Blog 50 01 Mar 2017

2017 Pastors' Conference

Mount Hebron Baptist Church hosted over 1,000 delegates to this year's conference.  Here are some thoughts, highlights, and pictures of our week:

 

And what a conference it was! There were so many churches and ministries represented. Over a thousand people were here. 

Soulwinning:

On Wednesday, all delegates and church members who were not watching a nursery went soulwinning. In the service that night, Pastor Jonathan took the count of souls saved like we do every Sunday night; over 300 people had trusted Christ that afternoon, and twelve were baptized at the close of the service. Praise the Lord!

 These pics are of the ladies in my group.  In the pink sweater is my friend Lydia who sits with me in church and who also speaks a little English.  Her partner, Paula is in blue, and my partner, Luisa in gold and black.  Luisa led two people to the Lord and had another lady promise to be in church on Sunday.




One of the twelve people saved and baptized on Wednesday was a homeless man, Ceasar, who on Thursday surrendered his life to do God's will.  The teens of Mount Hebron took up an offering to cover his first month's rent while he looks for a job in a place near enough to church he can walk to services.

Evening Preaching:

Pastor Louis Ramos of San Louis, Mexico.  
He was my Division Leader in college.  It was a great honor to hear of the faithful service he and his wife Mrs. Karen have devoted to God's call on their lives.  They have a large church as well as a Bible Institute to train young men and women as Christian leaders. 

Pastor Kevin Wynne, Missionarry to Mexico City.
Pastor Andres Gomez, FBC Hammond, Spanish Church
and of course,
Pastor (emitrius) Tommy and Pastor Jonathan Ashcraft.

Ladies' Sessions:

Mrs. Billie Sloan

Widow of Dr Tom Sloan

Missionarry to South Mexico

Sister of Pastor Tommy Ashcraft

Mother of 8 children, all serving the Lord today.

I have ordered her autobiography and am looking forward to being encouraged by it. If you would be interested in reading it, pm me for details.

Mrs. Elizabeth Sloan Martinez
Daughter of Mrs. Billie
Missionarry to Israel

Mrs. Carrie Kaeghan
Pastor's Wife, Connecticut

Mrs Jessica Gonzalez
 Missionarry Helps Ministry

It was also great to hear Mrs. Billie's youngest daughter, Elizabeth; Mrs. Carrie, back for the conference with her husband; Mrs. Jessica was featured this year; and also Mrs. Brenda with her daughter,  Tammy who serves in El Salvador.

Mrs Jenny
I am listening to Jenny teach the Ladies' Session in Spanish. I have no idea what she is saying, but so many ladies are listening intently as she shares her heart.  She occassionally stumbles through a longer, unusual Spanish word in the Bible verses. The ladies seem to hear her love and her desire to serve more than the words.  I cannot help the swell of pride I feel as I remember the many times of teaching and learning we have shared together over the past 20+ years.  I am so grateful the Lord has woven our lives together and allowed me to see some of the fruit from seeds sown so many years ago.

Language Update:

I was encouraged that I could understand a lot more of what was being preached this year. Pastor Jonathan preached one sermon in which he repeated "Don't Change" numerous times -- "Don't Change" your message, "Don't Change" your convictions, "Don't Change" your standards, and "Don't Change" a few other things I didn't catch.

Other Excitement:

 I spent Tuesday and Thursday nights helping in the nursery. The ladies who work with the children are amazing.

Prayer Corner

1. Pray for Mt Hebron Baptist Church

      ~ Bro. Jon and Mrs. Jenny, their boys,
               and the baby on the way!

      ~ New ministries of the church

2. Pray for Mt Hebron Christian Academy

      ~ New Students
      ~ Francisco as he learns English
3. Pray for Mt Hebron Bible Institute

Blog 49 7 Feb 2017

Christian School News:

This week Bro Jon took the school kids (as well as Jenny & me) to "The Flag." It is an enormous Mexican flag at the top of a very high mountain from which you can see the entire city of Monterrey. It is the spot where my picture was taken for my post cards. Afterwards, we went to a park

           and enjoyed a picnic lunch.
 

Francisco took the placement test for finishing high school in English through ACE. It would take him 3 years (conservatively) for which his family would have to pay not only tuition, but the price of the paces as well; as opposed to finishing next May (2018) with free resources and one year of tuition. I believe he will just increase his English studies, but go ahead and start in the Bible Institute in Fall 2018. I am glad I was able to share with you where his heart is in relation to the Service of the King.  I am so proud of the attitudes of all the students God has given me here.

The Great Commission!

At soul winning yesterday 13 ladies showed up for our group. We believe every week since the new year, we have had to take two vehicles out to our soulwinning area. My partner Louisa led two souls to the Lord. One man with whom she prayed said he rode the bus to Mt Hebron a few times as a boy with Jon's grandfather, "Popsy" Ashcraft.

Jessica's husband Leo led a Jewish man, Abram, to the Lord a few months ago who has been baptized and faithful to church services since the new year.  This has been an encouragement to Bro. Paco, our missionary to the Jewish community of Monterrey.  
(For more about his ministry and burden for the Jewish people, see Blog #37 from March, 2016.)

The Local Church:

I continue to help in the 3 year old SS class.  Mrs. Lily (our original K4-K5 school teacher) is currently teaching the class since the young lady who was teaching it now teaches in the high school department with her fiancee.

Also, we are all still preparing for our annual Pastor's Conference at the end of February.  The men are building a new restroom facility of which we are in great need.

Interesting & Exciting Happenings:

A special personal blessing this past month was the gift of an upgrade to my phone.  I brought my iPhone 4 (which I bought for $1.99 when the 5S came out) with me to Mexico two summers ago.  With birthday money from my Dad and another family who has always treated me like family I was able to get a much newer model.  Jenny did all the "leg-work" for me, searching Amazon, EBay, and other sites to get the best deal and Bro. Jon did the technical set up of anything that required more than importing from the cloud.

Prayer Corner

1. Pray for Mt Hebron Baptist Church

      ~ Bro. Jon and Mrs. Jenny, their boys,
               and the baby on the way!

      ~ New ministries of the church

2. Pray for Mt Hebron Christian Academy

      ~ New Students
      ~ Francisco as he learns English
3. Pray for Mt Hebron Bible Institute
4. Pray for our Pastor's Conference

Blog 48 15 Jan 2017

Christian School News:

Christmas Pics:

Being the whiz at crafts that I am, we made Mexican Snowmen -- with paper plates and cotton balls.

The "extra" young lady pictured is Grace, the granddaughter of the Ashcrafts.  They came from El Salvador for Christmas and to celebrate Granny & Papa's 50th.

We had so much fun at our regular party, that I neglected to take pics with the big kids.

[If one of the parents or teenagers sees this, they may send me a pic or two from their phone.]

In other school news: 

I am happy to say that Javier's parents have resolved their transportation issues and have re-enrolled him in Kindergarten.

Also of note, Francisco was able to spend 3 weeks with a missionary from Mexico to Africa who was in Southern Mexico presenting his work in different Missions' Conferences. Francisco returned from this trip with an even greater burden to reach the people of Africa and a heightened desire to learn the English language, which is spoken in much of Africa.  He has expressed a desire to me that he wants to finish High School in English, even if it means taking an extra year to do so.  He believes this will greatly help him in his future ministry to the continent of Africa.  

The Great Commission!

Here is Miss Betty and one of her converts who allowed me to take his picture.  On this day, she led four people to the Lord.

Yes, those are pigs in the background! In the area we were visiting, pigs and chickens were freely roaming the streets.  This was a new experience for me.

Mrs. Betty and I were partners again on Jan. 13.  She led three more people to the Lord on this Friday.

To the right, a pic from the Christmas party for our Ladies Soulwinning Group:




The Local Church:
The Wednesday before I left for Christmas break, our church celebrated the 50th Wedding Anniversary of the Ashcrafts. Their actual anniversary was in August, but they were enjoying a trip together at that time; and, of course, all of the family wanted to be present, including their daughter and her family who are missionaries in El Salvador, and one grandson attending Hyles-Anderson.

  

As you can probably see, I swiped these photos from FB.   

             Someone caught a really good pic of me with 2 of my handsome dates for the evening.

In other church news, we are gearing up for our annual Pastor's Conference at the end of February.  I will be helping with the music ministry this year {by watching the kids during some of the choir and orchestra practices :) }.

Interesting & Exciting Happenings:

My Christmas Vacation:  

I really enjoyed time with my family ~ and being 5 minutes from the Beach wasn't so bad, either.
(forgive Dad's thumb / it was really sunny and windy / I dont know how to crop on Blogger)

During my stay we celebrated my birthday (12/22), and Dad's and his wife's, which are both at the beginning of January.



Jonathan & Tommy turn 5!

We enjoyed a super Super-Hero Party!  

Great fun was had by all.

Adapting tO my Changing Life:

This semester I will begin teaching English in our Bible Institute. I will have around 20 young adult students.  I will especially appreciate your prayers as this class meets

twice per week at 7:30am!

I recently found a remote branch of the public library while we were out soulwinning. 
[I do not think they have free wifi  :) ]

Language Update:

Jessica continues to work with me on verb conjugation and the soulwinning plan -- 

and I am continuing with Rosetta Stone as well.

Prayer Corner

1. Pray for Mt Hebron Baptist Church

      ~ Bro. Jon and Mrs. Jenny, their boys,
               and the baby on the way!

      ~ New ministries of the church

2. Pray for Mt Hebron Christian Academy

      ~ New Students
      ~ Francisco as he learns English
3. Pray for Mt Hebron Bible Institute
      ~ My English class
      ~ Students and teachers in general

3. Pray for me to learn Spanish

      ~ for me to be able to lead

         someone to the Lord soon

It is an encouragement to me to know that you are praying for me!

I have placed some hilites of this blog in green font.  
Please realize that every time you pray for me and the work of the Christian school here at Mt Hebron, you have a part not only in the work here, but also in the future work of the students.  
I am so excited that the Lord is using me (because of your faithful prayers and support) to furnish the toolbox of young people who have already decided to spend their lives serving the Lord.  Only eternity will reveal the total influence of the faithfulness of the Ashcrafts to Monterrey: both Pastor Tommy and Mrs. Brenda, as well as the continuing ministry of Pastor Jonathan and Mrs. Jenny.  

Thank you to each of you who make it possible for me to share in this great ministry.

Wishing You a Happy and Blessed 2017!

Blog 47 21 Nov 2016

The Christian School:

Even though Thanksgiving is not officially celebrated in Mexico, we will be off from school Thursday to celebrate. Everyone (expecially me) is looking forward to the annual American feast!

The excitement of Christmas break must be worldwide!  We will all be glad to have a little time away from classes to spend with our families.  I am looking forward to being with my parents in North Carolina.

The Great Commission!

I was hoping to be able to post the name of my first convert by the publication date of this blog.  I did not reach that goal, however, I am drawing closer everyday and am confident that I will reach it soon.  I practice every week with Jessica introducing myself and reading through the plan. Please pray with me to learn the words and phrases necessarry to properly present the Gospel.

A recent soulwinning experience:

"Be A Part of Something Big"

Praise the Lord! Jenny and Jessica were able to see Natalie accept Christ as her Saviour during Ladies' Soulwinning time! 

Jenny and  Jessica led a teenage girl to the Lord whose father said he was already saved. They were only in town because his mother was sick. Jenny listened to him talk about their family situation while Jessica witnessed to the girl. He said they were going back to their home Saturday, but agreed that he needed to get his family into church. Jenny gave the girl her NT, and information was exchanged so that they could get them in touch with a church in their town.

On a different Friday: 
Out Soulwinning today I handed out several tracts. My partner, Hma. Anita won Lorena and her two children to the Lord today. After the sinner's prayer, Lorena did the sign of the crucifix while saying, "Gracias a Dios!" I believe she was relieved to finally know she could not be good enough to save herself and now can rest in what Jesus has done for us. I would love to see her and her children in our services.

The Local Church:
"To Every Ceature" 
Our 2016 Missions Conference

Our church pledged over 50,000 pesos per month through faith Promise Missions this year.
That is over $2,500 US Dollars - in a church with about 400-500 people in Sunday night attendance.
Our people are not rich, but they love, and understand the importance of missions.

Adapting tO my Changing Life:

One thing that continues to be a struggle for me is the inability to come and go at will.  I am dependent upon others for getting anywhere outside of walking distance.  I was excited when Uber came to Monterrey, but could not set it up on my phone with my debit card (unsure if because it is stateside card which requires changing dollars to pesos?).  A few men in the church are Uber drivers, though, so I planned an outing using one of them as my drop off and pick up and paid cash.  I had a nice afternoon at the local mall which included fish tacos and a Starbucks caramel machiato!
Still cheaper than buying a car, and more independent than always relying on friends.

Book Nook:

I have just finised: What I Learned From My Parents. This is a snippet regarding intentional parenting.  Many of you reading this know my parents and so already know some of what to expect.  I wrote this with the intent of honoring two people who consistently put the well-being and well-roundedness of my brother and myself first and foremost, regardless of circumstances or what other families did or did not do.  This, along with other titles listed below, is available digitally through Kindle Direct or in paperback through Amazon.  Order directly from me, and avoid the shipping fee, $10 each.

Where's The Next Jenny?

Every Kid Is Different

365 Days of  Thankfulness

What I Leraned From My Parents

Prayer Corner:

Please pray for Natalie and Lorena.
Please pray for the families of our Christain school.
Please pray for safety of many who are traveling for the holidays, myself included.