Progress on the Ministry in Minas.

If you have ever served...

 
As time permits I will post some pixs and video of the team at work. Here is a picture of the team.
It consisted of ...
8 members of Clements Baptist Church. Lance, Hans and Mia, Bev, Mandy and Justin, Cindy and Stanley.
3 (Monica and Nacho Flandez, Will Herndon) missionaries from the Word of Life ministries.
2 College students. (Laura May and Mellisa)
4 Brownings
4 Saavedras (Walter, Vickie, Camila and Abigail)Pastor Family in Minas.
1 Chofer (Fernandez)

First days in Minas!!!

 
 
 
 

Clements Baptist Church!!!

They made it. After missing a flight in Dallas due to weather and being delayed in Buenos Aires due to radar problems they made it. Once they arrived we hit the ground running. Grabed a quick McD’s on the way drove a couple of hours, arrived at the church, set up for the first VBS class and they did a great job. Clements never ceases to amaze me on how they can adapt to the situation. We have had a good night sleep and I look forward to what God is going to do through the group today. And a special thanks to our friends from the Word of Life. We have some special people helping with translating and organizing as well. Will Herndon, if you don’t know him you might want too. I can give you some contact information. He is a Missionary Kid turned missionary. He lives in Cordoba, Argentina with his wife and two daughters. God is using him in a great way. Then there is Ignacio and Monica. They are missionaries from the Word of Life living in Montevideo, Uruguay. Amazing couple, all in all we have a great team and I feel fortunate that I can be a part of it. God bless and may you have a special encounter with God today.
Michael

After the Floods...

It took a while but we received some funds to help with some of the families evacuated from their homes. Problem we are facing now is finding the things needed. With being hit by the worst flood in the history of Treinta y Tres, we are trying to find the simple things needed. Mattresses are becoming hard to find, along with twin size sheets. They say those will be coming available. We are also being hit with a shot of cold weather. As you can imagine, the people are not seeing things getting Better any time quick. It is giving us a great opportunity to share the love of Christ. Here are a few shots of the Pastor and his wife giving out some of the twins we found. Thanks to all that are giving to the IMB. Not only are you supporting us on the field but you are also helping supply emergency funds to people in need.

To get a view of the flood....

Here is where the water is normally. The video below shows the water at the bottom of the that bridge you see above my head.
Please pray for all the families that were affected by the worst flood seen in the history of Treinta y Tres.

Some more shots of the flooding.

More Flooding...

We are entering into our third day of rain but they say it will quit today. The flooding continues with several families being evacuated from their homes. We helped one family this morning. He is relatively a new believer. He called the house about 8 o'clock am and said,"Miguel preciso su ayuda". We helped move most of their belongings to neighbors and the church building. It was wild seeing all the families moving out of their homes. Also they are having to stay close and guard their homes. There are reports of guys going around by boats and stealing property. He is a short clip of the floods. In the history of the city the water has never been this high. The video your about to see the water is touching the bottom of the bridge. normally the water is some 20 to 30 feet lower. Unbelievable!!!

Some Flooding in our Back yard!!!

April News...

This April has been a busy month. We started off the first week taking the youth group to a town called Santa Clara. We staged a three day evangelistic impact. Two nights of showing an evangelical movie. The first night there was not much interest. The second night we were able to get about 16 people that where interested. We have followed up these past three weeks and have had two professions of faith. Oh during that 3 day event we also baptize one of the converts from last years event. She has become our base point. Thursday nights I continue teaching English to some young kids. And Saturday nights we have a youth time. Normally it is at our house or the church.

On a family note Garrett has gotten interested in racing mountain bikes and road bikes. He finished third in his age group in a mountain bike race he did and finished 6th in a road race riding against young adults. CoraBeth continues with her studies and has started gymnastics. She played basketball but I think the gymnastics is more in line with what she likes. Teresa keeps marching on. There are days that both of us have our ups and downs. We miss our church family, our family family and other things. God has proven himself faithful and we continue to faithfully obey his command.

ESL clases...

Here is my ESL class at the moment. We meet every thursday night at 6 pm.

CoraBeth Info

CoraBeth has started playing basketball. Her and two others are the only girls playing. She is always up to the challenge. Sports here are really still left up to the boys. He are some pixs of a sports saturday they had.

A Good Start to the Racing Season...

Garrett had a good start to the racing season. He has committed to race and train this year for only mountain biking. We had our some what of our official race. He did great and everyone is saying that he has promise. If we can just keep his head deflated we will doing good. He finished third in his division. The guy the placed first comes from a family of racers and has been racing all his life. He will be the one that Garrett will mark for most of the season. The race was extremely muddy. My goal was just to finish safely. The day before the race Garrett and I was able to ride some of the course to familiarize ourselves with some technical parts. It started raining the minute we left with the guy that was going to show us around. It continue to rain all night. The after pictures really doesn't do us justice on how muddy the course was. All in all it was a good time for Garrett. It helps break up some of the schooling and cultural things that we deal with on a daily basis. God has been so good to us. I pray each day that Garrett and Cora will see God's grace in their lives. I'm thankful we have family and friends that help support us on the field. Not just financially but with all the Easter cards we received. The care packages that were sent with the "peeps". Also the special package of English muffins and Velveeta. Something that you will not find down here.

A Rare Find? Or Not?

Can you tell me what is so special about this picture?

Some of our Easter Drama!

Use which ever way you want to view the pixs.

Easter

Another good one....

Here is another post Guy turned me on to. Boy can we relate!
Check it out. Nohad 4 God.

Missing Home...

Guy beat me to it. So since he so edicuatly described what we miss at home I'll just let click and read it there. The M Blog.

Garrett...

I thought I would throw in a family shot. This Garrett getting to race. The guy next to him is probably one of the top 20 best in the country. That day Garrett's brakes where touching bad and he could not keep up with the peloton. I'll try to keep you updated on Garrett's races as the year goes on.

Santa Clara...

This is a small town about two hour drive on gravel roads north of where we live. Last year this time we went there with a bike team from Rocha. We all went by bicicle which took about 8 hours. Passed out invitations and showed an evangelistic movie. We had 3 people that where interested in more. So one of our youth started the discipling process. The results where that we return this year to baptize this young lady and do a two day evangelistic impact. The results where about 100 watching the movie with 16 wanting to know more. It was cold at night but comfortable in the day time. We camped both nights. (In the states it would be called primative camping.) All in all it was a productive time. The whole team was tired and ready to come home but enjoyed the special time of baptism. I wonder how many people would ask to be baptize, knowing the warmest water to be found was an underground spring? Enjoy.
May God bless you Easter and time with Family.