Report on Thursday

Hello All,

It´s Friday, 8-1-09 and all is well in Tepatitlan. Yesterday was a long day for us, as we headed out at 8:00am and got back around midnight. We traveled for about 90 minutes to a place called Yajualica, where we walked the city streets meeting people, passing out tracts, and inviting them to our gathering at Plaza Jardin. We teamed with the people at the only Christian church in this city of about 50,000 people. Beautiful city and lovely people. At the plaza we played with the kids, engaged with the adults, did the puppet show and drama, and did crafts with the kids. They loved it. I believe 3 or 4 people prayed to receive Christ between our street conversations and our connections at the plaza. The team was really fired up on our trip back last night. Many great conversations were had, many seeds were planted, some seeds were watered, and I think we put on a very good face for Jesus Christ to the people there. Not sure what the plans are for today, but we got to sleep in a bit this morning. That´s praise worthy too!

This team is awesome. All are getting along very well with each other. As for health we have had a few upset stomachs, but nothing incapacitating. Please keep praying for protection, for good rest, and for good health. We love you and miss you.

Ted

Days 2 & 3

Sorry for no blog entry yesterday. Here´s an update: Tuesday we drove to Capia de Guadalupe (about an hour from Tepatitlan) where we split up into groups, walked the streets, met people, engaged in evangelistic conversations and passed out tracks (or is it tracts). The Gospel was shared with several people, but it was difficult because this city (of about 80,000 people) is comprised mostly of very devout Catholics. It really took us out of our comfort zone, but caused us to grow as we stepped out in faith. Then, last night we went into one of the major city parks in Tepatitlan where we engaged with many children and adults, put on two puppet shows, did our mime presentation, and the Gospel was shared both in a large group setting and in small group settings with the children.

Today was more of a day for us. Great devotional time this morning followed by a trip into downtown Tepa and El Mercado for shopping. This afternoon we visited the home of a family that´s very much involved in the church where we are staying. By the way, we are staying at Centro Cristo es el Camino. I believe it´s the only evangelical church in this city of 250,000+ people. What an opportunity there is here to reach people with the life changing reality of Jesus Christ. Our STEM (Short Term Evangelical Missions) representative is Ramon and he´s done an outstanding job of helping us adapt to and connect with the Mexican people here in Tepa.

We will attend the church service tonight here at Centro Cristo. Tomorrow and Thursday we expect to be very long days as we go out into other surrounding villages to engage in spiritual conversations and pass out materials about having a personal relationship with Christ. We will also be performing our puppet shows, dramas and leading worship songs in these areas.

So far, no one has gotten sick or suffered any injuries. The food is great and all is well. Praise God! Please continue to pray that we can establish credibility as Christians, and pray for open doors to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with a very ¨religious¨ people group who don´t know what it means to have a personal relationship with Jesus.

Estamos Aqui! (we are here!!)

And we are off! Priase God for getting all us of here safe and sound in Tepa. We arrived at Hillcountry at 4 am this morning, a bit tired, but very eager to see how God´s going to use us on this trip. After finally getting through all of the airport precautions, we flew off to Houston at 6:50. There were no delays or obstacles during security or anything... everything just went very smoothly and we are so thankful.
After arriving in Houston, we rushed to catch our next flight that would take us to Guadalajara. I think all of us would agree that we were taken a bit by surpise when we saw the lush beauty of the mountains below us. We got to catch up on our sleep, which was a must needed necesity before we arrived!
We met Ramon, our STEM leader, at the airport. We all got on a bus and headed off to Tepa. It was a fourty five minute trip from the airpot to the church, where we are staying, in tepa. We have had a relaxing day, getting settled in and meeting new friends!
Please continue to pray for safetly and health. Ramon came down with a severe food poisoning, and although he is feeling much better, please keep him in your prayers.
We will continue to keep updated throughout the week! Thanks again for all your prayers and support.

Taylor Stearns and Catie Kolence

p.s mommy i love you ;)