The Evening Church Visits

We shared evening church visits at the Filadelfia church in Xochimilco on May 14, at the Neuvo Amanecer Church in Texcoco on May 19, and the Jerusalem church on May 21.

In each of these visits, accompanied by Daniel Ambriz and Daniel Valencia, Walter had opportunity to bring greetings to the people, and both he and I had short teaching sessions. Walter opened with acknowledgement of the pain that exists in the home, and gave practical ways to help resolve conflict. His teaching on The Blessing, taken from Gary Smalley's book of the same name, meant a great deal to people. He pointed out the frequency and the impact of blessings that were given in the Old Testament and in the New, and he higlighted five key and oft-repeated elements of the blessing.
These five elements are: physical touch, affirming words, communicating worth, listening to your child's dreams and putting them into a word picture and, reinforcing their dreams and hopes in practical ways. Since I didn't have Spanish language powerpoints ready for these evening gatherings, I prepared images of children at different ages and described the opportunities and the importance of teaching and encouraging children at each age.



The Filadelfia church, mentioned in an earlier blog, is led by Pastor Francisco Ranget. This church has doubled in attendance in a year, and continues to grow.

The Neuvo Amanecer (New Dawn) Church was full of people in the middle of the week.

This is Cedric, age 7, one of the most enthusiastic guitar players.Children are part of the life of the church, and little treats and nametags were waiting for them in the building.

The pastoral couple Josuet Alvarez and Carmen Garcia lead this church and two other churchers as well.  As one church grew strong, a daughter church was planted, and then the daughter church also planted a church.


Getsemani Church was the original mother church, and Neuvo Amanecer is the daughter church.

The third generation church plant, Neuvo Amanecer in Xalostoc, is the 'granddaughter' of Getsemani Church. The church in Xalostoc was the location of the quince party mentioned in an earlier posting. A Centre Street Church work team added a second story to this church, doubling the available space and allowing room for children's minstry.

On Friday evening, May 21, we attended the Jerusalem church. It is currently padlocked, due to a dispute with a neighbour. The sign tells of the various home meetings.  Please pray for a peaceful, gracous and just resolution to this problem.

Work teams from Centre Street Church put the second floor on this church during a recent visit.

The church, led by Pastor Reuben Velasquez, continues to function without use of a building. We met in a home and about 25 people were able to crowd in.

As sang and prayed and learned from each other, this home setting helped to anchor the important truths in the reality of everyday life.

The VELA Training Centre

Today was the climax of our time in Mexico. The first weekend teaching sessions were focused on reaching and teaching children in the church and in the home. This second weekend concentrated on the home, particularly pastor's homes.

Walter Erion did the majority of the teaching this day and, even in the morning as we prepared to go, Walter and I both sensed that this would be a day that would be specially touched by the presence of God. It was clear throughout the week, and particularly on this day that people knew and loved Walter deeply. They knew him well and appreicated his connection with Centre Street Church. They were also unified in their love and support for Daniel Ambriz. Daniel serves as a pastor and guide to these church leaders.

Daniel Valencia, National Director of VELA, spent the week with us in planning and translation duties. The high value that he placed on what was being done was evident in his investment in this week and this final day.
The training centre in Texcoco is a beautifully treed and well-equipped property. This final gathering was planned to assist and bond the pastors and leaders of the ten participating churches.

Walter presented four sessions, beginning with scriptural perspectives on the home, followed by a session on four major factors that cause conflict in the home. Couples had opportunity to discuss how their personality types would affect communication and their relationships. The third session dealt with resolving conflict in the home. Copies of the book, The Love Dare, were distributed at the close of the session. The Love Dare book is related to the movie, Fireproof, in which a father challenges his son to take a 40 day "love dare" before he makes a decision on whether or not to divorce his wife. The Love Dare provides 40 different practical love challenges to help build and/or restore a relationship. We also distributed the book, The Blessing.

The final session concentrated on giving a blessing our familes and to others, and was based on the book, The Blessing, by Gary Smalley. Walter gave a scriptural foundation, followed by practical suggestions on how parents bless children. Then, teaching from the example of the apostle Paul, Walter read from the conclusion of Paul’s final epistle, II Timothy. Paul gave a final charge and blessing to Timothy. A second example of Paul's blessing came from the book of Acts, chapter 20,  where Paul gave his final blessing to the believers in Ephesus as they prayed and wept with him at the port before his departure.

This teaching had a rich and personal impact on the gathering, and it led naturally into a response as the church leaders sought to encourage and bless each other.  Daniel Ambriz set out chairs at the front of the gathering and invited one of the pastoral couples to sit in the chairs. He described the work of the church and told of particular needs of the pastoral family. He then invited people from the church and fellow pastors to gather around them, to lay hands on their shoulders in blessing, and to pray. As music played we all lifted our voices in prayer for the needs of this couple and this church. When the prayer concluded he called up another pastoral family, and the whole process was repeated. Over the space of 90 minutes we were gathered in the presence of God and in the beauty of these grounds to ask God`s grace for each congregation represented there.

I made some younger friends and, in the pictures that follow, you will see me some pictures of Ingrid and Lupita. Muches Gracias Ingrid y Lupita.

"God is Love" Church Reaches out in Mexico City

The Dios es Amor (God is Love) church in the SW corner of Mexico City is bursting with people. This visionary congregation rents space and all that is currently available and affordable is the space normally occupied by a house. About 40 people are able to sit on folding chairs in the main area, and then another 40 sit in the courtyard where the people get video and sound feed. Children meet in two of the rooms upstairs.

The church works hard to present the message of freedom in Christ, and regularly goes on marches through the community and offers to pray for people as they pass. This banner, offering prayer for children, for families, for financial needs, for safety and for peace, serves as the centrepiece for the March of Love generated by the Dios es Amor church and their pastor, Ricardo.

Affiliated with church is a residential treatment program for people with addictions. In order to participate in the recovery program, one needs to enter into a 90 day contact to live on site and to agree to the rules of the recovery centre. The program has started a little bakery business in order to develop new job skills and generate income.

The heart of the spiritual dimension of their recovery program is expressed in the Tuesday night meetings of songs, stories of life change stories and preaching. On the night that we were there, five people who were new to the program responded to the call from God to give their lives to him. They came to see that the only way to get freedom from our own desires is to offer ourselves as servants to the One who made us. They saw that forgiveness for our sins and a friendship with God is found in response to Jesus Christ, the Creator of all and the Redeemer of all who seek Him.

We appreciated the impact of this meaningful night. A large number of men and women (pictured) asked to be baptized. Other pictures include staff and participants and clinic director, Edgar Segura.

A Quince Party

On Sunday afternoon, we went to Chicoloapan, a city to the east of Mexico City for a Quince celebration. The church hosted the very important 15th birthday party for Karina. The significance of the celebration is obvious from the festive decorations, the careful coordination of colors, her beautiful dress, her many escorts, and the attendance of a large number of family and friends.

The church was a great help to this family; they began to attend three months earlier as divorce was threatening the parents’ marriage. By the grace of our wonderful God, they found a new life in Jesus Christ and a new love for each other.

Children in the church

On Sunday morning we went to Centro Christiano in Nualcapan, to the west of Mexico City. Nualcapan is a city of contrasts, and many hard working people can't find time or opportunity to go to church. Almost one-third of those in the service were children. They doubled and trebled the energy as we sang and clapped and worshipped God. These three little girls spontaneously formed a circle and danced to the music.

The children sang a welcome song for those of us who were visiting and then every one of them, tweny or more, gave a hug to every visitor. The pastor asked Walter to bring greetings to the church and asked me to speak to the children and to give them a word of blessing. Our translator was Roberto. Walter's greetings always include a reference to the leadership of the local church, and to the leadership of Daniel Ambriz. Before my prayer of blessing, I told them that their presence enhanced the joy of the church service and said that, while we delighted in their enthusiasm, our greatest hope was that they would receive Christ and become strong in character and life.

This little church is reaching into people's homes through the lives of their children. A daily after-school program with 4 leaders has 40 children attending, doing their homework and singing songs. One Saturday per month, the church holds a children's fiesta and 75 children attend on average. The pastor and family, pictured above, hold a weekly Wednesday evening outreach for children on the neighboring hillside.

The city is densely crowded, yet people walk up and down the mountain streets for up to 40 minutes to come to this church. Their joy is contagious and their devotion to God is genuine and inspiring.

Intergenerational Seminar in Mexico City

It is Saturday evening, and we are back from an all-day seminar. Walter Erion and I spoke 5 times. Walter spoke for one session on the subject of conflict in the home, especially helping people to recognize the impact of differing temperaments on a marriage. As people learned about their own temperament type, they were very excited. This picture shows Walter speaking about The Blessing. With him is our translator, Daniel Valencia.

I spoke for 4 sessions, beginning with what the Bible says about children in the church and home, understanding the various ages and stages, organizing the church for ministry to children, and evangelism with children. It wasn’t all talk and PowerPoint presentations; we had a lesson demonstration, as well as a time when each of the ten participating congregations could discuss their plans for reaching and teaching children.

We experienced something quite unfamiliar in Canadian settings. As people arrived for the day-long seminar, entire families arrived togther. 

There weren’t special parallel children’s sessions in another area. Instead, the children and youth were there with their parents for the entire day, capturing the experience. The day was instructional, and also very joyful. At different times, people sang, and prayed, and listened to instruction, and cheered, and laughed, and ate, and discussed. The children could take in as much as they were able to, and they expected that this ``seminario`` would benefit not only the adults, but that all ages would receive and contribue something. The presence of children added a whole new dimension of anticipation and excitement. As a presenter, my energy level was heightened and stimulated in this environment. I could tell that the content was applicable and appealing. This was my heaviest day of the entire trip, and I came home satisfied and refreshed.

A small group leader in Calgary heard about me trip and offerred to help me. I want to say thank you to Angeles Mendoza in Calgary, who interrupted her own research work to translate one of the PowerPoint presentations in advance. Gracias Angeles!

A day of Teaching in Mexico City

Today was our first full day in Mexico City. This evening we spoke at “Philadelphia Church” in the southern suburn of Xochimilco and, to my surprise and great joy, we met Margarito and his wife. I met them on a visit to the "flower mountain", Xochitepec in Puebla State in 2001, and we still remembered each other. On that trip, she prepared and served food and ensured that our team of 20 people was healthy and well cared for.
The Philadelphia Church meets to pray every Friday evening. It is growing at an enormous pace, and includes new converts to Christianity, a number of children and youth. Many people came up to ask for prayer that God would help them in their spiritual life, and in their troubles. Our message to them was about passing on the blessing, and a key implication about the development of children. It is incredibly important to anchor them in the scriptures and the love of the family of God by age 10. When troubles and temptations come, they will have a set of values to carry them through.  The love of the people is beautiful and precious. It is a thrill to be here with them.

Let them catch your JOY!

Almost every time that adults and children along with neighbours and the needy) are commanded to go together to worship God, the book of Deuteronomy says, “Rejoice.” Joy is about more than circumstances, but about having a deep confidence in God. That is the bedrock of security and of joy. Joy is contagious, when we are glad about following God, people catch it.
Ross Mair is in my small group. Ross, who has had Cerebral Palsy all his life, just hit sixty. On his party night, the lights went out all over the whole city during a spring storm. That didn’t stop our small group from celebrating.

You can also see Hashim and Hafido in the picture. They joined in, just because they care about Ross and about people with developmental disabilities. That made the party that much better. Ross and Hashim and Hafido are people who are thankful for good things and who care for people in trouble.

This last picture shows my daughter Katie and her husband Allan blowing out the candles at their shared birthday party. The two helpers are daughter Makenna and nephew Ethan.

Deuteronomy 16:11 (NIV)

And rejoice before the LORD your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, the Levites in your towns, and the aliens, the fatherless and the widows living among you.

Mexico Schedule

Well, we are 5 days away from the ministry in Mexico. Here is the schedule for our time down there.

Thursday, May 13 –

· 7:30 AM Depart on Mexicana MX 871

Friday
· Briefing at VELA (Vision Evangelizadora por LatinoAmericana A.C.) office
· Evening seminar at New Life Christian Center (Pastor Jose Aquilar)

Saturday
· Day long teaching series at Candelabra Church - a GREAT day.

Sunday
· Participate in services at
    Philadelphia Missionary Church (Pastor Francisco Rangel)
    Lion of Judah Christian Church (Pastor Evaristo Villa)

Monday
· Free day

Tuesday
· Pastoral visits in the day time
· Outreach message to the AA Group in the God is Love Church (Pastor Ricardo Arizmendi)

Wednesday
· Devotional and sessions with VELA staff
· Evening seminar at New Dawn Christian Centre (Pastor Josuet Alvarez)

Thursday
· Pastoral visits in the day time

Friday
· Pastoral visits in the day time
· Evening seminar at Church of Jerusalem (Pastor Ruben Velazquez)

Saturday
· Day long teaching series for Pastors and Pastors families
  Another GREAT day!

Sunday, May 23
· Participate in services at
   God is Love Church (Pastor Ricardo Arizmendi)
· 3:35 p.m. Depart MX 870
· 8:00 p.m. Arrive in Calgary.

Thank you all for your interest and your prayers! We're looking forward to this experience.