On Thursday, we drove across town for our first Bible study in Villas del Sur. Our host, Teresita, had invited a number of her neighbors to come. It was clear that the enemy was working full-time. The day before our study, many from the neighborhood had gone to the neighborhood preschool and had blockaded the front door, demanding the firing of the principal and her assistant. Obviously, there was tension in the neighborhood. And on Thursday afternoon, one of the major political parties came to a nearby park and set up a stage. There was food, music, pony rides, and give-aways for the people. The festivities started at exactly the same time as our Bible study. Long story short–we had the Bible study with Teresita. Later we went to visit two other contacts who lived nearby. We are confident that next Thursday we will have a better attendance. Keep praying for this new work.
Archive for January, 2009
new work
Pray for us as we hold our inaugural Bible study in the Villas del Sur neighborhood of Hermosillo tomorrow. We have discovered a group of people who are interested in planting a new church. We’ll begin in the home of a young woman named Teresita. She is inviting many of her neighbors to join with us. Please pray for us and this new group.
deep sorrow
Last Thursday we received the news that our pastor’s daughter, Jessica Teutsch, had been killed in a tragic automobile accident. Jessica was 21 and a senior at East Texas Baptist University. Jessica is survived by her father and mother, Dr. Scott and Mrs. Lisa Teutsch, brother Luke, and sister Hannah of Haughton, Louisiana.
We feel a deep connection to this family after having served 5 years on the church staff with them. Jessica was a part of our first youth mission team when she was only 13. Her parents went on the trip as adult sponsors. We’ve watched Jessica grow up and mature into a godly young woman. We were saddened by the news of her death.
For us, the question was how could we best minister to our friends from so far away? After some prayer and brief discussion, we decided that this was an extraordinary situation and the only real decision we could make was to go. We made a lightning fast trip to Louisiana and back. We were able to personally express our sorrow to the family. I (Alan) was asked to say a few words about Jessica during the funeral. It was certainly one of the hardest things I’ve had to do recently, but I am thankful that I had the chance.
Continue to lift up the Teutsch family during the coming days and months. God has already shown them his amazing grace, but this is a difficult road they must travel. Our hearts go out to them.
special prayer requests
Please pray for these two new prayer requests:
Pray for our colleagues in another city who have experienced a possible security threat. Pray for their physical protection and for their spiritual and emotional strength during these days.
Pray for our church planter partner and for the startup of a new church plant. We will be meeting various times over the next seven days to draft a written plan and launch the project. Pray for wisdom for all aspects of this project.
january prayer requests
Please pray for our church planting partners here in Hermosillo as they lead others to grow as disciples of Christ.
Please pray for the Casa de Dios church, the In Christ There is Hope church, and for the new churches that are forming right now.
Please pray for our colleagues working in Juárez and Tijuana.
Please pray for us in regard to wisdom and vision to see where God is working in our city.
Please pray for the leadership of the IMB as we undertake a major reorganization in 2009.
Please pray that God would fill our job requests and build our ministry teams in northwest Mexico. (Currently we have 4 missionary families working among 7 million people in 3 cities.)
Pray for us to be good stewards of our time and to know when to say yes and when to say no to things that might be distractions to our focus.
Pray for our families back home.
happy 2009
December was like a blur for us. So much to do–so little time. I headed out to Toluca, Mexico for a leadership meeting during early December. On the heels of that trip, Donna and I both traveled to Tijuana for a conference with our colleagues in northwest Mexico. We returned home for 2 days and then packed up for Christmas vacation in Louisiana for 2 weeks.
During the trip to Louisiana, I developed a cold. I tried to get Donna to just shoot me and put me out of my misery, but she would not oblige. (We didn’t have a gun anyway!) Ha! Ha! We did have a good time seeing family, but sadly, I think I infected most of them with my cold. Yuck!
The grandkids are growing and are very special to us. Shelby is becoming quite the young lady, Greyson is jabbering away as he nears his 2nd birthday, and Izabella is growing like a weed. We were happy to have them all with us for a whole weekend as we traveled to see the extended family.
The trip to Louisiana was mostly uneventful, although we did drive through sleet and snow in Dallas on the 16th and we were thankful for 4WD. We left for home on the morning of the 27th and pulled in to our driveway on the afternoon of the 29th.
Not 15 minutes after we arrived the phone rang and some of our good friends were calling to see if we were back and invite us to a New Year’s celebration of tamales on the 30th. We had a great time!
Thanks for your prayers for us in 2008. We are excited about all that God is doing in Hermosillo right now and looking forward to a great 2009.
