The School of Ministry students had the opportunity to visit a fishing boat out on the ocean and get a first-hand look at the work of the fishermen in our small fishing village.  The fishermen were pleased at the interest and chance to explain their work routine and equipment.  It was a fun and educational “field trip” that gives us a renewed appreciation for and connection with the villagers.  Paco marveled (as a welder) to see all of that metal floating on the water, and, just like a little boy, loved sitting at the helm imagining himself as captain of the boat. 

           The mission church in Compuertas has been gathering together for exactly a year!  Yeah!  That is definitely a reason to celebrate and give thanks to the Lord!  God has done so much in the church this last year: purchased a plot of land, built a fence, donated a tent for meeting, increased the congregation by half, and created an irresistible atmosphere of love and friendship.

For the anniversary event, the different brothers gave testimony of the work of the Lord in their lives this last year, worshipped joyfully together (led by musical group “Two or More” from California), and were encouraged by Bible messages from Pastor Tom and Sergio.  Afterwards, we ate traditional Sinaloa barbeque, prepared by some of the sisters in the congregation.  Thank you, Lord, for your faithfulness to your people in Compuertas! 

                 The mission church in Compuertas does not have a building- itis just an empty plot of land.  However,all that is changing!  A fellow believerin Tijuana heard of our Compuertas church and blessed us by donating twoex-military tents to be used as church building.  Not only did he donate them, but also paid toship them out to us!  To our great joy, theyarrived and the men assembled them this month! They are perfect to block the cold wind- which used to limit the accessibilityof our church services on cold days. Now, the only problem seems to be that God is blessing the church withso many new members that the tent is a tight fit- though promotes closefellowship among the brothers J. 

           Calvary Chapel Boca del Rio hosts an annual 2-day youth conference for the churches in the surrounding area.  Almost 200 people attended!- including about 170 members of churches in the region and members of the Boca del Rio congregation.    The theme was: “He Has Chosen You”, and Bible conferences were delivered by Pastors Tom and John from CCRSM in California, Pastor Sergio (our local pastor), and even Corrie, one of the students from our school of ministry!  Plus, the musical group “Two or More” joined us from California to lead worship for the event and give musical workshops to the interested youth. 

The Lord richly blessed the event!  He multiplied space for housing (dividing the youth between the homes of brothers in Boca del Rio, in tents and empty rooms around the church) and food for many hungry stomachs!  His Spirit was enjoyed in awesome times of worship, early-morning prayer on the beach, and fellowship among the different churches.    We pray that many were renewed in their commitment to follow Christ!!

           The month of January was busy at the School of Ministry, not only with normal class activities but also preparation for the upcoming regional youth conference.  After class each morning, we donned our work clothes to clean and repair bathrooms, organize rooms for sleeping areas, move rocks, weed the patio, and… clean fish!  In order to serve fried fish during the conference, we had to prepare over 100kg of fish (fresh from the ocean from fisherman in the village) for frying!  We removed the outer scales, cut-open the bellies, removed the gills and guts, and washed each fish, before freezing it for the conference.  After 4 hours of work, we were all fish-cleaning experts!  (which seems appropriate that, after living in a fishing village, we should at least know how to prepare fish!)  We also smelled pretty fishy!!

           The School of Ministry students took a 3-day inductive Bible study method course in Los Mochis, Sinaloa (about 2 hours from Boca del Rio).  It was awesome!  Pastors and church members from the surrounding area, along with us, learned how to read, understand, and apply more from any Bible passage.  Suddenly,even the most well-known passages took on new meaning!  We have already been practicing and applying this inductive study method to our daily homework of Bible analysis! 

So that we would not have to drive back and forth from the all-day conferences, brothers from the mission church in Compuertas lovingly opened their homes to us each night.  The course was, therefore, also an opportunity to spend more time with our church family in Compuertas!  Our whole student body was thankful for this blessing!