Over the Horizon

Canyon Hills Youth STM: June 25-July 4

We were privileged to host the youth outreach team from Canyon Hills Church in Bothel, WA from June 25 to July 4. This team is always amazing. In the past they have focused on evangelism in surrounding towns, but this year they focused more on the youth ministry in addition to their construction project. Rather than write up a report about their STM outreach, this year Steve and Jay created a video to overview their time with us in Cofradía. So, here it is for your viewing pleasure!

Saturday Cofradia Outreach

The women of Cofradia hosted their own women's outreach, in the same vein and spirit of the outreaches they have enjoyed through the women of Cy-Fair Christian Church in Houston, TX. Those women have come down every year for five years, now, to befriend and minister to the women of our church and the surrounding area. The local women have grown tremendously in these five years, and they have learned a great deal about reaching out to each other through their experiences with the Cy-Fair women. So, this year, it appears it was the Lord's timing that they begin to reproduce what has been sown and harvested in them!

Colleen posted a report on her blog about what she heard about this event from Kathy, the wife of our area director and the head of our women's and children's ministries. Enjoy the read and please rejoice and praise the Lord with us for His mighty works and goodness poured out in this area of Mexico!

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SATURDAY COFRADIA OUTREACH

This Saturday, tomorrow, the Cofradia ladies will host a women’s event as an outreach to their neighbors in Cofradia and the surrounding villages. They are planning a craft, hamburger cookout, and will share testimonies and a message about Jesus. In addition, the grant money from the Inspire Women organization in Houston was used to purchase worship CD’s that will be given to all the women who attend. Just imagine the power of God’s word and praise in this many homes!

Today I will just post some beautiful pictures of Cofradia and Hermanas en Cristo.

Slaving over the tortillas! Note the pile of rejects...

Crafting

Bougainvillia grows as large as a tree.

Joyful Chepi

Countryside

Happy after Texas-style dinner.

Cy-Fair Ladies Team, January 8-15 -- Part 3

And here goes Part 3 of Colleen's report about her experiences with the Cy-Fair Women's Outreach, January 8-15. It is taken from her blog, The Pattern Of Sound Words.

This is her fifth year coming on this outreach, some years as team leader and others as a regular member; regardless of her role on the team, her years of coming have affordered her a wonderful insight into the women of the area and the Lord's work in and through them over the years. Her friendships with them have been precious. I hope you enjoy what she has to share as much as I do. Thank you, Colleen!!!

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COFRDIA 2011 -- HUSBANDS & WIVES

The formal theme for this year’s women’s mission trip to Cofradia was “Who is Jesus?” The theme that emerged during the week was “Husbands and Wives.” As with women all over the globe, our husbands, children, and homes (the reality of them or the lack of them) are our most common concern.

Secu and daughters

This is Secu and her four daughters. Her husband works in the United States about six months out of the year leaving Secu with her girls. The family has been blessed financially and the husband was saved through an evangelist while here, but this is a hard way to shepherd and raise a family. Please pray that Secu’s husband would find enough work at home to be a full time father and husband and grow to be a leader and elder in the Cofradia church.

Lydia

Meet Lydia. She is 21 or 22 years old and the mother of 4 young children. Lydia has served as our worship leader for several years and, when temporarily released from her cares, shines with joy. Lydia testified to some physical and emotional difficulties she had experienced in the past year in her marriage. I was thrilled that she was able to come to the sleepover and just be a daughter and sister for the evening.

Josefina

I was in a group that ate lunch at Josefina’s house. She has 10 children and also cares for a disabled sister. She shared that when she first started going to church regularly, her husband did not like her to go. As she studied God’s word and worshiped, she began to change in her heart. This was something her husband noticed. Now, although he does not yet attend with her, he encourages her to go. Josefina testified that her study of God’s word has changed her ‘house’.

Isabel and Joshua

Isabel was our primary interpreter. She has worked with Alternative Missions staff for many, many years and is a delight to know. She has moved to a new village about an hour away from Cofradia (and all of her friends and support group) in order for her husband to work. There are many difficulties in her marriage but I so admire her moving to a new place. There is no Christian church and she may be willing to work with a couple of her friends to begin a Bible study with them. Please pray for her continued faithfulness and submission to her husband and for her strength and opportunity to begin sowing the gospel into new friendships.

“Who is Jesus?” Revelation tells us that Jesus is the bridegroom coming for his Bride, the church. Husbands and Wives is a most apt theme for our consideration and prayers.

CREDIT DUE: I didn’t know what part of our wonderful week I was going to write about today until I read this post on a blog I visit almost every day.

Cy-Fair Ladies Team, January 8-15 - Part 2

Here is Colleen's "Part 2" report about the Cy-Fair Women's Outreach in Cofradia, January 8-15. This is from her blog, The Pattern Of Sound Words.

Enjoy!

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COFRADIA 2011 -- PSALM 126

“I get Cofradia now.” This was a comment from one of our new team members. She has supported the Cofradia missions ministry through her involvement in CyFair Christian Church in Houston and specifically by sending her sons and other family members down to work on the many teams sponsored and supported by that church body. The efforts expended by the missionaries and short-term teams who have served in Cofradia have been used by God to transform the lives of many individuals and those little village communities. Since it is always a little overwhelming to try and tell others about this “Cofradia,” I have often reverted to using God’s word to direct my musings. For this trip, I found the words of celebration on Psalm 126 were pretty close to perfect.

Psalm 126 – to Voice the Joy of Restored Community

“When the LORD brought back the captive ones of Zion, we were like those who dream.”

Five years ago, the women’s mission trips to Cofradia were certainly a dream in my mind. I was on a visit there and was drawn to the women who fought many of the same battles on a daily basis that we do – children, spouses, friends, and spiritual growth. All of us have at one time been captives to sin. The story of the Bible is a grand story of God searching, calling, and rescuing individuals. He gives them His Spirit and words for life and life eternal. We get glimpses of Zion as we worship together but Zion that final glory, waits.

“Then our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with joyful shouting; Then they said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.”

In a previous post, I summarized our 2011 trip as being Joy and Laughter. The Lord God has surely done this great thing! The growth in the Cofradia ladies in both number and spiritual maturity is inspiring to recognize. Our reception on the first visit was driven by curiosity and not a little trepidation on the part of the local ladies. We knew that they were motivated by relationships and determined to begin right on that point. “Hija, Hermana, Amiga” became our theme: we are Daughters of the King, Sisters in Christ, and invite our Friends to come along to learn and have fun. The teams set out to model participation in worship and Bible studies and the dear ladies in Cofradia were willing to go right along and try many, MANY new things. Until this year’s “Reverse Day”, we always sang our worship songs in Spanish. I have always treasured this experience as being a preview of worship in heaven with the many nations and tongues.

“The LORD has done great things for us; We are glad.”

All glory is due to God for changing hearts, lives, homes, and communities. This year we spent more time giving and hearing testimonies. I absolutely loved this opportunity. (Do you think we should maybe consider doing more of this in our churches also?) This year, both groups planned and served, all the while trusting God to use these as offerings for His glory. We truly never know what small act – a smile, message, Bible study, craft, or service – will be used by God to speak to another heart. He is sovereign, powerful, providential, and His lovingkindness is fully on display during the sharing of these testimonies.

“Restore our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the South.”

One of our Bible studies this year was given by the Samaritan Woman at Jacob’s well. There Jesus promises living water and that “whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” (John 4:14) The faithful service of the women’s teams, willing to give up a week of time and many other resources to go to Cofradia has been noticed by the Cofradia women. Their greatest fear is that their growth will be such that the teams will stop coming. Please pray with us that they continue to seek God through His word and increase in hunger for His presence in their lives.

“Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting.”

I pray that we are all reminded that the gospel is for us each and every day. Yes, we take it to the unsaved, but repentance from sin, and God’s forgiveness gained through Christ’s sacrifice leads to joyful shouting. Those who sow with faithful deliberation trust God to provide; the reapers harvest with the same faithfulness and marvel at the work that has been done. Tears of repentance bear the fruit of godly joy. Many parts of a mission trip are hard but I simply cannot think about this year’s visit without wanting to joyfully shout!

“He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed, shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.”

The years’ “Reverse Day” was truly a blessing to me. Not only did the local women plan and present the morning program but also helped us learn one of their crafts and even took photos of us like we do! As an extension of this practice, we are supporting the Cofradia women in their community outreach this coming Saturday – January 22. Please join us and pray that these seeds are sown for God’s glory and that their love for Him and for each other will be a magnet to draw others into this circle of Hermanas en Cristo.

Cy-Fair Ladies Team, January 8-15 -- Part 1

Once again, the local women of Cofradia and the surrounding areas were graced with the yearly visit of Ladies from Cy-Fair Christian Church in Houston, TX. This was their fifth year doing outreach with our women, and from what I hear it was a memorable one!

Since I was not present for this outreach, I cannot report on all the details of their activities. However, one of the women agreed to let me re-post here the reports she shared on her own blog, The Pattern of Sound Words.

So, here goes the first of those reports. Enjoy!!

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COFRADIA 2011 -- JOY AND LAUGHTER

I have been reflecting on our women’s mission trip to Cofradia, Mexico, trying to distill a year of planning and a week’s activity into a summary. The essence of my reflection is summarized by ‘Joy and Laughter’.

Sunday morning services brought old friends to the church compound and each was greeting with exclamations of joy, kisses, hugs, and admiration of new babies. The women’s meetings each day ran from 9-11:30. These included crafts, door prizes, singing, testimonies, and special guest appearances by the Woman at the Well, the Boy with the Loaves and Fishes, and Colleen in her pajamas! (Essential Bible study attire.)

Our big event occurred on Wednesday. This year featured a “Reverse Day.” The local women prepared a craft, provided door prizes for us, and gave the morning program with testimonies and a prepared meditation. A section of our team cooked a Texas southern meal in the evening. The supper was followed by a talent show, lots of music and fun, a movie, a bonfire with s’mores, and a sleepover – all at the new church building.

The sleepover was an activity that the local women had wanted to do for quite some time. It was quite a learning experience for them AND THEIR HUSBANDS as they do not usually leave their children at home. I must say their enthusiasm and participation in strange and unfamiliar activities was a highlight for me. During the night, the acoustics from the church were such that our laughter and music could be heard throughout the whole village. People sitting out on their porches or the street were seen to be laughing along as they heard our joy and laughter.

The church ladies sure know how to have fun! I will use some time these next few posts to tell you more specific details of our week of joy and laughter.

Southside Team, March 27-April 3

The youth from Southside Christian Church in Spokane came down again this year to do their VBS and Kids Carnaval in Cofradia. It was great to see and work with them once again. I am very grateful to them since they are the ones who made it possible and necessary for me to be in Cofradia in March-April. They had a team of 42 PEOPLE!!! It was quite a large team...the largest we can accommodate really!

Sandy and I worked together on the prep for this team, most especially when it came time to do the shopping. We went two days in a row in order to get everything we needed, and both days the truck was packed full! Then on March 27, we headed north to the Mazatlan airport to meet the team and an intern who would be working with us for the same week.

That was an interesting story actually! The past couple of years we have traveled with the bus driver who was hired to pick up the team, since he was heading from Tepic and passing right by Cofradia on his way to the airport. We just waited for him on the side of the highway and hitched a ride as he passed on by! This year, however, the bus drivers were coming from north of Mazatlan in Culiacan, which meant we would be unable to hitch a ride with them. So, the night before, we went out to the bus station and bought tickets for the next day since the buses were filling up fast. The lady at the sales window did not inform us that you're not actually allowed to reserve seats in advance, so that's what we did!

Well, March 27 dawned, and we headed to the bus station to wait. The bus was supposed to pick us up around 8:45 am. However, we kept waiting and waiting and waiting and it never arrived. It's a 3-4 hour bus ride to the airport, and the team was arriving around 2 pm. So, by 10 am we were getting very nervous! Finally, the guy at the check-in window came and told us that he'd gotten a call and the bus that we were waiting for had JUST LEFT GUADALAJARA!!! (which is a good 4 hours away) due to mechanical problems, and the bus that was supposed to arrive AFTER ours was on its way from Tepic. Well, I was not happy about this. The bus from Tepic wouldn't leave our station until 11:45 which was too late to meet the team on time. So, I tried to get a refund for the tickets we had purchased, and he wouldn't' do it. I got the royal run-around, but basically he said their policy was no refunds for any reason....even if it's the company's fault!

So, I ran around the corner to see if I could find another bus with another company that would be leaving sooner. Thankfully, there was one leaving right then and the tickets cost half as much as the other ones. We had to pay for extra tickets, but we did finally get there about 10 minutes before the team did! Thank the Lord! And the intern gal, Esther, was there waiting for us. So, all worked out well in the end, and very shortly we were headed back to Cofradia with a content crew and a full bus!

Packing up the bus with all the luggage at the airport....at 2 bags x 43 people, that's 86 bags!! They barely got it all in!

The team arrived safely and happily to Cofradia and their outreach was off to a running start! The first night was filled with settling in, dinner, orientation, leaders' meetings and planning out the strategy for the week, and the next morning dawned early with worship team rehearsal during breakfast and then the church service. In the afternoon, Dave took the team on a tour of the town and a hike up to Cross Hill just outside of town. This hill is neat because from the top you can see the entire town! While up there Tonia gave a devotion and word of encouragement to the team. She shared about the first team this church ever sent down (about 8 years ago) and how their rough edges and edgy testimonies really touched her and made Jesus seem more real as a solution for real people drowning in the their real-world problems. The testimony touched everyone on the team and really encouraged and challenged them for the week to come!

 

(left) A shot of the girls' palapa all settled in; (right) The dinner line first night!

 

Dinner (left) and breakfast (right) in the Church Palapa where all meals take place

 

(left) Music portion of the church service; (right) Ministry/Prayer time at the end of the service

  

(left) Hiking up Cross Hill; (right) Two of the girls on the team looking out over Cofradia below

 

Tonia (left) giving her devotional to the team (right) on top of the hill

The rest of the week was full of construction in the mornings and VBS Kids Clubs in the afternoons. In fact, VBS Kids Clubs started on Sunday during Sunday School so that Thursday could be devoted entirely to the Kids Carnaval in the center of town.

For their construction projects, the team worked on making steel cages to help finish up the prep for the second floor roof, which was poured the week after they left by Dave, a team of guys from the church, and a cement truck! They also worked on leveling the ground and pouring the slab for our outdoor grill/kitchen in the Fellowship Garden at the new facility. It was a lot of work, but they did it and got everything done and done well!

 

(left) The cage-making team; (right) Picking away at to level the grill/kitchen floor

 

Moving cages up to the second story roof for installation

 

Dave and the guys working on preparing the second floor roof

 

More roof work!

   

Pouring the grill/kitchen floor

Sunday morning and then Monday through Wednesday in the afternoons, the team put on yet another successful VBS Kids Club that included singing, fun games (water balloons, relays, etc.), dramas, an application for the drama, and a craft each day. It was a total blast, and they did a great job! These VBS events have been growing in attendance for the last few years. So, this year we decided to hold the events in the new church facility sanctuary. We had so much space and it was such a great space for all that was put on! What fun!

 

Worship/singing time; the band was even joined by Caleb (right) each day!

 

Playing water games!

 

(left) Some more singing, this time action songs; (right) Drama!!

 

(left) Listening to the application; (right) Craft time!

One of the things we do with most teams that come down is devotions in the evenings after dinner. Most teams plan some sort of team devotional time to do amongst themselves, but we as a staff very much see the teams that are with us as yet another ministry opportunity in addition to the locals we live with daily. And it's a very special investment opportunity with teams because they take it all back with them and reinvest it in their spheres of influence back home! So, the multi-dimensionality of that investment is quite rich. The Southside teams are always very welcoming of our sharing with them in addition to their own team-led devotions each afternoon, and we try to mix it up so that they not only hear from us but also from locals!

 

One night our youth did the Lifehouse "You're All I Want" Drama for the team. You can see a video of our youth doing this drama here

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One night, they heard from Jesus (Chuy) who is our youth pastor intern. He has an amazing testimony, and it has been a privilege to watch him grow-up in the Lord!

This team also always enjoy other moments together during their free time or other planned experiences we have in store for them. As with all teams, they get to eat lunch one day in the home of a local family, which is always a treat. And they also like to go enjoy snacks, dessert, and sodas in a bag at the restaurant just half a block away. They are always having fun in everything they do, and that adds a whole extra level of energy to their outreach!

 

(left) Soda in a bag; (right) Hanging out at the restaurant in the evening

 

Lunch with a local family: tacos prepared by Norma (right, sitting in chair). Her children are Javie, Eva, and Oligario and they live two doors down from the ministry base.

On Thursday, as soon as lunch was over, we immediately started preparing for the Kids Carnaval which started around 4 pm. The team was prepared to serve hot dogs and hand out "duritos" which are made of fried flour and usually covered in hot sauce and other condiments. We also rented a mechanical bull and four air bouncers for loads of high-energy fun. Anyone and everyone in town was invited, and we served something like 600 hot dots and duritos!! Also, Steve and our worship band sang some songs for background music, as well as the youth pastor (Jamie) and some of the kids putting on a small concert for fun dancing! It was CRRRAZY!! But so much fun!

  

Some larger views of the square and all the folks who came out for some fun!

 

The hot dogs...they were yummy!

 

(left) Steve and our worship band; (right) Jamie and some of his kids

 

The castle bouncer was a big hit!

 

Can't have a town party in Mexico with some bull riding!!

 

 

  

 

Me and some of my favorite kids: (left) one of Lupe's twin daughters, and (right) Jose, Mirna's son

Then on Friday, the team got to go to the beach at San Blas. We forwent the Tovara jungle riverboat tour this year and just went straight to the San Blas beach. They spent the day playing volleyball and swimming and sunning and eating really great food! It was a well-deserved day of fun for all, including myself :) Then that evening, we hosted a prayer and praise evening for the team and the church members. This was actually inspired by an experience this team had two years ago on their last night before flying home from Guadalajara. So, what we did was invite the whole church to come to an evening of worship at the church. Then when the music portion was over, there was time to pray and then we sent out the team and the church members in small mixed groups to walk around town and pray for the town. It was really powerful, and everyone who participated felt the same way. I just love watching how the Lord moves in and among the members of this team each year!

Finally, Saturday morning rolled around, and the team packed up and loaded onto the bus to go to the airport and fly home. I had the privilege of riding along with them to the airport and seeing them off. It's always so hard to say goodbye, but all good things must come to an end so that we may move on to the next good thing.

 

The coolest part of that trip actually came on my ride with the bus driver back to Cofradia. We had to make a stop at one point, and the bus driver's assistant stayed on the bus when the driver got off to attend to some detail. While we were waiting for him to come back and continue driving us back south, the kid started asking me questions about Christianity. It seemed he had grown up Catholic (as most Mexicans do), but had some exposure to the Mormon faith (they are very active in Mexico!). While we were talking about some of the external, more obvious differences (i.e., Christians can drink coffee while Mormon's can't, etc.), the bus driver returned and started sharing in the conversation as we again headed south. He ended up sharing part of his story and was very open about how he and his wife are separated and his son is living with his wife. He said that some friends had given him the video Fireproof to watch, and as a result he is trying out the Love Dare on his wife in an attempt to reconcile. Yet, he recognizes that he needs a savior in His life. I laid out the "steps" to salvation for him, and encouraged him to get involved in a local church, and even gave him the information for one that I know of in Tepic where he lives. It was just one of those really cool divine appointments that the Lord sets up. It's amazing how many of those open up on a daily basis if we will only have eyes to see and ears to hear! Needless to say, I've been praying for him!

It was an amazing week, and once again such a pleasure to work with Jamie and his youth from Southside!!! I pray I will have the opportunity again in the future. Only the Lord knows, but for now, I am thankful the opportunities I have already had and certainly treasure each one!

And thanks to Esther for all the great pics. Only a few were from Sandy..the rest were from Esther, our intern that week! Thanks, Esther!

Cy-Fair Youth Team, March 13-20

Alright!! Steve finally got a blog posted about the Cy-Fair youth team that was in Cofradia March 13-20!! This means that I finally get to know all about it, which means that YOU finally get to know all about it!!!

So, without further ado, here is Steve's report from his blog.

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For the seventh year in a row, the Cy-Fair youth have come down to build relationships with our students. It's always a blessing to have them here and this year the relationships continued to strengthen as other new ones were formed.

For the past four years, they have served us at an awards banquet for our students and this year's theme was "Pairs". Each student came paired up with one or more others dressed in various different costumes; here are a few...

 

(left) Nurse & patients..this was one of the best (Aide, Abraham, Sandy); (right) Pastors Mike and Dave dressed up as...yes...Jesus and the Devil

 

(left) Soccer players (Goyo & Yito); (right) Little girls (Mily & Veronica)

 

(left) More little girls (Rebecka & Emma); (right) Punk rockers (Alfredo & Isaiah)

 

(left) Bikers (Fran, Jonathan, & Guille); (right) Oh, and us (Gena & Steve)

This year Interns Luis and Chuy announced the awards winners. Since the theme was "Pairs", we decided to give two awards for each category. It worked out really well. Here are the winners... 

SPIRIT AWARDS: These awards went to the two students that stand out in their enthusiasm and good attitudes.

 

(left) Gregorio "Goyo" Hernandez; (right) Isiah TenBrink

NEW GENERATION AWARDS: These awards went out to the two students coming out of elementary school who have shown the most potential as leaders and good examples in the youth group.

 

(left) Jonathan Elias; (right) Karolina Vazquez

SERVANT AWARDS: These awards went to the two students who stand out amongst others with a willingness to serve and help out, not waiting for someone to ask them.

 

(left) Jazmin Galicia; (right) Luis Aguilar

BRAVE HEART AWARDS: These awards went out to the two students who stand out in their growth in the Lord and as leaders. They have taken huge steps this year and were commended for their courageous attitude as well as their willingness to serve.

 

(left) Jose Luis Gonzalez; (right) Pedro Salaiza

This year we decided to share a drama with the team. After one week of rehearsals, they did a great job. Here is the video:

The next few days were spent building relationships with each other through a 1/2 day volleyball tournament, an evangelism and garbage clean-up in San Diego (a village about 7 miles towards the mountains), and a free day where the guys played soccer and the girls did manicures and pedicures.

 

(left) Manicure/Pedicure Day; (right) Soccer Day

The final day together, we went out towards Arrayanes (a village 3 miles north) where there are some ruins to explore as we divided up into four small groups and shared our testimonies with each other with the idea that "these are the ruins in my life, and God has made me a new creature." It was pretty nice.

These are some arches that extend across the creek. They may have been used in an attempt to damn the water in order to find special stones.

This tree raps around a pillar that was part of an old Catholic Church. A lot of the rocks have been taken, but you can still see how the church was laid out as well as an underground room; some say it was the place where they tortured the protestants...I do not know if that is true.

Each team the comes down has the opportunity to get their hands dirty in the mornings with a construction project. This team's project was to begin working on bending, tying, and laying out rebar for the second stories roof of the new church.

It was a great time of encouragement and building new relationships. Our students love it when this team comes down because of the relationships they've built. Thank you Cy-Fair.

Canadian Variety Group, Februry 27-March 6

A group of folks from Canada and Minnesota headed down to Cofradia last week to do construction on the new church facility and knock out a bunch of smaller yet highly important tasks from our construction to-do list! I wasn't there (obviously), but I'm itching to get down there later this month and see what progress they made. Steve posted a report about their construction progress, and the pictures look GREAT! That facility is morphing so fast into more and more of its final form, and it's amazing to hear about and watch and see pictures!! So, here is the post that Steve put on his blog. Enjoy!

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We had a group come down from many different places and churches so we called them our "Variety Group." They spent their time here serving in the construction of the new church building and they were able to accomplish a lot! To name three huge projects, they painted all of the classrooms of the first floor, they painted all the sports lines in the sanctuary (three volleyball courts, basketball, and speed soccer court), and they were able to build the stairway to the upstairs classrooms. They did a great job and were a huge blessing to have here!

The stairway is excellent!

The lines look good!

Here is a pic from uptop looking down on the volleyball players. There are games being played every day in the  new facility!

Cy-Fair Ladies Team, January 9-16

On January 9, 12 women from Cy-Fair Christian Church in Houston, TX arrived in Cofradia to minister to the women of the area for an entire week. This was their fourth year coming to Cofradia, and about half the team were newbies. It was totally exciting to see them, and I was so thankful the dates worked out the way they did since that meant I was able to see good friends for a couple of days before I flew back to Virginia!

These ladies always come down with fun, vibrant, creative ministry and fellowship ideas, but they are always most focused on building intentional and deep relationships with the Mexican women and investing in their spiritual growth in very personal and deeply-impacting ways. The local women wait in longing all year for this team to arrive. Then when the time finally arrives, there's an electric energy that hovers over the whole town for the whole week! It's amazing!

I missed being there to help with this team this year. That is one of the hardest parts about not being in Cofradia right now, but that doesn't mean you have to miss out on reports and pictures!!! Steve posted a report about their mission week on his blog, so I'm sharing it here. AND, one of the ladies on the team gave me permission to use some of the pics she posted on Facebook, so I'll try to post some of those pics also so you get a good visual idea of how the week went!! Enjoy!

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A couple weeks ago, Cy-Fair's Women's Team came for a week to spend time with the women of the Cofradía church, do Bible studies, and impact lives. They did that and more!

This year was the best turnout of women from here in Cofradía, Santa Fé, Arrayanes, and Ruiz. The women started their ministry on Sunday afternoon traveling up into the hills to the Cora Indian village Mojocuautla-- you said that wrong lol. In Mojocuautla, they gave a speech to the women of the town explaining to them some first aid tips that many times are looked over by the local clinics. The crowd of women payed close attention as some of this was new information. Great job ladies!

Monday through Wednesday were very similar as they shared Bible Studies from the Book of Ruth in the morning and, after having lunch with the locals, had activities in the evenings. Some cut hair, some gave voice lessons, etc. Each day was spent in a different town; Arrayanes, Cofradía, and Santa Fé. All of their activities led up to one big event on Thursday night that was to take place in the new church facilities...a drama of the story of Ruth. After rehearsing a couple times in the morning, everyone was ready.

Geña and I narrated as everyone else acted out the story. There were literally hundreds of people in attendance as they got to watch the story of Ruth unfold, hear an explanation from Pastor Gollo, have an opportunity to receive Christ, and to top it all off...eat hot dogs. All 410 hot dogs were cooked and served, only a few had seconds...there was a lot of people! In the end, all the participating women sang a song that they had prepared during the week "Testify to Love." A tremendous event! What a way to reach people.

Thank you for praying for the team while they were here.

Pastor Goyo opening up in prayer

Ruth (Mari) and Boaz (Luis) getting married

The women of the village come to celebrate with them

The final song as the women closed

Did I say there were lots of people?

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Now, here are more pictures courtesy of Kelly, one of the gals on the team. She posted these on her Facebook account along with about 150 more!! So, if you're on Facebook, make sure you click on the shared album on my wall so you can see the rest of her pics!

 

(left) First aid talk in Mojocuautla; (right) Bible study in Ruth one morning

 

 

Morning craft times

Lunch in homes (2 of the 3 days)

 

(left) Kelly & my good friend Lupe with her 5-month old twin daughters and 3-year-old son. Kelly prayed for Lupe last year during their outreach when she was still pregnant that she would have a daughter..she got TWO! (right) The women learning to make tortillas

 

(left) Hair cuts all around!; (right) Drama dance rehearsals

 

(top two) Voice lessons in progress; (bottom) Voice lesson group with their teachers Kelly (blond) & Leslie (brunette)

 

(left) Ruth (Mari) & Boaz (Luis) in the fields; (right) Boaz agreeing to marry Ruth

Naomi (Leslie) with baby "Jesse" (one Lupe's twin girls) who would later become the father of King David

The song, "Testify to Love"

 

Prayer time at the end of the drama service

Praise the Lord!!!

Thank you Cy-Fair Ladies (and Kelly for the pics!)!!!!!

Christ Memorial Team, July 2-11

July 2-11 was a great week spent with a small group from Christ Memorial Church in Paulsbo, WA. This is Steve’s home church, and it is the first time that they have been able to send a team to Cofradía! So, we were really excited to welcome them and introduce them to the ministry that they have supported through Steve and Geña for so long!

They started the week with a three-day youth volleyball tournament. Wow!! What a turnout! We ended up with 42 kids playing (including the team members)!! And there were almost that many on the sidelines watching and cheering their favorite team! On the second day of the tournament, some of the team members shared their testimonies. They were three siblings, and they shared about how the Lord spared their baby brother when he was accidentally run over by a family vehicle in their driveway. Listening (and translating) for their testimony, the story was frighteningly similar to what happened to Maria Chapman in May (youngest daughter to Stephen Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman). In this case, however, their baby brother survived and is perfectly normal, to the glory of God! Another girl, friend to the three siblings, shared about her turbulent family history and how God used her friendship with those three siblings and their family to bring her to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and provide her with a stable family influence in her life.

Volleyball games

 

Get-to-know you games

On the third day, the team presented a very powerful drama. It is the drama that many have seen done to the Lifehouse song "Everything". Click here to see a video of the drama online (not done by this team). The drama presented a very clear message about how no matter the distance we stray from Christ’s side, He will always come to our rescue!! Then one of the girls on the team, shared a testimony about the loss of her father and the life search that propelled her on and how Jesus answered her search. As a result, several youth who normally don’t participate in church activities have attended youth group. We are very excited!

Then came Sunday, July 5. Wow, what a service we had that day!!! I'm going to share with you what Steve posted on his blog about the service. It was powerful being there; I hope that you are able to glimpse that through this report:

We had a great service yesterday morning in Church. Christ Memorial Church from Poulsbo, Washington has sent a team of eight here to work along side us in the ministry this week. I am especially excited about this because this is my home church! They are a great group of students and young adults and I have really enjoyed the four days theyʼve been here so far.

Saturday, I received an email from a good friend and member of the congregation back home about a dream they had of the team praying for us and that God was doing some great things. In turn, one of the team members who has been diagnosed with Leukemia was prayed for by us and was healed. That was the dream.

So, in church we allowed God the opportunity to work in this way. At the end of the service during our normal prayer time, I mentioned to the Americans what the first part of the dream was about and encouraged them to pray for the people. When I interpreted what I said into Spanish, I asked for anyone who was sick or had a family member who does not know Jesus and it seems an impossibility for them to accept Him, to raise their hands and the Americans would go around and pray for them. We continued to sing “Mighty to Save” (in Spanish), and as we proclaimed what the chorus says, “Savior, he can move the mountains.” Just about everyone raised their hands asking for prayer! It was amazing to see God using the team in this way.

When the team had finished praying for everyone, I continued to explain what the rest of the dream had included...us praying for their team member. I asked the young lady come forward and about 80% of the people in the church came forward to hands on/towards her as we asked God for healing in her body.

It was definitely an amazing time! The Holy Spirit in his own gentle way directed us as we prayed for one another and as I looked out I saw a number of people weeping and being touched by God. Maybe we wonʼt see any immediate physical obvious signs that God has healed someone, but I do know that He touched many lives yesterday. I believe thatʼs what he likes to do. Just as the leper in Mark chapter one asked Jesus to touch him and He did, so it was today. We asked God to touch us, and He did!

 

 

The second half of their trip, which began the next day, was spent doing VBS in the nearby town of Las Pilas! This was the second time EVER that we have done a VBS outreach focused solely on this town. We had a great turnout of kids, and their parents enjoyed watching as well. The team presented puppets, Bible stories with accompanying drama, lots of fun games, crafts, and lots of love and attention!

They also participated in construction in the mornings helping to prepare the facility and construction efforts to be shut down until winter. They worked hard, played hard, worshiped hard, and served hard!

Our 10 days with Christ Memorial Church were powerful, fun, and glorious! It was a great way to end our 2009 short-term missions season! We are certainly looking forward to having this team back again in the future, and in the meantime we're excited to see the fruits of their labors in the harvest fields of Cofradia!