Saturday, May 31, 2008

Mexico Evaluation

Darrly Mortinson,Scott Geurink,Steve Brauning
Marcia Geurink, James Lee, Joshua Lee, Barbarita Lee
This past week, a team of 6 people from the CRC, not directly involved in Mexico, came to do an evaluation of our ministry here. They all met in Mexico City for two days to meet and talk to some of our partners. Then the team went two by two to visit some of the other ministries. Darryl Mortinson (with CRWRC) and Steve Brauning (CRWM Dominican Republic) flew with Scott to Tijuana to visit. They met with all the pastors of the RPC and some other missionaries and partners. They also went to visit many of the churches in the area. They also met with the Lee's and ourselves to learn about our ministries, new posibilities, and opportunities. We continue to pray that the observations and recomendations from this evaluation will help us to better spread the Gospel in Mexico.

Friday, May 30, 2008

Ordination of Elders and Deacon at "Emanuel"



Sunday, May 25th was also a very special day in the life of the "Emanuel" church. At a special service in the evening, they ordained two new elders and a new deacon. We are excited to see how God is working in these three men's lives, we are also encouraged by the growth we see in the Emanuel church.




Monday, May 26, 2008

Inaguration Serivce, Sunday May 25, 2008



The first Sunday Worship Service at "Agua Viva" was held on May 25, 2008 at 11:oo am. About 180 people attended the special service. The mother church "Cristo, Arca de Salvacion" came after their regular morning service. Their Pastor, Armando, gave the message from the book of Acts. The mother church also brought the food (carne Asada) and grilled it for the meal afterwards. The congregation "Dios Altisimo" also attended the service with us. There were also many new visitors from the community around the mission, and several regular attenders invited family members and friends.


Diamandy, with help from Jane, Melissa, and Karissa, had a lesson for the children. There were about 70 kids in one classroom! The kids learned about Noah's Ark, and at the end of the service recited their text for the adults.

The ministry team at "Agua Viva" is excited that the mission has taken this next step!

Dave, Israel, Scott

Jana and Jane, Elizabet holding Eliab, Marcia

Eliazar and Esteban, Diamandy, Karissa and Melissa

For more pictures, watch the slide show on the top right side, or click on the link to the Inaguration Agua Viva Album in the link section on the left hand side.

Getting Ready for the Big Day!

This past week we were busy getting everything ready for the Inauguration Sunday Service at the "Agua Viva" Mission. The bathrooms (outhouse style) had to be moved and renovated, electrical shorts had to be fixed, fill dirt had to be brought in and leveled, the cement patio had to be swept, the drywall on the front wall of the sanctuary had to be finished, the wall had to be painted, and the sanctuary had to be cleaned and the chairs and other furniture arranged.


Some of the projects were done during the week, and on Saturday we had a work day at the mission. Several families came to help us get the work done. We started at 8:00 am and finished after 1:00. The work was made more difficult with rain, the mud got tracked inside and we ended up mopping the floor in the santuary three times. One of the ladies who could not make it to work sent over chiles rellenos (chili peppers filled with cheese, dipped in egg, and fried) and Alma, who lives at the mission, made burritos.

We were all tired, but glad to have the mission looking good for Sunday!

Monday, May 12, 2008

Family Camp 2008

Biting into a hot peppper.

Crawling through the water balloon and mud land mine.


The Reformed Presbyterian Church of Mexico in Tijuana held a family camp May 9 - 11. We all (around 300 people) camped in tents at "El Rancho" in the town of Lomatova just east of Tecate, in a high desert plain. Since the camp included Mother's Day (always May 10th in Mexico) the men and youth did all of the cooking! Early (5:00 am) on Saturday morning, the youth serenaded all the mothers with two special Mother's Day songs. They also had a rally prepared which included 15 different stations and activities like eating a hot pepper, "shooting" an apple of the head of a teammate with tomatoes, crawling in the mud through an obsticle course, and much much more! After the rally, the participants initiated a water fight and gave each of the youth who helped with the rally a bucket of cold water over the head.

The theme of the camp was unity in the family. Several pastors gave devotionals and talks. Scott and Marcia showed a movie to the kids during the evening session, many did not make it very long before falling asleep! On Sunday morning we had a special worship service in the shade of several large trees, with a musical group made up of participants from five churches. Pastor Armando gave the message based on Malachi 4:1-6, turning a father's heart towards God and his family.

Our Sunday dinner included carnitas (pork fried in lard), Barbacoa (barbacued mutton) and birria de chivo (lamb stew). Each was served with tortillas and condiments of salsa, onion, cilantro, and lime.

Four families from the Agua viva mission accompanied us to the camp. They all enjoyed the weekend and were able to meet new friends from other churches.

Friday, May 09, 2008

Vacation in Mexico City

Melissa and Karissa in front of the Palacio Municipal in the Zocalo.

Scott and Marcia in front of the Palacio de Bellas Artes.


We also spent three days in Mexico City so Melissa and Karissa could see some of the buildings, art, museums, and the metro. We stayed at the home of Dave Gifford, missionaries in Mexico City who are in Michigan on home service. Thanks for lending us your home! On Sunday we worshipped at the Getsemani Church in Coyoacan. We also saw the museum of anthropology. On Monday we took a tour bus in downtown Mexico City. On Turesday, with Alejandro Pimintel, new missionary to Mexico City, we returned to see Bellas Artes, the Palacio, and a few things we had missed. By that night we were ready to return home. We arrived in Tijuana at 11:30pm, but with the time change it felt like 1:30am. We had two days to unpack, wash clothes, pack and leave for the family retreat in Tecate this afternoon. All of the RPC churches in Tijuana are having a combined family camp at a ranch. Fortunately the water to the bathrooms was fixed today! Several families from the new mission are going to the retreat this weekend, pray that they would have a great time and that they will get to meet families from the other churches as well.

Vacation in Playa del Carmen/Cozumel




Our family took a week of vacation after the retreat. We drove from Merida to Playa del Carmen, south of Cancun. On the way we stopped at Ek Balam, a Mayan ruin with a pyramid taller than Chichen Itza. There are parts of the pyramid that still have the original white stucco, and some paintings on the walls. After climbing the pyramid, we went swimming in a cenote, an underground pool at the bottom of a sink hole. We then drove to Playa del Carmen where we spent three days at the hotel Alux. We went snorkeling on Cozumel, and visited friends that Marcia knew from 25 years ago! We also went to Xcaret, a water and Mexican History theme park just south of Playa. It is always amazing to see the clear blue water of the Caribbian.

CRWM Mexico Field Retreat in Merida



From the 24th of April to the 29th, the CRC missionaries in Mexico had their annual spiritual retreat. This year it was held at the Hacienda San Pedro Nophat, on the outskirts of Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. The hotel is a converted henequen hacienda, with several pools, lots of plants and flowers, and a wall around the perimeter. It was a great place to stay, and the kids had fun exploring and swimming. Jan VanEe led the sessions, using Ray Vanderlaan's "In The Dust of the Master" series. Jan added personal insights and extra information from his studies in Israel. Thanks to the Merida team for all of the work they did to make this a great retreat.