Crystal Pierce serving in Mexico Fall.2011
He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
:: Micah 6.8
September – Louisiana Trip
In September, Amy & I took a trip to the States for almost two weeks. I had an airline voucher to use before Oct. 1st, so I thought it would be a good time to take a trip to Louisiana. Near Baton Rouge, I have a great aunt & a lot of cousins, plus Erwinville Baptist Church is one of my sending churches! While I was in Louisiana, Amy took a trip to visit her family in Florida.
It was such a nice time with my Aunt Rosie & all of my cousins. I even surprised my aunt, by having her sister (my grandma) fly out to visit for two weeks! And I was also able to share with the wonderful people at Erwinville Baptist Church what’s been happening in my life in Mexico since I last saw them two years ago!
My Future in Mexico
Now let’s talk about my future. In my last prayer letter I sent you in September, I let you know that I had finished my Spanish study! And that I was waiting for a ministry with NTM to help out with for the next few years. After the quick trip to the States, I met with the staff that work at Rancho Siloe, it is where we have the Missionary Training for Mexicans. This year there are three missionary couples that are working out there, but there is too much work for them. I first heard about this option/opportunity back in July when I spoke with one of the staff ladies about the jobs that they needed done. But I wasn’t able to make any decisions then because I was waiting to find out about my Spanish interview. Before I left for my trip to Louisiana, I met with the staff and share my testimony, and answered a lot of questions! I’ve really been praying a long time about the opportunity to work out at the Ranch, one of the biggest reasons is because I felt that it would be a good use of my gifts and the types of jobs I like to do. And if it wasn’t what the Lord wanted for me, then He would provide another ministry opportunity.
Two weeks ago, I met with the staff at the Ranch, and they invited me to come join the team! So that weekend I started working on packing up my house in Chihuahua and moving my things out to the Ranch. And last Wednesday I was all moved out, and had finished everything for the old apartment in the city. All done in less than a week! I always feel that this is the way that God works in my life. I pray about what might be my future and my options, and then I have to wait until He is ready. Then He shocks me and says: “Okay. Obey. This is what I have for you. Now go!” It’s like when I came to Mexico I only had three weeks to get ready to go, and then with this move, it was in like a half hour that I got the permission to join the team! And I’m starting to love that God works that way in my life!
Amy’s New Ministry
Currently Amy’s ministry for the next two months is teaching English to missionary kids that are from Mexico or Colombia. She is living in the Guest House on the NTM Property in the city. Amy is still seriously dating Hector & they are working on getting his application finished for the Missionary Training Center in Missouri. They would like to be able to head up to the States for Christmas, and then in January, Hector would like to start the missionary training. We have amicably parted ways. There are no hurt feelings for either one of us. The time has just come for Amy to make plans with Hector, and for me to make my own plans. We are still involved in the English ministry with the ladies at our church on Wednesday & Friday mornings, we also attend the Jovenes meetings on Saturday and we go to Sunday school together, so we still see each other a lot!
My Ministry at the Ranch
Some of the jobs that I will have out here include: helping plan socials for the staff & students, cleaning & scheduling the guest rooms, checking the work that the students do (work detail checker), helping out with the work groups that come, help with discipling the girl students, being a friend to the students, give the students a ride to the city, teaching some life skills, & helping out with any extra work that comes up! I’m really enjoying my time here, and the opportunity to encourage the students as they are working through tons of things in their lives.
The next year or two will also give me a good opportunity to work on a team with missionaries from a different culture, I’ll get to keep working on building my Spanish, and possibly find a co-worker! There are currently three single girls here, so maybe one of them would like a co-worker. We’ll see what God does! I’m still praying for a future ministry working in a tribe in Mexico, but I currently want to be open to what the Lord has for me here in Chihuahua at Rancho Siloe.
Dios con Nosotros
My church here continues to be a blessing to me. There were some guys from the church that came to help move the fridge and washing machine out to the Ranch for me! And Amy & I are still involved with the English ministry with the ladies from the neighborhood. We just finished the 50th lesson in the Chronological Bible Teaching and had a celebration party! We are going to keep going with this ministry, and review the Bible lessons for the ladies that have missed some of the teaching. The ladies have been such a blessing in my life, and I look forward to how the Lord will continue to work through their lives: Yadira, Lily, Susanna, and Teresa.
With my family
I had a wonderful time with my cousins & enjoyed all the fellowship time with them. After some difficult weeks in Mexico, it was nice to just hang out with family & get spoiled with some amazing German food, BBQ, & sweet tea!
Prayer Requests & Praises
:: For the amazing trip to Louisiana & refreshing time I had with my grandma, cousins, aunt, & Erwinville Baptist Church
:: For the ministry I have out at the Ranch with the students & staff. Please pray I can be a blessing & an encouragement to all!
:: For the ladies in the English ministry – that as they continue to hear truths from God’s word, they would begin to understand Him more & their need for a Savior. It’s a very new way of thinking for them.
:: Praise God for a sale on plane tickets & savings, ’cause I’m going home for Christmas! 
:: Pray for Amy & Hector as they are making plans for “their” future!
Jovenes
In last few months, Amy & I, along with a few others have taken on the responsibility of overseeing the Jovenes group in our church. When Amy & I first came to Mexico, this group was around 20-30 young adults, and we are currently down to less than 10. Please be praying that these numbers wouldn’t discourage us, but that we would find our security in our walks with Christ. We have also started a Bible study for the girls!
Tags: Mexico
Summer.2011
Summer 2011:: Mission Completed::
Well, I’ve made it back to Chihuahualandia! And I’ve almost adjusted to the heat! My time in Mexico City was a great time. Remember, I spent 9 weeks in: Cuautitlán Izcalli, Mexico (a city an hour north of Mexico City). And here is some of what happened during those 9 weeks! I think I will show you through pictures how I spent my summer & what’s happened since I got back to Chihuahua! Please enjoy!
Here’s some prayer requests & praises::
:: Praise for the great summer I had in southern Mexico! I learned so much, and I’ve been so blessed by the friendships I made down there!
:: Praise for the awesome time we had with all the missionaries in July! I met some great people!
:: Praise after a year & a half of Spanish study, I’ve entered into the Capable High Level & have completed my Spanish study!
:: Prayer request for my future ministry opportunity! (more in the next email
:: Please pray for us as we work on heading back to the Casa Hogar one day a week to teach the kids to read. We are going to talk to the leaders and see about possibly changing the day to work with the kids’ schedule.
How did your summer go? Did you enjoy a vacation, BBQs, sweet corn, 4th of July, or family reunions? Are your kids or grandkids ready to start school or maybe college?! Let me know! And if you have any prayer requests, please let me know!
Serving in Mexico,
Crystal
Mondays, Tuesdays, & Thursdays
Operation:: English Class:: One of the biggest reasons that I went to Cuautitlán Izcalli, Mexico was to be involved with a Summer ministry that Joca’s church was doing. My part was to teach a 1 hour Enlish class. During my hour of English, there were also keyboard lessons, voice lessons, carpintery, crafts, & drum lessons offered. A requirement for receiving those classes for free, was to also receive an hour long class of the Bible! The Firm Foundations Bible lessons (in Spanish) were taught each day! I had a great time spending with my students & teaching them English. I even had a small graduation for the students that showed up on my last day! And all three ladies passed the oral exam!
Operation:: Missionary Get-Together::
One of the requierments for heading to Mexico City, was that I needed to return in time for the Missionary Get-Together. It’s been over two years since the missionaries in Mexico had a field-wide get-together! It was a huge blessing to see all our friends, meet new ones, and hear what God is doing through the missionaries in the Indian tribes in Mexico.
The picture above is me, with my friends Torre & Narah Meissner and Chris & Rachel Thomas. I hung out a lot with them while I was in the New Tribes missionary training in Missouri. And it’s so cool to see how God brought the five of us to the same country?! Torre & Narah take care of the Guest House in El Paso, TX, which we love when we head to the States. At the beginning of September, Chris & Rachel will be heading to a tribal location and will begin working with the Tepehuan Indians!
Saturdays
Club de Ninos:: On Saturdays, in two locations, were kids clubs! I was involved with teaching Bible verses, playing games & helping out where needed. It was a very fun time to be involved in this outreach ministry.
Family Time
Operation:: Dinner:: I also stayed busy by preparing meals for Joca & her family, and a couple of times for friends! For Father’s Day, I also made & frosted three banana cakes for the fathers in the church.
Spanish Study Completed!!
Last week Amy & I had our Spanish Interviews to see how well we’ve done in the last 7 months! And yesterday we received the results that we both have reached the “Capable High Level”!!! I will continue to work to improve my Spanish, but my full-time job will no longer be studying (which I’m thrilled about )! With reaching this level, it also frees me up to seek a ministry!! I will let you know what that is as soon as I know!
The above picture is me with my friend & teacher Ana. Her birthday was a day before mine! So we celebrated by making dinner & eating cake!
June.2011
Wow! I can hardly believe that I’ve spent 5 weeks down here!!! It has been awesome. My first week was spent helping get things ready for the Bible School Graduation. Six students graduated from the Bible School & all 6 of them, plus two graduates from last year, are heading to the Training Center in Chihuahua! That is so awesome.
Our next few weeks were spent visiting Joca’s family, visiting a family in the hospital, attending church & prayer meeting, helping out with the Kids’ Club on Saturdays, and also getting ready for the Summer Outreach Program. I also spent a weekend sick in bed with food poisoning. Not a cool weekend. But I did go to the doctor to get some antibiotics for my body – it was only $2.50 for a doctor’s visit! I thought that was pretty incredible. I’m also able to go with Jocabed to the classes that she teaches. She teaches keyboard & Bible to one of the young girls in the church. And then a 2 hour Bible class three times a week to a family. It has been an encouraging time to spend with Jocabed & these people that we are working with. And it has been great for my Spanish too. I’m just lacking some good Spanish classes, but I’ll get that when I get back to Chihuahua.
I just finished my third week of teaching English. I have had almost 20 students, even though they all can’t come every day consistently. But it has been an encouraging time for the amount of Spanish I’ve learned. After the hour of English, or the other classes offered – drums, keyboard, singing, carpentry, & crafts, it is required that they attend one hour of the Bible. And there are about 7 people teaching the different age levels through the Firm Foundations Bible Study. It is has been amazing to see the people responding so well to the classes & the Bible classes.
I only have three more weeks left here. I can’t hardly believe that my time has gone by so quickly. Some days I’m ready to be back home (in Chihuahua), and then when I spend time with my friends here, I don’t want to leave! And it’ll be so hard to leave Joca’s family & the Bible School. But if God is wanting me to return to this place, God will allow me to return in His timing.
I’m heading back to Chihuahua July 24th, and that week we will have a get together for all the NTM missionaries in Mexico. I’m looking forward to this time with my friends for refreshment & encouragement! Then I will get back into my Spanish studies!
Working on my cooking skills for the family! Saturday Mornings are time for Kids Club!
Helping out with the Kids Club. A Chihuahua that was hanging out @ Kids Club
Thank you for all your prayers & constant support as I’m here in the state of Mexico!
Serving in Mexico,
Crystal G. Pierce
P.S. I’m living in the State of Mexico – not Mexico City! We are north of the city by about 2 hours!
May.2011
Hello,
Can you believe it’s already May? My trip to the state of Mexico went really well. I had an incredible time meeting new people, visiting a few tourist places, and I also visited the NTM Mexico Bible School near Mexico City. I stayed with my friend, Jocabed & her family. What I thought was going to be a tourist/vacation, turned into more of a ministry trip! And I loved it!
My two week trip with Jocabed was a great time for me to see a different part of Mexico, learn about the culture down there (how it differs from the Northern states of Mexico), learn more about the NTM Mexico Bible School, & be a part of another Mexican church.
I returned to Chihuahua on April 30th, and I talked with Cindy, the missionary in charge of my e2 Spanish time, and after my glowing report from two week trip in Mexico, she wanted to present to NTM Mexico Leadership the opportunity for me to head back down to Mexico for 2 months this summer!!! Well, I did get permission from the leaders to head back down. I bought a plane ticket, and made it back down on May 21! I’m staying with Jocabed’s family again. And I’ll be continuing to work on my Spanish, and working with the a team of Young Adults from the church in an outreach this summer. We will be offering English classes (I’ll teach those), voice, piano, and drum lessons, and we will also take time to be sharing the chronological Bible lessons. I’m really excited for this opportunity to be back in Mexico.
I will be staying here in the state of Mexico until about July 25th, when I’ll head back to Chihuahua. I’ll be in Chihuahua for the Annual Field Meetings, and during that time or soon thereafter, I’ll have an interview to see how I’m doing in my Spanish! And after that we’ll see what God is leading me to do!
Special Visitors
Amy’s sister, Beka came to Chihuahua for 2 weeks, and then we made a trip to the states to take Beka back, & pick up my sister, Danielle for a 10 day trip to Chihuahua! It was a huge blessing for both Amy & I to have our sisters visit us. For them to see our lives, meet our friends, see our church, and the ministries that we have in Chihuahua. Plus just encouragement to have people so excited about what God is doing in us and our friends!
Possible Future Ministry
As many of you know my co-worker, Amy, is dating a guy named Hector. It looks like for them that they will eventually get married. So with that happening, I won’t be able to head to a tribe without a co-worker. I’m praying for a ministry option while I’ll need to wait for a co-worker, and one option might be helping out with the NTM Mexico Bible School near Mexico City! On my first visit, I was so encouraged at seeing what was happening here with the Bible School and the students. There is only one couple that is running the Bible school here, Oscar & Sharon Ospina. The first Sunday at church, Oscar introduced me as the next missionary to come help out with the Bible school near Mexico City. I thought he was crazy. There was no way that I was going to give up going to a tribe to help out with a Bible School! But God is working in my heart, about staying open to His plans and not my own. So right now, I’m praying about the possibility of helping out with the Bible school until a co-worker comes along. There are so many details that will need to be worked out, and the timing too. But God is in control & He can do it all!
Prayer Requests
:: my summer ministry in the State of Mexico
:: as I keep working on my Spanish, for new Spanish helpers, adjusting to a different type of Spanish
:: safety for Amy as she is staying in Chihuahua
:: the new Bible school graduates from Chihuahua & Mexico – as they seek out what God would have them do. There are about 10-12 that are wanting to head to the second phase of the training to be missionaries!!! Pray for the funds for them to be able to go to the training in Chihuahua!
:: one of the ladies from the church here in Mexico, is in the hospital in a coma. Please pray for her and her family.
Praises
:: A great trip to Mexico! :: An awesome time with our sisters!!
:: the funds to buy a plane ticket to come back down to Mexico!
:: the amazing people God keeps putting in my life!
:: more days to serve Him!
April.2011
Can you believe it’s already April?
March was a very difficult month for me. There were four people I knew that died last month, my grandpa, and three people from my church here in Mexico. One of the ladies from our church, Anita, died from health problems, and she left behind an 18 year old daughter, 15 year old & 4 year old sons. But the testimony that she had with sharing the gospel & how she discipled her friends was incredible. Because of her testimony with others there are so many people here that are Christians! It was so encouraging to see how God worked in her life!
My grandpa died about two weeks after Anita did. He was 91 years old. I was not able to attend the funeral because I had turned in my visa and wasn’t able to leave or reenter Mexico. My family was able to attend including my brother from San Diego, I’m anxiously awaiting the DVD of the funeral.
And then two weeks ago, a lady, Brenda, & her daughter, Sofia, were intentionally targeted & died because of the drug violence here in Mexico. Brenda was the same age as me & had a job as an investigator with the state attorney general’s office. Her and her husband, Sergio, had study chronologically through the Bible with a couple from our church, and had become Christians! We praise God for their testimony. They no longer lived in fear of dying because they knew where they were going when they died! Praise God for their testimony to their friends & family, and please pray Sergio as he lives life without his wife & daughter.
Through all this time God continually reminded me that He still had everything in control. I know that might not be a shocker to y’all, but to me it was a great reminder, that before the creation of time, He knew that I would be here going through these difficult times, and He even knew that I wouldn’t be able to travel home for the funeral. But He gives us so many promises in His word so that we remember that “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you (Heb. 13.5)”! Wow! I believe that God takes us through these trials, to remind us of his love and care for us. And those were some of the things that I needed to learn & be reminded of in March.
Remember Juan and Dorothy? The missionary couple we helped move down to Nyarit last summer so they could start working with the Cora people? They came back to Chihuahua in February & on March 11 they had a baby! Levi Yuhan Miranda Xiong was born here in Chihuahua. Amy & I even got to meet him & hold him, and of course he’s super cute!
Upcoming Trip: After last month, I’m so excited & ready to take a trip next week! I’m going with my friend Jocabed to the state of Mexico! Jocabed is a student at the Missionary Training Center, and she lives near Mexico City. I get two whole weeks of Spanish with Joca! Her parents already have a lot of stuff planned for us while we are down there!
Prayer Requests
:: a safe & fun trip to Mexico City with Jocabed
:: continued faithfulness in Spanish!
:: for the ladies in the English class, that they would be able to make it to the new class day on Wednesday
:: one of the ladies from our English class, Rosa, she just found out she has breast cancer
:: friends & family that lost a love one last month
Praises
:: the Casa Hogar ministry is going great!
:: my laptop is back! It was 7 long weeks without it!
:: great language & culture sessions with my friends Ana & Rouss
:: the amount of Spanish I’ve learned in this last year! There are a lot things that now make sense to me in Spanish!