Weather

WOW! Yesterday was a warm one. Our thermometer says that it only got up to 103, but the humidity is thick around here. We have our air conditioner in our room set at a freezing 75 degrees. Last night I walked out to the kitchen to get some water and it really felt like an oven. It was hot and muggy...even at night. We are expecting some rain and wind with the storm coming. Usually this happens when we have storm-like weather. It gets really hot, then in the evening it rains. Last evening it didn't rain, right now it's 90 and humid at 10:30 am. hopefully there'll be some rain today to cool things down. The only drawback is that when the sun comes out when the ground is wet, you get....yep, more humidity! Today is the last day of August, one of the two worst months for this kind of whether. September is left, and with the things we have planned for the youth, it should be a fun month and should hopefully go by pretty quick. Blessings to all.

Hurricane John

We have a storm coming our way. It looks like it will pass us by, but it should be interesting. We are about 60 miles northeast of San Blas which is up the coast from Puerto Vallarta. Check at these two sites for more information.
MSNBC
NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER

Night of LIFE

What an awesome time! Thank you all for your prayers for last Saturday. The youth event went great! The purpose for these youth events, “Noche de ¡VIDA!” (Night of LIFE!), is to draw in youth who normally don’t attend church so they can have a chance to hear the gospel. This also provides opportunity for the regulars to invite their friends and open doors for them to share with them. We did not know how many to expect to come since it’s been a few months since we’ve had an event like this, but nearly 50 youth showed up and the atmosphere was exciting! We sang praise songs, played games, listened to the Word of God, had a time of prayer and worship, and finished up with some more praise songs. The prayer time was special because those that needed a touch from God came forward and were touched. At the end of the evening, you would have thought we were at camp all over again. Everyone left excited, motivated to serve God and ready to face the challenge of choosing LIFE as they begin the new school year.

This Week

We've been preparing for a youth event for this weekend. The theme is "Back to School" and the message will be centered around making a decision to serve Christ. "It's time to choose who we will live for" from Joshua 24:14,15. Please keep this in your prayers. I have noticed some apathy in the group since we returned from camp...especially in the past week. Pray that God will touch the hearts of those that come and that those that need to come, will come and be open to God's Word. It's interesting to see where the group is right now and the message that God put on my heart weeks ago. I expect this to be a strenghening time for the group. It should be a fun evening.

First Day Of School!

We took Rebecka up to the Kindergarden Shool this morning for her first day of School! Yesterday was actually supposed to be her first day, but she missed it because we were involved in the funeral services for the baby who passed away. Rebecka is SO excited! She couldn't wait to go to school. She cried yesterday when we told her that she wasn't going to be able to go. She is standing in front of the school with her friends, Dani and Aylin.

Children's Team

We have a children's team from Tepic, Nayarit here right now. They are doing a great job! Last night we had a pretty good turnout and tonight we're expecting even a bigger crowd. I'm really impressed with the leadership of the team that's here. Please keep in your prayers the ministry to children.

Back on the Net

Thanks to Jay TenBrink, fellow missionary here, we're back in business with the Net. A lot has happened in the past week, so I'll do my best to bring you up to date...

THE BLOG IS NOT LETTING ME UPLOAD PICTURES AT THIS MOMENT.

On August 10, Emma turned four months old. She is growing a lot and has lots of fun with her bigger sister. Rebecka has a way of making her giggle hilariously.

Last Friday and Saturday night, we reviewed the material we went over with the youth back in February for a Student Leadership Conference. Friday was more of an information day, home group style. We talked about mainly spiritual warfare and had some time of worship at the end. It was a lot of fun! On Saturday, we had a Worship Experience night. Last February we did the same thing, but I forgot to bring my camera. It was set up to have different "Worship Stations" such as a place to write a letter to God, a corner to pray and ask for forgiveness (we had a pan full of sand that they could write sin down and wipe it away with their hand, signifying it's disappearance and forgiveness), we had a play-dough section where they could create things, and we had a coloring section with crayons. It was a very creative night where the youth were able to exerience worshipping God in other ways than music.

On August 13, Rebecka had her fourth birthday. She was so excited that it was her birthday! We were able to watch a movie of her choice together and then we got a phone call from Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Sheri, and cousin Trisha which she loved! We've been so busy, we haven't had a chance to make her a cake yet. Hopefully, that will be today.

As for other news, we've got some great things planned with the youth in the next couple of months. Please be praying the God would capture their hearts and they would respond. We also have some new musicians coming up to learn more instruments...that means more time dedicated to the worship as well. I would appreciate your prayers for wisdom on how to arrange my schedule so that it will not be hectic. Thank you.

News

We're still alive. We've been pretty busy with the youth and worship lately, cleaning up my office and our shed, and Rebecka's birthday. We had some internet problems as well, so as soon as they are fixed, I'll be able to update you on a few things; Rebecka, Emma, the youth, etc. Keep watch.

The TenBrink Family

Jay, Faith, Isaiah, and Elizabeth TenBrink are missionaries here in Cofradia as well. Jay has just set up a website for their family. Here's the link. For future reference, I have put a link to the right as well.

Just For Fun

I was browsing my home church's site today and found an "Application to Date My Daughter" that our pastor had made for anyone who wanted to date his daughter. Keep in mind that this was made FOR FUN!!! Here's the link.

Just Relaxing

Para Jovenes

Para Jovenes is a youth meeting that means, "Just for Youth." We met last Saturday night to play outside games together, eat barbacued hot dogs, watch a video of the youth retreat in July, and the new Hillsong United DVD, "The Stand." Hillsong has made a spanish CD of the songs and it turned out very impressive. The youth were really excited to watch the DVD and learn more about the instruments they play.

The Taylors

We were able to go visit Doug and Jan Taylor in Guadalajara last week for a few days. It was great to see them again and a blessing to be with them. Their health has improved quite a bit, Doug is recovering well and they may have oportunity to go back home to Canada before they had anticipated. Then, in November, they have to be back in Guadalajara for a follow-up surgery for Doug. Jan is still struggling a bit with some health issues, but is doing very well. Thank you all for your prayers.

Pictures at 3 Months Old

REBECKA FRANCES 2 1/2 MONTHS

EMMA ROSE 3 MONTHS

Rebecka and Emma

Rebecka was wiping her face from the bugs that were surrounding her while she was playing in the dirt. What a Princess!!

Don't see this too often, a 3 1/2 month old saying hello...

Pictures from the Retreat

Here is the meeting place that the youth met in daily. 104 youth in total attended and most of them were really into the camp experience.


Here's the guys. There was an intersting thing that happened in the youth group. There has always been a rivalry between towns. This week was a week of reconciliation.


One of the most incredible things that happened was the last night at a worship concert, our youth filled the front row to worship God. You can see all of them here with their hands raised in Worship.


Here's the 15 youth from Cofradia, Arrayanes, Santa Fe, and Paso Real. Four towns including Cofradia were represented in our group. The van in the background is the new van we got for the ministry.

Testimonies From Camp

Here are some testimonies of the students…

Juan Diego was touched by the Lord the night the parents showed up. Even though his parents weren’t there, he was able to allow God to touch him, forgive his parents, and be freed. He cried for a long time and later said that it’s been a while since he’s been able to cry. He said he feels like a big weight was lifted off of his life and now he feels free and joyful. He doesn’t feel anger towards his parents anymore. Praise the Lord!




Jesus (Chuy) is the oldest of the Pastor Gollo’s four boys. He is also the last one of the boys to draw near to God. As we all shared testimonies together in a group on Saturday morning, he said that on Wednesday night he was able to open himself up to God something he’s not been able to do before because of his own pride. Wow! God touched his life and he has a sweat heart for the Lord. On that same Wednesday night I had a chance to pray with him. Chuy is a strong leader. Everyone follows him, the Lord told him that he wants him to lead people as a good influence, using that gift for Him. Praise the Lord!


Jose Angel (Chupa), a student that I’ve talked about a lot, was also touched by God. The final night at the concert, the worship leader at the piano called out a “Jose Angel.” He was in the front row dead center of all the youth. The leader gave him a specific prophetic word about his future. As an only child, with no mom and a drunk for a dad, this is something he needed. Lately he’s been a little distant from church. This was a true blessing!




Sandra is one of our older and more mature youth in the Lord. She was touched by God the night the parents came as well. As she went forward to receive a hug from one of the pastors, she said that she really felt like it was the hug of her father. She said her father has never hugged her nor told her “I love you.” The Lord dealt with her and the attitude she had towards her father. Praise God!

Youth Retreat Report

For some reason, this blog site is not downloading pictures right now. I have some pictures to show and testimonies of the youth. I'll try again later. In the meantime, here is a report of last week at the youth retreat...

The youth retreat was awesome! We took 15 students, packing the van, to a small ranch near La Cruz, Sinaloa for 5 days. At the moment the first speaker walked up to the stage, I could feel the Holy Spirit and had great anticipation for what was going to happen during the week. The first two days were incredible, I have never seen a camp where everyone is participating in worship. I even saw some of our youth who are very, very shy, go up front with others and dance before the Lord. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. During the next couple of days, there were a series of great sermons. Thursday evening, the speaker shared about how we are to honor our parents. He challenged the youth to go to their parents and ask for forgiveness. He mentioned that many of them are probably thinking, “for what?” And sure enough, there was a show of hands and many were thinking that. He explained that holding grudges against our parents wasn’t right. They sometimes don’t know what we want…a hug, an “I love you,” time well spent. Many of the youth present had never received any of those things. At that moment, the parents of the youth from La Cruz showed up and they stood in a line in front of the meeting area. As they youth shot out of their seats and ran into the arms of their parents, everyone was crying. The pastors stood up front as well, standing in for those youth who’s parents weren’t there; from three other locations. It was powerful. All of our youth were impacted. I hugged a number of youth, even youth I didn’t know. Then, I had a chance to go with some of our youth still sitting in their seats, doubled over, in tears. We hugged, we prayed, I told them they were loved, and no one wanted the night to end. Incredible!

The next day was the final day. They finished their games and one more speaker shared. That night, we had dinner at some the tables that were surrounded by the lit torches. As we ate dinner, one of the pastors put together some pictures and video of the week’s events. The next day, we left for the city of La Cruz where there would be a concert that evening. We spent some time at the beach, had lunch and went to the concert where the winning team (out of eight) was to receive their prize. It was all worth it. I’m so glad we were able to go and especially see the youth being impacted by God during the week. It was powerful!

Youth Retreat

We leave tomorrow EARLY for Sinaloa. There are about 12-13 youth that will go to the youth retreat. Please pray that God will impact their lives during this time. Please pray for wisdom for me as I will be the only leader from our mission taking them. We are excited about this, it should be very fun!

Church Service

Last night one of the youth, Martin, preached in the service. He has been at Bible College for a year now and has one year left. His plan is to be a missionary to the Indigenous people of the Sierra Mountains near where we are located. He did a great job! He spoke with confidence, clarity, and authority. He shared about the spiritual gift he recieved when he was at school; speaking in tongues and interpretation of tongues. He did an excellent job of explaining what the gift is all about; how you can speak in an unkown language and he used his gift while ministering to others at the alter. We are very proud of him.