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!

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.