The Month of December

Medical project, Christmas program, Christmas Eve

We started our month off with the Medical Project in two of the neighborhoods we have been working in.  We made quite a few contacts from that day that have led to ministry opportunities since then.
Evie came down with croup a couple weeks ago and had to stay home from school for a week to get over it.  But because of her absence she was unable to take part in the Christmas program at her school which was really sad for her.  However, Mylee was able to participate and I took a couple short videos of her performances.
Our cell group had a Birthday party for Aaron on Saturday the 18th.  It was a great time of fellowship for everyone!
Christmas is celebrated a little different here in Mexico.  The nationals begin on Christmas Eve around 11pm with dinner and continue on into the night ending with breakfast.  Then they take Christmas day to rest and recoup.  Our friends knew we had plans the next day and couldn't come at 11pm so they invited us to eat at 8pm the typical Christmas food they had prepared all that day.  We had spaghetti with a white sauce and pieces of deli ham mixed in, fruit salad, cooked pork with a spicy barbecue-like sauce on it, chipotle peppers stuffed with goat cheese, and BIG shrimp with heads and all!  It was all very good and we were proud of the girls for trying a little bit of everything.  We left around 10pm to give them time with their family and so we could prepare for the next day.  Another difference is they don't give presents until the 6th of January when the Wise Men's visit to baby Jesus bearing gifts is celebrated.
On Christmas day we were able to share the day with other families that live here in the same city.  We started with lunch at 1:30 and ended our day with games leaving around 10.  We also played the White Elephant game with Aaron winning a twin blow-up mattress and Gabrielle a CD case.  It was a great day for all.
Also included in the pictures is Evie's scraped up nose when she tripped on the concrete at school.  PTL it wasn't broken!  There are also pictures of the girls dressing up as the different characters of the Nativity as we talked about it over 3 days.  We had to get creative with this one, using only what we had around the house.  I will post pictures soon of our Christmas day festivities!  Enjoy.

Trip to Tehuacan

A few weeks ago we were able to take a trip to Tehuacan which is the city where we will be moving to next year. Aaron had visited the city before for the regional convention meeting. But this was the first peek Gabrielle and the girls were able to get. The main reason for the trip took place in a nearby village with another family building what is called a bio-digester. The main purpose for this contraption is for goat farmers to put to use the manure they collect and turn it into gas to cook with in their home. This will be very helpful to use in our new position in other villages around Mexico. In the link below are a few pictures from this trip plus a few extra at the end. Enjoy!

Tehuacan

Baptism

Baptism

How excited we are to tell you about the day of the baptisms!  Thank you so much for praying for us during this day.  As the day went on we witnessed many great things that we know wouldn't have happened without you all praying.  There were 65 people that attended the service!  Missionaries, pastors, friends and neighbors all attended to observe what baptism looked like for a young evangelical church.  Many seeds were planted as the Gospel was presented to those who were present.   We found it interesting that one of the church members prayed that God would hold the rain off until after 6:00 PM, and at 6:01 PM the rain began!  God provided beautiful weather for the outdoor baptisms and fellowship.  We used a big water tank cut in half for the baptistry and a tent for the sanctuary.  We were given permission to use one of the dead end streets in the neighborhood which the group members said was a miracle in and of itself.  It was fun to watch the members of the church put all this together and carry it out which is important in the reproducibility of the cell groups and the cell church.  Aaron did give an explination on the meaning of baptism and presented the gospel, but it was easy enough for one of the leaders of the cell group to recreate for the next time.  It was wonderful to see one of the leaders co-lead with Aaron so that later events will be led by one of the national leaders.  It is evident that God worked through you all that day and we are very excited to see what happens next in New Life Baptist Church.

Trip to the USA

Trip to the USA

 In June we had the opportunity to take some vacation time back in the USA.  The main reason for this trip was Aaron's study tour trip with the Seminary to Germany where he studied Church History and the Reformation.  So while he was learning, the girls and I spent some much needed family time with our extended family in Springfield and Kansas City.  We were so blessed to have been able to reconnect with our family and friends.  Above in the link are a few pictures of how the girls and I spent our time.  Coming soon...Aaron's Germany pics!  Stay tuned...

La Laguna

When we returned from our trip in July we were invited by some friends to visit a lagoon.  The city has been cleaning it up and preparing an area for families to go and spend time together.  They are still working to get it up and running but the path around the lagoon was finished to where people can walk.  What they have done so far is absolutely beautiful.  In Puebla there are very few areas where there is open areas to allow for play.  Most areas are taken up with either homes or businesses.  Having this area will be a great blessing to those who live near it.  Above are pictures from that day along with what our back yard looked like after being gone for 26 days during the rainy season.  You're not going to believe it!  Until next time...

Kindergarten Graduation

Graduation

On June 11, 2010, we experienced Mylee's Kindergarten graduation! The school that the girls attend put on a program much like the one at Christmas, but only with graduates of Kindergarten and 6th grade; however, every child was given a certificate for completing the year. Above is the link that will take you to the pictures and a few videos of the program. Enjoy!

Our Cell Group and Happy Birthday Evie!

Cell Group and Evie's Birthday

Last Wednesday was a special service for our cell group because we had our first commissioning service for three of the leaders.  They completed the 12 week church planting training that Aaron led every week and fit all the requirements of a leader that is mentioned in 1 Timothy 3.  Aaron taught a lesson from Acts 6 where the leaders of the church prayed for and appointed new leaders.  After the lesson we laid our hands on them and prayed for them as they did in Acts.  It was a very touching moment for the cell church and we are very excited to see what God will do next with this group.

Also this month we celebrated a very special day.  Our little Evie turned 4 on May 15.  She was able to have a little party with her friends at her school on the 14th since the 15th was on Saturday.  However on her birthday we went to the restaurant that she picked and we found that she had a temperature.  She slept through the whole lunch.  She had this for about 12 hours with no other symptoms  and then she was fine. It was so strange but so glad it wasn't anything serious.  Maybe just too much partying the day before!

In the link above you will find a few pictures of the cell group and some of Evie's birthday.  Enjoy!

Cinco de mayo Parade

Cinco De Mayo Parade

We were adventurous this past month along with thousands of other people and headed to the Cindo de mayo parade that was held here in Puebla.  Cinco de mayo is a holiday held on May 5 that commemorates the Mexican army's victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.  Going against the popular belief, Cinco de mayo is not the Mexican Independence Day as this is September 16.  Many schools traveled from all over the state of Puebla to participate in this parade showing off their uniforms, their school band and their school float that, as you will see, they spent quite a bit of time on.  Also included are a few short videos of the parade that you may enjoy. Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!

Spring Break

A few weeks ago the girls were out of school for two weeks.  One for Holy Week and the other for the actual Spring Break.  We continued on as usual with our regular work week but we did have a little extra family time together.  At Christmas we had brought back a bag of pretzel sticks and a package of white almond bark  that we hadn't used yet.  So the girls and Gabrielle made some chocolate covered pretzels and when we ran out of pretzels we used saltine crackers dipped in the chocolate and they were yummy!
Another day we took time to go visit the famous Catholic church built on top of a Mayan pyramid.  Below are some facts about this famous church.

With a base of 40 acres and a height of 214 feet, the Great Pyramid of Cholula is the largest in the world, whereas the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, with a base of 13 acres and a height of 480 feet, is the tallest. This immense structure is the result of 5 huge overlapping constructions built over a period of 10 centuries.

Only a tiny part has been excavated, down to the fourth layer, with the rest of the pyramid remaining completely covered by soil and vegetation, which makes it look more like a mountain than a pyramid. On top of this mountain-esque pyramid a Catholic church was built, by the Spanish in honor of the Virgen de los Remedios. This beautiful church is still used to perform mass and other important Catholic services.  

There are a total of eight kilometers of tunnels that run from north to south and east to west beneath the Great Pyramid. These tunnels were built in 1931 when the architect/archeologist Ignacio Marquina started exploring the site. He traced the edges of the five bases, the angle of the slopes and the stairs. Nowadays, just two kilometers of tunnel is open to visitors.

http://www.bestday.com/Editorial/Cholula/

We had a wonderful day exploring this pyramid, however we were unable to explore the tunnels as they were shut down for reconstruction after a recent cave in.  On the way down from the mountain/pyramid there were vendors selling different kinds of nuts and fried grasshoppers.  Gabrielle tried a handful of baby ones because they were tiny compared to the adult ones.  Her comment was "they weren't bad at all;  a little crunchy and spicy because of the chile powder on them but not bad at all!"  We ended up passing on this purchase and bought some pistachios instead.

All in all we had a great two weeks with the girls but they were ready to get back to school to see their friends.  Click on the picture below to see pictures of what was talked about in this post.  Have a Happy Mothers Day for all the mothers out there!

Spring Break

Preaching and Teaching in Spanish

How time does seem to fly these days. We have been getting busier and busier as the weeks pass as God continues to put different ways to expand His kingdom in our path. One of the most recent ways was Aaron's first opportunity to preach in Spanish. Mount of Olives Baptist Church asked Aaron to teach on Prayer Walking. God gave him the ability to speak with fluidity and clarity. After the service, they used the Sunday School hour to go out and practice what they learned in five neighborhoods. Gabrielle had the opportunity to go out with the pastor's wife and had a wonderful time seeing her heart for the lost.

We have also seen God work in the lives of the members of New Life Baptist church. By God's grace nine people have come to Christ in the past 2 months. Recently we took a day trip to a nearby village to visit one of the member's brother and his wife. Elvira, the cell group leader that we have trained, ended up leading the wife to Christ only 2 weeks after the brother had given his life over to Christ during a visit to his sister's house. We participate in the cell group every Wednesday and have seen this group grow from 5 to the 19 (including children) that attended this past week. It has been real exciting to be a part of what God is doing in Puebla.

Below is a link to pictures of these two events plus a couple of other events like Mylee's Birthday and some of our family time outings. Thank you for your continued prayers that we feel have gone straight from your lips to the Father's ear. We are praying that you and your family have a blessed Easter and will have a chance to celebrate together the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus.

Aaron preaching, day trip, Mylee's birthday and more!

Cell Church Workshop

After looking back through pictures we realized we did not tell you about the Cell Church Workshop that our team held in November for Baptist pastors and lay leaders in Puebla. We asked our co-workers Tommy and Beth Larner in Tijuana to come to Puebla to lead a one day workshop explaining what and how the Cell Church structure works. We had about 75 people show up for this event and we were ecstatic! It began at 8:30am and ended at 4pm. The day included a coffee and tea break around 10:30 and then a quick lunch that consisted of typical Mexican lunch (mole poblano, tortillas, rice, beans, sausage and boiled pig skin).

At the end of the day everyone was asked to fill out a questionnaire about the workshop and what kind of interest they had in partnering with us. We received very good feedback with quite a few pastors and leaders interested in starting cell groups in their churches. Since then we have been busy starting work in the different areas that the Lord has led us to work in. Below are the pictures of the workshop plus some pictures taken from our roof of the four volcanoes that surround Puebla. This is our favorite part of the landscape here in Puebla: Waking up every morning and seeing the magnificent handiwork of God! You will not want to miss these or the few pictures of the girls! Have a great week in the Lord.

Cell Church Workshop and Volcanoes

Trip to the U.S.

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We were blessed this past Christmas to have been able to spend it with family and friends in the States. We made the 28 hour trip back in a VW Euro van to the border first and then switched to a rented Chevy impala for the rest of the way. We could feel so many prayers going up on our behalf during the whole trip as we never had car trouble and we were never stopped by the police. We were able to have some quality time as a family and then time where we, as a couple, could talk and catch up on life. We also had the opportunity to speak in two of our supporting churches and gained a few more prayer partners. It was a very long trip in the car and very tiring but worth every minute. God is good! Below are a few pictures from our trip and then at the end a few random pics from before we left that are just now getting posted. Thanks for checking them out. Have a great day in the Lord.

Christmas 2010