Greetings from Chihuahua! Usually, we try to send a blog post out every month, but September has been one of our busiest months since arriving… so we have a short update mid-October instead! (Don’t worry, we plan on returning to our regular schedule with a longer post at the end of October). So, what have we been up to? I’m so glad you asked!
- In previous updates, we’ve mentioned struggles with our minivan and house. My good friend and language helper Hector Flores just yesterday helped wrap up the last of several house repair projects… what remains is now either A.) beyond me but not pressing, or B.) at my skill level and no longer overwhelming in quantity of work needed. As for the minivan… it has given us more than its share of problems since arriving in Mexico, but recently has not run at all (making everything harder!). We finally discovered that a hose had slipped off the gas pump – with that fixed, the van is not at 100% but we are at least mobile again.
In September, we had our first visits from the U.S. since Joel was born! First, our close friends Matt and Anne Wood were here for a week, visiting not only us but the Van Wormers and Matt’s sister Renee (who works at Elayne’s school). Their visit was a huge encouragement to all of us! And shortly after they left, my (Jordan’s) parents and grandmother came to stay with us for ten days. We greatly enjoyed introducing them to our local church family, showing them some of Chihuahua’s cultural highlights, and – of course! – introducing them to local culinary delicacies! Saying goodbye to so many loved friends and family members was hard, but a price well worth paying for the privilege of sharing life together for a time.
Finally, this past month we celebrated Joel’s first birthday (a large part of the timing behind my parents’ and grandmother’s visit)! It is hard to believe that a whole year has passed since we got to meet him for the first time, yet here we are – and so grateful for our little ball of energy! Joel has long used key words like ‘dada’ and ‘mama’ only when he wants to, but is jabbering away with us more and more every day! He is always on the move, never content in one place, and has recently started ‘dancing’ whenever music plays. What a blessing our little ‘Chihuahuense’ (meaning person from Chihuahua) has been!
We will have more for you in our next update, including: an update on our expected timeline for this phase of ministry in Mexico, details on our upcoming visits to existing tribal church planting teams, and notes from our time working with kids in a local orphanage! Until then, we remain grateful as always for your interest in God’s ministry among Mexico’s unreached, and your faithful prayer on our behalf as He uses us here. Until that next time, here are a few ways you can join us in praying:
Praise God with us!
- For the return of our minivan to functional usage, and the provision of repair expenses!
- A recent test revealed Amy has made huge strides in her language level, especially exciting considering the time Joel needs from her in daily life!
- Recent changes to tax laws for out-of-country filers will cost us multiple thousand dollars in our 2015 return. Yet God has already provided nearly all of the difference!
Ways to Pray:
- Dearly beloved friends of ours are battling right now for their marriage, and this week (including today!) is an incredibly pivotal time for them. Please pray that God will provide wisdom and comfort to both, that each will be led by Him to place the other before themselves, and that He would heal their relationship completely to His glory.
- Wisdom in the ongoing evaluation of our minivan, now that we have it back, to determine if it still needs replacing sooner than we had expected. Our hope is that it will last until we are ready to leave Chihuahua, but it has already taken much in time and money to keep running.
- This month, our friends Hector and Amy Flores are trying again to enter the United States, so they can finish training in New Tribes’ US missionary training center and then return to work in Mexico. Hector has been unable to get a green card for nearly two years due to a myriad of logistical red-tape reasons; though we will miss them, please pray that he would find favor with US immigration at this time!