Closing out 2017

A quick note and a few pictures to bring you up to date.

Every year our town celebrates Kino Days in October.  Every year we see it as an opportunity to get thousands of pieces of literature out and into the hands and hopefully hearts of people.  People come to Magdalena from all parts of Mexico as well as from the southwest of the United States to celebrate the superstition that is Kino Days and enjoy the vices that Mgdalena is infamous for.  I teach our people that God gives us this opportunity to be missionaries to areas we may never be able to go to because God brings these people to us!

Samuel and Yolanda also invited me to witness their vows of marriage.  This is a couple with a whole lot of potential which has evidently also caught the Devil's attention as he is doing his best to distance them from being where they need to be – in church. 

Vicinte is a special encouragement.  He is 78 years old in the flesh but only a few months old in the Lord.  After a life of vainly searching in religion, he was found of God.  He knows it and he rejoices in it!  He is perhaps the most physically limited in our work yet he has become the most faithful.

Just look at this great up and coming crop of new men to serve the LORD.  What a great pleasure to have an instrumental part in training another generation from an early age!

Thank you for praying.

A New Crop of Sunday School Boys 

 Vicente's Baptism 

 Samuel & Yolanda's wedding 

 Kino Days Witnessing 

 Kino Days Witnessing 

A Beautiful Wedding

In September we were able to be back in Ohio for our home church's Mission's Conference which although planned some three years ago coincided with our daughter Abigail's more recent wedding plans.

Peggy was able to fly back to be in town earlier to be part of all of the final plans while Anna and I enjoyed a father and daughter road trip.  Abigail had asked "Dad" to build special trellis for her wedding which was part of the need to drive separately.

Anyway, Anna and I had a good trip back while Peggy enjoyed being able to be with Abigail to finish off the final details.

The wedding was a great success.  Abigail's desire was to have an outdoor wedding and God blessed with gorgeous weather.  The setting was perfect and the bride was beautiful!  Pastor Burke excelled in explaining the Godly purpose of marriage and bride and groom were happily wedded.

We are grateful that God has put James into our daughter's life and wish all the best to James and Abigail as they start their new life together.

"Then They That Gladly Received His Word"

We were blessed to have the five shown in the pictures below follow their Lord in believer's baptism on September 3rd.  For each one it was a decided step of faith in their own life.  

For Leonicio and Marta (especially Marta) it was a step of faith in getting past a bad "religious" experience with a charismatic cult.  She had a great distrust of organized religion and of pastors.

For Raul and Roberto it was a step of faith in front of a life time of wrong friends and bad living.  A personal testimony that God had made a difference in their life, that they were indeed new creatures.

For Marta not only was she taking a stand against her Catholic raising and the strong pressure continually put on her by her home but she had a very real fear of water.  She was the smallest one to be baptized that day and most definitely not the easiest.

We are grateful to God for His work in theses five lives and appreciate your prayers with us for their continued walk.  It is no surprise that our enemy has already sent his attacks.  God is able!

Leonicio & Marta 

Raul 

Roberto

Marta

 "They that gladly received His Word"

YOUTH CAMP 2017

Anna has just completed her second youth camp this summer. Her first week was with our home church in Ohio and this last week with our work here in Mexico. The two camps are about as different as two youth camps could possibly be and still be called by the same name!

Our home church puts on the youth camp back in Ohio and God has put it on our pastor's heart to invite and pay for Anna's travel back to Ohio to maintain a connection with her home church. I fully concur with his desire and thank God for his generosity.

The youth camp here is a combined effort of Independent Baptist Churches in the state of Sonora. Although we do not have any big responsibilities in it we are blessed to participate and enjoy the fact that the camp facilities that are rented are literally right down the road from our house. We get to sleep in our own bed and come home every night! Anna is a keen youth camp camper though and stays at camp and participates in every part. She wouldn't dare miss a minute.

CAMP as a Controlled Atmosphere for the Ministry of Preaching is a real help to our young people.

Youth Camp 2017

 Our three campers 

 Playing in the rain 

  Careful ball "handling" 

 Youth camp service 

DRIVING, DISCIPLESHIP & DINING:

Anna is taking driving lessons!  Sarah, Simon, Ezra and Abigail all had the liberty of open spaces and a four wheeler or a riding lawn mower to learn the basics long before actually taking the wheel of a proper vehicle.  They learned well and they have all done well.

For Anna it has been a bit different.  Our town life has not given her that opportunity.  So we have taken to the arroyo (dry river bed or wash).  She has been learning to drive in my 1984 Toyota Land Cruiser.  Her experience will no doubt be the envy of all her siblings and she will learn to drive a proper vehicle with a stick shift!

Recently a church in Arizona donated to the work some round banquet type tables.  What a blessing!  What a difference it makes compared to the rectangle tables as far as fellowship is concerned.  Our people love the round tables and we keep a couple set up so that they can be used before and after services.  With a cup of coffee and a bowl of peanuts we share in many impromptu discipleship classes after our normal service.

For this past Mother's Day Peggy took our ladies out to eat rather than plan a meal or activity at church.  Not all of our mother's were able to participate but those that did had a great time.  Dining out was a treat that few of our ladies very rarely get to experience and a first time experience for some.  With the husband and children out of sight and out of shouting range I hope that they were able to relax and just enjoy some personal time.

Thanks for making our ministry here in Mexico possible through your thoughtful care and prayer.

 Driving lessons for Anna 

 Anna at the wheel 

 Youth Song Special 

 Round table discipleship 

 Mother's Day Outing

Good Activities & Great Attitudes

The pictures included with this post tell of more good activities and great attitudes!  We thank God for both.




Maria Magdalena and her three boys have been attending for about a year now.  They are not consistent as she is limited by circumstances in the home but we continue to pray and trust God to open her heart as well and the heart of her husband and their boys.  




We were also recently blessed to have Missionary Samuel and Maribell Mendoza with us for a Sunday which "automatically" necessitated a fellowship.  Samuel started a new work in Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point) which his brother has taken as pastor and Samuel is now in a helps ministry.  Our people enjoyed getting to meet and know them.  My hope is to introduce our people to as many other Mexican pastors and missionaries as God will put in our path.




Of course we also had the opportunity to celebrate the Mexican holiday, "Children's Day".  Having been here now for a good number of years we have we have had the opportunity to see our first set of children become teenagers but thankfully we have a new group of children to raise in the work for the Lord!




Thank you for praying.

 Maria Magdalena and her boys

 Missionary Samuel & Maribel Mendoza

 A group of our younger ones 

 A turn at the pinata 

 Fellowshiping with the missionaries 

Celebrating an Anniversary

The weekend of March 19th we had the opportunity to travel down to Navojoa, Sonora, Mexico - about eight hours south of where we live.  Those of you who have followed us through the years will know that Navojoa is where we began ministry in Mexico.

It was our privilege and benefit to get to know Pastor Ismael Zamarron on our very first trip into Mexico and he has been a great help and good friend through the years.  He pastors two works and has several outreaches as well.  In the pictures below the small village work of Iglesia Bautista "El Salvador" is actually the original mother work and the Iglesia Bautista Bet-El is the daughter.  The anniversary service was for the daughter work which was celebrating eighteen years.  Pastor Ismael kindly invited us down to preach for the Saturday anniversary service.  We also stayed over on Sunday to preach in both works on Sunday.

On our way down we also made a stop in Hermosillo to visit with one of our former families that now lives there.  Their daughter is one of Anna's friend and she traveled with us for the weekend.  One of our prayers is for good and Godly friendship for Anna and we thank the Lord for allowing Leslie to travel with Anna for the weekend.

Thank you for your prayers for us even when you might not be exactly sure what we are up to.  Safety in "pilgrimage" is always an answer to prayer. "Success" in preaching is another.

Anniversary Song Service 

  An overflow crowd 

 Anniversary Preaching Service 

 Pastor Ismael & Lourdes Zamarron 

  Preaching in village - Iglesia Bautista , El Salvador