2018 Here We Come

Oh, you never know what a year might bring! But a couple of things we do know will happen, Lord willing, in 2018 give us cause to be excited. And maybe a bit sad!

Our dear daughter Cathy will be flying north soon, but using a one-way ticket instead of a round-trip one. We’re excited for what life in PA will bring, and happy for the Hostetters, Ryan and Jena and their three kids, who are welcoming Cathy into their family. But it is a little crazy for us…we feel like we’re “losing” our kids sooner than the typical college rite of passage.

What else awaits us in 2018? Read on…

CAMP BIGHORN  Last year we were privileged to have a group of young people from Camp Bighorn in Montana visit us for a week of orientation, after which they continue on in Mexico and do all sorts of wilderness camping and mountain climbing. This year they’ll be visiting again, in March. Check out some of their experiences here last year by clicking HERE and HERE. No huge wilderness challenges in Ixtapaluca, but we do try to give them some cultural ones by introducing them to some weird foods, and giving them the opportunity to get lost on the Mexico City subway system!

MISSION CONFERENCE. In April we’ll be in PA again for a brief time, participating in Mount Calvary Church‘s missions conference. Mt. Calvary has brought a short-term team down to visit us here every summer for the last three summers, and another group is planning to visit us again in June. Mt. Calvary’s mission conference is different than most, running from Sunday through Wednesday, with a focus on meeting different small groups.  We first participated in their conference back in 2014. I graduated from Mt. Calvary Christian School in 1985, and son Daniel did in 2016. Cathy is on schedule to graduate in 2019.

KIDS WEEKEND OUTREACH. If you’ve been paying attention to what’s happening here, you know we’ve been doing more and more with Word of Life Bible Institute Mexico over the past couple years. For the last two years they’ve helped us do ministry during Mexico’s Kids Day (día del niño), and this year they’ll be visiting Ixtapaluca again at the end of April. We fill up the weekend with kids-oriented activities in several neighborhoods nearby existing churches. Always a great time! Check out “Renacidos” in 2017, and Zona de Impacto in 2016.  This year the WOL group is called “Fusion.” We met many of them at a weekend campaign at a church in Veracruz recently. We hope to send a bunch of teenagers to this summer’s week of camp to WOL’s camp in Peña de Bernal.

SUMMER SHORT-TERM TEAMS. I already mentioned the Mt. Calvary team of 20 (21?) in June. We’re also excited about receiving a team from Hope Community Church in July. Hope came two years ago, and it was a memorable week. This year they will also be assisting us in a 5-day VBS outreach. We’re excited to have them back in the deep south! Check out this reflection by Kaitlyn Black, Where Language Divides, Love Speaks.

As always, we thank you for your prayers and for your gracious support of us here!

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