News January 2011

Hello to all,

Camp Meeting

How did five years get away from me? We had our first ever camp for youth up in the mountains five years ago. It was beautiful and had a powerful impact that has lasted all these years, but how could I wait so long to do another camp? One deterrent that held us back was the violence that has raged unremittingly these past years. I knew the parents would never allow me to take their teens up to the mountains again. So, the location would have to change, but how could I tell the kids that I was just taking them to a house—no mountain river, no lake, no swimming pool, no beautiful scenery. Well, I landed upon an idea...DO NOT TELL THE LOCATION UNTIL THEY ARRIVE! YEAH! IT'S A SURPRISE!!!! We drove 30 minutes away to our other house that we had lived in for 11 years when we were located in Coacoyul.
Somehow this camp was strangely reminiscent of our first camping experience—take every single thing that you will need for the next four days to feed and house 35 kids—every spoon, cup, food, stove, gas tank, (sorry, no water heater), pots and pans. There were four beds available but lots of space on the floor! Oh, yes, do not forget the first-aid kit, chairs and tables, and please, oh please, do not forget the toilet paper!!! Exactly how much should one buy for 40 people (including counselors and cooks) for 4 days? Hmm...Oh, did I tell you about our refrigerator? We used a huge cardboard box, a big block of ice and sawdust. Amazing, that box did not leak one drop of melting ice in 4 days and it was NOT surrounded by plastic! We kept all the beef and chicken cold along with other perishables as well as getting sodas cold!
So, on our first afternoon right after two hours of softball and volleyball we had exactly one hour for everyone to clean up and be ready for the evening service. Ok, all the guys outside to get washed down with the hose, and girls, you have five minutes apiece in the two showers.
What can be accomplished in four days? A lot, a really lot! Several learned how to swim. They learned all the countries in North America, Central America and South America. They learned about several countries, specifically Guyana, Equatorial Guinea, Spain, and India, taught by a college-age youth, Saín. They learned the books of the Bible; had approximately 5 hours of teaching on finances (they loved this class); an English class (taught by me, Becci) and learning how to read maps (taught by Dave). There was a two hour teaching about electricity and an hour teaching on Susanna Wesley, taught by Jonathan, a college-age youth.
Then there were the services at night. Madaí Hernandez, a young pastor from Mexico City, along with his wife, Maria Luisa, preached and gave their testimonies. Madaí had been raised from the dead when he was 11 years old so that had a powerful impact, as well as Maria Luisa, a girl from our congregation who is now in full-time ministry. The most significant things that happened at camp were 35 kids renewing their vows to walk with God and serve him! One night those who had received the call of God for full-time ministry or missions came forward, thus declaring openly that they had heard His voice and were surrendering to His will. They then had their feet washed, which was very moving. I never thought that the little retaining wall on the property would be converted into an altar, but it was a fantastic place to have an encounter with God.

Charapan

In our newsletter in the month of August we shared about 13 young people who went up into the mountains about 6 hours from here to have a one day children's meeting. At that time they invited us to come back and do a Vacation Bible School. We had been planning it for several months and a group of 5 young people had been working on preparing the classes and handwork for several weeks. The scheduled date to head north to the Sierra Madre Mountains and the descendants of the Purepecha people group arrived but after prayer and debate we canceled the trip. The level of violence escalated prior to Christmas. Barb Sobol, the FCA missionary who works in this town, said we needed to cancel the group as worse violence seemed impending. One thousand federal police officers besides army were controlling Uruapan expecting a major gun battle with the drug mafia. Several people had been killed a few days prior. The youth were so desperate to go they began to fast, and God responded. There was a window of opportunity, so we put them on the bus heading out-of-town on the 26th of December.
The pastor of the little mountain church had left on vacation having heard the last word that the group was not going to go to conduct the VBS. What a surprise he had when he came back from vacation! There never had been any young people in this little church. So, the decision was to work with children. The first day 27 children showed up and it steadily increased up to approximately 48 children on the last day. But our youth had made friends with several young people while they were there and decided to have a youth group. They had 10 youth come from the town—several of whom prayed to receive Jesus. So, on the last day of the event the little tiny church was BURSTING with life and totally packed out. The pastor arrived and was stunned! He kept saying; ”Where was I when all this happened?”

Dave & Becci

Photos from top to bottom
A Ministry Time In The Evening
A Foot Washing Ceremony For Those Feeling A Call For Christian Service
Studying The Maps
Some Young Praying After The Message
The Team From Agua Viva
The Children In The Charapan Church
Young People From Charapan With Members Of The Team
Some Boys Praying
A Couple Of Girls Who Attended