Calvary Oaxaca is 5!
We have had an exciting couple of months here in Oaxaca. In January we had a team of amazing women come from Calvary Rosarito. We had a two night women’s conference that was a huge blessing for all who came. It was so fun to spend time with our friends, old and new, from Rosarito. For those of you that don’t know, we spent a year at the church planting course in Rosarito.
In February we had a married couples dinner to celebrate Valentine’s Day, and about 27 couples came. The youth helped serve the food and had a fun timing hanging out while the married couples listened to a message from Jon, played some games, and ate an amazing meal prepared by one of the ladies from our church.
At the beginning of March we celebrated FIVE YEARS of Calvary Oaxaca and all that the Lord has done. There are really no words to express how grateful we are that God called us here to Oaxaca and has given us a love for this place, and especially for the people. We have seen God’s hand in people’s lives in such amazing ways over these past 5 years including restored marriages, new faith in Jesus, baptisms, amazing friendships grow, and so much more. We have also seen His hand on our lives as He has made this our home, among many other things.
The men and women finished the book of Colossians a couple of weeks ago. This has been such a blessing to be studying the same book of the bible. Each week we have worship together and then I (Allison) teach the ladies and one of the men teaches the men. It’s a huge blessing that Jon has some men who can teach so he can be part of the study. I am praying for some ladies who might be able to teach too. We would love prayer for that.
Jon has been teaching 2-3 times a week in Spanish. Each week I see more and more improvement in his Spanish! I think we’ll be learning Spanish for the rest of our lives. Haha! Please pray for all 4 of us to continue to grow in this area. Jonny and Noah have lots of friends here who only speak Spanish and somehow they make it work, but they are still shy. Maybe they just don’t speak it in front of Jon and me and are speaking it when we’re not around.
The church keeps very busy during the week. Right now we are doing a Navigators class, prayer night, midweek study, men’s and women’s bible study, Jon has his church planting class on Friday nights, and youth group on Saturday. It’s so fun!
We continue to go to the casa hogar each month to spend time with our friends there. They have become more like family than anything. I have also been teaching some of them how to drive once a week or so. It’s been an adventure.
We also have the exciting news that we will have another granddaughter in August. Austin and McKenna are expecting their second daughter and we can’t wait. Myla is already almost a year and a half, and it’ll be so fun to see them become a family of four. Another exciting thing is that Jonny will be turning 18 in April. I can’t believe we’re going to have two adult sons, and Noah is only a year behind Jonny.
Please continue to keep us in prayer as we serve the Lord here in Oaxaca. We are so grateful for all of you who keep us in prayer, reach out, and support our family and the ministry here financially. If you’d like to support us, please click the link. And please sign up for our email updates. We also continue to post a lot of updates on Instagram and Facebook.
Jon, Allison, Jonny, Noah
“Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.” Psalm 107:1
Posted in Uncategorized and tagged 5 years, Calvary Chapel Oaxaca, calvaryoaxaca, church planting, Mexico, Oaxaca by Jon Brechtel with comments disabled.
December 2023 Oaxaca
Hello from Oaxaca! It’s been a long time since our last update so we’ll just fill you in on what’s been going on the past couple of months. Things are going really well down here and we love serving the Lord here in Oaxaca.
A few months ago, Jon was invited to share at a church in the mountains, about 3 hours away from Oaxaca City. Since then, we have taken a team to do a VBS for the kids, and now some of the men from our church rotate going on Sundays, including Jon. They leave after church and make the drive up, spend time with some of the church body over a meal, teach a church service, and make the 3 hour drive back home. It’s a long day for them but they all really seem to enjoy it and have the desire to pour into the people there. This church is different than Calvary Chapel but now they have men teaching them verse by verse with sound doctrine.
In October we were able to be in California to celebrate our granddaughter’s 1st birthday with family. We also had opportunities to spend time with some of you while we were there. Jon shared with Calvary Chapel Saving Grace’s young adults, he had the opportunity to spontaneously share the gospel invitation at two events (Calvary SouthOC and Calvary Chapel South LA), and Jon and I got to share our missionary testimony with a mission’s class. We had hoped to see more people but we were all hit with sickness throughout the trip.
The men’s and women’s ministry started the book of Colossians. We continue to meet on the same night, have a time of worship together, and then break off into men’s and women’s. I teach the ladies and absolutely love it. Jon has some great guys who rotate teaching the men so that he can focus more on his Sunday sermon and online classes that he’s been taking through Moody. He continues to teach in Spanish and has improved so much. It’s amazing to see! He also has a church planting class that he teaches once a week, which is really helping build some of the men up who will hopefully one day plant churches in and around Oaxaca.
We are still going to the casa hogar (orphanage) once a month. This month is the 2 year anniversary since the first time we went with a team from Calvary South OC. It’s such a blessing to be able to go and spend time with the kids and staff. We have really built great friendships with all of them.
Jonny and Noah have really grown and changed. They are more outgoing (such shy guys) and have built some great friendships with some of the youth in the church. Please pray for their Spanish. They understand almost everything but are still shy about speaking. They are also playing with the worship team for one song this Sunday, while the kids from church sing. This will be their first time in front of everyone. Jonny plays drums and Noah plays the guitar.
Last Sunday we had 4 people take the step of faith and get baptized. It was so amazing to witness and we plan on doing another baptism soon for those who weren’t able to this time.
Thank you for your continued prayers and support for our family and the ministry here in Oaxaca. You all are a part of what the Lord is doing down here and we couldn’t do it without you!
As we close out 2023 and are about to celebrate the birth of Christ, let us not forget HIM in all of it. Not just at Christmas time, but every day. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all. We love you and miss you. If you would like to visit us, let us know. Also, for more frequent updates you can check out our Instagram and Facebook pages or send us a text. We always love hearing from you.
“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6
Jon, Allison, Jonny, and Noah
PS…scroll through the pictures above.
Posted in Uncategorized and tagged Calvary Chapel, Calvary Chapel Oaxaca, Calvary Oaxaca, Mexico, Missionary, Oaxaca by Jon Brechtel with comments disabled.