Settling Back In

Blessings of Christ Jesus be with you!

It’s been a month and half since we returned to Mexico so I am overdue for sharing an update. I also received some feedback and requests for more pictures and information about how our family is doing here so I’ll be attempting to share more about us in my posts this year, too. We returned to General Cepeda at the beginning of February. We spent the first couple of weeks primarily settling back in. The first day back, our kids spent the day with Jeremy at the farm where we are keeping the horses (in exchange for Jeremy training their mare). They came back at the end of the day and Jaylyn stated they spent all day exploring and it was the best day ever! I realize this may not be the norm, but our kids were very used to having acres of pasture and woods to “explore” independently on our farm before we went into missions so having access to this farm beside a desert mountain here in rural Mexico is a huge blessing to our family.

Our four oldest kids exploring and climbing the mountain by the farm

Simon counting for Hide & Seek

Jaylyn and Lincoln started back to school. We were really praying for Lincoln to become more comfortable in his class and make some friends that he likes to play with. Sometime during the first week back, Lincoln chose to eat lunch and play with his own classmates instead of with Jaylyn and hers. Most days, he now enjoys playing with his friends during his free time at school and is much more comfortable in his classroom. Thank you, Jesus!

Jaylyn and Lincoln pausing to pose for a picture

Our family

Jaylyn (and the boys) love to hold Gabriella.

We resumed our Wednesday morning prayer group (open to the whole community), and Jeremy resumed the Friday night men’s group. One of the men Jeremy discipled with last year, Ivan, began another men’s group in his father-in-law’s house a couple of weeks ago with his father-in-law and several of his brothers-in-law. Jeremy and Ivan go from the men’s group at the mission house on Friday evenings from 7-8:30 or 9 and then to Ivan’s father-in-law’s house beginning at 9 or so. Ivan has reported that his father-in-law has begun going to Mass with the rest of the family on Sundays and the men are really enjoying the prayer group. Glory to God! 

Gabriella is one happy girl in spite of her pants never being clean.

She is pulling up and crawling everywhere now.

Jeremy and the kids began working with the horses again. Our friend, Cesar, and his daughter, Mariana, are teaching our kids rodeo events including barrel racing and goat tying. Our kids are beyond excited to have this opportunity. We hope to share our common love for horses and Jesus with the youth in this community through the kids cowboy ministry soon. At this point though, Jeremy continues to meet other cowboys here and share his faith and witness.

Lincoln learning the goat tying event

Looks like we have another little cowgirl

Zane's blonde hair gets lots of attention here

We hosted a mission trip the last week of February. Mission trips are such a blessing to the local people here and to the people who come on them; we are grateful to be a part of them!

Simon (with no lack of style) helping on the work project.

One more of these two

Because of your generosity, we continue to have the opportunity to share resources with those in need here through meeting alms requests for medicine and medical equipment, doctor and dental visits to those who are un-insured or who cannot afford their co-pays, laboratory and other medical tests, diapers and formula, and a funeral service for a young man whose family could not afford it. I've also had the opportunity to help a mother give her ill daughters medication. She is unable to read and understandably reluctant to tell professionals this. Therefore, she is unable to understand the directions the doctor and pharmacy give her. My eyes continue to be opened to the challenges of being illiterate. The Lord put on my heart again recently that the most important thing we can give people is prayer. This mother is frequently stoic and likely somewhat hardened by life. During the recent mission trip, a group of us visited her in her home and prayed with her. She was visibly touched by the love of God as she began sobbing while we prayed over her. God's love is the one true remedy for every need.

We are super blessed to have two other American missionary families who will be serving with us here this year! The Sokolowski family spent a couple weeks here in February before leaving for language school; we are looking forward to their return next month. The Oakes family will be coming here this summer.

Zane and one of the Sokolowski's sweet girls "leading" the music.

We are praying for all of you who continue to support us in prayer and with finances. Please continue to pray for our mission here as your prayers no doubt sustain us.

God bless you!
Lisa

True Generosity

At the end of June, Jeremy was able to provide work for a number of men and women here through repairing and repainting the mission house. One of the women who came in need of work was M. She is a personality around town. She is very forward and friendly. When she came to participate in the work project, I was in the kitchen (a separate area) helping Lincoln with school (finishing up homeschooling kindergarten) and nursing Gabriella. Several mornings she came in to ask me for something and to touch Gabriella’s head while she was nursing. I redirected her to Jeremy in the other area and, to be honest, was becoming annoyed with her. Then one morning as I was going out to get groceries, she gave me money to buy coke for her. When I got back and gave her the coke, she asked me for some cups and immediately started pouring everyone working there a cup of coke. Whoa, I was floored. The amount of money to buy coke was almost half of what she made working that morning. And immediately she shared what she had with everyone. Here I was becoming annoyed with this woman and in one moment she put my generosity to shame. She showed me what it means to be truly generous.  Joseph Summers (former director of Family Missions Company) paraphrases teachings from the Catechism of the Catholic Church saying “Generosity is giving from your need. Giving from your excess is not generosity, it is justice.” I have never been truly generous. I have never sacrificed meeting the needs of myself or my family in order to help others.

M. has shown me true generosity. My respect for her continues to grow as God reveals layer after layer of her beauty to me. Recently during a prayer and convivio (potluck) gathering we hosted at the mission house, M. was twirling with joy while we sang and danced to praise songs. Her free and authentic joy and adoration of the Lord was palpable. I am grateful to know M. and for her Christian example.

Our sweet Gabriella loves to smile and coo.

What if You Can’t Read

At the beginning of July, a woman, F., came by the mission house asking for help filling out the form to register her oldest daughter for classes this school year. F. is a frequent visitor to the mission house; she usually comes to ask for food and other basic necessities. We have begun giving her work and paying her for her work instead of only giving her handouts. She appears to have grown in confidence and dignity and is grateful for the opportunity to work. She has five children. The oldest one is in sixth grade this year and has been attending school the past several years (thanks to the help of previous missionaries here); she seems to be doing well. The next two girls are ages nine and six and have not attended school more than a day here and there. The nine year old especially has been bullied in the past at school and has been terrified to go to school. Elementary school is compulsory here but there is no enforcement. F. is (culturally) married and her husband, C., has work off and on, but it is not always sufficient to pay for food and other basic needs. We have been able to provide her husband with work also at times through different construction projects. They have started attending Sunday Mass as a family, and C. sometimes participates in the men’s bible study Jeremy started at the mission house on Friday evenings.

The reason F. needed help filling out the form for her daughter is that she does not know how to read and write. When I asked her for her daughter’s birthday so that I could fill it in, F. didn’t know the date or year. I must admit I was initially appalled; how does a mother not know her child’s birthday? Then it hit me. When you can’t read or write and have no print/number awareness, its not just books that have no meaning to you. You can’t use calendars or record important dates and names. You don’t attend meetings or come back when asked because you don’t have any way of helping you remember when you are supposed to be somewhere. 

When we visit villages and neighborhoods, we have been trying to let people know in advance so they can plan ahead to attend prayer in the chapel. But this does not seem beneficial. We still need to walk door to door inviting people and then many of them will drop everything (whether laundry or whatever else) to come pray together. When you can’t read/write, you can’t plan ahead. Even if all I’m planning is to put away laundry and go to bed, its annoying to me to have to change plans for a last minute invitation. Yet those unable to read/write are more than willing to drop everything (whether laundry or whatever else) to come when invited.

F.’s nine year old and six year old daughters have begun going to school this year. Jeremy has been able to walk with them to and from school in order to help encourage them. The nine year old has been placed in the same class as Jaylyn. Jaylyn noted the way several of the girls whispered about F.’s daughter the first day. Jaylyn had the opportunity to tell the other girls that F.’s daughter is her friend (and to also get laughed at). This experience has increased my awareness of the challenge it is to go to school when you don’t come from a literate family and when you are an outcast of society; it has also increased my awareness of the powerful impact a father figure can have on the life of a child. As the school year is now underway, let us all be more cognizant of those who may have a more difficult home life and provide extra encouragement and support. The value of a simple smile and saying hello to someone should never be underrated. Lincoln comes home from school everyday right now and is excited to share that he had a good day because a new friend smiled at him or asked him what his name is. Let us be Jesus to our fellow humans through our simple acts of kindness.

I’m humbled by so many things: by the greater realization of what a huge blessing and privilege it is to have an education, to know how to read and write, and to have the ability to plan ahead; by my temptation to judge another and the realization of the grace needed to have empathy; and by the realization of the grace required to be flexible enough to accept a last minute holy invitation.

Waiting for the assembly to begin before Jaylyn and Lincoln's first day of school 

Making Friends and Sharing God's Love

April was a full and blessed month with hosting two mission trips and celebrating Easter. We had the opportunity to pray with the people of La Colonia (a poor neighborhood in town), celebrate Mass, and host a convivio (potluck); these gatherings have led to ongoing ministry in La Colonia. Additionally, we visited and prayed with the people in several of the ranchos (villages) surrounding General Cepeda. We participated in home visits to some of the elderly people in the community. The main work project that was targeted during these trips was putting in the concrete floor for the San Juan Bosco Gym here in General Cepeda; we will share a future post about the gym.

Our family on Easter

Home visit during a mission trip

The boys getting their feet washed during the Holy Thursday celebration

Simon taking a turn swinging at the piñata during the celebration night at the end of a mission trip

Jaylyn serving at Mass in the chapel at La Colonia

Lisa visiting during the convivio

At the end of April, a lady named G.H. came to us in need of roof repairs. She said her roof leaks and she was hoping for it to be repaired before the rainiest month of June (May is also a rainy month here). Jeremy contacted Pancho, a local handyman here and brother of one of the local missionaries, and together they were able to repair her roof in May. While on G.H.'s roof, they looked out at her neighbor's roofs and noted many appearing to need repair. Additionally, we visited La Noria the beginning of May just following a rain and found a woman trying to sweep a significant amount of water out of her house. Jeremy was able to help her complete the task this time, but we plan to repair her roof in the future. Repairing leaky mud roofs with a thin layer of concrete appears to be a need of many in General Cepeda and the surrounding areas, and we plan to continue to address this need. The process in repairing these roofs is replacing murillos (rafters), then placing wood platforms across, covering with a sheet of plastic, then a layer of dirt, and finally sealing with a thin layer of concrete. The concrete is mixed by hand on the ground and then manually carried up a ladder to the top of the roof in buckets.

A partially completed roof with two areas of dirt left to be sealed with concrete

A layer of concrete was added to seal leaks in the roof of G.H.'s house

Looking out at the neighborhood from G.H.'s house

The boys helping make concrete in front of G.H.'s house

Lincoln working on a roof

Jeremy and Jaylyn working on a roof; the murillos are being covered with a wood platform

A woman sweeping water out of her house

The interior of a typical roof; made of twigs and mud

Buckets to catch the leaks when it rains

Prayer and Bible Study at La Noria de la Sabina

Raul, one of the local missionaries here, suggested modifying the Friday night men's group to include a convivio (potluck) with families one time per month. We hosted the first convivio this past Friday; it was also a great opportunity to invite other women and families from the community to participate in prayer and fellowship with us.

Gathering for prayer and reflections before the convivio

We have been blessed by great friendships with two other families here. The dads and older kids had the opportunity to open air camp on their family's ranch. This was a first experience for our kids (Jaylyn, Lincoln and Zane), and they are looking forward to doing it again.

Most still asleep around the campfire after a night of open air camping

Getting to ride our friends' animals has been a highlight for our kids

We've also been blessed to meet another group of local ranch and rodeo cowboys and hope to journey more closely with them in the future.

Zane and Simon saying hi to a horse

Lisa at 39+ weeks pregnant

Thank you for your support, both prayer and financial, that makes this ministry possible. If there are questions you have or other information you would like to see, please let us know.

God bless you!

Catholic and Protestant: Shifting from Pride to Merciful Love United by the Holy Spirit

“Reflect on what I am saying for the Lord will give you understanding in everything" 
(2 Timothy 2:7).

The intent of this post is to share a paradoxical shift from God by discussing recent experiences the Lord entered into showering graces of love and meekness. My hope is to encourage a reflection on our mission as Christian believers and to request the Holy Spirit cleanse and strengthen us all with a greater outpouring of God’s love.

Fleshy quarrels desiring dominance to prove knowledge and power have been present for centuries. However, many of us 21st century Christians seem to have raised the bar on self-righteousness fed by silly debates. It seems like the world is fueled by judging or persecuting others, like the evil one set the bait and many of us swallowed it whole. For me, it was comforting to think that I am a Christian and I am right, believing the Lord is on my side. The Lord has revealed a deeper level of pride I did not know existed within. HE warns "avoid foolish and ignorant debates, for you know that they breed quarrels. A slave of the Lord should not quarrel but should be gentle with everyone" (2 Timothy 2:23-24). I am challenged to hear all things with love and communicate all things with love, praising the Lord in everything.

Jeremy and Adan

My awareness deepened as I have journeyed with a passionate, spirit-filled non-denominational brother (Adan) in Christ almost everyday for a few months.We witness the Lord's presence in our times of prayer and see the Holy Spirit at work. He views my relationship with the Lord as authentic and real, but he has serious doubts about the Catholic Church. He sees many lukewarm Catholics, lacking a “personal relationship” with God. He admitted it was surprising for him to witness a Catholic sing songs of praise and worship and pray in a charismatic manner. To be honest, initially I was hurt by his comments and wanted to deflect the pain. I shared with him that Catholics have led praise and worship here in General Cepeda (GC) and surrounding ranchos for 30 + years. I noted the 1970's model Alvarez guitar he was holding was most likely from the FMC founders. While I knew he was expressing his view and hurts (persecutions) from prior experiences, my flesh wanted to address this as an issue extending well beyond Catholicism but I decided to end our night with prayer and thanksgiving. The next day I felt the Lord gently invite me to reflect and meditate on the Beatitudes and the pastoral letters to Timothy.

I thought about the subconscious darkness in God’s people judging and talking about their brothers and sisters in Christ disrespectfully. I have been guilty of this sin and witnessed it many times. I whole heartedly know that pride and the lack of meekness is destructive to the Kingdom; it only spreads evil, corrupting minds and stealing peace. The replay of ill thoughts and judgement are draining and unfruitful, but sometimes it feels impossible to stop the replay. This feeling was fresh in my mind from another recent conversation (which I’m sure was meant to be life giving but didn’t feel that way). As I tried to lay these ill feelings before the Lord, HE reminded me, "come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest." I felt as if Jesus said, “I know how draining and debilitating life is if you are burdened with judgement, negativity and anger.” "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for yourselves, for my yoke is easy and my burden light" (Mathew 11: 28-30). Oh to rest with the Lord, to lay our hurts and angers at HIS feet. I felt Jesus yoke my heart to HIS and I felt freedom as He pumped meek, humble, loving, patient, life-giving blood into my soul. In this moment of asking, HE helped me better understand who I am and who HE is. Even (weeks later) as I edit this, it is a constant challenge and reminder to lay every ill thought and feeling at HIS feet.

Blindness, Surrender, Freedom

Jesus encouraged me to reflect more about the prideful thoughts and conversations I have entertained, justifying quarrels as defending HIM. HE helped me to understand how to be passionate yet obedient and docile to HIM with love by recalling two other instances. One personal experience was our entrance into foreign missions. I did not want to serve in GC because I thought it was an established post and I pridefully wanted to blaze a new trail in an untouched corner of the world. The Lord laughed and sent us to GC. However, it is here where our family has been lovingly welcomed and blessed by amazing people. HE has blessed our ministry by using us to touch the people that need HIM here in our new home. Another more radical example Christ provided was Saul’s fervent desire to serve God by killing every Christian in the first century. The conversion and transformation of Saul to the Apostle Paul left him deeply sorry for his sins. St. Paul’s newfound docility allowed the Lord to use the same relentless talents and convictions to bear much fruit for God’s Kingdom. The Lord used St. Paul’s experiences to teach me that all zealous efforts are not of the Lord and proper discernment with obedience is crucial. I confess, I have at times thought my reflections and level of knowledge were more superior to another. I recognize this form of pride and try desperately to repent seeking a meek and humble heart avoiding quarrels. In effort to avoid this daily battle of evil snares, I try to keep my mind clear of negative thoughts and rely heavily on the Lord for guidance. To ensure I am hearing the Lord’s voice and not that of the evil one, I try to completely surrender my agenda or pre-conceived beliefs, call on the Holy Spirit with continuous dialogue asking the Lord to rid me of everything that is not of Him and asking for Him to lead me and guide me while reading and studying God’s Word. The Lord connects the dots providing a strong sense of peace. This helps me to know and live more freely into the will of God.

As noted above, I have experienced times of great frustration with pride-filled mistakes. However, the freedom and peace experienced when living fully in the will of the Lord is magnificent. Therefore, I share these graces the Lord pours out, believing we can improve our approach to actively share the Gospel verbally and physically with a pure heart. My hope is that as one mystical body, we will call on the help of the Holy Spirit to flood our souls with meek, humble, and merciful love. If this post encouraged you to live with more love, please share with another.

"Pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience and gentleness. Guard what has been entrusted to you. Avoid profane babbling and the absurdities of so called knowledge" 
(1 Timothy 6:11 & 20).


With much love!
jmn

Miracles and Wonders

Today’s readings (Acts 5:12-16 and John 20: 19-31) were encouraging words to confidently apply and live the gospel of Jesus with greater trust to step out of the boat and onto the water.

The sunset over La Colonia

Last week ,”Holy Week" was an amazing time to witness God’s love, mercy and healing. The week started with the Lord encouraging us to journey deeper with a local man (Ivan) and his family by asking them to join us in door to door evangelization in one of the poorest neighborhoods in town, La Colonia. The simple invitation was life altering as it led to two miraculous encounters and snowballed to create more laborers for God’s great harvest.

Walking to La Colonia to invite people to pray

The last door we knocked on Sunday night was the first miraculous encounter with Christ resulting in the spiritual and partial physical healing of a man with severe Parkinson’s disease. We initially knocked and the door was unanswered. Ivan whistled through the screen door and we were then greeted by an elderly woman. We invited the family to a worship gathering the following night and asked if we could pray for them before departing. The family asked that we pray for their declining health. The woman had pain and scoliosis; the man (G.) had Parkinson’s disease, struggled to walk and was unable to speak. We prayed for the couple asking that the Lord would fill their hearts with HIS peace and love, and to encourage them with hope. We asked that any spirits of despair or other spirits not of Jesus Christ be driven away from them and they be filled with the Holy Spirit. After praying, I felt compelled to give the man a miraculous medal that was in my pocket. We gave them hugs and shared with them how much the Lord loved them. We could clearly see the Lord had touched their hearts and given them hope with HIS peace and HIS love. The man, looking at the medal, spoke asking what the medal was. He asked his wife if they had any string; he looked very happy and immediately took off walking to another room looking for a string to create a necklace with the medal. His wife was in tears and clearly amazed; she said he had not spoken nor walked like he just had in years. The next night they gathered with us for praise and worship and the following night for Mass. This Mass was the first time this man ever witnessed the holy Mass in his life. After the mass, the couple asked if the priest could marry them on the spot. While the priest was unable to marry them on the spot, they are eager to become catechized. Praise you, Jesus! 

G. (pictured with Ivan) getting water from an agave cactus to share with us

After this powerful encounter, Ivan asked if we could pray with a lady in town, D., that he said was on her death bed. I agreed only to find out the sick woman was a witch doctor. That night our families prayed for her salvation. The next day we gathered several men together to pray. There are several witch doctors here and they have put a lot of fear in local people to the extent that a few faith-filled men opted not to go pray for this woman and those who did go pray for her were quiet on the ride over to her house. It felt like we were going into battle. We prayed for the Lord’s strength and intervention, then Ivan, Lincoln, two other men and I went into the woman's house. Our plan was to offer her prayer and ask that she would rebuke all evil accepting the love and salvation Jesus Christ offered. We were nervous entering her house but strengthened and armored with the love of Christ as we approached her. The grace of God had already touched this woman when we arrived. One of the men asked her if we could pray with her and she agreed; she had decided that morning to meet with a priest to receive the sacraments of healing and reconciliation. She was sitting in a chair hunched over. I knelt down beside her and put my hand on her shoulder. She took my hand and put it to her face. We began praying intensely. Her head was unstable with her eyes rolling back in her head and she appeared to be breathing laboriously. She requested her oxygen and then as we continued praying she tried to stand up. We moved her oxygen to where she was able to stand up with it. Her family and the entire group became very emotional; every person in the room felt the immense power of God knowing that something very special and very powerful had taken place. She sat back down and we continued to pray. When we finished, we told her how much Jesus loved her and it was obvious she was feeling His love. Another family member asked if we could also pray over her. When we finished, the sick woman, D., thanked us for coming and asked that we come again. We were told by her family that she was off of oxygen and went to Mass the following weekend, Easter Sunday. We visited her again this past week and while she was using oxygen, her health appears much improved, and more importantly the love of Christ remains in her. Wow, God is great!

I was reminded by these encounters of 1 Corinthians 12: 12-26; we are all one body in Christ and each member is so important and necessary for the work of Jesus to be completed. Neither of these encounters would have taken place without the original invitation that the Holy Spirit prompted with Ivan and his family. The Lord gently encourages each of us with promptings to journey closer to HIM to live more fully in HIS will. I eagerly share this post to glorify God and to encourage us all to be more aware of His subtle promptings.

Thank you for your prayers and your support.

With much love - in HIM, with HIM, and through HIM,

jmn

April 2019 Newsletter