May Update & Summer Plans

 

And here we are....10 months later and it's official....we are done with our 1st year of missionary training and we are now officially "2nd year students" meaning we only have one more year left before we will move into a foreign country to serve!  We look back over this last year and stand in awe of what God has done in our lives.  The way He so faithfully provided, the ways He sustained us, cared for us, comforted us and His amazing love. We've been blessed by the work that we are able to be a part of in Mexico and the way we have watched God go before us and move in hearts there. 

In the past year, the people here on campus (who are from all over the US & Canada) quickly became dear friends and "family" to us and we have formed lifelong friendships with them.  We have laughed together, cried together, prayed together, studied together, served in Mexico together and even played a few pranks on each other throughout this past year.  

Our kids were blessed as well because they made many new friends this past year too and they never lacked for a playmate! The picture above shows all the "MK's" (missionary kids) who were here on campus this year.  The kids were really fun this year and very entertaining.  We had a lot of fun spending time with them and having them in our home for play dates and spend the nights throughout the year too.  

May 30th, To Every Tribe held their official graduation ceremony.  This year there were 4 graduates this year and they will be moving into 3 different countries to spearhead the gospel in these regions.  The Cooney family is going to Indonesia, the Giordano family is going to Mexico and Matt Taylor and the Sanders Family are going to Papau New Guinea.  While we will miss them all very much, we are excited as they begin this new journey in their lives.  Please join us in praying for them and their ministries in these countries too.  

Since the year is officially over that means we spent about 10 days saying lots of good-byes.  Goodbyes are never easy but we have quickly learned that as missionaries goodbyes are going to be something we do often. We prefer to call them "see-you-later's" rather than goodbyes because even if we never see them again this side of heaven, as Christians we do have the hope of seeing them again in heaven!  

SO WHAT ARE WE DOING THIS SUMMER?!

We are currently still in Los Fresnos.  We stayed around to help with our church's Vacation Bible School (which started Monday, June 10).  David & I are leading the "Imagination Station" center which is where we do science experiments each night with the kids but they teach a Biblical concept. We will be doing VBS every night this week.  We are blessed to have a great church family here in Texas that has been a huge blessing to our family and our mission work throughout this past year too.  We are thankful for opportunities to serve alongside them in children's and youth ministry activities.  

We are headed back home to Alabama next week though and we will be in Alabama from June 18 - July 19th.  We cannot wait to get back and spend time with our family and friends!  We look forward to sharing with everyone about what the Lord has done in our lives this past year and about our future plans too. 

After our month in Alabama, we plan to come back to Texas and prepare for classes to start again in August.  Lord willing, we will be able to take the kids and go down to "Village M" for a visit as well before training starts again in August.  

We must a huge "THANK YOU" as well for each one of you that are monthly supporters of our family and our mission work and for those of you who are faithful prayer warriors on our behalf and keep us lifted up to the Father. We could not be here today doing what we are doing if it were not for each of you.  We still have a long way to go in raising the 100% support we need so if you would like to partner with us as a monthly supporter, simply click here and choose our name (Johns, David & Gretta) for the gift designation.  If you would like to support us monthly, choose "repeating donation".  

May Mexico Trip to "Village M"

Here is an overview of our trip to "Village M" in Mexico this week!  We wanted to give you some pictures so you could visually see what we did and where we were as well.  Thank you so much for each of you who were covering us and our children in prayer this week.  We had a very good trip into the village this month and our kids did great with the sweet couple they stayed with here on campus as well.  Now to share about our time in "Village M".  For safety & security purposes, we have been asked not to use names.

(Our suburban after the drive into the village)

We arrived in "Village M" in the late afternoon.  It had rained quite a bit in the days prior to our arrival so the roads were pretty muddy and the potholes were really bad.  We had decided that our team would provide dinner tonight for a family of believers in this village so we quickly unpacked and started cooking the food we had brought.  

(Enjoying meals together)

These are a family of believers in the village who often have us to their home for various meals and activities.  For dinner, we made carna asada (meat), beans and rice and enjoyed the fellowship with them on the night we arrived.  

(Breaking down I Thesalonians 

during team Bible study)

The next morning, we woke up and ate breakfast and then had a team Bible study. We went through I Thessalonians chapters 1-3 during this time.  After our Bible study together, we spent time walking around the village and talking to people within the village. 

(Spending time with one of the villagers)

 Some of the people we simply invited to the Bible Storying we were doing at 4:00pm down by the ocean and others we spent time sharing the gospel with as well as following up on studies the team had done last month with certain people in the village. We talked to "Mr. T" & "Mr. S" (who are both believers as well) and encouraged them to continue studying the Word and following Christ.  We met with "Mr. U" who has been studying but has not yet made a decision to follow Christ.  We spent time in "The D's" home with her and her husband.  They are an elderly couple and "Mrs. D" recently became a Christian.  On this day, she told us that she wanted to be baptized out of obedience but her husband (who is still a practicing Catholic) told her that if she got baptized again she would have to leave their home.  We spent time sharing with her and praying for her and her husband as well.  Please pray for "Mrs. D" to have strength in the face of persecution.  

(Mole Chicken lunch)

The family of believers invited us to their home for lunch and we had a delicious dinner of Mole Chicken, rice and corn tortillas.  Mole (pronounced moe-lay) is a very famous Mexican dish and there are lots of variations of it. I had never eaten Mole before but it was really tasty and I loved all the different flavor combinations in the sauce.  There is even chocolate in it!  Here's a Mole Chicken recipe if you want to try Food Network's version of it.  I really enjoyed this lunch!  

(Bible Storying) 

Later that afternoon, we had a Bible Storying time at one of the buildings down by the water.  We had walked throughout the village inviting people to come hear our story and had a decent turnout considering that a lot of people in the village had gone back out to fish again.  Matt shared the story of Jesus crucifixion with them and then asked them a few questions.  We also had some cookies for the people to enjoy while they listened.  

We ate dinner with "K" that night.  He is a man who lives in sin and yet he has spent a lot of time this year studying the Bible both on his own and with the team when they go into "Village M" each month.  He even quoted Psalm 23 in English to us after dinner and did a beautiful job! Continue to pray for "K" that the seeds of God's Word that have been planted will continue to grow in his heart and that he will turn from his sin, repent and seek a real and personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  

(David & I with the family of believers)

The next morning, we spent more time as a team studying I Thessalonians chapters 4-5 and then looking at the book in its entirety. After team Bible study, we went to the family of believers house and spent some time with them.  We gave them Paul Washer's "One True God" Bible study workbooks in Spanish and asked them to start working their way through them this summer.  We (as team members) will also be completing this same workbook ourselves and in September (when we go back to Village M) we plan to go over this material with them.  In true Mexican fashion, the husband wanted a siesta so we took that time to go back and eat lunch while he rested.  

(Playing UNO)

After his siesta, he invited us back to his house to play UNO with him and his daughter.  I must admit, I enjoy playing card games but 9 people playing UNO is really fun and a little competitive too.  We had lots of laughter and good times just sitting around playing a game together.  

(Dinner of fresh fish and shrimp)

For dinner that night, "Mrs. M" cooked fresh fish and shrimp that her husband had caught while we were there.  Now I am not a fan of fish fillets at all, but this fish was so delicious and did not tasty "fishy" at all.  They served it with limes and a fresh, homemade salsa too.  I ate 2 fish fillets and 4 shrimp because it was so good. After dinner, David & I spent time in the kitchen area with the wife and her daughter and 2 of the villagers.  Their daughter can speak a little English and our Spanish is "un poco" (a little) so we had a good time trying to talk to them in Spanish and them trying to talk to us in English.  I have learned this trip that we need to work on our Spanish a LOT more but also that just getting in there and trying to communicate with them (even with limited knowledge) helps people feel like you care and want to get to know them at the same time.  We also watched the first 45 minutes of a soccer game with the husband but we were pretty tired and couldn't stay up to see who won the match.  

We loved getting to go to "Village M" and serve together as husband and wife.  David has been going to "Village M" each month since August 2012 and he has formed great relationships and friendships with the people there.  Since our kids do not yet have passports (we are still waiting on finances to allow us to purchase those), we have not been able to go into Mexico as a family each year.  The sweet couple that lives above us at the apartments offered to keep our kids so David & I could go together and that was such a blessing.  It was wonderful to get to see "Village M" personally, meet the people we have been praying for the past 9 months and experience life there myself.  In just 4 days, I felt very close to the family of believers and they were so welcoming and inviting to me during my time there.  David & I greatly desire to be able to bring our entire family to "Village M" at some point this summer so the kids can experience it and meet the people there and so we can continue to encourage them in their Bible studies and encourage them in their Christian living.  

We went 4 days with no showers, no running water, no air conditioning of any kind and very limited electricity but it was a wonderful 4 days despite those conditions.  The one thing that was still hard for me to get used to on this trip was the Federali (the police) that drive these type vehicles on the roads.  It was always weird to see men in the back of trucks with M16 machine guns in their hands going down the road! 

Please continue to pray for "Village M" in Mexico.  Pray for strength and continued steadfastness for the believers in this village and pray for those that our team has been studying with throughout this year but they have not yet made decisions.  Pray for continued protection and safety for all those in "Village M" as well.  Pray that our family will be able to financially afford passports ($345.00) for our 3 children so we can go as a family into "Village M" and serve the people there this summer and within the next year.  Thank you for all the prayers lifted up on behalf of our family this week while our kids remained on campus and while David & I were gone to "Village M".  

April Update

The month of April offered wonderful classroom training.  David Depew taught a week long course on Team Development - something that is vital to missionaries as we prepare for the field and once we are on a team serving in the field.  Chad Bresson presented a TNT course (Training National Trainers) on the book of Psalm.  Realizing that the Psalm were written to be sung together as one unit and we are actually declaring to the Lord that we will do what the Psalm teaches was not only a very informative training but also a very worshipful one too.  Greg Van Court also presented a very engaging theological study.  We touched on church history, the history of the Reformation and how God has dispersed the church throughout the world was an amazing study.  Our prayer is that the church will unite under Christ!  

A few months ago, we had applied for a Training/Tuition Assistance missionary grant through the Veit Foundation.  In April, we received a letter informing us that our family had been selected by them to receive a grant in the amount of $1,000 to be used for the purpose of tuition assistance.  We were so excited by their generosity and so encouraged by this blessing. We still have a ways to go on our tuition but every penny helps us reach our goal of getting it paid off.  

(This is what Giardia Lamblia looks like)

April also gave us a "missionary first" for our family as David was diagnosed with Giardia Lamblia, a parasite that attaches in the small intestine.  Everyone joked that this would be the first of many parasites we would probably encounter over our time as missionaries.  While we are not sure exactly how he obtained the parasite, the doctor felt like it was more than likely from his trips to Mexico.  The blessing of this parasite was that because of his sickness, we found an amazing family doctor here in Texas that is a Christian and even prayed with David at his appointment.  The treatment for the parasite was a really strong antibiotic for 5 days. Thankfully, he is all well from the parasite and back to feeling good again.  He said having a parasite was a blessing because it made him rely on the Lord more too.  

Due to David being on medication for the parasite at the time of the April Mexico trip, we did not get to go on the trip this month.  However, our team went into "Village M" on a cold and rainy trip but there was some more progress made and encouraging news as well.  Oscar is making much progress in his growth as a Christian and enjoying the discipleship time they are able to spend with him on these trips.  He asked us to pray for his oldest daughter to be saved as well.  Continue to pray for Erbano and Kiki that God will reveal Himself unto them and set them free from the bondage of sin and death.  

The cartel is making its presence known more and asking questions to villagers about our team.  They also know what our vehicle looks like now too.  Because of this, our housing situation in "Village M" is still not secure.  Above all, continue to pray for our ministry in "Village M" and that God would be glorified in everything we do during our time there each month. 

Find out how to partner with us in our mission work! 

March Update

March was a busy but fun month for our family.  David was gone to Oaxaca, Mexico the first part of March.    Then we had our official "Spring Break" from classes/training March 18-22.  We didn't do anything special for Spring Break but enjoyed a full week of just being home together as a family and resting.  

My family (Gretta's) came from Alabama to visit us the following week.  They actually arrived on my birthday, March 24th and were here on campus with us for 6 days.  My parents had previously visited back in September but this time my sister, brother-in-law and our 17 month old nephew were able to come too.  My parents stayed at our apartment with us and my sister, brother-in-law and nephew stayed at the speaker's apartment here on campus.  It was great having them all right here experiencing campus life with us, introducing them to our campus and church family here in Texas and getting to show them around down here in south Texas too.  

Lord willing, I will be joining David and our team as we travel to "Village M" later this month.  One of the instructor's wives has graciously offered to keep all 3 of our children here at our apartment during the trip so that I can go into Mexico with David and our team. I am really looking forward to this trip and excited to experience "Village M" personally. We have some specific prayer requests regarding "Village M" that we would appreciate you lifting up in your prayer time as well.

1. Pray for Urbano.  The team had the opportunity to share the gospel with him and he has begun asking more questions about what he is reading.  He seems to be understanding more clearly. Pray for salvation for Urbano.
2. The cartel is becoming more active and making their presence known in "Village M" more heavily now.  Please pray for strength and protection for the believers in this village. 
3. Due to the increased cartel activity, the house our team has been staying at is no longer available.  The man who owns the home is not a believer but he has been allowing our team to stay there each month.  He has asked that we no longer use the house when we come each month because he is afraid of the cartel.  Please pray for Mr. V that the Lord will continue to work on his heart and that he will desire a personal relationship with Jesus Christ too.  
4. Pray for the people of "Village M" that their hearts will be softened to the gospel message we are bringing to them each month, that their ears will be open and their hearts will be receptive.  
5. Pray for our team as we go into "Village M" this month.  Pray that God would grant us protection from the schemes of the enemy during our trip.  Pray for our children and the sweet lady caring for them as David & I will be both going to "Village M" this month.  

Thank you to each of you for your prayers, emails, notes of encouragement and financial investment in our mission work.  We praise the Lord that He is using you and us in this way to accomplish His purposes.  It is a privilege and a joy to be involved in the Lord's work with you.  

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"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.  For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God."  - Romans 8:18-19

Oaxaca, Mexico Trip Report

Each year, To Every Tribe sends missionaries on trips throughout the world.  This year, we had a team in Papau New Guinea, another in India, one couple from To Every Tribe went to scout out Malaysia/Indonesia and we had a team in Oaxaca, Mexico.  After much prayer, David chose to be part of the Oaxaca, Mexico team.  We have been serving in northern Mexico each month and God has really been putting Mexico on our hearts for long-term mission work.  The need is huge in Mexico and there is so much work to be done there.  The kids and I remained on campus while David went to Oaxaca, Mexico for just over 2 weeks.  Oaxaca is pronounced "wa-ha-ca" by the way.  This was the longest David and I had been apart and God gave us amazing strength, grace and comfort during our time apart.  

Pictures from the motels they stayed at in Mexico

The trip to Oaxaca, Mexico was a 3 day drive for team.  They stopped in 2 different cities along the way and spent the night to get some rest. This was the furthest into Mexico that David had been and he loved watching the scenery and landscape change throughout the trip. 

That's a volcano on the far left!

Did you know part of Mexico is in the "Ring of Fire"?  So one night David sends me an email telling me he is loving all the volcanoes in Mexico.  I was like "Volcanoes?  What volcanoes?"  So I shared his email on Facebook and my Dad commented "honey, Mexico is in the ring of fire". I honestly didn't believe him so I looked it up and sure enough, it's true! Should have known my Dad (a big History/Geography buff) was right and where I was in Geography class in 9th grade when they taught that?!  (Don't answer that Dad!)  Anyway, after 3 days of traveling the team finally arrived in Oaxaca City, Mexico.  To Every Tribe has a few missionary families already in that area completing language school and some actually in villages in Oaxaca working to reach tribal groups with the gospel.  

David rode in the truck bed around Oaxaca City

A Catholic church in Oaxaca City, Mexico

While in Oaxaca City, they spent a day resting and looked around the town.  They visited some of the missionaries from To Every Tribe who live in Oaxaca City and got to stay at their houses overnight too.  

Randy & Sue - Bible translators for Wycliffe

The team also went to Mitla, Mexico to the Wycliffe Bible Translation facility there.  Randy & Sue wanted to live in "Village Q".  Their hearts desire was to learn the native language, create an alphabet and create a grammar system and translate the gospel into their native tongue. However, their request was denied but their heart burned so strongly to bring the gospel to this village that they began working from outside the village to accomplish their goal.  They were able to make friends with a couple of people from Village Q who were willing to help them but it took 27 years for them to be able to complete the translation of the New Testament into the language of Village Q.  In February 2011, the New Testament was finished and ready for distribution to these people.  Praise God for steadfast warriors who do not allow opposition to stand in the way of doing the Lord's will. 

The mountain pass to "Village Q"

The next day the team packed up and drove up into the mountains from Oaxaca City to reach the people in Village Q. Village Q sits at about 7,100 feet up in the mountains and it took about 8 hours to go just a few miles on this road.   A cold front had moved into the area and it was in the 30's at night with a strong wind while the team was there.  You may not believe it but southern Mexico can be really cold!  Yet, the daytime temperatures were really warm.  

A picture of Village Q - it sits on the side of the mountain

The purpose of this trip was to host a dental/medical clinic for the people in this village.  David was again able to do dentistry for 3 days on people in the village.  This service gave him and the team the opportunity to personally serve the people of Village Q.  David also led praise and worship time for the team and he even played guitar for some of the villagers there just for fun.  One day in the village, he got to talking to a man named Mr. M. This man invited him to come into his home for coffee (grown right there in the village) and he took a few other guys from the team with him. Mr. M knew a little bit of Spanish so David was able to communicate with him in Spanish (although David only knows a little Spanish so far) and they worked on learning words in both Spanish, Zapotec (the language of Village Q) and English for Mr. M to learn.  At the end of their time in Village Q, the village president came to one of our missionaries that lives in Oaxaca City and indicated he would be willing to write a letter of invitation for some of our missionaries to come live in their village!  Because of new Mexican immigration procedures and tribal village government, a formal invitation is required to live among these unreached tribal groups in Mexico.  Please pray for Village Q and that To Every Tribe will receive an invitation to come live and work among that village. 

The need for missionaries in Oaxaca is great as there are still dozens of unreached villages all throughout the mountains just like Village Q.  Our family is prayerfully looking to move to Oaxaca to serve after we complete our training in May 2014 to serve as long-term missionaries there.  We would love for you to cover us in prayer as we continue to serve in northern Mexico each month, complete our training here in south Texas, continue to raise support and prepare for that move to Mexico! 

A Skype call from Mexico

One final note, can I just say how thankful I am for technology these days!  While David & I did not get to talk to each other personally every day he was able to email me each night and sometimes in the mornings the first few days thanks to internet cafes and wi-fi in towns where they stopped along the way.  Once they arrived in Oaxaca City, he actually called me on Skype (see picture above) and I cried I was so happy to see and hear him.  When they went up into the village we had no communication at all as these are primitive, tribal villages.   In fact, you couldn't even take pictures in the village as these people still believe you can still their soul by taking a picture with a camera!  It is such a blessing to know that when we move to Mexico we can still keep in touch with family and friends via Skype, emails, Facebook, etc.....at least until God opens a door for us to move into a village!  

Thank you to each and everyone of you who prayed for David, the team and our family while he was gone.  Thank you to those who used our Oaxaca Trip Prayer Guide to pray specifically for the team and the needs we listed.  We love knowing are surrounded by faithful prayer warriors as prayer is one of our most powerful weapons!  

In case you haven't seen it yet, we have a new missions video and you can learn how to partner with our family and join in our mission work too.  

Serving Locally & Mexico Trip

Last week Gretta had the opportunity to serve dinner at "Loaves & Fishes", a shelter in Harlingen, TX.  Our church here in TX sent a team of ladies up there to work one evening last week. Loaves & Fishes is a homeless shelter for men, women and families and they also serve breakfast and dinner 7 days a week.  They feed anyone...no questions asked.  They served meals to over 100 people the night they went.  It was a blessing to be able to serve people right here in the Rio Grande Valley and participate in mission work on a local level too.  And Gretta said...."we rocked those hair nets!"  :)  

David will be leaving for Oaxaca, Mexico Feb. 25-March 11.  It will take them 3 days to drive down to Oaxaca.  He is part of a team that will be working with "People Q", an unreached tribal group of Zapotec Indians in the mountains of Oaxaca.  They will be doing a dental/medical clinic in the village there. They will also have the opportunity to visit the SIL school at Mitla, Mexico (sil.org/Mexico) during this trip.  We have created a Prayer Guide that we would love to send you so you can join us in prayer while David is in Mexico on this trip.  If you would like to receive the Prayer Guide, drop us an email at Bamagv@aol.com  and we will send it right out to you.  We would love a huge prayer team for this trip!  Ultimately, we pray for God to be glorified through their efforts on this trip and that hearts will be softened to the gospel message of Jesus Christ.  

Dental Training & Dental Clinic

One thing David has been really looking forward to in our training this year was the week of "Dental Training".  A dentist came and taught how to clean teeth, identify, drill and fill cavities, teach dental hygiene in a tribal setting, check for oral cancer, how to sharpen, care for and maintain dental tools and more....

 all without electricity, no medications or numbing medicines of any kinds
and all pain free...yes, pain free!  

There were about 15 people who took the Dental Training and they were partnered together.  David was paired with our friend Dawn who is from Canada.  They first went through classroom instruction and teaching taught by the dentist.  

Then they practiced their dental work on mannequins and then they worked on each other!  After practice and hands-on experience, they headed into Mexico.....

They went to "Village S" which is a village To Every Tribe sends a team to each month but this was a new village for David and a new area for him to get to see and experience.  Of course, anytime you are in Mexico you never know what you will see or what you will encounter.....

Seeing police vehicles like this is not uncommon but they can be a little alarming the first time you run into them.  Then there was a tractor broke down in the middle of the road blocking the roadway and the dental team had to all get out of their vehicles and literally push this tractor off the road so they could continue on to their destination.  Let's just say, moving a tractor takes a lot more work than moving a broken down car!  

They set up the dental clinic inside a building that is similar to what we would call a community center in "Village S".  The town had also spread the word about the dental clinic to 2 other neighboring towns as well. By hosting a dental clinic, we are able to show the love of Christ to people in a real and tangible way by meeting their health needs as well as their spiritual needs. They had the opportunity to share the Gospel with each and every patient who came to the clinic as well.  It also opened doors of opportunity for them to meet new people and make new contacts in that area of Mexico as well.  

Here is what David had to say about the Dental Training and the Dental Clinic: "This knowledge of dental training will open up doors of opportunity for evangelism and we are able to show the love of Christ by meeting "felt needs" (physical needs) of those we come in contact with.  I am thankful that we had the opportunity to learn a skill that will allow me to benefit others while we are on the field."  

The dental clinic was a huge success and over 100 patients were treated in just 3 days by the team while they were in Mexico.  And if you are still skeptical that dentistry can be pain-free without any medication or gases, well I can personally testify that it can.  David & the dentist who did the training fixed some of my teeth that had cavities and all the drilling and work did not hurt at all.  It was incredible and the best dentist experience I've ever had...not to mention my husband was the one doing most of it!  

David will be returning to Mexico to serve in our "Village M" on Feb. 11-14th. Thank you for continuing to pray for us and partner with us as we continue our mission training and work in Mexico.