Merry Christmas!  This Christmas we are staying very busy!  On the 22nd, we had our annual Christmas program, and we had several new families attend who heard the gospel.

Here in Mexico, Christmas is celebrated on Christmas Eve with the main meal late at night.  On Tuesday night, we had about 40 people come over for the Christmas dinner at our home.  Most of them were people from our church.  Although it was a lot of work, especially for Susan, it’s great that many of the people wanted to celebrate Jesus’s birth together as a church.

We continue with counseling, English classes, and cooking and crafting classes.  Please pray that we will see fruit from these.  People from all of these activities attended our Christmas program on Sunday.

Our quick trip to the US was good.  We did have car problems 5 hours into the trip which delayed us for a day, but it ended up just being the catalytic converter.  Bryan spent a week at two counseling conferences, while the kids and Susan went to Susan’s parents house.  We also got to see Josh during his break.

In November, Bryan was able to take a trip to Honduras to teach a 3 day Biblical counseling training module with Overseas Instruction in Counseling.  It was a great time, and we look forward to starting one of these modules in Mexico in 2020.  While Bryan was there, he also got to preach in the church where we worked 20 years ago when we were first starting as new missionaries in Honduras.  That church just celebrated their 25th anniversary!

In July, I mentioned a prayer request of repentance of a man who left the church.  We praise God that last month, he asked for forgiveness!  I don’t believe that he is going to come back to church, although he did visit the following Sunday.  

Martha is a lady who comes to the women’s activities.  Three weeks ago, her husband went missing.  They found his car, but he has not been found.  He is presumed dead.  Please pray for him to be found alive or for closure for the family, and for the salvation of Martha and her family.

We have been looking for a pastor to come work with us in our church plant.  We had been hoping that we would be able to develop one from within the church, but God hasn’t provided that.  Next Sunday, we have a potential candidate who will be coming to preach.

Family News

The kids are glad to be off of school for Christmas.  Josh is back with us for a few weeks.

In January, Bryan’s parents will be coming down for a week to visit.

A printable version can be downloaded here.

It’s hard to believe that summer is here already, and we’re about to begin our busy summer activities.

First, we would like to invite you to a new Facebook group that we are starting. We will be posting quick updates with prayer requests much more regularly in that group, and we are looking for prayer partners who would like to commit to pray for us regularly. If you are interested in joining, go here. Please let us know how we know you, as it’s a closed group.

We have two men that are starting to help with the teaching.  Javier, who taught for the first time in our last update, has taught 2 more times.  Bryan is meeting with him weekly.  He is currently teaching once every two months.  Another man, Victor, taught for the first time in May.

Last Sunday, Bryan talked with a woman who he saw looking in our building while we were singing. Her name is Maria, and she is going through some difficult problems.  He prayed with her and invited her to come to church, but she couldn’t at that time.  So, he gave her a flyer about our counseling ministry and a gospel tract.  Please pray that we will have another opportunity to minister to her and share the gospel with her.  She didn’t come back this week.

The two families who were saved earlier this year are continuing in church and counseling.  The two teenage boys of the one family have come to know Christ.  Please pray for the adult children of the other family, Levi and Oscar, to come to know Christ.  They have attended the last two Sundays.

Our mother’s day outreach went well.  We had several new people come, and a few ladies who attended are coming to church now, although not regularly at this point.

Susan’s women’s craft classes and Bible study have gone well.  This is the last week until the school year starts again in September.

We have lost three families since we have come back.  Two families weren’t that much of a surprise, as they were never very faithful, but the third one was a surprise, as it was one of the men who was in charge while we were gone.  Please pray for his repentance as we try to minister to him.

This past weekend, nine of us men went to a men’s conference.  They were convicted about issues as fathers, husbands, and children of God.  It was also a great time of fellowship with these men. One of the men is not saved, but Bryan had the chance to share the gospel with him.

This week, a group from Bible Baptist Church in Kokomo, IN will be coming to help us with our summer kid’s club the week of July 15-19.  They will be doing a soccer, basketball, and craft camp.  The following week, July 22-26, we will have a few Mexican teenagers come help us do a VBS.

Family News

Josh returned home for five weeks after his semester ended. It was great to have him home again!  He is now in Atlanta doing an internship.

The kids are done with school, although Caleb is still finishing up his final few weeks. They went longer this year because they got behind schedule with our trip to the U.S.

On Saturday, Caleb sprained his ankle pretty badly at youth group. He was on crutches, and we hope that he is healed in time for our summer activities.

A printable version can be downloaded here

We are back into the swing of things in our church here in Mexico.  Thank you for praying for our trip.  We made it back home without any car or gas problems.

As we mentioned in our last update, we needed to see how things really went at the church in our absence.  Things did not go as well as we had hoped with the church or the men we left in charge.  Bryan preached on repentance soon after we arrived..  God was good, and at the end of the service, there was a time of public confession, and many of the people confessed their sin. The church seems to be getting better, but we are going to postpone looking for the next area for a church plant.

The first Sunday that we were back, Bryan was sick on Saturday, and did not know if he would be able to teach on Sunday.  None of the other three guys that had taught were able to be at church, so Bryan asked Javier to teach a devotional so that at least there was teaching.  He has been saved two years and has the desire to be a pastor someday.  It was his first time teaching in a church service, and he did a great job!  He also taught two weeks ago.  He is working on his masters in education, and when he finishes in August, he wants to start studying at a seminary.

Susan and Gabi, a lady in our church, started a new cooking and crafting class.  It went well with new women coming.  Before Susan even arrived at home, Bryan had already received two phone calls from women who attended who wanted counseling.  Both women have trusted in Christ as their Savior and have come to church.

We have seen 5 people make professions of faith since we have returned.  The coolest was Carlos.  His family’s first week was two weeks ago.  In the announcements, I asked if there was anyone else who had not turned in their membership commitment sheet.  Carlos’s wife Margarita asked for a copy. Carlos said, “We will come to church, but we won’t sign any commitment.”  This past Sunday, the gospel was very clear as the text was Romans 3.  He came up to me after church and said, “I want to let you know that today, I trusted in Christ, and I’m ready to commit to God and the church.  I’ve never taught the Bible, but I’m ready to help however I can.”  God is good!  It’s exciting to see God working.

Susan has also started a women’s Bible study, and there have been several new women who are coming to that as well.

For Mother’s day, we will be having an evangelistic event where we will take family portraits.  This summer, a group from Bible Baptist Church in Kokomo, IN will be coming to help us with our summer kid’s club.

Family News

Josh returned to Mexico in March, but we only saw him for a few hours.  He went to serve as a counselor at the MK camp that he attended when he lived here.  Caleb got to be in his cabin.

The kids are busy with school.  Susan is very busy trying to do school along with teaching the women’s Bible study and cooking/crafting classes.

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Women’s Bible Study

A printable version can be downloaded here

Our time in the U.S. is now up.  We have visited most of our supporting churches as well as a few new churches.  We were able to report to our supporters, do a lot of driving, and visit many friends and family.  We have been in 19 states and 1 Canadian province.  We are sitting in a hotel in San Antonio, Texas planning to return to Mexico on Wednesday, January 30th. We are looking forward to being home again.

Mexico has been in the news lately. There has been a fuel shortage in the country as the new President has been trying to end fuel theft (cartels have stolen over $3 billion in gas from the pipelines annually). This is causing a gas shortage as they have shut down pipelines.  We have friends who have waited hours in line to buy gas.  There are still parts of Mexico affected, but it appears that things are getting better.  This is good news, as we can’t make it from the border to Mexico City on one tank of gas.

God provided for us with our van needs.  The total cost for the new transmission, flywheel, and rental vehicles was over $8,000, and God used people and churches to supply for that need.  He provided a van to use for over a month free of charge while we waited for parts to be shipped from overseas.  We praise God for his provisions and for you all who prayed for us and supplied for our needs.

We praise God that we will be able to return to Mexico with 100% of our support.  We have had a few new churches take us on for support as well as other churches increase our support!

When we return to Mexico, the biggest thing that we will be doing at first is talking with our people to see how things really went in our absence.  This has been a good test for Roberto, Horacio, and Victor as they fulfilled the responsibilities of leading the church while we were gone.  The church has known from the beginning that we are only staying until the church is ready.  From afar, we have seen some good things from them, although there are a few things that we will have to take care of when we return. 

Although we don’t plan on moving to a new city right away, we are going to start looking for a new place to start the next church when we leave this one.  We will be contacting other Mexicans and missionaries to investigate future possibilities.

Family News

Josh seems to be adjusting well to college.  He will be returning to Mexico during spring break for a missions trip to help put on a camp for other MK’s.  If you would like more information or would like to donate towards the trip, please send us an email, and we will get you more information.

We have all been sick a lot lately.  In December, we had multiple people sick for three weeks straight.  Right now, as we sit in a hotel room in San Antonio getting ready for our trip South, we have started round 2, now with 4 people with strep throat.  It could be an interesting drive to Mexico with everyone sick.

It’s very difficult to do school when we are in the U.S. with all of the traveling and not having a routine.  The kids have done school in various homes and in the car. We will have some catching up to do when we return home.

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A printable version can be downloaded here

We are now back in the U.S. We were looking forward to a time of relaxation on our last family vacation with our oldest son Josh, before he goes to college. However, things haven’t been as relaxing as we had hoped. We started our trip and visited some friends, family, and supporters. As we were driving through Virginia, our van broke down. The mechanic originally thought it was because we got some bad diesel. However, the following day, he told us the bad news that we need a new transmission. To make a very long (and stressful!) story short, it is impossible to get a new transmission for our type of van here in the US. Plans have changed daily, sometimes hourly, as we’ve tried to get the transmission shipped here. Bryan finally got the great news today that we will be able to get one shipped and installed by the end of this month. Our other concern was how to move around a family of 8 with all our luggage as we continue to visit family and churches, and drop Josh off at college. We are so grateful that God has provided a 15 passenger van to rent for the month of August, and at a discounted price. We thank God for already providing a few churches and families who are helping with the extra expenses. It’s been very stressful, but God has a purpose for this, and one of the purposes is for our growth. He is in control, and is using this for our sanctification.

Northwest Baptist Church in Florida sent a group down to visit in June. Pastor Dan taught an expository teaching class to our men as well as to men from another church. It was excellent and helped our men as they prepared to teach every week while we are gone. They also bought 300 pizzas to give away as an outreach in the community. It was a great opportunity for our church people to get involved in ministering as well. Many contacts were made. They did a women’s activity and we had some visitors come to church because of it. Pastor Dan also helped teach a parenting class at a public school. We made many contacts, and one person asked for counseling. We praise God for the group and the blessing and encouragement that they were to our church family.

We praise God for the 3 men who we left in charge while we are gone. They love God and will do a great job. I have seen them step up even in the 3 weeks since we left. It would be very hard to leave the church if we didn’t have them. We hope that one if not all of them will some day be pastors.

We look forward to seeing many of you this fall!

Family News

Next week, we’ll be dropping Josh off at college. He is very excited about this new stage in life. The rest of the kids will be starting a new year of home school soon.

Susan’s surgery went ok, although she still isn’t at 100%.

Susan and I celebrated 21 years of marriage this week, although we still haven’t really celebrated due to the adventure with our van.?

***OUR MAILING ADDRESS HAS CHANGED. IT IS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST.***

A printable version can be downloaded here

Earlier this year, things were going well, our church was growing, and we were seeing great things happen.  Over the last few months, however, it seems like Satan has really been attacking.  One man that I was training for future leadership was into sin, and instead of repenting, got mad and left the church.  A young man whose family faithfully serves in the church told me that he’s got a boyfriend.  Another married man who was serving in the church committed adultery, and the woman is pregnant.  It’s been a difficult few months, but we praise God because He is in control and will use this for the good of the church.

Besides the problems, we have some good things happening.  We have three men who are taking on more responsibilities in the church.  Two of them are teaching on Sundays and the other is in charge of the church music.  They will be in charge when we return to the U.S.  A supporting church pastor from Florida will be coming in June to give a workshop on expository preaching.  We also have some people helping with counseling under Bryan’s supervision.

We just finished giving a membership class and will be having our first official church membership list.  Most of the people who attend church are attending this class as well. 

We look forward to seeing most of you this fall.  Our schedule is pretty full, but we do have a few dates open if you are interested in us coming to your church.

Family News

In April, we went to Guadalajara for an FIM missionary retreat. It was a refreshing time to see other missionaries and hear the Word.

It’s hard to believe that our oldest, Josh, is graduating from high school next month. We will be taking a final family vacation this summer before we take him to college in August.

The kids are looking forward to returning to the U.S. Josh knows how many days left until we drop him off at college, and he reminds us almost every day.

Susan will be having varicose vein surgery on her leg on June 12th in Mexico City.

Our church service

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A printable version can be downloaded here

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Ministry News

We’ve been very busy the last several months since the earthquake. We moved because of earthquake damage to the house we were renting. We’ve also been helping with earthquake relief in several different cities.

We had our Christmas program on December 17th. The attendance wasn’t as high as we had hoped, but we still had some new families come.

We continue to do a lot of counseling. In November, six of us from our church attended a counseling conference. Now, they are observing Bryan, as he counsels, and they have all started on their certification process. We have six months to get them ready so that the counseling ministry can continue while we are in the U.S.

The class on how to teach has been going well. The class is for three men who will be teaching on Sundays as well as those who are helping with Sunday School. We have a few weeks left. Our goal is to have the men start taking turns to preach 3 or 4 times each before we return to the U.S. this summer for our furlough.

We also have a single missionary, Alicia, coming to help for the next 3 months. She’ll be starting a Saturday kid’s club as well as teaching English classes.

Earthquake Relief
Thank you so much for your generous donations towards the earthquake relief in Mexico. We really appreciate it! We have used the money to buy and transport food and clothing and help build houses.

Although we have only seen 1 person come to know Christ, we have heard stories in the areas where we have gone about how people have been saved and others have come back to church because of the different ministries.

We have been so excited to see our church people helping with the relief work. We have been privileged to help ministries in different towns. We have taken food and clothing to Ecatzingo, Oaxaca, and Ixtaltepec. We helped prepare a meal for those who lost their houses in Jojutla, and last week, we went to help a ministry which is building houses in Tlancualpican (and I thought PA had some funny names).

There is still a lot of work to be done. We may make a few more trips, but we are funneling most of the rest of the money to the ministries that are doing the work right in the affected areas as it is more time and cost effective than making trips anywhere from 3 to 10 hours away from us.
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A printable version can be downloaded here

This is where the church building used to be.

A group of 9 of us from our church went to make a meal for 150 people in the affected area.  We left at 6 am and drove 2 hours to a church that has a large kitchen.  We started to prepare Chicken en Achiote.  Sorry, I don’t know the translation of achiote.  We spent all morning preparing the food and buying more supplies that the church needed.  We finished the meal at around 2 pm.

We left the kitchen once the meal was prepared and took it an hour away to Jojutla.  There, we served the food, talked with the people, and had a few opportunities to share the gospel.

Once we finished, we left and arrived home at about 8 pm.

The trip, normally about 6 hours, took about 7 1/2 because we were so loaded down, and we had to pick up a pastor in another city on the way.   When we arrived at one toll booth, protestors had taken it over.  They blocked the road, and whoever wanted to pass had to pay $50 pesos(about $2.70).  So, we paid the money and continued our journey.

When we arrived, they couldn’t find the keys to open the gate, so we waited as we didn’t want to unload on the street.  They never found the key, so we ended up unloading on the street anyway.  They then took us out to lunch before our return trip.

We had hoped to start our return trip sooner, but we didn’t get to leave until 5 pm.  Once we got close to the highway that leads out of the city, the traffic was completely stopped.  We got separated from the other vehicle, and they were completely trapped.  More protesters had closed the highway entrance so that nobody could get by.  So, we tried a few different routes to no avail.  None of us had ever been in the city before, so we asked a bunch of people, and no one could help us as it’s the only road out.  Finally, we decided to open our Waze app, and find an alternate route, and that’s what we did.  Unfortunately for us, Waze didn’t mention that these were dirt roads that in the U.S. wouldn’t even be considered roads.  There were times we didn’t know if the van would make it as the holes or dropoffs were so deep.  We stopped a few times to examine the terrain before we continued.  We went through 2 creeks and had to wait for cows to move out of the way as well.  Finally, after 2 hours at 7 pm, we made it through and were able to get on the highway.

We contacted the other people.  They had waited over an hour just sitting there when the protesters left and opened up the highway.  So, even though they were the ones sitting there, they still got on the highway 30-45 minutes before we did.  God is good, and he kept us safe.  We made it home a little after 12:30 am.

Next week, the church in Oaxaca will get those supplies to those in need in the mountains which is another 12 hours from there.

Summer Kid’s Club

Ministry News

We have had a verybusy, but productive summer.

We had two groups come this summer. Both groups were a blessing in our ministry, both in the community and within the church. Because of the influence of the groups, one man has decided to study because he wants to get into church planting. We also are following up with people in our community from the two kid’s club weeks.

The first group came from Northwest Baptist Church in Bradenton, FL. They helped at an orphanage, did evangelism at a local hospital, passed out invitations to our summer kids clubs, and painted our ministry center.

The second group from Bible Baptist Church in Kokomo, IN did a week of sports camps and did a marriage conference for our church. It was a great week of soccer, basketball, and crafts. It was the first year we offered crafts, and that was a big hit, even for the parents.

The following week, we had a VBS. We had two Mexican summer missionaries who helped us put on the VBS along with some young people from our church. Several kids trusted in Christ as their Savior.

Overall, the summer was very busy, but very profitable. One family in our church wants to get involved in church planting. Others made different decisions as well. We got new contacts in the community. Next year, we hope that 2 or 3 of our young people will serve as summer missionaries in other cities in Mexico.

Three men in our church are starting seminary in September. All three are in their 40’s and all are interested in the ministry. They will be studying online and getting a 2 year associates degree. Bryan taught them and others in the church a class on Bible interpretation in May and June. Now, we are studying about spiritual gifts. Starting next month, Bryan will be teaching them how to teach the Bible, and then get them involved in teaching in church. We have a lot to do this year to get them ready to handle things while we are in the U.S. in the fall of 2018.

Overall, things are going well. We were averaging 50-55 on Sundays, but we’ve lost two families recently. We are happy with the commitment and faithfulness that we are seeing from many of our people.

Family News
Susan is in the U.S. Her grandmother passed away, and she flew up for the funeral. She was supposed to return today, but because of Hurricane Harvey, she won’t be able to return until Monday.

The kids had a fun summer. In Sunday school, the teacher asked what they like doing in their free time, and Aaron said, “I like it when groups from the U.S. stay at my house.” They started their school year. This is Josh’s last year with us before he goes off to college. Nathan is starting his first year of school.

A printable version can be downloaded here