Marriage counselling

We were approached after church this Sunday by a couple who are in need of help. They feel that their marriage is in a very bad place and want us to come alongside them. Please pray for us. We will be wanting to meet up regularly with them over the next while starting this Wednesday. At this point we would ask that you pray for this young couple with two small kids who work very long hours. They are Christians and need to see their situation through God's eyes of course. Pray for wisdom for us too that we will be true to God's Word and that He might use us to restore and heal.

MEFI team meetings

Andrew has had a fantastic time of meetings with the MEFI team. There has been some restructuring of the church teams and so every team in a church that is involved in church planting has a supervising pastor and each team member is responsible to the pastor now rather than a director or team leader. The implications of this on the MEFI team is that Andrew is no longer the director, but the one who gives in the reports to the supervising pastor on behalf of the team. This means that Fidel, Alex, Juanita and Paty are more involved in leading the ministry.
The team has had to redo the ministry plan for the year and they handed it into the supervising pastor in their meeting on Friday and he was really pleased. Praise the Lord for the unity of purpose and vision that the team has. They will be discussing the time frame of the years goals and defining roles this week for the team. Then going to the streets with a questionnaire to get a good idea of what has been happening and trying to get a better idea of who and how many to invite at one time to the 'Drop in Centre' which they now call 'UNIFAM La Raza'.
We'll get a fresh view of the building for you for next week.

MOPS meeting 2...

Neither the MOPS nor the Mex-i-Kids meetings took place this week. The MOPS meeting was re-scheduled for this Thursday during our normal meeting time. A couple of the girls from Campanario will give some specific guidance on the different areas. A few of the Mex-i-Kids leaders weren’t able to make it on Saturday so I will be communicating with each leader individually so we can make some progress there.

The Chalco team are planning a break over Christmas. They will have a special family service next Sunday in the mother church and are keen to have us go to help with music. Hopefully we will be able to. Then there is a Christmas service in Chalco on 21st December. Andrew is doing a sketch with the masks.

Mex-i-Kids and MOPS

It is looking like we will have a leadership meeting this Saturday. We will be talking through the draft manual material that has been written so far among other things. Please pray for unity of vision and direction and that God will be glorified as changes and additions are made.

On Thursday we hope to have a meeting of the leadership teams from MOPS in Campanario and La Loma. The La Loma ladies will observe a typical planning meeting as the Campanario girls run through their usual format. Then the ladies will get together with their counterpart leader on the other team to talk through ideas, methods, successes and failures etc. As I look at the calendar it seems that there isn't too much time until we will be in full swing with the ministry. Please pray that we will be fully prepared and especially that at La Loma we will find someone capable to lead the kids work as the ministry to the mums is in progress.

A flying visit

It was incredible this weekend to have my sister come to visit. It was just a couple of days as she had been in America for a work conference and took the opportunity to fly down but it was refreshing and fun for us to have her here. The kids loved playing with Aunty Emma and checking her out! Being an anthropologist and only having time for one visit we decided on the pyramids just outside the city. We have heard that these pyramids are the largest stepped pyramids in the world. You can read more information here.


It is so incredibly special to have family come to visit. Being so far from friends and family at home is by far the biggest sacrifice of missionary life as far as we are concerned. Watching Tabitha interact with Emma was amazing - it's like she knows that is a special relationship. Tomorrow will be a rest and recovery day for the kids and a 'normal' sleep routine!

Did we get it finished?

Well a lot of work went on at the drop-in centre this week. The stuff on the floor of the main open space was cleared away and painting was finished. There are a few little details that still need attended to but for the most part the building is ready!

This week the team have Monday and Tuesday off and the rest of the week will be spent finishing the bits and pieces of work and the planning for the next stage of the ministry. Please pray that the team will return to work refreshed and energised and that God will be glorified through the plans made.

Mex-i-Kids Tultitlan

We don't often mention the breakfast club at Tultitlan. They have a very capable team there and therefore we have less input into what goes on. Yesterday though, Andrew was able to go up and visit. Monday is a holiday here so numbers were down as families the the opportunity to go away. It was good to see the program there and to encourage the team.

Work on the Mex-i-Kids manual continues and we will hopefully be able to have a leadership meeting very soon.

Drop In Centre Update

Thanks for your prayers. Work progressed this week. We had hoped to be finished for Tuesday but it's going to take a few more days. We thought we'd remind you of how the centre started with a couple of photos we took the first time we stepped inside the building in April 2005. This has been an incredibly long journey and so I guess a couple of extra days to get all the work finished are not that significant! This is a view towards the front door.
A typical view of inside. Lots of grease and rubbish!
We will be preparing a video of the change process. So many amazing people have been involved sacrificing holidays, finances, energy, comfort etc. to get us this far. It's amazing to see photos and remind ourselves of all the people who have physically been involved. We have met some amazing people. And of course there are so many who haven't been able to come yet but have supported the work from home. This is most certainly not the Agnew's achievement but rather God is glorified through the worship of a great huge team... and you are a part of it!

Here is the current view towards the back of the building. You are looking at the open space which will also serve as the sanctuary for church services.
This is the view towards the front of the building. There is still quite a bit of equipment on the floor but that will go this week. The window to the left looks into the room where clothes, toiletries, towels etc. are stored. To the right in the background is the workshop.
There are some finer details. These flowers (which will be painted) were put together piece by piece by the ironmonger who had to make some of the pieces to complete this beautiful touch to the window looking into the storage cupboard.
Another caring touch is the brickwork around a couple of the windows. This is the medical consulting room. You may just see a metal fish on the door.
And this is one of the most important rooms. One of two counselling rooms.
The main work to be done this week is the installation of sinks and toilets in the boys bathroom. The team have a big meeting on Tuesday with missionaries, pastors and church planting workers. Apart from that it will be a huge push to get the work finished and perhaps even have some time to finish planning for the next stage which seems close enough to be touchable. Praise God for what is past and please continue to pray for the team as the next stage of street visitation and putting the centre to use commences.

Close of classes

These are some of the kids who could now perhaps talk with you in English for about 30 seconds! Really, it's not important how much English they learned but that they are excited about the church.

The team were really encouraged by the service. About 30 of the kids attended and about 5 extra parents. Pastor Cesar gave an excellent sermon on the importance of leading your kids to Christ from Matthew 19:13-15.

Thank you for your prayers. Please continue to pray that suspicion of the church will be taken away and that families will find living hope in the message of the gospel. Pray that these enthusiastic kids will be influential in winning their friends and neighbours for Christ and that the parents will be open to follow up and continued attendance at the little church.

MOPS

We had another good planning meeting this week. We talked about potential session topics mainly. I am surprised at how deep the ladies want to go so quickly. It seems that the needs of the ladies in the area will be deep. Pray for wisdom to know what subjects to cover, what speakers to invite and for capable people who will be able to follow up the ladies who attend.

We still need a person to take on the responsibility of the kids' work and would appreciate your continued prayers for that.

Drop-In Centre

Hopefully next week we will have some video or photos of the drop-in centre. It seems so close to completion. There is a little painting to be done, some installation of bathroom and kitchen fittings and a lot of cleaning. Please pray for the team this week. It could be so easy to get discouraged so close to the end but we need one big push to get the job almost, if not altogether completed. Andrew has been spending most of his time with the team recently encouraging them and working alongside to see the project completed.

We were devastated this week to have to let Hector (his web name) go. We have been supporting him with rent, some seminary training, helped to pay his wage and a very small salary as he has worked in the drop-in centre. He has made some bad choices over too long a period of time and together the team decided that the best thing for him would be to find his feet by himself while all the time continuing to offer love and emotional support. It's often hard to know what the best choice is for these kids but we would appreciate your prayers for Hector. Pray that God will touch his heart and show him the benefit of walking His way. Pray that over these next 4 months he will really learn to value the love and support of the MEFI team so that when we talk again with him his attitude will be different and he will have a determination to do the right thing.

A brand new friend!

We were so delighted this week to hear of the safe arrival of Benjamin Pollock. Jonny and Julie are currently at home in N. Ireland but hope to return to Mexico early in 2009. Little Ben was born in the same hospital as Tabitha (possibly the same room!). When she saw his picture on the computer she stroked his little face!

We're looking forward to cuddling your gorgeous little boy Jonny and Julie!

You can check him out here.

Mex-i-Kids

The English course in Chalco finished yesterday and the special service has been scheduled for next Sunday. Pray that many kids will return with their parents. Andrew has decided to go to Chalco twice a month on Saturdays to support the small team there. He will hopefully be able to visit La Loma and Tultitlan once a month.

We haven't heard how the special event went at La Loma. Keep praying that the Holy Spirit will speak through the gospel that was presented and we'll let you know next week.

More than the number of seats

You know that church is about more than the number of seats and the bricks and mortar. Some sofas were gifted to the drop-in centre and a guy called Jesus (hey-soose) came to re-cover them. Praise God he came to know Christ. May many more come to know him on the seats that he has covered too! Pray for this new baby Christian as he begins this new and exciting journey.

Late for church!

Halloween may not be your favourite time of the year. Here in Mexico the holiday is extended by the Day of the Dead celebrations. Today (Sunday) is Day of the Dead. We visited some neighbours this week and they had a table set up downstairs with sugar skulls, candles, flowers and various foods and drinks that their dead relatives enjoyed while they were still alive. Dead family members are invited back to enjoy their 'offering'.

There are loads of graveyards right by our church which we didn't even think about before we left this morning. We ran into stationary traffic when we were still quite a bit away from the church. Thankfully we were able to turn around and take an alternative route so we weren't too late. As the graveyards were filling with people we were in church being reminded of Christ who defeated death through his own death and resurrection giving us a reason to live with hope and expectation.

So as the trick or treaters come to our gate in droves we are giving out little tracts with a simple gospel message. Please pray that they will be read and will have an impact for God's glory.

MOPS in progress

After a 90 minute round trip I arrived with the girls from the La Loma MOPS team in time for their first exposure to a MOPS meeting in progress. We were minus one lady who had a cold and another whose son had been out of action for 2 weeks with a cold as well. It was a special event with a team from Indiana being there and one of the members of the team giving the talk. It was such a great time and I think the girls were really excited to see MOPS for themselves. Afterwards there was lots of chat about ideas they had and experiences they have lived and are living through. One of the girls has two little boys. Her husband has been working in the USA for a year now. She is hoping he will return before Christmas. Can you even imagine living like that? Yet that is the experience of many here. One lady told me recently, "I am one of the lucky ones, my husband came back!" I am amazed at how the girl on our team has grown spiritually during the course of this year. She is dressed in pink on the left of the picture below.
These are the girls who were able to be at the meeting. The Campanario team were wonderfully supportive wanting the team presented, praying for us and having a lovely little gift for each of us.

Please continue to pray for someone to lead the kids' program. The girl I had in mind has said no so we are still looking for someone. Please pray that the person God has in mind for this role will be made evident. We meet again this week Thursday for planning.

Cold brings colds

This week it seemed to get cold all of a sudden. Now you'll probably laugh when I say that means it's getting down to about 15 degrees centigrade during the day and about 4 at night. For us though it means getting out the woolly sweaters and cuddling around the super ser at night.

Oscar kindly shared his cold with the rest of us so we've been fighting coughs and sniffles all week. Almost everyone we talk to is afflicted with the same. It means that attendances are down all round. Thankfully though it seems like the Agnews are through the worst of it. We're all stocked up with multivitamins and the kids have some new warm clothes to get us through the rest of the winter!