The blog I have been dreading to write

Have you ever had something hanging over your head that you knew you needed to do, but you just didn't want to? It's always the first thing that you put off, the thing you think you'll get to later. Well, this blgo entry is one of those things.
After much prayer and seeking wise counsel and more prayer, I've decided that's it's time for me to see what comes next in my life. Let me just start by saying this was definitely the hardest decision I've ever made in my life. As I prayed about what I should do, I felt my heart breaking in two. If I decided to stay here, part of my heart would be in Texas with my family and if I decided to move back, then part of my heart would stay with my family here in Morelia. I didn't see a solution that didn't leave me brokenhearted. But what I came to realize through it all is that God is in control, no matter what I decide. And his heart was broken for these people long before I arrived. This work has been, and always will be, his work, not my work. This is been an amazing six years here in Morelia and I wouldn't trade them for the world. The Lord has used this time to grow and mold me in so many ways! And I have loved seeing how the Lord has raised up an amazing, loving, growing church in this time despite my failings and weaknesses. He has been so good!
I actually made this decision many months ago and have spent most of this year preparing for my departure. Many of you who read this blog already knew about my decision, but, as I mentioned before, I've been putting off letting the world know. I am actually leaving on October 6th, in just ten days. I'm in the middle of packing up and selling off my stuff. My mom is here right now (praise the Lord!) helping me. My dad will drive down next week with a friend in the Honda Odyssey and we'll pack it all up and head out early Monday morning. I can't believe that it's already here. This year has flown by too fast, just as I feared it would!
I'm writing this post mainly to ask for your prayers.

1. First off, please continue to lift up the Río de Vida church. I truly believe that this is a turning point for this church when the national leaders will step up even more than they have to really lead this church into a new phase. I can't wait to see what the future holds for this wonderful family! Pray for our cell groups, for our cell leaders, for new leaders and for a deep passion to proclaim the reign of God in Morelia.
2. Secondly, please pray for Sam and Ann. There is no way for me to put into words how much I love the González family and how honored I've been to be a part of their family over the past seven and a half years. They are incredibly gifted, passionate people and it has been a privilege to work beside them. They are committed to helping this church grow into the church we've always envisioned it to be. Pray that the Lord gives them the strength and wisdom to move this church forward, along with the leaders that God has risen up here. Pray for them in their roles as parents, leaders, pastors, servants, teachers, spouses, and all the other roles that they fill.
3. I also want to ask for special prayers for the González girls: Victoria, Sofía, Olivia, and Isabella. I have been blessed to be their "aunt" all these years and I love them dearly and I think they like me pretty well. : ) They've gone through a lot this past year and I think my departure is hitting them pretty hard. The last thing I want to do is hurt them! Pray that the Lord touches them in an extra special way through all of this.
4. And lastly, I ask that you pray for my transition back to the States. I have some ideas about what I'm going to do once I get back but I would appreciate prayers for the Lord's guidance in any decisions that I make. Also, please pray for safe travel for my dad and Don on the way down and all for of us on the way back to Texas.

Thank you, once again, for all your prayes on behalf of the work here over the years. Sam and Ann will continue to keep this blog updated, so stayed tuned to hear about all the amazing things that the Lord is doing here in the beautiful city of Morelia.
Blessings,
Sara

Praying for Morelia

I'm sure many of you have heard by now the sad events of last Monday night. This has been a hard week for everyone here in Morelia and I just wanted to let you know and ask for your prayers. As you can read in the article, seven people died and more than a 100 were injured from the explosion. This is something very out of the ordinary for Mexico and many people here have told me this week that nothing like this has EVER happened in Mexico. True, Mexico isn't necessarily the safest country in the world, but very rarely does the violence that many hear about target the general public.
We decided to hold a prayer night this past Wednesday. We prayed for the families of those who died, as well as each person who was still in the hospital. We also prayed for the city and the state and all those in government.




These are difficult days in Mexico. With all that Pres. Calderon is doing to try and shut down the drug lords, it looks like the cartels are fighting back. This is only going to get worse before it gets better. Please join us in praying for this amazing country that has all the potential to be a world power if it wants to be. More than anything, pray that the light of God shines through this darkness. Thank you!

Isabella Joy

I can't believe I have blogged yet about the newest member of the González clan! For those of you who don't know, Isabella Joy was born on June 17th at 10:40 p.m. For more info and to congratulate Sam and Ann on this newest addition, go here. I will tell you a funny story about that night, though. Sam and Ann had asked me several weeks before if I could be the one they call once the baby started to come so that I could watch the girls. So, for several weeks I had been waiting for the call, with my cell phone by my bed at night, just in case something happened. As we all know, Ann doesn't normally wait very long once things get going, so I needed to be ready! : ) Well, Sam and Ann had a doctors appointment on June 17th to see how things were moving along. They asked me to watch the girls, since the appt. was at 7 p.m. or something like that. I went over to the house and fed the girls and gave them baths and was getting them ready for bed when Sam and Ann came back from the doctor. When I asked what the latest word was, Ann said she was still waiting. The doctor said it could happen at any time and had made another appointment for the following week. Ann went upstairs to go to the restroom and then, when she came back down, she sat down on the couch and said, very calmly, 'Um, I think my water just broke.' Sam was like, 'Are you sure??' She said, 'Yeah, I think so. I think we may be having a baby.' So, Sam called the doctor again and they headed to the hospital while I stayed with the girls and got them to bed. They left the house around 9:20 or so, checked in and Isabella made her appearance at 10:40! I told Ann doesn't waste any time!
Here are a couple of pictures that I took of Isabella just the other day. As you can see, she is beautiful!

She's starting to smile every now and again!

It is so tiring being almost three months old!

This hand tastes very interesting

Isabella with her big sis, Olivia.

Atchleys visit

Even with all of the activities this summer, one of the highlights for all of us was a visit from Rick and Jamie Atchley. As many of you know, Rick is the preacher at Richland Hills, our sponsoring congregation. This was the Atchley's first time to visit Morelia but they have promised to come back! We had a great time visiting with them and showing them around Morelia and Michoacán for the few days that they were here.
They arrived Friday night and Saturday, Sam planned a cookout with all the men from the church to give them an opportunity to meet Rick. In the evening, we went downtown again for the fireworks show and were able to eat dinner on the terrace of the same restaurant from the anniversary weekend.
Rick preached on Sunday and did an amazing job, as he always does. I must admit that it was really weird to see him here preaching to our small congregation after so many years of seeing him up on the big stage at RHCC speaking to crowds of hundreds and even thousands! After our celebration time, we had a meal with our cell leaders, much like we did on the anniversary weekend. Once again, Rick was able to encourage them in their walks with the Lord and they were also able to share some of their testimonies with him and Jamie. That evening, Sam had arranged for Rick to speak at one of the larger community churches here in town that we have developed a good relationship with over the past year or so. Rick preached a great sermon on unity and the church was richly blessed because of it.
We spent Monday doing some sight seeing and shopping, taking them to some of the typical places around Morelia. The weather was beautiful and the company even better. : ) I think Rick may have even gotten a sermon illustration out of the day. You couldn't ask for more than that!
Even though it was just a short trip, we were so blessed to have Rick and Jamie here for a few days. Come back soon! You are welcome any time.

Jamie, Ann, Alli (a friend from New Zealand), Phyllis, and Karen Juarez ready to head downtown for some shopping!

Rick preaching on Sunday with Sam translating

Rick speaking to our cell leaders

Rick and Jamie praying over our leaders

Rick preaching at Filadelfia on Sunday night

Jamie and Olivia in Pátzcuaro on Monday. Jamie was showing me cool things to do with my camera!

Summer Interns

I can't believe that the first time I blog about the interns is almost a month after they've left! I promise that it's not a reflection on a lackluster performance as an intern. : ) Actually, for our first summer interns here in Morelia, they were an absolute blessing! It was so fun having them here and seeing them get involved in this church and making relationships with Mexicans. As you may or may not have noticed, I've posted links in the right column to their personal blogs. Feel free to go there and read all about their time here! Since they've blogged so wonderfully about their experiences, I think I'll just tell you a little about each of them and what I learned from them.
(I'm going in alphabetical order, guys, so don't get jealous about me mentioning one of you before the other or not starting off with you!!) : )



Alex Castro - Alex was actually here as a part of his masters degree in missions that he is getting at ACU. I'd actually met Alex last year when he lead the spring break team down here and again when he drove through with a group and worshipped with us at Iglesia al Aire Libre. He is originally from Morelia and still has family that lives here. He had a couple other options this summer and chose us above them all! (either that or they all rejected him so he came down here, I could never figure out which one) : ) Alex is a great guy who is open to being used wherever he is needed. And he makes me laugh so much! It was great to get to spend more than a couple of days together and hear the plans that the Lord has lain on his heart for children. He was an example to the youth here of using the talents the Lord has given you to glorify him.



Emily Jorgenson - Originally from ColoRADo, Emily is a photojournalism major at ACU. Even though she didn't grow up in Texas, she got there as soon as she could. Right, Emily? ; ) I'm at a loss for words on how to describe Emily. There is so much more there than meets the eye! She is definitely one of the funniest people I've ever met, even though she doesn't know why people think she is funny. She has an incredibly sweet spirit and taught me more about trusting in the Lord to guide you, even with the hard decisions.



Beth Kaszynski - Beth grew up in an Anglican church north of Dallas (interestingly enough, of our four interns, who all go to ACU, only one of them grew up in the church of Christ). She comes from a family that believes in adoption, something dear to my heart. We also both have adorable black nephews named Jeremiah. Interesting, isn't it? She is a communications major at ACU. She was the techno junkie of the group and the one who actually kept her blog updated for the most part. : ) God has placed in her a strong desire to serve others and I can't wait to see how he develops in her in the future. Of all the interns, her Spanish was the most limited, but she worked hard to understand and be understood and to show love when words weren't coming.


Marisa Muñoz - As is evident by her name, Marisa comes from a hispanic family. They immigrated from Mexico two generations ago, I think. Coming to Mexico was an eye-opening experience for Marisa, as it gave her an opportunity to learn more about her roots as a Mexican-American. Watching her go through that process was very interesting for me! Marisa is from the town of Synder and is studying to become an elementary teacher. She is going to be an amazing teacher! Marisa was definitely the dramatic one of the group and the summer would not have been the same without her. (I am NOT dramatic!) She gave her heart in an amazing way to the people here and the Lord opened her eyes to new blessings because of it.


I had so much fun getting to know these amazing people while they were here in Morelia. The Lord knew I needed each and every one of them this summer! They blessed my life immensely and made me laugh when I needed to laugh and listened to me when I needed someone to listen to me. I can't imagine my life without them and without all the great memories from this summer. Thank you, guys, for coming down and serving with us here in Morelia. You touched my life, you touched the lives of the church here, and only the Lord knows who else you touched. May the Lord reward you greatly for your desire to serve Him!

Marisa buying food from some long lost relatives : )

Hanging out with their spanish teachers downtown

Alex eating (not a rare sight this summer, I'll have you know) ; )

The girls with their Mexican sister, Montse. They lived with Montse and her family and loved being a part of the Gutiérrez family.

The interns with the young people from church after hiking around in the woods together

School Renovation

I already showed you the before and after pictures and talked a little about our school renovation project here, but I wanted to share some more pictures from the week and fill you in on some of the ways that the Lord has been using this project.
First off, as I mentioned in the last post, the week went amazingly well! We had a long list of projects and, thanks to Pat's organizational skills and hard work on every ones part, we were able to get everything done. Here is a list of all that we did throughout the week:
- Repainting the inside of the classrooms
- Repainting the outside of the classrooms
- Repainting the fence all around the school
- Repainting the small fences around the garden areas
- Painting the benches in the newly installed breakfast area
- Laying gravel around the breakfast area
- Repainting the soccer goals
- Installing new backboards and baskets for the basketball goals
- Painting games on the basketball court
- Weed eating the entire soccer field
- Cutting back and trimming all the trees and bushes on the property
- Planting flowers and trees
- Pulling up tree stumps
- Putting in new dirt and grass throughout the school
- Putting in a new sidewalk
- Cleaning out the bathrooms
- Cleaning debris off the roofs of the classroom buildings
- Shine the light of Jesus to everyone that we met!
As you can see, it was a pretty impressive list! It was such a blessing to be able to help out this school. We ended the week with a school carnival (or kermesse) there on the grounds. The parents from the school cooked food and we provided the drinks and the activities. We had bounce houses, ball toss, face painting, and races for the kids. We believe around 200 people showed up for the event. We ended the festivities by thanking the teachers and staff for allowing us to interrupt their school for a week and for all the help they had given us. We also presented them with some new balls for P.E. and gave out raffle prizes. It was a great day and a wonderful way to finish off the project.
Since then, we've continued to have contact with the school. Actually the principal and her husband have visited us on numerous Sundays and have begun to attend a cell group. The last day of school, we returned to honor those graduating from elementary school with a breakfast for them and their parents. We continue to pray about other ways that we can minister to those in this school and proclaim the kingdom of God there. Please join us in those prayers!

The group getting their assignments from Pat on arrival

José Luis painting. We even got our church kids involved!

Cindi answering questions from the kids on the first day of work. The school canceled classes most of the rest of the week to allow us to work

Proof that I actually did something other than take pictures : )

In the evenings, we had dinner and a devo in my back yard

Painting over all the graffiti

Painting the benches in the breakfast area. We had numerous parents show up this day and this was their project.


The sign on the fence inviting people to come help with the renovation and also inviting them to the carnival on Saturday

Aldo taking the rotted backboards off

José Luis helping put in the sidewalk

At the kermesse, the kids from the school performed one of their spring dances, complete with animal costumes. Pretty cute, huh?

Larisa and Amy selling drinks with Victoria helping out

The bounce houses, which were a HUGE favorite of all the kids. Some things are the same in every country around the world. : )

All the teachers that helped, along with a representative from the state education board

Enjoying the newly painted tables

The kids racing their hearts out!


The winners of the races won prizes

The group from Abilene, together with all of our church members that helped throughout the week. What an amazing week!

Let's Start Talking 2008

We were blessed once again this year to receive workers through the Let's Start Talking program. As an extra blessing, the ladies who came down this summer were all from the Women's Ministry at Richland Hills, our sponsoring congregation. It was so wonderful to share this city and it's wonderful people with those who have been praying for us and supporting us for all these years!
We had three teams come down this year. The first two teams were here for two weeks each and the last team stayed for three weeks. Unfortunately, because of our crazy summer, I only have a few pictures. The first team was Peggy Nelson, Kim Jacoby, and Anita Royse. The members of the second team were Kathleen Bell, Chryste Whisenhunt, Carolyn Billings, and Barbara Brown. And the last team, which included two of the ladies from last summer, was Janie Chambliss, Sandy Bramlett, Dian Rhodes, and Jeanette Bailey.
While they were here, they read with many people and were able to build some amazing friendships. They also organized parties every week to provide an opportunity for their readers and the church members to interact. We had about five or so readers return from last year and were able to meet and get to know many new people this year. It was such a blessing to have these women here! The church was also blessed by their presence and still talk about and pray for the ladies from Texas.
We were also able to have a Ladies Day with the first LST team. Each of the three ladies spoke on the theme 'Viviendo una vida agradable a Dios' (Living a Life Pleasing to God). We also had a meal together and got to make bookmarks to help us remember the day. I unfortunately don't have any pictures from that day. I think I may have taken some on Ann's camera, but don't know if she has them anymore. But know that the day was a great blessing!
Like last year, we ended the program with a big party for everyone. The theme for this last party was Cowboys and Vaqueros, complete with the Cotton-Eyed Joe and a typical Mexican dance by the Gaonas. We had a great evening and really felt like it was a great way to end the seven weeks of LST classes.
Please be praying for all those that read this summer. We are continuing to contact them to invite them to various activities. Pray that they will desire to learn more about God, not just English, and that they will accept those invitations. Enjoy the pics!

Peggy Nelson with two of her readers

Anita Royse reading with one of her readers at our office

Jeanette Bailey and Temo singing for one of the LST parties

Dian Rhodes explaining the rules for the water gun shootout at the last party.

The Gaona family performing. I really wish I had gotten video of their dance. They did an amazing job!!

The crowd for the last party

5 year Anniversary

Iglesia Río de Vida celebrated it's 5 year anniversary this past May! It's officially been five years since we started our first cell groups. Much has happened since the week of May 10, 2003. We've seen many people come and a few leave, but overall, the Lord has been amazingly good to us as a team and then later on as a church and it was so wonderful to be able to celebrate that.
To help us celebrate, we invited several people from the States who have played a vital role in the work here to come and join us. We were thrilled to host my parents, Ron and Marilyn Holland, the missions minister from RHCC and his wife, Duane and Debbie Jenks, one of the elders from RHCC, Don Box, along with missions committee members, Carol Maples and Phyllis Needham. Norm Myers, the current head of the missions ministry, also came down on Monday after most of the festivities were done.

The weekend was filled with so many wonderful memories. We started off with some sight-seeing around Michoacán on Friday morning and then Friday evening had a prayer night at the office to give our U.S. visitors a chance to get to know some of our members. Ron, my dad, spoke that evening and I had the joy of getting to translate for him. : ) On Saturday morning, we met with the leaders of the church and gave them a chance to share their testimonies and say thank you to Richland Hills for all the support they have given this church through the years. It was an incredibly sweet time of sharing that truly allowed those from Texas to see the amazing hearts of the people that the Lord is lifting up to move this church forward. We then asked our visitors to prayer over these leaders and it was so evident that the Lord was there and moving among us during that time! We followed that by lunch together. That evening, we toured some of beautiful downtown Morelia and finished it off with an amazing dinner on the terrace of one of the restaurants downtown where we were able to enjoy the weekly fireworks show in front of the main cathedral. The entire day was spectacular! And we still had one more day to go!
Sunday turned out to be amazing as well. We had a large crowd show up to hear Duane share with us from the Word. We were even able to witness two baptisms! Mayté and her son Julio were baptized during our celebration time. After we finished up, everyone stayed around for lunch. We even had a mariachi band show up, in true Mexican style! After lunch, we watched a slide show of the highlights from the past five years and gave people from church, along with our visitors, a chance to share their testimonies of what this church means to them. Everyone left incredibly blessed and excited, not only about what God has done, but what he has in store for the next 5, 15 and 25 years of this church!

I realize that there a bunch of pictures, but there were so many good ones taken throughout the weekend that it was hard to narrow them down! I hope you enjoy them and rejoice with us over all that the Lord has done and will continue to do here in Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico.

Prayer night on Friday evening

Enjoying fellowship time with some of our members. From L to R: Jeovel, Don Box, Ron Holland, Mamá Brisa, me (Sara), Brisa, Phyllis Needham

Touring some Purépecha ruins about 30 min. outside of Morelia

Sharing time with the leaders

Ron, Duane, and Debbie praying over our national cell leaders (Aldo, Sandy, Larisa, José Luis, Adriana, and Rosa)

The group with the main cathedral in the background

They do this every week!

Sunday morning praise team. As you may notice, Summer and her husband came in for the celebration and Sam invited Summer to sing with them. It was good to see her up there again! She is on the far left.

Duane preaching with Sam translating

Mayté getting baptized with Aldo and Sandy looking on

The mariachi band!

My parents with Rosa

Phyllis sharing her thoughts while she (and I!) try not to cry : )

Enjoying more sweet fellowship!