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Merry Christmas everyone! 

I’m writing from Denver, Colorado after driving all day from Montana.  We enjoyed a warmer day not having to add gas line antifreeze everytime we filled the tank like the first few days.  We really enjoyed Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning with our dear friends, Todd and Jenn and their kids, who we hadn’t seen for years.  They serve in a closed country on the other side of the globe and this would be our only chance to visit for the forseeable future.  They drove out to meet us in Regina from south of Winnipeg.  We are always inspired by their faithfulness to spreading the good news in the most challenging circumstances.  We thank God for the precious friends He has given us in this life and the moments He lets us share.

Tomorrow, we plan on visiting the Focus on the Family campus in Colorado Springs.  Our family enjoys the Adventures in Odyssey radio programs that they produce (and their other ministries) and so will visit Whit’s End as well as the other ministries there.

We plan on visiting our friend Michael From in Arizona before heading into Mexico as well.

These days of travel always turn out to be precious family time  that serves as a refocusing and refreshing time as we go between cultures and emotional departures and arrivals.  Thank you for your prayer as we depend on the Lord to protect us and keep our vehicle running over the many miles.

We look forward to getting home to Hermosillo.  There are many things on our mind and in our hearts as we head home.  Loved ones, new projects, needs, plans, challenges and dreams wait our arrival.  One very important prayer request we have is that God would pour out His wisdom upon us as we come back into ministry there.  Please pray that we would know what ministries and roles we should resume and what ones we should entrust to others that are ready.  Our desire is to see our church grow through the service of many in the ministries and responsablities that the Holy Spirit gifts them to take care of.

We always leave Canada regretting that time and circumstances haven’t let us visit all the friends and family we hoped to.  Please forgive us if we weren’t able to visit you or your church this time.

We have been amazed and humbled by the overwhelming generosity of God’s family over the last months.  The list of people we are forever indebted to is too long to begin mentioning names.  We simply have the best family in the universe (both our physical and spiritual families)!  THANK YOU!!!

I’ll sign off for now, thanking you for your prayer and hoping that you and your family enjoy celebrating the birth of our Saviour this Christmas season wrapped in His peace and joy. 

Joyfully serving the King of kings,

Greg Neufeld for the family

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Hola from Hermosillo,

Just getting in here at 2:00am after 16 hours of working through business items in the Evangelical Free Church of Mexico National Conference that we are hosting in Arbol de Vida in Hermosillo.  It is a joy to see God at work in Mexico and it is such a privilege to be part of it!

I was called away from the meetings in the afternoon to visit one of our youth girls in the hospital.  Eunice had been suffering fainting spells which was complicated by the flu (their treating her as if it was H1N1 – I don’t know that it is a confirmed case) and was admitted to hospital last weekend.  Eunice is one of the  youth that came on the mission trip to Canada in 2007 and for her age (15) is an amazing athlete, teacher and leader.  We have been praying for her for days and seeing God at work, not only in her but in her family and others.  Last night her dad came to the church and had the leaders pray for his daughter and then today they got permission for me to pray for her in the hospital.  With very limited access it took special permissions and a lot of convincing at the security access point to be able get in to see Eunice.  God directed the visit in a special way and I left sensing the hope and joy that only He can bring to a tough situation.  Yesterday, the cardiologist told the father that they would have to operate and implant a pacemaker to regulate Eunice’s heart rate to keep her from passing out.  José, the father, found me back at the church later in the evening and overwhelmed by how God is working and that Eunice had such joy after our visit that she was singing praises with her mom in the hospital room.  He said that the Psalm that I read to Eunice (Psa. 139) was the same one he had read to her just before I arrived* (see update below).   God confirmed His message of His perfect care and design for her life to her as she realized that we (her father and I) had unknowing shared the same message with her in the same afternoon.  God is amazing!!!

Please pray that Eunice will leave the hospital free of the flu and of heart problems and that this trial will serve to strengthen her faith and that of her family for the glory of Jesus Christ.

Joyfully serving the King of Kings,

Greg Neufeld

*I talked to José later and found out that he had shared the same thoughts (from Psalm 139) with his daughter the day before, not just before I came… just want it to be accurate.

I talked with José today (Nov. 23) and they have been reassured (after various tests) by the cardiologist that Eunice will be fine and will not need a pacemaker after all so we are all rejoicing with them!  Thank you for your prayer!

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Good morning!

Just wanting to pass on a few news items and prayer requests.

Mexican Fiesta/Silent Auction!   Tonight at 7pm at the Olds Koinonia Christian School we are looking forward to a great evening with many of you who have been touched by God’s work in Mexico over the years.  Please see the invitation on our blog for more info. www.knowgst.ca/blog

Prayer Requests. 

1. For God’s blessing on the event tonight and that Christ would be glorified.  Please pray for the all the details that need to come together and for the Lord’s blessing on each one who serves in different areas.  Thank you!

2. Greg has been under the weather for the past 10 days and still hasn’t totally got his voice back.  We share this Sunday in Bethel Evangelical Missionary Church (Carstairs) and then Greg flies to Hermosillo Monday morning to be part of the National Conference of the Evangelical Free Church of Mexico which we are hosting in Arbol de Vida.  Please pray for that the Lord would unify the churches that meet in Hermosillo to seek God’s direction for the future and for Greg, that his health would clear up enough to preach and travel.  Thank you!

3. Please pray for health, safety and protection for Shelli and the children during the week that Greg is gone.

Thank you for lifting up the Mexican people and our family in prayer!

In Christ, Greg

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Just a few quick news and prayer items.

As you can see we’ve been renovating on our blog here.  To the right you can see a spot to subscribe to our updates automatically.  Just type in your email address and everytime we post something new it will arrive in your email automatically!  You can also connect the posts here to your home page in Yahoo, Google, MSN or Facebook through the RSS thingy.  Please take advantage of these new ways to stay in touch.

Getting ready for the Evangelical Free Church of Mexico National Conference in Hermosillo from Nov. 12-15.  We are hosting the conference this year with representatives from 11 Mexican E. Free Churches in Árbol de Vida.  Greg will be attending and helping out with hosting the exciting weekend.  Please pray for the preparations the church is making before I (Greg) arrive to help. 

Please pray for our brother and sister Cesar and Marcela in Hermosillo that God would provide a much needed job for Cesar. 

A praise item here in Didsbury!  Last night, my (Greg’s) dad was hospitalized with extreme pain in the abdomen.  A couple years ago he had to have surgery to correct a strangled bowel and feared the same thing was going to have to happen again.  We prayed with him last night and shortly after the problem corrected itself (the Lord was merciful) and he is doing well.  Praise the Lord for His help.

We thank you for your prayer for us and for our dear church family in Hermosillo. 

In Christ,

Greg Neufeld

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You’re invited!!!  We are putting on a Mexican Fiesta/Silent Auction for you our team on Friday, November 6, 2009 at 7pm at Olds Koinonia Christian School (directions see www.oldskoinonia.com) and we’re hoping you can make it.  Proceeds will be going to the SMILe and Bible Safari projects.  Mexican snacks and lots of fun provided!  See you there!  For more info please call or email us at agentgst@yahoo.com.

Greg

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Hola from Canada!

Just updating you all on the current prayer needs we have. 

1. Shelli heads to Mexico City early next week to present in a national children’s ministries conference.  She has developed over the past 9 years many Sunday School programs and VBS programs and is putting them into a package called ”Safari Bíblico” (Bible Safari) for churches in Mexico.  This involves a ton of work, writing, translating and publishing.  So we are working hard to have as much material possible for the conference and would appreciate your prayer.  Please pray for our computers to cooperate and that our time would be used efficiently.  Pray for Shelli and the 6 other teachers from our church, Arbol de Vida in Hermosillo, as they teach workshops and learn from the others that are teaching there.  Please pray for safety with all the travelling involved too.

2. Please pray for the life of Arbol de Vida church as they seek to grow and meet the many needs of the people of Hermosillo through Christ.  As we communicate with our loved ones there we hear many great testimonies of God answering prayer (jobs for the unemployed, healing, encouragement, reconciliation).  Praise the Lord!  We miss our church family a lot and pray earnestly that this time apart will be a time of blessing for all despite the distance between us.

3. Please pray for us as we share what God is doing in Mexico and in us with God’s family here in Canada.  We are visiting churches while here on home assignment.  Here are some upcoming dates:

ZION Evangelical Missionar Church (Didsbury, AB) – Sept. 27

McDougal Chapel (Sundre, AB.) – Oct. 23-25

Global Impact – ZION Evangelical Missionary Church (Didsbury, AB) – Oct. 31-Nov. 1

Bethel Evangelical Missionary Church (Carstairs, AB) – Nov. 8

West Zion Mennonite (Carstairs, AB.) – Nov. 20-22

Bergen Evangelical Missionary Church (Bergen, AB) – Nov. 29

We are waiting to confirm dates with some other church we hope to share in.  Lord-willing, we plan on being back in Hermosillo before Christmas.

Thank you for your prayer!!!

In Christ,

Greg & Shelli Neufeld

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We praise the Lord for the news from Hermosillo that the SMILe project (Child Life Therapy) has been approved by the Secretary of Health in the Sonora Children’s Hospital!!!   It will start out as a volunteer-based program as the new government sorts out budget details.  This is a MAJOR answer to prayer!  Thank you Lord!!!  Please pray for Christy and the other volunteers in this project as they break ground in this new therapy in Mexico and for Shelli as she gives direction from Canada.

Another note of praise!  We heard the amazing news of a young girl that we have been praying for that was suffering a fatal lung disorder has realeased from the hospital after Cristy and others from the Arbol de Vida church visited and prayed for her.   The doctors can’t explain how she avoided certain death.  The mother has been coming to Arbol de Vida the past few Sundays too!  Praise the Lord!!!

Greg

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We really enjoyed a trip to southern Alberta to visit friends and family and share the ministry in Hermosillo with our brothers and sisiters in the Eztikom and Orion Evangelical Free Churches this last weekend (Sept 3-7).  It was great to catch-up with the Klassen family and the Lobb family in Bow Island and then spend the rest of the weekend with Paul and Esther Weeks and my brother’s family in Orion celebrating the 100th year aniversary of their farm with an award from the province.   We thank the Lord for the great fellowship and for His protection on the road.

Greg

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Just want to post our phone numbers while in Canada.  Greg – (403) 439-0244 & Shelli -(403) 586-3272.  We look forward to being in touch!  While in Canada our Vonage phone (403) 668-7339 is with Lane and Sheri Elliott in Mexico.

Greg

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The last month was an unusual one with Shelli and the kids in Canada from the middle of July and myself (Greg) ministering in Hermosillo and getting ready for home assignment (a ministry time in Canada visiting our support team and churches).  Shelli laptop cratered the first week in Canada and mine two weeks ago so trying to keep updated was hampered a little.

There are mixed feelings as we plan to spend September to December in Canada.  Our hearts are torn between the joys of visiting family and friends and sharing what God is doing while in Canada and between the incredible joy and blessing of having many ministry opportunities (Discipleship of new adult and youth believers, therapy with child burn victims, Shelli’s national children’s ministry conference in October, hosting the Mexican E. Free National Conference in November, etc.) here in Hermosillo.  In the last two years (since our last visit to Canada) it is easy to see and feel the deepening relationships that have come through years of building trust, working hard in prayer, growing personally in Christ through His word and testing, persevering in the language and culture and just spending time (fellowship/communion) with the Body of Christ and also with the ones we hope God will call to salvation soon.

Please pray for us as we try to tie up loose ends in the next two days and then travel the 3200 kms to Didsbury, AB.   Please pray that the 36+ hours on the highway will be hours filled with seeking God and strengthening our marriage. 

In Christ,

Greg

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