Sunday afternoon we drove up to Amealco and enjoyed a few hours of fellowship and celebrated the 5th birthday of one our 21 OHMSers. It rained a bit and we were treated to a beautiful sky and sunset as we returned home.
Earlier on Sunday the Bible study in our home resumed. What began about 2 years ago in English with Jason, Kristin and their little boy Justin, this summer has seen it turn into a study and worship time in Spanish with those three, plus Jason’s brother and sister-in-law, Emanuel, Mari Cruz, their little boy Luis David, a teenager named Jharley and his parents, Ariel and Antonia, and Jharley’s brothers, Jesús and Antonio. They brought their grandmother who was visiting from the nearby state of Hidalgo. She introduced herself and said that Jharley has been telling her about his friends and “bugging her to come meet us,” and since she had a doctor’s appointment on Monday in Querétaro, she came. Quite a character. Early next week we’ll see Jenny, Ivan, Chloe and Isaac return from their summer trip and we’ll probably see them rejoin our group as well. Add to the group our co-workers Tim & Michelle and their four kids, and also add us and our two boys and our small group numbers 25. What? 25! Wow. The small seeds planted by God are growing!
Of course, to date only about half of the group have made professions of faith in Christ so there is much more work to do in watering, weeding, praying and watching God bless the harvest.
Yesterday (Monday), we began our homeschooling for the year. We have some interruptions in our schedule ahead as we have every year so we needed to get started and begin pushing into learning as soon as possible. Cameron is now in 8th grade and Dayton is in 5th grade. I teach them their English grammar (Cameron just about teaches himself through the book now) and Beth teaches the rest of the curriculum. The boys and I are continuing to read through the Bible in a year together and we just caught up last night after being behind due to the rough schedule in Dallas.
I’ll be resuming my Bible study with Jason this evening and we’ll study as a couple with Emanuel and Mari Cruz tomorrow evening. Beth has a study time with Kristin tomorrow morning. On Thursday we’ll be starting up the science co-op and one of the parents is adding art to the mix for this year. Depending on when we receive the sermon transcript from the church in Iowa (on Friday or Saturday), translation work takes up about 5 hours on either or both of those days. There is interest by a few of our unsaved contacts from the community center in receiving out-of-classroom English tutoring and I am contemplating what evening might be left to accomodate that as well. Evenings are looking a bit crowded at the moment. I don’t want to turn down a potential “divine appointment” so I’m praying for the best fit into the schedule.
Next week our ministry team (21 OHMS) will be spending 3 days and 2 nights at a hotel/water park (think Mexican-style resort…not as fancy as what it sounds…no A/C, etc.) for a team retreat. It’s always a struggle to match four very different schedules and all of us make it happen, but it looks like we’re going to make it happen. May God use it to build our relationships and refresh our bodies, minds, and spirits.
Knowing Your ABCDs 