Influenced People

October 12, 2023

Every fall, the students at Binimea – the mission’s school here in Chihuahua – take time off from normal classes for Spiritual Emphasis Week (SEW). For the junior and senior high, this entails a week-long trip out to a remote mountain retreat. There, surrounded by the beauty of God’s Creation, guest speakers present a series […]

Home Again

May 20, 2023

Last month, three other missionaries and I traveled to Las Moras on a work team. This was the first return for anyone from our family since we left in June of 2021. After leaving, mold needed only a few months to take over our mountain house (rain and termites made appearances, too!) – and even […]

Spring Cleaning

April 6, 2023

Sometimes, life’s endless need for cleaning and maintenance seems one of the clearest possible indications that we live in a fallen world. You can hardly get the dishes clean before you’ve dirtied a couple more… and any time a wall is repainted, it is likely to be scuffed or chipped within a few days! Moreover, […]

Merry Christmas!

December 23, 2022

Christmas is my favorite time of year. Family gatherings, favorite traditions, and tempting cookie trays all come out… enjoyable in and of themselves, yet reminding us over and again of the Reason why such ongoing celebration is warranted: the Christ child, “born to die, to set us free.” As the prophet Micah wrote: But you, […]

Desert Rains

October 2, 2022

Putting Ferndale and Washington State in our (literal!) rear view mirrors this July came at a cost for our family. It seemed we had just re-acclimated to being with family and friends for the ‘regular’ parts of life… such as birthday parties, soccer games, and quiet morning lattes. Leaving meant a return to scratchy phone […]

Facing Changes

July 6, 2022

Last year, our family left the mountains of Mexico in unexpected and rather sudden fashion. Our field leadership, concerned both for Amy’s health and the degree of ongoing stress affecting our family, sent us back to the States for a medical leave of absence. The departure process felt like a whirlwind as we packed, planned, […]

A Time to Heal

July 15, 2021

When May arrived, two major events remained on our dry season schedule: a visit from Pete and Liesl Hypki (our itinerant coworkers, now on the field leadership team), followed by a couple weeks on the coast for pre-rainy season repairs and resupply. We greatly anticipated the break from mountain life the latter trip provides, as […]

Early Evaluations

April 9, 2021

During Amy’s recent language evaluation, our consultant asked her to discuss colors. Looking down at her beautifully patterned traditional skirt, Amy pointed to a section and began to demonstrate her hard-earned vocabulary. “This is yellow,” she said in Nahuatl to our friend Lenny – who had come to help with the evaluation. “And this…” At […]

Cavities and Cubbies

March 5, 2021

Worldwide pandemics have a way of complicating things – including plans for the (mostly) annual dental clinic in Las Moras! Pulling off this year’s edition required jumping through many hoops – including considering PPE access, medical experts’ recommendations, and two nations’ coronavirus responses. Despite these challenges and more, our little mountain community still wanted the […]

Moving Along

October 19, 2020

When writing our last update, the process of moving into our house-in-progress loomed large. Challenges certainly continued to present themselves: a dozen leaks springing (literally) to life one evening, unexpected interruptions abounding, and the polyurethane coating our kitchen counters needing over a month to dry in rainy season humidity! Yet, in the end, we did […]