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March 2006

    We're nearing the home stretch of our year here, and we are fervently praying for God to reveal the next step we should take. We appreciate your prayers in this matter!
    A couple of weeks ago, we had the privilege to return to the First Church of the Nazarene in Tapachula, Chiapas with a Work and Witness team from Arizona. We flew from Mexico City to Tapachula the day before the team was to arrive (remember that we had to leave the van there) and met with the pastor, our adopted parents from there and the van. The van wasn't happy to see us. . .we had to recharge the battery :)
    The week we spent leading this team from Arizona was full of learning, fun, and work! The seeds that were planted in some of the workers with which we worked were watered by this team, praise be to God! We had the opportunity to develop the friendships with Jose Sr, his son Jose Jr, and Cristobal. It was great to see them again. Jose Jr. and his wife Elena dedicated their 25 day old baby Giezi Jose to the Lord on the Sunday that we were there. What a blessing. We pray that Jose and Elena bring little Giezi up in the Lord. A special opportunity that the ladies had was to lead a combined children’s Sunday School and Children’s Church. The team had brought down Resurrection Eggs, so the children had an Easter Egg Hunt (not a Mexican custom) with the end result of hearing the Easter story. Also, the 11 year old boy that had come on the trip with his father had brought Salvation Bracelets to make with the children. Krista was glad to be working with kids again, and although she was only the “translator,” she basically ran the show.
    We were stretched through miscommunication and the challenge of having older people on the team. God was with us, and we thank Him that no one was hurt during the hard labor. While there, we put the grout in between the tiles and the hardy men moved bricks, rocks, and sand from the ground to the 2nd and 3rd floors. We enjoyed the delicious food of Radai and her staff and went once again to see the ocean. God is good; we didn't have any problems driving a van that was not in our name. The fact that we had been there before helped our chauffeuring go well. Ron (the Work and Witness Coordinator to Mexico) went with us on the tour day and to drive the van back with us. Our drive back to Mexico City was during the day, so we were able to see some of the beautiful countryside and mountains.
    Speaking of mountains, last Saturday, we (along with Ron) hiked up most of Volcán Ajusco to the altitude of about 12,850 ft. Ajusco is just south of Mexico City, still within the Federal District. We braved a plethora of weather changes: from hot to cold, calm to windy, and rain to snow to dry. It was a nice hike up a steep rocky terrain, but we only made it to the second-highest peak, Pica Aguila, and not to the highest point, which would have taken another hour or so. It’s best that we came down when we did because it started to rain pretty hard just as we were arriving to the car at the base. We plan on returning and completing the trek.
    We’re once again back at the office. Richard is trying to get the databases to a point where he can leave them in the able hands of the missionary and Area Director. Krista continues to translate letters and enter data into the Church Directory database. We’re trying to make the most of our time remaining in Mexico City and eagerly await God’s plans to be revealed.

MAY 2006

    We are rapidly approaching the one year mark of our volunteer service in Mexico. Many of you may be wondering what our next step is, and we want to share our next step with you. We have spent many months praying, stressing, fasting meals, worrying, and finally we decided that God will guide our steps, even if they aren't as clear as we would like for them to be.
    Around June 9th, we will be driving back to the US. After visiting a family member in New Mexico, we will continue our journey on to Galesburg. Our plan is to spend time with Krista's family while re-evaluating our packed belongings and repacking things to go with us to our temporary apartment. We will be renting from friends in Kankakee, what a blessing! Richard will be working for the ONU IT Department for awhile, and Krista will be (?). . .we're still waiting on that one! We will be taking time to visit Richard's family before he starts working. While we are looking forward to this "transition" time, we are still waiting for the next step in God's plan. We are willing to continue being a part of Mission Corps, or seek other volunteer opportunities.
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    And now to a short update on the past month:
    We were privileged to be "tour guides" last week to a couple visiting from Alaska. We went on a Turibus tour (double-decker bus ride through Mexico City). We'll be sending pictures soon. It was quite an adventure, because there were many demonstrations being held which delayed the buses from coming to the stops, and forced our bus to take an alternate route. It was funny to see the bus attendants frantically tell us to duck our heads due to low tree branches.
    A few weeks ago, Richard was given the opportunity to give the message at church. He shared about church planting movements. A young lady from the church translated for him. Krista led the service and sang a song while playing the guitar at the end. This past Sunday night, Krista led and Richard spoke again, this time about the evangelism ministries of World Missions Broadcast, Wycliffe Ministries and New Tribes Mission. He did a great job.   It is always neat to be involved at church!
    God bless you all!