Here, There and Back Again!

*The following is an e-mail update sent out last Monday, Aug. 4th that we did not have time to post before our conference.*

SPECIAL PRAYER REQUEST: Before we begin to update you on what has been happening with us the past month, we have a very important prayer request. Our good friend and fellow TEAM missionary in La Paz, Cher Gatto, needs your prayer. Without going into all the details, she was flown back to the states last week with some health issues and today it was discovered that she has a cancerous tumor. Surgery to remove the tumor is scheduled for this coming Thursday at which time they will know how far it has progressed. Please pray with us for Cher, her husband Pete and their five children as they go through this very difficult time.

HERE…
Before leaving for our trip to the states to visit with family as well as several supporting churches, we were beginning to see some of the first fruits of our new cell group outreach. Here is a brief summary of some of the exciting results from our first three months of meetings:
~We are seeing believers take more ownership of the ministry and maturing in their faith.
~We are seeing our members become more aware of the needs around them.
~We have had approximately 70 adults & 58 children visit the 4 different cell groups during the initial 3 months of meetings.
~We have had an increase of visitors to our Sunday service from the cell groups.
~We have had 3 professions of faith.

THERE…
While in the states, we had the privilege of travelling to Alaska to update supporters on our ministry as well as spend some wonderful time with Phil’s family. It had been almost four years since our last visit and it was a special blessing that all of Phil’s immediate family could be together, including his brother and family who are missionaries in Poland. We were able to make a lot of good memories with them as well as share with the church during a special fiesta night and in an adult Sunday school class. During our travels, we were also able to connect with Pattie’s family in Arizona and California and Phil’s aunts in southern California. As always, the time with family and good friends goes by fast. Our last Sunday in the states, we were sitting in a church before giving a report and Micah looked up at me and said, “Mommy, I want to go home. When can we go back to Mexico?” We were all ready to get back into our own home and routine.

AND BACK AGAIN…
Thank you so much for your prayers as we travelled the many miles in such a short time. God’s hand of protection was on us as we drove, especially on our travel down the Baja when a tractor trailer dumped half its over packed load of hay bales right in front of us. It was a very tense few minutes for all of us but we definitely knew that the Lord was with us and know He protected us from what could have been a very tragic accident.
We are happy to be back and look forward to getting back into the swing of things. It was great to be back in church on Sunday and greet all of our dear brothers and sisters here as well as worship with them again.
Please pray for the cell groups. Summer can be a hard time to get people to come, especially with the heat. Please be in prayer for two families in particular that have attended our cell group in the past: Edgar & LaLa and Juan & Judy.
We leave again today for our field’s annual conference of missionaries where we give our reports on various ministry areas throughout Mexico. TEAM’s director has also come to help us work through a field vision and purpose. We are excited to hear what the Lord has been doing the past year in other ministry areas as well as clarify the vision for our field so that we can more effectively minister and work better as a team.

As always, we are overflowing with gratitude for your faithfulness in praying for us and supporting the ministry here. We pray for you as well and enjoy hearing how things are going with you and how we can pray for you!

By His Grace,
Phil and Pattie

PS-We will send out some pictures soon!