June Update

Hi friends!

Hope this update finds you well! We are excited for the opportunity to see several of you this month with God's help as we head out to renew our Mexican visas and car permit. First, are looking forward to having Ryan's parents coming to visit with us for a week, and soon after we will make our drive back through Arizona and afterwards southern California. We appreciate your prayers for protection as we travel, as well as the ministries here and those attending to them. We are so thankful for Daniel and Kevin, and God's faithfulness to bring other laborers to share the workload.

This past month we have been blessed to see the vision for Calvary Coffee continuing to be fruitful. We had the small fridge with a couple small items stolen from the coffee cart (right outside the church building). Kevin has been overseeing the coffee cart and working it the six days its open (Monday thru Saturday). This week as they bought a box of milk from a Coca-Cola vendor, the driver lent them a fridge (the kind for selling soda) for free, that can be used as long as they continue buying milk from them! And with it comes the opportunity to sell soda, which is another good opportunity for Kevin as the clientele builds up. Praise God for His sweet kindness!

Tamazula is a new ministry opportunity that began this last month. A town about 20 minutes away, with a population of about 3,000. It sits surrounded by other villages. Another missionary who served in this region for many years had asked Ryan if he could go and teach the pastors from that town and nearby villages to teach thru bible, verse by verse. Daniel and one of our church members Hector has been going as well. Daniel teaches music theory and guitar and Hector teaches the cajon. It's exciting for this open door, please pray as the Lord would lead you.

Ryan, Daniel, and Hector have been going out to one of the plazas, (and also door to door at times) on Thursdays to share the gospel.

Fridays we continue to go to Palos Verdes. It's awesome to see Kevin take the lead in teaching bible studies with the kids and youth that come. We are grateful for the opportunity to go and spend time each week with these kids (and the parents that come) and continue to develop friendships for the sake of the gospel. While evangelizing to people we don't know is very important, we also love the ability to share the gospel with those (especially children and youth) we can actually spend time with week after week, month after month, and hopefully year after year. Our vision is to see these children and youth grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ and His Word, filled with His Spirit, to lead bible studies and churches in the villages and cities around and in Mexico that still need them. We are continuing to keep in touch with the adults and considering hosting bible studies at the home we used to have it at in Palos Verdes. For the past few months we have been renting out a little building in the center of the village as it makes it a great place for gathering the kids. May the Lord lead us by His Spirit. Here, the difficulty we have with people atteding is their felt need to work. So many, Christians included, will work every single hour of opportunity they have (often they are self-employed) and weeks can add up before they return to a bible study or church service. It seems to be the case with the adults we've been having bible studies with in Palos Verdes, and we want to make sure we are discerning how best to make the most of the work we've done so far and how to continue in it. Prayers are appreciated.

We continue with our Sunday morning and evening services, as well as Wednesday nights. We've had several new comers, but again, it seems like work often hinders them from attending regularly week by week. Nonetheless, we have been broadcasting thru Facebook making sure the teachings are available even when they can't attend, and to those who have yet to attend one of our church services. For those who are regularly attending, we can see the fruit of excitement....how the verse by verse teachings are strengthening them spiritually and making them more willing to lend their availability to the work of the gospel. May the Lord continue to bring forth such fruit with men and women staying faithful to the calling God has upon their lives! And may we continue to grow in our capacity to render our entire selves (body and soul) to the work of the gospel, and not get in the way of what God desires to do.

For those in Arizona, we will be in that area the fourth weekend of June (21-23) and heading towards Southern California Monday the 24th and by God's intervention getting Jasper to see an ENT doctor that week. She has a deviated septum that continues to be more bothersome as she grows. We are trusting the Lord to open the door and guide with this issue. Meanwhile, we will be available to meet with those who would like to visit us! Please reach out and let us know if you would be interested in meeting us so we can make plans accordingly.

Also, for those interested in having scripture throughout their home (or on their clothing) we have an Etsy shop. We have several Father's Day gifts if you'd like to take a peek... I (Esther) put a lot of time into designing these products before we moved to Mexico and am keeping the shop open as the products are made on demand. I love how it gives an extra opportunity for God's Word to be seen by the vendors who customize these print on demand merchandise. And the blessing of having them or giving them out! Below is just one product, but feel free to click on the store name to see the others: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1018443506/fathers-day-mug-with-bible-verse

May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you and cause you to abound in every good work He has, and to rest in Him as He is faithful to bring to completion every good work He started!

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From Daniel

Through God's grace and your prayers, this month we have seen the Lord's good hand upon each of our lives. Although there are always various trials, the Lord does not cease to work in the things that really matter, giving us a purer faith that perseveres, that rejoices. This month we saw victory through faith over many areas that you prayed for last month. Thanks and glory to God.

It brings special joy to our hearts, the preaching of the gospel, and the Word. On Thursdays we started a class on how to study the Bible. With simplicity, the pastors of the Tamazula area, and those that God will add, are learning to observe what the Word really says and then to teach it. That same day some receive music lessons, for which they had been praying for months. In the afternoons we continue with evangelism.

Feel free to read/meditate on James 1:2-3, Romans 10:17, 1 Peter 2:2.

Prayer Requests

We pray for steadfastness in the faith through all the challenges in planting a church, common to all brethren in the faith. May the Lord guide your prayers. In particular we pray for the times in which the Word is taught/preached, for the brothers and new believers who receive it in humility: the Wednesday and Sunday meetings, Thursdays in Tamazula, and Fridays in Palos Verdes. Finally, pray for blessing in Kevin's life, and the project in church under his charge @calvary_coffee