Wednesday, June 25, 2008

We are back in Texas

Brothers and Sisters,

Thank you for praying for us while we were in Mexico. We are back in Texas and we will all be heading back home tomorrow morning. Hopefully there will be many testimonies to post here and I would like to invite all of the members of our team to do so.

Please check back soon to see some of these comments as well as I will be posting a link to our church's missions website so that you can view the pictures and comments as well.

In all things....Christ preeminent!

Aaron

Aaron called

Well, last night I heard from Aaron again! Things are just great there!

Aaron had to get up extremely early Tuesday morning, and didn't get back to Centenario until 10:30 last night. The "Senior Trip" to Ciudad Victoria was nice, but tiring. However, he was not complaining, because again, what an opportunity to spend such a special time with the young men. When he got back to the camp site last night, the rest of the team was so excited because they had such a wonderful day with the people.

Also, I WAY underestimated the amount of people that have been attending the Bible study! The women's group has been having about 25. That is amazing!

Today, Wednesday, the team will say their goodbye's and head back across the border into Texas. I know I mention this every trip, but please pray. It can be so difficult to say goodbye. Especially when you don't know if you'll ever see these people again. Also, not knowing the impact of the time spent there can be difficult. Especially with this kind of mission trip. So often you hear of people building houses, or libraries, etc. Also, I myself have been on a mission trip that the whole point was to walk into a village, talk someone into saying a prayer....and really meaning it...then going on our merry way.

This week, I have had a handful of people, all "Christian's" mind you, question me as to what my husband was doing in Mexico. I explain that he is there on a mission trip. They say...oh, what's he building. I say relationships. They say...yeah, but is he building houses? I say no. They say... well then what is he doing there? I say making friends and telling them about Christ. Preaching. Teaching. They say...oh, that's all! As if to say that preaching the Gospel of Christ is not as important as building a house! Unbelievable.

So, if any of you kids are reading this after you get home. And you're struggling with knowing whether or not your time there was used by God (even though you didn't build a house!) Know that the Lord has used you. Remember Carmen. We saw no fruit for two years. Who would've thought that Carmen would come to know Christ!

Thank you for spending your time off with these people that we have come to love. They need to know Christ, and what an honor it is that they have invited us there to share! Thank you Lord for making a way!

Love you ALL!!!!!

Monday, June 23, 2008

OOPS!

I can't believe I almost forgot!

The women's Bible study is going so well. They have had a great response.

Also, VBS is going well, just as always.

The big news however, is that the evening Bible study is bringing in more families than we've ever had in the past! I plan to get more specifics on this tonight when Aaron calls. He told me that several families were attending. Folks, although several doesn't sound like much, when you consider there were only about 4 women and their children attending in the past....several families is a considerable amount.

Also pray that the men in the village will continue attending, and that even more may show up tonight! This is exciting!

Ok, well that's it for now. I'm sure I'll think of something else in about 5 minutes!

Update

Well, things are going just wonderfully in Centenario! The Lord is good, and he is bringing people out of the woodwork!

The people were sooooo happy & excited when our team arrived! They had once again been anticipating our arrival. As I've mentioned before, there have been many close relationships formed, and much trust has been gained over the past 4 years. The Lord has truly opened the door for us to share with the people there.

Friday was spent setting up camp, and catching up with a few friends.

Saturday, a few of the men went to San Juan (about 45 min from Centenario), to conduct a pastor's conference. One of the other churches that is participating with our group this year, brought a nice collection of books to give to each pastor in attendance. (Aaron will update with a list of the books, and the name of the church, later, I'm sure.) The books were all in Spanish, and were happily received. What a wonderful gift!! After a day of preaching, teaching & worshiping, it was back to Centenario. They were invited to come back to the church in San Juan on Sunday.


Sunday morning, Rick led worship, and Aaron did some teaching. About 20 people from our group were able to attend. Also, I hope I'm not making this up, but I'm pretty sure that Aaron said some of the locals went with them. (This is what I get for not posting immediately after talking to Aaron!) Then in the afternoon, they were able to attend a soccer game with some of the young men from the village.

Last night, (Sunday), the teacher from the school approached Aaron. The young men that are graduating this week, asked the teacher if Aaron can go on their "Senior Trip" with them. It's just a little field trip to the capital of the state Taumalipas. It is called Ciudad Victoria. They will be visiting a little museum and walking around the city. I'm not sure what day this will be. Maybe today?? This is an even greater sign that the Lord has opened a door with these young men. Even with the teacher, as he must have a great deal of trust with Aaron to invite him to come along.

Many of you are well aware that we had to make the trip shorter than originally planned. The desire was to stay in Mexico for 10 days this time. That was not a possibility due to the increased travel expenses. Normally, we are able to fly round trip for about 210. This year, one way was more than that! Please pray that the Lord will use their time there greatly.

Many of you have asked about Carmen. She is the lady that had the death saint around her neck. Last year, she ripped it from her neck, gave it to Aaron, and asked him to destroy it. She had placed her trust in Christ, and wanted nothing to do with the wicked way that she had been following! We thank the Lord for this over and over. Carmen is doing well. She continues to profess Christ as her salvation. She has been helping with the cooking this week.

Please pray for Can Can (Ivar) & Rudy. That their eyes might be opened to Christ!

Please pray for safe travel to & from the different towns in the area.

Please pray for me (Rachel) as I try to handle all things Bates Creek while Aaron is away. And for little Olivia who is REALLY missing her daddy! The last two times he went to Mexico she was only 3 months & 7 months. I wasn't convinced that she really knew what was going on. Now that she's almost 1 (July 5), she is really missing him. And she ABSOLUTELY knows what is going on! Every time my phone rings she says "Daddy!" She's just waiting to hear his voice on the other line! I can't wait to see her reach for him when he gets home!!!!! It's weird to think that last year's summer trip had me a nervous wreck, wondering if Olivia would come while he was gone! My how time flies.

Love to you all!

Mexico 2008

Hey Everyone! So sorry for the delay getting the first post up regarding our peeps in Mexico. This post is just a little blurb that I wrote up for our church, so that they can be praying accordingly each day.

The team has arrived in Centenario as of about 1pm today (Friday). They will be setting up camp and making initial visits this evening.

Saturday-Tuesday will be spent making home visits, having VBS, men's & women's Bible study, and helping with the locals in any way possible.

Saturday & Sunday, Aaron and a few of the other men will be conducting a pastor's conference in San Juan. They have a wonderful collection of books for the pastors that will be attending. It should be a wonderful time of discipleship & fellowship for the brothers that are living there in the neighboring villages.

Wednesday will be spent packing up & heading back across the border into Texas.

Thursday their flight leaves Harlingen at 9:00am and they will arrive in St. Louis at 1:30pm.

Please pray that this group would once again be well accepted among the community. Great accomplishment was made last year when the town officials gave us a letter of welcome to come there and minister as often as we would like. A great deal of trust has been gained through the repeated visits to this area in Mexico. We want the families there to realize that our people are there not to entertain them, and not for a vacation, but rather to show them the love of Christ.

Please pray for their safety while in Mexico, but also during their return.