Kitchen Hand Towels

A couple of weeks ago we had our first project using the kitchen hand towels that a lot of you donated back in September.  We handed out about 80 of them to each family in a neighborhood.  We put a "God Loves You" band around them, and invited them to a new Baptist house church that is located in their neighborhood.  Through this we were able to make contact with four christian families in the area, which was really exciting for the pastor.  One family was riding on a bus for an hour to attend church and was very excited to hear of a closer one to attend.  It was a great day making some great contacts and possible homes for other Bible Studies.  Click on the picture below to see pictures from the day.

Dec 2011

Long Time, No See

The title says it all, huh!  In fact I haven't been to the site in so long that it took me a minute to remember how to get to this point to type in this little square, LOL!  Since I have written last, we have transitioned over to our new role as Agricultural Strategist for Mexico as well as moved to a new city, but still in the state of Puebla.  Back in May and June we were busy packing the house to move on June 20, when we received the call that my paternal Grandfather ascended to his place in heaven at the feet of Jesus.  So we moved to our new city and two days later I (Brie) was on a plane back to Missouri for the funeral.  I returned with my parents on July 1 for their already scheduled trip to visit us in Mexico.  So for two weeks we had a great time showing them around our neck of the woods.  After they left we went for a week to our Annual Mexico meeting with others from around Mexico and immediately upon our return I began Homeschooling the girls for the first time.  This kept me very busy for a few weeks trying to get into a good rhythm.  September arrived and found us back on a plane to the States for Aaron's brother's wedding.  Aaron was a groomsmen and the girls were flower girls.  It was one of the most beautiful weddings I have ever been too and was so blessed to have been a part of it.

So here we are in December and getting a good grip on our new job assignment.  Back in October until just a few weeks ago Aaron has been helping a little town get back on their feet after torrential rains took out their town with flooding and mud slides.  He was able to take food, water, and coats for the children to get them through this tough time.

Just last week we were able to use some of the kitchen hand towels we brought back with us from our Prayer Partners, for the first time.  We gave them as gifts to each family in a neighborhood and invited them to the new Baptist church that was being started in a home near them.  We were able to find fellow believers who were traveling over an hour to get to a church in the nearby town.  They seemed relieved to know of a closer one they could attend that was just 5 minutes away.

Aaron is getting ready to head to Veracruz next week to talk to another little town about a well-drilling project.  At this point the people have to walk to the creek to fetch their water and carry it quite a ways back to their home.  Aaron will be talking with the men of the town to group them together and teach them how to reproduce the wells around the town, as well as spreading the Good News of the "Living Water" that is free for all.  We are very excited to see what God has in store for this town and how He will reach the lost through Aaron and these men.

Catching Up!

Well Drilling in Texas and Training in Peru

Click on the link below to see a few pictures of Aaron's Well Drilling training in Texas and Gabrielle's trip to Peru.  Also included are a few pictures of a weekend exploratory trip to Oaxaca.  Enjoy!

Peru and Oaxaca

New Life

What a great weekend we had in the village!  The other couple we work with and us held a cook out before the service, inviting the church members and their friends.  There were two men that came to eat with us who had never had anything to do with the church before.  One of them even stayed through the service!  The other couple said this was a pretty big deal.  We were excited to be able to witness it.  

Mylee and Evie were able to experience new life this weekend as they were able to play with some new baby goats.  You can probably imagine how much fun they had carrying them around.  In fact they had a hard time leaving them!

Click on the picture below to see these pictures and more.  

New Life

Farm, Village, and Onyx Factory

This a a compilation of a few different events that have taken place in the past two weeks.  The first set of pictures takes place at a local horse ranch that Evie's class went to for a field trip.  She was able to ride a horse, pet a bunny, milk a cow and press the fat out of cheese to make it ready to eat.  It was a day of many firsts for her and what fun it was to experience God's wonderful creations around us.

The second set are of our second trip to Tehuacan where we revisited the village where the bio-digester was built.  We were not able to get the stove lit, because of the lack of pressure to push the gas through.  Hopefully the next trip we will be able to see the fruits of their labor.  While we were in the village, Aaron was able to teach from the book of Acts about the early church to the believers there during their Saturday night service.  He will have another opportunity in a few weeks.

The third set is of a day trip we took to Tecali.  Tecali is a city about an hour from us that is famous for its Onyx and Marble crafts that are cut from the local mines around that area.  We went with a volunteer team to help translate for them.  On this trip, we were able to take a tour through the factory to see how they craft some of their pieces, of which we took a couple of pictures.  It was a great day for our family and the volunteers.

Click on the picture below to see our adventures.  Have a great week!

Farm, Village, and Factory

Christmas and Birthdays

Since our last blog we have had two birthdays in our family.  Gabrielle turned the big 3-0 and Mylee turned a big 7!  For Gabrielle's birthday a couple ladies here in Puebla helped Aaron throw a small surprise party the night before her birthday so that she wouldn't expect it.  She was very surprised!  Among our missionary friends, who feel a lot like family, we were able to celebrate Mylee's birthday as well.  She chose to have hers at Peter Piper Pizza, which is a little like Chuck-E-Cheese.  It was a great time to be had by all!  We also added a few Christmas pictures that we just realized we hadn't gotten off the camera.  Enjoy!

Christmas and Birthdays

Parrot Park and New Year's Eve

Parrot Park and New Year's Eve

Because the girls were out of school for Christmas break we decided to visit the parrot park once again to visit some of our favorite animals.  We took some pics of our favorites and then took a little lunch break about halfway through.  It was a great family day for all.  

Our New Year's Eve was great fun with other families here in Puebla.  We had fun with sparklers and dominoes well into the night.  It was a great night of fellowship and we were blessed to have been able to spend it with friends.  Enjoy the pics!