Querétaro Mission Update #2

¡Hola de Chicago!
(Hello from Chicago!)

We've been back home from Mexico and New York for almost two weeks and we have some updates for you.

General Updates

• We're thanking God that we were completely funded to go on this trip. And we thank you for your prayers and financial support!
• Rebecca had a busy but successful work trip in New York following our return from Mexico. After completing work responsibilities, we had a great time celebrating her 27th birthday and exploring NYC.
• Rebecca did have some food reactions but is healing well and enjoyed our travels anyway.
• Tim did a great job working with the New Life Community Church administration team to manage the team money throughout the trip. We didn't run out of funds and he kept everything very organized to cover food, lodging, transportation, and a donation to the church and orphanage.

Mission Activities

• We helped to organize and operate a Vacation Bible School program at Pan de Vida for three days. There were about eighty children from the orphanage and neighborhood nearby who participated. Our missionary team, leaders from the church, and the staff at the orphanage all worked together to have each group rotate through four stations. The stations consisted of making crafts, playing games, drawing, and teaching Bible verses. Both of us served as team leaders and we went to each station with our assigned group each day. It was a joy to get to know each child and spend time with them consistently throughout the program.
• One of our goals was to train and support the leaders of the recent church plant (Nueva Vida Querétaro) as they prepare to continue VBS programs in the future with and without mission teams. We all learned a lot and we're confident that they're equipped to continue the work.
• We spent time with the orphanage staff and church members doing devotionals and Bible studies, sharing testimonies, worshiping together, playing sports and making bracelets with the kids. A couple of people on our team work as hair stylists and gave haircuts to many of the kids.
• We spent another two days doing a smaller Vacation Bible School program at Nueva Vida Querétaro with about thirty kids from the neighborhood and church. We also spent a day doing projects around the church such as cleaning, organizing, and doing yardwork.
• We enjoyed fellowship with some Nueva Vida members as we attended a church service that was followed by a potluck that the church hosts once a month.

Prayer Requests for Querétaro

• That the people of Querétaro would hear the Gospel and receive Christ.
• For God to raise up new and faithful leaders to serve in the church.
• That each child at Pan de Vida would come to know the Lord's love for him or her and that they would seek to know God in return.

Love,

Tim & Rebecca

Querétaro Mission Update #1

Hello again!

We leave for Querétaro in less than three days and we have some updates for you.

Our Preparation

• We're thanking God for bringing in the remainder of the money we needed to cover the cost for us to participate in this mission! Yay! As of Sunday night we're good to go.
• We are working on our packing strategy. Rebecca has to leave for a work trip to New York the day after we return from Mexico. Tim will join her in New York a couple days later. So we really need to pack for two trips at once!
• We're also planning snacks we can bring along that fit within Rebecca's prescribed diet.
• Tim is working with the New Life Community Church administration team to manage the team money throughout the trip.

Team Preparation

• The team is still short close to $3,000 of the money that we'll need to cover expenses. Please consider giving (the same way you gave to us) to help us meet this team goal! Our original mission letter with giving instructions can be found here.
• We are also seeking donations of 60 combs for children at the Casa Hogar Pan de Vida orphanage and 10 metal combs for removing lice. Please send us an email to let us know if you are able to help with this!

What are We Going to Do?

In case you missed it, we're going to:

• Play games and direct Bible-based activities with neighborhood children and orphans who live at Casa Hogar Pan de Vida
• Share Christ's message with members of the community
• Offer training and support to the leaders of the recent church plant: Nueva Vida Querétaro
• Tim will serve as the team's Finance Administrator which means he'll manage the team's money and report back to the church regarding all of our expenses.

Prayer Requests

• For team fundraising. Please pray that God will provide the money to cover everyone's team travel and expenses.
• That each of us on the team will seek God's kingdom first as we go and that we would be flexible and faithful servants.
• For safety as we travel and for unity within our team!
• That the people of Queretaro would hear the Gospel and receive Christ.
• For Rebecca to have access to sufficient and safe food. Eating while traveling can be very challenging due to her reactions to certain foods.

Keeping in Touch

We plan to continue to post trip updates on this blog while in Mexico and when we return. Feel free to reach out to us by email any time and also at our Google Voice phone number (872.588.1081) during the trip.

Love,

Tim & Rebecca

We're Going on a Mission!

Hi, everyone!

We're getting ready to leave for Santiago de Queretaro, Mexico next week (August 4) and we have some updates about our fundraising and prayer requests:

Updates

• Praise God for bringing together a team of thirteen eager servants for this work!
• We're thanking God for bringing in $1,680.00 in support for the two of us. We only need $520 more at the time of this post!

In case you missed it, you can read a letter about our trip and how to make donations here.

Prayer Requests

• For team fundraising. As of Sunday, we were short about $3,000 of the money that we'll need for team travel and expenses.
• That each of us on the team will seek God's kingdom first as we go and that we would be flexible and faithful servants.
• For safety as we travel and for unity within our team!
• That the people of Queretaro would hear the Gospel and receive Christ.
• For Rebecca to have access to sufficient and safe food. Eating while traveling can be very challenging due to her reactions to certain foods.

What are We Going to Do?

• Play games and direct Bible-based activities with neighborhood children and orphans who live at Casa Hogar Pan de Vida
• Share Christ's message with members of the community
• Offer training and support to the leaders of the recent church plant: Nueva Vida Queretaro 
• Tim will serve as the team's Finance Administrator (We'll let you know what that means when we find out!)

2017 Queretaro Team

Keeping in Touch

We plan to post trip updates on this blog while in Mexico (if there's time!) and when we return. Feel free to reach out to us by email any time and also by Google Voice (872.588.1081) during the trip.

Love,

Tim & Rebecca