January/February Newsletter

"That goes over there." "No, that goes in the kitchen." "Careful! You almost knocked Molly over with that!"

Yes, you guessed right - we are moving AGAIN! A day before leaving for the US in December the owner of the house we were renting told us they wanted to sell it! God stepped right in though! On our trip through Texas, we visited Marisol who is now living in San Antonio. She and her husband had been looking for someone to rent their very nice, vacant home in Oaxaca. So, as soon as we returned to Oaxaca on January 11 we began the moving process! We are now in our new house and trying to get settled! This is just another way that God is providing for us - as we are saving $2000 pesos a month by living here! (Not to mention the cabinets, closets, shower doors, and toilet seats that are in this house!!)
Hangin' out in the hammocks at the new house!

Homeschool in our new school room!! (Notice Noah's missing tooth!!!)

Also, as part of our move we had a garage sale and were able to sell lots of the kid's outgrown clothes, as well as, the appliances that we wouldn't be needing. Many neighbors were happy to come and look through our boxes for clothes for 5-20 pesos (all under $1.50 US.)

SHORT-TERM MISSION TRIP OPPORTUNITY:

We are thrilled to again be planning a VBS for August 3-7. We are hoping to have a team from the US come down to help us with VBS and possibly do an English camp, as well! If you may be interested in coming to Oaxaca from August 1-8, please e-mail us and we will send you more details. Pray about joining us for this fun opportunity to witness to the children of Oaxaca.

This morning in church we were reminded of the purpose of Church. Many well-meaning Christian churches here in Oaxaca focus more attention on filling their seats, than they do on fulfilling the Great Commission. Therefore, it was refreshing to hear the scripture for this morning. Romans 10:14-15 was a good reminder that ALL of us have been called to tell others about the saving grace of Jesus Christ. The pastor challenged the congregation to think of one person that they could give the good news of Jesus to this week. He also reminded us all that we don't need doctrinal degrees but only a desire to tell our own story of how Jesus changed (and continues to change!) our lives. Who can you tell this week??

Fun in Florida!!

In closing, we had a great time of rest in Florida for Christmas and New Year's. It was so great to see and visit with many of you. We thank you all once again for your love, prayers, encouragement, and financial support!!

For His Glory,

Carl, Lisa

Lacy, Alia, Noah, and Molly

December Newsletter

Welcome to the Christmas season! Being in a bigger city this year, we notice much more in the way of Christmas decorations. We have even seen some stores selling live Christmas trees - of course - we haven't seen anyone actually buy a tree!! Customs and traditions are much different here - especially in the Christian church. Christians tend to shy away from putting up any type of decoration at all. We are enjoying learning more about the Oaxacan culture every day.

Speaking of Christmas, we are thrilled that we will be able to spend Christmas with our family and friends in Bradenton. We should arrive in FL by the 13th. We hope to see as many of you as we can while in FL. We have an nine minute slide presentation with many photos of our ministry here. If your family or your group would enjoy seeing it and hearing more about our ministry here, please email us at lacyalia@yahoo.com and let us know. We would love to come and share with you!

We will also be having a Oaxacan Mercado. If you'll be in Bradenton, come visit and get some Christmas shopping done. We'll have a lot of handmade jewlery, toys, clothing and accessories. Come see the beautiful artesania from Oaxaca! The mercado will be at The Bridge Church on 75th Street West on the evening of Monday, December 15th. We hope to see you!

We had our Celebration with our two Kid's Clubs. We had a total of about 35 people present. The children of our church presented two plays. Lisa presented the Gospel, using a balloon and the colors of salvation wordless book. We enjoyed refreshments before sitting down for an outdoor movie. All had a good time and the weather cooperated and it wasn't too cold! The evening ended with drawings for toys - always a hit!! Below are pictures from the celebration.

Once again, we want to thank all of you, our faithful supporters. Your prayers, financial support, and encouragement mean so much to us! We hope you all have a Very Blessed Christmas!!

For His Glory,

Carl, Lisa, Lacy, Alia, Noah, and Molly