On Wednesday night, March 12, the cell group that meets in the Santa Ursula Coapa barrio celebrated God’s gift of multiplication. The Santa Ursula group had been planning to multiply for several months and through God’s grace it finally became a clear reality. The group had recently grown to over 20 regular participants. In order to restore intimacy and reach out to new people, the group decided that it would be best to become two groups.

 

The evening was filled with singing and prayers of thanksgiving. We made a list of things God has done among us on a white-board. Each of the group members lifted up specific things that they were thankful for in our group. After finalizing the plans for the two new groups, we ate a final celebration meal together (tostadas, tortas, arroz con leche and cake).

 

The Santa Ursula Coapa barrio will be the site of Tierra Firme’s next church plant, most likely this summer 2008. Please be praying for these two new cell groups and the plans to plant a new church in this area.

 

On Friday, February 22, the Tierra Firme Church hosted a net casting event entitled “El Secreto” (The Secret). Over the last several weeks the church passed out 9,000 invitations to the event, with the help of the 2007-2008 AIM class. While not knowing how many people would attend, our expectations were high after our recent equipping retreat and spending significant time in prayer together. We invited our good friend, Iker Marquez, from Cuernavaca to be the main speaker for the event. Church members served in every aspect of the process: passing out invitations, setting up chairs, welcoming guests, providing pastries and coffee, serving at the raffle table, serving the guests at the intermission, and cleaning up after the event. It was powerful to see the unity and diversity of service in the body of Christ!

 

Iker also did an excellent job explaining “El Secreto” – the mystery revealed – Jesus Christ! He tied in some of the concepts from the popular book and movie “The Secret,” showing both its strengths and its weaknesses. However, after the intermission he invited people to find true peace through Jesus Christ. It was exciting to walk with Iker through his personal journey. We were all moved by his humility and story telling, finally coming to the realization that Jesus is our one and only hope.

 

We were blessed to have 150 people attend the event, with 80 visitors filling out prayer cards! At the end of the event, we gave away 5 Bibles and 3 copies of “The Purpose Driven Life” in our raffle. We also invited people to continue discovering the one “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,” “which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

 

The church members have already committed to personally visiting every person who filled out a prayer card. The work of caring for each need and sharing Jesus with each family will be our task throughout the coming weeks and months. Please pray for these special encounters as we seek to participate in God’s redemption story in the Tlalpan district of Mexico City.

 

The Tierra Firme Church started the new year by spending the weekend (January 25-27) together. Tupac Alcauter and his family let us stay at their ranch near Tuxpan, Michoacan. We were blessed to have 45 people from the Tierra Firme congregation attend the retreat. It was a great time for living together in Christian community and growing together in God's mission.

 

As we began the new year, we wanted to provide a special time of missional equipping for the members so that we could be more prepared, both spiritually and strategically, for multiplying the congregation. Our hope is that God would transform us into effective servants in his kingdom.

 

Throughout each day we focused our attention on the greatness of God and his plan for the world. This included times of devotion, praise and prayer. Israel and Sean both facilitated equipping sessions that discussed a short and simple way of sharing the gospel from the book of Mark, which we entitled "Con Jesus se puede!" (With Jesus We Can!). Sean also facilitated a session that developed a Missional Bible Study will be used as a basis for intimate groups of 2 to 4 people. Jeni also worked with several of the youth to teach the kids' sessions. On Sunday morning we had a special extended time taking the Lord Supper together. Another highlight was on Saturday night when we spent the evening around the campfire singing and praising God under the starlit sky.

 

There were also 4 people who gave their lives to Christ in baptism during the retreat: Nabor and Nancy from San Andres Totoltepec, Elvia the daughter of Jaime and Joaquina, and Tonio the son of Luis and Luisa. It was powerful to see the Spirit at work among us! The entire weekend was reason for celebration.

 

Over the last 3 months, Israel and I have organized a special equipping seminar for the men of the Tierra Firme Church. We held the seminar on Friday night once per month: October, November and December. We call this group of men "Hombres de Valor" which has a double meaning in Spanish - "Men of Courage" or "Valuable Men." Over the last three months we have based our training on Romans 8: More than Conquerors! We encouraged one another to look at our lives as Christian men from God's perspective, and not from the perspective of the world. Through Jesus Christ, God has made us more than conquerors over condemnation, guilt, negativism, laziness, loss, hurt, worry, materialism, passivity and ignorance. Each lesson was filled with biblical examples, which brought out great conversations about how to live out our victory over these things. As a result, several of the men have taken greater initiative in the spiritual leadership of their families, their cell groups and the projects within the congregation. For example, one of our "Hombres de Valor," Alfredo Hernandez, has become a co-leader in our cell group. This has given us the ability to multiply our cell group within the next couple of months. So, please continue to pray for the men of the Tierra Firme Church as they live as "Hombres de Valor" in a city that needs true examples of integral followers of Christ: Alfredo, Luis Gonzalez, Jorge, Angel, Miguel Angel, Oscar, Luis Paco, Buenaventura, Porfidio, Jonny, Jaime and Froylan.

 

This year's Mexico Missionaries' Retreat was held in Zihuatanejo, Guerrero: November 7 through 10. In attendance where missionaries from the cities of Lazaro Cardenas, Leon, Guadalajara, Morelia, Cuernavaca and Mexico City (91 people). This year we invited Jay & Sherry Jarboe to be with us for the retreat and encourage us from the Word. Jay guided us through several passages from 2 Corinthians. The retreat theme was Family On Mission and Jay challenged us to reflect upon our relationship with God, our families and our ministries and to drink the cup that Jesus drank. It was great to reconnect with everyone and to remember that we are a part of something much bigger than ourselves. May God continue to bring the people of Mexico to himself as we lift Christ up in our respective mission points.

 

On October 27 & 28, the McClue family and several members of the Tierra Firme Church traveled to the far north end of the city to a place called Ecatepec in the State of Mexico. One of the families from the Benito Juarez Church lives in Ecatepec and has been working through a cell group that meets in their home. Recently, they have stepped out in faith to begin a new church in their area. The last weekend in October was placed before God in prayer and a request was sent out for help with initiating this new work. The Tierra Firme Church was privileged to play a small role in the weekend's activities. On Saturday, October 27, we spent part of the day passing out flyers for an evangelistic outreach event held later that afternoon. Sarah had a great time in the street drama about a bunny looking for true joy. Jeni and I had a great time singing in the praise team with our brothers from Benito Juarez and Tlalpan. On Sunday, October 28, almost the entire Tierra Firme congregation traveled to Ecatepec along with members from the Benito Juarez, Cuajimalpa and Cuauhtemoc congregations. There were several visiting families that came. We had an awesome time celebrating what God was doing in Ecatepec. The Tierra Firme members are also beginning to catch the vision for multiple church plantings.

 

Saturday, September 22, the ladies of the Tierra Firme Church hosted an area-wide ladies’ day. We invited ladies from the Mexico City area as well as several nearby cities. Fifty-six ladies arrived from eight congregations: Cuernavaca, Cuautla, León and 5 Mexico City congregations. In addition, there were 13 kids present and the León AIMers helped entertain them.

 

After an encouraging time of worship, Rosy Mendieta, the invited speaker, shared an uplifting and motivating lesson about seeking God as the precious jewel for our lives. Rosy and her husband, Rodrigo, were long-time members at the Cuauhtémoc congregation. They recently moved to Yautepec, near Cuautla, and they are working faithfully with the church in Cuautla.

 

In addition to the lesson, we had a nice time visiting over coffee and later over lunch. After lunch, Norma, Sara and Hilda, from the Tierra Firme congregation, led us in making bracelets and necklaces.

 

We enjoyed being the hostesses for this event. Those ladies who attended were encouraged by the lesson and the fellowship with other Christians. It was a blessing to us to be able to invite them and share with them during the ladies’ day.

 

September 19 through 25, six of the Adventures in Missions students (apprentice missionaries) from Leon, Guanajuato spent a week in Tlalpan serving the community, helping the church with the Ladies’ Day and practicing their Spanish. The guys stayed at our house and girls stayed with Michelle, a Tlalpan AIMer. On Thursday morning, Sean took them to the Central de Abastos, one of the world's largest wholesale markets, so that they could practice their Spanish. On Wednesday and Thursday evenings they participated in three of our cell groups: San Andres Totoltepec; Santa Ursula Coapa; and Miguel Hidalgo. On Friday, they worked at the Mexican Association for the Support of Kids with Cancer (AMANC), doing yard work and making the place beautiful for the children. On Friday evening they helped the Santa Ursula Coapa cell group celebrate the retirement of Buenaventura as Official Groundskeeper of the Olympic Stadium at the National University, which he gave us a tour of on Sunday afternoon. On Saturday, they helped take care of 13 children during the Ladies’ Day hosted by the Tierra Church. On Saturday evening we took them to plaza in Coyoacán, a cultural smorgasbord of sites, tastes and smells. On Sunday they worshipped with the Tierra Firme Church before taking the G3 Youth Group on a picnic at the National University (UNAM). They made a huge impact on the young people in the church and had a great attitude of service the whole week.

 

Thank you, Leon AIMers: Megan, Tyler, Bill, Karl, J'Lae and Lindsey! I hope we get AIMers with your attitude of servant leadership this coming year.

 

Note: Adventures in Missions Students are affectionately called "AIMers" because their aim is to preach the gospel.

 

This is one of those times when writing a short explanation about a person coming to Christ just doesn’t do the real story of God’s love and power any justice what-so-ever…

 

On Friday, September 7, Froylan Tellez was baptized into Christ. You may remember that his wife, Hilda, was one of the first baptized members of the Tierra Firme Church back on March 28, 2004. For over 3 years Hilda has been praying for her husband to come to Christ. At times Hilda and her kids, Alexis and Daniela (also Christians), thought Froylan would never become a Christian. Over the last year Froylan began to slowly participate in the small group that meets in his home. As his interest in the Word grew, so did his faith. After his baptism, in the youth cell group, Froylan’s daughter said, “Peace has come to our home. I still can’t believe what God has done in the life of my dad.”

 

As a missionary, I get some of the best front row seats to see the awesome works of God. I’ve been blessed to see a lot of people give their lives to Christ in baptism. However, there are a few experiences which have been tattooed in my memory. This will definitely be one of those times. When Froylan Tellez made his decision to follow Christ, it was not done lightly. I, perhaps, have never seen someone “count the cost” like Froylan. You see, Froylan has denied himself and hundreds of years of family tradition to receive freedom from the consequences of sin. From my perspective, that is huge! However, it still doesn’t compare to what our Savior did on the cross for you and me… and for Froylan. God be praised for His Son Jesus Christ! 

 

Oscar Hernandez has continued to work part-time as an apprentice missionary for the Tierra Firme Church. He is involved in the preaching rotation on Sunday mornings and he has been working as a co-leader for the Santa Ursula Coapa cell group. Over the summer, Oscar developed an evangelistic project in his neighborhood. He passed out invitations to borrow the Jesus Film. Over 25 families responded to the invitations and watched the movie. Now, we are in the process of visiting each of the families with the idea of continuing to share the life of Jesus. We have already begun two individual Bible studies with those who are interested. So please pray for Benito and Erika, that God may open their hearts to the word of Christ. Also continue to pray for Oscar Hernandez and his spiritual growth as a young servant leader. 

 

On Saturday, September 1, the Tierra Firme Church came together for an evening of prayer and praise. Angel and Lucila Chavez opened their home and invited several of their neighbors. It was a great time of faith being expressed as we lifted our hearts to God. After the night of prayer at the Chavez house, we decided to move the Santa Ursula Coapa cell group to their home. Since then we have had 3 or 4 visitors come to our cell group every week.

 

Please pray for Angel Chavez and his family. Angel recently lost his job due to cut backs. He has been looking for another job for several weeks now. We believe that God will provide something for him in the near future. These situations put families in Mexico under extreme pressure. So pray for wisdom and strength for Angel and provision for his family. 

   

During the last week of July, ten middle school and high school students went on Tierra Firme's First Annual Summer Youth Camp. The week was called "Mi Experiencia con Dios" (My Experience with God).

 

Each day began with a session called "Buenos Dias, Dios!" in which a short devotional was lead my one of the students, and then each student spent quiet time with God before breakfast. Each morning after breakfast we had a session called "Encuentro Bíblico" (Bible Encounter) where we studied and talked about the idea of knowing and doing the will of God in our lives. The youth were introduced to the concepts of God's active presence, God's invitation to join him in his work, the adjustments we need to make in our lives and what it means to really know God and walk in his purposes. During the days we had a variety of community building activities and ended each day with a session we called "Derribando Murallas" (Tearing Down Walls) in which we helped the youth to process each day's activities.

 

Throughout the week, the students prepared a 10 minute sketch that they will be presenting to the whole church. We will be videoing their presentation of the sketch and hope to put it on YouTube en espanol soon. The students have also come up with a name for their group and have begun meeting as a cell group. Their name, "G3 Misión JC", means... The Generation of the Third Millennium on Mission with Jesus Christ.

  

 

Oscar Hernandez served as Tierra Firme's youth intern during the months of April and May. Oscar shadowed me on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and helped me with several evangelistic projects. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, he worked with fellow Tierra Firme missionary, Israel Monlina. Oscar learned how to develop and lead small group meetings, prepare and deliver devotionals and short lessons, and got his feet wet in evangelism. The experience has helped Oscar grow tremendously over the past few months. He has become a great example to the other youth in the church and to many adults as he strives to be more like Christ.

 

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday (April 20 - 22) we participated in the annual Praise Workshop. This year three churches presented 15 new songs (Tlalpan presenting 5 of them). Friday night we recorded the songs for distribution on CDs (If you would like a copy just jot me an email). Saturday we held the singing/praise workshop and on Sunday morning we had a combined worship and sang the praises to our Lord with one voice. As always, it was encouraging for everyone. A wise teacher of mine once said, “Movements are born on the wings of song!” Our hope is that these new praise songs will help churches in Mexico, and beyond, express their hearts to God and bring a renewed sense of God’s vision and mission in the world.

Once again, it was good to be with the group from the Iglesia de Cristo Rio de Vida in Morelia, Michoacán, who made the four hour drive to with us. They asked Sean to be a guest speaker in Morelia on May 6, while one of their missionaries’, Sam Gonzales, travels to speak at the Pepperdine Bible Lectures. Here is a video that the Morelia group made (thanks Sarah!):

 

 

We give thanks to God for you as we think about how God is transforming us and using us together for his kingdom here in Mexico City. We pray that God continues to give you strength and courage for his mission, wherever you may be.

On Saturday, March 31, the Benito Juarez congregation hosted the most recent bi-monthly leadership forum. For those of you who have not heard about these forums, they began with the idea of Mexican leaders working together to multiply leadership in the third and forth generations. Every forum is a little different, depending on the host congregation. However, this obvious diversity is one of its strengths. The general concept is to share ideas, resources and encourge one another toward this goal that God has placed in the hearts of everyone. This past month, Benito Juarez presented a series of encouraging discussions based on the theme “Integrity in Leadership.” Juan Pablo Yalaupari, Israel Campos and Jacob Henderson each brought their unique perspectives and did an excellent job calling us to greater integrity as leaders within Christ’s body.

 

On Saturday, March 10, the Tierra Firme Youth traveled to Cuernavaca (see photo album).

 

Many of the youth from Tlalpan were not able to go. However, several of the youth invited their friends to go. All together, we had a group of 22 young people from Tlalpan, Cuautla and Cuernavaca. For the majority, it was the first time for them to see so many young people their own age in a Christian environment. New friendships were formed and Jesus' love was shown to the young people who came with their friends.

 

Doug and Sandy Holcomb (Cuernavaca missionaries) were kind enough to allow us to use their apartment's pool and common area. Thanks Holcombs! The youth spent most of the day in the pool. I think they enjoyed the hamburgers and hot dogs ;-). They also played some group dynamic games and we ended the day with singing praises to God in a short devotional time. 

 

Porfirio Perez, the brother of Sara Bonilla, was immersed into Christ on Sunday, March 11, 2007. We rejoice with Porfirio, and give thanks for his new life in Christ!

 

God is faithful to save the young and the old (Porfirio is 72 years old). It reminds me of Jesus' teaching: "So, the last will be first, and the first last" (Matthew 20:1-16). Imagine all that Porfirio has been through in life in order for him to finally enjoy the saving grace of God. Yes, God is faithful!

 

Porfirio has been involved in the small group that meets at Alfredo and Norma's house in Santa Ursula Coapa on Wednesday nights. Recently, he has been gathering with us on Sunday mornings too. Please continue to pray for the Santa Ursula Coapa small group and Porfirio's growth as a disciple of Jesus and a new born son of God.

 

On Sunday, Feb. 25, Tupac Alcauter was baptized in the city of Morelia.

 

Tupac works for the Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), similar to the EPA in the United States, in the Ajusco area of Tlalpan in Mexico City. He lives in the Coapa area, not far from our house. However, Tupac was born and raised in Morelia, Michoacan (about 4 hours from Mexico City). Many of his family members still live in Morelia. In fact, his sister is a member of the Iglesia de Cristo Rio de Vida (River of Life Church of Christ). After the death of his brother, Tupac began to spend more time with his family in Morelia on the weekends, including more time with his sister. This brought him in contact with the members and missionaries of the Rio de Vida Church. Some of you may remember when we met Tupac at last year's Singing Workshop. After the workshop, Tupac began to assist the cell group in Coapa as well as the Sunday worship in Miguel Hidalgo.

 

Over the last year, Tupac's faith has grown tremendously. Not only have we been witnesses to his faith, but we have become good friends. I have learned so much from Tupac. He has a wealth of real life experiences and is highly educated, relatively speaking. His journey to faith in Christ began years before we met him. It has been a privilege to be a part of this moment in his journey. I pray that we continue building up one another as we journey together with our Lord.

 

See more pictures from our trip to Morelia on Jeni's Blog.