Changes Coming!

As you can tell, we have not done a good job at keeping up with our blog. We are working on getting our site/blog up and going again in the new year. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we hope to make many improvements.

We send out monthly (sometimes bi-weekly) e-mail updates and quarterly prayer letter updates via e-mail. If you are not on our list and interested in receiving those, please, let us know at philandpattie@hotmail.com We are also both on Facebook and post many updates, prayer requests and pics on our pages so feel free to look us up on there too. Thank you again for your understanding.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and Holiday season. See you in the new year!

Bits from the Baja E-mail Update: May 6, 2012

"Felipe, what do I need to do?" asked M at their weekly Bible study just after Easter. It has been a real joy to witness the process of God drawing both M and his wife. Please continue to pray for them as they seek the Truth. God's promise to Israel still holds true, "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." (Jer. 29:13) While he and his wife did not make a commitment that day, we trust that as this precious family seeks God and His Word, they will find Him. We are excited to see how He will use them. Please pray with us that they will make the all important decision to give their hearts and lives to the Lord.

In our last update, we asked prayer for the Easter week youth camp. Thank you so much for your prayers. 130 youth from more than 5 churches in 3 cities participated in the camp. The youth from Iglesia Emanuel attended. It was a HUGE blessing to spend time with so many of them for the week. It was beautiful to see two of our youth serving on the worship team during the camp. Each evening, the Bible lesson dealt with the different relationships in their lives and each night, they were asked to consider posting their name on a wall of commitment. Please pray for those youth to remain firm in those commitments to honor Him in all their relationships. Please also pray for those who committed their lives to the Lord for the first time, that they will continue to grow in their faith and that people will come along side them to help disciple them.

We just closed out the Spring cycle of our Saturday morning horse ministry. It was such a joy for me to see several of the youth who seemed so hardened starting to come out of their shells. It is beautiful to see how the horses really help build a bridge into their lives and hearts. Please continue to pray for those children and youth who attended. Pray that they will remember the lessons and verses but most of all how much loved they are by God.

The temperatures are already starting to rise here in Southern Baja which means summer is on its way! This will be our first summer here in La Paz and to experience the internship program that Rancho El Camino runs as well as helping host numerous short term teams. Phil will be mainly responsible for the aspects regarding VBS and outreach programs in the MDL neighborhood. Please pray as he works with coordinating the teams and with any other projects where he may be needed. Please praise the Lord with us for continued growth in relationships with several key people in the neighborhood. We can see how the Lord is going before us and opening doors to us. We are excited about several possible partnerships with the local schools and our continued partnership with the government agency for the family (DIF).
Another first for this summer is that Pattie is coordinating our field's annual conference for all of TEAM Mexico missionaries. Please pray for her and her team as they work out all the details. There are still a few key elements up in the air and she would appreciate prayers that all the details fall into place. Please pray that it will be a time of renewal and refreshment as all the missionaries come together to share what God has been doing in their respective ministries as well as hold business meetings.

Our Spring letter is in process and will be coming out soon with plenty of photos but we wanted to share one from the youth camp. It's a shot of us with the youth from Iglesia Emanuel. Thank you so much for being a part of our ministry here!

By His Grace,
The Eager Family

Bits from the Baja E-mail Update: April 2, 1012

The worship leader walking with one of the youth.

Our coworker, Pete, with his group preparing their horse for riding.

One of the groups waiting to ride their horse.

One of the youth taking her turn riding.

"G" taking a turn riding.

Greetings this Semana Santa (Holy Week),

Today starts the annual Semana Santa youth retreat out at Rancho el Camino. The theme for the week is True Repentance. The messages will all surround this theme of calling the youth to what it means to truly follow Christ. Please pray for safety during the many activities that will be going on throughout the week and especially for the Lord to move in the lives of the youth who attend. There will be youth attending from many different churches in Southern Baja including our youth group from our church in San Jose del Cabo. As you can imagine, we are very excited about the opportunity to see them again. Josh will also be attending this year as he is now officially a youth here. That seems so strange to us but we are excited for this new phase of life for him as well.

Phil began a bible study last week with a young man from the MDL neighborhood. Our coworker, Pete, and Phil have had the opportunity to share the gospel with "M.A." before but he wanted to wait until his whole family could hear as well. M.A. seems very open to spiritual things. Please pray with us that he and his family will embrace the Truth and find freedom in the Lord this Easter season.

After a short delay, we will be starting up the Spring cycle of the horse ministry Saturday, April 14th. Please pray for those who attend and for the leaders as we share Jesus with them. One of the reasons for the delay was that we had a request to host a group of "At risk" youth at the ranch a couple weeks ago. Several of them are from MDL and its surrounding neighborhoods. Our worship leader at the church here is also a police officer and part of a program they have working with these youth. He asked to bring the group out to the ranch to do some work projects as well as work with and ride the horses. (See photos of their visit above.) Two of the adult chaperones in attendance were a psychologist who works with the police department and his wife. The wife, "G", spent some time sharing a little of her heart with us: "I am so excited that you are doing this for the children and youth of MDL. Many people here don't value helping them. It is a neighborhood with so much need. My husband and I want to help out as much as we are able with what you are doing here. It is so very important." It is exciting to see all of the ways the Lord continues to open doors to minister to the community using the ranch and the horses. Please pray as we continue to develop this relationship with the local police department.

As always, we are so grateful for you and your ministry to us through prayer, support and encouragement. We pray you have a wonderful week of remembering the wonderful gift and sacrifice of Christ for us.

By His grace,
The Eager family

Bits from the Baja E-mail Update: February 18, 2012

Greetings from Southern Baja!

Much has happened since our last update and we hope to get our winter edition of our prayer letter out to you soon so that you can be filled in on more of the details. We want to share some quick highlights from the past few months and items to pray for in the coming weeks.

Highlights:

• We closed out the fall/winter cycle of the horse club ministry with a living nativity. Many of the participants were from the Marquez de Leon (MDL) neighborhood where we hope to start the new church. It was a blessing to share with this children, youth and their families about the real meaning of Christmas-Emanuel, God with us. So many still do not grasp this amazing truth that Love came down, lived among us and sacrificed Himself for us. Please continue to pray for open hearts to this message and opportunities to share it.
• We made a quick trip to the states in order to renew our visas. Lord willing, we will be able to get our more permanent visas renewed soon so we do not have to leave the country every 6 months with temporary visas. Please pray for the paperwork to proceed quickly and for favor with the officials. We praise God for another safe drive up and down the Baja peninsula. We were able to spend Christmas with family which is highly unusual but a HUGE blessing.
• A team from the states helped with some work projects at the ranch in the mornings and held a VBS program during the afternoons in MDL earlier this month. Some more great contact were made and Lord willing, Phil and our co-worker, Pete, will be starting a Bible study there soon.

Prayer Items:

• Our team has prayerfully put together a vision and strategy for the new church plant in MDL. Our prayer is that this will be a joint work with our Mexican brothers and sisters from the La Paz de Cristo church. Please pray for the Lord to bring together His people for the church plant team. We are excited to move forward.
• Next month, we will be starting the Spring cycle of the horse club minstry at the ranch. Please pray as we seek to make it even more effective in reaching the families of MDL and pouring into the lives of those who attend.
• As summer quickly approaches, there will be more teams coming and the summer internship program will be starting up. Please pray that in the midst of a very busy summer, that He will always receive the glory and many hearts will be touched for His kingdom. If you are or know a high schooler or young adult who would be interested in a life changing summer internship, please let us know and we will get you more information.

As always, our hearts are overflowing with grattitude for you, our team, who upholds us in your prayers, sends us encouraging notes and supports us so that we can be here to help extend His kingdom. We pray you had a wonderful finish to your year celebrating His birth and that in this year, you draw closer and closer to Him.

By His Grace,
The Eager Family

Bits from the Baja: E-mail Update 11/14/2011

Dear Friends,
Please forgive the delay in communication. We are working on our combined summer/fall newsletter which will be full of pictures and information on our new home and ministry. Lord willing, it will be in your inbox and on its way to the post office by the end of the week. Thank you so much for your patience and for your prayers during this time of transition.

As you may recall, we had a team come from Fresno, CA last month to help with building bunk beds for the dormitory at the ranch and to hold health workshops (see photos above and descriptions below). We are so grateful for all that the team was able to accomplish in the short time they were here. The workshops in the Marquéz de Leon (MDL) neighborhood where we are planning the new church plant went really well. We are praising God for the new contacts that were made and the relationships developed with the director of the DIF center. (DIF is the agency responsible for the development of the family in Mexico.) DIF is thrilled to have the support and assistance in helping this very needy community.

This past weekend, there was an evangelistic festival held in La Paz. The theme was Saving the Family. As you are aware, the family is under attack everywhere and especially in Mexico. There is a 70% divorce rate and a high abuse rate here. Only Christ can transform lives and families. The event was a combined effort by the evangelical churches in La Paz. It was beautiful to see so many brothers and sisters working together. We look forward to seeing how the Lord brings fruit from this special outreach.

Next weekend, we will be kicking off the Saturday horse ministry at the ranch for this fall/winter. Please pray for us as we help out our coworkers, Pete and Cher Gatto and for the Lord to use this in the lives of all the children, youth and families who participate. There are some pressing needs at the ranch including the need for more corrals to be built. Please pray with us for the Lord’s provision for this urgent need.

Phil has been developing a relationship with our neighbor “S”. He walks every morning and has invited Phil to join him whenever he is able. Phil has had the opportunity to get to know him better through their walks. Please pray that “S” will see his need for a personal relationship with Jesus and find freedom from the lie that he needs to do things to earn his salvation.

As Thanksgiving draws near, we cannot help but be reminded once again of all the blessings the Lord has poured out upon us. You are among His greatest blessings to our family as you pray, support and encourage us in His work here. We pray you have a very blessed time celebrating all He has done for you and your families.

By His Grace,

The Eager Family

Photo Descriptions:

First photo: during the workshop
Remaning photos: We were responsible for the children’s program. These are from that portion of our time with them-playing games and getting to know them.

Bits from the Baja: E-mail Update 10/14/2011

Saludos! (Greetings!)

We trust you are enjoying the change of seasons in the states. We are grateful to feel some change in the weather here. The tempuratures have lowered below the 100's. It is amazing what a 10 degree difference can do!
We are also grateful for a short term missions team from Fresno, CA that arrived yesterday. They will be helping to build some much needed bunk beds for the dormitory at the ranch. Please pray for safety and energy for those who are part of the construction team. If you are on Facebook, be sure to check out the ranch's page-Rancho El Camino in La Paz, BCS. It has a lot of great pictures from a recent baptism service, a group of at risk kids who visited the ranch with several members of the local police and much more. The team will also be holding some health related workshops in Marquez de Leon (MDL), the neighborhood we hope to start the new church plant. There will be a total of four workshops held tomorrow-two in the morning and two in the afternoon. Personal testimonies and the Gospel will be shared along with the workshops. Phil will helping head up the children's activities while adults and youth attend the workshops. Please pray for a great turnout and that the Lord will use this opportunity mightily in the lives of all who attend to build His Kingdom in MDL.

On a personal note, we have moved in all our furniture and unpacked many of our boxes. Eager Academy (our home school) just completed its 3rd week for this school year. It is nice to be getting into a routine again. We hope to finish unpacking and getting the last pieces settled soon. We continue to be in awe of how the Lord moved and provided this house for us. The Lord has already provided some neat connections with our neighbors. Please be in prayer as we reach out to them, especially for "M" a grandmotherly lady who always stops to greet us when she walks by and for "S" with whom Phil was invited to walk with in the mornings.

We hope to get a summer and fall prayer letter out to you soon. We appreciate your patience during this time of transition to a new city and ministry. As always, we are so thankful for your partnership with us.

By His Grace,
The Eager Family

What's in your cup?

"If a sudden jar can cause me to speak an impatient, unloving word, then I know nothing of Calvary love. For a cup brimful of sweet water cannot spill even one drop of bitter water, however suddenly jolted." Amy Carmichael

I read the above quote several years ago and it had a pretty convicting impact on me at the time. We were undergoing the usual stresses involved with being in a different culture and balancing all the demands of family and ministry. The Lord has continued to bring this quote to mind on numerous occasions and I have often paused to think, "What is spilling out of my cup right now....is it bitter or sweet water?"

The path to becoming more like Christ is a journey....day by day, laying aside our selfishness and pride, allowing sweet water to flow from us even when we are suddenly jolted rather than bitter water, even when we can justify lashing out from a human stanpoint. Here's to the journey....may we all overflow with sweet water no matter what jolts we experience in this earthly life-kids misbehaving, being misunderstood, sickness or death of loved ones...whatever it might be.

Grateful for His grace,
Pattie