New Conexion

Nathan (1988) acoustic gig at Conexion

Last Thursday night we launched Conexion. An opportunity to explore faith in Jesus Christ and hear His message.

We will hold Conexion every two weeks on a Thursday night in the cafe. I'm excited because I am making time to get out there and share in the talks at Conexion.

Our first Connexion was titled Faith and Religion and we talked about how God wants our heart not religious actions. There was a good response from those who attended and we are praying that this format will grow and develop into a relevant connection point for those who don't yet know Jesus Christ.

Phil sharing at Conexion

Grand Opening of RenovArte

On Thursday, we had our grand opening for the uni students at RenovArte Café. What an awesome day!


It gave us great joy to see God's hand at work and to see the café full of almost 20 uni students at one point during the afternoon. That is why we are here - to make connections, to live out a life transformed by Jesus Christ and to make disciples!

Expocafe

We are SO excited about what God is doing in our ministry. We have been able to progress with the cafe/gallery plans to the stage where we are purchasing equipment and preparing the shop space. From 2-4 September, Sandy and I went to Mexico City to ExpoCafe which was a national coffee event. The purpose of our trip was to contact suppliers, look for equipment and gain information and skills in the world of coffee. It was a very beneficial time and we were able to put a deposit on the workhorse of our cafe - the espresso machine.

Check out the photos!

Meeting details

Hi all,

We've safely arrived in Melbourne and we're getting our heads and bodies around the time change. We are enjoying catching up and spending time with the family and Romi is having fun playing with her cousins.

For those of you who would like to see us and hear about what God is doing in Mexico, the organised meetings are as follows:

• Sunday 11 July - Balwyn Gospel Chapel - service 10am, community lunch after the service and presentation at 1pm. 2 Leonard St, Balwyn, 3103.
• Sunday 18 July - Canterbury Gardens Community Church - 10:30am http://www.cgcc.com.au/
• Sunday 1 August - EDGE church Doncaster - 10:30am http://www.edgechurch.net.au/
• Sunday 1 August - The SHIFT missions experience - 6:30pm at Montmorency Gospel Chapel http://www.montychapel.org/
• Tuesday 3 August - International Teams Journeys - 7:30pm St Jude's Anglican Church 235 Palmerston St, Carlton
  

Ready to go

Hi all,

It's late, we're tired and the cases are still open with things popping in and out. We are very excited to be travelling to Australia tomorrow and can't wait to be on our way! Please pray for us as we travel over the next 48 hours and arrive in Melbourne on Tuesday morning at about 8am. We will be flying from Mexico to LA and then to Melbourne. Please pray for our health as we've all been down with a cold and also that God would protect and guide us every step of the journey.

Our desire is to be a blessing to those around us and to bless others in our trip to Australia.

Take care and see you soon!

Phil and Sandy

Day 5 - the last hurrah!

We had a fun last day of our holiday program today and God blessed us with good weather, lots of fun and great opportunities to share. We had another child come for the first time today which was good.

In the teaching time, we shared God's plan of salvation that we have been learning all week. Today, we gave the kids the opportunity to respond to God's invitation to be His friends because of what Jesus has done for us. We explained what Jesus has done for us and that we all have to make a decision to accept Jesus. We explained that we won't give any prizes for accepting Jesus and that each one has to make their own decision in their heart. Six kids responded to the invitation and asked Jesus to be their Saviour and friend. How exciting! We will continue to follow up and share with these kids as we have the opportunity.

The week of fun, tiring work was worth it. Today I went and knocked on Memo's door and he came along to the program. He's actually playing in our house at the moment because his family has all gone out. We have been able to open the door to many kids here in our neighbourhood and share with them the love and hope of God. We continue to pray that God would continue this work as we open our home and our hearts to be the hands and feet of Jesus here where we live.
It was an encouragement to receive the appreciation of one of the mums who said "Thanks so much, you guys are sunshine here. The kids loved it and I've got lots of friends that want to send their kids to the next one!" She also said that she liked that we were teaching the kids about God and the creation and things. God is at work!


So we say a tired goodbye to this week of excitement and look forward to seeing God continue to work in and through us here in Querétaro.

What a LOOONG day! (day 3)

Hey all, this is a quick video of our holiday club. We had a long day today with a bit of a mad house as all the kids went wild in the pool. Today we taught about Jesus coming to earth to live and die for our sins so that we can be friends with God and have eternal life. The great news of today is that Memo the eight year-old boy that we have been praying for came along to the club. We also met his grandma with whom he lives and we were able to offer that he comes over to our house when he's going to be home alone. Today he hadn't eaten breakfast, so he ate with us.




Ok, very tired and must go to sleep... Hasta mañana!!!

Romi's Christmas Party

I'm back to the blog!

Just before Christmas, we had the opportunity to host the Christmas party for Romina's class at school. Sandy had been working closely with Claudia, another mum from school, to organise the Christmas party. With lots of back and forth looking for venues, we invited the families from Romi's class to our house for the party. It worked out well since we are still lacking furniture, there's lots of space!!!
(I have moved into the house that we will be living in once we are married, Sandy is just visiting with the rest of the party)

Socialising

Romi and her friends playing on the roundabout

TACOS!!!

MORE TACOS!!!

It was a great opportunity to open our house and share with a bunch of families that don't yet have a relationship with Jesus Christ. Both Sandy and I were very excited that we could build relationships with other families and use the house we have rented to be a blessing to others. We have formed a good relationship with the other parents that helped to organise the party and we are praying for opportunites to share the good news of Jesus with them as build relationships and live a transformed life in Jesus.

The Wedding in Caanan

Jewish wedding music... check. Pottery cups... check. Grape juice... check. Bible... check. Ready!
Last week in our young adults group, we studied and experienced the wedding at Caanan. We are studying the life of Jesus and in this event, we saw the humanity and the divinity of Jesus.


As we sat around the table, we chatted about how Jesus went to the wedding with his mother and his disciples. Jesus was a part of a family, he had brother and sisters (Mark 6:3) and was an active member of the Jewish society.

Jesus was and is the Son of God and at the wedding, he revealed his glory and his discipled believed in Him (John 2:11). Jesus did the miraculous and showed His power in the middle of the ins and outs of ordinary life.

May you today, get to know Jesus more and more, and believe in Him and learn to trust Him in every situation.

The Proposal

The time had come and all was ready. I had prayed about it, thought about it, had the ring and I was ready! My sister and her husband were with us and very excited about what was about to happen…

I took Sandy out for a romantic dinner that I had organised for the two of us. Sandy thought we were going to the restaurant, but we took a shortcut which took us to a lookout with a waiter, table and red roses waiting. We sat down to a lovely dinner and enjoyed chatting about how God had brought us together, some funny and candid moments we have shared and our dreams for the future. Sandy was enjoying herself, but had no idea what was to come…

After we had enjoyed main course, we stood up to enjoy the view. The background music playing was by Luis Miguel and Sandy started singing the first song and proceeded to tell me it was a song dedicated to a woman that he was no longer with, hmmm, I let that song pass by. The next song started and Sandy said “This song is beautiful!” so I thought, “This is the moment!”
I felt the ring in my pocket and started to pull it out as I got down on bended knee. The breath escaped from Sandy’s lungs as she gasped with surprise. “Sandra García Estrada, ¿te casarías conmigo?” (“Sandra Garcia Estrada, will you marry me?”)

“¡¡¡SI!!!” (“YES!!!!!”)

I put the ring on her finger and I couldn’t wipe the smile off her face as I gave her a big hug! We enjoyed dessert and tea and coffee as a newly engaged couple. We asked our waiter to take some photos for us to capture the moment (sorry, the proposal photos are a re-enactment, that’s why I have a goofy smile and I’m looking at the camera whilst I put the ring on her finger.) It was an amazingly special time and a celebration shared with my sister and her husband visiting from Australia.

Wahooo!!! We’re engaged!!! That’s Lord for your love, grace and faithfulness!!!

Thanks all for your support, congratulations and prayers. We still don’t have all the details for the wedding as we are praying for God’s timing and direction. We would value your prayers as we take this important step of faith and as we seek to glorify God in our decisions and our future together.

Finishing up at Spanish school

"Espero que haya mejorado mi español"

I finished up at Spanish school on Friday the 5th of June and have said farewell for now to my Costa Rican familiy in San Francisco (San Francisco of the Costa Rican variety). I spent four weeks doing an intensive course of advanced Spanish. I feel like this has really helped me understand better why I speak like I speak and will give me a stronger base to continue perfecting my Spanish. Here is a photo of the graduating students and teachers from my intensive course. ¡Que chiva!

Jars of clay

2 Corinthians 4:5-7
⁵For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. ⁶For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. ⁷But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

On the 28th and 29th of May, I attended and was involved in the Sonlife seminar - Jars of Clay (Vaso de barro). I both served at the seminar helping to set-up and playing drums for the alabanza and took the "Come and See" course which covers the first 29 years of Jesus' life.This was an awesome time of seeing God bring together a group of about 60-70 young leaders to worship Him, learn more about Jesus and be equipped to be and make disciples. I praise God for what He is doing here in Latin America to equip a new generation to be disciple-makers and live out what it means to be a follower of Jesus in today's world.

Some of the most impacting things for me were seeing the deep obedience to God of Mary and Joseph as parents of Jesus and the full implications of the way Jesus entered the world in the society both cultural and religious of that day. Also it has been impacting me in my study of the life of Jesus in God's word, the amazing mystery of the complete humanity and complete divinity of Jesus Christ.

I pray that you too will be challenged to take a fresh look at the Jesus of the Bible, God's Son who humbled himself and became a human being to save us from our sin, show us what God is like and reconcile us to a restored relationship with God.

International Teams Latin America Conference

Wow! It was great to travel again and see new sights, meet new people and be refreshed in the word of God and in community. Last week I had the privilege of going to Quito, Ecuador to participate in the International Teams Latin America Conference. It was a huge encouragement to see what God is doing around the world through teams and individuals committed to sharing the love of Jesus in innovative and transforming ways.

We had some great bible studies shared with us by Mark that were both challenging and encouraging. I personally had a real time of growth in my relationship with God as I was in a different context for a week and had time to reflect and catch up.

The location was excellent, both getting to know the city of Quito and the Youth World ministries there, and the San Luis Hosteria where we stayed.

Here are some photos of the experience.

Can't wait for my parents to get here, they arrive next Monday!

Passion Mexico City

Greater things are yet to come, greater things are still to be done in this city.

Ok... here I am catching up! Passion Mexico was INCREDIBLE! It was a massive time of excitement and blessing for our uni students and leaders. Just before lunch on the 3rd of October we all piled into our hired bus and headed on down to Mexico City with a group of 25 students from Queretaro.
Chilling out on the journey, we got ready for a big weekend. Finally all the stress and work of preparing was making sense, God was and is control of every detail! We arrived in Mexico City and checked into the hotel in the centre of the city before heading out to the first session of Passion Mexico City!!!! Wow!!

The event was excellent. I was impressed by the way everything was directed and done in the name of Jesus Christ. There was no other name lifted up, praised, exalted, promoted, except for Jesus. I was refreshed to once again hear the story of God's grace presented to a group of uni students that desperately need to take hold of the depth and amazingness of a God who offers us unmerited forgiveness as a free gift.

Friday night we ate convenience store food and a few brave young people tried the tacos outside the convenience store... bad planned, but hey, we ate okay.

I felt a few tests of my leadership thoughout the weekend, having to make some quick and tough decisions to lead the group, but God was right there beside me guiding me and helping me.

I was blessed by God's hand in everything and saw him working to transform lives. We had a new girl who came with us - Alexandra - who hasn't yet accepted Christ, but God is working in her life.

You can actually read a little more of the individual stories here at Jessica's blog... she did the hard work of writing down a big story so I thought I might sponge off her a bit..

Here is a video of the introduction... an amazing moment!

We all had fun, were encouraged, lifted up and challenged to be the generation that lives for the name and renoun of Jesus Christ. That's what my life is for, that's why I'm here in Mexico!!


Oh yes... and when they mentioned Australia, I yelled and screamed for all of us and I am pretty sure that I was the only Aussie there!!

¡Viva Mexico!

These were the words that resounded in our ears as we celebrated the shout that started the Mexican revolution that subsequently led to Mexico's independence in 1810 which we celebrate on September 15 (the shout) and 16 (Independence Day).  Last night at approximately 12am, we had our "grito" and shouted Viva Mexico!  Viva!... and so on with the names of the Heros of Independence... and finally Viva Jesucristo... VIVA!

Jean Paul gritando Viva Mexico

Plaza de Armas all decked out for the party

Here's where it all started!

I celebrated the occasion with some close friends and we had a night of Mexican celebrations which I think helped me become even more Mexican... check out the photo...

We ate pozole and enchiladas which are both VERY Mexican and danced some very Mexican dances.  It was cool to see my friends dressed up in traditional Mexican dress from different parts of the republic - Jalisco etc...

The dancers

Traditional Mexican dress with Ruthie, Lucio, Sandy and Romi... (ok, the moustache isn't part of it... that was mine!)

So next year, look out - the celebration of Mexican Independence Day is coming to you - get into it!!!  

¡Una boda! The wedding of Jessica and Jean Paul

On the 9th of August, one of our team members got married! Jessica tied the knot with Jean Paul in a fun and meaningful ceremony at Horizonte. I played drums in the wedding (I think that's at least three weddings now "the wedding drummer") and also helped out with the serving at the party. Congratulations JP and Jessi!!

From Boda de Jessi y JP

From Boda de Jessi y JP

From Boda de Jessi y JP

Amazing experiences in the north...

I’m writing this from the aeroplane heading back to Queretaro (sidenote: Volaris is highly recommended! They even have powerpoints for every seat!). It’s been an absolutely amazing five days in Ensenada and Tijuana. I personally have grown, been challenged and seen God’s hand in so many things.

The reason we went to Ensenada and Tijuana was to attend a conference for pastors and leaders of Calvary Chapel churches in Mexico. I started with the attitude that we were there to receive teaching, resources and recharge. But God by His grace had much bigger plans. When we arrived and were able to see what God is doing here, He allowed us to be a part of it! To listen, pray and share with the people we met and to serve them was so much more meaningful than just receiving. The coolest thing was that, when we served, encouraged and shared, we ourselves were massively blessed and encouraged!

The conference itself was really helpful. The time was intense and full of lots of teaching from a range of pastors. There were eight talks in total and we listened to five talks in one day on Friday! Through all this, God was speaking to me, guiding me and giving me renewed faith in His perfect plan. One of the challenges that impacted me was to have the passion and thirst in Christ for the people of Mexico that says “Give me Queretaro (for Jesus) or I will die”. Knowing forgiveness, love and hope in Jesus is the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I LONG for all of Mexico, all of Queretaro, the whole of the university of Queretaro to Jesus personally and intimately.

Another thing that impacted me during this time are these words that Jesus said to his disciples when we was on earth:

Jesus told him [Peter]: You can be sure that anyone who gives up home or
brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or land for me and for the
good news will be rewarded. In this world they will be given a hundred times as
many houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and pieces of
land, though they will also be mistreated. And in the world to come, they will
have eternal life. (Mark 10:29-30 CEV)

I really miss my family in Australia – my mum and dad, my brothers and sisters, my nieces and nephews. However, I have discovered in a new light during this time how much I have gained hundreds of brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, nieces and nephews here in Mexico. I feel so much a part of the family of God and have been encouraged and blessed with the generosity and openness of brothers and sisters here. Over the past few days I have met so many people with whom I’ve talked and prayed – sharing each others’ burdens and problems, joys and triumphs.

It has been particularly special to stay with Chris and Rosalba who opened their home and their lives to us. Our time with them has been awesome and I’ve got a stack of really cool memories. Chris is a bigtime encouragement. He pastors two churches in Tijuana and has been working here as a pastor for about 18 years. He is a massively humble guy and I appreciated the opportunity to share with him what God was doing down in Queretaro and the challenges we have been and are facing. It was exciting to hear of his heart to see people encounter Jesus here in Mexico and to raise up Mexican leaders to strengthen the church here. I also appreciated his balance of wisdom and a great sense of humour!

I’ve also had a lot of fun over the past few days. God knows that I love surfing and I was able to go for a surf at Cantamar where we were staying. Chris has a longboard that somebody gave him and he hasn’t used yet. He said GO FOR IT! So I went for it. As I was getting ready, I was so excited – the others could see that I was about to jump out of my skin. I ran down to the beach with the board and jumped into the water. It was great to get back out there even though I realised that I hadn’t been surfing for several months!!!

On Sunday night Martin, Sara and I went along to a Christian café in Tijuana called Todo Por Ti (All for you) with some of Sara’s friends. We drove through a maze of backstreets in Tijuana until we arrived at a big shed with a little door – Café Todo Por Ti: Café Cristiano. When we entered the little door we were transported into a vibrant space for young people complete with fuzball tables, air hockey, a pool table, indoor volleyball court, stage with musical instruments, indoor soccer field and lots of tables to hang out with friends. The café is open during the evening on Friday, Saturday and Sunday until late as a place that young people, particularly Christians can come to hang out with friends in a relevant atmosphere free from the pressures of bars and clubs. For me, it was a great place and mmmm, the coffee was really good too!

Faithful God!!!

The lead up to "5 de Julio" had been going for about 6 weeks with lots and lots to get organised! The aim of the event was to reach young people who don't know Jesus personally with His love and His message of hope. We also worked really hard as a leadership team to involve the young people of Horizonte in the process and see them grow throughout all the planning and preparation. I was in charge of organising publicity and live music for the event.

On Friday night, the 4th of July, we had a band rehearsal to prepare for the event. We played from just after 6:30pm until 11pm and rehearsed about 16 songs! Afterwards, I was stuffed! I was already starting to get a cold and my head felt awful! I wondered at that point how I was going to get through the day on Saturday with all that I had to do to help out. There were loose ends that had to be tied up and apart from that, I didn't want to just be there, I wanted to be there serving at 110% and chatting with young people! Also, the weather forecast didn't look too promising and most of the activities were planned for outside. In desperation, I prayed and also sent out an email to my friends to pray for me and the event. And guess what!? God answers prayer!

I woke up on Saturday morning, still feeling tired and a little bit under the weather, but got going and felt even better. I arrived at the church just after 10am and we were also supposed to have a rehearsal for music on Sunday morning (which I just didn't know how I was going to fit in doing that too!). Fortunately, not everyone was there so I started cleaning up the area ready for the band and getting the sound system ready. I then popped back in and we rehearsed a couple of songs and then went on with what we had to do. Meanwhile, there were thick clouds covering the heat of the sun trying to poke through...

We lifted up all the sound gear to the top of the Ark (yes, it was a Noah's Ark) via the ladder and I kept saying that I've got faith that it's not going to rain! Even so, we put some garbage bags and tarps up there just in case.

The loose ends started to tie up when some others on the team were able to help out getting some things printed and the event started!! The young people started to arrive and God continued to do His stuff!



Here are some photos of the event, including some of our final rehearsal.
The event included a rock climbing wall, grafiti competition, the Global Grounds cafe space (looking very cool I might add!), volleyball and ping pong, videogames, live music and food during the afternoon and a concert and panel discussion in the evening.

Our special guests from 100% were actually filming their TV show with us in the evening (which I didn't know beforehand) which made it both really cool, and a little bit clunky when they had to film a few entrances and exits for the show. The band was really, really funky and the young people got into the songs. Later, the panel worked really well around the theme of "Why?" with the young people submitting some awesome questions and the panel responding really well from a biblical point of view. The guys from 100% and the band Juan were good blokes with a huge heart for Jesus. At the end of the night, the young people were given a chance to respond to God's invitation to new life and forgiveness of their sin. We had quite a number of people respond both to accept Jesus for the first time or to give their WHOLE life to Jesus. We prayed with them and there was a party in heaven!!

Overall, I was really, really tired, but super happy to see what God did with our humble hands, feet, voices, drumsticks, coffee machines, church... etc... to impact young people for His glory! Thanks so much to those who have been praying for the event and the young people - I'm sure this is just the start of what God is doing here amongst the youth of Queretaro!! We still have lots of work to do!

Chain, chain, chain... chain of prayer

Apologies to Aretha F. for that title...

In the lead up to the event on the 5th of July, we spent a lot of time praying. We pray(ed) because we know that what we're involved in is bigger than us - it's something that God is doing. Also, we pray because we know that as humans, we stuff a lot of things up, and more than anything, we NEED God desperately to give us the strength, guidance, wisdom and life to be and do things that have forever value.

One of these times that we prayed was last Wednesday, 2nd of July. We had planned to have a bonfire with the youth and pray for the event on the 5th of July, but it was raining cats and dogs! Sidenote: Here in Queretaro, everyone is scared of the rain and nobody goes out when it's raining - some for good reason, others are genuinely freaked hehe. I had also forgotten to organise the rest of the band to play some music and lead our worship in song to God due to changes in plans. So we thought that nobody would show up and it would be a failure. God had other plans...

Nolan was coming to help me check out the sound gear, so he agreed to play bass. Job had been running a music and worship workshop with the youth so he agreed to play guitar and lead things and I asked myself and agreed to play drums. It was still raining when we started singing praises to God, but we lifted our 15 or 20-odd voices (about 15 or 20 of us, and only some of our voices were odd) and worshiped our Creator and Savior with all we had. It was a really awesome time! It was about half way through when I caught the reflection in the glass of the door... something yellow and orange, and moving!! Then I realised, the bonfire was lit! Afterwards, we went outside, the rain had stopped and gathered around the warmth of the flames. We joined together and thanked God for what he was doing, we prayed for our friends, we prayed for ourselves, we prayed for Queretaro, we prayed for the event and God heard and acted (see the post Faithful God).

God answers prayer.

Break a leg...

Bang, bang.... rrrrrr... pchoonk, pchoonk... these were just some of the sounds of progress during the week leading up to Cosas de Niños! The team from Buckhead Church in Atlanta, along with our team and volunteers worked long and hard (those words don't fully describe it!) to get the set ready, the place decorated, lights hung and configured and everything in place for a great start to our kids ministry. By Saturday night (read: Sunday morning when we finished) we were all VERY tired, but very excited because we saw that God had provided everything we needed to prepare and everything had come together!

Construction chaos


Steve rehearsing some kind of dance... I think that maybe, just maybe, that one didn't make the cut for Cosas de Niños


A very tired team just after we finished everything

So once all was in place, all that was left was to bring on the dancers, hosts and actors for Cosas de Niños!!!!
All went really well, we had a lot of fun communicating our theme of serving others in secret and I found it absolutely amazing to hear the laughs, heckling and shouts of the kids as we acted. My character turned out well and by God's grace I remembered most of my lines and was able to make up the rest in Spanish. I was really fortunate that the parts I improvised worked out okay because the night before I had improvised myself into a corner... hehehe... I starting talking about something then suddenly realised that I had talked myself into a world of vocabulary that I didn't know yet... who knows how to say "my secret cameras weren't connected to the video recorder and i missed all the footage"???

We finished with a big party on Sunday night for all the volunteers involved with kids at Horizonte and we ate tacos, had a Mariachi band and danced!!! Sooo much fun!