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!

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!

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!

Happy Fall!  Here in Chihuahua, Fall is different than the states.  There aren’t that many trees that are even changing colors.  The weather here is staying in the 80′s – it’s the warmest Fall I’ve ever had!   Please enjoy the Fall colors for me!

::September Sightings::

September was a fun month for me!  Mexico celebrated their Independence Day.  Did you think that Mexico’s Independence Day is Cinco de Mayo?  May 5th really is the Battle of Puebla, and their Independence Day for the whole country of Mexico is September 16th!

At the beginning of September we went with our church to a baptism.  The baptisms I’ve been involved in before have either been in churches, out at a river, or in a lake.  The baptism for our church was at an alberca.  The albercas are places where pecan tree farmers fill pools up once a week, then they open them for 3 or 4 days a week, people come in & swim, and then usually on Mondays or Tuesdays they drain the pools to water the trees.

There were eight friends from church baptized, including my friend Rous!  It was very cool to be a part of their special day!  After our church service & baptism, we spent the day swimming, visiting and eating lunch.  It was a great day with our church family.

::October::

This month we went to the Apple Festival in a little town about 3 hours away.  We went with some friends & fellow missionaries here, Pete & Liesl, and Jona, one of our good friends here.  The little park/fair grounds area was all ready to sell us apple products.  It was a pretty cool.  There were vendors with lots of apple products, homemade breads & pastries, and crafts for sale.  Of course there were food vendors with lots of Mexican food!  We bought a box of apples to make of apple butter, pie filling, apple crisp, and soon, applesauce!

::A New Ministry::

At the beginning of October, we started a new ministry with our church.  Our ministry is with the ladies in the neighborhood our church is located.  On Friday mornings, the ladies, bring their children to the school across the street from the church, then they come over to the church, we drink some coffee & start in on teaching them English.  Two weeks ago, some of the ladies in the church will began teaching the ladies chronologically through the Bible.  We are so excited to be a part of the ministry our church is involved in & we are having a great time with the women!

::Casa Hogar::

The time that we are spending out at the Casa Hogars on Thursday afternoons is going really well!  We have been able to help quite a few of the kids improve some of their reading skills, and then also encourage the others as they are beginning to learn to read.  And our friends Pete & Liesl have recently joined us in helping out!

::New Family Addition::

We have adopted a gray female kitten & her name is July!  She has a great personality, is sometimes crazy, & loves to cuddle with us (is that weird for a cat?).  She definitely adds some fun life to our apartment!  She is currently three months old & we are working on getting her vaccinated!

::Prayer Requests & Praises::

- Spanish Study – profitible times with Rous as I try to grasp Spanish!  I’ve come a long, Praise the Lord!  And please pray for another friend to help me out with my Spanish.

- English Ministry/Chronological Study – for the 8 ladies that are coming each Friday.  Please pray for soft hearts & that they would have time each Friday to be able to come!

- Literacy Teaching at the Casa Hogar – for Amy, Pete, Liesl, & I as we work with these kids each Thursday & that they would be able to grasp the concept of reading Spanish.  Praise God for Pete & Liesl as they are helping us out with kids!

How are y’all?  This week marks 6 months living in Mexico!  Crazy?!  And it is starting to feel like home.  While I’m not crazy about living in the city, my friends here make this place my current home!  Chihuahua is feeling like home!  Which is a very good thing!

Last time I wrote you I was getting ready to go on a trip!  Amy & I, a missionary couple (Chris & Rachel), and two friends (Erick & Edgar) from church helped move Juan & Dorothy down to a town in the state of Nyarit, which is three states away from Chihuahua & an 18-20 hour car ride!  We had a fun filled 5 day trip down and back.  The six of us stayed with Juan & Dorothy’s team members, Chava & Andy.  We had a great time with them, checking out the town, checking out the river near their house, & even heading out to the beach for one afternoon!  It was a very good trip & it was nice to get out of the city for a bit!

When we returned to Chihuahua we started back into Spanish study!  We have had a couple of rough weeks with it being the summer & our friends are very busy.  But we are working hard on learning Spanish!  I’m meeting with my friend Rouss 2-4 times a week & it’s going really good.  This last week I had a language evaluation to see how I was doing.  And I’m doing good!  I’m right where I need to be after living in Mexico for 6 months.  And a lot of my friends have been very encouraging the last few weeks.  They really are amazed that I can tell them what’s been happening in my life, and I can ask questions.  I understand them & they understand me!  That’s so huge.

Amy & I were able to help our church out with Vacation Bible School in July.  We helped prepare the snacks for the kids.  But snacks here isn’t cookies & punch, they were close to meals.  With tacos barbacoa, nachos, and sandwiches & chips!  So different than what I’m used, but very cool & a fun time!

Our time working in the Casa Hogar has been so much fun.  I think it’s the highlight of my week!  We are teaching them to read Spanish on Thursday afternoons.  We have had two boys that have finished two of the literacy books!  And now I need to work on the next book, so they will have something to read this week!

Here are some ways you can be thanking God on my behalf & prayer requests:
:: Praise: Language evaluation went well!  I’m where I need to be!
:: Praise: A good summer helping out with our Mexican church & friends!
:: Praise: safe trip to Nyarit & back!
:: Request: This week we are going to start studying Spanish with one of the new Bible School students, her name is Lily.  And she wants to learn English.
:: Request: A new possible ministry opportunity with our church here in Chihuahua!  We will be working with the women from our church on Friday mornings to teach English to the mothers in the colonia, and the other women will teach the Chronological Bible Lessons!  A very exciting opportunity for our church.
:: Praise & Request: for the time at the Casa Hogar.  The kids are doing great with their ready.  Please pray that the kids that are needing to learn to read will be able to come each week!  And wisdom for Amy & I as we work to teach the kids to read in Spanish!

Thank you all so much for your continued prayers!  Let me know if you have any prayer requests too!
Serving in Mexico,
Crystal

July & August 2010

Road sign on the Devil’s Spine! Four hours of curves!

Learning to wash the dishes outside!

A very colorful cemetary in Nyarit

In Mazatlan

Handing out snacks at VBS

Helping Eliseo learn to read! He’s 10 years old!

::Spanish Update::

My Spanish is continuing to come along.  I’ve been meeting with Sayde & Rouss a couple of times a week to learn Spanish. We work through Culture Events that Amy & I experience with them.  Learning people, nouns, verbs & sentence structure.  We listen to the recordings at home, and after a few weeks we are able to produce those sentences!  It’s a really great way to learn a language without studying books.

::Community Ministry::

Amy and I will be working in a “Casa Hogar” (a home for orphans) during our time here in Chihuahua.  We visited a casa hogar at the beginning of June, and I look forward to teaching some of the children how to read, while Amy helps the office staff with publicity & communication letters.  I’m excited to help out these kids!  Some of them are 10-12 years old & don’t know how to read, but continue to be passed onto the next grade level, without helping them learn to read!

If you are interested in helping us out with this ministry.  We are interested in books for these kids!  If you happen to find some kids books in Spanish or Spanish/English no higher than the 5th grade reading level, would you be willing to ship them down here to Mexico?  Contact me if you have any questions!

::Road Trip!!::

This week we are leaving the city for a few days!  I’m so excited!  We’ve been living in Chihuahua for four months now, & I’m so ready for a trip out of the city!  It’ll be part work & part play!  We are helping some friends, Juan & Dorothy (they are in the picture at the top – I’m standing to the right of them), move south.  They are missionaries here with New Tribes & they also go to our church here.  They are getting ready to join some of their co-workers in Nyarit & eventually this year they will be moving into a Cora village!  I’m excited to help them move, to get out of the city, & go see the ocean!  Amy & I are going with Juan & Dorothy, our friends & language helpers Erick & Edgar, & my good friends Chris & Rachel.  There is hopefully a trip to the ocean planned for one or two days!!!  Travel plans are: leaving Thursday July 8 at 4 am & returning to Chihuahua on Monday or Tuesday July 12/13, with about an 18 hour drive!

::Prayer Requests & Praises::

- Please be in prayer for us on this road trip.  It’s 18 hours or so of driving.  And we have to go through the “Devil’s Spine”.  I hear that if you don’t get car sick, that you can on this road!  There is around 13,000 curves!  I don’t want to get car sick!
- Our time with Juan & Dorothy – that it would be profitable for them & us.  That we can be an encouragement to them as they start working down south!
- Time in Spanish – Some days I get so frustrated, because I want to share more than I know!  But I need to just keep working where I’m at, and add a bit at a time!  And eventually I will be able to communicate more with my friends!
- Continued growth – Just as I continue to search the Scriptures & seek how I should live for Christ in a different community!
Thank you for all your love, prayers, support, emails & correspondence!  I can’t do this without you!

Getting out of the city for a few days!!!!
Crystal

Photos from June 2010

Mexican Folk Dancing – so cool!

My friend Walter & I

Cathedral in Chihuahua

Enjoying an alberca with our friends – Edgar, Erick & Pepe!  This is one of our favorite things to do on Saturdays! Edgar & Erick are going with us to Nyarit!

Fountains in Downtown Chihuahua – the lights & water dance to the music!

How are you?  Did you know that I have been in Mexico for almost three months already?  If you would like to read one of my updates please click here, to read it on MyMinistry blog!  There are even some pictures about a few of the events that have happened in March & April.  I’m sorry it has been so long since I wrote you.  My life here in Mexico has been moving along quite quickly without signs of slowing down!

::Spanish Study::
My Spanish study is going really good.  Amy & I have about five friends here that are helping us learn Spanish.  And depending on the day, we can have up to three Spanish sessions!
We had an evaluation two weeks ago.  Amy & I both passed, of course.  We have already reached the next level for our Spanish study and will most likely be in the Progressing Level for a year.

::What I’ve been doing!::
In April I went to a three day youth conference with the young adults from our church.  I had a great time with them all, and of course I learned some more Spanish!  It was a great time!  We also had a sunrise service at our church for Resurrection Sunday with pozole for breakfast.  April also included a free concert downtown with the jovenes, a baby shower for a friend from church, a rodeo, installing our water filter, four nights of a missions conference in Spanish, and a weekend retreat with our church.  The retreat was cancelled after one night due to snow!  And so we had the jovenes over to our apartment for a whole day with food, playing the wii, and watching movies!
May has included a pinata at our church in celebration of Dia de los Ninos (Kid’s Day), setting up the swamp cooler – temperatures have started to get into the 100s, soccer games with our friends, a discada at our church for a Mother’s Day Celebration, a birthday party for me at my house including a pinata, a trip to downtown Chihuahua with some of our friends that are leaving this summer, a $4 hair cut, and a surprise quincenera for one of our friends at church!

::Upcoming Events::
One new change for me will be getting a new friend to help me with Spanish during the summer.  I’m very excited to start working with her this summer!
I will be saying “good-bye” to quite a few people this summer.  There will be some missionaries leaving temporarily & some are leaving permanently.  And I have to say goodbye to some of my Mexican friends too.  Last Friday night was graduation for the Mexican Bible School & Missionary Training Center!  It’ll be exciting to see where God is going to take some of my friends in this world to share the Gospel with others!

::Praises & Prayer Requests::
- for my Spanish study – life happens here, and sometimes I’m not able to get as many hours in as I would like for my Spanish study.  Please pray for good Spanish sessions with my friends!
- this summer is going to be different – friends are leaving, and I will be starting working with a new friend for learning Spanish.  Pray that I can use my time wisely to maximize my Spanish learning.
- all of the relationships I’ve made – whether it’s been with our neighbors, the ladies at my favorite torta shop, or my friends at church.  Please pray for me as I live out my life in a new culture & language.   Please also pray that I would be culturally sensitive to the way they live their lives even when I think it’s different!
I just want to thank everyone for you continued prayers as I live here in Mexico!  Please let me know if you have anything that you would like prayer for.
Crystal

Pictures from April & May

Easter Morning at church

Bright Easter Eggs

Jovenes at a free concert!

Elotes – Amazing Corn!

My Church family!

One of the ever popular game nights at our apartment!

The Retreat that got cancelled because of snow on May 1st!

Birthday Dinner with my friends!

Helping cook lunch for the church!

::Two Months!
Thursday, April 21, 2010 marks two months that I’ve been in Mexico!

::Spanish Study & Current Life

I have finished two weeks of Spanish study.  Right now we are only covering simple nouns, and soon we will move into verbs and full sentences!  I have also learned driving directions in Spanish!  Our friend, Esmerelda has been helping us learning Spanish, and we help teach her English.  Esme & her family have been super helpful with us!  They have helped us with setting up Internet, fixing the problem with the natural gas, helped us get our Visa papers, grocery shopping, and helped us pay bills here – it’s very different than what I’m used to!  The natural gas bill was paid at the gas company through an ATM/Coke looking machine.  Her family has also adopted us!  Esme has helped us understand so much more about Mexico.  They have been a huge answer to one of my many prayers!  Every day Esme is able to tell us something that we had never heard before.  I really do some days feel like such a child in this huge city.  There are so many things to learn including a different culture & language!

::My Weekly Schedule

Usually includes church on Sundays from 10-2 give or take a bit!  Some Sunday afternoons we hang out with the Jóvenes.  Monday includes 1-2 classes: Grammar & CLA at the NTM Office.  Then in the afternoon we meet with someone from the Leadership Team & discuss different topics: how NTM functions in Mexico, Culture Shock, etc.  This week we have started a Spanish & English class with three brothers.  We teach them English, and in return they teach us Spanish.  This class will be two to three times a week.

Tuesday – Friday mornings we plan on Spanish with our friend Esme between 11 am – 2 pm.  Then in the afternoon we try to get a session or two in with two of our friends that attend the NTM Mexico Bible School.  Wednesday evenings include prayer meeting.  Thursday afternoons is Women’s Bible Study at our Church.  And Friday & Saturday nights is our time with the Jóvenes.

Then when I’m not busy with all of that, I have to fit in listening, mimicking, & practicing Spanish.  Of course there is also grocery shopping, paying bills, running errands, cooking meals, cleaning, personal devotions, driving around the city to the different meetings, sleeping, trying to stay connected with people back home, and just living life!  I do have some very full days here in Mexico!

::Jóvenes = Young People

I am involved with a Young People group at my church.  We meet on Friday nights for Bible Study & Saturday for Outreach, Ministry, or Games!  I have had a great time meeting with these young adults.  We definitely have a great time hanging out & just chatting.  I’m even getting in on some of the inside jokes!

Two weeks ago Amy & I went with the Jóvenes to a congresso in a city three hours south of Chihuahua.  I had a blast with all of my friends.  And it was a great opportunity to learn some more Spanish.

In two weeks we have a retreat with our church.  I’m really looking forward to this time of just spending with them for three whole days!

::Praises & Prayer Requests

• - Praise:: for Esmerelda & her family in my life.  The blessing that she is to me every day.
• - Praise:: my church here.  They help me not miss home & they also take great care of me!
• - Praise:: for the great amount of friends that I have already made here in Chihuahua!
• - Prayer Request:: as I continue to learn Spanish.  That my mind would understand & soon that my mouth can pronounce the words well!
• - Prayer Request:: time management.  There are so many things that have to get done & I need wisdom in know what is a priority and what is not!

Thank you so much for all your prayers, encouraging emails & notes!

Here are some recent pictures of my time in Mexico!

Flor’s Birthday Party Cathedral in Parral, Mexico Rachel & I at a Rodeo colored Easter eggswith the girls sightseeing Rose in Parral!