Heading South -- February Prayer Update

Hola to all our friends and family around the world!  Here's a short note about what we are doing this month:

Monday morning, February 3, we will be embarking on a three-week mission to Southern Mexico.  Our final destination is Veracruz, where we will be surveying the Coyutla Totonacos, an unreached people group in Central Veracruz.  Please pray that God would give us wisdom as we look at the possibility of planting a church among them in the future.

Along the way, we will be stopping in several places to encourage the Church with outreaches and teaching times and service projects.  These places include Quimichis, Nayarit; Union de San Antonia, Jalisco; Celaya, Queretaro; Coyutla, Veracruz and Minatitlan, Veracruz.

These are all missions or people whom we have connected with in one way or another during our eight years in Mexico, and we are excited about coming alongside them in their work and also reuniting in our common love of Christ Jesus.

Five members from our home church in Oregon, including our daughter Sarah, will be joining us 10 hours south of here in Guadalajara.  We will also be bringing along four of the members of the Las Glorias fellowship.  We are expecting big things from our amazing God on this three-week journey.  Please be praying with us specifically from the prayer guide below.  Thank you so much for your support and prayers for our family and our mission.

Mission team members and their families from Las Glorias and Guasave met to pray together at our house las Wednesday.  Lupita shared with the team how God has miraculously healed a blocked artery.

Pray for the Veracruz Mission Team:

• Mexico Team members:   The Coult Family (Doug and Rebecca, Sarah, Jessee, Seth, Andrew and Evie), Julio and Lupita, Basilia, Kevin, Fabian and Pastor Misael
• Oregon Team members: Pastor David, Pastor Kevin, Gary and Bethany
• Many areas we will be going to have less than 1% evangelical Christians.  Pray that God would help us find houses of peace among them.
• Pray that God would give physical strength for each team member.  Lupita has had heart issues in the past, but has recently been (miraculously) given a clean bill of health.  Pray that God would help her to walk in this new healing.  Also, both Rebecca and Lupita are still struggling with a cough leftover from bad colds.  Pray for continued healing in their bodies and that God would protect the team from illness.
• Pray for provision of physical needs: food, gas, no car problems, no travel issues, etc. 
• Pray for Joaquin and Luz who will be staying in our house and heading up the ministry here in Las Glorias while we’re gone.
• Pray for spiritual discernment as each team member journals daily and asks God how He might want us to work long-term with the people we meet.
• Pray that if God wants to call specific team members to full-time missions, they would hear Him clearly.

October 2012 Update

Psalm 9: 1-2 “I will praise you, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.”

We have much to be thankful for! Our time in the States during August and September was absolutely wonderful. A special thank you to the congregations in Arizona, California and Oregon which we were able to visit! Your hospitality was incredible, and we were (and continue to be) so blessed! Now that we’re back home, we’ve unpacked, done laundry, cleaned the house and are jumping back into life and ministry in Sinaloa.

Andrew and Evie step in to help with the children’s class at the church in Alamito. After being gone for over a month, they said it felt really good to be back to teaching the little kids…in Spanish. It was also wonderful to see some new faces in the kids’ class. Graciano and Diane, who moved to Tijuana a few years ago, have recently moved back to Alamito and several other children from the village have begun attending regularly, too.

 
Evie and Kelly, a missionary from Arizona who is staying with us, show our friends’ daughters the joys of finger painting. Simply living with and reaching out to the families around us is a big part of our work here. We pray that we are an encouragement to the families around us and try to be lights in our village. For the next few months, we have the pleasure of hosting a young missionary from Arizona. Kelly is getting a first-hand look at missionary life and has discovered that very little Spanish is needed to effectively finger paint with little kids!

Saying goodbye to Sarah at Rancho Tres Cruces outside of Ensenada, Mexico. What are they doing with their hands? Well, “tres cruces” means “three crosses”. Sarah is settling in at the ranch in San Antonio de Las Minas. Bible classes will be beginning soon and she’s very much looking forward to digging into the Word with the other students.

Friday night youth group in the Aposento Alto (the Upper Room). Friday nights are generally youth-led. Last week, Kelly shared a challenging message on being real and taking our faith seriously.  The youth take turns teaching and leading worship.  It's great to see God raising up young leaders!  Pray that each one of them would be standing firm in their faith.

A special gift from a church in California enabled us to purchase chairs for the conference center. We were so excited to be able to bring 56 chairs home with us from Los Mochis last weekend. Now we will have seating for everyone attending our weekly Bible studies as well as all the pastors and leaders who will be attending the Bible school at the end of this month. In the past we have needed to rent chairs and tables. Praise God for His provision!!!

Master’s Bible School will begin in two weeks. We are very excited, but also feeling the time crunch and the need to finish several projects before classes start. The teachers’ airplane and bus fares are taken care of, and the course materials are ready to be sent to the printer. We have both tables and chairs – and didn’t have to rent them!  We've talked with most of the students who attended Module 1 and most have confirmed their attendance for Module 2.  Pray for these pastors and leaders.  They see the value of solid Biblical teaching, and are willing to make sacrifices to attend the school.  The cost for the 10-day course is 150 pesos (a little over $10) which is equal to a day's wage here.  Most of the students will be taking time off work to attend and a couple have even stated that they plan to quit their jobs.  One pastor shared that his boss wasn't willing to give him time off last winter to attend Module 1, so he quit the job.  A week after the school, his boss called him back to work.

The tuition money is used to defray some of the cost of the food.  As you might imagine, $10 doesn't really cover 10 days worth of meals, so the Vida Nueva churches have been doing fund raisers to help meet this need.  This morning I was discussing the amount of money still needed for meals (about $1,200) with other pastors’ wives. Their attitudes both humbled and encouraged me. Of course, we all agreed that God will provide according to our needs and that we shouldn’t worry. But they went on to say that they believed we should be spending more time in prayer and fasting, so I really shouldn’t worry too much about the food. It would be a good discipline for the students to fast a meal each day. Please pray that God would meet the needs of the students during Master’s Bible School, and also pray that each of us attending will be open to learn every lesson that He has for us during that time.

Prayers and Praises:

• Praise God for His provision during our time in the States and as we return home. We see His hand working in our lives daily! Pray that we would continue to trust Him every moment!!!
• Praise God for the young missionary, Kelly, who is staying with us. Pray that God would speak into her life in a mighty way while she is here with us and lead her where He wants her to go.
• Pray for Sarah at Rancho Tres Cruces. Pray for God’s continued guidance in her life and that she would be hearing His voice clearly.
• Pray for Caleb as he looks ahead to his first “solo venture”. Lord willing, he will be moving to California this spring. 
• Pray for the mission team from Washington which will be arriving next week.  Pray for God's provision and protection and that their time here would be impacting and life-changing for everyone involved! 
• Pray for God’s provision for the Master’s Bible School at the end of this month. Specifically pray for the $1200 needed for meals (or the grace needed to fast!). ;^)
• Praise God for the tables and chairs and all the other "details" He's been working out for Module 2 of Master's Bible School.
• Pray that any obstacles which might hinder students from attending the Bible school would be removed. 
• Pray for the youth in Las Glorias, Boca del Rio, La Pitayha and Alamito who are attending the weekly youth group meetings.
• Praise God for our home fellowship group in Las Glorias. Pray that the group would continue to grow both in number and in maturity.
  
  

A Special Opportunity to Partner with the Coult Family

As some of you know, God has been using our oldest daughter, Sarah, to raise up a mission team of 10 young adults from all over the US and Mexico. The idea was born from a chat among some of the leaders, of which Sarah is one, of a forum called “The Rebelution”. The forum’s purpose is to encourage and challenge today’s Christian youth to “Do Hard Things” in the name of Jesus and to step out of their comfort zones. One of these “hard things” is this mission trip to Sinaloa, Mexico, to help us finish construction on our house. They are scheduled to be here January 3 through 11, 2010.

We’ve seen God’s hand on this project from the beginning in the way He has been preparing this team and causing all the details to come together. The date of their trip is quickly approaching, and at the request of the team leader we are inviting you, our supporters, to help raise the final amount of the construction funds necessary to meet their goal of $6200. With God’s help, if we meet the goal, at the end of January we’ll be able to move out of our garage and into our new home. Granted, there will be some missing details (like glass windows), but this will be a huge step forward in the ministry God has been building through us here in Mexico.

Our living room during a youth retreat last spring.


The kitchen crew served meals to 55 people that weekend -- three meals a day!

Time is of the essence. If you are able and God prompts you, we invite you to do hard things with these youth who are believing that with God, all things are possible! Whether you’re able to contribute financially or not, we ask that you would be in prayer for this mission team and for our family.

If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to this project, you can send your donation to:

New Hope EFC
PO Box 1615
Winston, Oregon 97496

Make checks payable to “New Hope Evangelical Free Church”, with “Mexico Mission/Construction” in the memo line.

You can also make a contribution electronically by clicking on the “Make a Donation” button below, and put “Construction” in the memo. Sorry, we’re not set up to send out a tax deductible receipt for donations that are sent electronically.

We know that the One who calls us is faithful, and He will finish what He starts! (1 Thessalonians 5:24)

Thank you for continuing to lift our family and ministry up in prayer!

Embracing the Journey,
Doug and Rebecca

Seeing Lives Changed -- Dayeinu!

One of our family's favorite Passover songs is "Dayeinu". Literally translated, it means, "It would have been sufficient."

The verses of the song begin with the children of Israel in Egypt.

Verse 1:
"If He had brought us out from Egypt, [Ilu hotzianu mimitzrayim, אִלּוּ הוֹצִיאָנוּ מִמְּצָרִים
and had not carried out judgments against them [v'lo asah vahem s'fatim, וְלֹא עָשָׂה בָּהֶם שְׁפָטִים
— Dayeinu, it would have been enough! [dayeinu! דַּיֵּנוּ

The song continues through the Israelites' time of wandering in the desert and traditionally ends with their entry into the promised land.

Verse 13:
"If He had brought us into the land of Israel, [Ilu hichnisanu l'eretz yisra'eil, אִלּוּ הִכְנִיסָנוּ לְאֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל
and not built for us the Holy Temple [v'lo vanah lanu et beit hamikdash, וְלֹא בָּנָה לָנוּ אֶת בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ
— Dayeinu, it would have been enough! [dayeinu! דַּיֵּנוּ

The tune is upbeat and catchy, and I find myself humming it from time to time throughout the year.

God showers us with so many blessings! How often do we stop to think about how undeserving we are? In addition to the air we breathe and the food we eat and the very life we enjoy, He's provided a way of eternal life! That's grace and mercy! Dayeinu!!!

When we came to Mexico, we had no idea of what blessings (and challenges, too) would lie before us. We didn't know who we would be able to share our lives with or what effect we would even be able to have in this community.

One of our first friends here was Esteban. He and Doug "hit it off" almost immediately. The language barrier seemed no barrier at all as those two worked around the house and around town fixing plumbing, electrical and "other" problems.

During the course of the following year, Doug was able to share his live with Esteban and Esteban came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Dayeinu!!!

Beyond that, though, we've been able to share in a Bible study with his wife and her parents. Dayeinu!!!

Also, we've been able to become closer friends with Esteban's extended family. Dayeinu!!!

We are not worthy of the blessings God pours out on our lives. That's part of what makes them so special! As it is written:

Which one of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father, who is in heaven, give good things to those who ask Him? -- Matthew 7:9-11

What will God bring to us in the coming years? We have no idea, but we do know one thing:

Dayeinu!