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!

Life has been exciting since my last update!  Amy & I were able to get a fridge for our home!  Which is so exciting for us.  We went a week without a fridge at our home.   To celebrate getting a fridge I wanted to cook some pancakes.  I worked on getting the batter going, then I needed to melt some butter on the stove (we don’t have a microwave), and I went to turn on the gas stove.  But it didn’t work!  I spent a whole hour on the phone with our landlady & her daughter trying to figure it out what was wrong.

We eventually went 6 days with no hot water for showers, and no ability to cook at our house!  One of our families from church was able to help us get things figured out and now we have natural gas at our home for cooking & hot water!

Our week was also filled with paperwork & errands, spending time with families from our church, hanging out with our new Mexican friends & their families, grocery & furniture shopping, attending a Mexican Rodeo, going to a nursing home ministry, Bible study in Spanish, Sunday morning church, visiting a market, going to an orphanages with Glenn & Teo (our friends), hanging out with the youth from our church and of course eating more Mexican foods!

Amy & I have started to attend a Bible in Spanish at church.  We are studying through the Chronological Bible lessons and have completed the Creation of the world.  While I don’t understand everything in Spanish, I can understand the basics of this Bible study!

Our current focus for this first month in Mexico is listening & adjusting to Spanish.  There are some new sounds that as English speakers we don’t use.  We are trying to figure out these sounds. We are also working on getting our apartment set up.  We have some tables, beds, comfy chairs, a fridge & washing machine!  And of course there has been the fun stuff with not having gas, getting some repairs in our home made, setting up our internet & phone. This is what our first month is for us!

Just a side note:: I live in a huge city (1-2 million people).  It’s different here, but I’m adjusting.  The other day while we were driving through the city we were actually able to wave at some our friends from church!   It’s very exciting because growing up in Baker, Oregon, as you drive through town you always pass at least someone you know!  Or when you go to the grocery store, you almost always see someone you know!

Tidbit:: Daylight Savings Time for us didn’t start this past week – instead it starts Easter morning.  Which should be fun because our church is having a sunrise service at 6 am.  So it’ll feel like 5 am for us!

This upcoming week includes:: Visa paperwork, grocery shopping, Spanish Bible study, planning a surprise birthday party for one of our new Mexican friends here, Women’s meeting at church, and whatever else comes our way!

Thank you so much for your continued prayers, e-mails, & letters!  I love it all!

Living life in Mexico,
Crystal

Pictures

Rodeo in Mexico!

@ the Rodeo with Amy, Laura & Isaia

Spring in bloom!

Our fridge!

Painting nails @ the Nursing Home!

I Made It to Chihuahua::

Our caravan of three cars with a total of seven people made it to Chihuahua City last Friday in the afternoon! Thank you for the prayers as all driving & checkpoints went very well! After we arrived in the city, we drove over to our apartment – which was found for us the day before we arrived in Mexico! We unloaded my car & then went with our friend & fellow missionary, Glenn Urquhart, shopping. We also ate dinner with the Pastor & his family of the church we are attending here.

What I’ve Been Up To Since Arriving::

:: Shopping :: the apartment has a stove, and on loan 2 mattresses & 4 lawn chairs, so we have to get some things in place for us! Yesterday we went to find some furniture & appliances, we came back with a washing machine & 2 comfy chairs. Hopefully soon we will get a fridge!  I am also working on figuring out the Peso to Dollar ratio, it’s a bit confusing for me.

:: Orientating :: I received a day & a half orientation in Texas before I crossed into, and also a bit more once I made it to Chihuahua. I attended a meeting with the missionaries that are currently living here in Chihuahua!

:: Living :: I am learning to adjust to what I would call “problems”, but Amy & I are starting to think of them as inconveniences! Our water is only on for certain times during the day, so doing laundry or taking showers only happens during certain times of the day!

:: Driving :: The first 3 days I didn’t have to drive! But since Monday I’ve been driving! In a city of 1-2 million driving was not something I was looking forward to! I’m doing okay, and I’m still trying to understand the way they drive & how the traffic works here. So far no accidents & that helps a lot!

:: Eating :: Since we don’t have a fridge it makes it difficult to store groceries & leftovers, so we have found a couple of places nearby to buy some meals until we get our fridge. We’ve eaten quesidillas, tortas (it’s like a warm sandwich), burritos, corn on the cob (elotes), & ice cream! There is this awesome ice cream shop near our home, and in the last 4 days we’ve taken our friends 3 times! It’s really rough, because an ice cream cone is $1!

:: Meeting Lots of New People :: whether it’s our neighbors around us, or the store owners, or other missionaries, we definitely stay busy meeting people! It’s been lots of fun working on remembering greetings, new names & how to pronounce them!

Prayer Requests::

:: Adjustments :: I am learning to adjust to new surroundings, my neighborhood, & living in a huge city!

:: Opportunities :: I am praying for more opportunities to meet the neighbors that live around us.  Yesterday in the grocery store & at a nearby small store, I was able to greet our neighbor Elsa, and she helped me pick out laundry soap!

:: Love & Patience :: as Amy & I live together & we start heading into learning Spanish, in a few more weeks.

Thank you for all your prayers as I adjust to this new location.  Y’all are also in my prayers.  Thank you also for the email replies.  I’m trying to work my way through them all!

Adjusting to a new location: Mexico!
Crystal

Pictures:

My packed car – which you could still see through the rear view mirror, so it’s not that packed!

Quesidillas!

It’s probably terribly cold for the dogs, so this one is modeling a sweatshirt!

Corn on the cob with: butter, chile, cream & cheese. It’s definitely something new!

Ice Cream Flavor: Ferrero.  It tasted a lot like the Ferro Rocher chocolates! So good!

This is the price in pesos for peanut butter.  $52.90 pesos = $4.18 dollars!  We are working on adjusting to the prices down here!

I have made it to Southern New Mexico!  It took us an extra day because we got a winter storm in Wyoming & Colorado!  The storm was not something I was expecting because in Baker, Oregon we’ve not had snow for a few weeks.  My mom joined me on my road trip south!  And we have had a great time visiting friends & family along the way.

The road closed to Cheyenne, Wyoming!

My super dirty & frozen car!

Wednesday is the day I travel to El Paso, Texas.  I have a little bit of car work that I need to get done.  Then after that I will head to the New Tribes Mission Guest House & prepare for orientation.  Wednesday is also the day that Amy flies into El Paso – I haven’t seen her since September!  Thursday we will spend in orientation & then on Friday we cross into Mexico.

Please be praying for Amy & I as we are starting out on this new journey.  We will be experiencing a lot of “new” events in our lives.  Please pray with us that God will use us according to His will!

And we also ask for prayer as we are away from our families for a while! It’s very difficult to be away from those we love!

Saying good-byes to good friends!

And family…

One praise I have is that my brother recently came back to the States after being gone for 6 months!  He’s safe & sound in California with his wife!

Thank you so much for your prayers!  Loving & missing y’all, Crystal

*I am having some difficulty getting some pictures to post on my blog.  Hopefully in a few days I can get it figured out!  But here are some in the mean time!


Snow in Northern New Mexico

Freezing Fog in Northern New Mexico!

Buffalo in Wyoming

Colorado

Two weeks ago I wrote you an email letting you know how far Amy & I were away from heading to Mexico. Within one week of us praying together for my support, I got it all plus some more! Here’s how it went. Each day, my support went up a bit, some days by a lot, others by a little. But each day it went up. Then on Monday I went past 60% & reached 62%! Tuesday Amy & I found out that we need to get to Texas on February 24th! Wednesday & Thursday I started to tell some friends & let things start soaking in – Amy & I are moving to Mexico! Now I’m starting to plan for my last few weeks in Oregon & travel plans on the way to Colorado. I’ll be leaving Oregon on February 18 or 19th, arriving in Texas on February 24th, and entering Mexico soon after!

It is so amazing to me at how quickly my support went up! It truly is a huge answer to our prayers for these last two years. And it’s an answer at how faithful God is to us, just by listening and responding to us according to His plan & will!

Here’s what my current checklist is looking like: praying, taxes, Mexican car insurance, packing, saying goodbyes, planning for the road trip, praying, getting things fixed on my car, a dentist appointment, and of course there will be some more things that will get added to my checklist!

Thank you to all of you who have been praying for me as I’ve been working on heading to Mexico, and for some of you it’s been almost 2 years! I am so excited at how God has worked through friends, family & believers that I’ve not met to provide for both Amy’s support and mine!

Thank you so much for your prayers. If you have any questions, please let me know!

Heading to Mexico,
Crystal

**I have been trying to mail this letter for the last week, but have had no Internet access on my laptop.  Hopefully I can get it mailed while I’m at one of the three airports I’ll be in today!**  Sunday update:  didn’t happen at the airports.  This is being sent from Oregon!

Here is a quick recap of my last four weeks.

Four weeks ago I was in Oregon & packing to head to Florida!

Three weeks ago I was in Florida!

Two weeks ago I was attending an amazing Seminar in Florida at the NTM Home Office – “Sharpening Your Inter-Personal Skills”.  It was a great seminar and will greatly help us with our friendship, our co-workers & teammates, & also in the future with anyone we come in contact with!  I normally hate attending seminars/workshops, but this was very good because it had a great amount of interaction with each other, and there was no boring lectures!  Following the seminar I was able to spend some more time with Amy & her family, and we even got to go to the Gulf of Mexico side of Florida!  Life was busy & exciting in Florida!  And I even saw my alligator!!  He/she was around 10-12 feet and I could have reached out & touched him!

One week ago I was in Louisiana.  I came to Louisiana with the big purpose of sharing at my cousin’s church in Erwinville, Louisiana.  I was able to share with their church on Sunday (9/6) for about an hour!  It was a great time & I came away totally encouraged by this church and their desire to see God’s name reach people all around the world!  I’ve been able to stay with my Aunt Rosie, and I have seen almost all of my cousins that live in Louisiana.  We even took a trip to Mississippi to visit with my cousin & her family.  Now I am helping my aunt pack for our trip to Oregon on Saturday!

My Aunt & I will flew home to Oregon on Saturday.  Then Sunday I plan to 56will drive her to my grandma’s house and she will spend about 2-3 weeks with her, while I will only stay until Wednesday.  And that is all of my traveling (I think) for just a little bit.  My next big travel plans should be to Mexico!!!

When I get back home to Oregon the next big plans are: continue to raise my prayer & financial support, prepare for a yard sale, & pack my things for Mexico.  Currently my financial support level has reached 41% ($1299 out of $3152)!!  Amy & I have been trying to plan for a leave date to head to Mexico, and while we would like for it to be October, we are really going to have to wait until our support level reaches 60% ($1900).  And then we will be able to plan on heading down to Mexico!

Please continue to pray for us as we seek to do God’s will in our lives.  Also as we are getting closer to heading to Mexico, and for our families as we will soon be leaving them.  And also praise God with us as He continues to prepare the way for us to head to Mexico!

Patiently waiting on the Lord,

Crystal Pierce
en route to Mexico with
New Tribes Mission
www.ntm.org/crystal_pierce

P.S.  You can also check out my website – it has now turned into a blog & it looks pretty good!  www.ntm.org/crystal_pierce And Amy’s is www.ntm.org/amy_heckman . ]]> http://blogs.ntm.org/crystal-pierce/2009/09/22/september-2009-travel-update/feed/ 0 http://blogs.ntm.org/crystal-pierce/2009/07/28/julyaugust-2009-prayer-requests/ http://blogs.ntm.org/crystal-pierce/2009/07/28/julyaugust-2009-prayer-requests/#comments Tue, 28 Jul 2009 04:00:00 +0000 Crystal Pierce Here are some of my prayer requests & praises:

• Our support level needs to reach 60% ($1860/3100) before we can leave for Mexico this Fall!
• For the kids in Haines that sacrificially gave so Amy & I could have mattresses to sleep on! (They raised almost $200!) That’s totally a God-thing!
• For some wisdom as there are still a few more decisions to be made. I have my car insurance figured out & my immunizations are almost complete, but there are other things/issues that go along with moving plus leaving the country! In my free time I’ve also been working on purging my stuff & packing the needed items for Mexico!
• My spiritual life – that I would continue to seek God. I have recently completed two Bible studies: Ruth & Isaiah! Those books are so rich with truth about God!
• Team of prayer partners & financial partners
• More laborers to share the Gospel!

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

● The new language program, our Mexican Host Family
● I have loved sharing with churches in Idaho & Oregon!
● Immunizations are done!
● Spiritual Life – continuing to get to know my God
● Awesome opportunities to share about missions with churches & individuals – to get them excited about missions
● Preparations for Mexico – purging stuff & packing the rest!!
● Team of Prayer Partners & Supporters
● More laborers to share the Gospel!