Mangos, Miguel and more

Hola from Mexico!

It will soon be a month since we arrived home in Hermosillo (at this time of year the locals call it “Hornosillo” – translation “Oven”-sillo since we have high temperatures in the 40’s (Celcius) everyday) and there are many things to share…

The mangos in the post title are a mention of God’s blessings in an everyday way by providing us with more great mangos than we can eat on the trees in our backyard.  Although “we” has been reduced to the kids and I as Shelli has apparently shown an allergy (itchy rash) to this great fruit…  Here is the tree,…

and the fruit…

Miguel, the young man for whom we’re praying and waiting for a kidney-transplant, got to see his mom for the first time in 8 years yesterday!  We are so happy for him!  Miguel’s brother and mom met halfway between here and Phoenix (where Miguel’s mom lives) and got to spend a day together.  Miguel can’t go to the U.S.A. and until just recently his mom couldn’t come to Mexico.  Please continue to pray for a miracle for Miguel.  He continues receiving kidney dialysis every 3 days and suffers the other difficult parts of living without functioning kidneys.  The transplant process has been so slow and disappointing over the years.  Please pray for a break-though in the process.  That said, Miguel’s joy and faithfulness to serve at church are a gift of God’s grace and encourages us all. Here’s Miguel holding the Roman candle at Cristy’s (one of our great youth/college and career gals) birthday party on Sunday.

It has been great to re-enter ministry here in the Arbol de Vida Church.  I have been privileged to preach and lead worship through singing a few times already.  Two Sunday’s ago we tested doing a second service at Arbol de Vida. It went really well and we have had good feedback as we look forward to see when we will implement a second Sunday service full-time.  It was great to hear, in the survey we did, the desire of everyone to grow and to do what is necessary to grow.  Now that I am back, I will be helping with the building permit process so that we can start the ground work on our new sanctuary.  The Arbol de Vida congregation has been raising funds for over a year now and is anxious to see some concrete action (literally!).

We had a close call yesterday while using our gas oven.  The flame must have gone out and some gas still was present and in the process of turning it off a spark set off a “whoof” that left Shelli’s arms without any hairs and her eyebrows, eyelashes and hair slightly trimmed.  Thank the Lord that she wasn’t hurt and that we could have a good laugh afterward! Shelli just mentioned that she will be able to save on mascara for a while, ha!

Shelli is excited to see the plans coming together for the Burn Camp in October.  Please pray as the details are worked out and the people that God wants involved confirm their plans and prepare for this exciting ministry.  Shelli has enjoyed moving back into our home and getting settled.  Homeschooling is on the horizon too.  Shelli is doing really well while at the same time taking things especially slow when it comes to taking on ministries and commitments.  It is great to see others doing a great job in children’s ministry, etc.

Last Monday, for our small groups leaders meeting we had a party to invite non-believing friends and share food, fun and the Good News of Jesus.  We all invited people although some didn’t show up.  There were 5 people that responded to the call to faith in Jesus Christ for salvation.  It was a very exciting evening!  We are looking forward to helping these new believers follow Jesus.  Hopefully we have some baptisms to report soon!

We were very sad yesterday to receive the news of the sudden passing of Al Bergsma from the Leslieville, AB area.  Al (pictured below on the far left) loved the work in Hermosillo and had a hands-on part in the ministry (the Agua Viva – now Arbol de Vida Church) here on many occasions since it started in 1995 through construction ministry, leading youth teams and much more.  He will be missed by many.  Please pray for his wife Shirley during these difficult days.  May God use Al’s faithful service and example for the eternal blessing of many in Christ.  The following photo is from 2005.

I will sign off thanking you all for your prayers and encouragement.  We are still adjusting to having Talson, our oldest, in Canada far away.  Please pray for him and for us in this new stage of family life.  And those of you close to him there, give him a hug from us when you see him.  Thanks!

Joyfully serving Jesus and the ones He came to save,

Greg