The Times They Are a-Changin'

This Bob Dylan song title about transition sure seems to capture the feeling around the Mission District this week. With changes in the comfort zones to which we've all grown accustomed, we are all feeling a bit unsure about what the future will hold. Is that too honest for a missionary website?

But the good news is that we know who holds the future! Yes, it is a trite saying but one to which we cling during times of uncertainty. We trust our Heavenly Father to faithfully work His will in and through us and bring his plans to fruition. In this update, we'd like to take a moment to let you know about some of the changes taking place in the next few days and weeks. Hopefully, this will also help you know how to pray for those affected by the changes.

Foote Family taking Flight

After having faithfully served in Mexico City for 2 years, Larry and Carol are returning to their home near Seattle. We've appreciated their flexibility and willingness to pitch in wherever needed- even if it wasn't in their original job description. We pray God's richest blessings on them as they re-engage with their family and friends in Washington and seek God's plan for this next chapter in their lives. (Yesterday, during a "goodbye" service, the church presented the Footes with the pictured plaque thanking them for their service.) The Footes fly out on Tuesday morning.

Eunice Off To Cuernavaca

Pastor Eunice Alvarez has been working with the local Tizoc church for the last 8 months. She had been working in the Mexican state of Sonora prior to her time with us. Eunice has shown a real willingness to learn and has connected to many of the families in the local church. (In the picture above, she presented a Bible to Martin, one of the faithful young people in the Sunday Kids' Church that Eunice has led.)

We are going to miss Eunice's ready smile and thoughtful preaching but we praise God that she is going to be working just down the road in the next year. A small group of mostly new believers are forming a Free Methodist church in the large city of Cuernavaca and Eunice is going to be leading them as pastor. Would you pray with us for this transition for Eunice and for the resources to support her as the church grows?

Guarellos Going To Leon

Yes, Pastor Jorge and Teresa (pictured to the far left in this group honored for May birthdays and anniversaries) are moving out of the city to Leon, about 6 hours from our part of Mexico City. As you can imagine, this transition has been met with a mixture of sadness and joy. We are all sad to lose the easy access to the Guarellos and their weekly presence in the worship of the Tizoc and Coapa congregations. However, we are glad that the Guarellos can be released to exercise their true giftings in church planting and oversight in a new location. We also trust that the leaders which God has raised up for the Mexico City work will take on new responsibilities and grow in the Lord. Jorge will continue to serve as Superintendent of the Mission District. We'll introduce you to Juan and Eva Murua, the new pastors at the Tizoc church, in a future post so stay tuned.

There are going to be new challenges during this transition time and we value your prayers and support more than ever. Thank you for being our friends and partners in this adventure.

--submitted by Joel for the team

Friends, here is a report of the Allens recent trip to Leon with lots of details for those of you who want to get a real feel for the trip there.

I just wanted to give you and up-date on our weekend trip to Leon, where we are starting with a very small group of people that are interested in associating themselves with our church. It is a little over 500 miles there and back, but a "quick trip" there for us is about 6.5 hours. The roads are almost all toll roads and are in very good to excellent condition. There are "free options", but they would be slower and generally not in near as good condition, although more scenic as they tend to pass through the little "bergs". You are probably wondering why it would take 6.5 hours to go 250 miles. Well, it takes us, on a very good day, about a hour and half, just to get accross town, here in MC! The highways do have speed limits, and there are mountains, curves and traffic to contend with!

Sara Guarello, our district superintendent's daughter, traveled with us. She is a delightful young lady, and we always enjoy traveling with her. She has shown us the way to Leon a couple times and we are now convinced that the next time we can do it on our own, if need be.

On the way up there we stopped at a place for "lunch", and all of us ordered beef and bean burritos. The place is very much in the process of being remodeled and expanded, so at first glance, I was not sure if we had made a wise choice. Just before our orders came, Sara told us she though we were in the area of large flour tortillas, and sure enough when our food came, the tortilla shells were over a foot across. The beef was a little tough, but very tasty, and the spicy sauce was on the side, so we were all content. That way everyone can add however much "spice" as they want, to their own taste!

Once we arrived in Leon, we went to the place where we stay, and visited with our hosts for a while, and then rested for a couple hours. We went over to their place, which is just accross the parking lot from where we all stayed, and had a light supper at our hosts' place, and were able to visit some more.

Gary preached for the Sunday a.m. service, which was a small, but enthusiastic group. He had preached the same sermon the week before in our house church so it did not involve another several hours of preparing a different sermon to be preached in Spanish. After the service, people sat around and talked for at least an hour.

On the way home, we stopped for lunch at a new restaurant called "The Pause". Sara ordered "huaraches", which are named after a sandal, because they have that shape, but they are made out of flour, covered with bean paste, beef slices, onions and lettuce. Jann ordered enchiladas, in a green sauce, which would have been TOO spicy for Gary. Gary ordered something called "chicken violentin". It was a thin hair pasta dish, with a very light, white, cheese sauce. The chicken was breast, rolled and in the middle were small shrimp,vegetables (green pepper, carrots, zuchinni squash, and tomatoes, and all were just at the right point of being cooked, so they were neither mushy nor crunchy.) The chicken roll was cut in half-inch slices and arranged in a ring around the plate. By that time Gary was getting a little tired, but not yet sleepy, so he ordered a cup of their "express" coffee. It was the "real stuff", and excellent, even though it came in a demi-tasse! So good, in fact, that he had to have another cup for the road just before we left the restuarant! No MORE tiredness for the rest of the trip!

The trip the rest of the way home was uneventful, and we made it into the city before it got really really dark.

Gary and Jann Allen

Dear Friends,

Here is a brief note we received from Kevin and Nicole Housel, a young couple from New York who recently took a whirlwind tour of the Mission District with Pastor Jorge. If you've ridden much with Pastor Jorge, you know what we mean by "whirlwind." We are encouraged that Kevin and Nicole are sold out for Jesus and available for career missions when God opens the doors. Here's what they said...

"We came down to Mexico to explore our interest in missions. We are
very grateful to all of the missionaries who made this trip possible
for us and were so hospitable to us. The part of our visit that had
the most impact on us was our visit to Leon. In Leon we attended a
Bible study and a prayer meeting for a church plant. It was not the
city of Leon that impacted us but the people that we met. The desire
of the people to reach out into the community and touch the lives of
the youth and the disenfranchized was so evident. It was great to see
people preparing for a new church and already having a vision of the
outreach that they will do. The people of the church plant in Leon
have the desire to bring Christ to people not accepted by society."

--Kevin & Nicole Housel

New Growth, New Churches, New Opportunites

NEW! That is the word we think of when spring arrives. With the Easter season just past, we are reminded of the newness of nature, and the renewal of our spiritual lives as we consider Jesus’ death and resurrection.

“New” is also a word we can apply to the work in the Mexico Mission District. Several years ago, the Free Methodist church opened a meeting place in a borrowed building. As the congregation expanded, so did their vision to reach more people in Mexico City. A piece of property was found in a disadvantaged part of the city, and a new work began there. With the help of many volunteer teams (VISA), the existing buildings have been improved, and a new church has risen on the site. The lower level is already in use for church services, and the upper level sanctuary is nearing completion.

The vision continued to grow, and in February of this year, another church plant was started in a different part of the city. What would happen to the established church when some of the key leaders moved to the church plant to help it get off to a good start? It has been wonderful to see new people show up at each of the churches, thus affirming the decision to expand into other areas of the city.

Groups of Christians in the cities of Cuernavaca, and also Leon, have requested that a Free Methodist church be started in their areas. Presently, Pastor Jorge and Teresa, Gary and Jann Allen, or a lay leader from the Mexico City church is visiting those areas to hold Bible studies, or Sunday worship services, until we know if it is possible to open a new church in each of those cities.

----Jann Allen

Each of these projects involves a lot of time, work and prayer. We would be pleased to know that many people are joining us in prayer to see these efforts accomplished. If you are praying for this work or would like to know about other opportunities for involvement, please contact us at mexicocitymission@gmail.com or by sending an email to one of the missionaries listed in the sidebar of this blog.

Jesus is risen! He is risen, indeed! These words are on our hearts and minds today as we remember the rest of the story after Good Friday. We pray that your Easter celebrations were equally meaningful and that you have a fresh appreciation for what Jesus did for us in his resurrection.

The Tizoc and Coapa churches had a common service this morning at 8 a.m. Some of the older hymns were dusted off and used for this special occasion. What a wonderful experience to sing "How Great Thou Art" and "There is Power in the Blood" with our Mexican brothers and sisters in Christ! More than mere words, each person present could testify to God's power at work- a family unified, an addiction overcome, a need met.

And like all good Free Methodist celebrations, we had a big pitch-in breakfast after the service. We've included some pictures of the party.






We'd love to hear what your church or family did for Easter. Leave us a comment or drop us an email at mexicocitymission@gmail.com.

May our Lord bless and keep you as we serve Him together...

Welcome to Mexico City! We are so glad that you are joining us on this journey of growth and discovery. Our God is doing some exciting and BIG things through our small church. In the weeks ahead, we'll be sharing pictures, praises, and prayer requests.

In this inaugural post, let's start with a few pictures of the new house church in the Coapa neighborhood. Missionaries Gary and Jann Allen are hosting this church and Pastor Jorge is leading. After two months of services, there are 3 new people attending! Would you pray with us that these new friends (Pablo & Sayda and Patty) see Jesus among us and desire to have more of Him?

Although the 15 or so people currently attending this Sunday morning service fit nicely into the house, we are planning to move to a more visible location soon. Our goal is to move in the first half of the month of May. This move will provide higher visibility for the church and room to grow. In order to see this move happen, the Canadian Free Methodist church has generously donated over $5000 toward the rent. This is a great start to a year's rent but with monthly rents approaching $1200, you can see that we are going to quickly go through the initial $5000.

Would you or your church like to get in on the ground floor of this opportunity? Maybe you and 11 of your friends would like to sponsor a month of church with a onetime gift of $100. Or perhaps your Sunday School class would like to give a monthly gift to see this happen. You can email us at mexicocitymission@gmail.com for more information.

We'll be back with an update on the Tuesday night Bible study in a couple of days. Stay tuned!