Mixteco Christian Fellowship Update

Lessons

Traveling north, living
south, God teaches us

Dear Family and Friends,

Traveling to Oregon in January was truly an enjoyable time. After the practically ceaseless activities of Dec & New Year’s it was certainly good to get away. To be able to stop and visit friends along the way and in Oregon is such a great blessing. (Being such a small ministry it’s hard to fathom just how many folks there are to see until actually trying to do so!) Specially refreshing and quite a treat was to just sit at church and worship with such talented musicians and worshippers, and be fed The Word !! We thank the Lord for the opportunity to fellowship in various churches dear to our hearts: Coos Bay Christian Fellowship, Calvary Chapel Salem, Crawfordsville Community Church and Calvary Chapel Fresno as well as with many, many dear friends along the west coast. A special treat was seeing friends at Calvary Chapel Fresno both going to & coming from Oregon. (I think our kids wanted to move in!)
Besides enjoying awesome times of fellowship & encouragement though, one of the good things about stepping back away from the work is the ability to gain perspective. To realize and remember that the Lord is in control! To worship at His feet and humbly lift our voices of thanksgiving to Him should be the cornerstone of our faith. With the news coming in bleaker by the day from analysts & reporters, friends & family, one could certainly lose heart. Yet these times should be encouraging as well as;
“Now this, “Yet once more”, indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.” (Heb 12: 27-29)
That the Lord is working in spite of economic downturns and many other forms of shaking taking place, is evident. For quite some time our Mixteco family (especially the ladies) knows first hand what it means to have to live simply. They are well acquainted with waiting on the Lord for their daily bread. In this and many other aspects of the faith, they’re really quite wealthy! So much so that the next verses in chapter 13 of Hebrews about continuing in brotherly love, entertaining strangers, praising and praying are somewhat of a trademark or their faith.
A brief recent example was our dear sisters Fidela and Margarita. During a recent rain storm the much welcomed rains brought some unwelcome results. While thankfully their homes didn’t receive severe damage, in both cases (especially Fidela) water was literally flowing through their homes! (It wasn’t the water pipes either as they don’t have indoor plumbing!) Yet with the most composed faces, & complete serenity, when we offered them to come and stay with us, or there at church, they just said, “No, thank you, we’ll be just fine” (As they continued to sweep the water out the door or shovel dirt) Wow!

“For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come” (Heb 13:14)

Much has taken place for which we humbly worship and thank the Lord. So much so that in retrospect it was truly the Lord’s doing and marvelous in our eyes.

Please join us in thanking the Lord for these blessings of Dec & Jan!

· Women’s luncheon & gift sharing from friends at Calvary Chapel Salem.
· Christmas food basket & shoe box gift give away from friends at Calvary Chapel St Joseph
Missouri
· Youth retreat “blowout”
· New Years Eve celebration
· Friends from Calvary Chapel Petaluma who were serving at the orphanage at Carmen Serdan and
who came for the afternoon to bless the kids with food fun fellowship & gifts.
The gift from a dear friend of a super practical 94 Toyota Landcrusier. Its such a great rig for
around here! The best thing though was that this then enabled us to pass on the 98 Ford Windstar
to Camp Abarim Director Brother Antonio, and the 97 Chevy Astro to fellow missionaries Lance
and Marisela. What a joy to be able to share! Brother Antonio was near tears, as since his accident
he really needed a vehicle. Thank you Lord!
The Lord has wonderfully and so graciously permitted many events to take place here recently. So much so that its really hard to do this,…. pick out an event to highlight! Yet if votes were taken we think the results would overwhelmingly single out the Youth retreat blowout! It was more than high jinks and escapades, fun games and laughter. Don’t get us wrong, it wasn’t all “business” of prayer and fasting either. It was so diverse that it’s difficult to describe in words. But fortunately lack of words doesn’t hinder too many pastors, so here goes!

Besides the kids hearts themselves, what really seemed to characterize the retreat was willingness. (?) You see we’ve never done a youth retreat. Oh we’ve participated in many to be sure. But to take on the whole enchilada? Uh uh! No way Jose! Yet time and again the Lord kept putting this whole crazy concept right directly in our path. The idea of having a youth retreat with Mixteco, Mexican, American youth and the guys from Rancho Limonera!
Yet the Lord prevailed and ready or not lets go for it! (After all when’ve we let a little thing like not knowing what we were doing stop us?) Since we were clueless, it was a great opportunity to invite others to be clueless as well along with us. (distributed blame if it went south?) All the teens in the youth group arose to the challenge. It was awesome! The consensus was that yes, fun and games where important, but so too was the Word and opportunities for the teens to work in teams. Jose Jr, Cande, & Cela, Alejandro & Eder ( students in the discipleship program from 3 Cruces) Freddi & Lucy, they all plotted together. As ideas were examined and then either tossed aside or taken to the Lord in prayer, the Holy Spirit seemed to be leading right along. What seemed to distill was to challenge the youth who would be coming to give of themselves, to be willing to serve. It was a risk in that youth were invited who we didn’t know. How would they respond? (Some kids balk at the idea of picking up trash, yet alone bag it & take it out!)
The Lord had it all under marvelous control though. Projects were undertaken for Fidela, Margarita, at church, the colony, and here at the camp. Games were played & everyone had a fun time. Bible studies seemed to just dovetail and mesh with the work. Work fun and games seemed to just flow and compliment the Word. All this in and for the 3 days of Dec 29 – 31! No wonder why when as they left many asked, “When can we do it again? When’s the next one?” Could this be the December equivalent of Summer School?? The juries still out but please pray for wisdom on how to continue these developments.

Returning here to Mexico is also such a blessing. Arriving Saturday evening (the teens Bible study night) there was quite the welcoming committee! It was also Lucy’s birthday so there were even the remnants of a piñata (that was broken inside our house due to the rain!!) & some delicious cake. Extra special was the Sunday service, as the kids had taken it upon themselves to organize and produce a drama based on the blind man of Mark 8. This was followed by Suzy & Rocio leading worship. (Going before all the congregation they led 2 songs! Awesome! These two are normally so shy that they hardly ever talk. Now here they were leading worship!)
We feel overwhelmingly blessed to say the least. Counting our blessings would be as the Psalmist says “if I should count them, they would be more in number than the grains of the sand” (Ps 139:18)
It’s our prayer in these tumultuous days that we may find our rest strength and peace in Him. May the Lord keep (guard) you in His perfect peace as you trust in Him. We thank the Lord for you who’ve been continuing to uphold our family in this work through you prayers help and gifts. Thank you and God bless you.

Please join us in praying for;

· Work & youth teams coming Lord willing in March
· The Lords wisdom & provision for the projects.
· More importantly though peoples hearts and lives to be touched and changed by the Lord.
· Monica Lucy & Jolene’s trip March 4-11 to Honduras to minister at a Christian women’s conference. (Especially for us who’ll be left behind holding the fort down!!)
· Vicenta’s ongoing ministry at Ywam Tecate.
· The Lords leading in Jose Jr’s life as he would love to go into missions work.

Please thank the Lord with us for;

· The many friends the Lord uses to co labor in this work.
· The great team of servants and friends the Lord has put together to co labor in this work, including those in the North: our mission’s board of directors. Thank you guys!!

By the grace of God, our group of teens
has almost doubled this past year!

By Gods grace we're still going!

Hello everyone!

After much delay (due to my computer illiteracy!) we're finally learning about how this works! Anyways, we aim to update this blog as often as possible, & thank you (beforehand) for your patience while we do so. God bless you!

Andy

Happy New Year and belated Merry Christmas

Dear Ministry Friends and Family!

- by Pastor Andy Alvarez

It’s a joy to share with everyone the events and stories of life and ministry. Have you ever had “one of those days”? I mean just when you think, “Naw, it can’t get worse than this? Can it?” that it seems as if we “spoke too soon.” I’m sure we’ve all had our share of days like that. The wonderful thing is how the Lord has much to teach us through these things that stretch our faith and our patience.

For us, it was a recent trip to the US. What we thought would be a typical and innocuous trip across the border became at least briefly, an ordeal of insanity! During the holiday season the border crossing can take countless hours, mired in snarled lanes of traffic. Innumerable cars and their drivers desperate for an opening, any one at all, that will provide a chance to jockey into a better position, or (like in football!) gain a few yards. Incessant honking, epithets hurled about, overheated engines and tempers are the norm.

Knowing full well all of this, we decided to strike out at night, hopefully avoiding much stress and confusion. Alas, it wasn’t to be! Arriving at the border at almost midnight, there were hundreds of others who must have thought the same thing! Faced with such a tide of would-be commuters, the border officials closed all but four crossings. Compounding the chaos, for each of the open lanes there were two or three others trying to merge into them! Like snails racing along, we measured our advance in inches.

Suddenly after having waited over an hour, we began to shoot forward! It happened in a flash, but in all the commotion, I inadvertently bumped the car in front. Lightly tapped. Touched. Thus began our ordeal of insanity. Never in my life would we imagine the person’s reactions that followed! Jumping out of the car and with a most horrendous face and gestures of severe affront, they repeatedly looked at us, and then their bumper.

Inspecting the area in question, I knew immediately it was only an easily removed smudge. With some slight polishing the offending mark was easily removed. (Seeing so greatly deflated their ego!) They then continued to rub and look over the entire rear of the car! Doing so they found this tiny speck. It was really more like a miniscule shadow. (Seriously!) They then continued ranting and raving, “Look what you did to my car! Look!” That’s when I really thought I was going to lose it! I mean like slap some sense into them or something! But the strangest thing happened. The Lord’s peace began to overwhelmingly flood my soul. (This was truly a “God thing,” as in all honesty I was only thinking about sharing something else!) The Scriptures that coursed through my mind caused me to reflect on what our Lord has done for us. Looking at the other driver with compassion changed my attitude, and we soon resolved the issue. One of the beautiful verses that instilled the “peace that surpasses understanding” was “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” And; “But God demonstrates His own love for in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom 5: 6&8) That our Sovereign Lord would reduce Himself to be born in a stable, only later to be laughed at, being mocked scorned derided and ultimately barbarically suffer an agonizing and tortuous death on the cross is beyond our scope of comprehension.

Yet that He did so to demonstrate the power of His unfailing love is what motivates us daily to continue onward. It is therefore with great joy we serve Him here in Mexico with the Mixteco people, who are like our family and yours as well. Thank you for the prayers and gifts you have lovingly shared this past year, as well for your continued prayers for the ministry here. It is our prayer for you that you would “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever! Amen” (2 Peter 3:18) May the Lord bless and keep you

published by Jaira Hill

The Lord is Blessing our Youth (adapted from newsletter)

Dear Ministry Friends and Family, This has truly been a “November to remember”!!

As we write this update to you, we are just rejoicing for the beautiful work that the Lord is doing in people’s hearts! (Granted, it may not be “multitudes,” but it is certainly in individuals!) One individual who (whom many of you already know) is very dear to our heart is Vicenta. We've seen how, at times in spite of severe criticism, she has walked faithfully with the Lord for many years. It has been her dream for a long time of serving the Lord as a missionary. Beginning in September, that desire came to fruition, as she entered into YWAM’s missionary training program called Discipleship
Training School (DTS). Although we are not too surprised, it has been awesome to see her grow in leaps and bounds in her walk with the Lord. As the Lord has wonderfully and graciously provided for our family and the work He has called us to here, He has also put it on our hearts to encourage and help our dear sister Vicenta in her missionary endeavors. There has been, and continues to be, a cost for her support to serve as a missionary. Both as a family, and as a church body we contribute regularly towards her financial expenses. In December, though, she will be going on her school’s two-month outreach to Guatemala, facing additional expenses. When I talked with the trip’s leader, he shared about many of the challenges that await. It will most certainly be a trip that will stretch the imagination and faith of those involved. I say this because many of the places scheduled to minister in are gripped by strongholds of darkness. Occultism, promiscuity, profound poverty, sickness and hopelessness are only some of the scenes that will be encountered. To be forewarned, though, is to be forearmed, so please join with us in bathing Vicenta, the team, and those they will be ministering to, in prayer. An additional prayer request would be for the youth who are attending school. They too face challenges that are difficult to comprehend or even compare to youth in America. One of their biggest obstacles to overcome are the prejudices of many of the people themselves. We’re not certain if these voices are raised out of jealousy and envy, or just plain ignorance.
Nevertheless the results are the same as we have seen many youth quit their education in discouragement and disheartenment. They are often taunted by youths and adults alike that all their enthusiasm and effort is a waste of time. Coupled with such disparaging comments is the additional reality of covering the cost to continue on. The Lord has put it on our hearts to come along side those who are making the effort to stay in school. By your generosity, MCF has been able to establish a small educational fund. It isn't much, but even as the Lord multiplied a few small fishes and loaves to bless many, so too we have seen the difference even a little help can
bring. We’re not sure, but it seems to convey to the kids in a tangible way, that yes, God loves them, and there are people who love and care for them as well! Enough so to help them (in a huge
way!) stay in school. We would like to ask you to prayerfully consider helping either Vicenta, or the educational fund to help the students. More than anything, though, we covet your prayers for them! For they
truly are mighty in the Lord to break down strongholds
in people’s lives. For those who would like to help, please be sure to designate the gift’s purpose so they can be allocated accordingly. On behalf of our family and Mixteco brothers and sisters, we thank the Lord for you, and for the fruit of your love as shown in the numerous words
of encouragement and gifts that we receive.
God bless you!

Andy Alvarez

Hello World!

Welcome.

This is the first posting for the Mixteco Christian Fellowship BLOG. For those of you new to this phenomena blogging is slang for web logging. The idea is that we can all get together in a forum and discuss things important to us. Here we will be discussing the mission, Andy and Monica, Vincenta and all the goings on in this wonderful mission. The Lord has done mighty things with this group and I suspect will continue. He has used you people to great effect and it has been my pleasure to witness these things.

So I will be your moderator and check in on things from time to time. I hope you will join and contribute to this site. You will find that it's quite simple. If you have any comments, suggestions or concerns give me a call or e- mail me. You can also BLOG it.

God bless!

Jesse