Update time! Not sure the last time I wrote a proper update on the blog, but it was a while ago. I´ll highlight some of the activities and news from the past six months or so.
Back in May we had an intern with us for several weeks, a student from the Canadian Reformed seminary in Canada. This was the first time we had received an intern and overall it was a really good experience. It was nice to have someone to share the work with.
In June and July we spent quite a bit of time preparing for an English camp outreach as well as a visit from Marc and Hannah, who had been called by our church in Canada to join us as missionaries here in Querétaro. We had a wonderful two weeks with them as we showed them around and had good conversations about the joys and challenges of mission work. They were also able to help with various activities, including a few days of the English camp, which you can read more about here.
After a busy couple months we were glad to have a month-long furlough back in Canada. We enjoyed visiting family, friends and several churches. While we were gone a pastor and elders from a local Presbyterian church covered for us on Sundays, which we really appreciated.
Upon returning to Mexico it took a bit to adjust to a slightly new schedule. Scott is no longer teaching English classes at Pan de Vida so this has opened up more time to focus on the church and outreach efforts. We continue to do our kid´s Bible club once a month, as well as a ladies bible study. More recently we have tried out a monthly bazaar to raise support for Esperanza Para Ti children´s home and get more people through the church doors. We also hosted a movie night and had a few neighbourhood kids come and watch Pilgrim’s Progress with us.
Not all our outreach efforts are “successful”, but we persist, make changes as necessary, and try new things. In addition to the organised outreach and evangelistic efforts are the people we meet as we go about daily life – whether people on the street, shop owners or at swimming lessons or ballet.
Sometimes, people come to us just by word of month, which happened a number of weeks ago when a family showed up at church after hearing about it through a lady who grew up in Pan de Vida.
The last few Sundays our church plant has been encouraged by several new visitors. We thank the Lord for encouraging us in this way and pray that these new visitors become regulars and eventually members. We know from experience that many visitors come for a time and then stop or find another church, so we try to simply thank God for bringing someone new and then entrust them into God´s hands and trust in God´s timing.
In the last number of months we have also made more of an effort to provide teaching on the church, healthy doctrine, and membership. We want to see the church plant to grow and develop more structure than just a simple worship service, which is how we started. We also want to see people become committed Christians in a local church rather than just regular or occasional visitors. To that end we are taking steps towards formalizing membership, even if at the beginning it is only a few people.
Our hope is that in the next six months or so we would be able to receive several people into membership, begin to celebrate Lord´s Supper, and perhaps even have a few baptisms. At times, it seems that these goals are still quite far off, but at other times they seem close at hand. Either way, we want to take proactive steps to provide clear teaching on what a Reformed church is and lay a good foundation for further growth.
We are also very excited to welcome Marc and Hannah on board (they accepted the call!) and to help them as they begin their journey into mission work. It will be a while yet before they are in Mexico, and more time will be required for language learning and adjusting to life in a foreign culture, but we are excited that we can look forward to having them work alongside us. What the ministry and church plant will look like at that point remains to be seen, but in any case, we know God will be there with us and will bless the work as he sees fit.
The Rabbi's Burrito 
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