Arrived in Tlaxiaco!

After a 15 hour travel day, we arrived in Tlaxiaco around 830 pm Saturday night. Unfortunately, wifi has not worked, and we have been unable to update. Our travel day started very early, as we met at the airport at 430 am. We proceeded to check in and juggle bags, then prayed with those who came out to see us off. Our flight left at 6, and things were basically smooth. We had a slight problem or two in Mexico City, but we made it. One of our team members stepped out of bounds in the customs area and had to take his luggage up to be rechecked. Then we had a scare and thought we were going to miss our connection to Oaxaca, but God worked that out, too. After arriving in Oaxaca, we took a bus to Tlaxiaco. What an adventure. The daredevil driver had some near misses with other cars and bicyclists, and the roads were very twisty. This, paired with a very hot van, resulted in some sick stomachs. 

After finally arriving in Tlaxiaco after a harrowing three hour drive, we were greeted by our hosts and taken to the square in town for a wonderful dinner of....hamburgers. I have to tell you, these burgers were a real treat. We were able to go to bed around 11pm local time which was midnight our time. Some of the team members slept really well, while others were awakened often by the sound of barking dogs and crowing roosters ALL NIGHT LONG. Still, we had nice beds to sleep in, food in our tummies, and were very grateful for our safe travels.

One distraction - a passport has been lost. Turner has been working all day to try and figure out what we need to do to get her back in the country. Please pray that this process will go smoothly and we will have no problems. Also, we will be without internet service while we are in the village, and we need to be able to resolve this before we leave. Our God is able to fix all this!

Today was about church and training. After breakfast we headed to church. Three hours later, we emerged. Beat that, Pastor Don! What a great service. The worship was lively and beautiful. There were even some songs that we sang in English as the church family sang in Spanish. We may not have known specifically what the others were saying, but our hearts were singing the same tune to the same amazing God. The first sermon, which turned out to be a Bible study, was on fear. Amazing verses were given, and I´m sure great teaching was going on. Turner and Agustina were kind enough to keep us up to speed on where to go to follow along, but word for word translation was impossible. After a few more songs, the preaching started. The preacher was teaching on unity, so he had us all split up and sit with people not in our family. The unfortunate problem there is that many of us sat next to people who didn´t know English and couldn´t help us keep up. Pair that with little to no sleep, and it was a difficult hour. One of our hosts came and sat next to me toward the end and helped me to follow along a bit. What I took out of that is that we are all the same and that our skin color and language are irrelevant. We need to be unified and serve our Lord as one. 

We had our first training this afternoon on the village we will be visiting. We leave tomorrow afternoon and will return to Tlaxiaco on Friday. It is extremely doubtful that we will have access to internet or cell service. We are excited to visit the village and encourage the church there. Please pray that we can not only encourage the church but leave a positive impression of Christians on the unbelievers in the community. We have learned that it is a long process for people in these villages to convert, and we pray that we are a help, not a hindrance in the process.

Thank you for your prayers. We feel every one of them. We will update when we can. There are lots of good stories for when we have more time. 

Only four days remain till our trip to Mexico. We are very excited, and God is working, even as we prepare. Thank you for the donations of vitamins and glasses. We can still use some, so feel free to call if you are able to help. Our greatest need is children's and prenatal vitamins, as well as small tubes of toothpaste.

We wanted to post our prayer calendar for the trip. If you are led, please pray for our team while we are in Mexico.

Prayer Calendar – Mexico Team 2014

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Ephesians 3:20-21

Saturday, July 26^th 

Our team will be leaving Greensboro at 6am, heading to the city of Oaxaca, Mexico. We will meet from 5:00-5:15 at the airport to pray, and we’d love to have anyone who is available (and awake) to join us!

·         Pray for safe travels with 3 flights, connections in Atlanta and Mexico City, and then 2 bus rides.  

·         Also pray for the customs process to go smoothly since we’ll be carrying vitamins and medical supplies, which could get the attention of the customs officers.

·         Pray for rest while traveling and endurance to finish the day and make it to Tlaxiaco!

Sunday, July 27th

This will be our first full day in Tlaxiaco. We will go to church in the morning, where one of us will be sharing a testimony/brief message.

Later we will have a cultural training class with Alex and other missionaries.

·         Pray for the Holy Spirit to guide us when sharing at church.

·         Pray for God to help us be culturally sensitive and for Him to teach us how to love the Mixteco people in the way He loves them.

·         Pray for us to bond quickly with the Sin Fronteras team and for us to be of encouragement to them as Paul was in his travels.

Acts 15:30-35:  So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement.  And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words.  And after they had spent some time, they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them.                                                                                            

Monday, July 28th

We will finish our cultural training in the morning, and in the early afternoon we will be heading out to the remote village we’ll be in for most of the week.

·         Pray for safe travels to the village and that we’d quickly get on good terms with some of the village leaders and residents.

·         Pray for wisdom on the planning of where and when to do the health fair and health education classes, as well as wisdom on how to promote the activities in the village.

Tuesday, July 29th

We´ll be starting our activities in the village. There is a good chance that we’ll do the health fair this day.

·         Pray for wisdom while we screen, diagnose, and treat people and that God´s supernatural love would be poured out on each person. Pray especially for our medical personnel – Regina, John, and Mary.

·         Pray for the Lord to help us with the language barrier.

·         Pray for God to remove any obstacles and opposition – physical and spiritual.

Wednesday, July 30th

We’ll likely be doing our health education workshops with the following topics: Hygiene, Sexual Education and Prenatal/Child Care.

·         Pray for the Holy Spirit to guide each presentation – teaching them practical things as well as drawing them to Biblical truth.

·         Pray for Agustina and Turner as they interpret, especially Turner as he definitely feels challenged in translating some of these topics.

·         Pray that we’d have good spiritual conversations as a result of these workshops.

Thursday, July 31st

We will continue with our activities to include health fairs, health education, activities with kids, and a few surprises for sure.  This will be our last day in the village.

·         Pray for flexibility for our team – that we’d be willing to be used in any way God sees fit.

·         Pray that God would be glorified by many people learning how to take better care of themselves and getting some basic treatment.

Friday, August 1st

Either Thursday evening or Friday morning we’ll be returning from the village to Alex’s base of operations in Tlaxiaco. Then, we’ll go to the larger city of Oaxaca to spend Friday night.

·         We know that we only got to spend a few days with the people of the village, but we also know that God has an eternal plan for them. It doesn’t matter if we are gone, He will keep working in their lives. Pray that He would do just that – advancing His gospel and His kingdom in many of the surrounding villages.

·         Pray for safe travel and no logistical challenges.

·         Pray for our last day with Alex and his family – that we’d have a fun time together and encourage one another.

Acts 17:26-28   "From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. For in Him we live and move and have our being."

Saturday, August 2nd

We’re flying out early and then getting back to Greensboro at 7:15 PM.

·         Pray for safe, uneventful travels.

·         Pray that God would be causing each one of us to reflect on His goodness and the ways that He is challenging us to grow.

Thank you for your love and support. Our God is moving at Westover Church and throughout the world, and we are so grateful to be a part of His story!

     Nine days. Nine. In nine days, we will be in Mexico. This is beyond exciting! We are almost fully funded (thank you, everyone who gave), and we are in the final stages of planning our time there. We all know that our time in Oaxaca and the outlying village(s) we will visit is God's time, and that we may not be doing anything we originally planned to do. That is completely OK with all of us, and we are excited to see where God takes us and to whom He takes us. The relationships we build in the name of Jesus are so much more important than any health screening or education we offer. Those are important, too, but we are praying that we are able to touch people in His name above all else.

     The last few days are busy ones for us: we are assembling cycle beads (a visual tool for natural family planning), collecting supplies, packing, putting together educational pieces, and translating into Spanish. Individually, we are tracking down tiny sleeping bags, finding the correct clothing so we don't offend anyone, and making arrangements with our families and employers. Most importantly, we are trying to make sure to spend quiet time with the Lord during this busy season. As Turner, our leader, read in a devotional recently: Prepare your heart before you pack your bag.

We can certainly use your help now and while we are gone. Here are some ways you can help:


1.  PRAY. This is an ongoing need with any mission trip, and ours is certainly no different. Westover has a team in Zimbabwe and another leaving for China this weekend. We all need prayer for our travel to go smoothly and that God's plan will be evident and we will be able to accomplish what HE has planned for us.

2. We are still in need of a few things. We need large bottles of prenatal vitamins, children's multi-vitamins, and small tubes of toothpaste. Additionally, we will need two thermometers, preferably electronic/battery operated. Please contact one of the team members or call Mary at 420-8404 if you are able to help, and we will make sure your items are picked up. We need to pack all these items by next Wednesday, July 23, so let us know soon if you can help.

3. Join us at PTI airport on Saturday, July 26 from 5:00 to 5:15 AM for send-off prayer. We would love to pray with you before we go! As it stands now, we will arrive home on Saturday, August 2 at around 7:15 PM.

Thank you for your support and your love. This is a very exciting time - it is the first mission trip for most of us! While we don't know what we expect, we know that God goes before us. What more do we need?