Texas

We have been graciously offered Medical/Member Care leave by the IMB and after much prayer, we have decided to take it. We are in Texas and it appears we will be staying anywhere from 2 to 4 months if not longer. We have been so thankful for your prayers during our 2 plus years away and are so happy for this time to re-connect, re-group and re-fresh. We will be staying in Glen Rose during out stay there. As well we will be spending time at Mike’s parents home. If you need to contact us there, their number is: 254-471-5902.

Thanks again for holding the ropes for us in prayer and support and love,

Mike and Megan, Jake, Tess and Joy

Our Great Physician Is Answering Your Prayers

First I would like to begin by thanking all of you for praying for us.

Here are some of the answers to prayer that we are seeing in our city:

- A family in one of the poorest areas of the city where we are working, has joyously brought me into their home, fed me, and treated me like family from the minute that I met them. Please pray that God plants His Word in their hearts. Pray that they will grow as believers, as the community around them grows through their witness.

-Last week I met several people who were not "hostile" to the Gospel in two different apartment complexes that are side by side. Just outside of the gates of both of those complexes I met a lady who owns a taco stand that seats about 30 people. I asked her if she would be interested in hosting a Bible study at her stand and she was excited about doing so, but said that she would need to talk to her husband. Please pray that God would soften her husbands heart toward Christ so that we would have a place to meet.

-Today I will meet with a man (Jordan) who has only one leg who sells lollipops at a busy intersection. Having known nothing about me, he asked me where we went to church. Surprised, I asked him how he knew that we went to church and he told me that he could tell that we were Christians. He said that we (Megan was with me) were not like most of the other people who pass through that intersection. He said that we were clearly different. That gave me an opportunity to share with him what The Difference was that he was saw in us. I told him that he was seeing Christ in us. I then shared the story of Jesus calling Levi (Matthew) and how Matthew had invited all his tax collecting friends as well as other 'sinners' to a banquet in honor of Jesus. My friend Jordan listened intently as I told him what Jesus had said in response to the Pharisee's and the teachers of the law's question of, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?". Please pray that he would see his spiritual condition and that he would see his need for the Great Physician.

Here are some of the answers to prayers that we have seen regarding our family:

-Megan is doing much much better emotionally, physically and spiritually.

-Joy is now playing with the little girls here in our apartment complex.

-Tess has befriended a little girl who goes to another church in our city.

-We love our city and the people here.

Prayer requests:

- Please pray that God will continue to bring people of peace across our paths.

- That God will raise up the believers in our city who are willing and able to teach Bible studies in their neighborhoods and start house churches.

- For our Spanish

- For our family as we begin the second half of our first year here in QR., that we will be joyful and useful even during various struggles and trials.

-For Mexico as they face so much violence and fear. Pray that God continues to use this to draw people to Himself, that the people of Mexico will understand His love and care for them.

“God changed my eyes”

UPDATED 03-02-11

Long Long Overdue!


About where we live:

We live in the heart of Mexico. It is beautifully warm here. We are sitting at an altitude of 6,200 ft., which is more than a mile high. Since arriving in early October, it has only rained one time (1/4”) so needless to say, we are living in the high desert. Im sure that it goes without saying that we are looking forward for the spring rains!

Thankfully our city is a very safe city. Of the last 5 cities of at least a million in population that we have lived in, our city feels the safest. We have yet to feel threatened in any manner. Thank you God!



Keep in mind as you read this letter, that this city/state is supposedly, at the best, 2% Evangelical. And according to one statistic, there is an area of our state, which is near our city, that is less than 0.2% Evangelical.

What God is doing here:

One day a few weeks ago I was out hopping buses and walking the city because I trying to learn both the bus system and where things are located. While doing so I stumbled onto a Christian bookstore in a downtown neighborhood. Now in the states stumbling onto a Christian bookstore is like stumbling onto a Starbucks in Seattle. However, here in our city, there are only 3 or 4 (very small) Christian bookstores. So stumbling onto one that is in the middle of a downtown neighborhood was quite strange indeed!

As I got to know the owners, who are Gringos, I found out that they moved here 7 years ago and began planting a church. This church is now a church that has around 400 members and is rapidly growing. They are being obedient to the Great Commission. They are training their members to make disciples who make disciples! Please pray that this church continues to be obedient to the Gospel. Pray that they help reach the masses as they play their part in God’s orchestration of bringing this city to Him.

The following has been updated since Thursday's posting:

Though we are still learning the language, God has allowed us to be a part of His plan here mostly through a friend who is a new believer. I will call him A.R. for possible safety reasons. A.R. came to know Christ 4 months ago. Though I did not know him prior to his conversion, I have heard stories of what he was like both from him and others, and can tell you that his conversion is the most dramatic of anyone I have ever personally been around. From what I understand, A.R. was basically a gangster. He did drugs. He sold drugs. He was an alcoholic. He carried a gun everywhere he went, both for protection from other “bad guys” and so that he could rob people.

In fact, after speaking to our pastor, the man who brought A.R. to the Lord, I found out that A.R. is a "living legend" on the streets of our city but not a good legend.

He is seen here in our city as the character in Jim Croce's song from back in the 70's, "Bad Lee Roy Brown". However, t

he difference between my friend A.R. and "Lee Roy Brown" is that God had mercy on A.R. before he was made to look like a "jigsaw puzzle with a couple of pieces gone".

He was separated from his wife because he was continually unfaithful to her and because she feared for her life. When this occurred, their two children went to live with her parents in another state. Because he was unfaithful to her, she decided to do the same to him. And as a result, she became pregnant.

As I said, A.R. came to know the Lord four months ago. Three months after his conversion his wife gave birth (this past January) to two beautiful girls.

Our family has been able to be witnesses to one of the most incredibly beautiful pictures of what Christ did for us through A.R.’s changed life. He is desperately seeking to restore his marriage. His wife has seen the dramatic change in him and wanted what he had. She now is a follower of Jesus Christ! He has also taken these two little girls in as his own. When he takes them into his arms and looks at them, the look of adoration, love and compassion is incredible.

Here is a man who was probably as bad as most of us can possibly imagine and today we see a man who is filled with joy. A man who understands his depravity and the grace that was shown him. Here is a man who probably understands grace better than most of us will ever be able to understand in this life.

I have also been building a relationship with another young man who is an Atheist who works near our home. This man is a chef and owns a small restaurant that I frequent. Yesterday I met with A.R. at my Atheist friend's restaurant in order to discuss penetrating a small town of a couple thousand people near my house which has essentially no Evangelical presence.

After our meeting I gave my chef friend a book by Josh McDowel hoping that it might be able to answer some of his questions. He graciously accepted it and then asked A.R. a question. That opened the door wide open for A.R. to speak Truth to my Atheist friend. A.R. talked to him for over an hour about who he was prior to conversion and who he is now.

The joy, the seriousness, the passion, the boldness that A.R. spoke to this man with about Christ was incredible. It was far beyond his years and far beyond his time as a Christ follower. My chef friend was stunned to find out that A.R. was only 28, and was even more astounded that A.R. had only been a believer for 4 months. He kept saying that he couldnt believe that A.R. was younger than him and kept saying that he thought that A.R. had been a believer for 4 years, not 4 months.

After our meeting I took A.R. to his apartment and he gave me a picture. It was a picture of him sitting in a Ferrari. Initially I did not realize that it was A.R. I thought it was another man because the face of the man who was sitting in that car looked nothing like him. It was mean and full of hate.

I told our pastor about the picture and he said 'yes, A.R. was a man full of rage and hatred. When I would talk to him he would turn red and every muscle in his body would tighten and he would shake. He was full of hate."

I asked A.R. about his eyes in that picture because they were wicked and he smiled and replied, “God changed my eyes”.

The hardness, the rage, the evilness has been replaced with joy, hope and love.

Please pray not only for A.R. and his restored family but for my chef friend. Pray that Christ would shine His grace on him in the same manner that He displayed His grace to A.R.

UPDATE:

Sunday I was witness to one of the most beautiful scenes. I was able to not only witness the baptism of both A.R. and his wife but I had the great honor of being the one who baptized them.

What a beautiful picture of God's grace! Thank you Jesus!

God is the Great Orchestrator!

I was supposed to take the girls to a lady who cuts hair in Satelite (an area of town close to our home). Instead, because the lady was closed, I ended up going to another area of the city that I had no intention of visiting when I left.

After about 20-30 minutes Joy said that she felt bad. I looked in the back seat and she was white as a sheet and lying down. I told her that I would stop at the next tienda and buy her a juice and crackers. I found one in the barrio that we were in and hopped out. Before entering the store I looked across the street and there was an Evangelical church. Now keep in mind as you read this that this city is around 2% evangelical. So when I paid for the items I asked the grandmotherly lady who owned the store about the church. She said that she goes there and that she is a new believer. As we talked I found out that she has LOTS of questions about God and His Word. She asked why I was there and I told her that I was a missionary and that I taught people how to be missionaries in their own communities. It was really neat to see the look of realization on her face when it dawned on her that she too was a missionary and could share Jesus with the people living in her barrio. After much conversation, she asked me to come back and talk to her about God and to teach her His Word.

Please pray that God would grow this lady and that He would use this lady to reach her neighborhood.