Well, Christmas has come and gone. We celebrated together the birth of our Savior here in Tijuana, and it was beautiful! There is nothing like fellowship with the brethren. There were SO MANY events this past month and “Gracias a Dios” we accomplished everything that we had planned.
December started off with our first annual Mission’s Conference. It was a blessed night with so many of the church in attendance! It was designed to help the saints “catch the vision” of getting involved in the area of missions, and help support those who have gone out from our churches to serve the Lord through prayer and financial support. It was a beautiful night! A dear brother provided for all of our missionaries to be there! Also, Pastor Bryan from Calvary Chapel La Mirada and Jim Hodges from Royal Paper Box in Montebello were guest speakers and encouraged all of us through the Word to get involved. All were blessed, especially the missionaries!
Two teenagers, Ruthie and Alex from CC Pico Rivera decided that they wanted to spend Christmas with us here in Tijuana! So they were here from December 19th through the 27th, and were a tremendous blessing to us all. They got to know the youth and children of CC Pedregales, and served in so many different areas. They raised funds at their church months before their visit and blessed all of the youth with Christmas presents! They too were blessed and didn’t want to go home! We look forward to more visits from CC Pico Rivera in 2010.
Once again, CC Pacific Hills supplied us with over 700 Christmas gifts for the children here. The Saturday that they planned to come and give out the gifts was a stormy, rainy day here, so their trip was cancelled. Now, the Lord had other plans, and His plan was to bless OTHER children this year. So, we all went out the very next Saturday, (a beautiful, sunny day), to bless the children close by us in a different neighborhood, called, “Laureles.” I was so proud of our kids here. They came along and SERVED them. The dance team danced, the children’s choir sang, some helped man the carnival booths, and even gave out the Christmas presents. Not once did any of them ask for a gift. (Of course we talked with them first about how we were going to serve others). They didn’t know that we had set aside gifts for them back at the church—it was a secret! They all got their gift the next Sunday at church. They got to experience first hand that it is better to give then to receive.
Next, was our children’s Christmas play! The children from CC Tijuana did an excellent job this year of presenting the gospel through drama and song. Even the babies along with their mommas, were involved. They were angelic! All were blessed that night, like always, and are looking forward already to planning next year’s Christmas play. Then, the whole church enjoyed a time of fellowship and desserts. I wish every day was Christmas! (Well, sort of)!
The day after Christmas, many of us went on down to the Men’s Discipleship Home in Ensenada to celebrate with them! We enjoyed a great meal of “Posole” together, and played baseball, soccer, and volleyball. We then all joined together to worship Jesus. Most of the men gave their testimonies and they were powerful! The Lord is truly in that place. The men are growing spiritually and they were so happy that we all came!
I thank the Lord for all that He did in 2009, and I can’t wait to see what He’s going to do in 2010! I thank each and every one of you for your continued prayers and financial support to all of us here in Tijuana. May the Lord bless YOU in this New Year more than you can even imagine!
PRAISE REPORTS:
Berna and Adriana, (missionaries at the ranch), were blessed with a vehicle!!! Praise the Lord! They have been praying for many months for a car to drive their son to school every day, and the Lord gave them a 1994 Nissan Rodeo, and it’s BEAUTIFUL!!!
The Lord also blessed all of the men at the ranch with lots of things that they needed, like: socks, toothpaste, toothbrushes, razors, shaving cream…all the toiletries you can think of!
As many of you know, I have been praying for a laptop, as mine has been barely hanging on. Well, it finally died, completely. I use it every day with my work here, and so was quite bummed. A friend of mine just so happened to mention that her daughter’s company had just laid off a bunch of employees, and were selling their laptops. I got a great deal on a Toshiba and am very thankful to God. He has his perfect timing, ALWAYS!
PRAYER REQUESTS:
A teen from our church, Carlos was badly burned on Jan. 1st. While shooting off fireworks, one blew up in his face. Please pray for healing and wisdom for the doctors. Also, that infection would not set in.
For the Lord to raise up more teachers here at Pedregales. Many have been teaching for years, and would like to rest for awhile.
Continued prayer for provisions for the men at the Discipleship home. Their biggest need right now is food. There are 40 people in all that eat three meals a day on a very limited budget.
Continued prayer for Meagan who is serving in Guadalajara with Pastor Alfonso and Adela for two months.
Provisions for Federico and Nena to get their passports. Federico is the assistant pastor here, and it would be so helpful if he could cross the border to help bring food and other donations. It costs app. $200 for each one.