Family Trip 2013 – in front of the Neuschwanstein Castle, Bavaria, Germany
And this is how my car spent most of February and part of March. In the shop. Actually it visited the mechanic, tire people, and suspension guys. I was able to sell it in April in less than 5 hours! I’m so thankful to have been able to sell it so quickly!
Please be praying as I am looking for another car. I’m looking at just waiting until I make it to Oregon & buy one there, so I can get it registered and insured there.
Hello,
Well I’m back from my three week vacation. It was so much fun to be with family and see some of the history of my grandma’s life. We got so much crammed into three weeks, including castles, Omaha Beach (and another one), where my Dad was born, where my Grandma grew up, where she lived after the WW2, and of course spending lots and lots of time with Grandma’s cousins and their children. We had a wonderful time. And now I’m back in the “real world”.
I made it back from Germany on April 8th. Sold my car the next day – in less than five hours! Got to ride in to Chihuahua with a missionary lady, Allison. July (my cat) was super thrilled to see me. And then life was almost back to normal!
Remember Edwin? Well he is doing wonderful after his back surgery and physical therapy. But as I got back to Chihuahua, his wife Anita, starting having really strong abdominal pain. Just the Sanchez family and I were here at the Ranch, while the students, Grangers and Lloyds were in the mountains for the practicum for two weeks. With Anita’s pain, they went to the doctor and found out that she had stones in her gall bladder, and the one that was the size of a golf ball was blocking the exit. So she had to have emergency surgery to take out the gall bladder. Which that meant that I had to pitch in and help with picking the kids up from school or taking them to school! It was such a crazy week as we worked on getting the Ranch ready for the students coming back, a guest speaker coming for two weeks, rides for the kids to the school and 5 soccer games, plus physical therapy for one of the boys, and general errands. In these moments of craziness, I am continually reminded of the need for working in teams to get things accomplished. Anita came through the surgery just wonderfully and has had no complications!
(picture to come next month)
Mixteco Team
Right before I left for Germany, I got an email from the Mixteco team in Baja California, inviting me to join the team. The single girl, Arehmi, really needs a co-worker to help round out the team. After receiving the go ahead from my home church and much prayer, I accepted their invitation! I have plans of heading down to Baja California at the end of September. The team will be here in Chihuahua in a week so we will have time to get to know each other more and also answer all my questions that I have for them. 🙂 Have I mentioned that it is a Mexican team and I’ll be the only American? Isn’t that cool? Having the opportunity to work with Mexicans on a team was one of the reasons why I was drawn to Mexico. That also means all our meetings, and everything will be done in Spanish! I am so thankful for the two years I’ve had here at the Ranch working on keeping my Spanish at a high level. In the next email I’ll share with you more information about my team and working with the Mixteco people.
I am finishing up the semester here at the Ranch. Last Friday we had the graduation for 6 students. This week is partly free for me to be able to pack up my house and partly spent in meetings. We have a four day Confereence for the missionaries here in Mexico at the end of May. Then there will be an 8 day Advanced Language Workshop at the beginning of June – I’ll be attending plus cooking breakfast & dinner for them! (No, I’m not busy or crazy or anything at all!) Finish packing and cleaning house. Then find a ride to El Paso, and then onto Oregon for three months of a furlough.
The last week of classes I had the opportunity to teach a class called “Singles in Ministry”. It was a very fun class to teach, and I enjoyed it so much. It was a lot of hard work because I had no resources in Spanish, so I spent about two weeks translating English to Spanish. Some day I should do a blog post on “what it’s like being a single missionary”.
This past Friday we just had a graduation for 6 of our students (picture below)! It was very inspiring to see them finish and exciting to see what the future holds for them. One student has plans to end to Tanzania, two are planning to go to Papua New Guinea, one wants to go to Colombia, and two are willing to stay here in Mexico. And all six have desires to see unreached people hear the good news of salvation!
Summer Furlough
After three years here in Mexico, it’s time to get my churches and supporters updated with what’s happening in my life! I’m so excited to be able to head to Oregon for a bit and especially to spend the summer there. I look forward to enjoying summer BBQs, fishing trips, maybe some camping, Fourth of July at my Grandma’s, grass, air conditioning, and so much more! I’m thrilled to also have the chance to share with some churches about what God is doing in Mexico and where He is leading me to next. Plus I have a lot of supporters to meet up with too and catch up.
With this short 3 month time, I know that I will encounter some challenges too.
Three years have gone by, and so many things have changed in each person’s life, which means that things aren’t the same as when I left. I’ll need to adjust to the changes in a short amount of time.
I will be working spending a good amount of time speaking in churches or small groups about what has happened in my life and what I believe is going to happen. And sometimes that means cramming three years of my life’s stories down into 5-10 minutes – that seems almost impossible! I’ll need some hard core wisdom on figuring out what is the best part to share with others and praying that it will bless others!
Some parts of what I’ve done here in Mexico are hard to explain, or some of the experiences are too difficult to share. Sometimes people want to know how different Mexico is from the US, and honestly I’m just trying work through whether it’s easier to explain to you in Spanish or English! I love that people care and are interested, but sometimes they don’t know how to ask questions. Or sometimes I feel guilty for doing all of the talking in the conversation or the opposite is true too, where I never got to share with them anything that happened in Mexico!
I so look forward to having the opportunity to visit people and share with them, but honestly I’m so not looking forward to the traveling expenses.
And while there are people that think that this “furlough” time is a vacation, I know that I will be so busy. I already am starting to fill up my calendar, and I’m starting to see that I might get a little rest and relaxation when I head back to Mexico!!
As I’m working on planning my time in Oregon, please contact me if you are interested in hearing more about what’s happening in my life and the new direction I’m taking. I have plans of being in Oregon from June 12th-the end of September. I’m available for sharing anytime, anywhere, and about anything. 🙂 I already have quite a few things scheduled but I’m willing to add more! The best way to contact me is through email at: crystal_pierce@ntm.org
Blessings,
Crystal
Praises
Six graduates are of to the ends of the earth!
I received my Mexican visa – I get to stay in Mexico for another year!
My singles class went very well
I was able to sell my car faster than I thought possible!
I’m joining the Mixteco team!
Prayer Requests
Packing and my stress level – I’m doing it by myself and it’s a ton of work, so please be praying for me
Continued growth in my walk with God
Making plans with the Mixteco team
Plans for this summer furlough
Trip home to Oregon
Refreshing time with family and friends
That I can find a car in my price range with the things I want
Saying goodbyes. Chihuahua has been home to me for 3 years, it’s going to be tough leaving.
In Paris 🙂
If you would like to see some of my photos from the trip, you can click on the links below.
Saying goodbye is so hard to do. This week I will be having a going away party with the youth group from my church. I’m going to miss each and every single one of them. I’ve loved the time getting to know them, and encouarging them in the word. My prayer for them is that they would continue to grow in their understanding of who God is and what that means for their lives.