While they were here we had the opportunity to show them around Oaxaca so they could see the beauty of God’s work in the people and culture here.  We also had a lot of time to laugh and play!

Here are some of the fun things we did with the chicas…

Lots of meals together! (I guess Matías wasn’t too happy with the meal.)

Visiting a town that makes alebrijes – imaginary, brightly painted animals

Participating at a Fuentes Libres bank

Playing around after the chicas painted the boys hair!

Downtown showing off their new ‘do!

Enjoying coffee frappes on a rooftop restaurant

Another highlight of this Holy Week were special times celebrating and remembering the story of Jesus.  Nils and I were more disciplined than normal in our devos probably because were so into Richard Rohr’s Wondrous Encounters: Scriptures for Lent.  We’d highly recommend it to you for next Lent!  Around the table we read stories from the Jesus Storybook Bible with the boys while doing activities like creating a special worship place, “anointing each other with oil” by rubbing lotion on each other’s arms, washing each other’s feet (which produced a lot of giggles and water everywhere!), and wrapping each other up in toilet paper on Holy Saturday.

Our worship space for Holy Week

I was pretty happy to wash away the smell of Nils’s stinky feet!

We also had fun visiting a neighborhood park and painting Easter eggs with friends.

Visiting El Llano Park

Painting Easter eggs with Ben, Ruth and Ruth 

Easter dinner – He is Risen!

How did you encounter Jesus this Holy Week?  We’d love to hear from you!

Blessings,

Nils, Erika, Matías and Lucas

This was very hard for me to accept!  I didn’t realize how much I wanted to be at the retreat, until it was taken away from me.  I did not react well.  I cried.  I got angry at God and others!  I didn’t treat my family very well.  And, all the while, I tried to figure out why God would have allowed this, and more reluctantly I tried to believe maybe there was something I needed to learn through all of this.

The truth is I didn’t want to learn the lesson.  I was too upset.  But, as the days passed and I expressed my anger to God, I started to sense that there was some change that needed to take place in me.  I realized that I often put my worth and my value in my ministry, in the things that I do, or accomplish, when God isn’t looking for what I can do for Him, but for how I can be with Him.  I realized that sometimes I say yes to too many things and then what ends of losing out are my relationships, first with God, then with my family.

Through my sickness, I got back in touch with the longing of my heart is to be close to God, to know Him and be known by Him, and my desire to have more time to just play and be with my kids.  The lyrics of the Graham Kendrick song, Knowing you, Jesus, come to mind…

Oh, to know the power of your Risen Life

And to know You in Your sufferings

To become like you in your death, my Lord

So with you to live and never die

Knowing you, Jesus, knowing you

There is no greater thing…

I shared with a friend about my sickness, struggle through it and what I was learning.  She helped me see the connection of what I was experiencing and the Lenten season – that maybe God was calling me to take more time to be with Him and my family this Lent.  Suddenly I saw that my schedule during Lent was more open than normal, and rather than feeling like I had to fill it with ministry activities I saw it as a blessing – an invitation to enjoy being with God and my family.

How is it going this Lent?  It’s going OK.  There are always more activities on our schedule than we realize, like just the regular daily or weekly activities.  However, I have been able to be more intentional about finding quiet times with God, playing with the boys, or reading Scripture together as a family. I’ve had more time to rest.  It has also been a little bit easier for me to enter into the suffering of those who are close to me during this Lenten season.

Although I certainly could NOT have given thanks to God for getting sick and missing out on my ministry commitments during my illness; now that I have had a chance to reflect and hear from God, I can genuinely give thanks for that time of sickness:  for slowing me down, for being more attentive to my family, for calling me to Himself, for loving me not because of what I can do for Him, but simply because I am a child of His upon whom He freely rains down His unconditional love and mercy.  Praise be to God!  Amen.

The boys love lighting the candles on the Advent wreath and sometimes fight over whose turn it is.

personal devotional time as well as for family devotions.  And yet, today was the first Sunday of Advent and I’m already feeling let down.  First, because church didn’t really meet my expectations today.  Most evangelical churches in Oaxaca don’t follow the church calendar and I’ve discovered that many of my Christian friends here hadn’t even heard of Advent.  So, I wasn’t necessarily expecting a sermon on Advent, but there really was no sign of Advent at all.  And, the sermon preached reflected theological views that I disagree with and I found myself getting upset and forming arguments in my head about why I am right and he is wrong.  Plus, the church has been dealing with conflict recently which is quite evident to everyone in the congregation and it makes things uncomfortable.  Since I’ve been serving as a mediator, I felt like people were watching me – who I did and didn’t talk with after church and how much time I spent talking to each person.  Maybe I’m being a little paranoid (probably), but I just wish the conflicts would go away.

Second, I realized that I was not as prepared for Advent as I thought I was.  I hadn’t printed out the visuals for the reflection we would use with the boys.  We didn’t have the tree up yet to put the corresponding ornament with the Bible story I would read.  Plus, when I tried to do the reflection at dinner (without the visuals) the boys were just being silly and any question I would ask them, like, what are your hopes for this Advent and Christmas season, they said things like Santa bringing us lots of presents.  Really?!?  Santa?!?  I mean, they do know about the true meaning of Christmas!  I did have my personal devotional time, but not as I had planned, or hoped.  I had thought I would wake up early (my husband is laughing right now!) and have some quiet time to start this Advent season off right.  Well, I am NOT a morning person.  And, today the boys and Jojo the dog woke me up.  So, after taking them all to the park (which is what Nils usually does while he lets me sleep in), I made blueberry pancakes and then it was time to get ready for church.  So, no morning devos.  Then, we rushed home from church to watch the end of the Vikings vs. Packers game (we got to have our priorities, right?) and let’s just say Nils was the happy one after that game, which I guess I am glad for since he’s a bigger football fan than I am.  Later, Nils and I did find a little bit of time in the afternoon, while the boys were playing their imaginary football game together, to have a cup of coffee, cookies and read our Advent meditation and Scripture on the terrace.  I was definitely thankful for that time, even though there was little time to really reflect as I had hoped.

So, basically, my conclusion is I am a mess and I need help.  Yes, so many good intentions and so little discipline to follow through with them.  I have come to the prayer, where, like the new book by Anne Lamott that I really want to read, I only can say, “Help”.  Help me, Lord, to be more disciplined this Advent and willing to sacrifice.  Help me to be aware of the longing I have for you and to make time to be with you and just be quiet and reflect and hear your still, soft voice.  Help me to give up the expectation to do this perfectly.  Today was obviously proof that I will fail, but that’s OK, because whether I fail or succeed, you will be present, for you are Emmanuel, “God with us”.  Help me to show grace to others and to myself when my expectations for this Advent and Christmas are not met.  And, thank you, Lord, that your mercies are new every morning, and that I can start again afresh tomorrow, and there are still 22 more days of waiting for and anticipating your arrival among us.

The Fuentes Libres Team

sharing the love of Christ in word and deed.  Nils has been regularly involved with the Fuentes Libres team in their Monday morning Bible studies and in facilitating a process of strategic planning for the next few years.  In that process they have identified a need to better train their staff (those who lead the women’s community banks) in holistic mission and facilitation, and invited us to facilitate those training sessions.  We’ve had some excellent Bible study and reflection times with the team and soon they will be going to each group of women to evaluate with the women on how they may expand their ministry to address other needs and opportunities among them and with them.

In September, Fuentes Libres celebrated 15 years of ministry and I had the privilege of attending their celebration breakfast (Nils was in Monterrey visiting FUNDEFAM) and shared a word of blessing on behalf of the missionaries.  Here is part of what I shared, translated from Spanish to English….

“I had the blessing of being a part of the Fuentes Libres team when the ministry was just starting 15 years ago, and ever since its founding by the first Covenant missionary Nancy Jo Hoover, missionaries have always had an open door and the blessing of participating in this amazing ministry.  But, one thing that has always been clear is that this is God’s work and God’s mission.  In fact the mission of Fuentes Libres has always been the same as the mission Jesus came to fulfill according to the gospel of Luke 4:18-19, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor’.  And through our participation in this ministry, we missionaries, and I believe everyone who has been a part of Fuentes Libres, have grown closer to the heart of Christ for the weak and poor.

Another verse came to mind as I reflected on the heart of Fuentes Libres, ‘for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose’ Phil. 2:13.

It is all about God’s mission and will.  All of us missionaries who have participated in Fuentes Libres have seen God at work, first transforming our way of thinking and acting and then transforming other members of the team and finally those whom we serve together.  Why?  It’s not because we are good at what we do, but it is because God produces in us the desire and makes it possible to serve others according to his good will.

And so for all the lives and communities transformed through the ministry of Fuentes Libres, including my own, we thank you, Lord, and may all the glory and honor go to our God and Father forever and ever. Amen.”

November is like spring here because the rainy season has just finished and everything is in bloom.  Leaving Oaxaca City we saw some of the brightest colors of bugambilia growing along in the high desert.  As we climbed up in the mountains, the vegetation grew much more lush, and we saw some of the most amazing wildflowers of all different colors!  As Nils drove us carefully through the windy, narrow mountain roads I found “All Creatures of our God and King” on my ipod and put it on loudly so we could join with his creation singing praise to our God.  Then as we made it to our halfway point, a small mountain village at 8,500 feet, we took a short break to breathe the clean, fresh mountain air, look up at the huge pines and eat our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  On our way down the mountain toward the beach we drove through coffee farms and began to see palm trees and enjoy the warm salt water breeze.

Our time at the beach was relaxing and fun!  We enjoyed the sun and the waves and taking a large catamaran to other bays where we tried, although not exactly succeeded, snorkeling with the boys.  The highlight for Matías was seeing dolphins swim up by the boat.  For Lucas it was playing in the waves.  God was so obviously present to us throughout the weekend- in one another and the joy of being together, in those who served us our meals or cleaned our rooms, in the people we met along the way, and especially in the beauty of his creation.  It was wonderful!

At the very front of the catamaran

on the catamaran getting ready to try snorkeling

BBQ at our house with the Hechos 29 group.

from the host country with Swedish students. They live, learn and serve together in community. A group of 35 Swedes and Mexicans (along with one Ecuadorian, one Guatemalan and one Chilean) have been participating in this school in different parts of Mexico and were here in Oaxaca for two weeks and we had the privilege of participating with them. Together with the other missionaries, we hosted all 35 of them in our home for an American BBQ and enjoyed a fun evening getting to know each other!  During their week of classes, Erika co- facilitated a workshop with Fuentes Libres on holistic mission. During their week of mission service, she led a participatory workshop on “The Church that Prevents and Heals Abuse”, with Mary Cervantes, a leader at the church where the group was serving. It was evident that God was at work in and through this group of young people and it was a joy to be with them during their time in Oaxaca!

Our little swedish-american-mexican observing a small group session with Hechos 29.

Erika leading a workshop on holistic ministry.

While there we shared many meals with the three local leaders with whom Cindy has been working and training as well as visited a few sites where Semillas has done health screening, including churches, schools and the local prison.  Of all the visits and conversations, the time we spent at the prison has caused me to pause and reflect the most on God’s work in this world.

I have to admit I was a little nervous entering the prison, the living conditions seemed so depressing.  I remember praying over and over while we were there, Lord, please just open my eyes to see you here.  We were led into the dining area near the chapel.  Besides the structure of the buildings looking almost inhabitable, there were flies and mosquitos everywhere and the food looked like it had little flavor and few vitamins.

When we first arrived, I wondered why I had come.  Dr. Cindy and the Semillas team were busy checking prisoners’ hemoglobin, while I — who gets queazy from just watching the finger pricks — sat in the entrance to the chapel watching people.  I feel one of my gifts is listening to and encouraging others, but honestly, I had no idea how to start up a conversation.  Even a simple question like, ¿como estás? (how are you?) seemed laughable.  What I really wanted to ask was, “What are you in here for?” but of course, I had no right to ask, and that would not help open a door for forming a relationship of respect.  So, I sat there and talked to God in my head, throwing out lots of questions, like:  Lord, how is it that you allow people to live in such misery?  Where are you, God?  Is there any hope for these people?  Is there hope for the many kids I saw running around, presumably visiting their parents — later I found out that some were born in the prison and lived there permanently with their mother.

As I sat there and offered weak smiles to those who were entering the chapel to pray, I wondered about what life has been like for them, both before entering prison and now in the prison.  And I continued to pray, Lord, help me see you, somehow, in all of this.

Now as I reflect on what happened that morning, even though I didn’t realize it at the time, God answered my prayer by sending a middle aged man to talk with me.  He started out by asking me some questions, listening to me, and offering the usual praise I get for being a missionary (which I have to say always makes me uncomfortable since I am a sinner saved by grace, like any other Christian).  But, he seemed sincere in his praise and was probably trying to encourage me.

He then started to tell me about how good God has been to him (really? but do you see where you are? I thought), and how he loved sharing with other prisoners about God’s mercy and grace.  He shared about his faith in a simple, but insightful and reflective way that I admired, and I enjoyed listening to him.  At the same time, I felt a nudge by the Spirit to ask about his family, and he opened up a little bit, basically saying they were OK, even though he was in prison, because God was providing for them.

After we had been talking for about 20 minutes, he told me why he was there – a year ago he had wrongfully been accused of rape.  This was very difficult for me to hear and instantly changed my view of him.  Up until this point he had seemed quite humble and full of the Holy Spirit, but as you know, a big part of my ministry is working on preventing and healing from abusive relationships, and I immediately thought of the victim and her pain.  I tried so hard not to judge this man, but “wrongfully accused”, really?  My internal response was like that of Red in Shawshank Redemption who sarcastically welcomes Andy saying “You’re gonna fit right in.  Everyone here is innocent, you know that?”  Of course this man would claim to be wrongfully accused, isn’t that what everyone in prison says?  On the other hand, I am aware of the brokenness of the Mexican justice system and that there are in fact many people who are imprisoned without due process.  (Listen to one example here).

"Everyone in here is innocent, you know that?"

As we continued talking, however, I saw that it was not my place to determine this man’s guilt or innocence.  Furthermore, God used this conversation to show me the wideness of His mercy and just how big His Kingdom is.   Let me explain…

After telling me he was innocent of the crime, he admitted that he could understand why those who had accused him thought it was him.  He confessed to me that he had in fact been a rapist and everyone knew it.  Before he came to Christ 12 years ago, he tells me, he was a very bad man.  He lived a life full of sin, a life of drug trafficking, neglecting and abusing his family, a love of money, guns and danger.  He told me how one night he came home to his 8 year old son with a gun in one hand and a butt-load of cash in the other, besides some drugs hidden on him.  His boy wanted to greet him, but he just told him to go away and leave him alone.

Then came the big confession.  No, he said, he wasn’t guilty of the particular charge of rape for which he was imprisoned.  He did, however,  confess he was guilty of raping 70 other women!  After hearing that number, I was pretty much in shock, I could not focus on whatever else he was saying.  I couldn’t believe I was sitting right next to a man who had violated so many women, taken aggressively what was not his, caused deep pain to innocent people.

In the midst of my shock, God opened my ears to hear something important that He wanted me to hear.  One night he lay in bed with his wife and watched her sleep peacefully, and he realized that he was a slave to sin and he couldn’t break free.  He wanted that peace, and he asked God to help him.  That was the start of his conversion, his salvation, his life transformation.

But, really, God is it possible?  Is this unbelievable life transformation really possible?  And, even if he really has changed, what about all those people he so deeply hurt?  His wife and kids?  The 70 women?

He went on to say that since coming to Christ, he has shared his testimony with everyone he knows, his neighbors, his family, and he gives all the credit to God for saving him.  He admitted that he was never caught for the sins he committed before coming to Christ, but now even though he was paying for something he never did, he was willing to pay.  He trusted God had a purpose in it all, and that he’d rather be in prison and free in Christ, free from bitterness, hatred, seeking revenge and violence, because he had found a calm, quiet trust in a God who forgives all those who truly repent, no matter how big or how many the sins.

The next day I was to preach a sermon based on the Samaritan woman’s encounter with Christ at the Ixtapec Covenant Church entitled:  The Good News: Freedom in Christ!  My focus was on how Jesus freed the Samaritan woman from living as a victim of abuse to becoming an evangelist of Christ.  The evidence of this amazing transformation is that this woman returns to her community, which included the same men who used her and tossed her aside and the women who harshly judged her, to share the good news with her abusers, that they, too, can find freedom in the living water that wells up to eternal life.

One of the reasons I was visiting the prison that day was so that God could remind me, through my encounter with this broken, repentant and forgiven prisoner, that all things are possible in Christ Jesus.  God is making all things new.  In Jesus both victims and abusers can find healing and freedom!

As a support community made up of families with a child with Down syndrome with the goal of ministering to the whole family — not only the child with Down syndrome, but also the parents and the siblings — and empowering them to minister to each other.   With the help of FOWM, this project will help sustain the on-going efforts of this Project Down as well as deepen and broaden the level of training and preparation for volunteers and staff to better work along side of this community of families.  Please take a minute to look at the following information to see how you can participate in this great ministry.

See the on-line information at: http://www.covchurch.org/mission/project-down/

Or view the informational flier at: http://www.covchurch.org/resources/files/2012/04/FOWM-appeal-205.pdf

Thank you!

Jana on a visit to the historic site of Cuilapam de Guerrero

Earlier this summer, we had the joy and privilege of having Jana Wipf, a Covenanter from Pasadena, and a student of Peace Studies at Whitworth University volunteering with us in Oaxaca.  Besides having the opportunity to see some of the ways God is at work here through missionaries and Mexican leaders, she also served with our friend Boni and his community center by putting together an English curriculum to guide the different volunteers he has coming throughout the year to teach English in impoverished schools just outside of Oaxaca.  She is also a lover of dogs and kids, and so Jojo, Lucas and Matías loved having her around.  She went with us to the retreat to help take care of the missionary kids while we were in sessions before returning home.  Thank you, Jana, for dedicating your summer to learning and service.  We have enjoyed getting to know you and trust God will lead you as you make decisions about your future.  You are a natural for cross-cultural ministry.

With the support and encouragement of our missionary colleagues in Mexico, Nils was able to travel to Colorado and be with John, his other brothers

John and his family in the hospital in April

and parents during the early rounds of chemotherapy in April. That was a huge blessing. At that time John was responding really well to the chemo and the four brothers were able to play Rook together and share other good times. Since then, things have been up and down as John has had to battle not only the leukemia but also the infections and other side effects that come with having your immune system wiped out.

We were grateful to be together with our whole Mexico missionary team last week at our annual staff retreat in Queretaro (just north of Mexico City). As we shared more details about John’s battle with leukemia, everyone there surrounded us with prayers for God’s mercy on John and our family. We are so grateful for the love, support and prayers we have received from them and their encouragement to look at traveling as a family to the U.S. as soon as possible.

We have also been encouraged by our Mexican partners here, that even though it means canceling several commitments, they support our decision to be with family at this difficult time. We feel so blessed to work with such encouraging and supportive people.

So, we leave for Minnesota tomorrow. Nils travels the next day to Denver and Erika and the boys will be with her parents until we know when the best time is for us to join the family out in Denver. Please pray for us in that decision. We know that things with John’s health are critical, but we continue to pray for a miracle. He has been struggling with pneumonia for weeks, and the doctors would like to do a surgery to remove an abscess on the lung, but will only proceed if the biopsy comes back with no cancer. They plan to do that biopsy next week. Please join us in prayer for a miracle for John.

We also ask you to pray for us. Matias got sick yesterday with a stomach flu, and we had a rough night last night. Please pray that he will feel better by tomorrow when we will be taking three flights to get to MN and that God would protect the rest of us from getting sick.

Finally, we ask for prayers for the many activities we will be missing due to our change in plans. Erika was scheduled to present a workshop at the Covenant youth camp that starts tomorrow. Pray that God will work mightily in the lives of all the youth that attend. She was also to present a workshop at the Mexico Covenant Annual Meeting, and this is an important annual meeting as they will be voting for the next president. We were both to present a plan at the next Oaxaca pastor’s meeting for a Covenant identity class we will offer to young leaders. Nils had plans to continue with Fuentes Libres in their strategic planning as well as attend the Family Development Foundation’s annual planning meeting and board meeting. We trust God will be at work in all of these gatherings and know our presence in not indispensable, but we do lament missing out and canceling commitments.

Thank you so much for your faithful prayers for John and for the whole family! We place our hope and trust in Jesus as we join the Apostle Paul in praying…

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.” (1 Corinthians 1:3-5)

Four brothers playing Rook in the Hospital in April