John & I are both taking Spanish classes four hours daily here on the base. We have some interesting people in our classes. There is a doctor and wife (an RN, herself); she is already in level three, he is just beginning. There is a Dutch couple in their fifties that spent two years in Sri Lanka and now live in Canada. They drove six days in their Toyota car to reach here. We have a young man, a high school graduate studying Spanish while taking a year break before college. We have a black man from Tulsa, a heart surgeon's assistant. We have another man, late 40's, from Hawaii....don't know much about him yet. We have the New Zealand couple that have already been here 6 months and will go to their post in March.

There is Jolynn, a single woman of 50 that is a nurse practitioner; another single lady, Cleo, who has already been living among some nationals but has come for a couple of months of classes. The Andersons, Coreen & Eric, whom we live with. In fourth level, there is a Korean young lady that they say is whizzing through and will be posted to work with missionary children in March. She has served in Albania before coming here. Then, the last I can remember, is James who we drove down here with. Quite an interesting variety. We have hours of homework every night so we probably won't have as much time for communications but we will do our best.

Three Church Sunday

January ….Sunday trip

Ever have someone come ask you for a favor with that look like…“I’m not sure what you are going to think about this.”, kind of look? Linda came with just such a look asking us if we would consider leaving at 4am, driving all day to attend three different churches, with the expectation of arriving home around 10pm….if all went well. We looked at each other with a grin and then at Linda and said, “Why not?” It was a great trip and we want to tell you about some of it.

Four in the morning is very early for going to church but when you have two and a half to three hours driving, sometimes on some pretty rough roads, you want a good start. We carried a thermos of coffee and set off arriving a little ahead of time. The church had a hot drink and bread ready for us. It was about 62 degrees so the hot drink was appreciated. People began pouring in so that during that first morning service, there was at least 200 plus in attendance in the mountain village church of Panix. (We shared pictures of this church when we attended their Bible school graduation ceremony in Feb.)

Linda had a great power point presentation to show them about the commission we have all been given to share Jesus with everyone, everywhere. She gave some statistics of missions around the world but, she also showed us the specific statistics of Mexico. The scriptures say we are to take the "good news" to every tongue, tribe, and nation. The word "nation" does not mean a country but, rather, it means ethnic groups in which are found the same idioms and cultures. There are 16,890 such groups around the world. There are still a good number regarded as “unreached”. To qualify for being “unreached” requires a population of less than 2% Christians. In Mexico, there are 317 ethnic groups (nations) identified and 14 of them are unreached. Of those 317 ethnic groups, 154 are found in the state of Oaxaca, where we are presently located, with 7 of them being unreached people groups. This state then, has the most density of unreached people groups in all of Mexico. Along with presenting mission statistics, Linda was telling each church about two upcoming trips. We mention those at the bottom.

Juquilla church w/Carmelita



Juquilla church tacos

We traveled an hour down the mountain to Juquila, the village famous for a doll that is worshipped. Thousands of people prigrimage to the village every year in large conveyances. Many walk or biked in groups at least part of the distance to view the doll idol. A small, thriving church with a lady pastor, a former Bible school student named Carmela is just relocating at the outskirts of the village. What began as a house church is now a growing congregation on a new property. They have a concrete pad with metal roofing with a small kitchen room and an outhouse. We were in the great outdoors, sitting on a mountainside under towering pine trees with a brisk, cool breeze blowing through the tabernacle. We arrived there for at 11am for the second service of the day and sought jackets quickly. They could never adequately rig up the screen for the presentation but after an hour of trying, it was on a white sheet that vaguely showed bits of the pictures and information. Linda didn’t let any of that slow her down in putting forth the call to missions. The church blessed us with egg and bean tacos afterward which we chased down with Jamaica, a kind of flower tea drink.

Ladies Bathroom

Juquilla bathroom

The third church was a two hour drive back up the mountain another direction. Its usual worship time was 6am but for this special service, we were meeting with them at 4pm. It was quite cold there; the truck thermometer read 58 dg. Its hard to imagine how cold it would be to worship so early in the morning but, they generally have a very rousing worship time that would help anybody stay warm and then, they are packed like sardines into the building so, along with coats, they probably do pretty well. The Mixteco Indian people are very short. They often reminds us of the Nepali people. It seemed very special to be there in that place among such a very old native people group.

San Juan church

 



San Juan dancers



The three churches were very attentive and only time will tell how many heard the call and will answer it in their hearts. Each of the churches gave offerings and prayed over the three who will be traveling to Nicaragua. We now understand that there are 30 pastors in Nicaragua who are wanting to begin Bible schools in their churches. Linda, Eli, and Victor will be going to carry the DVD's for these new schools and training their teachers/people how to use them. That will be Feb. 4th-12th so keep them in prayer. Then, the end of April, the second year Bible students, along with teachers and the medical team, will go to one of those unreached areas here in Mexico to open the door to a new work. How exciting to be a part of reaching peoples who have NEVER heard the name of Jesus or known of His love and salvation.

The road was very rough, extremely curvy, dropped off in all the wrong places, and demanded all our attention to drive safely. The time with each church seemed very short as we enjoyed the wonderful worship, fellowship, and teaching. The last church was very gracious to shorten the worship considerably and allow us to leave promptly after teaching so that we arrived back down the mountain around 9:30pm. We stopped for a late dinner of tacos, continued our last short leg of journey, and fell into bed about



11pm. It was a LONG day but everyone was very satisfied, very contented that the Lord was with us as a mighty Awesome One. Thank you so much for covering us, lifting us, and interceding for us in prayer. This was a new message for these people and just as was prayed before beginning every service, "may their eyes be opened to see as God sees".

The following day began our first month of Spanish language school. But that is another story.

Wisconsin team

What a week! There are seventeen men here from the snowy state of Wisconsin, right in the ninety degree winter of Oaxaca, Mexico, and are they ever sweating it out! They have come on a unique mission and have surely found much more than they imagined they would. They flew down with several extra bags of wonderful tools. Customs allowed them to go through without any additional tax and we praised God for their safe travel and favor in customs. They carried those power tools, those socket and screwdriver sets all the way here thinking they were going to get to use them, then donate them. It is questionable they will use a single one of them this week. But they are using the leather gloves they brought. Yessiree!!! They are moving real estate this week and those gloves are protecting those serving, giving hands from many a blister. There may be a few other blisters obtained this week but let me start over in another direction.

Wisconsin team getting started



Block moving line







There was a drug/alcohol rehabilitation center opened in Puerto Escondido about two years ago, Mission Horeb. The founding family had moved here from other cities where they have established at least two more centers and have left them to be continued in capable hands. Victor, the father/founder of these centers, has found Roca Blanca to be an added advantage to the men in his work. After men go through their drying out and training at the center, he has been able to send some of them to a year of bible training at the Victory Mission Bible Institute on the Roca Blanca campus. Those that have received that training, have gone on to be the most successful at turning their lives around. (His son, Eduardo, has also graduated from the Bible School and is now one of two youth pastors for the high school students on the RB campus; a new position begun this year that is seeing amazing results.) Seeing the earnestness of Bro Victor and the young men from this Rehab who are going through the Bible training, Roca Blanca wanted to encourage them by partnering with them to see them well established.

They are making the blocks by hand and drying them.  Over 1,500 blocks were also donated from Christian businessmen here in Puerto Escondido.  PTL!!!

The rehab is currently renting a small location and are at more than full capacity. The men in this rehab have very industriously been tearing apart pallets and making their own cement blocks for building the housing and facilities on the current location. It is reminiscent of a miner's camp from pictures and stories that have been told, and it has been adequate except in space. A nice piece of mountain-top property was donated to them to build on. They have been making more blocks and gathering more pallets and boards in preparation to someday build on that new property. Now, it is happening even sooner than they expected. The men of Wisconsin have come and are putting money, heart, and hands to the cause. They have come from the snowy winter to the blazing sun to dig a mountain of dirt. A backhoe prepared some of the mountain top, separating it, leveling it out into two large terraces of dirt. The team, along with the Mexican rehab men, have been digging foundations for a kitchen, a bathroom, and a septic. The team has been learning the art of manually making cement blocks. They have dug some of the holes required for the footings where the tabernacle will be erected and helped make the cement to fill those holes, again by hard, manual labor. Cement has been mixed by hand for the mortar and carried to where three Mexican men are quickly building a wall for the kitchen. When the one retaining wall is up, more digging will be required to bring the dirt down level for making the floor. More real estate to turn over; much more than they bargained for or imagined, don't you think? But, they are cheerful, as energetic as they can be, and certainly bringing lots of smiles to all the natives. There are two or three of the Americans who are conversing with the nationals in Spanish and making for a closer, more bonded relationship. It is spectacular to watch the joy of the Lord at work among the brothers/the Bride of Christ.



Missions pastor of Life Church Germantown, Wisc.- Kevin





Patio breakfast at the hotel







Italian dinner at Franco's



John & I have been involved in more ways than we imagined too. Just before we began our journey to come to Mexico this October, two people generously donated pop-up canopies to the Roca Blanca medical clinic to be used on their outreaches in the villages where there are no facilities for setting up. We were so excited to bring those and see the surprise and smile on Sister Laura's face when we presented them. We have seen an even bigger smile on her face since she has seen them put to use in a recent outreach. She said she was amazed at how quick and easy they were to put up. I expect they will now become an ongoing "need". But then, realizing we were going to be helping the Wisconsin team to work on an open property several miles out of town, we ask Laura to please allow us to borrow her new canopies and she graciously loaned them to us. What a lifesaver they have been. They have provided shelter for both lunchtime and rest; a wonderful respite from the blazing sun. John has helped in preparing the project and then has been required to use the truck for hauling luggage when they first arrived, hauling blocks from the old to the new location, and hauling cement bags. Our wonderful gift from the Lord (the truck) has hauled around 5,000 lbs. up a very steep, sandy incline to the new building site more than once but, without any struggle whatever. We again praise the Lord and rejoice in His gift that is helping to advance the Kingdom here in our Mexico location. Wow! It reminds us that God sure knows our needs more than we ever could. We have both helped serve food to the men while at Roca Blanca and again at the Puerto hotel where we moved to so as to be closer to the building location. I have been challenged to serve breakfasts on a front patio at 6am for three mornings. There is no kitchen but two nice tables and a few chairs have been set up by the hotel. They have generously allowed us the use of one refrigerator next to the patio to keep perishable food in. So, we have served breakfast camp style and again there are no complaints from the team. They are patient and enduring. We heard them excitedly sharing with one another new and wonderful things the Lord was teaching them through this week's experience. We all enjoyed the refreshing coolness of the swimming pool for a short half hour some evenings before we loaded up and head to the Italian restaurant in town. One Christian brother, Franco, provided the evening meals with great gusto and not too short a sermon to top it off. That in itself was a unique experience, to go to a restaurant and be unable to leave until the owner finished his sermon.



Wednesday evening was spent at the Rehab center in a worship meeting followed by a special appreciation dinner. The mother/founder along with her helpers have provided some wonderful meals throughout the week but they went all out for that one. We had pozole-chicken and hominy in a tomato/onion/garlic/chili powder soup with trimmings of chopped lettuce, onion, or chilis to add to it. The service was delightful too. The men worship as wholeheartedly as they work. They give everything one hundred percent. The American men have exclaimed over and over again about the amazing passion for worship that these men show and the amazing work they accomplish.

This team of Americans are REAL troupers. They have sweated, strained, had the belly ache, ate strange food in strange places, slept on rock hard beds with flat little pillows, and kept such an enthusiasm and excitement about sharing the love of Jesus here in Mexico. We are proud to have met them and sure hope to see them once again; maybe next year, same time, same place even. God bless the short term mission workers. May He give the vision to full-time ministry too, both at home and abroad.

Pictures:    Mixing cement (top left) and digging septic (top right);

Septic is filling up...w/men (bottom left)

There were a couple more families who were here with us through their donation of two pop-up canopies. Those have been true lifesavers this week. They were set up at the property to give shade for the lunches and for the rest times and they were very much appreciated. I (Joyce) spent several hours under them one of those days and I was reminded again of how much a blessing they were. Thank you Mr Spohn and Mr Leonard for your loving generosity.

The end of the week will see the team staying one night in beautiful Huatulco, the lovely resort town closest to the airport from where they fly out. They will have one day for relaxing and shopping before they rejoin their families in the cold, blustery north. It has been a good week for everyone involved and we praise God for another opportunity to serve Him and remind you that you are a part of all that happens. Rewards await you, along with us, for all the work that has been accomplished here because of your encouragement, your communication, your financial giving, and your prayers. Blessings on every and each one of us, in Jesus' name.

This is the first service in the new tabernacle and the large group of men who worked together five days to make it happen.  In addition, they built a septic, and began the kitchen and bathrooms.  Later dormitories will be added, made mostly from recycling used pallets. 













House Hunting HGTV Style

Number one did actually pique our interest because it is a private dwelling, has its own well, structures ready for the necessary facilities, and good ocean breezes. It is a concrete house with a tiled roof over a porch. The rooms would be sealed off from bugs easily entering in the night. The bathroom was a good walk from the house so it would never present any odorous problems nearby, just a watchful eye along the path for scorpions and spiders, especially those huge, hairy tarantulas. It has an open, concrete holding tank for water so you could dip all you needed for showers or flushing the toilet. The kitchen sink is in another place a little closer to the house. It has the same open concrete holding tank with about a 20 gallon water capacity, and a separate countertop space to the side that would hold dishes or laundry items while washing them. The well has its own bucket or a small pump could be purchased to bring it up a little quicker. A little paint to brighten it all up and some grass seed on the clean dirt would make it a sweet home. Everything looks possible but would take a larger amount of money to prepare than we want to invest. We can invest in housing, or we can invest in language school.

Number two is a painted set of two separate rooms, each having their own front doors but equally sharing a nice front porch. It sits high enough above the road to get good breezes. It even has the tiled roofing that insulates from the heat. Surviving the heat is a must. The ceiling would need to be supplemented with netting to keep the bugs out but netting is readily available. There are a few rustic, used pieces of furniture that could be rented cheaply and would be most helpful until we could replace them, yesterday. The yard is full of flowers, turkeys, a wormy pup and cat, and enough extra space for John to park his truck. There is no bathroom or kitchen except the ones available in another house just down the hill at the Andersons. But hey!, they would probably share.

Number three is the ONE! It is modern, with indoor facilities, two patios, two bedrooms and two bathrooms, a fenced yard. You can rent the large stove in the kitchen for a wee bit extra and there are real cabinets in it. Wow! It is well painted, bright orange/red, inside and out and looks very clean. But, another family is living there till Nov 15th and then the owner may want to move back in. Who knows how long it would be available because the owners might come back from the States (quite unexpectedly) and need to live there. Hm! Can we take that risk? It is really nice in comparison to everything else in this little fishing village.

That leaves number four. Let's see. There is an American family of four plus one (that makes five, but not all are American) living there until they possibly leave the end of February. The house is almost finished and almost modernized. The main part of the house has an eat-in kitchen room, a living room, and a large bedroom with attached bathroom. In all the rooms, there are very nice sliding glass windows with screens, topped with arching round windows. The metal doors and windows both have tinted glass that detract the sun. The kitchen is the least finished with a rough, newly-made cement countertop held up by mortared bricks. It has no cabinets or shelves. The floors are all beautifully tiled in large terra cotta tiles. Attached, but with separate entrances are another bedroom, a toilet room, and a shower room. That belongs to the two young men of the family and their live-in buddy. Gabi. The family are in Spanish language school and Gabi works in the guest house at the Base. That looks a little too full, doesn't it? We will only be here till March, one month longer than them.

So, which one did we choose?



The boys moved into the front room, the front room furniture was moved into the parent's bedroom, and we moved into the boy's room that had the outside, separate entrance. We'll use the attached shower and toilet room, both with their separate outside doors, and share them with the boys as necessary. That makes our choice Number four! We'll share in using their kitchen and washing machine. The stove is sitting outside so looks that will be no problem to use as needed too. We will definitely worm the tiny pup and kitten and shoo away stray turkeys or chickens as needed. They will enjoy our big truck to haul groceries and whatever up that rough, steep hill. Oh, I forgot to tell you about the road up to the house? It will jar your teeth right out of your head so hang on tight and come see us.....after the other family move out and we have all four rooms!

Life on the mission field,

John & Joyce

Graduation, Students, & Post Graduates

Every Tribe and Tongue of Oaxaca




Roca Blanca hosted a pastor and women’s conference simultaneously, Wednesday through Friday. Jill Stafford, director of Victory Bible Institute International, and Pastor Pam, of Indiana shared together about walking in the authority and power of Jesus Christ. It was a tremendous encouragement to many of the ladies. Joyce overheard Jill talking through Linda, the Roca Blanca Bible school director, to the various pastors present and was especially exhilarated by their conversation. Jill was telling them that she and her husband had studied results that showed one year of spiritual training/discipleship in a Bible school was equal to twenty years of learning gained while attending Sunday church meetings. It propels people forward in their walk with Christ in a dramatic manner. This stirred the attending pastors to share testimonies of what they had seen in their first attempts to hold Bible schools in their local church bodies. Wow! One told of two girls who had received Christ the same day. One attended Bible school, one didn’t and the difference in their spiritual walk with Christ was astounding. Another told of how their students were mostly young people and after they had finished their one year of training, they immediately went out, evangelized, and gathered others into their church so that their youth group was exploding to double and triple its size. Others told of students who following their graduation went out and actually began new churches in neighboring villages, sharing the lessons that they had been taught. They were glorious testimonies that touched every heart that was listening. God’s Word is SO powerful and active. Makes you wonder why every church doesn’t have its own Bible school program. Most of these churches are beginning with video classes four hours each Saturday with a goal of two years to complete them. This is a new project that will put the Light of Jesus Christ in more places, more quickly than ever before. Praise God and let the Bible schools be multiplied every year until all the tongues and tribes of Oaxaca have heard the Good News!

Panixtluaca graduation

November 7th, we had the privilege to attend the first Bible School graduation at the church in Panixtluaca. They had a growing church of four hundred and for this first graduation ceremony, the house was packed. We started out at 4am to reach there by the opening at 7am. Yes, they actually start church services here as early as 6 or 7am, finishing before the morning breakfast at 10am. It was a cold morning, in the low 60’s, and we wound around and around going up the mountains then down the mountains in the dark. Sections of road were missing off the sides after the monsoon rains had washed them away but usually boulders or signs marked their absence. One stretch remains unpaved so we crawled along for about thirty minutes at 10-20 mph. We arrived with ample time. They took us inside and blessed us with a hot drink and dry bread. The hot drink was Atole, a national favorite, which consists of water, cornstarch, and sugar. It was a wonderful service celebrating these first fifteen students. Sister Linda shared a word from Joshua 1:1-9 with them then invited us to pray over each student. That is always a great joy for us and we accepted quickly and gratefully. Then, we were asked to join her on stage to pass out the certificates. That felt rather awkward but perhaps we’ll get enough practice to become more comfortable with that. it’s a great honor to bless each student as they walk through that line receiving acknowledgment of their achievements.

After the service, there followed a breakfast meal of BBQ’ed beef, salsa verde, spaghetti noodles (they really like pasta around here), and Big homemade tortillas that most every attending lady brought with her from home. It was a delicious meal that satisfied every hunger pain we ever thought we had. It made the trip home a rather sleep invoked one but we were so thankful for how the Lord had prospered them to give in this manner. And we continue in thanksgiving for the churches that are blessed to celebrate new disciples, trained to “go into all the world and make new disciples”. That makes Ephesians 4:12 come alive. “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ”

Speakers/Teachers/Trainers
It must be the season for speakers/trainers because they are overlapping right now. We have a couple here training pastors that have previously graduated from Bible school, to be pastor/leader trainers. They have been giving two weeks of intense training to these people. They travel all around the world training leadership in every area of their lives, both personal and ministry oriented. We are excited about the incredible work going on here at every level of need.



There is a retired surgeon here with Laura to do simple surgeries at the clinic. We haven’t checked back with him yet to see what all is happening but he was telling us this is his third trip here and upon arriving in town, one man he didn’t remember, simply grinned at him and lifted his shirt, exposing his scars from a surgery. In that was greeting and connection.



So teachers are coming and going, overlapping some according to their area of specialty. Some are teaching the graduates, some are teaching the students. A speaker that is currently working with the students is Iva Mae, Duane’s sister. She has a helper, Anna, and two trainees with her. Their ministry is on inner healing and they are teaching in the mornings and then doing prayer and counseling till late evenings. Please lift them in prayer as this is a very needful ministry but a very tiring one as well.



We praise God for the advancement of His kingdom in Oaxaca. We are thrilled with every little part we can be involved in. Soon, we hope to begin Spanish classes so we can participate more fluently and effectively…in their own language. Those classes are $275 each/monthly so we ask your prayers for the additional finances to accomplish that. It is a great privilege to be here in God’s grace and timing. Thank you for your loving support that makes it possible.

The Duenos-Landlord

Landlord’s dog....Paloma (little dove).   We call him Peanut (Cacajuate).


We told you when we chose the fourth place and moved into our house (room), we would be worming the dog. You need to see a “before” picture or you will never believe the “after”. Of course, you will need to wait some time for the after. This pup’s name is Paloma (meaning, Dove) and although he looks totally pathetic, he thinks he is something pretty big. He races out to the dusty road and puts up his biggest squeak until they disdainfully pass on by. Then, he trots back to his house with a cocky jaunt and twitch of his tail. There are three cats that live there and they are now being wormed as well. We’ll skip on worming the chickens and turkeys but we are thankful for them since they effectively keep the bug population down. We have the really big ones here, you know. There was a baby tarantula a the door the other night. Scorpions are more normal than rare. Roaches, monster beetles, mosquitos, you name it, they have it in Mexico! So, we appreciate the bird population around our place and the good care the landlord’s take of not allowing them on our doorsteps.



Landlord couple

We have the sweetest landlord couple. They are proud parents of twelve children, some of which visit from time to time. They are very helpful and resourceful. There is plenty to be learned from them. The uncle climbs to the roof every morning to check the amount of water then hooks up the portable pump to whichever tank (tinaco) that needs to be filled. The aunty makes yummy tamales and brings to all of us…that is five at the Anderson house and two at ours. The best tamales were corn and they were a bit sweetened. The outside shell is ground corn but they were also filled with corn. Hm! Good. We are introducing them to all the American sweeties we bake and sometime, it will be interesting to introduce them to Indian food. Now, that’s a thought for sure.

All her food is still made over an open fire. Recently, during our Halloween, they celebrated the Day of the Dead (good name, huh?). Aunty and a daughter or two baked an enormous amount of little bread loaves, some shaped like people or animals. They were all baked in the huge bee-hive , stone oven. Wonder how some pizzas would taste baked in it too?


We took their gas cylinder into town to be filled. That is why they weren’t using their little gas stove. Now, she is proud that John has worked the rust and crude off it and it is firing up nicely. Can you please fix our truck too, John? Grin Thankfully it just seems to need a recharge on the battery so it should be running soon. Some things are easy. Some are not.

Growing Mascots & Marriage Conference 2

Several of you have asked about the German Shepherd puppies. They are growing a lot. They now have a pen with their portable cage still in it to help them transition. We are in the process this week of finding a couple of boys to help feed and care for them. They will be able to continue the care when we are on outreach trips or busy as we were during the recent marriage conference. Here is a picture of them at 15 weeks.

This was the second marriage conference on the Base. We had six pastor and wife couples. They arrived looking tired and rather apprehensive. I heard one almost backed out because they weren’t sure what would be expected or put on them. However, their many comments were nothing but appreciation and gratefulness as they were leaving. The marriage conference sprang from the heart of Charles and Eli Norton.

It is a new teaching to the pastors and it amazes them what God has to say to them about the importance of their marriage. Topics included: priorities, what a man/woman needs, importance of the marriage covenant, communication, etc. Free times are given daily that involve homework with questions they need to ask one another. Many gifts are given: the book, The Five Love Languages, flowers, fruits, tortillas clothes, and a larger home gift. Wonderful meals and coffee times are arranged at the lovely hotel on the Base and the pastors are each given a gorgeous room to enjoy for the weekend. Class also includes a renewal of vows and promises, and communion between each couple. At the last meal, they cut a large wedding cake and have pictures taken. Every small detail is lovingly arranged by the Nortons.

We, and the Olsons, help out where we can with baking, room arrangement, giving out gifts, and supporting in prayer. Another newly married couple, Lalo and Lesli, led the worship times. It was a fun, uplifting weekend and so thrilling to see those dear pastor couples renewed, refreshed, and invigorated with the Good News they were carrying back to their people that marriages are important; that the Church will only be as strong as the marriages of the families within it.