Virus Update

Thank you so much for your prayers and comments on my Facebook and my blog. They are so encouraging. Some of you have asked about the earthquake. We did feel it. Earthquakes are actually kind of interesting. Your body feels like it is on a ride at the amuzement park. Yesterday's quake was very small. Sam and Nicole didn't feel it yet, Natalie and I did. That tells you how small it was. Of course folks downtown Mexico City always feel it more as that part of the City was built on a former lake bed--not stable. It is true that right now the country is pretty emotional with all that it going on with the Flu Virus. There was no damage however from the earthquake.

We are growing a little tired of hanging around the house. We did venture out yesterday to see Sam's brother's family. This has been an opportunity for us to focus on trusting God. We say this so much but a sickness like this is causing us to talk about it and live it out.

We are looking into the possibility of meeting on Sunday in an outdoor location. We are thinking of having a service where we met for the Passover Meal. We have to take into consideration ventilation and as I heard last night on the news, " the six feet rule". This rule says you need to stay this far apart to not contract the virus if someone around you is sick. We will of course have to not greet others like we normally do. This is so hard here. Normally we greet with a kiss, hug and handshake. Yes, on Sundays we usually do all three with everyone. To some of you that seems very weird. It took me awhile to get into this but now I have to work hard not to do it in the States when we greet. In other words, it's a habit. If the government puts more restrictions on us we will probably have to cancel our service again. It is really strange to stay home from church. (even when church is in your home) We really miss not seeing our church family. Sunday is the best day of the week!

The government is thinking about shutting down the whole City. This means shutting down all public transportation as well as telling folks to stay home from work. This would really put a damper on things economically.

I will try and keep my blog updated on the happenings here. Thank you again for your prayers!

Swine Flu

This is a post to let you all know how the Swine Flu is affecting us. We did cancel our church service today. There are several reasons we did this. One is the Mexican Government has closed down many public meeting places and has asked that folks don't congregate. Our church congregation of 60 plus meets here in our home in very tight quarters with limited ventilation. Also we thought of our neighbors and our testimony with them. What would they think if they saw us ignoring the Governments recommendations. So, Sam called all our folks yesterday morning and told them to stay at home. Mexicans are taking this pretty seriously. When you are out and about you see nearly half of the people wearing surgical masks for protection. The soccer stadiums are empty during the professional games as the gates have been closed to not allow fans in. The whole City has been asked to avoid going to the hospital unless you have an emergency. The schools have been closed down until May 6th. The government thinks this is serious and they are taking and making great sacrifices to humanly do all they can to curb this illness. We know that God is ultimately in control and He has allowed this event to draw Mexicans to Himself. Pray that we would be stewards of these opportunities to be "light"! Pray that many Mexicans would come to Christ and know Him as their personal Lord and Saviour!

She got it!!!!!!

Thanks so much for all your prayers concerning Natalie's scholarship! She has been offered a 50% academic scholarship to play basketball at the Tec High School!! Natalie is pretty excited! We are still trying to figure out all the financing on our end to make it possible. Please continue to pray with us!

Hail Storm

This evening it started raining here in Mexico City. This is a bit unusual as we are still officially in "dry season". It rained and then it started to hail. Our girls were eager for the rain to quit enough so that they could run out and attempt to make a "hailman"! It sure was a lot of fun!


It almost looks like snow!!


This is as close as it gets to snow here!


Hailballs really sting! Especially when you are wearing shorts!!


Nicole and Natalie playing in the hail!!


Our attempt at a "hailman"!!

Great Retreat

Thank you for all your prayers!! I'll have to admit, camping is an activity that stretches me. Roughing it to me is staying in a hotel. Camps and Retreats are activities that are very effective with youth. I couldn't wait as a child 'til camp rolled around each year. It was the highlight of my life!! We all need to get away every once in awhile from the rat race and focus on God! I think that our Retreat was a success. Of course we had a couple of "issues" but overall we accomplished all that we set out to do. We had 21 youth and three adults. We had six visitors!!! Sam did a great job during the three teaching times of sharing the gospel as well as challenging the young people to be "salt". Natalie, our daughter, is ready for us to do another one!


Our tent community!


Here is the Bath House, Lodge, Dinning Hall and Kitchen!


We city folk sure enjoyed the fields, fertilizer and even the loud cows!!


We felt like we were out in the middle of nowhere!


A Retreat just wouldn't be complete without getting wet!


We sure had fun soaking each other!!


Water games!!!!


The youth really loved the trampoline--for jumpin' and chillin'!!


Camp food!!! Yum, yum!!


Can't have a Retreat without a campfire!! The kids really enjoyed making s'mores as well!!


Omar having his personal devos.




Me with the owner of the property where we held our Retreat! Thanks Ellen for the use of your spacious yard!!

Passover Meal

Thank you so much for your prayers for our special Passover Meal. We had over 90 folks in attendance. We are so grateful for all the hard work that went into this event. Please pray as our church folks follow-up on the visitors that they brought. The gospel was presented very clearly. We enjoyed the outdoor party place where we had our dinner. There was plenty of space for all of us plus space for the kids to run and play.


This is the Seder, or the Passover Meal. Our folks really enjoyed the mixture of flavors as well as the learning what each item represents.


The table looked so nice! And yes, that's grape juice in the copita!


The atmosphere was absolutely incredible!!


Araceli, Jorge and Alexandro cooking away!


The kids enjoyed the trampoline and the inflatable!


Here are some of the 32 children we had!!

Faces of Nueva Vida

Nueva Vida yum yums


Nueva Vida loveables


Nueva Vida dads


Nueva Vida moms


Nueva Vida couples


Nueva Vida gals


Nueva Vida guys

5th Anniversary!

Yesterday Nueva Vida celebrated five years!!! We are so thankful for what the Lord has done these past five years! Yesterday we had an attendance of 63!! We still had 6 regulars missing but that is because we are at the beginning of Spring Break here! We had a wonderful time of fellowship afterwards. Praise God with us!

Youth Group

We taught the youth how to play Dutch Blitz!! We played in teams!



Natalie and Karla blowing bubbles!!



Omar had the biggest bubble during the bubble gum blowing contest!

We are so enjoying working with youth again. Sam and I worked with the youth group at our supporting church before we came to the field. I have a new appreciation for youth pastors and youth workers. It's hard work! Of course most youth workers aren't also hosting a church in their home as well as organizing most of the other church activities, but I still admire them! We are seeing some spiritual growth in the kids which is so encouraging. Pray with us that God would stir up some interest in a couple in our church to eventually direct the youth. The two fellows that we thought had a desire have kind of fizzled. Here are a few pics from the last youth meeting!