love God•love others•reach the world

But it’s a good thing!

We were blessed to have a group from Illinois State University here working alongside our two great semester missionaries. They spent most of the week on the UNISON campus, making friends and building relationships. They drank gallons of coffee Caffenio and played volleyball until they dropped. We are grateful for their sweet spirit and can do attitude.

The day after the Illinois project ended, a group from our home church (Eastwood BC, Haughton, LA) arrived. Led by Bryan Canup, this team exemplified flexibility and servant leadership. They drove nearly round-the-clock to get here (and to get back home) and arrived with big smiles and loving hearts. The people of Las Lomas were touched by this group. Just last night one of our church members gave a testimony of how some of her unsaved neighbors commented positively about the willingness of this team to come and work in our neighborhood. The trip culminated in the screening of an evangelistic film which was well-attended. As a result, 8 new families have requested marriage counseling and we had some new folks at church on Sunday! Praise the Lord!

Back again for their 4th consecutive year in Hermosillo, the team from FBC, Borger, Texas arrived in force–three church vans and 27 people. These guys have been here so much they know their way around the city and feel right at home. They worked the entire week on the UNISON campus and developed many relationships. We pray that their efforts, along with those of the Illinois group will result in some students coming to know Christ and gathering for Bible study.

Today, we are taking a day off to rest, catch up on laundry, and regroup for the followup work. Pray for us!

A difficult decison has been made. I suppose it was inevitable, but that doesn’t make it easy.

As you have probably read in the news, one of the most dangerous cities in the world (that’s right, the world) is where part of our team works….Juárez, Mexico. During 2009 the death toll from drug-related murders rose to more than 2,600. The killing is senseless and widespread. And it appears to be getting worse. Although 2009 was the worst year on record, January and February 2010 are outpacing it.

As a result, after much prayer and discussion, we’ve made the decision to evacuate our personnel from the city. We really don’t know what will happen to the work that our people have been a part of for many years. Hopefully, it will continue and it will grow stronger. Doubtless, we will lose some of our preaching points. Perhaps some others will be raised up. Only God knows.

In recent months several religious groups have received extortion threats. The demand for “protection money” is growing and a host of burned out businesses (who apparently weren’t paying) is the evidence. Ultimately, our leaders just did not feel they could continue to allow our personnel to live in such dangerous conditions.

May God bless our personnel who are relocating, and may God bless the local brethren who can’t leave. May this violent and sinful city one day be transformed by the power of Christ.

February was a month of travels for us. Hopefully, March won’t be.

In early February, Donna and I flew to Mexico City to attend a team leader meeting. It rained and was cold almost the entire time we were there, making the situation less than ideal. We had a couple of days of meetings along with a couple of travel days. We were guests of some of our missionary colleagues in the D.F., since this meeting was done on the cheap! (Cutting costs seems to be the buzzword this year)

Later, I (Alan) flew to Guatemala City, Guatemala for a week of leadership training. I spent several days along with my colleague David studying with our regional leadership consultant. The time was truely rewarding and I think I came away with some useful information to put into practice. I enjoyed seeing Guatemala for the first time, although honestly I wouldn’t want to live there. This was another meeting done on a tight budget, and that was reflected in our meals. We didn’t really have any bad  meals, but as I like to say, nothing just really knocked my socks off……except maybe for the frozen coconut lemonade that accompanied our last meal. Yum, Yum.

For the last several years we’ve had meetings or other commitments that have separated Donna and I on our birthdays (mine is 2/20 and hers is 2/22). Late last year we decided, Lord willing, we’d plan something special to celebrate. We waffled on the idea (or maybe that was just me waffling) several times. I thought about how much we’d already been away from home, and how much a little celebration trip might cost and a few other things. Ultimately, I decided that Donna was worth it and that the other trips were all about work. So we headed out for a couple of days in the mountains of Arizona. We enjoyed snow-skiing, a musuem visit, and several good meals. One of the highlights was finding one of the restaurants featured on Guy Fieri’s TV show, “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.” We really enjoyed the weekend and will have to say as southerners, we’ve never seen that much snow in that little time. It was great!

February is over, and we are back at home and back to the real world. Lot’s of work coming in March. Pray for us!