Follow this link to see where Cangrejo is, Map.

Jay

This week I made the trip to the Mesa and finally to Cangrejo. This was the first trip to Cangrejo since returning to Mexico. As I was leaving Cofradía I began praying that God would not only guide me but that He would also show me the next steps for the ministry in Mesa and Cangrejo.


The first day of the trip God confirmed that it is time to get moving. What I have been doing so far has been good but it is time to walk through the open doors He has shown us in these Cora communities. In Mesa we have heard that there are some Christian families already. We would like to connect with them and find ways we can encourage and come alongside them in order to help them form a fellowship group. Eventually we would like to establish a branch of the Bible school that we have in Cofradía in the Mesa.

The second day Tom and I travelled to Cangrejo. There God opened the door for us and connected us with the whole community. The community was participating in an event for the children; complete with music, piñatas, and pozole. We were warmly welcomed and were able to start up conversations with many of the people there. Both Tom and I know many of the people of Cangrejo, but all of them seem to know us. After a great time of fellowship we were offered the use of a room with 2 beds with mattresses! While settling in we hung out with Hermenehildo and his brother Cirilo. We talked about Padre Pascual and the work he accomplished there and about the importance of knowing God’s word. I shared with them some small booklets that are primers for learning to read and write Cora. I also told them that I have a recording of the New Testament in their dialect and that the next time I came I would bring it so that we could listen to it together. They were excited to hear it listen to it with their families. This could very well be the beginning of our first Listening Group.

The next morning we were invited to have breakfast at Hermenehildo’s house. I took the opportunity to share with him from John where we find the story of the feeding of the 5,000. One of the points I made is what God has been showing me, that Jesus used that situation of shortage to test the faith of his disciples. The disciples only saw what was possible according to their resources, but Jesus want e them to see our faith cannot be limited by what we see. I see that God has been using this financially lean time to really set my eyes and heart on Him and what he is calling us to give up, to sacrifice, and to do.

So, our next steps are to visit Cangrejo in January to do an event for the children and show the Jesus movie in their dialect. As well, I will take time to meet with Hermenehildo's and Cirilo's families to listen to a portion of the New Testament and use it as a starting point for a time of discussion. Then, in Mesa we will spend time meeting the Christian families and make plans for a fellowship time. We want to be careful to follow their lead and observe and not try to force our agenda on them.

Please keep praying for this ministry, for the families in Cangrejo and Mesa, for God's provision, and for the truck that God is going to provide!

 

Greetings from Mexico

We know that many of you are beginning to experience winter weather but here it is still quite warm. A lot of exciting things have been happening here in Cofradía and in the mountains.

Visas
Our visas have turned out to be a good news/bad news situation. We were planning to continue with our current Temporary Resident visas but were forced to apply for the Permanent Resident visa instead. The Permanent Resident visa has a lot of advantages, the biggest of which is that we will not have to deal with immigration again. However, it turns out that once we receive the new visa we will not be able to have a foreign vehicle. That means that the truck that we now own will have to be parked until we can take it to the border. In the mean time we need to purchase a vehicle we can drive here. I have been looking for a smaller truck and have found a couple of good candidates. First we will need to come up with the money. We will need about $4500 in order to purchase the truck and to cover the cost of changing the title and getting new plates.

Mesa Del Nayar

I have been able to make a number of trips up to the Mesa to begin exploring ministry opportunities. So far we have been focused on the boarding school that was founded by our good friend Padre Pascual Rosales who passed away 2 years ago. I first met Pascual through our friends Tom and Collette Beytien who were working at the school at the time more than 10 years ago. After Pascual passed away a group of former students joined together to keep the school going. It has been very difficult for them since almost all of the resources for the school disappeared once Pascual was gone, largely due to the negative influence of the Catholic bishop in the area. This year Tom and Collette returned to the Mesa to help the school by teaching classes, taking care of projects and maintenance, and helping out financially. Now our good friends Dave and Isabel from Cofradía have joined the volunteers working at the school. They have a lot of gifts that are a blessing to the staff and students at the school, but have a challenging road ahead as they adapt to the new culture and figure out how to raise the necessary

finances.  During my recent trips we have been able to help out by making shelves for the dormitories, fixing some of the vehicles, and fixing one of the carport gates. I have been very encouraged by the openness of the leadership and students of the school and have been invited a number of times to share during their devotional times. Also encouraging has been the enthusiasm of a number of brothers here in Cofradía who have accompanied me to the Mesa.

Recently our friend Macedonio Diaz and I took a reporter and camera man from Channel 10, the government station, up to the Mesa. They spent the day interviewing the director of the school and some teachers as well as capturing images of the school and students.  We are hoping that the resulting news story will generate interest in the government and among individuals that will translate into support and resources for the school and its staff. As soon as the TV spot is done we will add subtitles and add it to our blog.

Plans

I am still trying to make the trip over to Cangrejo to get started there. I want to reconnect with friends there and begin forming listening groups with families. In the listening groups we will using the recording of the New Testament in their dialect of Cora that was produces by the Faith Comes By Hearing ministry.

Family

We are very excited that Isaiah will be joining us for Christmas! Thanks to the generosity of some friends we were able to get a round trip ticket for Isaiah using air miles. He will be here from December 20^th until the 10^th of January. To have the family together for Christmas is an amazing gift. With the arrival of Isaiah we will have a pretty full house since our friend Violet Lanahan is with us and Juan Luis and Pola's daughter is now staying with us during the week as she goes to high school.

Gratitude

We want to express our gratitude to everyone who has shown interest in our work here in Mexico. We appreciate your emails, prayers, financial support, and visits. We thank you for giving so that we can be here following the vision God has given us.

Needs

These are our current needs;

• $4500 for a truck
• Increase of $400 in our monthly support
• Prayer for God to continue to open doors in La Mesa and Cangrejo
• Prayer for our family

 God Bless,

Jay, Faith, Elisabeth, Kai, Violet, and now Yulisa from Arrayanes!

Tom and Collette

Tom, Collette, & Santos

First, a little history. More than 10 years ago we were living in San Marcos focusing on the ministry in Arrayanes and Mojocuautla. They had just installed phone lines and for the first time we could get internet service. I began searching the internet for any information about the Cora Indians. I stumbled across a website of Tom and Collette Beytien, a couple from Nebraska who were working with the Cora up in the community of La Mesa del Nayar. They had been working at a school for Indian kids from the Tepeuano, Huichol, Cora, and Mexicanero tribes. They worked alongside the director, an elderly Franciscan monk who at that time had been in the mountains for 35 plus years. I sent them an email expressing my desire to work more with the Cora people and included an invitation to visit us anytime they were passing through.

Since our first meeting God has continued to allow us to work together in many different ways because of our shared passion for seeing God revealed among the Cora people. Now, as we are back in Mexico and gearing up to start a new work in the area around the Mesa, Tom and Collette are back at the school. Now that the Franciscan has passed away the school has been taken over by the Alumni group, directed by our friend Santos. The school still has its roots in the Catholic tradition, but they are open to our involvement. During our trip there last week, we were invited to share during their devotional times a 6am and again at 6pm. During our trip we were able to help out by painting in the dining hall, painting the exposed wood on the exterior of one of the buildings, and building a number of shelf units for the dormitories. Pastor Horacio, his son Alfredo and David Medina accompanied me on the trip.

Right now there are more than 100 students at the school, some of them live there full time since they come from as far away as Durango and Jalisco, and the rest return to their homes in La Mesa. This school really needs help financially. To adequately house, feed, and teach this many kids is not cheap, but if I understood Tom correctly, they are doing it now for about $500 a month. They really need closer to $1500 a month. If you would like to be a part of that work you can contact Tom and Collette at familyrenewal@yahoo.com.

Road Blocks

A lot of times road blocks are good. Road blocks guide us around problems and potential dangers on the road. However, I can not remember a single time that I have been excited or thankful when I have encountered these barriers. Early this morning we left our hotel in Tucson, Arizona and headed south to cross the border into Mexico. I was tense at the prospect of dealing with Customs and Immigration but excited knowing that soon we would be home in Cofradia. After a quick stop at Customs and a relatively modest Duty payment we promptly hit the road block at Immigration. As it turns out we should have been able to get through with very little problem but the Immigration agent would simply not give us what we needed. Since we could not get the proper immigration paper we could not get the permit for our truck and trailer. Once we realized that there was nothing we could do we turned around and headed back to Phoenix. Tomorrow morning we should be able to get what we need from the Mexican Consulate here in Phoenix and then be on our way. So, after the frustration and anger this morning I am trying to be thankful for this road block. I know that God is sovereign, guiding and directing us. Proverbs 16:9 says 'The mind of man plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.' (NASB) I guess what I struggle with most is that this 'man' makes a lot of mistakes as he is planning his way. I believe that God is faithful and not only directs our steps, in spite of my mistakes, but He also uses them to accomplish His work in me. I thank you all again for your prayers as we continue this journey.

We are finally on the road! After over a year in Washington we are on our way back to Cofradia. Tomorrow morning we will cross the border and by Friday we should be home. We are excited to get home and see all of our friends at church Sunday morning. Once we are settled in Cofradia we will begin to make more and longer trip back into the mountains and begin implementing our ministry plans in the Cora Indian communities of La Mesa, Cangrejo, Gavilanes and others. We want to thank everyone for your prayers and financial support as we work to establish a long term outreach ministry to the Cora people. Once we get back to Cofradia and back into the swing of things I will post another update.