Baptism

One more quick post before we all leave for Christmas (well, actually I'm the only one still in town) to introduce you to your new sister in Christ! Janet was baptized today. She is the fiancé of Alejandro, who is the son of Pepe and Ángeles. You can read a little more about Pepe and Ángeles here. Just scroll down. They are almost at the end of the article. Anyway, Alejandro and Janet are getting married on Jan. 5th and have asked Sam to perform the ceremony. As Sam and Ann did some premarital counseling with them, they also studied more in depth with Janet, which led to her decision to be baptized today. We are rejoicing with the angels in heaven over this newest member of the body of Christ and ask for your prayers for her as she begins her new walk with the Lord and also prepares for the next stage of her life as a wife. Enjoy the pictures!

Sam talking to Janet before her baptism

Cute picture of the kids peaking over the baptistry to watch

Sam baptizing Janet

Praying over Janet

(L to R) Ángeles, Julieta (Alejandro's sister), Alejandro, Janet, and Pepe

It's almost Christmas time!

Just a quick post to ask for your prayers for safe travel for all of us this Christmas season. The traveling starts out with our intern, Jeanine, leaving on Saturday morning, followed by the González family hitting the road Sunday afternoon and then I head to Mexico City really early on Monday morning to catch a flight to DFW. I fly back in to Mexico City on Saturday, the 29th and will take another bus back to Morelia. Jeanine gets back in on January 3rd and the Gonzos roll in on the 4th. We are all looking forward to spending time with friends and family, but we do ask for your prayer coverage for these next couple of weeks. We must say that one of the things we do love about living in Mexico is that we are close enough to visit family during special times like the Christmas season! Here are some cute pictures of the Gonzo girls at a Christmas party the other day.

Christmas convivio

Well, the Lord amazed us once again! We had our annual Christmas convivio on Sunday and the Lord was there and saw us through it all. We had over 150 people there, which was a huge blessing. This is what Ann had to say about the event:

We had our annual Christmas celebration this past Sunday. It was a great day!!! I tried to count, but it was rather difficult -- people kept moving or I kept getting distracted. But, 147 plates of food were served and 4-6 additional people came in after the meal. So, we are saying that we had 150 there, which is a great number. There were many new faces, which we always like to see. Along with those were some familiar faces including Santa Claus. The highlight of the evening was the candle light part of the service. It was beautiful to see the room go from darkness to light and to think that that is exactly what we are all about. We were a little apprehensive as to how it would work with a lot of kids in the audience and it took quite a bit of energy to explain to our leaders how they would make it work. And it worked! The owner of the place we rented was especially impressed with it. He has spent 3 years listening to us worship, listening to God's word, listening to Sam preach...so one of these we look forward to him being in the light!

Here are some of the pictures I took. Enjoy!

The kids playing games as everyone else was arriving

People getting to know each other

Our official greeters for the day, Amy and Evelia (and Daniel)

Some of the kids sang a couple of songs to start off our celebration time

There were even actions involved in the songs!

A full house!

And of course, Santa Claus!

Update

Good morning! I just wanted to give you a quick update on Morelia. Jeanine and I went to see her yesterday at her house and she seems to be doing really well, although still sore and in some pain if she moves a lot. But she is in very good spirits and knows that it was the Lord who brought her through everything. She said she felt so peaceful and full of hope when she was waiting for the surgery to start. She went into the operating room singing the Lord's praises and she could feel the prayers of so many on her behalf. Please continue to lift her up. Pray that the Lord will heal her quickly and completely and that she will rest in Him in these days of recovery.
Oh, one more thing. Be sure to check out the Gonzo's blog for some interesting news. : )