I can’t believe our last update was so long ago. Many things have happened in this time, including the blessing of having many teams and visitors over the summer. It was so amazing for us to see all of the gifts and talents that each team and individual has been given from the Lord. It’s so true that we are all parts of the body of Christ and that we all bring different things to the table to serve Him. Things that I have absolutely no talent in, someone else thrives in that area, and vice versa. Thank you to all of the people who came and served at Calvary Oaxaca this year, and those of you who were lifting up each team in prayer as they were here. We were so blown away by every part of these past few months. 

At the end of August we found a new church building to move into. What an amazing thing to have found a place for the Lord to grow His church. We were getting a little too crowded in our garage and it was getting hot in there. We had one neighbor kind of causing a stink about us having the church there and we didn’t want any issues with our neighbors or the law, even though we were doing everything legally. Praise the Lord for our residency visas being “religious” visas. So now we are in a huge building fairly close to our house! Praise the Lord for this location since a few of our neighbors come to the church and we’re all able to walk if/when needed. And thank you to those who have financially made this move possible! 

Jonny, Noah, and I (Allison) were able to visit Baja and California in September/early October. It was a super awesome time for us to see family and friends, and just spend some time with everyone. Austin graduated from Paramedic School and we were able to be there for that. We are so proud of him for all of his hard work, and grateful that he has an awesome wife in McKenna, who supported him during it all! 

We had our first baptism at one of the most beautiful places we’ve ever seen. Ten people made the decision to get baptized, and there were about 70 of us in total who went, including a team from CC Santa Barbara. 

Jon was able to fly up to Baja and California to attend the SoCal Men’s Conference in Anaheim. He was so blessed to be able to attend it, and hearing all of the amazing stories of lives saved and transformed is incredible. He was also able to teach at the Church Planting Course at Calvary Chapel Rosarito. As I’m writing this, he is still away on his trip and I’m so excited to know that he’s being filled and fed and will come home renewed and refreshed. 

We are now winding down the year and have been living in Oaxaca for almost 10 months now. We’ve had some ups and downs, and have learned some very hard lessons along the way. We have a greater understanding of things we may have never even thought we’d need to learn about, but the blessings and joy and just all around awesomeness of it all has been worth every moment. God has shown up in ways far beyond our needs and has taught us what it means to trust more and more in Him. He never fails us, does He? Praise the Lord for His faithfulness in the good and the bad times.

PRAYER REQUESTS: 

• This will be our first Christmas on the mission field, far away from family and friends. Each Christmas since we’ve been missionaries, we’ve been back in California for that time. Please pray for us to make it a memorable time for Jonny and Noah, and for us to not get too sad being away.
• I (Allison) will be having our first women’s Christmas event in December. This will be my first time teaching since we’ve been down here and I am nervous, but also super excited. Please pray that I won’t cry, which is something that I’m notorious for, and that the night would be a blessing for all who come as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior. 
• Please keep Jon in prayer as he prepares and teaches each week. He is so diligent in studying the Word and preparing for the Thursday night study and Sunday morning service. 
• We are in need of new sound equipment and instruments for worship. We’ve come across some issues with the sound and are working them out as much as we can, but please pray for a solution to this. It may be a simple fix, or something bigger that needs to happen. 
• We also need to find a solution to the heat in the building. We are unable to put AC in because there are openings all along the top of the building, so it wouldn’t be productive. Please pray that someone with knowledge in this area would help us with figuring this all out. It can get really hot in there and we’re not even in the hot months that are heading our way. 

PRAISE REPORTS:

• Praise the Lord for the new church building and those who have made it possible to get in there, and all of the help we’ve had with construction and getting it cleaned up.
• We are so blessed by the church body of Calvary Oaxaca. The people have a heart to serve the Lord and step in and help even before the need arises. These people have become our dear friends and brothers and sisters in Christ. It’s just such a blessing to have been called by the Lord to serve with the incredible people of Oaxaca.
• The boys have had friends hanging out and it’s so neat to have the sound of young men filling the house with laughter and joy.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and keep up with our adventures for Jesus here in Oaxaca, Mexico. We would love to hear from you and to know how we could be praying for all of you. Thank you for your prayers, support, and encouragement always. 

1 Corinthians 12:12 “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.”

Jon, Allison, Jonny, Noah