We were all pumped about our Saturday youth service and bonfire night! We had our rakes and shovels to serve our pastor by cleaning his backyard, and our marshmallows, hotdogs, and firewood ready for a fellowship bonfire afterwards. However, the Lord had other plans… it poured rain from the moment we arrived at the pastor´s house to the moment our youth time ended- definitely not a bonfire night!

Even with the rain, the Lord blessed our youth evening! We continue to study the book of Mark, emphasizing both the gospel message (of repentance and belief in Jesus Christ) and service of others. And, the youth all offered game ideas for our “rainy day” fellowship time inside, and we had a blast. Our indoor meeting also offered an opportunity for Paco to talk more with the older youth about the Lord´s calling for their lives. Praise the Lord that His ways are higher than our ways, and His plans better than our plans!

Paco and I were back among our beloved family at Pan de Vida orphanage this month when we participated in the “quinceaña” celebration – the 15-year-old girls´ birthday party (a traditional Mexican celebration symbolizing the passage of girls into womanhood). Now that we are ministering in Tlaxcala, we are only 4 hours away from our past home in Queretaro, and are able to visit and celebrate with our family there.

This year, two girls, Andrea and Tania, turned 15 and were celebrated together. The Lord provided abundantly for their special day, as He always does, with their glamorous dresses, festively decorated auditorium, barbeque lunch, and birthday cakes. The ceremony was very special, as the Biblical message reminded the girls that this party was a symbol of God´s abundant love for them (though they had suffered from a lack of a loving biological family in the past), and that, as they start womanhood, their commitment should be to the One who always loves and cares for them- Jesus Christ.

Our hearts overflowed with joy to hug everyone- the littlest children to our tallest youth kids, and all the volunteers. We praise God to see that He continues to sustain this ministry and provide for His special children at Pan de Vida.

Our friends and co-laborers are starting a church in Atlixco, Puebla- a town about 1 hour 15 minutes from us. In an effort to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to the town, they prepared three evangelistic movie nights in a hotel in the central plaza for all to attend.

They invited our youth group to serve at these outreach events- to pass out invitations in the plaza, receive and seat the guests, hand-out popcorn, distribute evangelistic tracts and clean afterwards. We were excited at the opportunity for our youth to grow in service and evangelism, as well as enjoy an outing to another town, and participated two Saturdays this last month.

It was quite a feat to take the youth to Atlixco- finding vehicles and drivers for 20 people, and then delivering each to their house afterwards! (We ended up arriving home after midnight) But, the Lord kept us safe in traffic and wandering around an unknown city, and the youth had a blast visiting central Atlixco and watching the movie.

The Lord definitely blessed these events- multiple families arrived each Saturday and heard the message of salvation, as well as our youth group.

In another sovereign act of the Lord, we met up with 4 youth from the orphanage in Pan de Vida, who are now in a boys´ orphanage in Atlixco. They were so excited to us, as we were! We know this meeting was planned by the Lord so we can maintain contact with them in Atlixco.

Our church has been invited to participate for the first time this year in “Operation Christmas Child”- an international program through the Samaritan´s Purse organization.


Samaritan´s Purse collects shoeboxes of Christmas gifts in the United States and Canada to send to local churches/ministries all around the world (like Mexico) for children in need, as a tool to share the gospel of the best Christmas gift ever: salvation through Jesus Christ!
As a participant in the program, our church will receive shoeboxes of gifts to give to children in our community for our evangelistic event at the end of the year, as well as material to disciple the children in our Sunday School program in the weeks that follow. What an awesome resource to share the gospel with the children in our area! As well as an amazing way to unite the Body of Christ around the world in ministry!

This last month we have met with other churches in the state of Tlaxcala on 3 different occasions to learn about the program, pray for the spreading of the gospel through the program, and plan the details of the events. It is a time and energy commitment, but we pray that through the program many, many children in the state of Tlaxcala will come to know and follow Jesus Christ.

Paco's birthday this last week did not pass by without a celebration!

The church congregation lovingly purchased a cake to share with him after church on Sunday with a time of fellowship.

Later in the afternoon, his sisters and stepmom prepared a mole dinner (traditional for Mexican parties or events) and also purchased another cake for him.

Cakes and birthday celebrations in Mexico are special treats often forgone by Mexican families, many of whom do not have extra funds each month for a special meal/dessert, much less gifts. Paco felt very loved by both his family and church family who made the sacrifice of money and effort to make him feel loved.

Though we have been in Panzacola such a short time, the Lord has surrounded us with the love of his family and a family in Christ.

As part of our ministry here at Horizon Christian Church in Panzacola, Tlaxcala, we are serving as the leaders of the youth group.

Though the church here in Tlaxcala is small, of only about 30 people, it has a good number of youth! Paco and I were surprised, and joyful, upon arriving, to witness so many young people in such a small congregation.

The youth range from 11 years to 21 years of age- but they seem to be very united despite the wide age difference (obviously the work of unity of the Holy Spirit!).

We meet on Saturday evenings for a time of fellowship and Bible study. This past weekend, we had a special fellowship night with hotdogs for dinner and a movie with popcorn after our Bible study. We praise God for the enthusiasm of the youth to gather as believers for fellowship and His Word. We continue to pray for direction as how to lead this group of many different ages, to know and love the Lord more personally.

September 16 marks the anniversary of Mexican independence, and this special occasion never passes by without a celebration, even for our church in Panzacola, Tlaxcala.

The church family gathered together for a time of worship and Bible study, and food- lots and lots of food! Each of the families prepared a traditional Mexican dish to share: pozole soup, tostadas, molotes/empanadas, chalupas, corn-on-the-cob, corn cake, and more. The Lord blessed us with an abundance of food and fellowship!

Now that Paco and I are working with the youth group, we organized the youth to prepare and hang decorations in Mexican green, white, and red. Not only was the event more festive, but it was also a blessing to see the youth serving the church with the decorations.

We thank God for our church family. Though we are new to the area, these fellowship events allow us to know each of the church members better. They are truly a special group- with hearts of service dedicated to the Lord. We marvel to see that, even with their busy work schedules, they make the effort to serve their Lord in prayer, study of His Word, and help for eachother and the community.

In our new home in Panzacola, Tlaxcala, we are just 3 blocks away from Paco’s family’s home! It is a very special gift from the Lord for us to be living near his family- especially since my family is so far away in the United States.


In the family home live his 3 grown sisters (Reyna, Estela, Erika), and their 4 children (David, age 11; Sarahy, age 5; Asael, age 3; Lemuel, age 10 months), along with Paco’s father, his stepmother, and his half-brother Juan, and half-sister Sandra.


With his family so close, we see them regularly, and spend Sunday afternoons together. We LOVE our nephews and niece, and have a blast spending time with them.


Since we arrived, Paco’s three sisters and their children have been attending church with us- praise God! All three know Jesus Christ, but have not been walking in their faith much the past couple years, and we rejoice to see their disposition to grow more in the Lord.


We continue to pray that all of Paco’s family would come to know the Lord; especially Paco’s father- and praise God for the opportunity to be in close contact with them to reflect the truth and love of the Jesus.

Paco and I are in our new home in Panzacola, in the state of Tlaxcala, Mexico!!

We had a big move from Boca del Rio, Sinaloa, on the western coast of Mexico, 800 miles inland to the center of the country (just 3 hours southeast of Mexico City). We loaded up our belonging from our dorm room into our minivan, and a friend helped us move some furniture from Queretaro in his truck.

To our unexpected surprise, the Lord brought us to a two-story, two-bedroom house! (This is our very first house!) The pastor of our local church prepared this house for us to rent, and we came without knowing any of the details, but the Lord is so good to care for us!

The first weeks in our house we worked on major repairs and preparations- painting, building a kitchen counter, installing a water heater, repairing sinks and toilets, constructing closet shelving, and more. I praise God for Paco's gift of construction, and the help of family- his sister and her son helped paint, and my mom decorated the whole house with curtains.


Mountainous Tlaxcala is very different from coastal Sinaloa- the cool, rainy weather here is the complete opposite of the sweltering heat there. And, we are located right in the middle of a town, instead of in an isolated village (oh so nice to be next to a grocery store and services!).
Though this was Paco's hometown, it has changed much since he lived here, and we are both learning our way around.

We are working with the local church here (Christian Fellowship Horizon Church), which is the church family where Paco accepted the Lord and first grew in his faith. We are working together with the local pastor to both minister to the congregation and extend the gospel to surrounding areas.

We thank God for our safe and easy transition to this new area and ministry, and his faithful provision for us!

     Paco and I had the opportunity to visit our beloved home and family in Christ at Pan de Vida, a Christian orphanage in Queretaro.  We felt so loved by both the children and adult staff that it was as if we had never left! 

     We praised God to see how He continues to so miraculously sustain and progress the lives of the 90 children there.  Just during our week-long visit, we witnessed the almost-completed new boys’ dorm building, two girls preparing paperwork to study at a Christian college in Texas with full-scholarships, two girls return from Nicaragua after finishing their bachelors in education degrees, the youth group enjoy an awesome 4-day summer camp, 14 recent high school graduates, and smiling faces of many new children to the home.  God is so good and faithful!!

     We had the joy of participating in some of the many activities at the orphanage: Paco preached at church on Sunday, we shared a game and testimony with the youth group, we helped the director’s wife and girls prepare decorations for upcoming events, I served as office assistant a couple days, and Paco tagged along on a few donation pickups.

     Please join us in prayer for the financial and spiritual needs of both the children and devoted volunteers at this special home- that the Lord would continue to provide and work His miracles at Pan de Vida!