VBS anyone?

Ok I can honestly say that I am a little overwhelmed as I usually would take almost a year to plan a VBS well ok drum roll please......We will be running our VBS or Campo de verano July 20-24. But as much as I hate to say this its an opportunity for me to be stretched :) We are planning on having it in a park near by, and advertising the two Sundays before all dressed up and giving out information about it.

1. please pray for Pati and Yvonne the two Mexican ladies who I am meeting with Saturday to hear their experience and suggestions.
2. Please pray that they would really get excited and take ownership :)
3. Pray that we would be able to have one of the other Alliance church help out as well such as Atizapan with music.
4. pray that we would become familiar faces in our community and connect with many families.
5. Pray that we would see connections from VBS come out to La Conexion and Alpha

I picked a soccer themed VBS thinking well we are in MEXICO CITY!! its called Training to Win Entrena para Ganar. Can't wait to post pictures of the event.

hey if you have any soccer themed ideas I would love to hear them, snacks, crafts......
Those pictures are of Carmela's 7th birthday party last friday.

Moving Slowly But Surely

It is so amazing to be apart of what God is doing here in MC. We really are in awe of the privilege we have to live here, meet amazing Mexican friends and plant a church here. Right now our schedule looks like two english classes and a thursday night prayer night to build our foundation for our future ministries here. As well as our Sunday morning group that meets in our home. OH and yes can not forget spanish class :)We are encouraged that God in his perfect timing will bring a people to himself. We had the privilege of having my twin sister Claudia and her family out here as well in May. What a gift to be able to introduce them to our new friends and give them a look into our life here in MC.

Please continue to pray that God would open doors and and lay a foundation that will last here in Del Valle. We are praying expecting BIG things for Mexico just living our lives having the privilege to love people one person at a time. The pictures are of one of our English group giving Claudia and Andrew gifts from Mexico and the other is of a run away turtle we saw last week :)

Picking a Church Name

Ok that is our job for today, we have been praying and trying to come up with a name. As we are meeting acquaintance's we thought it would be great to be able to give out a business card with some information as to who we are. So if you have any ideas for a name, obviously it has to be in Spanish :) We want it to encompass who we are and want to be;

Worshippers of the living God

Ministers of reconciliation

Ambassadors of peace and hope

ministers of healing

A place where people can experience real community from wherever they come from

A place to enjoy the deeper life

I think that pretty much sums it up!

We would love to hear from you

Here is a picture of Hector and Patti a Mexican couple that was commisioned last week from an Alliance church here in MC to come and plant a church with us.

Julia

Well after much thought and consideration we have decided that the best thing for Julia is to not attend school anymore and instead spend some more time with us. Julia's has sensitive lungs and is very susceptible to chest infections and asthma, so with the influenza virus still present we thought we would rather keep her home.

Do not try this at home

Ok we are just totally bored we feel like we are on house arrest! All the stores, schools, restaurants and today banks were closed to. The President asked that people cooperate and stay home to try to contain the virus. Hence We are totally having cabin fever. If we did not have Internet I am not sure how sane we would be. Did I mention that the girls have been home since last week and we heard today that the schools could be closed till May 11, Oh my deep breathes.........If you can suggest anything good to watch we would appreciate it!!! The other good things that I now have time for is search for seat sales to Canada this August. None to speak of yet but I am sure there is one on the way I can feel it :)

love a very bored Sandra

I couldn't resist the picture from my lovely Darla Pauls, love that girl.

A Slower Pace For Mexico City

I am sure everyone has heard the News about Mexico City, with Swine Flu flooding the news. That latest we have heard is 86 deaths and 1400 being affected. It sure feels strange to see empty streets and the only people we see have mask covering their mouths. All of the schools, large gatherings such as soccer games even churches have been suspended till at least May 6 which means we will be trying to keep the girls busy for another week and a half. We so appreciate your prayers in times like this. Inspite of the news we do not feel anxious but calm and full of God's peace. We pray that this may be one more situation that will draw the beautiful heart of Mexican's to Himself, where they can experience God's faithfulness, peace and healing power.
The picture below is of the girls waiting to get picked up for school. The next picture is my MIL choosing some jewelry that a friend of mine Diana makes for a living, to bring back to Canada. If you live in Abbotsford you should check them out!!! The third picture is our latest family picture taken at the MC office.

Easter in Mexico City

It is our very first Easter here in Mexico City and I would have to say that....it just doesn't feel like Easter. It is kind of a strange feeling. We are far removed from any connection to "Black Friday" and Resurrection Sunday in Canada, we came here to meet people and build relationships to lead a group of people to become Christ followers, and so we have no people to remember and celebrate this weekend with...yet. But we will have our own little thing today and Sunday with the girls to reflect a little and talk about the importance of Easter......

But what is even more interesting is you would think that Easter would be a huge event here in Mexico City and we would have some exposure to it. Well...there isn't!!! It is celebrated among the Catholic circles but here in the City there is not a lot going on. The rise in nominal catholicism here in Mexico City(in name only...they are only catholic by name and do not practice it) has led to Holy Week/Easter Weekend becoming more an opportunity to bask in the sun at the beach than to rest in the presence of the resurrected Savior. You will hear facts about Mexico that this is a very important holiday, which may be true in other parts of Mexico but there is literally no visual presence of Easter here in the area we live in right now and it feels like a Ghost town here as everyone has left, mostly to the beach or some other nice vacation spot. If we didn't know different, we could easily have forgotten or not even known what was going on this weekend.

Our prayer is that, through one person at a time, people will experience a real, living relationship with Jesus and will recognize the real meaning of Holy Week, Good Friday and Easter Sunday.