to stir up dissention.

Update

A lot has happened this week. Our stay in Arizona has been extended due to some problems with our truck...some $1500 problems :). Last Friday I was at the point of wondering what we were going to do and how we were going to take care of this bill. Also, the part was very hard to find because the vehicle is a 2005. Now I know why we got such a great deal on it :). God is faithful, in the midst of not knowing what was going to happen, some friends of ours through casual talk, said they would help take care of it. Just about 100% of our bill has been paid for! This was so exciting and overwhelming! God is faithful!

The same day we had some more exciting news. A friend gave me a miter saw...the exact one that I had been looking at (more like dreaming about) in Sears. What a blessing! They also gave us some more essentials to be able to stay for another week.

We hope to be returning to Mexico next Tuesday. Because of the Thanksgiving holidays, the mechanic is not open. We are still waiting for the part (a whole differential) to come. It should be here within a couple of days.

Thank you for keeping us in your prayers!

ARIZONA

We made it to the border and in to Tucson. We had a good, safe trip and everything we great. We'll be running quite a few errands the next few days. Hopefully, we'll have a chance to rest a bit and relax.

We are staying with Bob and Dorothy Micher who are always very hospitable to us. A great place to relax and neat people to visit with.

Lots to do...

EL RETO FINAL (The Final Challenge)

The game ended today...

Cofradia... It ended very exciting and everyone got involved. We had three more students arrive that haven't been there for a while; it was great to have them there! It was a very good time of "teachable moments" that came up. One specifically was of someone cheating...what an opportunity to talk about how cheating does not help you in life--especially in your relationship with God. You cannot cheat your way to heaven, there is only ONE WAY--JESUS CHRIST! There were some other great moments and The Challenge turned out to be a great success of bringing back youth who haven't been involved for a while in Cofradia. The team that had a member cheat, lost.

Arrayanes... More teachable moments. Especially for one of the leaders who was struggling with her team's disunity and non-participation. Gena and I had a chance to talk with her before the church service about things that happen while we are in leadership. Sometimes it's very hard to be in leadership when most of your "team" is grumbling at you (sounds like a familiar Bible study--Moses??). The Challenge in Arrayanes did not have the excitment at the end like it did in Cofradia, but the team that was behind all evening was only behind a few points the whole time and they could never catch up. So, in spite of having a team that was, in general, non-participative, there was one member of that team who didn't want to lose and was faithful until the end and that team won.

November Newsletter

We finished our November newsletter today and if you have not received it yet, you will be receiving it shortly.

Prayer request update

Thank you for your prayers for Gena, her cold is pretty much gone. However, now she is battling a really soar toothe ache. Keep her in your prayers. We are off to Arizona tomorrow morning and pain is not a fun thing have while you're travelling.

Run to the Border

Monday we'll be leaving really early to go to Arizona to renew the car permit and personal visas. We should be there for a week. Keep us in your prayers for travel and health.

Church Truck Proposal

Here is a proposal we put together for a church truck for the Arrayanes Church. Can you help?





Arrayanes Church Vehicle Proposal

A need of a church with a mission.

Its Functions

1.) Outreach
Each Friday the church in Arrayanes makes a trip to the Indigenous village of Mojocuautla to do a Bible study. Mojocuautla lies about 7 miles into the mountains from Cofradía and is 100% Korah Indian. This ministry is realized by the Arrayanes Church Members and they are very excited about the opportunity to minister to these people.

2.) Short-Term Mission involvement
When short-term mission teams are here, the Arrayanes church has minimal involvement because of transportation issues. This vehicle would provide the opportunity for involvement in Short-term missions by the Arrayanes Church.

3.) Celebration services in Cofradía
We have a celebration service in Cofradía. Many times, we have to leave a town out because of the lack of transportation. This would provide an opportunity for the Arrayanes church to have dependable transportation to the Cofradía church.

4.) The Big Picture
Our plan in the future is to have a church service in Cofradía involving as many surrounding towns as possible. Arrayanes would be one of those towns and this would provide the opportunity to come and invite others.


An economic full size Chevy or Ford ½ ton pick-up 1995 or older





PO Box 5835 Goodyear, AZ 85338 1-800-507-4873

Worship Practice

Yesterday's worship practice went very well. I'm trying to get involved as much as possible the two that will be singing. I had them sing a verse here and there for practice and they did very well. There are still some rough edges which is challenging me because teaching voice lessons is not a huge strength of mine. They are doing great though. Please keep Chupa and Mili in your prayers as they grow in their giftings. Also, that they would know how to depend on God for their abilities. I'm really excited about this!!!

Prayer

Please keep Gena in your prayers. She has had a bad cold for the past 5 days.

The Carport

We finally finished the carport. I had a little help from Pastor Gollo and Doug and we were able to finish it Saturday afternoon. What a learning experience! We still haven't finished our front porch yet, we need to poor the cement slabs and put the roof on as well. More stuff to learn:).

EL RETO (The Challenge)

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a game we're playing in Sunday School called, El Reto. It's been a lot of fun, the youth are having a good time and some that don't come anymore, have come back. Each week they have a bible study and then we do games. Yesterday we did a bunch of food contests to see who could eat something they don't like the fastest.
We had...the worms: overcooked, sticky spaghetti covered with Olive Oil and ground Flaxeed (many people here do not even like spaghetti cooked the normal way).

We had...bread covered in mystery cream: This was just a piece of wheat bread with TONS of peanut butter (they don't like peanut butter here).

We had...a mystery beverage: Ice cold, throat-burning, Dr. Pepper (everyone says it tastes like medicine).

The final challenge was to determine which team would have to clean up the mess. Each team was given a whole watermelon and they had to bust it open with their hands and eat the whole thing. The first team to eat it, won. The loosing team had to clean up the mess. They enjoyed themsleves.

Youth Worship Leaders!

The Youth have been growing leeps and bounds! I'm pretty excited about what the future is bringing. Gena and I will be going to Washington in February to have the baby. Meanwhile, there will not be a worship leader here in Cofradia nor in Arrayanes for the Sunday Services. When I let the youth know that, one of the girls said she would give it a try (something I have been hoping and praying for). Last Sunday, we were singing a worship song and I stopped and told her to continue...she did great! I was actually really surprised. So, we'll be working with her to develop some more skills and she'll be leading worship in Arrayanes church while we're gone. That left only Cofradia without a worship leader, I asked one of the youth if he would be interested in singing...at first he said no, but I mentioned that Mili (the girl in Arrayanes) will be doing it there and that encouraged him...he wants to do it now (something I had been hoping and praying for). He is definately the leader of the band when I'm not around. Yesterday during music practice, I had him lead the band in one of the songs...he did a great job! He still has some skills to perfect as well, but the main ingredient is there for both of them...the heart!


Liliana Emilia "Mili"

Jose Angel "Chupa"

Please pray for these two individuals as they grow in the giftings.