October Update

Buenos Dias!

September has been a busy month for us as we continue to adjust to our new culture and become more involved in the community. Thank you all so much for your prayer support and for those of you who continue to remain faithful financially!

Your prayer covering means more to us than you might think! In the last month, my health has improved greatly, and there have been more opportunities for us to share the life of Jesus with the people here. As well, Lily is working with more people in the counseling area. She now has somewhere around 6 people, three of which are teenagers. Please continue to pray that God would speak to them through her, and that their lives would be radically changed for Him!

We recently had an opportunity to share Christ with Eva and her two friends, Rebecca and Flor. I spoke a little bit about Eva in the last email - she is from the Sierra Sur mountains and is of Zapotec descent. Her friends are from the mountains in the Northwest of Oaxaca, from an area known as Mixes. They both speak Mixteco as their native language, and Spanish as their common language. All three girls are indigenous, and are from the lower economic class here. The older girls clean houses for several families during the week, and then on the weekend they study at one of the Universities here. They have left their villages in the mountains to pursue a better life here in the city.

Rebecca is currently studying to be an English teacher, and her sister Flor is in High School - learning French. Because of this, we had a great conversation about learning languages and they shared with us their native language Mixteco. As we drank coffee and ate apple crisp at our house, we asked them to translate several things for us from Spanish to Mixteco, including a passage from Isaiah. This led into a conversation about having a relationship with God! They were very open to what we had to say and we are praying that as we develop these relationships further, they will come to know the Truth. Please pray with us for these three young ladies!

One of the times that Eva came to work for us, she and Lily had a very interesting conversation about how women are treated in the mountain villages. They talked about family as well, which eventually led to Eva inviting us to meet her family. This is not very common as many of the villages are very closed to outsiders. We hope to take her up on the invitation soon.

My English classes are going well. The class that meets on Saturdays at a Medical Clinic, is coming out to our house next weekend for a time of games, food, etc. We hope to further deepen our relationships with these students. Please pray for them, that they would be open to hearing about God.

My tourist visa expires the first part of December, so I am currently in the process of having it changed to a different type of visa. In order to get this new visa (which will allow me to stay indefinitely) I have to take a job with a local language school, and in order to do that, I have to have my teaching certificate certified by the Colorado Secretary of State. Please pray that this goes smoothly, and quickly so that the authorities will allow me to stay.

As far as prayer requests go:

1. For the three indigenous girls - Rebecca, Flor, and Eva.
2. That the paperwork Derek needs for immigration would come quickly.
3. That God would send more English students.
4. Wisdom for us both as we develop relationships with our students,
those Lily counsels, and with others we meet.
5. That God would prepare their hearts to accept Him.
6. For Derek as he learns more Spanish.
7. For both of us as we continue to adjust to this new way of life.

Again, thank you all for praying for us, and especially for those who continue to support us financially. We wouldn’t have been able to make it this far without you all!!

Tags: Updates