YOUTH CONFERENCE July 13-15

It gets better each year! But that’s the way it’s suppose to be! A vision of a multitude of youth from Mexico and the US worshiping God together was given to one of the head pastors several years ago. Our son Jordan has taken this vision to heart and kept it alive. Each year more youth are reached and ministered to, and the ’07 conference was a hugh success in every way.




The US teams included the New Life young married couples which were already in Chiapas and 2 more youth groups from the states - Fusion of Family Life in Lafayette, LA and Family Life Youth of Sugarland, TX.



The 3 day conference began with an evening service in San Fernando. In route to the rented facility downtown, we made a brief stop at the location of the new church construction for the congregation of San Fernando and Pastor Jorge. It is a true testimony of growth both numerically and spiritually for this area. Everyone prayed a prayer of blessing as we all exercised our faith that the project will be completed during the upcoming months.

Service that evening included the youth from various groups participating through song, dance and/or drama. Jordan preached all the evening services based on the theme entitled “Run” - In what direction are you running, To whom are you running, Proper fitness to run and Being a long term runner. The alters were filled each night with young people surrendering this lives to Jesus and making commitments to “Run to Him”.



The church of Torre Fuerte hosted the conference on Saturday and Sunday. It was so exciting to see the building filled on Saturday morning with so many young people. Each morning after a time of worship, the class sessions were led by Steven and Megan Bowen of Texas. This week end was a fulfillment of many late night discussions between Jordan and Steven who years earlier shared a dorm room at ORU. Sensing that one day this event would occur, it was a true testimony of God orchestrating their thoughts and ordering their steps.

Lunch followed each day as well as a great time of recreation in the new gym behind the church. This gym has been a work in process over the past couple of years. Special thanks goes to Larry Myers and Mexico Ministries for the funds and work on this project! Teams for soccer, basketball and volleyball were organized from all the groups represented, and so many youth attended that there wasn’t even enough time for everyone to play. Cultural barriers are broken during such times, and one of the highlights of the recreation time was watching small Indian girls in their traditional Tzotzil clothing play basketball against much taller teams from Mexico. The entire crowd cheered as Chenalho even won their first round and advanced to the play offs.

44 American youth were present and the many youth from Mexico included a group from Reynosa, Vera Cruz, and various cities and communities of Chiapas. We thank all of the pastors and the ladies who worked so hard behind the sense to make it all happen.

New Life Young Married Couples Team July 7-16

It was a first! We have never had a team made up of only young married couples, but we hope more come in the future. This team was led by Jordan and Mindi Linscombe, and it was extra special for us since they are our kids. Living so far apart, we value every opportunity to be together with our family. It gave us great joy to host them and their wonderful team.



After Sunday services in Chenalho, everyone enjoyed a nice meal together at the Las Jardines de San Cristobal. It is a beautiful restaurant with such lovely atmosphere. It was a pleasant day, and one well needed prior to the challenges that were awaiting the team the next 2 days.

Often our teams have to hike up and down steep mountains and rugged terrain to get to construction sites, but C’anech proved to be a challenge even for this Colorado Springs group. Similar in altitude and a team that is young and use to hiking, this work site was selected especially for them, but it was still a work out for everyone. It is not just a matter of getting to and from locations like this, but there is also the burden of carrying heavy equipment such as saws and welding machines.

The challenge was met and a new block building stands in C’anech for the glory of God and as a blessing to the dear saints of this village. It is amazing that so many people live in places this remote and far away from a road. Since not very many people of the highlands have vehicles anyway, it is probably a bigger issue to us than to them.

The week continued with tours and prayer walks of the surrounding area. Benches were built by the guys on the last day in Chenalho and the ladies had a most special gathering. Mindi requested that some of the ladies of the local church join us for fellowship and bring their hand work with them. What a cultural experience this proved to be as our American girls learned what life is like for these Tzotzil women! It was a great exchange of sharing our hearts, and God’s love was felt by all who were present. We prayed for their needs and areas of concern before they parted.

Normally when teams return to Tuxtla for the week end, it is to prepare for the flight home. These couples still had lots of work ahead of them for the next several days as they helped to host the 07 San Fernando/Tuxtla Youth Convention. (That report will be given separately.)

Along with Jordan and Mindi, a special thanks goes to Jeremy and Tracy, Ryan and Shanna, Brad and Alaina and Matt and LeeAnn! So many of you have been involved with missions work in various countries around the world and know you have a missions call. We are honored that you chose Chiapas to be part of your missions training this summer!

Excel Global Outreach June 23-30

With a youth group called EXCEL and a motto of “Escape Average”, this team really lived up to its name. Excel is what these 34 people from Covenant Celebration Church of Frisco, TX did all week. After a very successful missions trip last summer, they returned home and immediately began raising funds to build another block church and return to Chiapas for a second trip during the summer of 07.



Mission’s director LeeRoy Ayala does an outstanding job putting his teams together. We thank you and Ashley for all the hard work. The excellent organization of your team made it so easy to host 34 of you. Pastor Tad has done such an awesome job in discipline these youth all year. We were able to see such growth just from last year. Most of the youth who had come to Chiapas before returned for this second trip and a few more very special people were added.

Jomtealho, a Chamula village, now has a beautiful new building. The team helped erect the roof, paint the building, ran electrical lighting, and poured the cement floor. In addition the church of Tzacucum was painted. It was a 2 hour drive from the missions facility and a hike through the mountains to the village. During the week while in Chenalho, the competition Excel had constructing and painting benches made the work day not only productive but fun. Later that day part of the team delivered 22 of the benches to Jomtealho.

What beautiful times we had in worship! Seems like God arranged a special service for the congregation and pastor of Palestina. Only He knew how much they needed this time of encouragement and sent the team in the exact moment new inspiration was needed.

The return to Tuxtla at the end of the week brought such a challenge dealing with the extreme temperatures, but the smiles on the faces of the kids from the orphanage of Casa Hogar Alegre and their outing to the zoo made it all worthwhile. Friday evening was a youth service and the new gym at Torre Fuerte was initiated with Mexican and US teams. This was a great warm up for the youth conference that would soon follow. Everyone enjoyed grilled hamburgers and hot dogs!

A special thanks to Tim and Sherri for your tremendous help all week. You made our load so much easier. You are true servants in every definition of the word! We hope you come back! We hope all of you return to Chiapas soon!