South Padre Island...

Can you say missionary beach bums??? That's what we thought...we had a very fun day at South Padre Island for a good chunk of the day...the kids were so excited to see the "ocean" for the first time in their lives. There was lots of jumping and splashing in the waves and all three kids can now say they have been completely submerged in ocean water (and got some good tastes of it along the way...).

As Sandy and I took a walk along the beach (a few moments without the kids...) we reflected on the fact that we were so blessed and that it was so good we were able to have this little time to transition in between our Mexico experience and getting back to Manitoba...our emotions are certainly all over the place these days.

Tomorrow we are heading over to RGBI (where Sandy and I first met some 16 years ago...) to see what it looks like there and to let the children see this "historic" place in our lives...we also will do a little bit of shopping and then mostly just a relaxing day enjoying the scenery and peaceful Guest House atmosphere.

Happy New Years!

Gerald

U.S.A...

Praise the Lord we have made it to our first destination...McAllen, Texas. We left Cuauhtemoc yesterday morning at 9:30 a.m. (this included loading the entire van, doing a last minute clean and mop of the house, and saying goodbye to Tanya, Samantha and Hilda). We all shed tears, including the children...they were very, very sad to say goodbye to our friends, our home and our city...it was very special to see them having become so attached to our life there (we walked into the local grocery store to grab a few items for the trip and everyone's eyes and faces were red and blotchy from all the crying...must have been quite the sight).

We got across the border in 45 minutes and by 5 p.m. we had arrived at our hotel in Fort Stockton. We had a reasonable night...what can you expect in a jam-packed hotel beside the freeway? This morning we got up at around 6:30 (awake from 5:00 a.m.) and by 7:30 we were at McDonald's for breakfast and by 8:15 we were on the road...and I mean on the road...the I-10 has a speed limit of 80 MPH so let's just say that our old '96 van was pretty much pinned...77 MPH humming down the road. We made great time to San Antonio and stopped for lunch around 1 p.m.

(We have been looking for license plates...we now have Hawaii checked off...)

We have been in "culture shock" mode most of the day today...when we stopped at a Rest Stop along the way the kids ran out of the van and were hooting and hollering about the "green grass" and the big trees...they liked being able to throw the T.P. into the toilet too, not having to chuck it into the garbage can. Sandy and I are also dealing with seeing all the "wealth" and so on...not to used to that in the last several months...



Then we headed south to the Rio Grande Valley and arrived here at our destination at 5 p.m. It was so good to see our friends here and they have put us up in an awesome Guest Home...These friends are folks that were missionaries down in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, together with Sandy when she was down there back in the mid-90's...we had lots of catching up to do with them.
Tomorrow we are doing something touristy...going to South Padre Island all together for the day...the forcasted temp is 27 Celsius (80 Fahrenheit) so we will enjoy that for sure...the kids are so pumped about being able to see and go into the "ocean." We will take lots of pics I'm sure...

(Can you say "road trip?")

Anyways, we are bushed so are off to bed and hoping for a better sleep...


Thanks so much for all your prayers...the Lord is taking such good care of us...

Gerald

Youth Conference...

Our last day in Mexico has come to a close...time for bed. While I spent the day at the Youth Conference, Sandy was at home doing dozens of last minute things, most of which included cleaning...The house is now spotless...at least I think it looks great, although Sandy is not convinced. It will be what it will be and we will give it one last quick once-over as we walk out the door tomorrow morning.

We hope to get a good and early start and hopefully be on the road in good time. We have about a 7 hour day of travelling planned for tomorrow...this will get us across the border by Ojinaga/Presidio and then into Texas several hundred miles. We are trusting the Lord that the border crossing will go well and that the van will work good loaded down again.

My time at the Youth Conference today was very good...the churches in our Conference down here in the State of Chihuahua get together every summer for a week of camp and then again for the New Year for two days. There were approximately 65 youth there today, which is close to their average over the last several years. I was impressed with how well run the event is and the speaker did a great job of speaking the truth. It was not easy to say goodbye to a bunch of the youth at the event but that is a blessing because God allowed us to get to know and love so many people in such a short time.

Walter and Chepina dropped by about 1/2 hour ago to say goodbye as well...we sure will miss them allot as well.

Well, off to bed and hopefully get some good rest before we take off tomorrow!

Blessings,

Gerald

Nearly Done...

One more sleep...as the kids say! We are nearly ready to pack the van (which we will do in the morning instead of tonight because we don't have a secure garage to park the van inside). As you can see by the pile of stuff, my fears of not fitting it all in probably were for not...I think it should fit in well and hopefully we won't have to use the roof rack.

This morning we went out for breakfast with Don and Minna...it has been so good to be together with them here in Mexico...we sure appreciated their friendship and support and our kids attached themselves to them very quickly as their "grandparents."

Saying goodbye is not fun but we have also been blessed these last few weeks to see people that we had hoped to see one more time and then say goodbye. God has been looking after us and our schedule in such amazing ways, allowing so many things to work out that we thought would be impossible.

I am heading off to the Youth Conference for the day and Sandy will finish up last minute cleaning in the house and packing...we are very close to ready and excited as well.

Take care,

Gerald

Two More Sleeps

The pile of things packed is growing. We spent a good part of yesterday cleaning and packing. Gerald said that it feels like we are living in a hotel now since all the clothes are in suitcases. Most of the house is back to the way that we found it. Now the kids have strict instruction not to touch several walls of the living room. Today it will be more of the same. We hope to have everything packed and rearranged by the end of today. Tomorrow while Gerald is at the youth conference I will do the last of the cleaning.

Today at 10 I am going back over to Tanya's house to teach her how to make cinnamon rolls. I had taken a plate over there last week and now she wants to know how to make them. I am looking forward to spending another morning with her.

This afternoon we will go downtown one more time to finish the list (items that we need to replace in the house).

All three kids got up this morning and asked if we were leaving today. I think they are getting ready to be done with all the disarray and not being allowed to play in certain areas. Two more sleeps!

I guess I better get to work.
Sandy

Feliz Navidad Desde Mexico...

From our home to yours...we wish you a very Merry Christmas!!! We have enjoyed some amazing times of visiting these last few days with various people, both church and non-church folks. Yesterday (Monday), we went out for lunch with Walter and Chepina and their two adult children, Walter and Jenny. We had a wonderful time, eating great food and visiting for close to three hours...we will miss that family so much...they are so special.

After our visit with them we headed over to Saul and Oralia's house as they had invited us to join them for supper and the evening on Christmas Eve. We enjoyed a great time with them, including that the kids got to see Roxie (our former dog) one last time before we head back to Canada. They gave the kids and us some gifts and we thanked them again for their friendship.

(Andrew with his favourite dog...Roxie...)

Normally the tradition around here is that people stay up past mid-night to celebrate Christ's birth...we only lasted until about 10:30...

The first thing this morning the kids checked out what was in their cool stockings (thanks to Auntie Nancy for helping the kids make them when you came to visit in November). After a huge breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon we proceeded to read the Christmas story and spend some time in prayer, giving thanks to God for his blessings. Then the kids opened their gifts from the Reimer Grandparents and Uncle Jake and Auntie Darlene...thank you so much for those blessings...the kids were pretty pumped. We have decided not give them anything from us now because we won't have room for much on the way home...they will get these gifts when we arrive back in Manitoba.





After opening gifts we zipped over to the church for a Christmas Day service...and then we said "goodbye" to a number of those dear folks whom we won't see again before we leave. After church we again zipped home to go over to Antonio and Tanya's house as they had invited us over for lunch (actually they invited us for brunch but we re-arranged for lunch). We had a great time connecting with them for a couple of hours as well...and I appreciated the chance to spend some quality time talking with Antonio, something I had not done a whole lot as of yet. He made the lunch, including a special salsa that he had made specifically for me because he heard that I liked hot sauce...I didn't disappoint him...I heaped it on to my taco and they applauded...I may pay for it later but it was a lot of fun.

The rest of the afternoon we hung out at home and played games and relaxed. Tomorrow we continue with the job of cleaning the house, organizing, packing and so on...it will be a busy couple of days before we leave on Saturday morning.

Have a great evening,
Gerald

Christmas Service...

Today was a full day...we went to church in the morning for our Christmas service and after church we had a potluck lunch (Sandy was told to bring a main course dish which she did but decided to bake a pan of brownies just as something extra...turns out she was the only one that brought dessert so that pan of brownies disappeared pretty quickly...). After church she made a couple of more pies and then off we went to join the youth for a progressive supper/Christmas caroling evening. We went to several homes to sing and eat some food (tamales at one stop...very yummy) and then finished off here at our home in the evening for some games and pie. The kids loved hanging out all evening with the youth and especially liked the gift exchange game!

(Playing some games at the different houses we stopped in to carol...)

(Oscar giving us the "who me?" look...)

(Jenny and Evelynne, two special friends of ours...)

First thing this morning I went over to our neighbour's homes to confirm that they were coming to church with us...they said they would show up and...they didn't...which made us quite sad. But the Lord reminded us that this is in his hands and that the H.S. is at work in their hearts...it is not our job to "win" them to the Lord, just to be faithful in walking this journey with them as much as we are able. Thanks for your prayers on their behalf.

Tomorrow, the 24th, we are out for lunch with the pastor couple, Walter and Chepina and their children and then in the evening we are going out for supper to Saul and Oralia's home. Looks to be a fun, but full day! The kids are pumped about seeing our previous dog, Roxie, one more time out at the farm at Saul's house.

We are in our last week of living here and this morning during the church service we were thanked many times, both formally during the service and informally by many individuals. They brought us to the front of the church to pray for us and wish us God's blessing...just as they did on the first Sunday we were here nearly 5 months ago. It was an emotional morning for us and yet a beautiful one as well...all because of God blessing us with so many friends!

Off to bed to get some rest...

Gerald

Pies and More Pies

The house has a wonderful aroma in it right now. I started the morning by making blueberry muffins for breakfast. Since then I've spent the morning making pies. We are hosting the youth for a Christmas party tomorrow. Gerald is busy getting the house ready (sweeping and mopping) while I have been in the kitchen this morning. I've made two pumpkin pies and an apple pie. Tomorrow afternoon I will make a chocolate pudding pie. There was some pumpkin mixture left over so I put some dough in muffin pans and made six little pies. The kids will enjoy those today! As I often do, I used the left over crust to make strips with sugar and cinnamon - the kids like those too! Gerald thinks I have too many pies. Is that possible?

We will have lunch and then head out to John and Lorna's.

Tomorrow is the Christmas service - Gerald is preaching. After church we are having a pot luck. Then we will rush home and make the last pie before we head out to go caroling with the youth. We will end up at our house for pie and a present exchange. The kids are looking forward to that!

Well, time to take pies out of the oven.

Enjoy your weekend,
Sandy

School is Done!

School is done until January - Yeah!! We finished this morning and started to pack all the books away. Olivia started to cry and went to her room. She didn't want to be done. The rest of us were excited to start a nice break from school. We are two days short of being half way done with this school year. What an experience to say that we had half a year of school in Mexico.

We were busy today starting to put Alvira's house back the way she had it. Once we got all the school stuff put away Gerald moved the table back into the office. We had taken pictures when we first got here so we looked at the pictures on the computer and started to put her things back the way she had them. We still have more to do but we got a good start. Now that we are in the mode of cleaning and getting ready to come home we are excited about it. The good-byes will be hard.

Andrew seems to have turned the corner. He is still coughing some but is feeling better and seems more like himself. Thank you for your prayers. We are thankful that he is better. Either we all ate something bad or we all have a bit of the flu bug.... Nothing too serious, but we all have been making regular trips to the bathroom.

Tomorrow we are heading out after lunch to John and Lorna Wall's (missionaries to the Germans Mennonites). We are looking forward to spending the afternoon with them. The kids are looking forward to being out in the country once again.

Have a good weekend,
Sandy

Thursday

I've had a very quiet afternoon. It is a beautiful day today and Gerald decided to take the kids and Lobo to the park. I spent the time getting the school lesson plans ready so I don't have to do it right after we get home. Christmas music was playing on the computer and I was enjoying the quiet moment.

Samatha and her mom, Hilda, came last night to our small group. Walter, the pastor, very clearly and plainly laid out the plan of salvation. The seeds are being sown and we pray that they will take root and grow. When you think of Tanya, Samatha, and Hilda please pray that they will come to know Jesus as their Savior!

Tonight is the last prayer meeting. We were going to go as a family but Andrew is not doing very well so Gerald will go alone. Please continue to pray for Andrew. If he isn't better by morning I think we will take him to the doctor. Hopefully a good night sleep will help.

Tomorrow is our last day of school. I plan to spend the afternoon getting the school stuff all packed and ready to travel. We are all looking forward to a break.

Enjoy your evening,
Sandy

Shop Until You Drop!

Yes we shopped and shopped today! After we finished school today we went downtown to try and finish up the list. One thing we needed to get was five presents under 20 pesos for the party with the youth on Sunday. Olivia still thinks that she should buy something that she wants. Andrew also needed a new pair of pants - he has grown since we have been here and most of his pants have gone to Caleb. We went into many stores for the first time. While we enjoyed that, it seems kinds of sad that we have been so busy that we haven't had time to explore the city very much. We needed to find some wooden spoons to replace the ones we have broken. We still need to replace a few of the glass drinking glasses that we also broke. (sorry Alvira)! Most of the items on the list were crossed off today.

Now we are changing gears and getting ready for our last small group meeting tonight. Gerald and I went over to the neighbors about an hour ago to make sure they were still coming with us. Their van is in the shop but Gerald told them that was no excuse, we can all pile into our van. So, as far as we know, they are all coming with us. They also talked about coming to church on Sunday.

One thing I am quite concerned about is that Andrew seems to have developed a cough. With his asthma this is usually a bad sign. Please pray that this would not develop into anything serious.

Have a good evening,
Sandy

Hard Decisions!

We actually turned down an invitation today - we were invited by two different families to another Christmas program tonight. Our schedule has been really busy and we were starting to wonder if we were coming or going. So tonight we decided it was time to stay home and have an evening as a family. After supper we played some table games and the kids actually got to bed at a timely hour. The next few nights will be late once again so an early evening will be good for us.

I spent the afternoon at Tanya's visiting. We had a good conversation about lots of things. She is very open to talking about life issues. We were commenting about how blessed our friendship is considering the shortness of time and my lack of Spanish. I will miss her so much. Gerald and I are "pushing" them very much to make sure they attend our last small group tomorrow night. Gerald has also invited the whole Lara family (Tanya's sisters and brother) to come to church on Sunday. Since Gerald is preaching on Sunday and it is our last Sunday here we are praying they come. We would love to have them meet others in the church so that they will feel more comfortable to come on their own after we are gone. They keep saying that they will be there to hear Gerald preach.

As we looked at the calender today we see only one day without a commitment. No wonder I am feeling a little overwhelmed with all the cleaning and packing that has to be done. We have three days of school left before we take a break. Christmas Day we plan on attending the service at church in the morning and then spending the rest of the day as a family.

Well, Gerald is listening to the Raptors game and I am going to go warm up in the shower. Even with two pairs of socks on my feet are cold. Have a good evening.

Sandy

What a Weekend...

On Saturday I taught my last Bible Institute class and now all I have left is correcting, etc. Although there were just a few students who took the class, it was a blessing and a privilege to be part of that training for our leaders here.
Yesterday morning, Sunday, we left around 9 a.m. for Chihuahua city to spend the day. Our first stop was the Jehova Nisi church (one of two in the city that belong to our Mission) where I preached the Word...and preached and preached...Sandy said I almost went 50 minutes...didn't seem that long to me...I was having a great time...and in this Latin culture, it seems to go over okay...apparently for Sandy taking care of 3 kids it did seem long...go figure!
We went out to Ricky's Tacos for lunch...they have great Mexican food and the kids loved the play structure...3 stories high and it included a small soccer field suspended in the air...the boys were in their like little Mexican all-stars playing their hearts out...can you say sweaty Sunday clothes?
We were going to go to Wal-mart to do a little Christmas shopping but it was packed...and so we left. We went over to a small park (across the street from where I used to live 15 years ago) and let the kids play for awhile before we headed over to the other church and joined them for their special Christmas service...a very nice service...but quite late, as we were all getting pretty tired already. We got back to our home in Cuauhtemoc at 10:30 last night.
This morning we went to Leo's school Christmas program, Samantha's son. It was also a good program but long...but we did it to keep building relationships with this family. When we got home Olivia was so tired she just climbed into her bed and took a 2 hour nap!
The rest of the afternoon was spent in cooking and cleaning as we had company this evening for supper...friends of ours who own the Restaurant that we have talked about in the past...we had a great evening together with them. Sandy just finished doing the dishes and we decided to write a quick blog to let you know we are still alive and kicking, but running on adrenaline by now as with less then two weeks to go we have a jam-packed schedule of meeting people to say "goodbye," Christmas programs, church events, etc., before we leave.
Please pray that we would have stamina to make it through this last stretch and that we would stay healthy, as a number of us are struggling to fight off colds.
Once again we have to say that we are so blessed to be here and praise the Lord for this amazing opportunity!

Gerald

Baking Classes

I love our neighbours! What a fun afternoon I had today over at Tanya's house. A few weeks ago I took a plate of cookies over to Tanya's house - something I have done many times in my life in Canada. Tanya and Samatha LOVED the chocolate chip and no bake cookies and wanted to learn how to make them. So today was the day. I took all the ingredients over to Tanya's house and we spent the afternoon making both types of cookies as well as a cranberry cheese dessert that I had made before. We had so much fun talking and baking. They are such amazing people and I am so blessed to have gotten to know them a little bit.

(Sandy and the ladies with the baking on display...)

Last night we went to Leo's birthday party. Leo is Samatha's son. Again, we feel so blessed to have been "adopted" by this family. They have asked us again and again if we have to go back to Canada. They ask lots of questions about what we do - both here and in Canada. We have been thrilled that they seem so open and searching. Our prayer is that they all come to know Jesus as their Saviour.

(Leo being sung to for his 8th birthday...)

(Samantha reading a bedtime story to Monserat and Olivia with Monse's mother Jesica sitting beside them...this was at the end of Leo's birthday party...)

We are headed to a Christmas concert tonight. Tomorrow Gerald is teaching his last Bible Institute and I am heading back to the neighbours to learn how to make some Mexican dishes. Hopefully I will be as good of a student as they were today. :)

(Tanya, Sandy and Samantha...)

Sandy

Day to Day!

The calendar is full. Yesterday was our small group meeting. Today is Leo's birthday party. Tomorrow I am teaching Tanya and Samatha to make Chocolate Chip Cookies and a few other desserts (this is a change of date from the other day) and in the evening we are going to a Christmas concert. Saturday Gerald has his last class at the Bible Institute. While he is teaching I will be learning to cook a few Mexican dishes at Tanya's house. Sunday we are in Chihuahua all day. Gerald is preaching in one church in the morning and in the evening we are at another church for their Christmas program. Monday we are going to Leo's school program. Tuesday is free as of now. :) Wednesday will be our last small group meeting. Oh how we will miss our friends. Tears come very easy as we think of having to say good bye to all the precious people we have come to call friends.

On top of all that I am still teaching school and starting to think about all the cleaning and packing that has to take place. Gerald is stocking up salsas to bring home (he bought two for Mr. Mo today). He has gotten the boys into having contests to see who can eat the most without taking a drink. Olivia and I are more interested in the candy stores. If I listened to Olivia the van would be full of candy.

We have been so blessed! What an enriching experience this has been for our family.

Well, the kids are saying they are hungry so it is time to get lunch. Thank you for your support and prayers. Have a good weekend.
Sandy

The Countdown Begins...

We have entered into the time of saying our "goodbyes." Yesterday I went to the Emanuel church prayer meeting for the last time followed by my last contact with my SEAN students. I told them how much I appreciated them all and how they had blessed me over the last few months. It was fun to hand out the final marks to my students and see the joy on their faces!

Yesterday also marked the beginning of initiating our plans for our trip home...we reserved a fancy MOTEL 6 room in Texas as our first stop on our way to McAllen in Southern Texas to see some friends before we turn north to C 'eh' N 'eh' D 'eh'... We are also planning on stopping in at RGBI, the school where Sandy and I first met many years ago...should be a fun stop! Sandy also began to do to some sorting, organizing and packing yesterday as we anticipate our departure...it is an overwhelming task for Sandy so pray that she would relax and have peace about it and that we would all pitch in to help with this process!

The kids are changing our countdown calendar to Christmas and this morning it says "13 Days." That seems like it is coming very quickly. Tonight we have small group again...continue to pray for our neighbours Samatha and Tanya as they are planning on coming tonight again. Sandy is actually going over to Tanya's this afternoon to teach her and Samantha how to make Chocolate Chip Cookies and then learn how to make some Mexican dishes from them as well...should be a fun time for all of them!

Enjoy the balmy weather!

Gerald

"The Character Of A Leader" - Pastor's Retreat Theme

What can we say? The Lord blessed in more ways than we even know about...in our view, the Pastor's Retreat was a royal success! All the pastors showed up that were invited (we only have seven churches in our Conference here that have pastors/lay leaders...the rest of the churches simply have different folks in charge of finding speakers, etc.) We were a group of seven pastor couples and Sandy and I...it was a great size group for some amazing intimate times of sharing and praying and so on.

(The group of pastors all together...)

It was a real joy to hand out gift bags as everyone arrived and then our ice-breaker games to start the weekend seemed to go over very well and definitely "broke the ice." The Saturday evening session was very good...lots of good interaction. And the concert that night was a highlight for everyone...especially because they all seemed to have met the singer before and knew most of her songs.

(The beautiful hostess...)

(Enjoying some ice-breaker games...)

Late Saturday evening we noticed that another group that was scheduled to be using the Business Meeting Room, had not shown up. On Sunday morning we confirmed that we could use the room instead of just sitting in the "Continental Breakfast" area of the lobby...this was a huge answer to prayer as we now had better privacy and, together with Sandy's simple yet special touch of decorations, the room was ours to enjoy.

Sunday morning we had a "workshop" time, which included tons of sharing, interaction, discussion and fellowship. After a short break, we gave away more resources and then had a time of worship before I shared some thoughts about the Spiritual Battle that we all face, especially them as pastors.

(One of our group sessions...)

After our session we spent a bunch of time sharing and praying for each other. After that Sandy and I led the group in celebrating the Lord's Supper. We finished off the weekend with about 4 couples staying to do some bowling...some never having done it before...and Sandy got the highest score...she was most pumped that she beat me!!!

(Aldo getting ready to throw a strike...)

(Sandy and Josefina enjoying the bowling game...)

We feel so blessed to have been part of this experience and we heard numerous comments about how they hoped this would not be the first and last retreat but that they could do this annually as well as work harder on staying connected throughout the year (they all get together four times a year for business meetings...a suggestion was made to incorporate more time before or after those meetings for prayer and sharing). Sandy and I tried (I think successfully) to simply be in the background and let them all interact with each other - we hope they will be motivated to keep going with this...many mentioned feeling lonely in their work!

Thank you for your prayers for this event...God answered! We are also so thankful that our children had a great weekend over at Don & Minna Thiessen's home (thank you guys sooooo much for helping us out!!!!).

We have less then three weeks left and the schedule is packed with work, programs and lots of visiting before we say our tearful goodbyes!

Gerald

An Awesome Beginning

It is with much joy we have watched the pastors connect today. We started off the retreat with some ice breaker games and they went over very well. After supper we had our first session and there was some great interaction. On behalf of the conference we purchased and distributed some resources as well as some small gifts of appreciation. We both feel like it has been a great start and a good day. We are looking forward to another great day tomorrow. Thank you for your prayers and please continue to pray for our day tomorrow. Time to head to bed.

Good night!

Gerald and Sandy

Retiro Pastoral...

We are leaving in about an hour to take the kids to Don and Minna's and then to head out to Chihuahua for the Pastor's Retreat. We are very excited and also a little nervous. Again, we ask that you pray for a great weekend for the pastors. We pray that the enemy will be bound and God's power will abound and the pastors will be blessed. In many ways, this weekend is some what of a climax of our time here in Mexico and so we hope that it goes well and continues to be bathed in prayer!

We had our small group last night. Our neighbors did not come last night. Tanya feels very nervous with her one year old. He has a LOT of energy and she feels she can't relax and listen to the lesson when he runs around. Samatha and her mom live together and run a small business out of their house. They had some clients coming last night from out of town and came by to tell us that they couldn't come. They still have a lot of desire to continue with the group and feel really bad when they can't come.

While we don't have a typical Christmas to look forward to, we are enjoying lots of good Christmas music on the Internet. We have been invited to numerous Christmas programs and events, as well as to people's homes over the next few weeks. We are excited to be able to celebrate this amazing time of the year with our Mexican brothers and sisters and friends!

God Bless!
Gerald & Sandy

Please Pray for Us!!!

We have a very big weekend coming up - the Pastor's Retreat! We know that this is important and has the potential to really unite the pastors and encourage them in their work. We also know that it is a weekend that the enemy doesn't want to happen and we sense and feel the opposition to that. It comes in many forms from the kids having nightmares to little frustrations getting out of hand. The bottom line is that we know we are in a battle and we need your prayers. The list is really endless but here are a few specifics that we would like to ask you to pray for. The rest we will leave for the Lord to put on your mind and hearts.

1. Safety while everyone travels to Chihuahua
2. Unity among the pastors
3. Protection for Andrew, Caleb and Olivia while we are gone - we know the enemy loves to attack our children.
4. That Gerald would be anointed by the Lord as he shares in the sessions
5. That the pastors would be able to relax and be blessed and filled up once again.
6. That Gerald and I would follow the Lords leading for the weekend
7. That the Lord's will would be done

Thank you!

Sandy

We are Sick!

We found a new candy store today - bigger and better than all the others that we have been to before. We tried several new things and a few of our favorites. Now we are all full and feeling a little sick from too many treats! But it sure was fun!!!!

We also purchased some chocolates for the pastors this weekend. We have been gathering all kinds of special gifts to hand out this weekend at the pastors retreat. Gerald has been working very hard on getting the session material ready. I've had the fun part of getting gifts organized and picked out for the wives. All the pastors will be there on Saturday. One is thinking of heading home for Sunday at his church. We would like to see them stay for Sunday too! Please pray that it will truly be a retreat for the pastors - that they will be refreshed and encouraged!

Our children are looking forward to spending the night at Don and Minna's on Saturday night. We are blessed that they are willing to keep the kids so we can facilitate the retreat. Thank you very much Don and Minna!!

Tomorrow Gerald does his last talk at Prayer Meeting on the 23rd Psalm. He will probably still attend until we leave but his leading the devotional will be finished. He has one more class for the Bible Institute - which he tells me he still has lots of prep to do for that. He also has all the exams from the SEAN class to correct. There is still much to do. We went to Samatha and Hilda's (Tanya's sister and mom) today for a visit. We are still so encouraged by their friendship and interest in our small group. Continue to pray that they would be well connected with our small group before we leave.

We had another gorgeous 25' day today. The laundry dried nicely and the kids played outside most of the day in their short sleeves. We realize that it will a shock to go back to a Manitoba winter. So for now we will continue to enjoy our life here - our church, our friends, and the weather.

Thanks for your prayers!
Sandy

The Days are Flying!

We have been flying the past few days. Sunday we were at our church for the morning. We were home all of 20 minutes while we "scarfed" some food down and then left for El Picacho. We got there around 2:30 for the three o'clock service where Gerald preached. After the service we enjoyed their pot luck supper. The kids enjoyed seeing the country town and playing outside for awhile.

Monday we had our first day of school since before the Wiens arrived. We sure enjoyed the week off, but now it was time to get to work once again. The afternoon we spent getting ready for our missionary Christmas supper and evening. We had a wonderful meal, great fellowship and an enjoyable time of playing some games.

This morning we went back to Don and Minna's house for a missionary staff meeting. It was good to connect and hear what everybody is doing in their ministry. It was a good time of prayer as well.

We have enjoyed Elma staying with us for the past two days. Elma works in Juarez with the church there. The kids have enjoyed reading to her and she also took them to the park today.

Gerald is out at his last SEAN class tonight - the exam. We are starting to see the winding down of the classes he is teaching. Our prayer request is that we would finish strong.

One last note - to those of you who are suffering with the cold and snow - we enjoyed 25' Celsius today. It was a beautiful warm day. :)

Have a great evening.

Sandy

The Virgin Mary...

Last night as we were getting ready to go to small group Tanya comes over and tells us that she is ready to go but her mother Hilda and sister Samantha are occupied and so she doesn't know what to do...she feels a little shy to come by herself. We convinced her to ride with us and then she could call her family and give them the directions so that if and when they were able to, they could come as well. We went over to our pastor Walter & Chepina's house and began to eat supper...and within about 30 minutes of being there, in come Hilda and Samantha...we were so pumped. First of all, that despite not ideal circumstances, Tanya still was willing to come along with us. And then later, when Hilda and Samantha were able to come, they actually choose to drive across the city to join us...at 8:30 p.m. on a rainy and cool evening...PTL.
It also turned out that the other two couples from our group were not able to attend so I think this actually gave the ladies more confidence in asking questions...which they did a lot. We talked about the Catholic faith, the differences between our faiths, baptism, the Virgin Mary and so on...it was very positive. Sandy and I told each other later that we were both praying a lot during the evening and saw the Lord continue to work in their hearts...and hats off to Walter & Chepina for doing a great job of answering questions while not being condemning. We definitely feel that we need to be deferring to them as much as possible throughout this month with this developing relationship as we will not be around for the long haul.
They all said they wanted to come to church tomorrow so hopefully we will be able to see that happen. Also, a couple of nights ago, Sandy and I went over to Tanya's house and I mentioned that I definitely wanted to encourage her husband Antonio to come to our small group as well. She said that, given his personality of being a loner, that would be unlikely, but she certainly felt that he would be open to having us come to their home to visit some more. We are praying for opportunities for this to happen in the next few weeks.

This morning the boys are at Awana and Sandy is doing a little bit of laundry. Olivia is doing some painting and I am supposed to be doing more prep for the coming weeks. Tomorrow we are going to our service in the morning and then heading out to El Picacho for a 3:00 service where I will be sharing the message. Pray for safety and joy in encouraging those brethren out there and for the above requests as well.

Blessings,
Gerald