April 2013 Prayer email

Taste and see…

New foods: Some classic questions for missionaries are “What’s the food like?” or “What’s the weirdest thing you’ve eaten?” In a big city like Puebla, the food tends toward the delicious, not the weird, but there are some exceptions.  Try crickets, for example.  No, really, try them! Little grilled crickets (chapulines) are a common item for sale at a local archaeological site and Drew has taken a liking to them as a rare exotic snack. So on a Father-Son camping trip a few weeks ago, he and other boys caught a bunch of crickets and then…put them in a can on the grill with chile and lime. His idea. So, yes, we get used to eating different things. The photo below is of Gavin and Fiona with nopales, cactus. Mmm, food, in all its interesting varieties…

Jesus said, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35), right after he fed 5,000+ people. Ultimately, the food we all need is Jesus. And it’s our privilege to introduce him to people here. We’ve started a new Bible study on Tuesdays for a mother and son. One of the moms who attends on Sundays said, “We go the whole week excited about what we learn here (well, it wears off a bit by Thursday)!”  We are so thankful to be sharing Jesus, the bread of life here. Please pray for those who study with us, that God will continue to give them a taste for real food! (So much better than crickets!)

Breaking news: Just after we wrote this, Carmen, who’s been attending our Sunday Bible study with her daughter since September, made a profession of faith at a women’s conference. She was very clear and deliberate about her decision and has showed steady progress in understanding and responding to the Gospel over the last several months. We’re so thankful and excited! She has a lot of history to work through, so please be praying for this new believer.

Tim, Drew, Gavin
Tim & the boys

Father-son camp

Pauls & Timothys: Six dads and nine sons went camping in a place called Tlatlauquitepec, in order to 1) develop father-son bonding 2) give outdoor training 3) teach our sons to be godly men. We explored, ate, went spelunking, looked at weird bugs, ate, rappelled, told stories around a campfire, ate, and shared devotional times. It is such a need for dads to spend healthy time with their sons, isn’t it? Click for photos to give YOU ideas (yes, try this at home!).

Added bonus: this is where Drew fixed up the chapulines (video link! or the top photo in the sidebar).

Nopales, Fiona, Gavin

See, nopales!

A new house?

Opportunity knocks: We’ve been talking with our landlord about a piece of land he wants to sell. It would give us space to build a house and to have a small ministry center on the main road through Pueblo Nuevo. For several years now we’ve been looking for God’s guidance about buying a house here in the neighborhood, this looks like a good opportunity. Please pray about this with us.

Help Wanted

  1. More football camp details: July 15-20th.  Are you a football player (NFL to PeeWee)? Can you help? Let us know!
  2. Mexico’s visa law has changed, for good and bad.  The bad is that our costs for this year go up, to $250/apiece.  The good is that we’ll be able to switch to permanent (think Green Card) visas next. But if you would care to help with the $750 cost of visas, bless you!  Go to FIM’s giving page (again we put this link!).

Praise

  1. New study: We’ve started a new Bible study Tuesday evenings with a mom and her son.
  2. Our car: We have our car back, fixed as good as new!
  3. Leaders team: God continues to amaze us with how the group is growing and advancing. No thanks to us.
  4. Salvation: Carmen’s clear profession of faith. We’re so thankful and excited for God’s work in her life.

Prayer

  1. Retreat: May 4/5 the leadership team is going on a retreat to work out roles, vision and design of the new church, with time in Scripture and prayer.
  2. Mother’s Day: May 12th we are doing another service in the neighborhood, bringing together Bible studies to celebrate the moms!
  3. House Wisdom: For God’s wisdom and direction about buying land and building a house.
  4. Salvation: For Carmen.

We thank you for your prayers!

Tim, Barbara-Lee, Drew, Gavin, Fiona


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