theag_news ministry

August

2010-08-08T13:47:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a bit of a blog fast and the reason is that the house move has happened as has a two week holiday. As you may have expected the move didn't go entirely smoothly. Carpets arrived in separate deliveries over 3 weeks which was quite annoying but the inconvenience was rewarded with free flooring for the bathroom and kitchen!!
So we're in and delighted to be feathering the nest :-) The kids have had a blast finding toys and bits and pieces that had been in storage. I think it is already obvious that Tabitha is appreciating this latest change. She was so excited to be 'home' after our 2 weeks away. As we drove through the village she excitedly exclaimed, "Our new house is still here!!"

Unfortunately our little house in N. Ireland is still on the market. Please continue to pray that someone will come along willing and able to make an offer. It would be such a relief to have it off our hands.

This week is an important one in Wallyford. The youth group leaders are running a 'mission week'. There are various activities for the kids and we are hoping that some of our P7 kids from the school SU group will go along and get involved.

Mums and toddlers has started back and we are hoping to make some new contacts in the village. We are also planning for the start of regular services. Please pray as we meet people to find out a little bit more about what they want and expect. Pray too that we will be able to find a suitable venue.

Winding down and up

2010-06-27T06:12:00.000-07:00

This past couple of weeks Andrew has spent most of his time at our new house. We have been so blessed by people who have come along to help. It really feels like the end is in sight. This week is a big one. We're hoping the kitchen will be installed by Wednesday, that the carpets will go in by Friday and our stuff brought out of storage by Saturday. It's easy to say it in a sentence and yet there is a lot still to be done. Certain people have gone way beyond the extra mile to help us and that has been so overwhelming and amazingly encouraging. We are so excited at the prospect of unpacking boxes and settling into this new phase of life and ministry.

The team had a really interesting week. The weather was awful and so some of the planned activities didn't happen. The schools work was fun but the main focus was probably the drama production on the Thursday evening. Kids at school got flyers and just about every home in the village got a flyer through the door. The team prayed for 40 kids and put out the seats in faith with no idea how many would turn up. It was such an encouragement and faith boost when 41 kids and 6 adults turned up. We really feel like we need to think about planning more kids' work. Pray with us about this over the summer and please pray too for people who could come along and help.

SU has finished for the summer and the mums and tots group will finish on Tuesday for the month of July. The team will have some planning meetings as we look to the future.

The bible studies continue. Another guy who became a Christian at the Friday night youth club has started coming along. The questions that are being asked are so refreshing and it is good for the 'older' Christians to go back to the basics for a bit.

June...

2010-06-06T13:37:00.000-07:00

After quite a break we have been back doing a few deputation meetings. Last weekend we were up in the north of Scotland. It is impossible to describe the encouragement we feel when people assure us of their prayers and we hear how people are following the blog. I was reminded that we haven't followed up on Tabitha's visit to the hospital. Thankfully she was given the all clear. She does have a murmur but the cardiologist was confidently happy that it shouldn't cause her any trouble. It is a relief and we are so appreciative of the medical care here...and that it is free!!

In terms of follow up of previouse posts I am also happy to report that we finally got our car back. It was a complete hassle at the time but it's over now which is great. The evangelism seminar was fun and hopefully is bearing some fruit for God's glory.

This past week Andrew flew over to NI to share in the missionary weekend at Moira Baptist Church. Another benefit of the trip was being able to spend the day with his mum!

Work in the house continues. The garden has been cleared, walls stripped of paper and holes filled, painting has been started, the kitchen has been cleared out among other bits and pieces. This week the plumber will fit the heating system etc. We have a date for new doors to be fitted, the carpets are ordered and we have a date for the commencement of work to get gas piped into the house. On one side of us there is a little family who have just welcomed their third child into the world last weekend. On the other side is an elderly widower. Last week we found out that his grandson who is now 18 was a regular at our kids' club in Edinburgh before we went to Mexico!!

This week we have a team from our church helping in Wallyford. The boys are staying the The Living Room (the centre we work from) and the girls are staying in the home of some friends nearby. Andrew will be staying with the guys. They will be doing some drama in the school, putting on a show for kids and parents, doing odd jobs for people in the village and hopefully helping the Agnews with a bit of cleaning in the house (getting grime out of the floorboards and off the windows). They will also participate in some of the regular weekly activites. We are so glad to have so much help this week with the school SU group. We are currently a team of three but for various reasons one of us has been off for the last 3 weeks which means that we have just had two of us each of those weeks. With 40 kids at lunch time that is quite a challenge! Next year we will hopefully be able to split the group and run 2 clubs each week. Please pray that this week with the team will have a positive impact in the village and continue to raise awareness of who we are and what we are doing.

We have decided to put a pause on the OAPS meetings on Wednesday mornings. The two main helpers are away for the month of June and with so much work needing done in the house Andrew doesnt have enough time to be able to commit to visitation for the event. Once we are in the house and summer is over we will relaunch.

Tabitha and Oscar are both doing well. Tabitha will go to P1 in August. Effectively that means she is starting school. She is eager to start reading and while she has little time for colouring she loves to 'write'. She has also started 'piano lessons' with mummy. She loves to try and pick out a tune but is less keen to practice saying her finger numbers and other theory items (much like her mummy!). She has a great wee singing voice and an amazing memory for lyrics.

Oscar's main loves continue to be football and anything technological - ipods, computers, phones, cameras, video games and the like. He has quite a sense of humour and loves a good laugh.

Both kids are pretty strong willed and know what they want (no comment about where they might have got that from!) which is an ongoing challenge. We appreciate your prayers as we seek to wisely train those little wills to be conformed to Christ's image :-)

A place to call home

2010-05-09T07:43:00.000-07:00

Here it is - our new home!! As you can see there's a bit of work to do before we can move in. There is no gas piped in which means no eating, heating or hot water. Our names were put on the waiting list last week and we have been told it could take 6-8 weeks. In the meantime there is plenty to be done - new kitchen, carpets, paint, cleaning, new doors, new bathroom, tackle the wilderness garden, sand floors, knock down walls, build others...

We are excited but in a reserved way - we realise there is a fair sized mountain to conquer before we finally get in. It is now nine months since we began to pack up our home in Mexico. It's a fairly long transition period and we are looking forward to settling in. The kids have heard that the garden is big enough for a trampoline and little else seems to matter!

It was quite a surprise last week to arrive back to the spot where I had parked our car to find it missing. A call to the police revealed it had been impounded after it rolled back into a bus. We still don't know what exactly happened but our car is now at the garage (the back window was shattered and there are a few dents below it). It was quite a bit of undesired hassle for Andrew who had several calls with the insurance company and the police in a typically busy week and Tabitha missed a couple of days at school. On Thursday I missed the mothers and toddler group, the service at the old people's home had to be cancelled as did the school SU group. The good news is that the insurance will cover the costs and we have a couple of incredibly generous friends who have lent us a car to keep us going. As one of Tabitha's teachers said, "It's a good job the kids weren't in the car at the time." We are always thankful for God's protection even at times we don't know we needed it.

We started a weekly meeting for pensioners last week. It was great to have 2 new people along as a result of the work on the doors. Hopefully it will gather momentum in the weeks ahead. The evening mums event was down in number but subsequently I found out that the playgroup had been running a fundraiser event (a psychic!) which may have involved a few of our mums. It was a lovely night for those who attended. We continue to appreciate prayer for interest from new mums and for busier days ahead.

This week I appreciate prayer for an interactive talk I am giving on personal evangelism on Thursday evening. I'm sharing the responsibility with Karen, our house mate. I feel out of my comfort zone but as a result of my researching and reading I am fired up for the subject and my hope is that some of that excitement might be contagious.

A couple of days later I am taking Tabitha and Oscar over to N. Ireland to visit their grandparents and co. for a few days. My Mum and Dad had a visit to Scotland planned but the Icelandic volcano turned that around and this is the result. It's our first flight since returning from Mexico and I'm glad it's not quite as far!

Time Flies!

2010-04-25T12:55:00.000-07:00

By Friday we will hopefully have keys to our new house. God continues to surprise us by moving things at a different pace to what we might have chosen were we in control (isn't it good we're not!!). We had thought that the legal details would have been sorted a month ago so that we could have ordered a gas line into the house. Unfortunately there were a few hold ups with the finalising of the mortgage so we're still waiting for those legal matters to be completed. The gas will take 6 to 8 weeks (average) to be installed. Once again we trust God's timing and if He wants us in sooner then that will work out. There are some people interested in our house in N. Ireland but nothing is definite yet.

Ministry continues to be exciting. Numbers continue to be consistent in the school group and interest levels are high. There is a weekly bible study for 3 new Christians with lots of questions, the Tuesday night bible study is fresh and encouraging and in the mothers and toddlers group we are continuing to build relationships with mums from the community. Our first evening event filled the room nicely with new and familiar mums and grans (about 20 of us). This Thursday evening we have our second event. It will be interesting to see who comes along and how it develops. A monthly service in the local nursing home has been started as has door-to-door work in anticipation of a weekly event for older people. We have also been getting to know some of the parents in Tabitha's class a bit better.
Looking into the summer we are excited about the possibility of doing a Holiday Bible Club and some family events. We are also receiving two teams from our local church, Carrubbers. The first team will have a focus on drama and community service. We are being given opportunities to have events in the school and the local library.

In the last post I mentioned that we were coming out of a period of sickness. Oscar managed to avoid the last tummy bug...last weekend he was recovering from his own bout of sickness. Tabitha followed him but I think I can safely say again that we have ridden another wave and are ready for action again. It was lovely when Tabitha finally woke up at 9am on Tuesday morning and came out of her room declaring, "Mummy, Daddy, I'm better. Somebody prayed for me!" Well, we know you are praying and it really does mean so much to us. I was explaining to Tabitha that Jesus hears our prayers. She gave me a strange look and I responded with, "We can't see him but He hears us from heaven." Tabitha looked towards the ceiling and shouted, "Jesus, can you hear me?...Yes, you can watch TV if you come to our house!" I love the simple faith of a child!! On Tuesday this week we will be at the Cardiology department of the Royal Hospital for Sick Kids in Edinburgh. Tabitha is to have her heart murmur checked out. This is a result of our post-Mexico health check-up. She has had the murmur since she was born and at the last appointment the doctor thought it sounded more pronounced so we have this appointment on Tuesday. On Wednesday she has a routine vaccination to get and that will not be something she will enjoy!!

Oscar is well into his second year!! He has a strong character which is a challenge at times. He is incredibly persistent which is great when he is working on a jigsaw puzzle or practising his football kick but less fun when he wants something he can't have! We are so incredibly blessed with great kids and appreciate your prayers as we seek to (patiently) shepherd their little hearts.

House News (and other bits and pieces)

2010-03-22T01:42:00.000-07:00

We've had quite and incredible couple of weeks. We decided to go for a mortgage interview and found that we can borrow enough to be able to buy a house in the village. There was only one we could afford (before we sell in N. Ireland). It's a 3 bedroom mid-terrace which needs completely gutted and renovated!!! Several things have happened to make us think this is the house God wants us to buy. It feels like we're taking on the Drop-In Centre once more...another aspect of the ministry here that resembles what we were doing in Mexico! We should get possession by the end of April and then it will take up to a couple of months to make the house habitable. We'll post some before and after pictures.

We've already met some of our neighbours. A couple of ladies work in the office in Tabitha's school and we met another lady who will live close to us on Friday night. We're so looking forward to being in the heart of the village and more involved in people's lives. Now that the decision has been made we would really appreciate your prayers that our house in N. Ireland sells quickly. We would get a better interest rate if we could transfer our mortgage over than we will get if we have to take out a separate mortgage.

The SU group in the school continues to be a highlight in the week. The kids are so open and friendly. Andrew has been asked if he would be involved in the school's Easter service. This week we have a special evening for mums of toddlers on Thursday. This will be a monthly event and we are kicking off with a night on First Aid. We have put out some publicity and are hoping for new contacts.

We are just coming out of a period of sickness. Lots of new bugs for the kids to get used to. We so appreciate your prayers as we work excitedly to see God's kingdom extended.

Agnew update

2010-03-07T12:28:00.000-08:00

It's so hard to believe we've been in Scotland for 7 weeks already. Time really is flying by. We are still staying with our friend and traveling back and forward between Edinburgh and the the town where we are working. Just this week our 'family' expanded as another girl moved into the flat/apartment.

Just this past week we heard that we are in good health when we got the results of our medicals. The doctor has recommended that Tabitha have an electrocardiogram to check out a little heart murmur she has had since birth. We also finished off our debriefing session with some recommendations to help us through this time of transition and beyond. We are so grateful for the service provided here which is especially geared toward foreign missionaries. Though I think we have transitioned very well it is always helpful to verbalise experiences and emotions to know what is going on and how to respond. This has been a difficult week for Tabitha who has been wanting to back to Mexico and Northern Ireland.

Perhaps it's because she knows we are moving again and doesn't feel settled, perhaps she is trying to cope with the transition in her own little way. We appreciate your prayers for her as she figures it all out.

We have been looking at houses in Wallyford and we have had some interest in our house in N. Ireland. So praise God!! There's nothing concrete yet and at times we are frustrated and eager to move out and get settled but overall we are confident that God's timing is perfect and He is very much in control of what is happening. Our quest to find a house has opened many opportunities for input from people who live in the area and we have begun to make new friends.

The SU group continues to give us a real buzz with between 30 and 40 kids each week. The mothers and toddlers group is trying out some new ideas and we hope to attract some more new mums. We're excited that already there is a weekly bible study on Tuesday evenings and with new believers from the area attending it is a fresh and exciting time. The weeks are busy with quite a bit of planning and meetings at the moment.

Thank you for your continued prayers and keep checking in every couple of weeks for brief updates as God blesses the work here.

Come back soon...

2010-02-28T23:37:00.000-08:00

Come back later for updates. These are exciting ministry times as we continue to wait for the sale of our house in N. Ireland....

First week

2010-02-07T14:30:00.000-08:00

What a week it's been! Work officially started on Monday. I think a highlight was the SU group in the school. During lunch time we have an action-packed club for 45mins with kids 9-11 years old. The team has done an amazing job and there has been quite some excitement as the club gets going. This past week we reached our maximum number of 40 and had to turn kids away. No credit to us, it was only our 2nd week!

Now the question is what to do next. Perhaps we will look at the possibility of running 2 weekly clubs and include another year group. Praise God for such a fantastic problem so early on. One day last week I picked up Tabitha from school and about 5 kids from a class walking by were waving enthusiastically. It's great to see their enthusiasm and to be able to tell exciting bible stories that some of these kids will never have heard before.

Tonight we had our commissioning service at Carrubbers. It is always amazing to see how God works out the details of our lives and ministry on so many levels. It was really wonderful to see photos of the work that has been going on there over the last 5 years and to hear of some of the fruit in the ministries that have been established and people who's lives have been changed. We feel completely dependent on God and our team of prayer supporters for the days and years ahead. We are excited to be part of such an active, dynamic and exciting work and look forward to reporting much fruit in the near and far future.

Bonnie Scotland

2010-01-24T11:28:00.000-08:00

Well, a week can see a lot of changes. We finally packed the last box, finished a few little DIY jobs, got into the car and headed for Scotland. Thanks for your prayers for the journey. Once again they were evident particularly in a lovely day and wonderfully behaved kids.

What a wonderful welcome. Once again we have been overwhelmed by the love and support of friends as we have re-connected with people we haven't seen in a while in Edinburgh.

We are staying with a kind friend and are blessed with two bedrooms in her home. We continue to trust that in God's time He will see that our house in N. Ireland is sold and we will be able to buy here. Of course, we would love that to be soon - it will be nice to eventually be in the village and to settle into our routine without extra travel to and from the city centre.

Our furniture and boxes should hopefully now arrive on Tuesday morning and most will go into storage until we have our own home. It will be interesting to see how much (or how little!) we can survive on.

We appreciate your prayers this week as we settle in, get a feel for the work, the routine and the area and as we look at getting Tabitha into school.

On the move again

2010-01-17T07:25:00.000-08:00

Just one more deputation service in N. Ireland!! This week is moving week so it seems there are boxes and suitcases everywhere and a large supply of parcel tape. As our stuff will be taken over next Monday we decided to leave travelling until Friday as it will mean we don't have to pack as much into our car and Tabitha won't have to wait as long for a bed to arrive...

It's hard to believe it has come around already and while we are excited about moving into the next phase there are some more difficult goodbyes to say before we leave. The great thing is that it is much more realistic to expect visitors than it was when we were in Mexico. We just need to sell our house and buy our own place first and continue to appreciate your prayers for that. In the meantime we will be staying with a friend in Edinburgh indefinitely.

In our human wisdom we would love to have already sold and be moving into our own place in the village where we will be working and eventually living. Like most people we want to feel settled and not move into another transition phase. But we have no doubt that God is continuing to sort out all the details and in His time all thinks will work out just right and perhaps make more sense to us as well. We are remarkably peaceful about that.

Thank you for your prayers and support as we move and begin our new ministry.

A New Year

2010-01-03T08:04:00.000-08:00

Didn't Christmas just fly by? We had such a fantastic time with family. The kids are at a great stage and had a blast. Oscar waited until Christmas was over before getting chicken pox but he did well and seems to be back on form again now.

...and so a new year begins. A time when most wonder what will this year bring? How will this year be different? What can we do to ensure that it is?

Of course that's not a bad thing and we are asking those questions too. And yet, like you, we continue to take one day at a time. We have begun to pack boxes and are figuring out our move to Scotland. Our house still hasn't sold though we did have a few viewers before Christmas. We continue to trust that God has his perfect plan and are thankful that we have a place to stay until the rest of the plan unfolds. Obviously we would love to be able to buy a place as soon as possible so that we can get settled over there. We continue to appreciate your prayers and plan to move around the 20th January.

There are quite a few deputation services before we leave. I think there are 7 this week!! Andrew will do some of those alone as I stay with the kids and continue with the packing.

Next week on the blog I would like to give an update on what is happening in Mexico.

Happy Christmas

2009-12-20T14:35:00.000-08:00

We hope you enjoy this little video. We want to wish you a lovely Christmas wherever you are. It has been so exciting for us this year with Tabitha being much more aware of what is going on. She has been involved in so many school activities but the highlight had to be the Nativity play when she sang a solo verse of 'Away in a Manger'. It has been fun to really begin to explore the Christmas story together and along with all her Christmas songs she sings away at 'Happy Birthday'.

Like so many we can look back over a year of ups and downs, changes, sadness and excitement. We feel so overwhelmed and blessed by your support and feel totally lost as to how to adequately say thank you. May you tangibly feel God's blessing in your lives and truly see Him providing for all your needs, physical, emotional and spiritual as this year ends and a new one begins.

Into December

2009-12-06T07:53:00.000-08:00

It's pretty busy with deputation meetings at the moment. We are so encouraged to meet many people who have been following the ministry and to share what God has done. Missionary work is most certainly teamwork and we are so aware that we have been privileged to be a small part of a very big team.

Our de-brief was a great opportunity to reflect once again on the big picture. The term 'closing a chapter' fills me with a measure of sadness. Looking back over photos of Mexico brings that same sense of sadness. It would be so much nicer if it wasn't so far away! It was fabulous this weekend to meet up with 3 other couples who have lived away from home and understand those feelings. It has been an exciting chapter but this is an exciting book and we are excited about jumping into the next chapter too.

There is still no movement to report on our house. We did have a couple of viewings this week and we continue to trust that it will sell in God's perfect time. Please pray with us as we try to remain patient and look forward to seeing how He works it all out.

Next ministry update

2009-11-22T14:06:00.000-08:00

Andrew flew over to Edinburgh to meet with the church leaders at Carrubbers to talk through a little more of a job description for the new ministry in January. First he met with the pastoral team to talk about how to move forward in the church plant and then with the directors (elders) to give a form of strategy for the year ahead. Praise God that He is going ahead of us through the rest of the team there who are building the bridges into the community. We are of course excited that we will be working with George and Marie MacRaild who are Andrew's brother's inlaws and missionaries with Biblical Ministries Worldwide. It now looks as though we have a moving week of 19th to 23rd January to move to Scotland.

This week we are looking forward to a de-brief with the OMS homeland staff. We have been so grateful for all their support during our time with OMS International.

Can you help???

2009-11-15T12:14:00.000-08:00

Would you love to be practically involved in missions?

Do you live in or around Coleraine N.I.?

Do you ever have time off during the day (morning or afternoon)?

Would you be interested in helping at the Project Mexico Charity Shop?

Since we got back Andrew has been helping out one morning a week at the shop. He loves the opportunity to serve practically and to chat with people who go into the shop. The charity shop gives so many people the opportunity to do something practical from donating unwanted belongings to ironing clothes, manning the shop and delivering furniture etc. It's a great way of raising financial support for various ministries in Mexico and has been instrumental in paying the MEFI team and keeping the La Raza building running. This in turn bears the kind of spiritual fruit that we have been reporting over the months and years. It's a worthy cause and there is always need for more people to get involved.

If you think you can help PLEASE contact us and we will be able to put you in touch with the appropriate people. You can practically bless the ministry through the sacrifice of your time and effort and see lives touched for eternity as result. Good payment in itself!!

Quick update

2009-11-15T12:08:00.000-08:00

Thanks for checking in and for your continued interest and prayers. Praise God that we are all in good health. There is no fresh news on our house but we continue to trust that God is in control of that and pray that the house will sell at the right time.

Andrew heads back to Edinburgh for a couple of days this week again. He's on his own this time as I will stay with the kids. We appreciate your prayers as we continue to look to the next phase of ministry.

Wallyford

2009-11-03T14:07:00.000-08:00

This past weekend Tabitha and Oscar had a little holiday with Andrew’s parents while we headed over to Edinburgh for a couple of nights. Without kids’ schedules to work around we were able to relive the hectic nature of life pre-kids. We caught up with lots of great friends, gave a short report as part of our missions prayer night, visited the ministry we will be involved with early next year, did some house-hunting and even found a few minutes to get to the shops.

It’s exciting how the doors are opening up for ministry in Wallyford. Please pray on Thursday this week for the group giving an introductory session to the bible club they will run in the school. There has been complete support for this group from the head teacher. This week they hope to do a treasure hunt and then start properly the following week. Pray that many kids will be attracted to the event and even venture along next week.

Wallyford, just outside Edinburgh, is an old mining town. House prices in Edinburgh are naturally quite pricy and so redevelopment in places like Wallyford is quite obvious as people choose to live further outside the city and commute to work. For 3 years now our home church in Edinburgh, Carrubbers Christian Centre, has been establishing links within the community and reaching out through mothers and toddlers groups, a youth ministry and other bits and pieces. The team has done an excellent job and are well known within the community. We are excited to be stepping into the team and to be looking at ways of developing the ministry further.

In some ways there will be many similarities to the ministries we were involved in in Mexico and in many ways there will be different challenges and opportunities. We are excited and looking forward to what lies ahead.

Our main prayer request is that we would sell our house in God’s perfect time. We would love to avoid another transition stage for the kids is possible i.e. sell our house here in N. Ireland soon so that we could buy in Scotland and move straight into the place that will be our home. Logistically it would seem much more simple rather than have to think about packing only the things we need for an indefinite period of time, finding a place to rent, living far from Tabitha’s school and our ministry and in transition again which could be hard on the kids. But we are confident that God knows our need and is concerned for our good and that He has never let us down so far. Pray with us as we wait on God for yet another miracle demonstrating His infinite love and grace.

Arrival

2009-10-24T13:28:00.000-07:00

Uncle Wesley (my brother) was waiting for us at Newark airport and accompanied us for the last leg of the journey. It was a beautiful morning with the beautiful autumn colours I have always loved rising up above the low-lying mist. The weather has been kind to us but we are still enjoying the luxury of central heating!

I think the word ‘overwhelmed’ is appropriate for describing our re-entry. Besides needing a lot of rest and some minor medical attention we have been getting out and about. Tabitha went to see her school on Monday and stayed. She was able to go all five days and had a great time. I ventured out to the supermarket by myself. I had a list but at one stage I was wondering if I would be returning home with anything on it. I was easily sidetracked but I did have to go up and down the same aisles 3 or 4 times to find what I was looking for. Finding the item I then had to pick from one of several varieties of the same thing. I know I’ve not been away that long but it was a little overwhelming. I’ve no doubt I’ll soon be able to fly around like the others who would reach over me to get what they wanted and fly on while I stood on reading all the labels and figuring out my cheapest option! As I left I was reminded where I was as a gust of wind caught my crisps (chips) and blew them into the car park. After getting my trolley (cart) back I went to get into the wrong side of the car to drive off and once corrected I then looked for my gears on the wrong side. Perhaps this week I’ll look a little more natural!
This afternoon we had our first deputation service. The NI rep had organised a lunch and program for all the prayer group leaders. There was special music by an amazingly gifted group from Australia who are visiting the country for two weeks. As we were ministered to by the beautiful music I was aware of the love and support of so many amazing people at home and was once again overwhelmed. We gave a flying report of some of the amazing things God has been doing in Mexico and as I got to telling the group about how I had felt the effects of their prayers I found myself choking up. Those of you who know me know that I don’t often get emotional but I guess this is part of the transition process. We have met some amazing people and made some great friends through OMS. We are privileged to be a part of this wonderful organisation.

We’re looking forward to the next few months of reporting back. We have not done amazing things in Mexico – God has through the prayers and support of His people and we’ve been privileged to see some of it first hand. A part of our hearts will always be in Mexico. We hope to move to our next ministry assignment in the New Year but maybe I’ll blog about that next week…

Here we are arriving in Mexico back in 2004.

Exit

2009-10-24T13:25:00.000-07:00

Our last few days in Mexico seem like a whirlwind. There were so many little things to do at the last minute and lots of people wanted to pop in to say goodbye. Goodbyes are never easy but when you know it may be unlikely you will ever see some of these people again and certainly not for extended periods like we have been used to it makes them even more difficult. Sunday was difficult as we said goodbye to many people in the church. In the afternoon we went out for a picnic with the MOPS girls and their families and those were some of the most difficult goodbyes for me.

In the middle of it all some of the young girls from church come around and I taught them to make cookies and banana bread. They want to raise money to come and visit. It would take a lot of cookies and bread to buy a ticket but it would be amazing if they could come. Some people talked about coming to visit so perhaps we will have the opportunity to make introductions.

The day before we left my temperature went up again. I quickly phoned the doctor to get the name of medicine that would bring it down and we got to praying that it would and that I would not be denied my place on the plane. I know many were praying for our journey perhaps without knowing the specifics but I was so aware of your prayers. All day I felt terrible and was in bed at the same time as the kids. In the morning my temperature was down and I was feeling much better. Since coming home I have been put on another antibiotic and with a lot of rest I am feeling a million times better.

On Wednesday morning we had a meeting with the wives of the pastors and as you can see from the picture Robin MacKinnon was in town. We were able to snatch some precious moments together and I feel blessed that God should have worked the circumstances for our reunion to be made possible.

Once again thank you for your prayers as we travelled. We have absolutely no doubt that we were carried by prayer. The kids, once again, were amazing. We had more incredibly tough goodbyes at the airport with Margaret and Robin. It was fantastic to travel with the Lindseys though we knew that meant even more difficult goodbyes ahead. There is no doubt that we really miss our amazing missionary family and wish we could have them all here with us. How long will it be until teletransportation is possible? Perhaps better to long for heaven where there are no more goodbyes!

MOPS

2009-10-10T20:02:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday I had the privilege of sharing at the other MOPS group in Mexico. I didn't have to travel too far as the church is on the same land as the seminary where we are living! I love MOPS and I love how eager these girls are to do a great job in their privileged position of being mums of young kids.
On Thursday we had our meeting in La Loma and the topic was 'True Beauty' with an overview of some of Esther's great qualities. In both groups numbers have gone down since everything was closed because of the swine flu. We appreciate your prayers that God would bless both groups numerically and as a result that lives and families would be transformed by the power of the gospel and applicable teaching. It felt so good on Thursday to tell the girls that there are people interested in them and praying for them that they don't even know. These girls are constantly testifying to the change MOPS is making in their marriages and families. There is a depth of biblical wisdom in this area among older women in our churches at home that perhaps we take for granted. In a few years we hope to see even more long-term fruit for the labour of MOPS in Mexico City.
Downstairs the kids enjoyed popcorn and a movie...and comfy cushions made by friends at home. Thank you again Ann and the team! The leadership of the kids' work has changed hands. It's a little unstable and we'd appreciate prayer that God provides people every week to work with the kids. There has always been someone...but sometimes just one!!

Play time

2009-10-10T19:50:00.001-07:00

This is the little space outside the classrooms at La Loma a few months ago...

Ezekiel, in the blue t-shirt below, has worked so hard along with some others in the past few weeks to completely transform the look. Here he is adding the finishing touches with his daughter. Tabitha was keen to get in on the action too of course!
The next day Andrew went out to build the equipment...
and the next day, Thursday, it was put to the test at MOPS.
The mums were in their meeting of course but here one of the Dads shows his daughter what to do.
The boys have fun...and are versatile.
It's a huge hit. The kids love it and so do the adults. Thank you SOOOOOOO much to those who made it possible. There is still some softer flooring to go down but our biggest prayer is that this excellent play area will attract kids and their parents, bringing them to church where they will hear the gospel. Of course the prayer continues as we hope for their salvation! It will be used whenever kids are in the building...a lot!

Who turned up the speed?

2009-10-10T19:16:00.000-07:00

It seems so hard to believe that in less than a week we will be back in N. Ireland. It's hard to imagine exchanging our t-shirts for sweaters, not sitting in horrendous traffic or speaking in Spanish. More importantly, it's hard to imagine that we are saying final goodbyes to so many people we love so much. I think we are still in denial about that. Tania (above) has been our friend ever since we came back in 2004. She is a fabulous Spanish teacher but it wasn't long before we established a friendship outside of the classroom. We have invited so many people to come and see us but we definitely hope that Tania will be able to come... and maybe you will get to meet her!
This is our view most mornings. In the distance there are two peaks - a pointy one and a more gradual one just to the left of it. They are the volcanoes just outside the city. Once the sun gets up they disappear from sight because of the pollution...but we aren't sleeping the best so we usually get plenty of time to see them. Below is the view out the back.
Since the last time we posted we have been flying around visiting people. We have managed to close 6 of the 9 cases.

Andrew felt achy all over and had a pretty constant headache for a week. He had no fever thankfully and though the tiredness hasn't lifted the rest of the symptoms seem to be a thing of history. We appreciate your prayers for him as he is susceptible to severe headaches. But we know prayer works!

I developed a heavy cold but avoided going to the doctor. Until last Thursday. I had twisted a muscle in my back but continued doing the things I had planned and by the evening it was quite angry. My temperature went up and so I succumbed to the inevitable. I was diagnosed with bronchitis and given a pile of medicine. It's the first time since coming to Mexico that I have had asthma-like symptoms even though I had it bad as a kid. Anyway, time heals as they say and things are looking up.

The kids have been great healthwise. They are tired though and so after tomorrow we are hoping they will be able to get the rest they need before the big journey. Tabitha has struggled with all the changes and is expressing it in anger. We went out with our old neighbours this morning and it was lovely to see our happy, singing daughter again. I should imagine things will settle down once we finally get on the promised airplane and she sees family that she has been desperate to see for ages. She has no idea of the painful consequences of our leaving but she has so much to look forward to.

God willing we fly out around 9.o0am local time (3.00pm in Britain) on Thursday. We should arrive in N. Ireland (with 15 layers of clothing each!!) at 9am local time Friday (3am Mexican time) It's almost 24 hours when you consider the drives to and from the airports. We continue to appreciate your prayer as we say our final goodbyes (the hardest are last!) and for a safe journey (with kids who sleep!).

Marching through chapters

2009-09-27T14:58:00.000-07:00

It seems time is going much faster than normal! The novelty of living in a new place has worn off for Tabitha who asked several times yesterday if she could go home. She is obviously fully aware of the changes around her and keeps asking if we can go in the aeroplane.

Andrew finished formal work this week. We were both invited to La Raza on Thursday evening for a special meal with the team and a kind of formal goodbye before the church service. Andrew spoke and it was a good time, though difficult emotionally. It was a foretaste of the difficult goodbyes still ahead and yet we are looking forward to being reunited with friends and family.

We mentioned last week that we have our house on the market and were looking for a car. Well praise God we now have a car and it seems there are a couple of viewers interested in the house. Hopefully something will come of that. We patiently wait for God's timing and continue to be amazed at how He blesses.

It was fun this week to go a pick out some games equipment for the new play area at La Loma. We have arranged that the first group to use it will be MOPS in a couple of weeks. We are so excited about how this simple addition will facilitate in the children's work and see families added to the church and to the family of Christ.

This week we will largely be focussing on packing and goodbyes and appreciate your prayers for our health and stamina. Pray too for the MEFI team as they start this new chapter of working together. Pray that they will continue to be unified and experience God's blessing in numerical and spiritual growth.

In Jesus' arms

2009-09-22T12:12:00.000-07:00

We are in a state of shock and sadness having just heard that Miguel's grandson passed away this morning. Miguel is our pastor, the supervisor of the MEFI team and the president of our church movement (UNIFAM).

A couple of weeks ago we were told that little Jocsan was sick and last Friday he was admitted to hospital. He was just 16 months old. It seems that had pneumonia.

Please pray for this family. They are devastated as you can imagine. Pray particularly for Jocsan's parents - Isabel and Eliseo. Isabel is expecting their second child.

La Raza

2009-09-20T16:37:00.000-07:00

Day by day we are seeing great things. On Monday we had one of our street kids from years ago come back. He needed to talk and is worried about the accommodation that he is one of the leaders of. It is a street home called 'Casa Cuauhtémoc'. The founder is a psychologist who just lost his mother last weekend. The kids fear that he will close the centre down. Andrew talked to the founder on the phone to express our sympathies on behalf of the team and Alex and Paty will be trying to meet up with him to see if we can encourage and also start a house church there. Pray for an open door and a time to minister to him. This man has done many wonderful things for street kids over the years.

In the evening we had 60 adults and 9 children to the Independance day party. 15 from our sister church about 10 minutes drive north of La Raza, and the rest La Raza regulars and locals. What an answer to prayer. Many of the regulars to Thursday night bible study brought friends and kids from the holiday bible club came with their families.

7 Haitains came again on Monday and again on Thursday night this week. we have spoken to our wonderful Spanish teacher Tania, who many have been praying for to be saved and she is going to give Paty and crash course in how to teach Spanish to the Haitians this Thursday morning. They are very keen to get help to learn.

Street kid work was very exciting too. Monday saw 5 kids saved through discipleship and on Tuesday the team sat to talk about motivation and discipline resulting in some good deeper conversations. Please pray for one young man from the La Raza group who speaks excellent English and to whom the teams from Oklahoma 'visited with' every time they came to work on the centre. He has had a rollercoaster time since the last time we had contact but is coming everyday again and we pray that we will finally watch God work in his life.

And so Andrew begins his last week in La Raza as part of the staff. Pray for him as he shares with the kids for the last time and preaches on Thursday night. Pray that he will share the Gospel filled with the Holy Spirit.

On the move

2009-09-20T15:52:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy week! We've done a lot of sorting, packing and lifting and that's all before Friday when the movers came and took all our furniture into storage. It will stay there to be used by new missionaries coming to the field in the next few months.

Margaret and Andrew headed off with the guys to reload the furniture and boxes she and Robin had in storage which gave Robin and I a little bit of time to try and clean the empty space.

By Friday evening we were installed in our new accommodation for the next 3 and a bit weeks before we leave. We are in the seminary building in the apartment used by teams when they come here. It is an excellent facility and the kids seem to have transitioned well. They think we are on holiday as we are all sleeping in the same room so they are quite excited. With the extra dormitories we have extra space to spread out our stuff for packing. Though most of the sorting has been done we still have a bit of work to do to reduce what we want to transport home into nine suitcases that fit the weight and size requirements!!!!!

Our idea is to have that done as soon as possible so we can spend the last couple of weeks with dear friends.

This is Andrew's last working week. He finishes on Thursday evening preaching at the service in La Raza. It's really beginning to feel real now and time will fly by.

As we finish here we are also planning for our transition back to the UK. Our house in Coleraine is on the market and we are looking for a car. We appreciate your prayers as we trust God to work out all the details. Obviously we can't really start looking to buy in Scotland until we have sold our house in N. Ireland.

Our new ministry assignment is getting more and more exciting as God continues to move pieces and open doors before we even get there. We'll post more details about that later.

It's a strange time for us. Mexico has a piece of us and it will be difficult to say goodbye to people (permanently in many cases). We are also excited about what is ahead. By the changing circumstances the kids now know something is going on but they are doing well. Tabitha remembers some of the highlights from our trip home in April and is looking forward to reliving them. Apart from seeing everyone again she is looking forward to getting her Snow White dress from her cousins, new welly boots, a school bag and lunch box and visiting the farm!

What's happening at La Raza these days?

2009-09-13T20:20:00.000-07:00

Glad you asked. We had a good week last week ending up with 19 kids on Wednesday. This is hard to handle and 4 of the kids had to be removed for bad behaviour. After that everything was good. We had a team visit us for the day on Monday from Kentucky and 2 kids started their discipleship with Alex. We have had another look at how to use the time with the kids and decided that everyone should be in Discipleship two days of the week apart from the teaching times everyday. We may go for more as we see how the groups respond to time with their mentors.

Thursday night was wonderful. 7 street kids turned up, 7 Haitians and then others from the community adding to a total of 27 people. We are so encouraged. Monday night is a 'Noche Mexicana' (Mexican night) to celebrate Mexican Independance from Spain and so we are teaming up with another UNIFAM church that started out a year before us. They are coming to us on Monday. It will be wonderful to share time with them and eat some the typical foods of the occasion.

So for prayer? We can only ask that you pray for powerful times with the kids in their discipleship times. Pray that Alex, Fidel and Paty will be filled with the Spirit and redeem the time.

MOPS

2009-09-13T20:13:00.000-07:00

This is our MOPS team with some of our kids - between us we have 9!

We started on Thursday. There were about 9 mums and I finally gave that talk I had planned from ages ago. It was a good time and we're hopeful that the word that we have started again will get around quickly.

Work is advancing quickly on the little waste area that we are converting into a playground thanks to the gifts from home. We can't wait to see it finished. Please pray with us that we will find good prices for the play equipment and that this new facility will be a means to bring many people into the church and more importantly to Christ.

All means...

2009-09-13T20:09:00.000-07:00

Once a month Andrew and the MEFI team join the other church planters for training. This week they learned how to make anti-bacterial hand gel among other things. So if you need your hands disinfecting Andrew's your man!

Actually it's an evangelistic tool. Since the outbreak of Swine Flu people have become a lot more concerned about personal hygiene and the idea is that by teaching people how to make the gel they will be able to establish contacts that may lead to people coming to know Christ.

In and Out

2009-09-13T19:56:00.000-07:00

Robin and Margaret have been staying with us for about 3 weeks since they got back from HMA (deputation) in the US. They have been busy looking for a house in that time and we are delighted that they finally found one... ours!!! Our owner reduced the rent and so they have found a great place to stay.

Here we are at work. As I take our stuff out of the cupboards Robin is filling them up again with their stuff!!
One thing we are really excited about is that they will have ongoing contact with our neighbours. We have built up such great friendships with some of them over almost 3 years.

Our plan is to move all of our furniture out at the end of this week and move up to the seminary where there is an apartment we can live in. We'll also be able to repack our suitcases as we seem to be running a little over our allowed weight - no surprise there!! We appreciate your prayers in transition time, especially for Tabitha. She seems to be doing well so far and is excited about seeing her relatives in Northern Ireland.

Flood

2009-09-13T19:46:00.000-07:00

It's raining outside. It was raining outside when we wrote the blog last week as well. Just after we finished the electricity went off. It didn't come back on until 17 hours later!

It was later on Monday evening that we got a couple of calls from friends asking if we were ok. We decided it was time we looked at the news and found that there has been some severe flooding about 5 minutes down the road from us.

I don't think we have ever been this close to such flooding before. A sewage pipe burst and many people have lost varying amounts of their possessions. We do have friends who live there but thankfully they weren't the hardest hit. We have heard some sad stories of people who had to swim out of their houses and over roofs to get to safety.

As we pray for those affected we give thanks for all the effort, local and international, to try and help these people. We are also so grateful once again for our protection.

We're not sure why we have all this rain. It's pretty cold and quite overcast a lot of the time which is unusual for here but perhaps it is a good way of breaking us into the weather we are about to travel to in a few short weeks!

Here are some photos from the flooding...

La Raza

2009-09-06T18:16:00.000-07:00

A great bunch of kids coming to the centre are enjoying their time, talks, and play. Members of the team were commenting on how much easier this bunch are, but it will be sure that the team are more used to the set up, so the kids find a much more experienced team who are better equipped to cope with the problems that the kids throw at them.

We went through the statistics of the last wave, so here they are for your prayers and praise.

We had 76 kids come through the door since the end of March. Of those 33 came once, maybe twice to check us out or get some free clothes. 24 came 4 or 5 times and 4 came for 2 weeks in a row. So we had 15 steady attenders. Wonderfully 16 kids prayed to accept Jesus as their Saviour and 9 left the streets 3 of whom returned after a few months. We have no contact with the others except that they come and visit.

So are you as encouraged as the team is? We hope so. Praise God that He is molding the team and as they sat down this week to think about the next 'year' ahead there was a wonderful unity of purpose and determination to keep working and praying for fruit. This week, apart form ministry of course the team will be refining the day program and weeks activities to maximize their time.

Thursday night had 19 people come two of whom were kids. Praise God that even though we had to cancel the service for the general assembly, we still had our regulars and others come for the teaching time. Can we still count the 3 Haitians who came just as Fidel was finishing the sermon? They came in and stayed for coffee and a chat.

Escuadron 201

2009-09-06T18:01:00.000-07:00

Today we were down in the south of the city. Andrew was preaching. What a privilege to be able to communicate with such dear people. We were also asked to lead the worship at the start. Andrew sang of course and I played the almost four octave casio keyboard with no sustain pedal. It crossed my mind that it would be funny to hear what more accomplished musicians than me would sound like if placed in a similar situation. I would love to see the video...

Over the last couple of years Andrew has had regular meetings with the pastor, Cesar. We just love his family. His mother-in-law was recently admitted to hospital. She was released but later suffered four mini-strokes at home. Thankfully we heard today that she seems to be doing much better. She is finding it hard to walk but will start rehabilitation this weekend. Pray for Cesar and Irma in particular at this time. They are keeping Irma's mum in their house. They really have a full plate with lots of services and ministry during the week. We are thankful that this lady is a Christian and hope that she will quickly regain her strength.

Ministry @ home

2009-09-06T17:35:00.000-07:00

A few months ago we were blessed with the visit of a ladies' ministry team from the US. It was a particular privilege for Robin MacKinnon and I to sneak some time with a MOPS mentor mum. Amidst all the great advice she talked about the blessing as mums of being able to minster from our kitchen table. Admittedly it is difficult at times to get too involved in ministry outside the home. The work seems unending never mind fitting in with different sleep routines and over here the time it takes to get anywhere.

Well, Saturday was definitely a home ministry day. We started off with the MOPS La Loma leadership team. Between the four mums we had 9 kids. While the kids played I gave a pizza class. We hope that the girls will be able to raise some money to help support MOPS after we leave. The pastor has also told them that the church will be able to help financially.

The pizza passed the first test - our kids. Now we need buy-in from a few others...

After lunch we had a big planning session. We plan to start this Thursday and I will be giving the talk I didn't give last term. Of course we would appreciate your prayers if God brings it to your mind. I will be helping to organise the speakers up until Christmas. There is a huge need for help with MOPPETS, the kids' group. The girl who leads at the moment is involved in church planting and may have a house church opening up on Thursday mornings. In any case we really need a team of people to help there. Please pray.

On Saturday evening it was a lot of fun to have Joe and his host family come over for dinner. Margaret and Robin have also been staying with us while they look for a house. As the house empties of furniture, toys and nick-naks it is great to fill it up with friends and laughter.

Alcohólicos Anónimos

2009-08-30T19:48:00.000-07:00

Guess what that means?

Alcoholics Anonymous. Social Ministries has been helping to fund a group in the north of the city. Today it was such a blessing to attend a special service in the Coacalco church for the group we have been supporting and the parent group. Members of the church and the pastor regularly visit both groups where they have been invited to to bible studies and devotionals.

Pastor Mario from Acapulco travelled through the night to be the visiting speaker. It was an amazing service but especially at the end when many responded to the gospel invitation. It was quite noisy between the music, the tears, the prayers of the pastor and the church members who prayed over those who had gone forward. Without doubt God was there and the atmosphere was electric.

We were called up and thanked but really we were once again just the faces of a much larger team of people who support Social Ministries and made financial giving possible. Thank you for your giving and praying which is being used to change lives and families here in Mexico.

General Assembly

2009-08-30T19:45:00.000-07:00

Three long days of giving reports on the years work in each of the churches and ministries, discussing dates of events for the year and finally voting for new members of the committees led to a very satisfying general assembly. Praise God for a calm and unified time with some excellent teaching on 'Walking together' in the year ahead. Such a desire to be united as the denomination reaches out to Mexico.
Andrew got the chance to give out DVDs made by Carol's Aunt and Uncle, Irene and John Barfoot of Emmanuel Studios who make these resources for children. Each church received copies of the teaching in Spanish to use in their mother churches, daughter churches and house churches. Everyone was excited to learn about how they could use them in their ministries. Pray that these would be used to teach kids in Mexico about the love of our Lord Jesus. Thank-you Irene and John once again for your ministry. How wonderful that we were able to make your hard work available to the UNIFAM churches here.

La Raza update

2009-08-23T19:59:00.000-07:00

An up and down week for MEFI work. Some older faces came back from over a year ago who had left the streets but 1 was banned after not respecting the rules. Always sad but necessary when it happens. On a more positive note we have had some very positive responses from those who want to continue on with discipleship next week. Andrew has the lists of kids to go through and get some statistics. Sorry we don't have them for this week.

At the church service we had 21 people including the team itself. What a joy to have 4 parents of kids from the bible club, 5 kids themselves that Paty and Andrew looked after and another new person invited by a regular. The team are very encouraged and are planning for the next 'year'. They are more determined than ever that "The ministry has a church and the church has a ministry". What they mean by that is they can more than ever have a place for street kids to go to that will welcome them and love them and provide the family of God for them that they need. Apart from that they can involve more and more from the church in the ministry as it grows. The team sees the two works going hand in hand. Also it helps the team to use the church services as another point of contact with the kids during the week. There will be two days with the kids this week as the team will have to attend the UNIFAM national assembly on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

General Assembly

2009-08-23T18:15:00.000-07:00

This week all the church leaders get together for their annual meetings. Various decisions will be made but probably one of the most important items on the agenda is the re-election of the national board. Even the president will have to be re-elected.

Andrew will be at those meetings along with a few of the other missionaries.

If God burdens your heart then we would appreciate prayer for unity and vision as many decisions and plans are made. Also that God's will would be clearly seen and followed and that as a result our churches would continue to grow in number and depth as people find Christ and grow in Him.

Transition

2009-08-23T17:46:00.000-07:00

What a week!! In order to prevent last minute craziness and at our neighbours' request we have been sorting out things that we don't need. The first stage of the process is to figure out what we can take. That is not a pleasant experience. We put what we would love to take home into our bedroom and began to pack cases. It quickly became obvious that sacrifices would have to be made. Our baggage allowance is 7 cases and some friends (you may remember Gary who worked with MEFI) who are visiting confirmed that they could take another bag for us.

It may sound like a lot but it's surprising how little fits in a suitcase, especially when you have a lot of books to transport. In the middle of all the turmoil I was speaking with my parents who were wondering if it would be helpful to have mum meet us at Newark airport. Well now that was attractive. Lifting 7 bags from one belt and placing them onto another and then crossing the airport with 3 pieces of hand luggage, a car seat, a stroller and 2 small kids isn't something we were relishing.

Then on Tuesday our missionary friends Leroy and Kay mentioned that they were planning to travel up to Newark the day before. Well, to end this long story it now happens that Leroy and Kay will be travelling with us and my brother will meet us at Newark airport. We are so overwhelmed at people's generosity and how God has worked it all out so amazingly. Not only do we get some extra luggage allowance as a result but we also have travelling companions which is going to be a lot more fun. God once again has shown us how He loves to bless us and has taught us not to be concerned, He knows what we need.

By the end of the week Oscar was also moved into our bedroom and his bedroom has been converted into a second hand shop. As well as getting rid of stuff to people who will be able to use it, it has been lovely to be able to spend some more time with friends and neighbours. We've had a busy house for a few days!

We probably have one more month here in our house before we move up to the seminary for the last few weeks when we hope to be able to have plenty of time to adequately say goodbye to our friends here. Transition is never easy and I expect we shall get tired of it all pretty soon. We appreciate your prayers particularly for the kids who aren't completely aware of what is going on. The move is still a long way away for them but the changes are already very obvious.

Street Kids ministry update

2009-08-16T18:48:00.000-07:00

The team are coming to the end of the first 6 months of ministry since re-opening the doors. They have had many kids through the door, some have stayed and some have just 'checked us out' so to speak. They had some kids outside smoking drugs a couple of weeks ago who were regulars and since Fidel and Andrew stood at the window and watched them, they had to lay down the law and ban them for a week. Some have not come back. Those who came at the beginning are in their last week now. We have been very clear with them that if we don't see them trying their best to listen in the teaching times under Fidel, nor obeying the rules of the program then their time runs out and they have a 6 month break until another wave have passed through.

This week the team would ask you to pray with them as they go to different groups to invite kids in for a new wave. There has been some fruit from the first wave. Andrew will try to get numbers for the blog next week, those who have come, how many off the streets and decisions for salvation. Till then, pray this week for those who are and will be discipled. The team is very aware of your prayers and teamwork in the ministry.

Kids @ La Raza

2009-08-16T10:51:00.000-07:00

Thanks for your prayers this week. We really didn't know what to expect on Wednesday. There is probably a great deal of uncertainty if not suspicion in the community about what the building in La Raza is there for. That would make it difficult for parents to leave there kids at a club they know nothing about.

The club started with 9 kids from the community and 3 related to the team members. They had a fantastic time and didn't want to leave. On Thursday there were 14 kids from the community and on Friday there were 19. By the end of the week several mums also stayed around and had a great time chatting. Of course they wanted the team do to more for the kids and were delighted with the program.

So praise God for a new challenge - how to introduce kids' work. What we are thinking is that this week we will try and get decent stairs up to the roof (which is flat), put a fence up for safety and a couple of tarpaulins and the kids can have a meeting up there during the Thursday night service while their parents meet below. Pray with us that this will be well received and will encourage more people to come on Thursday evenings. We praise God too for the obvious increase in trust as the numbers increased each day. This week the team will be visiting the kids and their families to give them another craft that they made. Pray with us that it opens doors.

Below are some photos of the club.

The team still worked with street kids at the beginning of the week and had the regular service on Thursday evening. It was good to have 4 of the Haitian guys come along. They really enjoyed the music especially. We continue to hope to build bridges with that group and to see them come to know Christ. So there were 15, including Fidel, Alex, Juanita and Paty there on Thursday night. Some asking about a Sunday morning service. Please pray that God will give the team a clear vision for how they move forward in that. As a team, we will be working on guidance for what God wants us to do in the next year, starting in September, and setting it down in a plan to give to UNIFAM and OMS.

Unknown territory

2009-08-08T20:20:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we will be running a Holiday Bible Club (VBS) at La Raza. We really have no idea what will happen but we appreciate your prayers for the team as they finish preparation and do the club. We hope to be joined by others who can help.

Pray that a good number of kids will come along and that this event will open doors into the community. One of the Haitian guys turned up to the service on Thursday night which was an encouragement to the team. There are still plenty of empty seats that could be filled!

You can always fill the time!

2009-08-08T20:08:00.001-07:00

Well this week has been quieter in terms of ministry. Andrew has had several responsibilities to fulfill but on the whole he has been around a lot more much to the kids' (and wife's!) enjoyment.

We have enjoyed some family time together but have been cracking on with the sorting of all our stuff and some admin bits and pieces. It's crazy how stuff accumulates especially with little kids around...and how little fits into a suitcase! Don't misunderstand - we still have our heads here, we're just making the most of each opportunity to do a little at a time and avoid as much stress as possible later.

Our leaving date is now confirmed as the 15th of October...which will soon come around. We have started booking our deputation (HMA) services. If you're interested in hearing about the work first hand (and you are in NI or Scotland) please don't hesitate to contact us or Donald Coulter, the NI rep for OMS International.

Joe

2009-08-08T19:59:00.000-07:00

Joe is the tall guy in the black t-shirt. He has been staying with us and we took him to camp last weekend. He's here for a year from Australia on a program called 'Extreme Walk'. On that program he lives with a Mexican family while he studies Spanish full-time. At some point he will transition from language studies to ministry.

On Tuesday evening we took him to his host family. This family have been friends of ours for many years now. They have hosted various teams and if you know them it will be no surprise that they had a super welcome planned. Besides the sign and the flag the national anthem was playing in the background and there was a huge meal. This is one of the most hospitable families we know and Joe will be well looked after. Which is nice - he's a great guy!

Pray that he will be able to pick up the language quickly and that he will greatly benefit from his time here.

On an emotional note our trip with Joe was after our weekly missionary meeting. During our prayer time Tabitha piped up after mummy with her first public prayer. After giving thanks for everyone in the group she said, "Amen!" and then proudly announced that she had prayed. Needless to say our prayer time finished at that point. It would have been a hard act to follow!

Pinned

2009-08-06T20:15:00.000-07:00

It was quite a surprise to us last week at meeting to have our last five years recounted and to be presented with pins for 5 years of service with OMS International.
Has it really been 5 years? In some ways it feels like we have been here forever and in other ways the time has flown by. We first came pre-kids of course and it's hard to even remember those days! We have been truly blessed to be a part of the OMS family. It's a great organisation and we have been well looked after. We have experienced so many things in those five years. Some incredibly wonderful, others incredibly difficult but all used by God to teach us and continue to develop us. We have met some amazing people and I'm probably talking about you as one of our supporters as well as others who have come on teams. Then there are our fantastic Mexican colleagues and friends who are so dear.

A lot can happen in five years. I wonder what we will be saying 5 years from now if God spares us...

Up the mountain

2009-08-06T19:50:00.000-07:00

Camp finished on Sunday after lunch. We were excited about the possibility of staying on a few hours and heading up into the mountain to the little church Andrew and a team from America had helped to construct. The kids seemed great and it is easier to travel at night with them as they sleep in the car anyway.

The team had been able to lay the floor and pour the concrete pillars (a lot of hard labour!) Since we were there the roof and half wall have been added. Behind the wall there are goats, pigs and chickens. There are times I am glad people don't understand English as as Tabitha loudly exclaimed, "It stinks!!" it was one of those occasions! She did love seeing all the animals afterward though.
This is just the adult group. In the background you may make out the kids' group. There were just as many of them meeting in the house.
They had their own special program after the singing.
The people so appreciate all that the team did to help them. The little church has grown since the structure has been built. One new couple dedicated their baby on Sunday. We thought you might appreciate a little video of the singing and a view of the area. No hymnbooks, no projector and the singing went on like this for a while...

Camp

2009-08-06T19:31:00.001-07:00

Praise God! We had a fantastic time at camp. The kids travelled really well. It was incredibly hot and humid so they spent quite a bit of time in the room with the air-conditioning. They did well with the lack of routine and had a great time.

Here are the campers in one of their sessions. There were about 150 altogether.
Here are the main leaders of the camp. The guy on the right in the yellow t-shirt is one of the UNIFAM pastors. What a fabulous job they did.
This was our classroom! Actually it looks out over the ocean as well!
This is one of our classes. We taught 3 workshops and if you know us well then it will come as no surprise that we used quite a bit of drama. The camp was all about being a conqueror - first and foremost having our lives conquered by Christ and then conquering failure in different areas and by different means.
There were 4 groups so we weren't the only ones giving workshops. There was also a visiting speaker and there were counsellors assigned to small groups of about 15 kids. When we weren't preparing or giving a class we were free to do as we liked. There was plenty of help and so it was actually refreshing for us to be able to spend some time together. We were often glad not to be running around doing the activities the kids were in the incredible heat. It was also a nice chance to catch up with a couple of the pastors' wives who were around as well.

Here are the groups that responded to the invitation in the final session. The kids on the right indicated that they felt God was calling them to be missionaries at home or abroad. The group on the left indicated that they were asking God to give them direction and a vision for their lives. In the testimony time the evening before some of those who had been invited to the camp by friends who go to church shared that they had trusted Christ for salvation. One guy from La Loma shared that he had decided he was giving up drugs once and for all.
These are exciting stories. Please pray that the impact of this time will stay with the kids as they return to their homes and normal life.

Are the weeks getting shorter?

2009-07-26T17:47:00.000-07:00

This has flown by. On Tuesday Andrew and I were both feeling off. I know, never ending story. I think I was served a cup of tea made with tap water (!) and Andrew was suffering for having cleaned the guys toilets at La Raza... Anyway, we're both feeling better again. It only took me a day or so which is good as we had MOPS on Thursday.

As it turns out there were only 3 people besides the leadership team so we decided to postpone my talk until we restart in September. It seems that the school holidays have a profound effect on attendance and so we are responding accordingly. Over the next month we will be working on converting a disused area of the church into a play area for the little kids at church. It will be useful for MOPS principally but also for Mex-i-Kids and Sunday School. Thanks to a generous gift from the UK we should be able to totally transform this space.
The church has agreed to do the building work ie. raise the walls, put down a floor and some sort of roof and we will be able to do the rest. As you can see there are three classrooms that have doors leading to the play area. Our prayer is that it will serve to help the teachers and enhance the kids' experience of church. When the kids are happy their mums will be more eager to attend and I think this will be a big attraction. Diana who directs the work with the kids at MOPS does a great job with limited resources. She is so committed to making sure these kids are hearing the gospel and having a great time. Please pray that there would be more in the church able and willing to help her. Sometimes it's only her and one or two others and up to 30 young kids!

It was an interesting week at La Raza as well. On Tuesday Paty suddenly had a terrible headache as she walked in to do her session with the street kids. She asked if they had been making a pact with Saint Death. One of the boys ran out of the room and was sick, the others were crying as Paty in no uncertain terms told them that God was not to be messed with. We were reminded once again that we do not wrestle with flesh and blood and that we need to be on our knees completely depending on God's power. Please pray for the MEFI team, for their protection, health and stamina in this frontline and difficult ministry.

There were very few out at the service on Thursday evening as well. Sadly the Haitian group didn't show up though they had stopped by the centre earlier in the week.

On Wednesday we will be heading down to Acapulco for the youth camp. We appreciate your prayers as we finish preparing for the workshops we will be giving. Then we would love you to pray for a safe journey and for the kids as they travel and adjust to a different (no) routine and place. We probably won't have access to internet until we get back so there will be no posts next week.

Scaffolding

2009-07-21T17:25:00.000-07:00

As many of you will know Mexico has played a hugely significant part in our lives for a long time now. I think it was before we were engaged that we were first asked by our local church, Carrubbers Christian Centre in Edinburgh, to consider leading a team to work alongside Fidel with the street kids for a month back in 2001. It was during that visit that we felt called to return for a season to continue working with the street kid ministry. Three years later we were back in Mexico under the care and supervision of OMS International. For just over a year our main focus was the work God had called us back to - the newly named Proyecto MEFI. It was during that time that Alex and Paty were added to the team.

After a further year in N. Ireland where Tabitha was born, we were back in Mexico City having felt that God had more work for us to do in the ministry.

We have learned the analogy that missionaries should be like scaffolding - they support the national structure until it is ready to support itself. What we really wanted to see was a Mexican team: called, gifted and prepared to lead the ministry forward. Since the beginning of this year Andrew has felt that the 'building' might soon be ready to stand alone.

In Fidel, Juana, Alex and Paty we have some gifted, passionate and faithful workers. Over and over again we have been amazed as we have seen the selfless way they have loved the kids and the ministry and have seen kids come to know Christ and leave the streets as a result. They are based out of a fabulous, remodelled centre which is beginning to serve as a local church and have vision for the future of the ministry.

The ministry is by no means complete. Future plans could include a drug rehab facility, live-in accommodation, micro-enterprise development, more drop-in centres etc. etc. What is important is that though the work is still relatively small it is now ready to be lead by the current team. As the national church becomes more aware of the ministry and gets increasingly behind it financially and with personnel it may be able to grow in some of these areas. Currently the team is supervised by our pastor and national church president, Miguel Romero who visits the team weekly. We are happy that he is a wise and Godly person to have helping and encouraging the team.

So what about us, the scaffolding? Well Mexico is a big country with many needs. Since the start of the year Andrew has been asked to consider different ministry possibilities on the field. With prayerful consideration he hasn't felt that was the way God was leading him. When we went home a few weeks ago it was a good chance for us to have some time apart to pray and consider some more. There is no doubt that God has been closing and opening doors in an obvious way. We clearly feel that the door has been opened on the other side of the Atlantic, back in Scotland. We are excited about the opportunity of full-time ministry in what in many ways is a similar ministry just outside of Edinburgh.

Of course, this was not an easy decision to make. There are times when the ministry is difficult and we would gladly jump on the first airplane home. But when that reality begins to sink in we realise that there are so many things we have grown to love here in Mexico, not least it's people. Over the next few months I imagine that we may process some of those thoughts here on the blog.

So what is the timescale? Well, for the moment Andrew is still a necessary part of the MEFI team, particularly to help with effective communication between the members. He thinks the team will be ready to move forward themselves by autumn time and so we are looking at a return date before the end of the year.

You may have questions and we are more than happy to try and answer those if you write to us. We are so grateful for our experience here in Mexico and for how God has blessed us, led us and taught us so much. We are delighted to be able to continue to serve Him and as always our deepest desire is to see His name alone glorified and His kingdom extended all over the world.

He's free!

2009-07-19T14:27:00.000-07:00

Here he is - the guy we've been praying for for months! Yesterday we went to a special thanksgiving/birthday celebration. You may remember that he turned 16 the day after he was imprisoned. It seems that he was beside a fight between two school groups. When the police turned up the guilty kids ran away and the innocent were punished.

Leroy gave a great message of encouragement to the family. Here he is reading a letter from one of our supporting churches who have been praying a lot for the family. It was so encouraging for the family to hear of their prayers. They seem to be good but I imagine events like this are quite overwhelming for them. It seems he won't be behind with school work. He will have some catching up to do but he will be able to do that while continuing on in the next level when school re-starts.

Thank you for your prayers and praise God for this wonderful positive answer.

VBS

2009-07-19T13:49:00.000-07:00

What a week! We were hoping and praying for 150 kids and that is how many we had almost every day. We thought you might appreciate this scene that might not be out of place in N. Ireland but that you may not expect in one of the world's largest cities!

At the start and finish all of the kids were together. Apart from that they were separated for various activites. The theme was "Follow me!" and talked about various people who decided to follow Jesus.
This is a missions class where the kids are colouring flags from different countries.
This is the craft class. I was impressed that boys of this age were interested in doing this craft!
Food was a key part of each day. The team of helpers in the kitchen was fantastic. Aside from a lot of cooking there was a mountain of dishes to be washed. Juana was involved in the kitchen all week.
Andrew ran a music workshop where he taught the kids 5 new songs. He picked the music, invented the actions with the help of a couple of the girls from the church and wrote out all the words on huge lengths of material. It was an exhausting job dancing and singing all day but definitely worth it.

Our kids weren't able to go every day so on the days I was there I was able to do some observing when I wasn't getting involved. It was obvious that the kids were loving the songs. They were singing amazing words but the style was appropriate and attractive. I also noticed this year that there were a lot more older kids. We think it is SO important to find music that the older kids will enjoy. If they are excited and involved then the younger kids will join in too. These kids are going away with lines like, 'teach me to love You more and more' and 'Your love is great' and 'God made me the way I am and He loves me that way' among others. Some of these kids may never have known that or experienced much love at home.
Here's a short video of some of the songs. You may spot Tabitha in the first part. She's been singing away at the songs in Spanish and loves doing the actions as well. I was also so impressed to see so many kids in the large group doing the actions.

On Saturday about 50 parents and grandparents came along to see the kids and heard the gospel presented. Please pray for the follow-up of these kids and their families. We're not sure how many kids trusted Christ but lives were definitely touched and some of the kids were out this morning. The church is hoping to organise visitation and Mex-i-Kids will be starting up again when school re-commences.

A few of the kids were asking me about people who had come out on teams. If you helped at a VBS in La Loma then know that these kids are still remembering you and asking for you. Teams have such a valuable role to play here. We LOVE teams!!

Many mums took invitations to MOPS which is this Thursday. We're hoping to have some new mums along as a result. Remember to pray for me as I finish my preparation and speak this week.

We appreciate your prayers also as we prepare for giving 3 workshops at the youth camp in a couple of weeks.

Aside from the VBS

2009-07-19T13:39:00.000-07:00

Thursday was a long day for Andrew. He went straight from the VBS to La Raza to get ready for the service in the evening. It was an interesting night with a couple of new people. One of the great things that is happening is that people are talking a lot after the service and about things that really matter.

Andrew was on door duty inviting people on the street to go in. He saw some young people (early 20s) who seemed to have darker skin than most here. When he began to talk with them he realised they weren't from here. They turned out to be Haitian. One is a Christian who is looking for a church and the others aren't Christians yet. It's exciting as Colleen who works with us here on the field has also served in Haiti and the Christian girl had heard of OMS International. We're hoping Colleen will be able to go along on Thursday to meet these folk who really want to meet her. It will be nice for them to have someone they can talk with in their own language as they are still learning Spanish.

Isn't it a small world?!

We're praying that the church in La Raza may become a home for the girl who is a Christian and that it may prove to be the place where the guys find Christ.

Health-wise Oscar and Tabitha seem to be doing better. Tabitha has been enjoying playing with the next-door neighbours just about every day and seems to have much more energy. One day Oscar had 4 nappy/diaper changes before 9am so there is still some improvement needed there but hopefully having more of a routine this week and being around home more we will be able to control his diet better and the report will be better too!

A double appointment

2009-07-12T13:19:00.001-07:00

This week we decided to make appointments with the doctor for both kids. Tabitha wasn't eating well and seemed quite lethargic and it also seemed like a good opportunity to have Oscar checked out as he has had diarrhoea for what seems like forever!

The outcome is that both kids were put on anti-parasitic medicine, Tabitha on a multi-vitamin and Oscar on another medicine to restore his intestinal flora. Both seem to be doing much better already. Perhaps it was all associated with that dirty tank we mentioned a few weeks ago.

VBS and MEFI news

2009-07-12T13:10:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow (Monday) is the first day of summer holidays for kids across the city. It is also the first day of the Holiday Bible Club (VBS) at La Loma. The team are hoping for 150 kids. As usual there has been an incredible amount of time spent in making decorations for all of the rooms. Usually we have a team from the UK to help but this year there are no teams so it's a church effort. It always makes us laugh when during the announcements a list of ingredients is read out and people are asked to offer to take them in. We were chosen to take in 6 kilos of chicken breasts (thankfully they're a lot cheaper here than at home).

Please pray that many new contacts will be made with people in the community and that the holiday club will make a huge impact. Pray that God will use the people volunteering their time for His glory and that they will have the stamina and health need to see the week through.

Fidel and Juana will be helping at La Loma though Fidel may do some street work as well. Alex and Paty will be helping with the club at their church (Viveros which was in Santa Monica). On Monday though Paty will help at La Loma and Alex will be taking the guys from La Raza to a soccer tournament. The centre won't be open as usual for the week of course but continue to pray for the kids during the week.

One of the guys called Jonny indicated that he was ready to leave the streets on Friday. He went through his interview but there were complications with getting him to the rehab centre. Unfortunately he had to go back to the streets. We are hoping that he will have been able to get there yesterday but we're not sure what happened. This is a problem that we will have to resolve as it may not be the only time it could occur. Pray for Jonny as he begins the difficult process of leaving the streets and that he will first and foremost find true freedom in Christ.

PS We just heard that Jonny made it to rehab and is settling in.

Great News!!!!!

2009-07-12T13:02:00.000-07:00

We are beyond delighted to tell you that the boy we mentioned last week from the church is out of prison!! It was around 1am on Friday morning and an hour later our missionary friends you may know from our other blog as Tio Leroy and Tia Kay were able to go a meet them for tacos.

We are so happy that he is home. He is officially on parole so he will have to go to the prison every week to sign. We're not sure what the days ahead will hold for the family. There are people well qualified within the church movement to be able to offer counselling etc. As God places it on your heart I know that this boy and his family will continue to appreciate your prayers as they readjust and process all that has happened. We pray that though it may be difficult to understand, this situation will somehow be used for God's glory.

Thank you again for your prayers.

Pray hard

2009-07-04T19:16:00.000-07:00

Back in March we asked for urgent prayer for a young guy from one of the UNIFAM churches who was mistakenly put in prison. This case has gone on and on and unfortunately we aren't yet seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

Just this week he had a hearing where he wasn't released. He will be sentenced but he may be allowed to serve the remainder of his sentence outside. That decision is in the hands of the police who put him in!

Please pray now for this 16-year old boy. He has suffered in prison but he admits that God has taught him and his family a lot and he even said he was glad for that. Put a note in your diary to remind you to pray for a miracle on Wednesday.

This week in view

2009-07-04T19:07:00.001-07:00

I was so encouraged this week at MOPS. We had new mums but what was most wonderful was that some had been invited by others who are obviously enjoying the ministry. The schedule is a little crazy at the moment and so we now have 3 weeks before the next meeting. That's the one I am speaking at so I am busily reading and preparing for that when I have time and energy!

We are also involved in the speaking schedule at the youth camp for the national churches at the end of this month. The up side is that it is a little further along the coast from Acapulco. The down side is that we really aren't sure what is expected of us yet. Hopefully we'll get that sorted soon and then we'll be focused on preparation for that as well. We appreciate your prayers for us in that but also for the youth who will go along. Camp is always a time when amazing things can happen and that is exactly what we want to see for God's glory. There are other people speaking as well so it's exciting to be part of a team.

La Raza had more new people to their service on Thursday night. Others came back again too. Pray for us as we visit during the week and give out literature on the street. This week starts the implementation of praying over and selecting a few of the kids who already come to the day program for extra discipleship and trying to involve them more in the life of the church during the week. "Man looks at the outward appearance but the LORD looks at the heart."

Inspiration

2009-07-04T18:26:00.000-07:00

Recently I have been encouraged, challenged and inspired and wanted to share some of the resources with you.

I came across the name Travis Cottrell in a Beth Moore study we missionary ladies have been doing together. I looked him up on itunes and ended up buying one of his albums. It was an utterly fabulous investment. The words are mind blowing and so challenging. Here's an example and perhaps, like me, you'll be downloading and enjoying the blessing of this ministry.

I am a stranger in this place
This world is not my home
I want more than it can give
I am a desert needing rain
I'm thirsty for your voice
The very reason that I live

You are the Word, my one desire
An all consuming living fire
The very breath that I am longing for
My heart is desperate for Your ways
Refine me in Your holy blaze
If that is what it takes to know you more
You are the truth that sets me free
Your word is life to me

Then this week I learned through a fantastic blog I check in on from time to time about a lady who gives her testimony in front of a large audience of ladies knowing that she is weeks away from meeting her Lord. It is just full of deeply profound thoughts from an incredible woman who believes the 4 most important things in the world are 1. To know God, 2. To know yourself, 3. To know the gospel and 4. To know your purpose. I highly recommend that you take one little hour out of the 168 hours you have this week to let your heart be stirred and reminded of your priorities in life as you too seek to grow more like Him.

Graduation

2009-06-28T19:32:00.001-07:00

After naps today it was a privilege to go up to be at the graduation of 6 students from our seminary here in Mexico - SEMBIMEX. Here are our Tio Leroy and Tia Kay wearing funny hats!
It was a great service and well attended for these six people who are heavily involved in their churches and beyond.
Continue to pray for the work in the seminary. We want to see it full of people ready to go out into ministry in this vast city which is ripe to harvest. Margaret updates the Mexico field prayer blog weekly with news of ministries, like the seminary, in which we are not directly involved. If you are interested in what goes on here outside of the Agnew world then check it out by clicking here or on the link at the right hand side of this page.

MOPS

2009-06-28T19:15:00.001-07:00

The planned start time of MOPS is 10am. I was a little concerned when our first person arrived at 10.15am but we know so well that that is fairly typical here. Anyway, I continued to pray that people would come. The speaker had put a lot of effort into her presentation and I knew it was going to be incredibly beneficial.

It was wonderful to eventually have about 20 there. We continue to get mothers and grandmothers which is great as grandmothers are often very heavily involved in the upbringing of their grandchildren.

It was a very practical morning with lots of examples of things we can do with our kids under different categories e.g. fine motor skills, gross motor skills, mathematics, language. This Thursday we have the second part. Our prayer is that those who were there will go out and encourage their friends to come along. There isn't a direct gospel message in this subject but it is profitable in many ways e.g. interaction of the mothers with their kids, holistic care of the families and trust building.

A visitor

2009-06-28T19:01:00.000-07:00

The rainy season is upon us here in Mexico. As it settles we can have rain at any point in the day or night. It lasts for about an hour and apart form that it is still lovely and warm. Soon it will be pretty normal for the rain to come late afternoon every day.

Early on Thursday morning we had very heavy rain. Around 3am I was conscious of a pitter patter. As I became more aware I realised that it wasn't Tabitha coming in for a cuddle. It sounded more like the rain...but it sounded like it was inside. Then it felt like it was on the bed. I flicked my hand over the top of the bedspread. The pitter patter continued and Andrew woke up as I lifted the whole duvet and gave it a shake. When he asked what was wrong I said, "I think there's something running over our bed." I turned on the light and this is what was looking at us...

It's a Jerusalem cricket called a 'cara de niño' here. Though no-one we know has ever been bitten by one everyone has instilled a healthy fear of these nasty little creatures who apparently give a very painful bite.

Needless to say we were both out of the bed pretty quickly and the cara de niño had lost a dimension on the floor. How grateful am I to not be nursing a bite and that the visitor came to our room and not to Oscar or Tabitha's! We continue to praise God for health and safety even in the small and interesting episodes!

La Raza

2009-06-28T18:15:00.000-07:00

We have started to 'tighten the belt' on the kids who come. It is always good to reaffirm who is in charge and shake up the routine and everyone was glad of time to go to different places in the centre to do different tasks. Please pray for Paty especially as she is teaching the discipleship class at the moment using special materials that they use in the house churches to train new leaders.

We also have started to take the kids for individual time during the week. Paty and Alex interview on Tuesdays and Fidel and Juanita on Wednesdays. It is our chance to get more involved and challenge those who come to think more deeply about their lives. Please pray with for those times and for the kids. More are leaving the streets but maintaining contact with us.

Work on church is developing well. We have made good contact with some in the area and are planning to meet with them during the week. They may form part of our house church's growth.

We will be holding a Holiday Bible Club (VBS) in August and we are excited to plan to make contact with more in the area. We have even found some other Christians from other UNIFAM churches who have family around the corner from the centre. They want to help us to contact their families. So as we continue to pray, God leads us to those who can help. Thank-you for praying for us and we pray that it will lead to much fruit.

One post week

2009-06-21T14:33:00.000-07:00

We're giving you a week to catch up on old posts this week! We're just going to write one post with the week's summary.

The highlights from La Raza...

Early in the week the MEFI team had a big sit down meeting with the supervisory pastor. Unity in the team has always been a fragile subject and it was time to get a lot of misassumptions and bad feeling out on the table this week. In a difficult ministry like this it is inevitable that the enemy will attack on some level and team unity seems to be the weak point at the moment. It is currently the biggest hindrance to handing the ministry over to the church to be completely Mexican-run.

The supervisory pastor (Miguel) did a fantastic job of facilitating with the end result that everyone was able to say what they needed to say and has been able to move forward again. Please pray particularly for Andrew and the part he has to play week by week in keeping the team moving towards that official handover.

Another highlight this week was that some neighbours from the community came into the Thursday evening service. Thanks for your prayers for that. There were some good conversations and we continue to pray that the community around will be impacted with the gospel message.

Other events...

The MOPS team decided that they want to run on an extra few weeks to make up for the loss of time during the flu crisis. That means that I will be giving a talk in a few weeks and would appreciate your prayers for my preparation. Pray with us that mums from the church who haven't made it out yet would get along and benefit from this great program.

We were involved this week in listening to and to some measure counselling several individuals who are passing through tough times. We appreciate your prayers for biblical wisdom in our responses and ability in our Spanish.

La Raza update...(formerly known as 'The Drop in Centre")

2009-06-14T19:00:00.000-07:00

This week saw kids from Niños Heroes coming for the first time and they will be regulars. Andrew even saw a kid that he met back in 2001 and hasn't seen since.
The team went round to where the La Raza group lives for a very exciting afternoon. The group there had painted a large mural of 'Saint Death' (or the Grim Reaper to you and me) some time ago but had bought paint and wanted to spruce up the place. The first thing they wanted to do was paint over the mural while asking questions about the Day of the Dead offerings and whether they should or not. It seems that they are putting two and two together and beginning to want to do the godly thing first. We would ask you to pray that soon this would spill over into all areas of their lives. We have been urging them to read the bible together in the evenings too. Praise God for a great atmosphere in the day centre now.
It looks as though more kids are ready to ditch street life so pray for us to be able to maintain the contact through the day program or the Thursday night church services. Andrew had another preach in Spanish on Thursday and a long time to witness to a neighbour at La Raza. He was so interested but didn't want to pray for salvation. He is very eager to come back through. We haven't been able to make the breakthrough that we want yet with the neighbours so please keep praying.

MOPS

2009-06-14T15:17:00.000-07:00

We were down in number this week. There were just about ten of us but we had a great morning. You may have heard us talk about Cesar and Irma from Escuadron where Andrew goes once a month. They also ran the Mex-i-Kids group in Chalco. We think they are both wonderful and love spending time with them. Irma spoke on discipline from the life of Hagar and used plenty of real life examples. It was very refreshing and challenging. Her main points were:

Decide what you want for your kid e.g. do you want them to be the top of their class or do you want them to be Godly

Love them and be there for them

Lead them to Christ and pray for them from before they are born.

Thanks for your prayers for Fabiola. She has found a job and the wonderful part is that she was able to choose a morning shift or an evening shift and has chosen the latter so she can continue to be involved in MOPS. I'm sure she still needs our prayers as she goes through this difficult time.

This week's style award...

2009-06-14T14:55:00.000-07:00

It's been a week! Let me lay some background here. Tabitha in her innocence has been coming out with some great words this week. Like, "Mummy, do you remember when Jesus was here last morning (which means this morning)?". I take the opportunity to say, "Sweetie, Jesus is always here. We can't see Him but we can talk to Him and He always hears us." And I'm thinking, 'and He sees and hears everything we do and say.'

Then on Tuesday morning we go to a MOPS group close to home. There are 3 stations - one to teach how to style hair (and excited Tabitha gets beautiful hair for the day), one to teach how to cut hair (where I think she spent the rest of her time) and one to teach how to make pretty hair clips (my parking spot for the morning).

Now almost a year ago I went to the hairdressers with Tabitha to get her hair cut (of course). With the words, 'Don't get a fringe cut in!' ringing in my ears we come back and Tabitha has...a fringe. I know, I'm pretty weak really. So for a year now we've been growing down 'that fringe'.

So this Friday I bravely get out the scissors for my first nervous attempt at haircutting. I'm relieved that it hasn't been a complete disaster and that Tabitha's 'fringe' is almost the same length now as the rest of her hair.

Saturday is a new day. Morning activities draw to a close and Mummy goes to the kitchen to make lunch. I return to the living room to get the kids and find Tabitha on the floor, scissors in hand not quite so nervously snip, snip, snipping at her precious hair. Now remember, Jesus is watching and listening....

In my head I think, 'sure everyone does this at some point'. I mean Tabitha's defender of the peace (my mum) even reminds me that I did it myself once. I go straight to Google to calm my frustration by looking for images of other kids who have done the same thing. But even though there are kids crying (obviously after some disciplinary measures) there don't appear to be any that made such a drastic mess as Tabitha (in my view).

Everything calms down, Tabitha has her lunch and both kids go down for a nap. When she wakes up she comes down and says "Look Mummy, I didn't cut my hair!"

"I'm afraid you did sweetie. Let's go and look in the mirror."

"Oh, I look horrible with that hair. We need to get new hair."

Well, we know it will grow... eventually. And as I reminded Tabitha in another teaching moment this week, being a princess is more about what's in the inside than the outside. Let's just say, she's pretty clear that cutting hair is best left to someone else (even be that for a dodgy mummy cut!).

Spring Cleaning

2009-06-14T14:43:00.000-07:00

Some missionary friends recently ran a bath and were surprised to find little worms in the water. Subsequently they found out that the water tanks should be cleaned at least once a year. Hmmm... we have lived in our house for over 2 years now and have never cleaned our tank... who knows how long before that it was last cleaned. So we felt it was high time to get it done.

I picked up Juan, a man brave enough and crazy enough to take on the task. He found the water tank (no clue had we of it's location) and opened the lid. His look said it all - we really needed this done! So we got to work emptying the tank. Not a small job as you can see from the depth...
... we could have a group of street kids living down in there!
So I watered the incredibly thirsty lawns and then thought about handing the hose over to our neighbours to water their lawn but instead the house got a clean down with the power hose Juan brought with him. One tank clean it was time to go to the roof and look into the cistern. Dirty too... and were those eggs in the water?!
This tank's not quite so big but thanks to Juan we have clean water...and a clean house. Now we're taking the de-bugging pills and hopefully we'll soon be fighting fit again.

Jumping back in

2009-05-31T16:27:00.000-07:00

MOPs didn't restart while we were away. We will have a planning meeting this week with a view to starting again the following week. Please pray that mums will come back, that it will continue to be a blessing and that people will be saved for His glory.

Things are almost back to normal in La Raza. Two of the kids in the most recent wave have already returned home and have been warmly received back into their families. Pray that as the days go by they will be able to resolve the problems that led to their leaving home in the first instance. Services have started on a Thursday night. The kids attending the centre have been advertising to many people in the area. When the MEFI team went out to publicise there were many who had already heard. So far it is only street kids and ex-street kids who have been attending. There were 8 there last week. Please continue to pray that these kids will find Christ and that people from the area would begin to attend as well.

We're back

2009-05-31T16:00:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe we've been back for nearly a week. We left on Monday morning. It was a relief to know that it would just be one flight that day. We had a one night lay-over in Newark. Some great friends from our Scotland days now live not far from Newark and we were more than excited to be able to see them again. We only wish we could have hung out for at least another couple of weeks!

There are some friends from whom you can be separated and when you meet up again it's like as if you had never been apart. Getting together with Jodi and Trevor was just like that. The biggest evidence of the time passed since we were last together was the increased number of kids - they have doubled in number!

The kids got on like they had known each other for ever and we had a lovely time catching up and enjoying the love and support of true friends.

The next day it was back to the airport for two flights to Mexico. Andrew had tried to reserve our places online the night before but for some reason it didn't work and we arrived to find that we were on standby for both flights! We got on the first but were separated. For the second we waited patiently to see if anyone would accept the offer of a free hotel and a travel voucher to free up space for us to get the flight. Thankfully someone did and we arrived into Mexico City and to the welcoming faces of Margaret and Robin on Tuesday evening.

The kids were fantastic on the plane. We got several comments from fellow passengers as to how well they had done. It's always a huge relief. Thank you for your prayers. Tabitha still keeps saying, "This is our house!" She seems happy to be back and has been playing with her neighbour friends. She even went into a class at church today. She has a memory verse to learn for next week...in Spanish! Perhaps we'll get a video of that.

They are adjusting well to the time difference though they have been tired. On Friday Oscar impressively reminded us of old times (both kids had horrible reflux) by puking all over me and the floor of Costco! I think the tiredness was just catching up on him but he's in fine form again now.

We are so grateful for the chance we have had to rest and reflect. My health has definitely benefited and I feel much more normal again!

Here are some photos of our journey taken from the plane. The first is Greenland. What an incredible country!
Somewhere between Greenland and New York...
The volcanoes outside Mexico City and the outskirts in the foreground

On our way

2009-05-24T14:08:00.000-07:00

A quick note to say we would appreciate your prayers as we start out on the long journey back to Mexico tomorrow (Monday). We leave in the morning and will stay in Newark tomorrow night. We are delighted to be able to meet up with some great friends who we haven't seen since Tabitha was a little baby.

On Tuesday we fly on to Mexico via Houston. We know that in the past we have been carried by prayer. Pray that the kids will be able to sleep when they need it and for health and stamina for mummy and daddy too.

Refresh

2009-05-17T14:50:00.000-07:00

We tried to book tickets back to Mexico for last Tuesday. We found out that there were no tickets for the route we normally take until June 1st! The best we could do was book a flight to Newark on the 25th and travel on to Mexico the following day with an extra stop in Houston. It seems crazy but I guess God knows why we need to be here that extra time.

On the positive side I have now enjoyed 3 nausea free days! It has been delightful. We're still not sure what is going on but that's ok.

With our time here being longer than we expected and now that things are returning to normal in Mexico we have agreed to take some holiday time. The people who have been covering the mortgage costs in our little house are moving out and so this week will be spent arranging it for a potential sale in a few months. We are also looking forward to meeting up with a few friends and enjoying the extra help with the kids etc.

These last few weeks have been refreshing and just what we needed at this time. God knew!

We've been keeping in touch with our friends in Mexico. It seems there is still an element of fear around. Church programs are starting up again and we would appreciate your prayers that people would quickly return to those. Pray for the MOPS team at La Loma as they contact the girls who have been attending and restart either this Thursday or next. Pray too for the MEFI team as they invite the kids back to La Raza. Pray that they will quickly get back to the level of trust they had built towards with the kids. There have been a few relational issues that will need to be addressed when we get back and we would apreciate prayers for continued unity on the team.

Update

2009-05-03T13:52:00.000-07:00

Thank you once again for your prayers. We are just about caught up on the sleep lost and the time difference here. It is lovely to be home and being an unplanned trip we are able to spend most of our time with family. This week will be business week - looking into finances, health, planning etc.

Of course our thoughts are with our friends in Mexico and we have been calling them. Fidel is desperate to get back into the work. Those with kids say it is incredibly difficult to keep them entertained and closed into their houses. We're so delighted that Alex and Paty are able to use our house. They live in a tiny two roomed house and so they have been able to spread out and have their kids and families with them.

We're not sure when we will be travelling back. We're waiting to see how the news goes this week and we will be in contact with our international headquarters.

Please continue to pray for our dear friends, for their health and financial situations, for rest, for encouragement. Pray for the wisdom for the people making decisions both in the country and in OMS. We appreciate your continued prayers for us for rest and recuperation. We will keep you posted as to how things develop.

What a difference a day makes

2009-04-29T12:23:00.000-07:00

Cousins

Well certainly a few days ago we didn't think we would soon be posting photos like these on the blog. You can tell the kids are happy with the result of their long day in planes and airports. The journey was fine. There were a few long queues to frustrate the kids but they did well. Both were overly friendly to all in the airport and won over many hearts. Tabitha was telling everyone she was going to see her grandparents and cousins. She always comes alive when she has the opportunity to talk and be understood in English. Oscar has started to say a very loud and enthusiastic 'Hiii-eeee' with a big smile to anyone he meets so he melted hearts around him too!

Thanks to so many for communicating your support of our decision. It was not an easy one to make so your notes and calls have meant a lot to us. Alex and Paty will be living in our house while we are away. When we phoned our pastor's wife she told us they were not leaving the house for anything except to buy food. They will be calling around the church members to encourage them. The MEFI team will have at least one week off work and MOPS and breakfast clubs have been cancelled for this week as well. All our neighbours that we are close to on our street have left the City to visit relatives or go to their second homes.

Please continue to pray for our friends we have left in Mexico. Pray particularly for our friends the MacKinnons who are saying final goodbyes to Mexico and friends as they return to the US for good. It is incredibly difficult under the circumstances for them. Pray for rest for our Mexican colleagues and of course for protection for their health. We will be keeping in touch and will continue to update our blog as appropriate.

Unexpected trip

2009-04-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

In light of their ongoing research our leadership has decided that the field does not need to be evacuated yet and are allowing each individual family to make their own decision on whether they want to stay or leave.

The Agnew family has decided to book airline tickets to return to N. Ireland. We have made this decision for a number of reasons. This is a stressful position to be in for us (with bags packed and ready for an potential evacuation announcement) and our extended family and we want to respect their desire for us to be with them.

We also feel that it will be beneficial to all of us to have some time to rest in light of the illness we have been experiencing over the past few weeks. I was at the doctor this week and my blood pressure is still low and I am getting over an eye and throat infection. Andrew had more stomach trouble this week as well so hopefully a couple of weeks of rest will do us a lot of good.

There are some practical and financial affairs that we need to sort in N. Ireland and it would be a huge advantage to be able to do those things ourselves.

We are all able to travel home for less than the cost of one ticket when we returned for deputation last year as flight prices have gone down. The flights out of Mexico are booking up fast and so we were glad to get a flight for tomorrow (Tuesday) which is fully refundable. So our options are still open but for the reasons listed above we feel that we have made the right decision to be with our families for a little while.

We appreciate all the emails and support. We feel so blessed to have such a faithful group of supporters and hope that you understand and support the decision we have made.

Swine Flu

2009-04-25T18:35:00.000-07:00

So are we affected? Well, the short answer is yes. Not directly but there is a definite air of fear all around us. People are not going out as much and the majority of those who are are wearing face masks to try and protect themselves. It is the dominant conversation topic for sure.

The Mexican President has just made an announcement banning religious meetings for tomorrow and the national committee of our churches is making a joint decision about what to do in the coming days. So we will not be at church tomorrow and potentially ministry outside the home will be very much reduced.

Thankfully we haven't heard of anyone we know personally who has been affected but of course it is important to take precautions. We appreciate your prayers of protection for our health and that of the people we know and love. We will keep you informed of significant events.

Breakthrough

2009-04-19T19:36:00.000-07:00

La Raza was just open for 2 days this week - Monday and Friday. On Monday Andrew and Alex counselled one of the girls for salvation. When Andrew asked why she wanted to be saved she simply said. "I need help!" That seems an excellent response. Pray for her in the days ahead that she will grow in her new found faith.

On Friday the team showed the film 'Facing the Giants'. It has been shown here at various groups and there is always an open response. This time was no exception. After the film the speaker at the retreat who went to visit the ministry gave an invitation. Four kids responded. It was incredible. What a week! Praise God! There will be a very different dynamic at the Centre this week. We need to surround these kids with our prayers especially in the early days.

On Friday Andrew had a meeting with the area manager for 14 Starbucks stores. They want to donate any left over food to the ministry from all 14 stores. They also want to run a 2 week campaign collecting whatever the team feel appropriate e.g. blankets, clothes, toys etc. This too is an incredible provision and we are overwhelmed by how God is moving.

This week the team will be going out into the community around La Raza to assess the needs and invite neighbours to a talk about the ministry. This will be like a first service...or second after the drama presentation a couple of weeks ago. Please pray for a good response and for continued good relationships in the community.

So how have we been?

2009-04-19T19:22:00.000-07:00

Well, the retreat was just great. Thank you for your prayers for the kids. They did really well. They were tired but they slept when they needed to and the difference between this year and last year was like night and day. As a result we were able to enjoy time playing with them and chatting to others. The main focus of the teaching sessions was evangelism. Our prayer is that the pastors and church workers will return to their work fired up about reaching out to the many people around them with the gospel.

On Friday Oscar's temperature went up. He seems to be through the worst of it now. We're not sure what caused it but the rash has not come back and he is off the medicine for that now. Yesterday and this morning I was out of action feeling tired and weak. Not sure what that was about either, perhaps the blood pressure again. We continue to appreciate your prayers for our health.

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T10:23:00.001-07:00

I always love Easter Sunday in Mexico. The service starts at 7am and all the ladies are encouraged to dress in white. The tone of the service is always very exciting and this year was no exception. We had a joined service with the Santa Monica congregation and a choir made up of members from both churches. The church was buzzing. People were still arriving 2 hours after we started (the service lasted over 3 hours!). There wasn't much room left for more seats. It was amazing. At the end of the service there were 25 baptisms (some were people converted through the house churches). God is working here and moving in families and communities. A grandmother was baptised with 2 of her grandchildren and a husband a wife were baptised. Our prayer is that some MOPS mums will be baptised at the next opportunity!

We forgot to take our camera so this shot taken with Andrew's phone just doesn't do it justice but it gives an idea.
We hope you had a great weekend remembering the sacrifice made on you behalf in order that you could know eternal life. When explaining the wonder of Easter to Tabitha and comparing it with Christmas she said, "I love baby Jesus!" We do too. Do you?

Retreat

2009-04-12T10:18:00.000-07:00

From Tuesday to Thursday this week we will be away with the other missionaries, pastors, church planters and their families. It is a great time to be with the team and to build on friendships and learn together in sessions led by an invited speaker from the US.

We would really appreciate your prayers for the kids. Last year they were very unsettled and it was difficult for all of us. Please pray that they will travel well and sleep well when they need to for the few days.

Pray that this will be a good time for building on the unity of all our workers - national and missionary and that God will move. Pray for fresh vision and energy for the year ahead.

Special event

2009-04-12T10:12:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday afternoon the Santa Monica youth group were down at La Raza and did an excellent set of mimes. Unfortunately there were no visitors from the neighbourhood but plenty of the street kids attended and seemed to have a great time. It was interesting to see them chatting among themselves in response to what they were seeing in the performance. No doubt there will be follow up in the days ahead. The gospel message was very clear. Please continue to pray for this seed sown, that it would grow and bear fruit. Continue to pray for the contacts with neighbours and for openness
The actors with some of the street kids.

Medical Week

2009-04-12T10:03:00.000-07:00

It's been quite the week. We have all been at the doctor! I was first with low blood pressure which hopefully some medicine will sort out. Andrew had another of his horrendous headaches on Monday night. Yesterday he was with the doctor for his follow-up appointment after the car crash and thankfully all is well there.

On Friday Oscar developed a rash and was very grumpy. It looked very like the rash Tabitha got a couple of times when she was little. We took him to the Doctor yesterday and got some anithistamine medicine which seems to be helping a lot. We think it might be due to a flowering bush in our garden which is just finishing. While we were at the clinic Tabitha also got a couple of routine vaccinations.

Here are a couple of pictures of poor Oscar but he really looks much better already.

So now that we've got all that sorted we're ready for action again! Thanks for your continued prayers for us personally as well as for the ministry.

La Raza

2009-04-05T20:16:00.000-07:00

There is a core of about 14 kids coming along each morning to La Raza with others coming along at times. We would appreciate your prayers for the team. Everyone is really tired because the mornings, though profitable and enjoyable, are full and exhausting. The daily plan is changing accordingly. There is a lot of pressure to open the centre as a church and soon services will start on a Thursday evening. Instead of going to the streets every afternoon the team have decided to spend the afternoons visiting neighbours in the area and build up contacts. This Wednesday the youth from the Santa Monica church will perform a play and the people in the area are invited. Please pray for that event.

The MEFI team then will probably spend one day visiting the streets. There are people from different churches who have expressed an interest in volunteering. Pray with us that they will keep their word and be able to help the team out to relieve some of the pressure they are under.

We praise God for those kids who are already showing an interest in learning from the Word. Once again we were reminded of the urgency of the task as another well-known guy from Indios Verdes was knocked down by a car and killed this week. These kids live dangerous, lost lives and time is short.

MOPS - week 2

2009-04-05T20:00:00.000-07:00

Praise God for another good week at MOPS. Most mums came back from the first time and we had a few new ones join us. The icebreaker was really interesting as some mums said they had enjoyed the first meeting so they came back. One said she wanted her kids to grow up knowing about God, others said they themselves wanted to know about God. There are definitely more unchurched than churched mums coming along.
This week our pastor's wife, Guille, gave her testimony. She has an incredible story of God's saving power from a background of abuse and addiction from her early childhood and into her married life. During our planning meeting the girls were saying that her story is too common here in Mexico. According to them if ladies are not living with abuse then the likelihood is that someone in their family is. There were certainly a lot of tears on Thursday. A couple of older ladies came along as they are living through similar circumstances. One lady whose kids are grown but is looking after a young granddaughter told me that her husband just walked out on her a couple of weeks ago. She says she feels free after years of physical abuse and not being allowed to leave home. It is heartbreaking. After her talk we didn't have enough time for the discussion we had planned so I had a little time to fill. I have no doubt God gave me the words to say as I gave a simple gospel explanation. People here are searching and finding the answers to their questions. Next week we will have 25 baptisms in our church. Please continue to pray for our dear MOPS ladies. Pray that they will quickly build friendships with the other mums in the group, that the Holy Spirit will continue to move and many will come to know Him.
The MOPPETS seemed to have a great time again. We gave out teddies made by home-schoolers in the US. Unfortunately the battery in my camera ran out before I got a clear shot of them but they were very popular!

Hidden Dangers

2009-03-29T10:42:00.000-07:00

Thank you for your prayer for safety this week. We travelled down to Acapulco in 3 vans with José, Andrew and me driving. The kids did really well once again with the long journey. What was obvious to me on the way back was how crazy the driving became once we got back into Mexico City. Buses and trucks just pull out in front of you without stopping fircing you to slam on the brakes. We were on the home straight when someone slammed on the brakes in front and stopped completely because they saw a place where they could turn in the road. Thankfully we were able to go around them. After leaving Karen back to her home I saw a nasty accident. Had I been 10 or 15 minutes earlier I may have been involved. We were reminded of our need to depend on God for our safety on the roads and we approciate you prayers, particularly for Andrew as he does quite a bit of driving in the city.

Yesterday Andrew popped out with Tabitha to do a message. Unfortunately the road which is normally two lanes was reduced to one lane with the traffic coming the opposite direction taking up the outside lane. There was nothing to warn him that that was the case and as he overtook a car he collided with an oncoming vehicle head on. Thankfully neither he nor Tabitha was hurt. The people in the other car were ok too despite not wearing seatbelts (as is far too common here). I went with a neighbour to pick up Tabitha and Andrew had to go with the police.

Our neighbours were phenomenal. Some went to the police station to be with Andrew and the kids and I stayed with others in their house. It certainly was a frightening learning experience. After the accident happened a bollard was quickly put out to direct the traffic into one lane. It was there by the time the police arrived so the accident looked like it was Andrew's fault. The other driver didn't have insurance either which made it more complicated again. At one point there was the possibility that both drivers would be detained for 48 hours. We praise God for our excellent insurance (and the people who organise that for us) which included the service of a fantastic lawyer. They worked fast and so Andrew was able to get out and was home just before midnight (about 7 hours after he left home). There is a little work to be done on the van and though we are frustrated by the circumstances of what happened we are grateful that everyone is ok. We are also grateful to know that we have 'family' around us in the form of our neighbours. When Andrew got out they all stood around him to support him and they have already been over a couple of times today. We got great news a couple of weeks ago that the owner of our house has decided not to raise our rent this year in order to keep us on here. Isn't God good!

Finishing well

2009-03-29T10:28:00.000-07:00

Shovelling the cement in buckets for pouring into columns or onto the ground for the floor

In this heat it'll take no time to dry
This week's work done it's time to pray over the site. The roof still needs to go on but it still needs a bit of work done. It will be corrugated metal which still needs to be welded. In any case the first service would have taken place here on Friday night.
Andrew with some of his new friends.
Besides all the hard work in the dry heat this team did an amazing job at forming relationships. Language doesn't need to be a huge barrier and the tears on both sides when it was time to say goodbye were evidence that there was a lot more than construction going on this week.
Thank you guys for sacrificing so much to come down here and work so hard. Your efforts will be eternally rewarded and we are praying with you that many will come to know Christ on that little patch of cement way up in the mountain ridge.

Acapulco

2009-03-29T09:53:00.000-07:00

So what is Acapulco like? Well obviously we are outsiders but let me give you some of our impressions. Acapulco is a large city of about 1 million inhabitants. It is divided by a mountain range. On one side is the famous bay, a popular tourist resort particularly for foreigners in the 50s and 60s. It is still a popular choice for visitor from Mexico City as one of the closest beaches with a good connecting road (about a 5 hour drive).

This is the bay...
Behind the bay it is hot and dusty. The poverty is obvious. Just as in Mexico City many people leave the country and move to the city in the hope that they can find employment. The beaches are full of people selling all sorts of things from jewellery to bags to donuts,ice cream, tacos, sweets, buckets, hats etc. There are people to braid your hair, give you a massage or a tattoo and others out in the bay fishing or hiring out sports equipment. It's a busy place! Many probably return to tiny homes behind the mountain. While we were there a nearby water pipe burst. People in the city were out of water but we as 'tourists' weren't affected. The pastor's son explained to us that at times the people who live in Acapulco can be out of water for 2 or 3 months but the hotels aren't affected.
We stayed on the bay side in a basic but comfortable hotel. I picked out these two houses on the hill in front to show the contrast in close proximity.

There are three established UNIFAM churches in Acapulco. One is on the bay side and two are behind the mountain. As far as we can gather it is a tough place to work. The need is obvious and we are so glad to have been able to help in some small part with the work this week. We have been down a few times and it's amazing now that people recognise us. We had many opportunities this time to talk with people who seemed open and interested (perhaps as foreigners who they could communicate with and who were working rather than on holiday).

We will hopefully be back that way late July to help with the youth camp. The cost for the kids from Acapulco is 800 pesos (£40/$55) but most of them won't be able to afford that. We are hoping that we might be able to sponsor some to go. There is a family up the mountain where the team were working that has 10 children but can't afford to get them through school. We would love to be able to help the teenagers, who are great guys, to get to the camp.

Please pray for Acapulco. Pray for the pastors and for the churches as they work tirelessly in this difficult city. Pray for the Mex-i-Kids club there and for the various evangelistic efforts. We were able to take down several boxes of gospel portions and tracts and pray that they will be used to bring people to him.

Work in progress

2009-03-24T19:50:00.000-07:00

It used to be that you took a certain number of 'spools' on holiday with you, sent them off when you got back and waited a month to see which pictures came out and which didn't. How things have changed! Here's a mid-week report for those who are desperate to see what their loved ones deserted them for the week to do! Welcome to those who are logging into the Agnew blog for the first time...

Day 1
What lies ahead?
Well, this project of course is all about people. This is the couple who have opened their home for a church service to take place.
They have outgrown the space but this land beside their house is great for putting down a cement floor, pillars and a roof to shelter fro the beating sun and rain in the storm season. So the work begins...
Day 2
What would you have us do oh mighty leader?
In this photo you can see the home with the construction being done in he foreground. The church service to this point has been conducted in the area where the blue tarpaulin is. Obviously to small for 25 to 30 people and a growing congregation.
The valley below where another house church has been started.
Watching the Mexicans at work...
The team's turn
Spectators!
All hands on deck
It's not quite the beach but we do have sand!
the machines get to work...
And the floor starts to go down.
Those of you who know Andrew well will appreciate this shot.
A pastor wears many hats! Hopefully this one will be preaching on this new floor later in the week!

A video of the activity. Come back at the weekend for more footage...

Teamwork

2009-03-22T21:00:00.000-07:00

We're back in Acapulco! This time it's not really a holiday. Andrew has spent a lot of time recently getting ready for the arrival of a team of 12 from Indiana. They are here to build a structure for a house church that has outgrown the size of the house! It is supervised by the pastor of this church which we attended in the city this morning.

Our prayer is that the team will be able to finish the job and that the church will be able to meet there for the first time this Friday night. The church is high in the mountains. Using loud speaker equipment hey projected the sound of their church out over the valley. Some people there heard the music and decided to go and check it out. They liked what they heard but they couldn't walk straight up the mountain to get to the 'church', they had to take a long route around. So a new house church was started for the people in the valley. Isn't that incredible? What about attaching loud speakers to the roofs of all our churches?! In the church at the top of the mountain where the team are working there are about 25-30 people on average and at times up to 50. The team are working alongside Mexicans from the area and have already been developing relationships with the people. Please pray with us that the work will be completed, that the relationships developed will bear eternal fruit and that the building will be finished this week for God's glory.

I have the job of hostess this week - shopping and cooking for the team. We brought one of the young girls from La Loma to help with the kids. We've never had them away from home and out of routine for a whole week before. We'd appreciate prayers that they would stay healthy and get the rest they need (though it may not be at the usual times!). Hopefully for next week we'll have the before and after pictures of the work being done.

MOPS has begun!

2009-03-22T20:45:00.000-07:00

On Thursday we had the first meeting of the second MOPS group in Mexico. Thank you once again for you prayers. It was a slow start on the day but that's fairly normal here and by the time we got going we had 18 mums I think, including the leadership team and a couple of visitors from the other MOPS group. Many of the girls are new to the church or do not attend so we've had a great start. The tone was upbeat and Alicia who spoke was great. She talked about the blessing it is to be a mum and also about the blessing MOPS has been to her over the 3 years she has attended her group. We really hope that those who attended will go out and tell their friends to come along with them.
The kids seemed to have a good time too. This is a new experience for the leader and she's already talking about things she needs to be thinking about. We want the kids to have the best time possible and there will be lots to modify and improve as we get to know the kids and what they enjoy doing. As you can see it's a big challenge with a big age range represented. I'm not sure why the older kids weren't at school... It's likely that they go in the afternoon as some of the schools here have a morning shift and an afternoon shift.
Not altogether surprisingly a few of the team had had a tough week this week and a few tears were shed as we met together before the mums arrived. It was good to take some time to pray together and to focus on the reason we were together and to encourage one another. It is a privilege for me to be a part of this team and each of these girls is excited and committed to the role they have on the team. They have gone above and beyond what I expected and I am excited to see how God will bless the effort and prayers they are putting in. Please keep praying with us as we reach out to needy mums.

MOPS

2009-03-15T21:37:00.000-07:00

This is the week! On Thursday morning we have our first MOPS meeting. We are praying for lots of interest and mums coming along. We so want to reach this needy group with the gospel and impact the community. Here is the team filling boxes with a few craft items. We hope to have a box for each family and then there will be a prize for the mum and child(ren) who produce the best creation at the second meeting.
Helena from England is visiting us as part of her gap year between school and university and will be helping with the kids' program during MOPS. My kids will be glad about that and I'm sure many others will be too. Here she is with the leaders kids last week.

La Raza

2009-03-15T21:29:00.000-07:00

Praise God for the kids who went along to La Raza. Thursday and Friday the MEFI team have different activities including planning for the church that is going to be there. It had been decided that the street kids would only attend Monday to Wednesday but in light of what has been happening and the response of the kids it seems better to have more contact with them. Thursday there will probably be some sort of a church event which the kids will be able to attend and in a few weeks the team feel like they should open the Centre for a bit on Fridays as well.

It is interesting that kids who have had contact with the Centre or with the MEFI team will turn up when they are in trouble or things aren't going too well. This week Gerardo showed up with various family problems. He was couselled and will be attending the Drop-In Centre. Please pray that he will follow the advice given and will really commit to living the life God wants him to live. We are glad that these kids know where to turn when they are in trouble and pray that they will seek after God in the better times also.

Party update

2009-03-15T21:24:00.000-07:00

We had a fun time with our neighbours. Three families showed up. There is nothing earth shattering to report but Andrew did a great job of intertwining the gospel with the story of St. Patrick and there was some interested discussion afterwards.

It was another little seed sown and we hope it will encourage many conversations in the future. Thank you for you prayers.

La Raza update

2009-03-12T13:20:00.000-07:00

Thank you for your prayers this week. It has been encouraging so far. Six kids turned up the first day. They have turned out to be quite a good group of kids, a little older than usual. On Tuesday two new kids came along. Yesterday 19 kids showed up! 4 left during the day leaving 15 which is the maximum number that can be adequately be taken care of by the team. A few more also turned up after the doors were closed but had to be turned away. With this number we will need to divide the kids into groups to do different activities simultaneously. It's highly possible that not all these kids will keep going along. Our prayer is that the ones who do have the determination to stay and leadership qualities to reach their groups will keep coming along until the less determined do leave.

Here are some of the kids enjoying something to eat.
The program is quite relaxed this week while the team build up trust with the kids. Thanks to a gift from England we were able to buy this very sturdy (kid proof!) table football game. It was an incentive for the kids to return on Tuesday and was a real hit. The little girl is Alex and Paty's granddaughter.

We need a miracle!

2009-03-09T22:22:00.000-07:00

This is a very urgent prayer request.

Please pray for the son of two of our church members. The day before his 16th birthday he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and was mistakenly arrested and has now been in prison for 2 weeks. His conditions are terrible and today a ruling was made that means he will be kept in prison for at least another 6 weeks. Although there are many inaccuracies in the accusation made against him he is up against corruption.

We know of no higher authority than our God and so we want to make an earnest plea that you would remember this kid and his family. Please pray for his safety and for a quick release contrary to normal procedure. From our experience with street kids in similar situations this could take a very long time. He is a great kid and so we need to pray for a miracle for God's glory. Please stop now to pray and then ask your friends and prayer groups to pray.

All in Green

2009-03-08T14:52:00.000-07:00

This Saturday we are inviting our neighbours in with the excuse of it being close to St. Patrick's Day. We have had increasing contact with our neighbours recently and another party is always welcome! Please pray as we hope to take time to have give a little cultural presentation and incorporate the gospel as well. We'd appreciate prayer for openess and good conversation.

MOPS publicity

2009-03-08T14:42:00.000-07:00

This week we have our last MOPS planning meeting as it starts the following week (19th March). There is a lot to get ready so we have a longer than usual meeting planned.

I gave an announcement in church this morning and we have had some offers of help which is encouraging. The publicity should go out this week so please be praying that many will respond and that this needy group will be reached with the gospel.

A New Chapter

2009-03-08T14:34:00.000-07:00

This is a big week. The invitations have gone out. Some kids came back to the Centre this week to check it out and tomorrow morning (Monday) the doors are wide open once again for the kids. We are not sure who will turn up. Perhaps no one will and then the team will go out and find kids and bring them back. It's not that they won't want to go necessarily but they may be afraid to trust us. In some ways it's a little like the story of the great banquet. The personal invitations went out first and when they were rejected the servant was asked to go into the highways and lanes with an open invitation!

Well, we're hoping that the personal invitations will be accepted and that tomorrow morning will be an exciting day and a new start for many of these amazing kids. Please continue to pray firstly that the kids will turn up and then that they will quickly trust the team and that as relationships develop so will the most important - that with Christ. Perhaps I'll be able to post agai mid-week to let you know how it is going and post photos.

Interviews

2009-03-01T19:37:00.000-08:00

Please pray this week for the MEFI team as they continue interviewing kids on the streets. As well as assessing the needs as the kids see them they are hoping to identify key contacts for inviting to the centre in La Raza in the mornings. This work has been in progress and this is possibly the final week of interviews.

Happy Birthday Project Mexico!

2009-03-01T19:17:00.000-08:00

It was such a privilege for us to have Gloria Parke here in our home and visiting the work. Gloria has been supporting Fidel and the work of the street kids since long before we ever knew him. In her hometown of Bushmills, N. Ireland she started selling unused items along with a couple of friends and sending the money to support Fidel and his ministry.
Back in 2006 Gloria and a team of people from Coleraine opened a little shop in the town. The response was amazing as people delivered things they were no longer using and they were sold. The profits were sent to support the work of the Drop-In Centre.

Sadly the shop had to be closed as the building was demolished but God is faithful and another team was established a few months later in a new location. We found this photo and it is a year since the new shop was opened to the public. God knows what we need and while this is a faith ministry the profits have increased and are now supporting not only the street kids' ministry but also the training and equipping of national workers.
Happy Birthday Project Mexico! While Gloria was here she was always quick to point out that she was just the face of a faithful and dedicated team of workers. We want to thank each person who sacrifices time and energy working in the shop, those who donate furniture, clothes, ornaments etc. and those who (knowingly or not) have made purchases which have supported the ministry here.