More on Mexico's Narco Battle

Please click HERE for a look at an ongoing report by the LA Times, last updated September 4.

Rain, rain....

Rains Sunday night into Monday morning lefts parts of Mexico City and outlying Mexico State and absolute mess. En Valle Dorado, water was 1.80 meters deep. Zaragoza was hit hard, as was Circuito Rio Consulado, by the airport. Not a good day to be doing much traveling in Mexico City!

Service at Ciudad Azteca

We very much enjoyed preaching at Ciudad Azteca today, in the absence of Chuck and Karla Topp and family, who are in Texas right now.

The church was full...hardly an empty seat. Alejandro Flores directed the service and music. I preached on Matthew 14:1-21, paying special attention to the second part of the text, the feeding of the 5000, the only miracle of Jesus (aside from the resurrection) that is found in all four gospels.

Sunday with the Sandovals

This past Sunday was GREAT! The Fry family left Ixtapaluca around 9:30 and cruised into ELA around 10:45, for Maranatha Bible Church's Sunday service. We had initially planned to go last week, but our time was postponed due to the piggy flu.

The flu, actually, was the theme for my sermon. We all have a virus far more deadly than influenza porcina. We've sinned, and sin brings death, but Christ brings life. He is our divine antidote.

The church is about a year old, but attendance was right around 50, with several families absent. Chalo and Beth's servant ministry there was evident. Because we were visitors, we received a small loaf of bread, representing the Bread of Life, what Maranatha exists to distribute. After the service, we enjoyed coffee and a special cupcake-cake. A cake composed of cupcakes. Unique. It said "Congrats Mamas" on the top.

My kids loved dinner at the Sandoval's house. They like "American" food, we were told. They loved playing with the Sandoval's two dogs, climbing trees, you name it. Aaron and Natalie Sandoval joined us for lunch. What a great time we had!

I gained a new appreciation for Chalo and Beth's commitment to the local church. When you say "Sandovals" you think "ELA." But the Sandoval family is very obviously committed to planting churches...Maranatha is the 4th (or 5th?) church plant they have been involved in. That's HUGE!

Prayer request from Beth Sandoval

Pray for my dad. He has an infection in his left middle finger that has swollen the finger to double the size, very painful and certainly impossible to function caring for my mom and Brendy. The liquid from his top joint has leaked for years, but this time it got infected and has the red moving up his hand hear his wrist. I think I have all that info correct. He is on antibiotics but the meds and the infection are hard on his already tired body. Today Brendy is in what they call surgery…she is in the hospital for an injection of something into her hip to help with pain and movement. That happened at 10 AM today. My mom is barely coming out of her reaction (very early reaction and long lasting, incredible weakness) to the latest chemo. Not an easy time for them. Bobbie and Steve are doing double duty to help them. Thanks for praying.

BETH

Team stuff

A few of you have had questions regarding team responsibilities lately. I am happy to remind you that:

1. Jo Ann Smith has agreed to handle MEERVs for us.
2. I will be handling Absence from the Field forms. Please send them to me. I'll approve them and send a copy to Duke or Lauren so that we know where you are.

This weekend the Cottrills will be visiting the Sandovals, and the Frys will be visiting the Smiths.

A big praise for the successful arrival of people we know in Turkey. Chuck or I can send you their email if you haven't received it yet.

Here's another article on Mexico's war on drugs. Click HERE.

An Historic Day!

Hey everyone, happy...


I guess this is it - everything's official today. So congrats to us - we're an official team with all the power vested in us by CAM International. Go and celebrate - eat a banana or something! Have a great day! :)

The Centre of Christianity 30AD to 2100AD

Hey, look what we're doing - we're moving the centre of Christianity more toward the south! Ok, it's not really us, but thought you might be interested in this map and the paper that goes with it. Don't miss the pdf paper - some interesting stats. And, of course, quite the wide definition of "Christianity"!


The link to the pdf at: The shifting (demographic) centre of Christianity AD30-2100

More Details for our Team

New Details from Team Leader Training March 12-14, 2009

Timeline
Team Covenant due May 15 (ending date January 31)
Work/Ministry plans due May 30 (ending date December 31)
Affinity networks defined and leaders chosen by October 30
Team Evaluations/Metrics to be done by January 31

Individual and Team Evaluations/Metrics
Individual
Personal and Spiritual Assessment. 7-page personal evaluation includes the following areas:
Your Walk with God
Excusing our Time with God
Five Reasons We Hesitate to Pray
Balancing the Demands
Family Priorities
Are you Emotionally Depleted
Conducting a Spiritual Audit

Disciple-Making Assessment: 1 page summary of discipleship as outlined CAM’s ends statement (non-negotiable)
Assess level and give names of your disciples in the following catagories:
1. Missions-focused
2. Discipling
3. Evangelizing
4. Mature Believers
5. Active in Biblically healthy local church

Team
Team Dynamics Assessment: 5 page team evaluation includes the following areas:
Developing a Healthy Spiritual Environment
Empowering Missionaries for Effective Ministry
Providing Pastoral Care and Support
Enhancing Accountability and Metrics of Our Disciple-Making
Fulfilling Efficient, Non-Bureaucratic Administrative Details

Annual Ministry Plan

A 3-page template was given for Annual Ministry (Work) Plans, that includes Goals, Needs, Objectives, Methods and Evaluation.

Standards of Performance follow a SMART criteria:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Time-related

Other elements in the Ministry Plan: Accountability partner, Disciple, Personal Development and Balance, Spiritual Goals, Family Goals, Professional Development Plan and Vacation Requests.

Finances
Each team will have a budget, but the amount and accounting system behind this is still undefined.

Team Talk

Hi team! You know, pressure was on and I had to give a name to us...so I did. How do you like "The TLC Team!?" Sort of a double meaning here...TLC means NAFTA is Spanish (Tratado de Libre Comercio), but it also means "Tender Loving Care" in English. Sort of has a ring to it, don't you think?

Some questions were answered at our team leader training time, most specifically in the area of metrics and evaluations. We were also given some useful ideas to promote team community and unity.

I'm bringing back some correspondence for many of you, and some packages for some of you (the Cottrills!).

Check out my most recent post on my blog www.ixtapalucafryed.blogspot.com to read about some of my other post-meeting activities here.

We'll be talking soon!

Safety in Mexico City

I thought some of you, especially those in Mexico City, might appreciate these articles about safety in Mexico, and particularly Mexico City. It's geared toward foreigners, and mostly those from the US, but some things apply to all of us. When I wrote I was especially thinking of teams that are thinking of cancelling their plans to serve in Mexico:
Mexico City, Safety, and our latest visit

And the articles I mentioned are:

• "Am I going to be a victim of violence in México?" Take this simple quiz to find out!
• The Real Travel Story for Mexico

Grace

A story is told about Fiorello LaGuardia, who, when he was mayor of New York City during the worst days of the Great Depression and all of WWII, was called by adoring New Yorkers 'the Little Flower' because he was only five foot four and always wore a carnation in his lapel. He was a colorful character who used to ride the New York City fire trucks, raid speakeasies with the police department, take entire orphanages to baseball games, and whenever the New York newspapers were on strike, he would go on the radio and read the Sunday funnies to the kids. One bitterly cold night in January of 1935, the mayor turned up at a night court that served the poorest ward of the city. LaGuardia dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench himself.

Within a few minutes, a tattered old woman was brought before him, charged with stealing a loaf of bread. She told LaGuardia that her daughter's husband had deserted her, her daughter was sick, and her two grandchildren were starving. But the shopkeeper, from whom the bread was stolen, refused to drop the charges. "It's a real bad neighborhood, your Honor." the man told the mayor. "She's got to be punished to teach other people around here a lesson." LaGuardia sighed. He turned to the woman and said "I've got to punish you. The law makes no exceptions--ten dollars or ten days in jail." But even as he pronounced sentence, the mayor was already reaching into his pocket. He extracted a bill and tossed it into his famous sombrero saying: "Here is the ten dollar fine which I now remit; and furthermore I am going to fine everyone in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. Mr. Baliff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant." So the following day the New York City newspapers reported that $47.50 was turned over to a bewildered old lady who had stolen a loaf of bread to feed her starving grandchildren, fifty cents of that amount being contributed by the red-faced grocery store owner, while some seventy petty criminals, people with traffic violations, and New York City policemen, each of whom had just paid fifty cents for the privilege of doing so, gave the mayor a standing ovation.

Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel, Multnomah, 1990, pp 91-2.

Sermon illustration for this Sunday

I preach once again this Sunday on Romans, the text is Romans 3:21-31. What at text! Here's a pretty good illustration I found about Jesus taking on our judgement. We are in Christ. He's already been judged...our sin in him!

Unos pioneros cruzaban una pradera muy grande, viajando en vagones cubiertos jalados por bueyes, así que iban muy despacio. Un día estaban muy asustados, pues notaron humo que venía del oeste. Trataron de avanzar por la pradera lo más rápido posible, pero notaron que el pasto seco comenzó a quemarse velozmente. El día anterior habían cruzado un río, pero era imposible pensar en regresar antes de que el fuego feroz los alcanzara.

Un hombre parecía saber lo que tenían que hacer. Les dio la orden de quemar el pasto que estaba tras ellos con el fin de pararse sobre el cuando se hubiera apagado. Mientras las flamas que venían hacia ellos del oeste, una pequeña gritó asustada: “Está seguro que no debemos quemarnos todos?” El líder contestó: “Mi pequeña, las flamas no pueden alcanzarnos aquí, pues estamos parados donde ya hubo fuego

U.S. Says Threat of Mexican Drug Cartels Approaching 'Crisis Proportions'

For the latest in border-related violence, click HERE for an article by Fox News.

For another article by Reuters, click HERE.

Wall Street Journal article...a good one...click HERE.

And another from WSJ...HERE.

And the last one from Real Clear World...HERE.

News from Ixtapaluca

To view some links regarding the current narco-political crisis in Ixtapuluca, click

HERE

and

HERE.

A Video with Impact

Another disturbing report for the border. Click HERE.

Drug conflict article...again.

For yet another article on Mexico's drug wars, click HERE.

Church Planting by Ken Hanna

Hi all,

I found a great article in Spanish on Obrerofiel from our brother Ken. Brought back a lot of memories of our talks about this very subject. You can read it by clicking HERE.

Here's a Ken joke:
Hablando de perspectiva, me acuerdo de un doctor que entró a un salón para hablar con un ancianito, ya medio moribundo. El doctor le traía uno de sus exámenes, pero acercándose a la cama se da cuenta de que ahí esta la esposa del ancianito, conversando íntimamente con él. Entonces el doctor, no queriendo interrumpir, se aparta un poquito y, sin querer, escucha. Lo que oyó es algo más o menos así:

“Martita, ¿te acuerdas que todos estaban en nuestra contra? Nadie quería que nosotros nos casáramos y yo con las dudas también, pero ahí estabas tú, insistiendo siempre. Nos casamos, después vino la guerra, y todo mundo me decía loco por ser voluntario, pero ahí estabas tú, animándome así que me fui. Ahí me rompí la pierna, regrese herido y al bajarme del buque ahí estabas tú, esperándome. Vino el tiempo de la baja de la bolsa y perdimos todo, pero ahí estabas tú, recuerdo que entonces quise pedir un préstamo de tu papá y el dijo que no me iba a prestar nada. Pero ahí estabas tú, insistiéndole para que me prestara y salimos adelante. Compramos caballos y nos iba bien cuando de repente todos se murieron, pero ahí estabas tú.

Ahora ya tengo cuatro meses en este hospital, y cada vez que abro los ojos, lo primero que veo eres tú. He estado reflexionando sobre todo esto y estoy convencido de que tu eres muy mala suerte.”

Enhanced Security at Airport

Recent USAToday report...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2009-02-07-mexico-violence_N.htm?csp=usat.me

LA Times articles on the drug war.

Click HERE for a link to a lot of info on Mexico's war on drugs.

There are many, many links on related stories on this page.

A Fierce Soccer Rivalry

If you're an estadounidense in Mexico, this Wednesday presents a lose-lose proposition. If the U.S. wins, well, we're not very well liked here. If the U.S. loses, then the laughs and burla.

Check out an article on the growing U.S.-Mexico rivalry by clicking HERE.

My son Daniel has both the U.S. and Mexico soccer jerseys. He wears, of course, the jersey of the team that wins! Being bi-national is great.

Fireproof

Perhaps you've heard that the same church/organization that produced Facing the Giants has recently released a Christian movie nationwide called Fireproof, about the importance of a strong marriage and the threats against marriage.

Apparently it has been either dubbed or subtitled in Spanish. This could be a good option for ministry here.

Meeting Confirmed

Our first team meeting will be Tuesday, February 17 at Ixtapaluca, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., finishing with comida.

Politics in Mexico...AMLO

Remember AMLO, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador? The man that oh so narrowly lost the 2006 Mexican presidential election? Well, he's not going away anytime soon, and by all observation appears to have already started indirectly campaigning for the 2012 contest, this time supported primarily by the PT (Partido del Trabajo).

For more, click HERE. It's a recent article on AMLO by the New York Times.

For a FOXnews article on violence on the border, click HERE.

www.T2blueprint.com

Our illustrious team member Jim Cottrill has been HARD AT WORK creating, editting and posting a new website that helps the CAM family understand our transition to teams. Look it up...it contains some very helpful information, plus a section to contribute and interact...The Sandbox.

Check it out HERE.

Prayer Request from the Topp family

Dear Friends,
Thank you for praying and please continue to do so. We are grateful for you! With love, Chuck, Karla and kids

Please pray for our son Jonathan and his upcoming SAT college admissions test, this Saturday, the 24th of Jan. beginning at 7:30 AM here in Mexico City. Please pray he’ll do his best on the test – he has been studying, practicing SAT tests online (with study helps) and reading about tips for taking the test.

Please also pray for wisdom and clear direction about what would be the best plan for Jonathan this summer – ministry or secular work; and for what university to attend this fall. Thank you!

Mexico's Instability Is a Real Problem

Here's another rather alarming article, this one published in the Wall Street Journal. Click HERE. It is certainly not my desire to be overly negative in posting these articles on a country that I have come to love, simply to keep us all aware of some of the macro-realities of Mexico.

News article on U.S. Mexico Relations

Every now and again I check www.realclearworld.com for a summary of world events. Today I noticed this article on the recent meeting between Mexican president Felipe Calderon and president-elect Barack Obama. Click here to view the article.

Pray for Mexico

Jim Cottrill posted an interesting blog entry today. To check it out, click here.

I was viewing another related story about Mexico last night, written in December, 2008. To read that article, click here.

Sembrador Event, March 8

Please be in prayer for the Sandovals and the Sembrador church. On March 8 they are planning a large evangelistic event with special speaker/singer Abelardo Ramírez. Abelardo is a well-known Christian singer with a powerful testimony.

Our T2 team members!