Merry Christmas!

Warm Christmas Greetings from the Baja!

We trust this finds you all doing well and enjoying this season of celebrating our Savior's birth. Our youth are participating in tonight's Christmas Eve celebrating with a dramatization of the story of the Three Trees and a special song. Please pray that their presentation goes smoothly and that above all Christ is glorified.

The most recent edition of our prayer letter is now posted. You can view it by clicking on the link to the left for our prayer letters and select the Fall/Winter 2009 letter. We hope this enables you to pray more effectively for the ministry here and are encouraged by what the Lord is doing.

¡Feliz Navidid!
The Eager Family

Shutting the Lions' Mouths

You really think I would have learned by now that God answers prayer or not doubt that He will. Last night I had the opportunity to witness this in a very tangible way.

We had two visitors to our cell group last night who I immedeately felt the need to pray for since they had very obviously been drinking. One of them actually gave me the sense of having evil intensions. Maybe it was just me, I don't know. He just seemed very in your face at times. He gave me a very uneasy feeling and I discovered later that I was not the only one who sensed that after hearing comments made by some of the other ladies. While we were having our opening prayer time when Phil had opened for requests and praises, they jumped right in and often would interrupt when others were trying to share...it was interesting to say the least. I was very proud of Phil for the patience and grace he handled the situation. I was a little concerned about if they kept it up when Phil was to do the Bible study though since I knew it would be hard to try teaching with all the extra talking, interruptions, etc. and they really needed to hear the lesson. God put in my mind the story of Daniel and the lions and immediately I began to pray, "Lord, you shut the mouths of the lions for Daniel, please, shut the mouths of these men and open their ears and hearts to listen.Take away the effects of the alcohol and give them clarity of thought and understanding of Your Word." To be honest, I was not sure what would happen (o me of little faith) because I also know that God does not always answer our prayers as we see fit....He ALWAYS answers, just not always in the WAY we would expect or want. When Phil gave the lesson, neither one said a word, NOT A SINGLE WORD the ENTIRE time!!! They also appeared to be very attentive to the lesson on why Jesus came...to die for us which is the real meaning of Christmas.

God is so good, reminding me once again that all it takes is a little faith....because that is what I had. He is so much greater than my human mind can wrap itself around even though I often try to confine Him to the box of my reality or my understanding. Merry Christmas! I pray that we experience Him in new and exciting ways this year.

Bits from the Baja E-mail Update: Nov. 2009

No power and mold infestation in our bedroom were part of the unpleasant welcome we received upon our return home after about a month of travel to the states and back. I (Pattie) remember reading something a while ago that said something to the effect that our reaction to difficulties will reveal instantly upon whom we rely. I wish I could say that I was totally at peace about things but I would be lying to you. It was really hard at first and many tears of frustration fell. However, in the midst of that, I also knew that God was using this to reaffirm things we had learned in the SALT workshops (discipleship materials) we had attended in Phoenix while in the states. Don't you love how God helps make what you are learning so practical?! He loves to provide us with opportunities to put into practice what He is teaching us. In the midst of the clean up and my tears, I could sense His still small voice saying, "it will be ok. This hurts so much because underneath it all, you were made for more. You were made with a longing for perfection and completeness that only I can give to you. You WILL experience it one day...in Heaven." So for now, I am so grateful for His loving reminder that it is ok to not be satisfied with this life and that He made us for something so much more...Heaven seems sweeter and sweeter all the time, doesn't it?

While in the states, we were blessed with the opportunity to not only attend the very helpful workshops already mentioned but to also spend some precious time with family, friends and several supporting churches. I was also able to see a Dermatologist about a cyst located on my jaw line which has been growing. We are very thankful that he confirmed that it is not cancerous. Unfortunately, he was not able to remove it but a plastic surgeon will need to perform the procedure. We did not have enough time left in the states to get it taken care of. Because we were cautioned that it was important to have it removed as soon as possible because as it grows, it will get more difficult to remove, we are investigating the possibility of a quick trip up for myself in January to have it taken care of. Please, pray that we will be able to locate a plastic surgeon in the Fresno area that will be able to perform the procedure and be sympathetic to my need to be in the states for as little time as possible. (We are hoping it will only be 7-10 days.)

As Thanksgiving approaches in a week, like probably many of you, we are focusing more and more of all we have to be thankful for. We are so grateful for you all. Your interest in what God is doing in the lives of the people here, your prayers, your notes, etc. are what help keep us going. Thank you for allowing God to use you in our lives and ministry. We are also thankful for...

• Manuel who has such a deep desire to know and understand the Word who Phil has been studying the Bible with. We are trusting that He will choose to follow Christ.


• We are thankful for the youth on our youth leadership team who are maturing and using their gifts and who helped run youth group smoothly while we were gone.


• We are thankful for Karina, one of the older, college age youth who has an interest in going to Bible school to study music and youth ministry.


• We are thankful for the ladies in the women's Bible study who are studying the Word, growing and starting to help lead as well.


• We are thankful for the couples attending the monthly marriage seminars our coworkers are providing who want to improve and grow their marriage for His glory.

Most of all, we are thankful for Jesus. When all is said and done, it is ALL about Him and for Him anyways. Isn't it amazing to be a part of what He is doing?!

With Grateful Hearts,

The Eager Family

The picture above is one taken of our family in the mountains while we were visiting the states.

I love my kids...

...Not that there was any doubt but I just had to share something that happened yesterday.

We started the One Verse Sonlight Project this week. It is a program to help build awareness for the need to translate the Bible into languages that do not have one and the many that do not have even one verse in their language. Part of the project is to save money to help translate at least one verse. They figure the cost of translating one verse is approximately $26. When I first mentioned it (before watching the videos, reading the story and seeing the slide show) both of our oldest were asking if we were going to make them give their own money. I told them no, only if they felt led to give but that as a family we could maybe make a special jar to save up money and see if we could at least raise enough for one or two verses. Well, after going through all the materials online, I simply told them to think and pray about two things: If they feel that God is leading them to give and if so, how much. I also reminded them that this was not required and that we were not forcing them to give anything.

A couple hours later, Josh comes up to me and says, "You know mom, I already have a leapster. I don't REALLY need the Nintendo DSI I have been saving for. I want to pay for a verse all on my own out of the money I have saved up." What you need to understand is that he has been saving up his Christmas money, birthday money and weekly allowances for literally months now with the hopes of saving enough by the time we go to the states next month so he can buy one there where it costs a lot less. He has talked a lot about this and was really excited about it. I know that for him this is a sacrifice but I am so proud of his decision. Shortly after this, Abby came to me and told me she wanted to pay for a verse out of the money she has been saving to buy a camera of her own. Once again, doubly proud momma here!

It also has gotten me thinking about those things that maybe I don't REALLY need and how I can be more giving and sacrifical. I love how our children can teach us so much sometimes.

Summer 2009 Edition of Eager Steps Now Available

Hot and humid greetings from the Baja!

While many of you may be feeling the start of fall weather and possibly never felt like you had much of a summer, we are still in the midst of summer weather here. Today's temperature was 95 with 36% humidity and heat index of 98. It hardly feels like the Midwestern Fall weather I am used to growing up! I just keep reminding myself that come December and January, I will be happy for our weather here.

This is to let you know that our most recent edition of our prayer letter "Eager Steps" is ready. All you need to do is click on the link to the left for our prayer letters to read it. It is in PDF format. If you do not have Adobe Reader, you can download it for free at www.adobe.com.

We apologize for the delay in completing our summer letter. We had several weeks with one thing after the other happen, starting with Hurricane Jimena. Our most recent "adventure" was with van problems which left us stranded for a few days in the capital of La Paz over the weekend. We were dropping off items collected by our churches here for hurricane relief in one of the cities North of us. We hope that you enjoy reading about what God is doing in Southern Baja and are able to pray for the individuals mentioned in our letter.

Please, keep us updated on your lives and ministries when you are able. We count it a privilege to pray for you as well.

By His Grace,
Pattie

Bits from the Baja E-mail Update: Sept. 5, 2009

Greetings once again!

Thank you so much for your prayers! We are happy to report that Hurricane Jimena did not hit us directly and did not cause the damage which a category 4 hurricane would typically do. We received quite a bit of rain, some wind, and a little loss of power (only about 5 hours) but nothing bad. Further up the coast, it was a different story. We would appreciate your prayers for these areas, especially Ciudad Constitución, which have quite a bit of rebuilding to do. Please pray for wisdom in how best we can serve and help with the needs they are experiencing.

We are praising God for quite a large number at our cell group last night, especially children (18!). There is a newer visitor who is bringing many from her neighborhood. Please pray with us that the parents would desire to come as well, to study the Bible and learn more about God. It was wonderful to see Jaime's friend "G" return. Please pray with us that he would continue to seek the truth and would find freedom from his alcoholism.

Tomorrow, Iglesia Emanuel will begin a series of monthly, workshops to help build marriages. Considering that the last statistics we read reported the divorce rate here as 70%, this is definitely a great need. Please pray that the couples attending would have their marriages strengthened and be shining testimonies of God's grace at work in their personal lives and as a couple.

Thank you once again for your prayers during the storm and your continued prayers, encouragement and support for our ministry.

By His Grace,
Phil and Pattie

Bits from the Baja E-mail Update: Hurricane Jimena Edition (August 31, 2009)

Greetings from a cloudy Baja!

This will probably be short since it is starting to sprinkle and we have been having issues with losing our power when it rains. You may already be aware of Hurricane Jimena that is heading our way. Every other hurricane has turned back out to sea when it got close since we have been here, however, it does not appear that it will be happening this time around. We would especially like to ask prayer for those who are living in little more than shacks and the potentially devastating effects this could have here. The economy was already struggling greatly due to the economic crisis and the swine flu but this will add yet another blow to the people here who are already struggling. Please pray that these difficult times will not drive people to desperation but to seek the only true and lasting hope in Jesus. Please pray that Iglesia Emanuel will continue to be a light in the community in the midst of the darkness.

Quick update on Phil's study with "M"...he showed much interest in knowing more about the Bible and spiritual things. It is obvious he has some knowledge but also misinformation as well. It is very encouraging to see someone hunger and thirst to know more though and we are praising God for this opportunity. There are other stories we could tell about what the Lord is doing but you will have to wait for our prayer letter which will hopefully be completed and sent out soon.

On a personal note, we have had sickness hitting one family member or another almost the entire summer but this month it has been a flu bug that has been pretty nasty. Everyone has had it except for Pattie (because Mommas aren't allowed to get sick, right?). Unfortunately, it appears the Luke may be entering round 2 with it so we would also greatly appreciate your prayers for health right now. He was up early this morning with a fever and we hope to get him in to the Dr. this morning before the weather worsens because he may need an antibiotic.

As always, thank you for partnering with us and for your prayers.
By His Grace,
Phil and Pattie

Bits from the Baja E-mail Update: August 27, 2009

“Jaime died! Jaime died last night!” was Lina and Irene’s greeting to us a couple weeks ago on Sunday morning at church. (Jaime is “J” who has been attending our cell group and for whom we have been asking prayer regarding his struggle with alcoholism.) Since he was alone and poor, there was no family to claim the body (this process includes paying the govt. a fairly large sum). As a church body, we felt it important to claim the body and hold a memorial service since he had been attending our cell group regularly in spite of his ongoing personal struggles. This provided an opportunity in the community and among his friends (many of whom are struggling alcoholics, including “G”) to share the Gospel as well as a powerful testimony. Please, continue to pray for his friend “G” as well as many others who attended the memorial service and have expressed interest in turning their lives around. A resulting blessing for us has been to see several in our cell group determine to reach out more to Jaime’s friends, visiting them and sharing with them. They have seen the need and are doing something about it.

Right on the heels of Jaime's death, our field was holding its annual conference of missionaries where the various ministry areas report on what the Lord is doing, discuss future plans as well as business matters and have a special time of encouragement through a special speaker. This year, we had the added blessing of one of our supporting churches, FCC of El Centro, California send a team who helped minister to all of the missionary families. They ministered to our children and youth as well as cooking our meals during the conference. We are so grateful for their willingness to come and serve our families.

We would like special prayer today for Phil as he will be meeting with a gentleman to begin a bible study this afternoon. “M” is a waiter at a local taco place. Over time, we have been able to develop a relationship with him and have invited him to our cell group and church. Unfortunately, his work schedule has made it difficult to attend either. However, the last time we were there, he told us that he has a bible someone gave him and has tried to read it but does not understand it and wants help. Phil will begin meeting with him today to do a series of studies. Please pray for Phil to be able to explain clearly and for “M” to understand.

Once again, we are overwhelmed with your love, concern and prayers for us. Your partnership with us is such a blessing. Thank you for your prayers and for being a part of our ministry team.

By His Grace,
Phil and Pattie

Bits from the Baja E-mail Update: July 31, 2009

Greetings once again from hot and steamy Mexico!

This summer seems to be rushing by at the speed of light for us. There are so many things going on and lots of exciting stuff happening. We’ll try to highlight a few:

In our previous update, we mentioned “J” and “G” who have attended our cell group. Thank you for your prayers for them. They both returned the following week and once again, it was very apparent that they had been drinking. At the end “G”, in tears, asked what he could do because the alcohol was destroying him, hurting his family, etc. It is very hard when he receives such mixed messages from “J” who professes to follow Christ but sees nothing wrong with his drinking which is a very obvious stumbling block to his friend. Please pray for wisdom in how best to minister to them both. Please pray that they continue to reach out and in spite of the effects of the alcohol that God’s truth would penetrate to the very core of their beings. Pray that “G” will continue to want more and search for the truth and victory over his addiction in Christ. Please pray that “J” will acknowledge his problem with alcohol and how it is hurting his friend and that he will repent.

This evening, we will be showing the movie Fireproof at our cell group. We were able to stop by our landlords this week and talk with them for a while and invite them. There seems to be a continued interest in spiritual things. Please pray that this will be one more stepping stone to their faith in Christ. We would appreciate your prayers as well for all the people our group has invited to come and that seeds would be planted in many people’s hearts.

Several of our youth are struggling spiritually or going through some difficult times in their family or their family is struggling because of the economic crisis. Please, pray with us for them, that they would turn to the only place that offers true peace, comfort and direction.

Thank you so much for your partnership with us in spreading His good news!

Update on Enrique and Lesson in Getting "Dirty"

Thank you so much for praying for Enrique. After several days in the hospital and shortly after taking some medicine prescribed by a specialist to help with breaking up the kidney stones, he felt much better and has had no problems since. He even attended cell group with his family the evening after being released from the hospital. Both he and his wife gave beautiful testimonies of how they sensed God's presence with them througout and the prayers of many. They also shared that his boss was not going to penalize him for missing work because of how hard a worker he is. With the economy the way it is here, this is a huge blessing for him and his family. We do feel very blessed to have Magy and Enrique as part of our cell group and church family. I am posting a picture from a recent visit with them at their home of our kids with their two daughters, Elisa & Karla.

There is a gentleman who has been attending our cell group fairly consistently for a couple of months. Apparently, he had attended a Bible study in the home where we meet for cell group several years ago. Unfortunately, "J" struggles with alcohol. He has attended AA here, he has made a profession of faith and knows much of the Bible. We were saddened when he did not show up to cell group for a few weeks in a row and heard that he had once again started drinking. He showed up last Friday and even brought a friend with him, "G". They had obviously been drinking and part of me at first felt frustrated that they had come in such a state but then I remembered Jesus' life. I am sure he had drunken people come to him many times and He always saw beyond the surface to the heart. In that moment, the Lord really spoke to my heart about judging and grace. If it weren't for His incredible grace poured out in my own life, I could be there too because at one time, I was just as lost. So, instead of spending time thinking about how they should not be there in such a state, I prayed. I prayed that the Bible study would penetrate through the effects of the alcohol. I prayed that His Word would take root in the soil of their hearts. I prayed that they would choose Christ over drinking. I prayed that we would always extend compassion and encouragement to follow Christ without condemnation and judgement.

One of the things I have loved most about the new "adventure" we have undertaken with the cell groups is that we are getting out of the four walls of the church property, the comfort zones of our own homes and the homes of "church folks". Sometimes we are confronted with the not so pretty aspects of life and that is ok because I am convinced that this is exactly what makes Jesus smile...He was not afraid to get a little "dirty" so why should we? Thank you Jesus for this amazing opportunity we have to get a little dirty so we can share the water of life with those who thirst.

The story is not over yet...On Tuesday, when we met as a core group for planning and prayer, guess who came by? While we were praying, we heard someone shout outside the gate, "Felipe!" It was actually interesting to see different people's reactions. Some implied that Phil should just ignore him because he had probably been drinking. Phil chose not to ignore J and G. When he went out to talk to them, J was asking for money to buy food. Since Phil was pretty sure that this was not really what he wanted the money for, he offered to take them to a nearby store and buy some food. As they walked, G began to ask questions about our faith and actually asked about J (who at the time was drunkenly talking about the Bible and singing hymns). He asked Phil why J drank like that if he was a Christian. Very good question and a good reminder to live what you speak. Phil was able to share that we cannot look at people since we all have the flesh in us that is drawn to sin but that we must always look at Jesus as our example. He told Phil he was planning on coming back again to our cell group on Friday. Please, pray that G will return, with or without J, and that he will continue to hunger for truth. While Phil was talking with G, J happened to disappear and then reappear with a sack containing bottles of beer. While this saddens us deeply, we also know that Jesus can give J victory and ask that you pray with us that J will choose the path of victory over his addiction.

We are convinced that the story is still not over....

Some Meandering Thoughts on Life Here & Prayer Request

When we started this blog, I honestly thought that I would be posting at least weekly. Unfortunately, the reality of our busy schedule has made that difficult. I envisioned sharing cute stories about the kids, ministry news and other interesting experiences in our lives here in the southern Baja of Mexico. (In fact, I sometimes feel guilty for not posting more often.)

It has started to really warm up here and I must admit, this mom is no fan of the heat like my husband is. Today, when I walked into my kitchen to start getting our lunch ready, it was absolutely stifling and knowing this is just the beginning can be a pretty depressing thought to say the least. My wonderful husband did get me a new blender for Mother's Day so I can at least make fruit smoothies and frapacinos to help us get through the heat a little more comfortably. Doing school in the heat can also be challenging at times, but with a little grace and lots of patience with each other, we are doing it. I love to home school and the flexibilty really helps so much as missionaries but I do find myself envying those who have 3 months off from school right now. The up side is that my kids won't have much time off so they won't forget as much (at least that is my hope) and having a routine (as much as possible down here) really does help every one. We are all much happier and do so much better.

Something really cool has happened for our family esecially for our daughter, Abby. (I shared this in our most recent prayer letter...if you want to see the letter, follow the link to the left and select the Sping 2009 letter) Magy and her oldest daughter, Elisa, just "happened" to come by our church on the Sun. evening last month when we were celebrating Mother's Day. We do not normally have meetings at the church on Sunday evenings so we know this was not just a coincidence. Her family had moved here from Mex. City a while ago and they were trying to find a church that also had meetings in the evenings since her husband, Enrique, often has to work Sunday mornings. After talking some more, we discovered that Magy is home schooling their oldest daughter who also happens to be close in age to Abby. Their family has been faithfully attending our cell group as well as church services and Elisa and Abby have become good friends. In fact, we had been praying for more girl friends for Abby, especially in our cell group as she is surrounded my boys. Last week, Magy and Elisa also shared with us that they had been praying too. Elisa had been praying for another little girl like her who is home schooled. (Home schooling is not very popular here and this is the first Mexican family we have met here who home schools.) Enrique and Magy are having a difficult time right now and we would appreciate your prayers. On Thurs. Enrique began experiencing severe abdominal and back pain. After going to the ER in the middle of the night, he was sent home with pain meds to control the pain for suspected kidney stones. Yesterday morning, they called us around 5:30 to ask for a ride back to the ER because the pain had worsened in spite of the pain meds. After an entire day of waiting on lab results, it was confirmed last night that he has kidney stones in both kidneys. They are still waiting today to hear from a specialist regarding what course of treatment they can provide, if any, beyond pain meds. Please pray for strength and energy for Magy since someone has to stay with Enrique at the hospital all the time to care for his needs. (The socialized health care system here does not provide for full nursing care in the hospital.) Please also pray for special grace on behalf of Enrique's employers. With the economy the way it is here, many are losing their jobs. Missing work, even for a medical emergency, could cost him his job.

Bits from the Baja E-mail Update: June 2, 2009

The end of April and May were very eventful to say the least! We had a great turnout for the Children’s day Mini-Olympics event. On the heels of this came the influenza scare. Thankfully, there have not been any cases reported here in our area. As you already know, the economic crisis was taking a toll on many but with the influenza scare, the situation has worsened considerably with many more losing their jobs because of the further decline in tourism and halting of many construction projects. Please, pray for the Church to be a light amidst the financial crisis and for us to learn to depend more fully on Him as a result.

We had a few firsts this past month that we are excited about…On Sunday, May 24th we had almost 200 people attend. We also had our second baptism in the space of about a month- another incredible first! Lives are being changed and people are choosing to follow Christ and it is exciting to play a small part in it. Please, rejoice with us over these two couples who have committed to following Christ: Abel & Wendy and Yudith & Pedro. We also had our first division of cell groups, birthing two new cell groups. We are looking forward to having two more additional ones be birthed in a few months.

Keep an eye out for the Spring edition of our newsletter, “Eager Steps” which will be coming out soon, including more pictures. Thank you for your faithful prayers, encouragement and support. We pray you are able to rejoice with us in all the Lord is doing here in the Baja of Mexico!

By His Grace,
The Eager Family

I am having a hard time editing and arranging the photos and am too tired to figure it out right now-sorry.

Top Left: Entire group with church leadership at the baptism

Top Right: Phil congradulating Abel

Bottom Left: Phil had the blessing of assisting for the first time

Middle Right: Kids lining up to receive their medals after the competion

Bottom Right: One of the games during the mini-olympics

Bits from the Baja E-mail Update:April 25, 2009

Greetings from the Baja!

Thank you so much for your prayers, especially regarding the youth retreat held during Easter week. The theme was Breaking the Silence, encouraging the youth to share the Gospel with their friends and to live out their faith. One of our youth made a profession of faith during the retreat and several made other commitments regarding being more faithful. Please continue to pray as we seek to disciple and equip our youth to be faithful servants.

Last Sunday, Iglesia Emanuel held another baptism service at the beach. 3 of the 5 were members of our youth group-Ximena, Sinai and Jason. Ximena serves on the activities team for the youth and is from the family we requested prayer for who lost their home to fire caused by an exploding gas tank two years ago. Both Sinai and Jason serve in the youth group on the worship team. Leti is our coworker’s landlady that we reported coming to Christ in December. She had been attending a cell group with her husband and has faced much resistance from other family members because of her commitment to Christ. It was wonderful to see her be baptized and proclaim publically that she is choosing to follow Christ. Enedina has also been attending Iglesia Emanuel for several months and accepted Christ in a cell group. We had the added joy of having friends, Peter and Kathie Woelper, from the states in attendance to witness the service. If you ever want to come down and see personally what the Lord is doing, we would love show you.

Día de Niños is just around the corner and once again we are holding a mini Olympics outreach activity at the church tomorrow afternoon. We would appreciate your prayers that the Lord would use this opportunity to build more relationships in which we can share Christ, especially to the community surrounding the church.

Thank you so much for your prayers, encouragement and support. We appreciate your willingness to be a part of our team! Phil & Pattie

The pictures are from the retreat and the baptism. The retreat picture is of a very tired group upon our return, outside the church. The baptism picture is of the 5 who were baptized with the church leadership. (L to R: Enedina, Felix, Ximena, Mauricio, Leti, Art, Sinai, Jason, Phil & Pedro.) As soon as time allows, there will be more pictures posted online.

Our Youth Playing Soccer

These are pictures from a recent youth group meeting. The youth were playing soccer at the park across the street from the church.

E-mail Update from April 3, 2009

As Easter draws near, we cannot help but reflect even more on the wonderful sacrifice of Christ and the privilege we have to follow Him. We are so grateful for the privilege to serve Him here and share the Good News of a Savior with those who are dying without Him. Thank you for your prayers, encouragement and support that make it possible for us to be here to share Christ.

Before beginning our ministry update, we have a personal request. About a week ago, Luke started to have more problems breathing. After visiting two doctors, he was diagnosed with having had a bad asthma attack. From what we understood, he most likely has reactive airway and should grow out of it. He is doing much better now, but we would appreciate your prayers for him to continue improving and that in spite of the dusty environment, he would not have any more major problems.

For this update, we want to focus on our youth since there are some exciting items to report as well as important requests.

SJC: Soldados de Jesucristo/Soldiers of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 6)
A short time ago, our youth chose this name for our youth group. It is a play on “words” since our city is abbreviated SJC as well. We felt the name they chose was a fitting description of our goal for them to become equipped and grounded firmly in their faith so that they will be reflections of Christ to all those with whom they come in contact.
Thank you for your prayers as we began a new “era” this year, encouraging them to be more involved with leading the group. This has been training and equipping them to serve. It continues to be thrilling to see several of them growing and maturing. As a step of maturity, two of our youth have decided to be baptized later this month.
Next week (April 9-12), we will be taking approximately 12 of our youth about 120 miles north to La Paz for a youth retreat. The theme is Breaking the Silence (Rom. 1:16), encouraging them to share their faith. The main speaker will be using the life of Daniel as an example which is the book of the Bible our youth have already been studying. We will both participate with several other adults by giving workshops to the youth on Thursday and Friday (using music-Phil & creatively sharing the gospel with children-Pattie). Please, pray for us to speak clearly and that the Lord would use the workshops for His glory in spite of our imperfect Spanish. Saturday the youth will be using the skills learned in the workshops by putting on an evangelistic outreach in a very needy neighborhood.

We pray you have a blessed time remembering and celebrating God’s greatest gift!
Phil, Pattie & Family

E-mail Update~16 January 2009

Below you will find our most recent update. We apologize that is a bit longer than usual but hope it is a blessing to you and helps you as you pray for the work the Lord is doing in San Jose del Cabo.

CELL GROUPS & THE EVANGACUBE
As you may recall, we had a short term missions team come last fall to present workshops to our church on the evangelism tool, the Evangacube. We continue to see much fruit from this ministry. Moses and his wife were approached by one of the groups who went out to practice using the cubes. They were invited to one of our cell groups and have been attending since last fall. We rejoice in reporting that Friday night at the cell group, he accepted Christ. Please pray for his spiritual growth and for his wife’s salvation.

ENGLISH CLASS (Pictured above)
We had the pleasure of hosting a senior college student, Sarah Beimfohr, the past two weeks who came to provide an advanced English class to 14 youth and adults in our church. It was a very practical help to many who wanted to improve their English skills in order to find employment or better employment. We are grateful for her willingness to come and spend part of her winter break from college to minister in such a pracitcal way.

ECONOMIC SITUATION
Below is an excerpt from an e-mail we received Wednesday from Steve, our ministry area leader. We know that the economy is struggling in the states as well and would greatly appreciate your prayers as Mexico is facing some serious problems. (Note: I have italicized in parenthesis definitions of Spanish terms.)

The Peso hit 14.32 to the Dollar this morning before the government sold 400,000,000 dollars in an attempt to stabilize the peso. It helped a bit but the Peso is still at 14.11. Add to this the 74% drop in the price of a barrel of Mexican oil since July, the large percentage drop in remesas (money sent back to Mexico from family working in other countries), the drop in tourism and the slowdown in the maquiladoras (maquiladora refers to an American company located on the Mexican side of the US-Mexican border.They are usually assembly and manual labor factories. These companies go to Mexico to save on labor costs because wages in Mexico are so low. However, they provide much needed jobs in Mexico and tend to pay more than many other jobs in Mexico do), and we are facing what could be a critical situation for Mexico. All the major sources for foreign income into Mexico are being battered. This will most likely create more unemployment, more underemployment, higher inflation and less government spending on social programs and services. this is going to create a lot of difficulty for the people in our churches. People are afraid right now and may become desperate.

Steve also noted that the peso had resumed its slide by the time he had finished writing the message. With the economic situation, there have also been more problems with express kidnappings (these are non-politically motivated kidnappings where they grab a person and try to run their ATM dry or ask ransom from family, etc.). Americans or people with family in the states who are perceived as being rich are often prime targets. While we have never felt personally threatened, we do feel that we need to be more alert and wanted to ask specific prayer for our safety and especially our children’s safety.

Shortly after reading about the increasing security risk in Mexico, Pattie read the following which we found to not only be timely but very encouraging in light of the current situation. The author is writing about the passage in Luke where Jesus said he was sending the disciples out as “sheep in the midst of wolves”. We would like to share it with you as well:

Perspective, then, is what tells us we are secure despite the environment we are in. Perspective can see an ominous situation as a great opportunity. We all need reminding at times that we are no different from the lost sheep except that we now have a Shepherd— and what a difference He makes. We do not need to fear the pack of wolves because He is with us, carries a big stick, and has a quick swing. Wherever we go, the Shepherd goes...So why are we sent to the wolves? Though He is our protection, He is also on a mission to seek and save the lost sheep, and the wolves tend to gather where there is easy prey. Jesus was sent to seek. Those who follow Him are also sent to seek. As disciples of Christ we have gone from being vulnerable prey to becoming valued members of a search-and-rescue team. (Neil Cole)

We pray this is an encouragment to you as it was to us. Even though we may be living in uncertain times and surrounded by "wolves" right now, we have a wonderful opportunity to be seeking out His lost sheep.

Seeking the lost sheep with you,
Phil & Pattie