February Update

From January 20-30 I was part of a team from Agua Viva on a mission in Southern Baja California, visiting a missionary working among isolated ranches in the San Francisco mountain range. Here are a few quick statistics from the trip:

10 days; 2 showers; 1 little mountain town; 5 ranches visited; 1 mule ridden; 3 meals of goat meat; 5 Christian outreach movies shown; 15 hours hiking; 3 nights in a tent; 1 flat tire; 2 little girls who accepted Jesus after hearing about how He is their Good Shepherd; 200 photos taken.

Things were different from what I was expecting in the sense that the people we visited hadn’t actually become Christians yet, so we did more chatting with and praying over people than teaching and ministering. Some of the places we visited were accessible by car, some were accessible only on foot or mule back. But in San Francisco (the ‘little mountain town’ mentioned above) and the different ranches there was no electricity or running water. At all of the ranches the buildings were made of wooden boards, even cardboard, with dirt floors. The men spent the day with the livestock, either cattle or goats, and the women took care of the house, cooking meals over firewood. Life revolves around the location and availability of water. I conversed mostly with the women and children, many of who were very glad of the company, since the closest neighbors are a few hours away. I felt that God was at work planting seeds and slowly revealing Himself through us to those who do not yet know Him. They know that we are hermanos (brothers) who come because we love God.

I am coming away from the experience with a renewed sense of the great spiritual need in Mexico and the challenge of missions among such isolated people, many of whom are illiterate. I’m thinking now about some of the people I got to know: Chachita, a ranchera who eagerly asked me when I was coming back; Carla and Caramela, two little girls who asked Jesus into their heart but might not hear anything more about Him for another year; Jorge, an adolescent ranchero who seems curious about a God who loves him but cautious about wandering away from 300 + years of tradition his family has maintained in the Sierra de San Francisco. They have become more of the many reasons I am serving at Agua Viva Ministries.

Prayer Requests:

Please pray continue to pray for my health. I was feeling well but in the last few days have felt the bacteria dancing in my guts again. I’m taking samples to the lab tomorrow...

Pray for the people I encountered on the mission trip, that God would continue to make Himself known to them and that they would come to know Him. Pray also for Jose and Lupita, the missionaries working there, that they would have courage and grace to share the Gospel.

Pray for my administrative work at Agua Viva as I continue to tackle my to-do list and administer funds in the off-season, when money is extremely tight.

January News

I think that this year, 2009, is the first year that I have ever made an official New Year’s Resolution. I have been feeling the need for a while now to step up my communication with those care for and pray for me, and so I have resolved to send monthly emails informing of happenings at Agua Viva Ministries, prayer requests, and the like. I am pretty serious about this resolution, so if you notice that I start slacking and miss a month, please be on my case!

This time of year (January to mid-March) is considered our off-season at AVM. There are very few, if any American short-term groups and Mexican camping groups. But that doesn’t mean that there is nothing to do. In fact, I have a rather long and ambitious to-do list for the coming weeks: create a budget for 2009, ensure that the new electronic payment system with PayPal is functioning correctly (online giving is now an option ☺), wash and store all of the linens that were lent to the seminary students last term, create a meal pricing system to offer more options to Mexican camping groups, and I could go on. Like I said, it is an ambitious list, but will greatly contribute to the overall efficiency of the ministry.

Fortunately, I am feeling refreshed and ready for action after three lovely weeks with my family in Virginia for Christmas. And I have a feeling that 2009 may be my best year yet at Agua Viva!

On the Calendar:

January 20 – 28, Mission trip to South Baja California

This year I have the chance to go on a mission trip with other AV staff members to the San Francisco mountain ranges of Southern Baja California. There we will visit a missionary named Jose Ponce (a former student of MTI, the AV seminary) who goes on foot or mule to visit and disciple families at isolated ranchos. We will join him to support him and his wife in their work, visiting families, leading Bible studies, working with kids and youth, etc. We will hike to many of the ranchos, carrying all of our things on our back. I am very much looking forward to the trip and making use of the hiking boots I got for Christmas!

Prayer Requests:

Pray for wisdom and endurance as I tackle that to-do list mentioned above.

Please pray for my health. I recently finished a round of antibiotics to deal with three different parasitical bacteria living in my stomach. The whole process has been pretty rough on my poor insides, so I am hoping not to contract any more unfriendly visitors.

Join me in praying for the upcoming trip to South Baja. It looks like I will be leading a few talks (in Spanish, por su puesto) and would appreciate prayers that God would use me there and help me form relationships with people who live a life so different from my own.

What I've Been Doing...

I am aware that quite a bit of time has passed since I last blogged. Please forgive me, and rest assured that my time was well-spent on other endeavors. Let me give you a taste of some of the special events in October and November that took place on top of all the regular stuff that goes on while seminary is in session (see two entries ago).

October 4-5: Second annual children’s missions adventure camp for kids ages 6-12 from churches in Ensenada and Tijuana. We had over 100 kids (doubled from last year) and I helped with registration and the “safari” and ran a game that was kind of like sharks and minnows, with a hose thrown in the mix to get the kids wet.

October 10-12: A retreat of around 500 ladies from churches on both sides of the border took place at Agua Viva. Because there were so many people it was all hands on deck and I helped at meal times, mostly by drying dishes so that there would be enough for everyone to eat off of (we only have about 300).

October 16-17: Annual Agua Viva Board of directors meeting held at Rancho Agua Viva. I delivered the financial report (bottom line=we need money) and took notes of the meeting.

October 26 – November 3: Roadtrip with Becky to recruit for our summer staff at different Christian college campuses. Over the course of a week we visited Pt. Loma (San Diego), Biola (LA), Azusa Pacific (LA), Westmont (Santa Barbara) and Fresno Pacific. I would like to give a special thanks to everyone who hosted us along our way. While at the colleges, we would sit at a table (usually strategically located by the cafeteria) with our display and a bowl of candy and talk to students who were interested. I would rate the trip as highly successful, as several people we spoke with followed up with inquiries and are now considering spending their summer helping at Agua Viva. After the college tour was over I got to spend time with family in Hanford and visit Hanford Baptist Church, which generously supports me. I shared with the youth group and attended the service, and afterward went out to lunch with my aunt and uncle and other members of the missions board. They got to hear more about my ministry first-hand and I got to experience their care and support first-hand, a win-win situation if you ask me.

November 4-9: A rare, three day vacation with my mom and dad in San Diego, who both had separate business there during those dates. Then my dad came down with me for the weekend and got to witness a little bit of seminary life at Agua Viva, hang out with other staff members (who are basically family) and even get a little taste of Potter’s Clay. I had a fun time scenario building for my guest of honor and scheming a future family visit for summer 2009.

November 14-15: A special second edition of our children’s mission camp carried out in a nearby town called Porvenir, which has a church that holds a “Missions Month” every November. I helped out with set-up and orchestrated pony rides and did the same game again, only this time without the hose.

November 27-30: A group from Calvary Chapel Mission Viejo was at Agua Viva. We had a big Thanksgiving dinner, but with chicken instead of turkey. And someone had donated several boxes of stuffing so I made that for about 100 people since the instructions were in English. It was fun to be part of meal preparation, I don’t usually get to do that.

December 6: Seminary graduation. After 15 weeks the time came to release the MTI class of 2008 out into the world. Several special events led up to the graduation, for instance a gala dinner on Thursday night put on by the AV staff for the students. Then graduation rehearsal on Friday night, and the big day on Saturday. I helped out as an usher and photographer, and also stayed in administrative mode to make sure the remaining students who had not yet paid their tuition paid.

Now the ranch is very quiet, and we are putting things back in their places and preparing for a staff Christmas potluck for Wednesday night. We are also going to have a white elephant gift exchange, which is a new concept for the Mexicans, so we’ll see how it works out. And then on Saturday I fly home to Virginia for three weeks of vacation and time with family (I’m just a little bit excited). And then comes 2009 and I’ll be back on the job. Thank your for caring enough to read this, and thank you for prayers. Also, a specific prayer request, I have bacteria residing in my stomach again, a strain of typhoid and another of proteus. On Thursday the results will be ready and I should be able to pick up some antibiotics and start treatment, but in the meantime, it’s not fun to have creatures living inside you.

The Latest

A few days back we celebrated Mexican Independence Day (which is not Cinco de Mayo as commonly believed in the USA) with the MTI students at a 'noche mexicana.' People dressed up in traditional clothes, ate pozole (a classic dish), played games, and broke home-made piñatas that the students had made. There were five piñatas and only one had candy in it. Another was empty, one had water balloons, one had flour, one had eggs and the last one had the leftover scraps from dinner! That one was kind of gross, but the rest were really fun. People seemed to really a kick out of my costume...I felt very Mexican.

Each morning the seminary students have a devotional before breakfast, which different people give each day. And last Friday was my turn. I spent an estimated total of about 9 hours over the course of the week beforehand preparing it and translating it. Which was all well worth it because I was able to speak pretty fluidly and cohesively. I talked about the importance of living out our faith, about not just being a Christian on Sunday but being a Christian every day of the week. It is something that I have been feeling more and more passionately about lately and felt like the students needed to hear. It seems like God thought that too because a lot of people (including myself) ended up crying. It was truly special. But afterwards I was just exhausted. I felt like I had used all the mental capacities I possessed between the thinking and the speaking and the praying. I'm so grateful that I had the chance to share.

Most of my office work lately has revolved around preparing the financial report for the upcoming board meeting. And it is a little scary. We have had less groups come and stay at the ranch (both American and Mexican) which means less income. And we have had some big construction projects and many more seminary students than we are financially prepared for, which means more expenses. And then there is the whole economic status in the States. Suffice it to say, we are in the negative...big-time. So please join us in praying for funds. We've been tightening our belts, but I'm worried that by the end of MTI we'll be feeding the students bread and water. So please pray. And possibly consider giving a financial gift to MTI for the students room and board or spread the word about Agua Viva to people who might be interested. Everything helps!!

MTI!

So picking up where the last blog entry left off...I spent the last week of the summer doing work on the new MTI building in the hopes of getting it in (more or less) working order for the start of classes. There were several moments I wish I had pictures of to share with you, for example: sitting on a toilet and painting the walls of stalls next me, up on a ladder sanding a metal beam wearing a dust mask and sunglasses to protect myself from the rust, and laying down on scaffolding to paint the underside of ceiling beams, to name a few. We were able to get two downstairs classrooms and the bathrooms in working order. We finished the office area as well, but the exterior windows haven't been installed yet, so no one can move in. We are continuing to work on the large classroom upstairs a few days per week...it still has a ways to go, so I'm not sure when it will be ready for students.

But at the end of August the students arrived and we have a record number of 57 students. The vast majority are from Baja, but there are others from Sonora, Jalisco, Morelos, and Chiapas. Some have returned from last year, but many are newly beginning the first year. I have had a lot of fun getting to know them at meal times and around the ranch. This is what my typical day looks like during MTI:

6AM: Wake up and go for a run around the ranch (ok so this doesn't happen every day but I'm trying to make it at least an every other day event)

7AM: Shower and get dressed, while hearing the students singing in their morning devotional

8:30AM: Go to breakfast in the dining hall, sell coffee and snacks as a fundraiser for the staff mission trip

9:30AM: Report to work in the office, download emails, check petty cash reports, go to meetings, etc, etc...

11AM-11:30AM: Go to the "bodega" a storage room, where students can come during their break and get stuff they need from me (paper, pens, notebooks, highliters, soap, shampoo, etc.)

11:30-1:00PM: back to the office

1:00PM: Lunch in the dining hall, get to sit and eat with different students

2:00PM: In the office

4:50PM: Leave to pick up seminary student's children's from school, Alejandra (MTI director's assistant who I am teaching to drive) drives there. We pick up four kids at one school, and then another one a few miles away.

6PM: Return to RAV and hang out for a bit

7PM: Dinner in the dining hall, set up snack shop and sell for missions trip again while the kids play their favorite game of pretending to steal snacks from me

8PM: Play volleyball with students or relax at home, depending on my energy level

10PM: Bedtime :)

Summer in Review

First of all, I would like to make you aware of my most recent milestone (I use the term somewhat lightly). On August 6 I crossed the imaginary threshold from the first half of my three year commitment to Agua Viva Ministries to the second. That's right, I have now been here for more than 1.5 years of the three that I committed to. However, I have been by and large too busy to dwell further on this milestone other than to conclude that time is flying and that I am happy to be here.

If you haven't gotten to hear me talk about summer at Agua Viva yet, let me tell you: it flies by. The past 10 weeks have been a fast-paced cycle of American groups coming to serve through Agua Viva Ministries. It all begins on Sundays afternoon, when the staff shows up around 3:30 to put water and toilet paper in the cabins and then welcome the groups when they roll in between 4pm and 6pm. Dinner is at 6pm, accompanied by a meeting with the leaders. Then at 8pm we have a campfire to introduce our visitors to the Agua Viva staff, the ministry itself, and the rules (ie your toilet paper must be tossed in the trash can, never in the toilet!). Monday through Thursday is devoted to ministry at churches in and around Ensenada, be it VBS, sports ministry, construction projects, medical clinics, etc. Work projects take place at Rancho Agua Viva as well, and almost every week this summer someone has been breaking a sweat on our new seminary building. Wednesday night is a special dinner put on by the staff as a fundraiser for the Ministry Training Institute (the seminary). On Friday morning the groups head home, at which point the staff clean up, pull together the loose ends, and prepare for the coming week. All in all, we are looking at about a 60 hour work week.

This summer I have served as the coordinator (read head Agua Viva support personnel) for three different groups, one in June, one in July, and one in August. First was Grace EV Free Church of Elk Grove, CA. I joined them working on the seminary building in the morning, and then we went to do a VBS at a church plant in the afternoons. I even helped translate. Then in July I joined up with Faith Bible Church out of Canton, OH for another VBS followed by seminary building in the afternoon (highlight = climbing into the dump truck to stomp on trash to make room for more). Then just this past week I worked with a team from Lake View Free Methodist church in Seattle at a VBS in a little town an hour inland from Ensenada where the church had never received an American group before. All in all, I have done my fair share of singing, crafts, Bible stories, tickling and memory verse reciting. It's amazing to see how openly kids respond to the Gospel and the love of the Americans that have come to share it with them.

The busy days of summer are practically behind us now, and I am shifting gears into preparations for our seminary, which will begin on August 24. I have been sifting through donated supplies and organizing them into packets for the students. I have also been pulling musty sleeping bags and towels out of storage to wash them and hang them out to dry (I have grown quite fond of line-drying). We are anticipating our largest group of seminary students yet, between 60 and 80. After spending the past several months fundraising for the students it will be a joy to welcome them to Agua Viva and watch them grow in their knowledge and desire to serve our Lord. And it will especially be a joy to see the new MTI building get put to use for the first time. It isn't quite done yet, so I am anticipating that the days between now and August 24 will include a lot of painting, moving furniture, and whatever else I am able to contribute.

All in all, it has been fun to welcome so many visitors to Agua Viva these past three months and serve with them. I have enjoyed getting out of the office and diving into more hands-on ministry. There is nothing quite like summer at Agua Viva. And now it is time to turn the page into a more restful season, and the second half of my adventure at Agua Viva.

Getting Up to Speed

Current Weather: Hot, but cool enough to sleep under the covers at night.

Current Book: The Celebration of Discipline by Richard J. Foster.

Status of Stomach: Awaiting results at the lab tomorrow to see if the bacteria and amoebas are dead or alive after two rounds of antibiotics (I have a sneaking suspicion that some might be alive).

Weekend Plans: Fourth of July BBQ with some of the other Americans Friday evening. Beach trip a few hours south of Ensenada with good friends from the Vino Nuevo youth group on Saturday. On Sunday, breakfast with Pablo and Martha, the associate pastors of my church, followed with training on how to run the powerpoint that projects the lyrics to the praise songs by Martha (who is American), followed by church, followed by welcoming two American groups to AV in the afternoon. 

Recently Achieved Goal: I translated my first VBS. This means that the American group that I am working with did the talking and then I said it all in Español so that the kiddos could understand. At some point, I think it may have been in my Christmas letter, I said that my goal was to be translating this summer. And now it has happened. I'm still considering myself an apprentice, but I'm quickly learning the trade and am quite excited to be contributing to the ministry in this way. 

Coolest Thing I've Seen Lately: Last week I worked with a group from Grace Church in Elk Grove, CA for the second year in a row. We went back to a place called Paraíso, which is probably my favorite ministry site in the Ensenada area. It is way at the edge of town, up a steep hill. It's a very poor community, as far as I can tell everyone who lives there are indigeous Mexicans who have come up from states in the South of Mexico (mostly Oaxaca) to work the fields. Many of the houses are wooden ones that were clearly built by American groups on service projects. Anyways, we came in the afternoons and put on a VBS for the kids. I loved getting to spend time playing with them and reuniting with my buddies from last summer. But some of the men from Grace noticed the T.C. (that's slang for people who think they are too cool) teenage guys hanging around outside. They began playing soccer with the youth and talking with them about Jesus a little more each day. Then on our last day, Thursday, we had a church service in the evening together with the Mexican pastor that has been working in the village, Santos. People invited the youth and they filled up a whole row of seats. Ryan, the youth pastor from Grace who had been spending a lot of time with the guys preached about who God is from his perspective of having grown up without a father. After the sermon was over Pastor Santos invited anyone who wanted to come up for prayer. One of the youth that had been hanging around since day one went up with no hesitation. Soon, all the rest of the row of guys had followed him up and both Pastor Santos and the men from Grace prayed for them. Amen to walls coming down!

Things to be Praying for: With all the groups coming in and out we are all extremely busy and getting tired. Pray for strength and patience and love for us. We are also getting into the home stretch of construction on our new seminary building. Eight weeks to go and we are still finishing laying the blocks for the wall, and then we have the whole inside to do. Please pray for provision for the needed materials to finish the building and hands to finish it before the end of August. Pray for the community of Paraíso and for Pastor Santos as he continues to minister there, that people would know Jesus and know him better each day.