Today we saw God work in more than one way! Our morning started out the same as every other. We worked on the benches while the women did their ministry. Then, before we left to go to lunch, Lucia, Emily, Shawn, Alex (The one from Culiacan) and my self all went down to the school to invite the teenagers. We originally thought we would have about 10 kids show up, but we had about 50 join us. 15 of those kids were from the school. Pray that tonight starts a movement of the youth in the church. At the same time as we were having our youth event, the men had theirs. From what I could tell, it was a great turn out. There were about fifteen or twenty men from Progreso that showed up. Amongst all of this happening, we held a HUGE meal for the town of Progreso. We cooked hamburgers and hotdogs. We planned on serving approximately 150 people, so we got a ton of extra food. If any of you know my dad, you know how he can't cook for small groups of people. When we were done with the night, we realized that we had served well over 200 people. It was probably closer to 250 or 300 people. God was deffinately great today! Once again, we are all very tired, so I'm going to end with the prayer requests now!
Prayer Requests:
1. Jim is not feeling the greatest right now. Pray that he is strong and healthy tomorrow morning!
2. Don and Carols house was broken into today, and they have had a lot of police going in and out of their house to find some finger prints. Pray that everything will be okay and that things will be taken care of at home.
Praises:
1. Arnoldos mom was going in for a biopsy today because she had a lump on her breast. When we arrived at the church we all prayed for her because she was in surgery at that moment. Not even a half an hour later, we got great news that there was nothing there. Praise God!
2. Also, praise God for a great turn out for dinner tonight, and that there was enough food for so many people.
I am positive that there are many more prayer requests and praises for God, but if I typed them all out, I would be here for days! I guess you will have to wait until we get back to hear the marvelous works of God!!
Nicole Renee and Emily June
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Today was another fantastic day here in Culiacan! We are all very tired so I'm going to try to keep this fairly short tonight! Our morning was very similar to every other day so far. We continued to work on benches. This afternoon we did the third day of VBS! We did the story of Jonah! Steve Jervis played the role of Jonah in the skit! I must say that he did a fantastic job! We created the boat out of bricks and an old play house that they had at the church. We also had a big blue tarp that was the waves. When Jonah was thrown out of the boat, the big fish (Shawn) swallowed steve up! When the whale spit him up after three days, Jonah was soaked! The skit seemed to be a great thing to keep the kids focused! We then went to the church for another fantastic meal of carne asada!! mmmmmmmmmmmmm :)
The women from our group went to the little girls house who caused the fight yesterday, just to see what her home life was like. While they were there, Egla came across a man who was possessed by a demon, watched pornography, and was an alcoholic! She started to pray for him, and through that process, both the man and his nephew came to know the Lord! Praise God!!
Prayer Requests:
-There are three different ministries going on tomorrow! The boys are meeting with the men from Progreso to play cards and just fellowship. Me, Emily and Lucia are planning to get together with the teenagers from Progreso to start a relationship with them. Please pray that we get a good turn out in both of those. We are also holding a dinner tomorrow for the whole town of Progreso. We are eating hotdogs and hamburgers. We are expecting approximately 200 people to attend the meal.
-Pete was no longer able to join us on the trip! He had to bring Debbie to the ER in the middle of the night yesterday. Pray that she will be healed and healthy as soon as possible.
-Lastly, please pray for health. More people have been getting sick. Pray for health for all of us, so that we can continue to minister to others.
Thanks for all the prayers!!
Buenas Noches!
Nicole Renee and Emily June
The women from our group went to the little girls house who caused the fight yesterday, just to see what her home life was like. While they were there, Egla came across a man who was possessed by a demon, watched pornography, and was an alcoholic! She started to pray for him, and through that process, both the man and his nephew came to know the Lord! Praise God!!
Prayer Requests:
-There are three different ministries going on tomorrow! The boys are meeting with the men from Progreso to play cards and just fellowship. Me, Emily and Lucia are planning to get together with the teenagers from Progreso to start a relationship with them. Please pray that we get a good turn out in both of those. We are also holding a dinner tomorrow for the whole town of Progreso. We are eating hotdogs and hamburgers. We are expecting approximately 200 people to attend the meal.
-Pete was no longer able to join us on the trip! He had to bring Debbie to the ER in the middle of the night yesterday. Pray that she will be healed and healthy as soon as possible.
-Lastly, please pray for health. More people have been getting sick. Pray for health for all of us, so that we can continue to minister to others.
Thanks for all the prayers!!
Buenas Noches!
Nicole Renee and Emily June
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Let's just say that today was a long day for us, Emily and Nicole. We built every single part of the benches this morning. Don't feel bad, we let the boys use the mini hammers to pound the nails into the benches. We only let them help after continuous begging. While we and the pestering boys built the benches, the rest of the women went out into the neighborhood of Progreso to minister. We haven't heard much about it, but it sounds like it all went well. After a short pit-stop at the hotel, we headed back to Progreso. While the boys attempted to build a bench all by themselves, the women held the second day of VBS.
We went to the Bello house for dinner and they served a two course meal, which was WAY too much for us, as usual, but it was delicious. Then to top that, they served four different desserts. And yes, we all ate some of all of it! Then we went back to the hotel for a short roof-top meeting and bed time! And now I (Nicole) am here typing this.
There seem to be more and more prayer requests adding up! So what better way to share those with more people than on here? :)
Prayer Requests:
- The little boy who was diagnosed with Terminal Brain Cancer. Pray that he and his family have comfort even though it is complete chaos in their lives right now.
-Many of the children in Progreso have been fighting a lot lately. Tonight, I, Nicole again, had to break up a fight of about six kids tonight during the bible story. They were fighting over such a simple thing as a chair. Pray that they will get along and pay attention to the story tomorrow and not what chair they're sitting in!
-Pray for Lucia. As I told you before, we all ate too much food tonight. It got to Lucia. Pray that she will be healthy by morning.
-Finally, please pray for the Beruman family. They just added the next member to their family today! Josiah Antonio Beruman. Pray for great health for both mom and baby.
I almost forgot to add something! Pete should be joining us tomorrow evening. Debbie is now home and stable. Debbie encouraged him to join the group! YAYY!!
Hasta Manana! (Insert tilde above the 'N')
Nicole Renee and Emily June
We went to the Bello house for dinner and they served a two course meal, which was WAY too much for us, as usual, but it was delicious. Then to top that, they served four different desserts. And yes, we all ate some of all of it! Then we went back to the hotel for a short roof-top meeting and bed time! And now I (Nicole) am here typing this.
There seem to be more and more prayer requests adding up! So what better way to share those with more people than on here? :)
Prayer Requests:
- The little boy who was diagnosed with Terminal Brain Cancer. Pray that he and his family have comfort even though it is complete chaos in their lives right now.
-Many of the children in Progreso have been fighting a lot lately. Tonight, I, Nicole again, had to break up a fight of about six kids tonight during the bible story. They were fighting over such a simple thing as a chair. Pray that they will get along and pay attention to the story tomorrow and not what chair they're sitting in!
-Pray for Lucia. As I told you before, we all ate too much food tonight. It got to Lucia. Pray that she will be healthy by morning.
-Finally, please pray for the Beruman family. They just added the next member to their family today! Josiah Antonio Beruman. Pray for great health for both mom and baby.
I almost forgot to add something! Pete should be joining us tomorrow evening. Debbie is now home and stable. Debbie encouraged him to join the group! YAYY!!
Hasta Manana! (Insert tilde above the 'N')
Nicole Renee and Emily June
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
So today was another good day here in Culiacan!
This morning, the men (or the boys as we called them)went to Progresso to start the process of building about ten benches for the sanctuary. While the men were doing that, the women stayed back to sort through all the suitcases full of clothes and VBS supplies. We then met back at Emmanuel to eat lunch. Then we started the journey to Progresso to hold the first VBS of the week. There were 50+ kids there today.
After holding the VBS, we were all VERY hungry! So we went back to the church and had an extremely filling meal of Carne Asada!! Be jealous!! ;)After eating, we had the opportunity to go to a families house who has a ten year old son. The young boy was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer this past summer. The tumor has been growing, causing him to be bed bound. He can no longer talk or move. Our group had the chance to go in and pray over him and his parents. His dad is not a christian, but desperate for any hope left, asked us to come pray for them. The boy however, has a very strong faith. Please pray for him and his family.
We also ask that you pray for a woman in Progresso who had eye surgery a few days ago. We don't know what caused her blindness, but we hope that this surgery helps give her sight again. Also, please continue to pray for Pete and Debbie. Pray for Pete as he has to make the difficult decision to come here or stay home with Debbie.
It's getting late, so we're going to hit the hay!
Buenas Noches!!
Nicole Renee and Emily June
This morning, the men (or the boys as we called them)went to Progresso to start the process of building about ten benches for the sanctuary. While the men were doing that, the women stayed back to sort through all the suitcases full of clothes and VBS supplies. We then met back at Emmanuel to eat lunch. Then we started the journey to Progresso to hold the first VBS of the week. There were 50+ kids there today.
After holding the VBS, we were all VERY hungry! So we went back to the church and had an extremely filling meal of Carne Asada!! Be jealous!! ;)After eating, we had the opportunity to go to a families house who has a ten year old son. The young boy was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer this past summer. The tumor has been growing, causing him to be bed bound. He can no longer talk or move. Our group had the chance to go in and pray over him and his parents. His dad is not a christian, but desperate for any hope left, asked us to come pray for them. The boy however, has a very strong faith. Please pray for him and his family.
We also ask that you pray for a woman in Progresso who had eye surgery a few days ago. We don't know what caused her blindness, but we hope that this surgery helps give her sight again. Also, please continue to pray for Pete and Debbie. Pray for Pete as he has to make the difficult decision to come here or stay home with Debbie.
It's getting late, so we're going to hit the hay!
Buenas Noches!!
Nicole Renee and Emily June
Monday, February 6, 2012
La Primera Dia
I know you were all so worried that we wouldn't make it through the church service, but we did. It was amazing what God did in the eight testimonies of our team members. Pam, Steve, Shawn, Cindy, Paul, Ive and Don spoke about why they come here to Culiacan. Emmanuel is in between pastors at the moment so our team provided the sermon. Almost all of our team members got very emotional when talking about how God works in such great ways and the relationships we have with these people. Yes, even the big, tough (adorable) men cried. At that time, I, Emily, turned to Nicole and Lucia and said "I love our team." Those testimonies really made me realize what the ministry has grown to and the impact it makes on any person involved.
A woman named Carol at Emmanuel had said to Carol Buckhout that the congregation is really discouraged at this time with no pastor and they need confirmation that they can make a difference. When Carol Buckhout asked if our service had helped with that at all, Carol said that without a doubt it inspired the congregation.
After lunch at the church, we had a meeting with the women of Emmanuel about the crafts for VBS this week. The men played Cribbage. We then stopped at Walmart and went to the Templo Bautista Sion to celebrate the aniversary of the church. Many of our team members expressed how awesome it was to see people from multiple different churches all worshiping together and in one church. There were poeple from North Haven, Sion, Emmanuel, the church from Renato Vega, and few other ones that we didn't know.
We arrived at Papas Locas as the team from Worthington was finishing their meal. The new members on our team enjoyed the meal and almost everyone, as always, overate. We tried a new drink called Sorbada made with wheat and vanilla. It tastes like chocolate and caramel. It is delicious!
While at Papas Locas, Ulises told us that he, Lalo, Julio, Abram and some other men from Emmanuel were going to play a game of futbol at a field a block down on the church rec team. We stopped by and watched the game for about 45 minutes. When we left, the score was 3-2, us.
When we got back to the hotel, we discussed the day during our daily rooftop meeting along with cathing up with some of the Worthington team. We had some major prayer requests and very good reportings of the days.
Prayer requests:
A women at Emmanuel told Cindy that her 10 year-old nephew was diagnosed with brain cancer last summer. He is not confined to his bed, not being able to speak. The woman said he has much faith and believes he will be healed. This father, however is not a christian and is compeletely devistated. She asked that we come to see her son and give the family encouragement and pray for a miracle.
After our morning service at Emmanuel, a women came in off of the streets asking for help and money for her "medicine" we were informed that she is addicted to drugs. Egla, from Puenta de Vida, he this women on her mind all day and requests that we pray for her, as she is imprisoned with this addiction.
Nicole Renee and Emily June
A woman named Carol at Emmanuel had said to Carol Buckhout that the congregation is really discouraged at this time with no pastor and they need confirmation that they can make a difference. When Carol Buckhout asked if our service had helped with that at all, Carol said that without a doubt it inspired the congregation.
After lunch at the church, we had a meeting with the women of Emmanuel about the crafts for VBS this week. The men played Cribbage. We then stopped at Walmart and went to the Templo Bautista Sion to celebrate the aniversary of the church. Many of our team members expressed how awesome it was to see people from multiple different churches all worshiping together and in one church. There were poeple from North Haven, Sion, Emmanuel, the church from Renato Vega, and few other ones that we didn't know.
We arrived at Papas Locas as the team from Worthington was finishing their meal. The new members on our team enjoyed the meal and almost everyone, as always, overate. We tried a new drink called Sorbada made with wheat and vanilla. It tastes like chocolate and caramel. It is delicious!
While at Papas Locas, Ulises told us that he, Lalo, Julio, Abram and some other men from Emmanuel were going to play a game of futbol at a field a block down on the church rec team. We stopped by and watched the game for about 45 minutes. When we left, the score was 3-2, us.
When we got back to the hotel, we discussed the day during our daily rooftop meeting along with cathing up with some of the Worthington team. We had some major prayer requests and very good reportings of the days.
Prayer requests:
A women at Emmanuel told Cindy that her 10 year-old nephew was diagnosed with brain cancer last summer. He is not confined to his bed, not being able to speak. The woman said he has much faith and believes he will be healed. This father, however is not a christian and is compeletely devistated. She asked that we come to see her son and give the family encouragement and pray for a miracle.
After our morning service at Emmanuel, a women came in off of the streets asking for help and money for her "medicine" we were informed that she is addicted to drugs. Egla, from Puenta de Vida, he this women on her mind all day and requests that we pray for her, as she is imprisoned with this addiction.
Nicole Renee and Emily June
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Warning: Satire Ahead
So the old folks want this to be a serious matter, but we're teenagers, so expect some slight exaggeration.
After nearly dying seven times and losing all of our bags, we finally fought off the customs officials and boarded our dilapidated rental bus. Hours later, when we arrived at the hotel, our reservations were nowhere to be found. As the team waited for Don and Steve to clear up the sleeping arrangements, Buddy got involved in an old-fashioned gang shootout. Let's just say Shawn doesn't have a roommate tonight. We were only able to snag two tiny rooms. One for the women and one for the men. So the ol' wise ones want us to go to sleep, so we will update you tomorrow, if we make it through the church service. ;)
Ok. Ok. So we were joking, but you probably believed every word of that, right? We arrived perfectly safe and transportation and customs went fine. Cipriano, Arnoldo, Dani, Ulises, and Gadiel met us at the airport in Mazatlan and rode with us in our very nice bus here to Culiacan. We stopped at a grocery store on the way and picked up stuff to make bologna and cheese sandwiches. Once we got to the hotel, we got settled in our rooms, had a short meeting on the rooftop and are now heading to bed to savor the few hours of sleep before church in the morning.
Please pray for a good nights rest and that God will work in marvelous ways in the week to come. Also, pray for Pete's wife, Debbie, who is still in the hospital for pneumonia. Pete is expecting to join us on Tuesday after getting Debbie settled back at their home.
Emily June and Nicole Renee
After nearly dying seven times and losing all of our bags, we finally fought off the customs officials and boarded our dilapidated rental bus. Hours later, when we arrived at the hotel, our reservations were nowhere to be found. As the team waited for Don and Steve to clear up the sleeping arrangements, Buddy got involved in an old-fashioned gang shootout. Let's just say Shawn doesn't have a roommate tonight. We were only able to snag two tiny rooms. One for the women and one for the men. So the ol' wise ones want us to go to sleep, so we will update you tomorrow, if we make it through the church service. ;)
Ok. Ok. So we were joking, but you probably believed every word of that, right? We arrived perfectly safe and transportation and customs went fine. Cipriano, Arnoldo, Dani, Ulises, and Gadiel met us at the airport in Mazatlan and rode with us in our very nice bus here to Culiacan. We stopped at a grocery store on the way and picked up stuff to make bologna and cheese sandwiches. Once we got to the hotel, we got settled in our rooms, had a short meeting on the rooftop and are now heading to bed to savor the few hours of sleep before church in the morning.
Please pray for a good nights rest and that God will work in marvelous ways in the week to come. Also, pray for Pete's wife, Debbie, who is still in the hospital for pneumonia. Pete is expecting to join us on Tuesday after getting Debbie settled back at their home.
Emily June and Nicole Renee
Friday, February 3, 2012
Adios!
Well, we leave for Culiacan tomorrow afternoon, Saturday Feb 4, 2012. The plane doesn't leave MSP until 4:10, which is nice, but it means we won't get to our hotel until about 11:00 pm. The plan for Sunday is for Don Buckhout to give a short sermon and than several of the team will say something short about what this ministry means to us and why we go. Then we'll have a meeting with members of Emmanuel church to plan the week in more detail. The team members from North Haven Church are Emily Johnson, Nicole Treague, Lucia Alle, Steve Jervis, Paul Christianson, Shawn Treague, Buddy Anderson, Cindy Johnson, Carol buckhout, Jim Tjernlund, Pete Marcaccini, Don Buckhout, and Pam Jervis. Ive Guzman and Egla Martinez are going from Puente de Vida church and there are small teams from Worthington and Hastings also going to work at their sister churches in Culiacan. We'd sure appreciate prayers for our trip and especially for Pete's wife Debbie who is hospitalized with pneumonia in TX the last I heard so I don't know the status of Pete going. Nor do I have the other churches' team members' names at my fingertips. Sorry about that.
Thank you all for your support for this mission!!!
Cindy, for the team
Thank you all for your support for this mission!!!
Cindy, for the team
Thursday, July 7, 2011
6 VBS, 72 Hrs, 140 Kids
Wow, 6 Vacation Bible Schools in 72 hrs!! Only 4 more & block party to go :) I am beginning to think a "working" trip might be easier.
But the 140 kids we shared the miracles of Jesus with yesterday make it all worthwhile.
We saw our own fishes & loaves experience as we handed out flip flops to kids at Progreso...amazing, down to the very last pair. No child went without!
And, a father in Progreso, Javier, was temporarily blinded while welding. The Dr told him he would not see for 4 to 10 days. Pete & Cipriano prayed & he was able to return to work one day later!
Pray for continued strength, focus & energy as we serve along side our friends of Emmanuel.
Blessings & thanks!
Kimberly (aka Princessa)
Kimberly (aka Princessa)
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
VBS: Photos, Wind, Rain, and Blessings
Here are just a few photos from our first two days of VBS at Emmanuel and Progresso. God has been good and we feel blessed to be sharing this time with our brothers and sisters in Mexico. The weather is hot (mucho calor) and it has been raining, we just experienced a !wind, dust and rain storm during VBS in Progresso, but were able to finish singing and presenting the bible story before having to take shelter. The children are excited to see us and we have definitely been enjoying interacting with all of them! Keep the prayers coming, as we are seeing the Lord conquer the obstacles that are put in our path each day.
Love from all of us!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Heartwarming Hospitality and VBS
We are back at the hotel for almost two hours of rest, prep and/or shopping, depending on personality and age.
As usual the people here are so welcoming and their hospitality is heartwarming. Ismael Bello from Emmanuel Church said that many teams come to Culiacan to help for a week but the groups from North Haven are like family coming and we mesh together so well. How wonderful to hear that!
Our first morning of VBS at Emmanuel went very well for a first go at it. 21 kids came, most in the 8-11 age group. Ivelisa, from Puente de Vida church, has put together an amazing program for the week. The lessons this week are about Jesus and today's was about his birth. There were new songs, puppets, and a drama with kids acting as shepherds, the wise men, angels and innkeepers. Our team played Joseph, Mary, a shepherd and an angel. Ask Pete to demonstrate his flying style. Kimberly made an enthusiastic pitch to the kids in the closing activity, promising special prizes to those who bring friends tomorrow. We were told to expect about 40 kids but some kids don't get out of school until Thurs.
Around 4 we leave for Progreso for this evening's VBS there. We were there last night for their weekly church service and saw that the building has new trusses up for the roof and they have 30 pieces of metal lamina ready to put on it.
Thank you for all your prayer support!!! There have been a few attempts by the enemy to cause problems (nothing serious: scrapes, wet VBS materials and headaches) so please pray for God to prevent Satan from hindering the work for His kingdom.
Muchas gracias y Dios los bendiga!
Thank you and God bless you!
Cindy, for the team.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Sunday, July 3
Hi everyone,
We are here safe and sound. Praise God!
Ulises, Arnoldo and Octavio picked us up. We made it to the hotel around 9 last night because we stopped at the church in Renato Vega first. They were celebrating their 8th anniversary! I can't believe they've been an independent church that long. They had a collage of pictures showing their history and many of them were of our teams. They were fun to see.
Also, last night it was raining a little with lots of lightening so we didn't go up on the roof for our usual meeting. Octavio and Arnoldo said it was the first rain all year!
We are off to church now so I'll write more later.
Cindy
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