August 2021 – The Brechtel Family

Hey there! We’ve had a whirlwind couple of months here in Oaxaca, and a visit to California and Rosarito.

In June, we celebrated Father’s Day with the church. The kids sang for the dads and we had fun fellowship and games for the dads after the service. We also had Pastor Juan Carlos and Dr. Miles from Calvary Rosarito come down and put on a two-night evangelism conference. It was such a blessing to the people who came, and a blessing to us personally to have them come and fellowship with us.

We also started up the youth group in June! What a blessing this group is, and is continuing to grow into. Jonny and Noah are part of it so it’s awesome that they get to be part of a group of people around their age. Our friend from the church, Miguel, was leading the group but he and his wife had to move back to Puebla for her work as a teacher. Please keep this ministry in your prayers, that the Lord would put it on someone’s heart to take over the role as the leader and make it clear to Jon which man the Lord is calling into this position. For now, Jon will be teaching.

In July we took a quick trip to visit some friends who were on vacation in Puerto Escondido. This is the city that’s closest to the village we lived in for Spanish school in 2017. While we were walking down the street, a car drove by and started saying hi to us, mainly Jon. The driver stopped and got out and it was one of the guys who used to live at the rehab center that Jon visits. He told Jon that he’s been clean for a year, has a great job down there on the coast as a chef, and HE READS HIS BIBLE EVERY DAY AND GOES TO CHURCH. What a testimony of the power that investing in the lives of others can have. God is so good!!! While we were there, we also got to visit Cacalote and see our friends there. It’s always such a blessing to visit the place where the Lord placed the calling to Oaxaca on our hearts and lives.

Also in July, levels one and two of the Navigators class finished. These groups worked so hard and were so faithful to complete their “homework” and participate in the classes each week. After a break for a month or two, they will resume the classes again. What a blessing to see their diligence and the growth in each one of them.

In August we were able to fly up to Calvary Rosarito for the annual church planting conference. We were able to hear from many different church planters who shared their experience on the field and poured into those who are currently church planters and those who feel that calling on their lives. Added bonus was getting to see and hang out with so many of our friends from Rosarito and all over the world.

After the conference, we spent some time in California with family and friends. We got celebrate my mom’s birthday with her and some of the family, saw Jon’s mom a couple of times, did some fun things, visited Calvary San Juan a few times, the boys went to a high school event with the youth group, and Jon even got to teach at the men’s breakfast for CCSJC. It was an amazing time and refreshing. We learn from each visit that we need to slow down while we’re there, but it’s SO hard to do that.

When we flew back, our great friends the Delgados flew back with us. They serve at Rancho Poiema near Ensenada, a men’s discipleship ranch. We spent a few days showing them around Oaxaca City and exploring some of the Nacho Libre spots. It was a blessing to have them here with us and to show them the work that the Lord is doing here in Oaxaca, and to have Cesar teach with his wife Claudia translating for him. And two of their kids were able to come which made it extra fun for Jonny and Noah. Their son Manny is about their age and they all just picked up like no time had passed since they last saw each other.

Other than that, ministry is still moving along and amazing. We continue to have our Sunday service, our weekly prayer night, and Jon recently started teaching the book of Revelation on Wednesday nights. I am still teaching the book of James with the ladies, every other Thursday. We are so amazed to see all that the Lord is doing in the ministry, and what an honor to be a tiny part of His work.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

  • Please pray for all of the covid cases and that we can keep the church open. As of right now we are in orange, which means we can stay open with extra caution. If we go into red, we will need to go back to online services until we are no longer in red.
  • Please pray for all of the ministries within the church. We need more children’s ministry teachers/helpers so that it’s not always falling on the shoulders of the ones who already serve.
  • Please pray for all of the weekly teachings that take place in the church. That the Holy Spirit would speak through Jon when he’s teaching, and through me when I’m teaching the ladies.
  • Please pray for Jonny and Noah as they just started 9th grade. That they’ll understand the school work and Jon and I will be able to also understand it (algebra…eeeek) so we can help them.
  • We really need to figure out what to do about our car situation. Our visa for the car expires in February and we need to decide if it’s better to drive it up to the states and sell it, or try to get it imported which will also require a drive to the border. We are also really praying about somehow purchasing a vehicle for ministry so we can transport teams that come and the church members when we have events outside of the church. Many don’t have cars and we can only squeeze so many into our car.

Ok, I think I’ll FINALLY end this now. So much to share and we are grateful if you have read this far. We love you all and are so grateful to the Lord for your prayers, encouragement, and financial support. God bless you all for being a part of the Lord’s work in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Jon, Allison, Jonny, Noah Brechtel