Hey all! Hope you all are doing well despite the pandemic going on in the world. Isn’t this a crazy, strange time? We’re doing well down here in Oaxaca. Praise the Lord, the total cases and death counts haven’t reached the numbers that other places have reached.
Quick update on what’s been going on over the last few months. We had an amazing team from Calvary Chapel Rosarito come down before the COVID-19 stuff hit. What a blessing it was to have all of them here. They did construction in the church, added new lighting, electrical, walls, and built a sound booth and welcome center booth. We had two holistic medicine outreaches, which were a huge blessing to all who came and got checked by Dr. Miles. We also did a mini VBS for the kiddos, and had a married couples dinner. All who came to these events were so blessed along with us.
At the end of February, Calvary Oaxaca turned ONE! It’s hard to believe that we’ve been here for over a year now. In the first year of the church we have learned some tough lessons but we have also experienced such amazing blessings through it all. The Lord has surrounded us with people who love Him and have become our Oaxacan family. We had a fun little potluck at a park to celebrate the anniversary of the church.
I (Allison) started a bi-weekly women’s bible study in February. This was a huge stretch for me since public speaking is not something I’ve ever “enjoyed”. But God is SO GOOD. I tried to be diligent in studying the Word and preparing, and the Lord took away all of my fears as I taught. Don’t get me wrong, I will never take teaching the word of God lightly, and I know that it was not me, but the Holy Spirit teaching through me. I just think it’s so awesome to see the Lord’s hand on taking me from literally crying at the thought of speaking in front of 5 people, to being able to share like that. Sadly, after just 2 meetings, we had to cancel for the quarantine. And my english classes have been on hold too…super sad.
Jon has been doing so well during the quarantine. I know it’s hard on him, and all pastors, to not be able to have the people there when you teach. We are doing all of our services online for now. He is teaching through the book of Matthew on Sundays and the book of Genesis on Wednesdays. He is so great about spending time studying for each message. He has also decided to continue our Tuesday night prayer meetings online. This has been such a huge blessing for me to see, as people type in their requests and they are prayed for right then and there. This night of prayer has been such an awesome thing since the church started.
Jonny and Noah are doing well also. Since we already homeschooled, that hasn’t changed for us. They were taking taekwondo and music classes, so that looks very different for us now. They have their taekwondo classes through Zoom, which is cool that they have that availability. Jonny was taking drum lessons, so that has been put on hold since we don’t have a drum set. Noah is taking guitar and is able to have his classes online with his teacher. We are so proud of both of them. It’s been neat to finally have that “extra” feeling of this being our home with them starting these classes.
Before the quarantine, my mom and niece were able to visit. It was such a HUGE blessing to show them around. The highlight was having them be able to attend one Sunday church service, and see all that we’ve been telling them about. We got to show them around Oaxaca City, and just had a great time hanging out together. I’m so grateful that they were able to come. Literally right after they left, things with the coronavirus started getting bad.
We love keeping in touch with you all through texts, calls, social media, and visits. We try to keep in touch but if you need prayer or a friend to talk to, please reach out to us. We still have our same numbers and would love to be able to pray for and with you.
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- Please pray that the quarantine will end soon and that we can go back to meeting together and having that face to face contact with the church body. We really miss everyone so much.
- Please pray for those who have been out of work and are struggling financially.
- Please pray that the church body would feel loved, and that we can be encouraging to them from afar. We are trying to keep in touch with them all, but there are a few whose numbers we don’t have so we can’t contact them.
- Please pray for our continued growth in the language. Some days it’s so hard, and other days we are amazed that we’ve come so far. I always joke and say that Jon and I together are fluent, but separate we both have different strengths and weaknesses.
- Please keep our son Austin, my brother Craig, and our niece Rachel in prayer as they all work the front lines during this time, along with all of the front line workers.
PRAISE REPORTS:
- Praise the Lord for ONE YEAR as a church here in Oaxaca.
- For the lessons we’ve learned, even the really hard ones, because we know that God has been teaching us through each one.
- That Oaxaca has become more and more our home here on earth.
- We are so thankful for the friendships we have made here.
Thank you all for your love, support, prayers, encouragement, and all that you do for us. We are honored to call you all friends and we love you all. Like I said, please let us know how we can pray for you all.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For is they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up.”
Jon, Allison, Jonny, Noah