Men of Courage

Two Saturdays ago we showed the film Courageous at church.  The movie includes in it a call to men to step up and fulfill the roles God has for them.  At the end of the movie we gave an invitation to any men who wanted sign a resolution committing to be godly men to come back the following Saturday.  Last Saturday 30 men came and sat through a 3 hour conference where we went through each of the twelve commitments in the resolution.  We then had a signing ceremony an hour later where they came back all dressed up with their families to sign their resolutions.  Sunday all the men came back and stood in front of the church and read their resolutions out loud.  More than one of the men were not able to hold back their emotions as they committed to being godly men, husbands, and fathers.  At the end Israel gave an invitation to any other men who wanted to sign the pledge and about another 12 men came forward.  Please pray for these men as they step up to be the men God has called them to be.

Our Third Anniversary

In January we celebrated our 3rd anniversary at Factor Fe.  To celebrate everyone we had a "carne asada" (grilled meat with tortillas) at a nearby camp.  About 100 people came out to play soccer and volleyball, swim, and eat some great food.

Christmas on the Beach

We don't dream of white Christmases in Mexico.  Christmas is the time people head to the beach.  With Diana visiting from Liberty University we decided to take a three day trip to the beach.   We found a secluded beach with only about 10 to 20 people on it each day.  It was a great opportunity to spend time together and to get started on our 2012 tans.

A Turkey story

So it is getting close to Thanksgiving and we're trying to figure out how to celebrate.  Since Thanksgiving is an American holiday it isn't celebrated in Mexico, and the traditional foods we eat on Thanksgiving are hard to find.  Dan decided that this year it was important that we have turkey for our Thanksgiving meal.  He called up a friend   who lives on a farm close to Guadalajara and lined up a visit to his ranch to pick out a turkey.

Dan and Adrian drove out two days before Thanksgiving and were able to pick out what felt like a nice plump fat turkey.

The price was a little steep (about US$40) but Dan was determined that we have a traditional turkey meal.  His friend had his workers kill and pluck the turkey for us.  As we watched the turkey being plucked it got smaller and smaller.  We brought it home and MeLinda got it ready for cooking and while we watched it in the oven it continued to shrink.  When we took it out of the oven it looked so small and dried out that we decided we better buy a ham to go with it.  We finally decided to weigh it and after all that work we found out that we'd bought a  . . . 4 POUND TURKEY!

The next day while at the suppermarket MeLinda found them selling 10 pound turkeys for just under US$30. But hey, at least ours was organic.

Did you really eat it?

One of the things that make things interesting on the mission field is the opportunities to try new foods.  The hostess of our Thursday night Bible study likes to surprise us with new tastes every once in a while.  Here are pictures of two plates which we were served.  Try and guess what they are before looking at the bottom.

Answers:  Grasshoppers and a pig's tail

Did we eat them?  Here's the proof we're good missionaries!

Peace is Possible!

In October we helped coordinate a concert for the city of Guadalajara.  Trying to capture the energy generated by the Panamerican games we invited 5 christian groups to come perform in one of the main squares of the city.  Our message is that, in the midst of all the insecurity that Mexico is encountering, it is possible to find peace through a personal relationship with God. Along with the music group we had high level athletes come and share their testimonies.  Around 2,000 people attended the 5 hour long concert and we had almost 300 people make professions of faith.

Chaplains for the Panamerican Games

In October and November, Guadalajara hosted the Panamerican and Para Panamerican Games.  7000 athletes from countries in this hemisphere competed in this olympic style competition.  Dan was asked to coordinate the chaplaincy ministry.  For three weeks we were able to minister to these world class athletes; praying with them, counseling them, leading them in times of worship, and as opportunities presented themselves to share the gospel.  We had 30 chaplains taken from our pastors here in Guadalajara and from some other Latin American countries working alongside chaplains from Athletes in Action.  The highlight of each day was the evening worship time.

Here Dan is with a bronze and silver medalists in Judo who competed in the Para Panamerican games.

Summer events

50 years of Marriage!  


We were able to attend the festivities together with MeLinda's family in July.  What a joy to see everyone and to see God's faithfulness in MeLinda's parents' lives.

It was quite a miracle to have the whole family together for the event.  It was a special time for MeLinda to reconnect with her sisters and their families after 4 years.














24 years of Marriage


It was also fun to be able to celebrate our 24 years of marriage with family.  How time flies!