EVERYDAY ENCOUNTERS

Ongoing discipleship and investment into people's leaves means meeting them where they are at, and this often includes meeting up with those we mentor, disciple, and invest in through everyday activities. 

Like helping our co-workers find a puppy and taking them to a church member's house who hasn't been attending for a while. Her dog just had puppies, so they get a puppy and we get to encourage someone who has been struggling lately.

And like checking out a big new sports store to look for a few things we need, but going to that one specifically because we heard it's good but also because one of our church members started working there. We were able to brighten his day and show some interest in his life, as he had been hinting at us to come visit him there.

And like walking with the kids to the local park and meeting up with a neighbor who, after meeting our 2 kiddos, shared that her and husband have wanted another child for many years and looked into adoption but hadn't been able to find information on how to go about it. I was able to encourage her to take that step and sent her the phone number to call.

And like having two of my ladies Bible study ladies and their kids over for lunch so that the kids could play, giving us an opportunity to meet together outside of a Bible study time. This leads to different topics and types of conversation. 

And out of that meeting we were also invested in! One of the ladies heard me commenting on us thinking about needing a bigger fridge with more kids (our fridge is a basic, small fridge) and she said she had just been asking God to show her who to give her fridge to. So her and her husband decided to give us their side-by-side fridge that needed a bit of repair. We repaired it and now we have a bigger fridge. What a blessing to be invested in and cared for as well.

NEW TEAM MEMBERS

These last couple of weeks we have been busy welcoming, getting to know, and helping our new team members settle in!

Angel and Blanca and their 4 kids moved to Guadalajara to join our church planting team. They've been living in Canada for almost 15 years where they were working in church planting as well, so we are excited to work with them and experience life together here in Mexico. It's been so enjoyable so far just getting together and visiting and beginning to share and dream together about the church plant.

The kids have also hit it off really well, as their 3 oldest will be in the same grade as our 3 oldest, and they have much the same life experiences with all having grown up in a culture other than their parent's original culture.

The summer months are always a little hit and miss with everyone being around for Bible studies but we are having Angel and Blanca meet the different people in our groups and they are out and about a lot in their neighborhood and on the streets meeting the neighbors.

Continue to pray for them and for ourselves as we form this team and for the people they will come into contact with that are looking for purpose in life, that as a church body we will together be that light in the darkness here in this city!

A WEDDING

Last weekend Dallas had the privilege of marrying Jesse and Paulina!

Paulina's family joined our church here in Guadalajara 6.5 years ago; they were the first family to become part of our church plant here. Several years ago she began expressing an interest in serving God through missions work and so made plans to attend Bible College, and after checking into a few, decided on Steinbach Bible College in Canada.

Just a few months before she left, we happened to have a Missions Intern, Jesse, come down for 9 months to work with our team, and long story short, Jesse and Paulina began dating and are now married!

As they are living in Canada right now, the wedding was there and Dallas flew up for the weekend to be part of the celebration. We would all have LOVED to have been able to go but it didn't work out and that's ok. My cousin, Faith, who was at the wedding, sent me picture throughout and I enjoyed seeing it from afar. 

Paulina's family are quite involved in our church plant and it's encouraging to see the way God works in growing people in faith and maturity, and we enjoy working with and enjoying life with them!

As a bonus, Dallas also got to see 3 of our brothers on this weekend! He landed in Calgary, Alberta and was picked up by and stayed with one brother and family for night. Then he borrowed their car and drove a few hours to stay with my other brother and family for a couple of nights. Then one night he discovered that his brother who lives in BC happened to be holidaying right where Dallas was and so he got to see him as well. So that was all bonus. Thanks, boys, for taking care of Dallas :)

I went to a ladies retreat - THRIVE 2018

6 months ago, some fellow missionary women here in Guadalajara told me about an organization called Thrive.

Thrive is an organization that ministers to missionary women working in cross-cultural settings and they put on 4 day spiritual retreats all over the world. They have divided the globe into regions and they make sure they go to each region at least one time every two years, and now in April they were coming to Puerto Vallarta.

There are a few women that run the ministry and then volunteers sign up to come as well. The volunteers are made up of professional counselors, those that want to come to pray and encourage, a couple of hair stylists and massage therapists, and those that want to come and serve in any way.

And get this, they raise all of the funds for all of the missionary women! Meaning that in order to attend, we had to pay a minimal registration fee and get ourselves there. The rest of the stay was completely covered by donars.

I am so thankful for this opportunity to attend and that I got to go! We have had several months, half a year, of non stop busyness and I have been feeling that I haven't had the space to process life recently and spend that extended time resting in God. The speaker that came spoke on topics that we KNOW to be true, but that sometimes we forget to believe.

God is Sovereign

God is Good

God is Love

It was a timely retreat for me.

I also enjoyed so much the times of discussion. We were split into small groups that we spent much of the time with in discussion and prayer. This was my group, made up of 2 leaders and missionary women from all over Mexico. 

I also enjoyed spending time with fellow missionary from Guadalajara, Melissa, who I went there with and who I roomed with. We don't get together a lot with missionaries from other agencies here so it was nice to have a longer to visit as well.

I also enjoyed meeting women in other cities of Mexico and building friendships with them. Everyone there is working cross-culturally so we "get" each other. It was interesting too to play the "Mennonite game" and make connections! One knew my brother and sister-in-law from language school in Texas. One was the niece of my mom's friend in Canada. One knows some of our friends from the States.

Thrive also works in between retreats offering their services to missions agencies by offering mentoring, coaching, and counseling over Skype to women that work cross-culturally. They have such a good handle on the needs of missionary women and I would encourage missions agencies to take advantage of this ministry as another member care tool!

So, I wish I could go every year :) Recharges the batteries. 

Thankfully, God is here right with us where we all are and amidst the busyness of life we need to work hard at carving out time for him each day, week, month, year. Our circumstances can overtake our minds but I want God overtaking my thoughts before anything else.

Baptism!

A week ago today we celebrated a baptism together as our community of believers!

We first met Juanca 3 or so years ago through some of our cell members, and we got to know him as well as his whole family through various different events. He then started attending on of our Bible studies regularly a year and a half ago and has been growing more and more in his desire to be close to God!

It's been wonderful and encouraging to see how people working together can be used by God to spread his love - in Juanca's case he was friends with a family in our study group, we were then introduced to him, he then became friends with our ASCEND intern, Jesse, then he met the Kleefeld youth group that came for a week, and then he joined our Bible study group. All of these different people played a part in bringing him to the point of baptism and he recognizes each one. There are other believers that have meant a lot to him in the past year and it's been neat to see him grow from each interaction. 

It was not an easy decision for him, as his family doesn't understand and is not in agreement with what he's decided to do. It's hard to imagine being a young person and having the conviction to follow what God has placed in your heart despite opposition. His parents did attend though and I respect their desire to be there for him despite how difficult it was for them. We love this family and we all have things to learn from one another. It makes me think about how I will support my kids as they grow up and perhaps make decisions that we as parents don't agree with or that grieve us.

And after the baptism we of course had tacos all together!! A lady in our group makes great tacos and everyone brings something and we enjoyed a good afternoon together. 

Why do Missionaries go on Furlough (Home Assignment)?

I mentioned in my last post that we will be in Canada for a couple of months this winter. The purpose of this is for Furlough, or Home Assignment, as it's also often called.

We often get questions or just hear comments from people wondering what furlough is for, so I thought'd I'd just talk about a few of the purposes here to perhaps help clear up some questions you may have!

So, what is the purpose of Furlough?

1. Reconnect with Churches/Supporters

This has changed a lot in missions over the past 20 years or so. It used to be that there was no Internet - meaning no email, texting, Facebook, Skype, or any form of constant communication with people back in Canada. When I grew up in Paraguay even a basic phone call cost a fortune and I remember talking to our Grandparents for our birthdays and that was pretty much it.

These days we are in constant communication with people all over the world. This enables missionaries to be in more contact with their supporting churches which is very good. But it is still not the same as a personal, face-to-face conversation. When we're in Canada we share in different churches on weekends and during the week we take time to visit with individuals and families from our churches. We are responsible to our home churches and to the EMC Conference and so we need to be in communication.

We need people supporting us in prayer, financially, and emotionally, and there is nothing like being with someone in person to build that connection and friendship.

2. Reconnect with the Missions office

This basically means that we have meetings with our Board of Missions and this furlough we will also be attending a retreat for ministers. We also have a meeting with our home church's mission board as well as other connections and meetings with EMC personnel.

3. Rest & Renewal

It is always encouraging and renewing for Dallas and I to be able to spend time with people in Canada that support us - whether that be family, friends, or church people. It's an opportunity to be filled and supported in prayer and gives us fresh energy to return to the field. I wouldn't call this restful exactly as we fill our calendars pretty full with wanting to see everyone! Almost too much sometimes but we really love it and it is rejuvenating.

Allowing your brain a little break from another language and culture is also restful ;) Although we love Spanish and love Mexico it can be tiring to always be trying to figure out culture and language. This does go away to some extent over the years but can be present at different levels for different missionaries.

4. Reconnect with Family & Friends

Even though we are living away from all of our family, we love our family and it is so important to us to have good relationships with them and for our boys to know them. This requires visiting them. Again, in person!

This is what makes overseas missionaries different from those in ministry in their home country, as it means being away from ALL of your family (usually) and that is one of the more difficult aspects, no matter how old you are or what stage of life you're in.

Connecting with friends that "get" you is also very renewing and something Dallas and I both value very much. We connect with friends from years ago and with friends that we've made more recently in different ways as a result of teams, visitors, churches, etc.

5. Education

This is one that also has changed a lot with online studies! Dallas is so fortunate to be able to study most of his Masters online. However, he had to go to Canada for a week in October for an in-person class and he has portions of his class that he will be doing while we are there now in November and in January. This education is very helpful for our ministry while on the field.

6. Encouragement/Recruitment

Part of our job is also to encourage missions in churches and individuals, whether that be through financial giving, through helping churches become more interested in missions, or through encouraging others to consider overseas missions! This all falls under point #1 as well but it is more of a direct purpose in connecting in different places.

7. Taking care of Business

We take the opportunity to update any banking we need to do, take our driver's license pictures, have other financial meetings, buy items we can get cheaper there than here, doctor visits (although we do most of that in Mexico), any needed paperwork, etc. oh, and go to Ikea.

8. Culture learning ;)

I'll add this one for our boys. Going to Canada every few years helps the boys keep a connection with their "home" culture. They do not consider Canada their home, though. They have never lived there, besides Carter who lived there for just 1.5 years. To them, Canada is an awesome place to visit where they get to see Grandparents and cousins and everyone else! They love to visit.

And it's always a time of culture learning, especially now as they're getting older.

To be honest, it's always culture learning for Dallas and I too. Everytime you go back you have to remember what Canadian culture is...we especially struggle the first couple of weeks with wanting to hug and kiss everyone ;) as that's the Mexican greeting. So if we get a little too close to you for comfort just bear with us.

This picture is from 7 years ago, the last time we were in Canada in winter. Carter was 3, Logan was 1, and Brady was 3 months old. So they don't remember winter. They are super, super excited for snow. We'll see what they think of the cold!

All right, I will leave it at that for now! I hope this gives you a bit of an idea. As you can see, it serves several purposes which can make it seem a little ambiguous at times. 

See you soon Manitoba.

Independence Day, Camping, Birthdays, and more...

Celebrating Mexico's Independence Day is always a good time!

The date is September 16 and the school always puts on a celebration during the week before where parents are invited, there are traditional presentations, everyone dresses up, and we have awesome food - churros, tamales, etc.

Carter with some friends

Logan and a friend

Brady and a friend

Then on the 15th in the evening, the night before, we headed out with one of our Bible study groups to a carnival type of event followed by the "grito" and fireworks. The grito is always done on the 15th in the evening and one person hollers out "Long live..." so and so (historical figures that aided in the Independence of Mexico) and the crowd responds by hollering "VIVA!" (long live). 

Mexicans are patriotic overall and we really enjoy participating in the different celebrations. 

The next weekend we were invited to climb El Nevado in the State of Colima! This is an inactive volcano and the goal is to hike 20 km up to a camping spot, and then to hike the rest of the way up to the peak. We went with a group of 15 and some hiked while others drove up in the vehicles with the supplies. 

Dallas had been last year with the same group, as they do this once a year for one of the men's birthdays. It's a beautiful place, unfortunately this weekend it rained non-stop - the 2 days and night! So it put a bit of a damper on the hiking but it made for some cozy times of visiting and eating around the fire. 

For your enjoyment, a random picture of the boys. They were playing school and this was art class ;) I think it only took about 3 showers to get all of that paint off. Fortunately it was over the weekend.

We have also been at a few birthday parties...this particular one was for a little girl in Brady's class. These are times of being friends, of meeting new parents, and connecting more with current parents.

A friend that also attends my ladies Bible study once a week

This month we have also done several visits with our little girl, as she came to our house once a week for the day and then was here all of last week! We were doing respite for her orphanage and we are so thankful that even though we can't bring her home permanently yet, we have had these opportunities to grow a much bigger bond! It was hard to let her go after a whole week together. I of course would love to share pictures but can't just yet.

And to end, an interesting story. We have missionary friends here who have a discipling school through MB Missions. Students come from several different countries, and this year they just welcomed a girl from Cambodia.

A lady in one of our Bible study groups is also friends with our missionary friends and she was asked to billet the girl, Sol, from Cambodia. So on Sunday Sol came to our Bible study. Well it turns out that she came here on an internship through MCC, and my second cousin from Manitoba happens to work for MCC and just was in Thailand doing Orientation with Sol and all of the young adults that would be sent out around the world with their YAMEN program.

Also, before Sol got to Guadalajara, she stopped in Mexico City for 2 weeks and was billeted in another home there. Well, at that home she met the parents of another couple in our Bible study!

Anyway, it was all a big circle and such a small world sometimes. I love how cultures and worlds collide and it was an encouraging time.

On the note of encouraging, we have been encouraged with our Bible study groups as we prepare to be gone for 2 months. People are taking initiative in planning for when we're gone, in wanting to help where they can, in supporting one another in the group, and it's been so good for us as we think of being away. Our goal is to pass on leadership and when we see that happening it's encouraging. We are also having a baptism in a few weeks and love how our group is coming alongside the young man as right now he doesn't have very much support in the decision he's made.

Thank-you for your continued prayers for our family and our ministry!
Have a good night.

PARAGUAY 2017!!!!

A couple of weeks ago we had the chance to do something as a family that we never really thought would happen - we went to Paraguay for two weeks!!! 

Most of you, if you know us, probably know that I lived there for 8 years as a child, where my parents were church planters. It's where I learned to love the Latin culture and the Spanish language and where all of my first memories are from. I had an amazing time growing up there with my parents and brothers and also had amazing life-long friendships that were formed there. 

Dallas and I were able to go there twice shortly after we were first married, and it was fun to experience that together. But this was the first time we went for holidays (the 2 times were with missions teams) so it was much different. It was a bit of a two-fold trip - I wanted to have time to visit friends and see specific places (and eat specific foods), and we wanted to see where my brother Travis and his family are church planting right now, as they are in a city that we had never been to, and we wanted to be part of their life there for a bit. 

It was also a dream to go with the boys and they LOVED it. They have talked everyday since we've been back about it and keep asking if we'll get to go back sometime. 

I just wanted to post a bunch of pictures here and share about the trip for memory's sake!

First of all, the plane ride. Can't leave that out, as we do enjoy the traveling aspect as well. And I think the boys spent at least 20 minutes describing all the movies they watched on the plane to their poor Grandparents so I think that was a big deal ;) 

We flew Guadalajara - Mexico City - Sao Paulo, Brazil - Asunción, Paraguay. The boys are great travelers, and while flying overnight makes it hard to sleep, like I said, the movies kept them well entertained and quiet for their fellow passengers. 

15 hours or so later...we arrived in Asunción! While I haven't lived in Paraguay for 23 years (!), it's still the place that makes me super nostalgic and feels so familiar while so distant. 

My brother and sis-in-law, Trav & Rosey, and their kids were at the airport to meet us, as well as 2 of my childhood friends and their families!

My brother lives 6 hours from where we landed, so we all spent the first few days at Hannes and Gabi's house. Gabi was my best friend growing up, we were attached at the hip while we lived there, and we were so happy to spend a good amount of time with them!! Her sister Anja also lives there with her husband, and my other friend Wendy stopped in with her family. So there were 5 of us MK's there, including Trav.

It was sooo good to spend time visiting with them, we talked a lot about our lives and it was so refreshing to have that time together. 

The boys with their cousins and new friends. 

We then headed 6 hours east to Minga Guazú, which is were Trav & Rosey work. As we were 9 people in total, Rosey and I took the bus for the longer trips. Which meant lots of chip for me.....!!! It's a typical Paraguayan cheese bread that is sold everywhere. 

Below is a chipa stand, a little hard to see, but on top of the stool is a basket that is covered and that's where the chipa is. 

Our time in Minga with Trav & Rosey and their kids was so good! We did life with them, we went to their church for the different activities, and did some other activities together. 

Below is their church, with their car. The dirt there is very red and clay-like, and it rained several days while we were there making for some good mud. 

Good mud = scrubbing shoes

The boys with their cousins, Zippy and Moi. I feel like we didn't have to take care of the kids a lot, they were so busy playing together.

Trav & Rosey's backyard...just a small part of it.

Road to church.

 Brady and Moi...the troublemakers.....

Our boys like to tell everyone that they went for ice-cream 5 times while we were there. I guess that is important.

Besides all the food we love to eat there (although Logan wasn't the hugest fan of it all), Paraguay is known for tereré and mate. Tereré is with ice cold water, while mate is with hot water. Below you can see my niece Zippy drinking...Carter is saying "chug, chug, chug!".

My friend Wendy was in their town also for a couple of days to visit so they came over, and the boys made some new friends.

I think it was so nice that our boys know Spanish, as they weren't uncomfortable in Paraguay and had no problem playing with the other kids they met. We went to the wedding of a couple in the church and they had a good time with everyone.

Wedding food - bbq'd chicken with a rice salad, chipa guazú (corn & cheese dish), and sopa (corn dish like cornbread).

As it was raining for several days, we looked for something indoors to do, and went to an art museum. There are paintings covering the walls, floor, and ceilings that are 3D. 

One other activity we did was head into Brazil (just 1/2 hour from Minga as they live at the border) to the Iguazu Falls. It's a beautiful place. 

These 2 also love to be together, we would often find them lying in bed reading books together or just hanging out. It was often these 2, and then Logan, Moi, and Brady together.

There is also the Argentinian side of the falls, as the falls lie at the border. However, to get into Argentina we would have had to pay $75 US per person!

(Perhaps I should have broken this up into more than 1 post ;) onward we go though!)

Something I did not get any pictures of were the other missionaries we visited with. Several that worked there when we used to live there still live in Paraguay, and it was neat to say hi to all of them again and visit.

We also stopped in at Caaguazú, which was the city Trav and I lived in as kids, where we wanted to visit some of our Paraguayan friends. We said hi to Richard and Suni, who work with the church conference and who we had met on our previous trips. We also visited Nidia, who was one of my best friends a child also, and her sister and family.

We drove by the house we grew up in, we went to the cementary where another best friend is buried (she passed away when I was 8 years old but we spent a lot of time together), and we drove by the churches my parents worked in.

After that we headed back to Asunción where we spent another couple of days with our friends there, visiting and laughing and making food :)

Carter loves his cousin Zippy and his new friend Nadine...he has decided to save his money to visit them again one day ;) 

It was so special to spend this time with Trav & Rosey, as we love to hang out with them and their kids! And it was also special to re-live memories, spend the time with Dallas and the boys there, and see old friends again. While we love being in Paraguay, the people are what made the trip and we are so thankful for the opportunity to have gone. It was a bit of a last minute decision to go now when we did, but I'm so glad we did it.

Maybe after another 8 years of saving money we can go again?? ha!

💗💗💗💗

I am also so thankful to God for the peace he gave me in being able to return to Mexico. Just before we went, I became a little fearful that going back to Paraguay would make it hard to come back, as I spent many years coming to terms with not being there anymore and asking God for peace no matter where I was living. And He gave it to me! We have always been at peace with being in Mexico, but, I became nervous that going there would "un-do" that process. I am soooo thankful that we had an AMAZING time there and even more thankful to see that God has my heart and that I truly can love life where I am in the moment. Do I want to go back? For sure, I will always love it as one of my homes. But God has given me a measure of a home here in Mexico also and as that's where we live at the moment, I'm grateful. I believe the one thing I would ever wish for more than anything is peace and contentment with God and with life, than to have a "thing" that I wish for and always be looking for something more.