Hey y’all,

This last month I have stayed busy with helping out at two Vacation Bible Schools, house-sitting, filling in for my sister at the church office while she was gone for 10 days, and hanging out with my family & friends!

Here are two pictures from the two Vacation Bible Schools (or Summer Kids Club!) I helped out with! The picture on the left happened at First Baptist Church in Haines, Oregon. Every day I was able to give a short presentation about Amy & I moving to Mexico. We were able to talk about fiestas, food, transportation, piñatas, and so much more! On the last day we had a fun quiz and reviewed all that we had learned, including learning about animism! It was cool for these kids to hear about what the kids in Mexico believe and how the kids there live in fear every day. The kids at Haines were so generous and raised money for Amy & I to buy mattresses after we get to Mexico!

Then after the 4th of July I helped out at my grandma’s church in Condon, Oregon. This time I was a group leader of 6-10 kids, depending on the night. The last night with my little group I explained about why I was moving to Mexico! The kids asked some really good questions about “why” I am moving to Mexico.

Here is my updated support level: 28%! Which is $868 committed monthly support out of $3100 of my recommended support! Just two months ago I was at 20%! It’s cool to watch how God provides for us as we trust Him to! My “car” has made it to: Blue Creek, Utah – which is kind of in the middle of nowhere Utah! Amy & I are praying for the opportunity head down to Mexico this Fall! God has risen Amy’s support to around 35% ($1085/3100)! Please be praying as we continue to seek out more financial support, we need to be at 60% ($1860/3100) before we can leave.

Click here for my prayer requests.

Thanks for letting me keep you updated on what’s happening in my life!
Your missionary en route to Mexico, Crystal

Hey y’all,

Here is a breakdown of what has been happening the past month! And just so you know, I did try to send this out about 3 weeks ago, but it did not work, plus I’ve added some more photos, so I hope you enjoy them!

May 11 – I celebrated my 26th birthday!!! How many of you thought I was younger than that??? Tell the truth!

May 12-19 – Amy & I finished our Washington & Oregon trip!!! Yeah! We traveled over 1700 miles! To pass the time in the car we counted Toyota Prius’ – 140, Log Trucks – 13, deer – 8, snakes – 2, & Scooby-Doo Mystery Machine Vans – 1 in Seattle! We also encountered rain, snow, wind, & sunshine, of course! It was so nice to see friends from our time at Bible School, friends that used to live in Baker (my hometown), family members, & meeting new people!! We also did a little bit of sightseeing by stopping at the Space Needle in Seattle & Crater Lake in southern Oregon. We shared at a Bible study in Seattle & a church in Ashland, Oregon about the need for the gospel to be shared with those that have no opportunity to hear about Jesus in their own heart language! It was a very encouraging time!

May 20-27 – My sister, Danielle, and I were able to get amazingly cheap plane tickets ($200!) to head down to San Diego, California to see my brother & sister-in-law!!  And before I headed down to Mexico, I really wanted to go down and see Lloyd & Rayne (brother & my sister-in-law) because it’ll be a while until I see them again. Plus, Lloyd got 5 days of leave to take us around San Diego! It was a great time just hanging out together for a week! While we were there we spent a little time hanging out by the pool soaking up the sun, visited La Jolla Beach with the sea lions, the Wild Animal Park (awesome), Point Loma Lighthouse, Balboa Park, Miramar, the Midway Carrier, and even saw one of my roommates from Bible School! San Diego is beautiful in the Spring time & I loved it!

May 28-30 – I started moving into an apartment with my sister, Danielle, until it’s time to move down to Mexico (September-ish)! I live on the old NTM MI property. Plus I got prepared to head to Meridian, Idaho!

May 31 – Amy & I were able to share with a young adult Sunday School class in Meridian, Idaho and then we had a BBQ with them! (Sorry, we didn’t take any pictures)

June 1-4 – I spent time some more time moving, packing, & cleaning, paying bills, and all the other responsible adult type things that need to get done. Amy & I were able to catch up with a dear friend, Linda, that lead a weekly Bible study for teen girls when we were in High school! I also did some babysitting this week, and will continue through part of July. And Amy & I shared with the teens from her church at an all-nighter about how they would be able to partner us after we move to Mexico! Amy braved it and stayed all night, while I went home to get a good night’s sleep in order to be prepared for the long weekend!June 5-6 – Amy & I drove up to Camp Elkanah (one of my most favorite places in the world!) and were able to go to a family camp with some of our friends from McEwen Bible Fellowship. We had a great time hanging out, resting, & relaxing. It was a special treat to see some of my dear friends from Ukiah & McEwen!

June 6-8 – I was sad to leave family camp behind, but I needed to road trip to St. Helens, Oregon! I was able to stay with some dear friends that used to live in Baker. Then on Sunday evening I was able to share at a church in Vernonia, Oregon! It was an awesome time! On Monday morning I drove to visit my Great Aunt Willa May in Portland, and in the afternoon I drove on home to Baker (5 hours)!

So that’s what I’ve been up to. How has your summer been going? Are you busier than me?!

Also I wanted to let you know that this month in the NTM@work, Amy & I were featured in the magazine! I’m including a link for you to check it out: http://www.ntm.org/magazine/09june/ (you can download/open it in Adobe Acrobat). The magazine also has some awesome articles about church planting, animism, literacy, and the chronological Bible teaching! Very good information to pass on to others that don’t know about what is happening among villages isolated from the Gospel!

My future summer plans includes: Babysitting, House/Pet-sitting, helping with 3 Vacation Bible Schools, finishing up attending a woman’s Bible study, continuing with the Young Adult Bible study, staying with my Grandma for the 4th of July & the week after, visiting a few more churches, hanging with friends in Baker, spending time with my parents, continue to raise my financial support, and whatever other random things may come up this summer!

Catch y’all later!

Crystal

Celebrating Christmastime with my family.  My brother &
sister-in-law (she’s not pictured) were able to come up from California!

Sharing in Awana & Sunday school is an awesome time! Especially helping the kids understand why I am going to Mexico!

Taking a special trip to the Oregon Coast with members from the Bible Study I attend!  It was so relaxing & refreshing. Just what I needed!