hola from cuatrocienegas!

i´m in a cyber cafe in cuatrocienegas, and man do i miss my mac! everything here is going well. there have been very few problems, and all of the teams are amazing (as expected). all of the sites are basically helping to pioneer new churches and ministries alongside our friends here. both cienegas and eben-ezer have been going into areas where there is little to no church presence, and trying to help get things going. the lamadrid team is continuing the work in that town, striving to get this little mission church established within the community. God continues to show up in both little and big ways, and for that we are truly grateful.

please continue to pray for us as we are at the halfway point and there is still much to be done. thanks for keeping us covered in prayer... we definitely feel your love and His every single day.

the teams...

peniel/lamadrid
luis padilla *
eddie johnson *
taylor vernon (d)
nick vernon
micah haley
jonathan wilmore
christian simeral
angel vernon
rebekah vernon
megan kelly (d)
karina allen
catherine johnson
jessica lawrence
sarah parnell

eben-ezer
paul landry (d)
hank hughes * (d)
kendra sherer
lauren crenshaw
alex kicker
maegan rogers
katie shepherd
johnna thibodeaux
courtney karam
christina lockard
elissa yglesias
leslie abdalla
elizabeth johnston

cienegas
jeramie anderson(d)
greg hays (d)
chad schoonmaker
patrick apikes
justin kenny
andrew barry
chris beale
ryan mclin (d)
ron davis
amber hays *
shannon meyers
randi stiller
lana hunt (d)
pam hays
jodie dupuy
stephanie jiminez *
rebecca deluna *
brenda garcia *


* = interpreters
d = driver

the plan @ lamadrid... and peniel

lamadrid is a small town about 45 minutes outside of monclova, surrounded by the sierra madre mountains. the church has only been there a few years, and is still getting on its feet. along with a church from texas, peniel supports this mission church and sends someone to preach each week. here is the plan at lamadrid (as of right now)...

• we will arrive sometime saturday afternoon/evening
• sunday school and church sunday morning... we will take the children out and work with them during the service; in the afternoon we will canvass the area and invite people to the church for the various activities happening during the week
• mon-tues mornings the team will work to complete more concrete squares on the basketball court behind the church. afternoons will be spent out in the community, prayer walking, doing door-to-door prayer, and inviting people to the services monday and tuesday nights (luis will preach).
  
• after the service tuesday night, the team will load up and move to peniel for the rest of the week. at peniel the group will help finish all the work on the addition to the building and the driveways. once that is done, they will canvas the area and invite people to the holy week services that start on wednesday (hank will preach)
• thursday has no plan yet, other than heading home that evening
  

the plan @ eben-ezer

eben-ezer was a mission church started and sponsored by peniel, but they (like us) have become an independent church in the last year. the pastor's name is chuy (pronounced sort of like chewy) and this is also where our good friend santa serves. chuy was in the youth group when the bcm first started going to peniel, and the men of the church mentored him and have entrusted the church to him as pastor. he has a tremendous heart for the Lord and for the people of his community. here is the plan (as of right now)...

• this team will eat and sleep at peniel, but will work in the town of ejido cosme, which is about an hour away. this is a place where eben-ezer has begun to minister alongside a local church, much like they did in cienegas.
  
• sunday school and church sunday morning; in the afternoon the team will go out to cosme to invite people to the activities happening during the week
  
• mon-wed mornings the team will travel to cosme and spend the day there in the community. there will be vacation Bible school in the morning for about 50 kids. in the afternoon the team will prayer walk the town, and invite people to the service that night. after the service, everyone will return to monclova for dinner at eben-ezer.
  
• thursday has no plan yet, other than leaving to head home
  

the plan @ cuatro cienegas

cuatro cienegas is a small town about 1.5 hours from monclova. the team will stay at the church but will work in different parts of the community where the church is trying to build relationships. here is the plan (as of right now...)

• the team will arrive sometime saturday evening
• sunday school and church sunday morning; in the afternoon the team will probably go visit the pockets of the community where the activities will take place during the week and spread the word; church at night
• mon-thur mornings there will be vacation Bible school for the kids (between 200 and 250), and a Bible study for the moms. the pastors hope this will launch a consistent small group for these women
  
• monday and wednesday afternoon the team will do a lot of door-to-door ministry along with the people from the church, inviting them to the services and praying for their needs
• tuesday afternoon the team will go and give out food and clothes in a very needy part of the community. this will be another way this local church reaches into their community
• after lunch on thursday, the team will leave cienegas and head to monclova to meet up with the others and head home