Independence Day
Yesterday, Monday, Sept 16 was Mexican Independence Day.
On Sunday, we celebrated after church at the church we attend here in Puebla. Everyone was grateful for Carolyn’s offer to make a cake.
The cakes were fantastic! The big one was a vanilla cake coloured in the colours of the Mexican flag! Not only was it visually cool, it was so moist and yummy!
The other one was a Tres Leche cake. It’s certainly the “best we’ve ever tasted!” At least that’s what we’ve been told!
Groups Growing & a Visit!
It was a fantastic visit!
Last weekend Phil traveled to La Sierra Norte with our friend David from Canada who came to visit and see our ministry. There were a number of highlights from the ministry weekend, but below are a couple of interesting ones!
We visited the group in Aocotzota where Phil led the study. This group is doing very well in their studies. We look forward to them finishing book 2 of the Introductory Level and getting into Level 1.
We also traveled to Cuetzalan where the group continues to grow! They now have 20 people in their group and it is a bit large to keep at that size. Once we see who all is committed after the first few lessons, we’ll see about making it into 2 groups.
We’d like to say Thank you to David for the visit! Missionary work has many challenges and a the visit was such an encouragement to us.
Saying Farewell!
Lots of things happened in August.
We hosted a last minute farewell party for our friends Zac & Jen. They moved to Queretaro another state in Mexico. Carolyn made pretty much all the desserts and Phil helped out with some of the other stuff. We hosted over 30 people one afternoon and several were unable to make it.
New Group / Visitors
How Excellent!
Phil had the privilege of visiting and participating in our newest group. They just started studying their first book of the Basic Level of the Seminary material in the town of Cuetzalan. So far, there are 16 students and a couple more are interested. Making the one large group into two smaller groups will likely be the best option for maximum participation.
The first class we looked at the basis of faith and the certainty we have in Christ. After the class, one of the young students prayed to make a commitment of faith and commit his life completely to Jesus Christ. It was a beautiful moment to be part of. There was so much excitement in this class to be studying together, affirming their faith and growing in their knowledge and understanding of the Bible.
Last week we had a couple of young people visit us here in Puebla and stay with us for 4 days. They wanted to learn how to bake and so we spent some very full days teaching them the basics of baking. Pretty sure it was a challenge for us all!!
This video shows the necessary part of making hamburger patties! You gotta press them together well!!
Conference/Visitors
July 25 – 28 Phil attended the anual Conference for the Missionary Church of Mexico (IMM). It was held in a touristy town called Chignauhampan. This was an important event to attend since this is the year to vote in an almost entirely new Board of Directors for the IMM, and to make some important connections with churches who are wanting to begin and continue their studies with the Semillas Seminary that we oversee.
Sun July 28/29 on their way back from the conference, one of the pastors, his family and brother came to Puebla to visit. We had a lot of fun playing games and teaching them some baking skills.
Below are some photos from these special times together.
Grad Event
Phil attended a High School graduation ceremony of one of our students in the Seminary program. Below are some photos from the weekend.
This video is from the graduation ceremony. There was a lot of dancing and traditional celebration activities.
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