Blessings to all who read this update!
I am blessed as ever serving here at Calvary Chapel Pedregales and Tijuana. We just had a two day staff meeting at Pastor Chris’ house in Cantamar to plan out the activities at both churches for the entire year! Our minds felt a bit fried at the end, (well, at least mine did), but it felt good to get everything on paper. I am looking forward to a blessed 2013 and ready to be used by God how ever He desires to!
We ended 2012 with a bang! So many fun activities in the month of December—too many to write about, but here are a few highlights
The kids of CC Pedregales once again put on an excellent Christmas drama. I know I’ve said this before, but it’s true—every year is better than the last. They really put 100% into it; they’ve actually become quite the performers. We had practices daily for about two weeks, and they came in the rain, even some were sick but never missed a practice. This drama focused on the animals in the stable and they told the story of the birth of Jesus from their perspective. Then of course, they all sang and danced at the end—it was fabulous!
The Lord again provided shoebox gifts for all of our kids through CC Saving Grace. About 43 brothers and sisters came out and blessed all of the kids with a gift, and we had a clown group give a great gospel message with games and lots of fun and of course the opportunity to receive Him as their Lord and Savior. A big thank you (a little late) to David Wilkinson and all of the saints from Saving Grace!!
All of the teachers from CC Pedregales and CC Tijuana gathered together and formed a choir for Christmas this year. It was our first ever choir and it was such a blessing to sing praises to our King during a special Christmas service. I hope to keep this tradition going as it was a time of bonding and sweet fellowship. Please pray for more teachers to be raised up. Three had to step down from ministry this month due to changes in their work schedules.
I was able to surprise my mom and be with my family on Dec. 24th and 25th to celebrate Christmas with them. I haven’t done this in a long time so it was very special. We had a great time together!
I was also blessed to be able to attend this year’s Mission’s Conference at Murrieta Hot Springs in January. My mom lives about 5 minutes from the Conference Center so I was able to stay with her which was a double blessing for me. It’s always a great time to see friends and fellow missionaries serving in different places around the globe and to hear what God is doing. I look forward to this every year—it is a great way to start off the New Year. Deanna, a fellow missionary friend, is leaving for India soon to serve there for one year.
Thanks again for all of your prayers for us here in Tijuana, and please pray for the little ones and the elderly with these cold temperatures. Praise God for the break in the recent weather change, but I’m sure that winter is not over yet, and with no insulation in the homes and no heat, it gets c-o-l-d.
Let me tell you about my friend Debbora Braddish. She has been with us at CC Tijuana for about 7 years now. She has been such a great blessing to all of us—she is an example of a Christian woman who is truly abandoned to the Lord. While here in Tijuana, she founded an organization called “Operation Mercy.” This is a group of brothers and sisters that went out and ministered to the poorest of the poor on the streets of Tijuana, showing mercy to many people by healing their wounds, washing their feet, helping the elderly by changing their diapers….She is now being called to Calcutta India. She has a visa for 10 years, and she is going not knowing where she will live, but is just being obedient to the Lord’s calling to show mercy to the poorest of the poor in India. She has sold everything that she owns, and has only a backpack of the necessary items for her trip, as she will be on foot much of the time. I am telling you a little bit about her so that you could pray for her as she goes on her adventure of faith. I along with many others, will truly miss her.
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Pictures:
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#1: My Dear Friend Debbora
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#2: Kids singing and dancing at the finale of the Drama
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#3: Yareli and her Christmas gift
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#4: Kids worshiping Jesus
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#5: Kids clowning around
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#6: Teacher’s Christmas choir
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#7: My Family
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#8: Missions Conference
