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

¡Feliz Navidad! Happy Christmas!

The Jones family dreaming of a white Christmas

We want to take this opportunity to wish you all a merry Christmas and a safe and happy new year. We also want to say thanks to everyone who has supported us, prayed for us, visited us and kept in touch throughout this year. Each one of you who maintains this connection with us, even by just reading the blog, is a massive blessing to us.

We invite you to remember the reason for the season - that the Creator God loved you and I so much that he sent his one and only Son, Jesus, to the Earth as a baby. At Christmas time we remember that Jesus was born, God in flesh and blood, living to show us what God is like and to show us how to live God's way in perfection. We also remember at Easter time his death, buying for us forgiveness of our sin with his blood. This is the good news - that God is not far off, God does not live in religious practices; God is near, a God of justice and forgiveness, a God who extends his grace to us and invites us to an intimate relationship with our Creator.

Have an excellent Christmas and don't forget the Christ in Christmas.

Phil, Sandy and Romi

Cafe progress

Hi all,

I know it's been a long time since we last updated and much has been happening. The reason for no updates has been our level of busyness - we're flat out!

Here are some recent photos of the constuction process - we're underway and with the pedal to the metal to get things ready. We haven't got a definite opening date because there's still many things to get done, but we are aiming for the last week of October or the first week of November.



God has been good to us and we have been given the coffee machine, grinder and coffee bar along with a few other items from the old Global Grounds café. We are managing the budget to try and fit out the café in the coolest way possible to make it an attractive hang-out for uni students.

We would love you to get excited about this ministry project and pray specifically that God would help us every step of the way in the cafe setup and opening to make an impact for the kingdom of God. Our goal is to make disciples and on the way to make some great coffee. Satan does not like it when God's people rise up to share the good news of Jesus and we have had some challenges along the way. Please pray for God's protection and strength each day as we seek to be and make disciples through all that we do, including the setup of the cafe.

We can't wait to share more of this exciting ministry project with you, so stay tuned!

The Soccer World Cup... a link to the good news

Last week we started sharing some great little booklets that have been produced by a youth ministry here in Mexico with students in the UAQ university. The booklets contain a plan of all the soccer matches during the world cup in South Africa and also the good news of Jesus with a testimony of a famous soccer player.


We have been inviting these students to our weekly outreach Bible study in the university. Please pray that God would prepare the hearts of these young people as we share a message of hope with them and that God would grow our Search group in line with His will.

Hasta luego!!

A great week

Can you feel the fun? This is a glimpse of the action during our holiday club last week. I am putting together a DVD for each of the families that has this video, some photos and a little message from us to each of the families.
We are planning our follow up with the kids and we are hoping to have an afternoon of activities at least once a month. Please pray for God's working the lives of these children and their families.

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!!!

A new friend

Yesterday we made a new friend. Her name is Christian. She arrived at our Search group at the university... searching! She works full-time and is studying English at night in the university. She saw our posters and they grabbed her attention. She has lots of questions and wants to know how she can draw closer to God and how to make wise decisions.
Sandy and I were able to share with her, along with another friend there in The Search group. We gave her a lift to her work and we're going to keep catching up with her to support her and share Jesus with her.

Please pray for Christian as she's searching for God, searching for answers and I know that in a relationship with Jesus, she's going to find all that she's looking for.

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.

Reaching out to uni students

Hey all,

Today I will be starting a bible study group for uni students with one of the guys I am discipling. We have the opportunity to meet with a group of students, both Christians and seekers, at the main university here, the UAQ. A couple of other missionaries had started the group at the end of the last semester, but they have moved to their permanent ministry location and the group was left without leadership.

We are really excited about the potential to share clearly the message of Jesus, form true disciples of Jesus and invest in future leaders. I am also encouraged to be able to invest in the life of my friend and disciple, Carlos M.

Please pray for the group as we start things up today, build relationships and seek to reflect Jesus in our actions and words. Please pray for young people that don't know Jesus to enter into a life-changing relationship with the Saviour of the world. Please also pray that we would be able to impact lives as we seek to make disciples.

Living for the glory of Jesus,
Phil

Finishing well in Costa Rica

I have had an incredible time in Costa Rica learning, growing and serving alongside an excellent team of people who love and follow Jesus Christ. I have been challenged and transformed by studying the life of Jesus chronologically and learning from the Master to be a disciple-maker and leader who serves.
I have made deep and lasting friendships here and I will miss sharing with those whom I have become so close with here. Here is a photo of the guys with whom I have shared my life and times of discipleship - being and making disciples of Jesus together.

Top row - Phil, Diego and Mark, Bottom row - Norman, Jorge and Checho.

I have been thinking about the words of Jesus' prayer in John 17 and I have been challenged by these words:

John 17:18 "As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world." (Jesus here is praying to his Father)

Jesus has given us as his disciples a sending into the world, to make disciples and to reflect Jesus to those around. As I have spent this time in Costa Rica, I have drawn closer to Jesus and I feel more than ever this call to go into the world (for me right now this is Queretaro, Mexico) and to make disciples. I know that this will mean suffering, difficulty, persecution, hard times and the need for lots of patience. But I also know that there is joy in serving God, blessing in obedience and the amazing privilege of serving the living God and being an ambassador for Christ.

Please pray for me in the coming days as I return to Mexico to continue being a disciple and making disciples of Jesus!!!

20 June Video update from Costa Rica

I hope you enjoy this video update!

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.

Serving at Principe de Paz

Since I arrived in Costa Rica, I have been attending church at Principe de Paz. Woody and Su Roland go to this church, as well as my friend David Obando whom I met at the IT conference in Ecuador.

During this time that I am taking Spanish classes, I am living quite close to the church and God has given me the opportunity to serve with the youth at Principe de Paz.

Each week I go along to the planning meeting with the leaders in formation and help out David (the youth pastor). On Saturday afternoons we have the youth group meeting and I have been able to help out being a part of the group, chatting with the young people and helping out with some of the activities and teaching. David has asked me to share with the youth in one of the bible teaching sessions in the next few weeks which is a real privilege. I have also been helping out with the music where I can... good times!

My heart is to see Latin American young people encounter Jesus and enter into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. I pray that in my time serving with Principe de Paz I can be a blessing and be used by God to help some young people take the next step in their journey of faith in Jesus.

Here are some photos of the crew taken last Saturday night...

Phil and Chris (a.k.a. negro... meaning black in Spanish, not insulting black people)
Da boyz
Jose Luis and Phil

Contracorriente... youth in Belen, Costa Rica

On Saturday afternoon I went with Diego and Wendolin to their youth group at Belen. On the way there we met up on the bus with three of the leaders being trained and discipled by Diego and Wendolin. Jonathon was giving out tshirts to the others and then he pulled out his first brown prototype which he gave to me! I said a big thanks and now felt part of the group!


On Saturday we went across to San Rafael and joined with their youth group to talk about discipleship. We had a good time of worship, getting to know each other and a challenging talk from Diego about discipleship.

In the gospel of John, Jesus says that he is the Way, the Truth and the Life. When we talk about Jesus as being the way, we can easily accept that... yeah, Jesus is the way, I'll cruise that way. But when we start to think of Jesus as the truth, he challenges us into deeper commitment and obedience. Finally, when we start to see Jesus as the life, it changes everything. Jesus calls us to give up everything, deny ourselves and follow Him. When we accept Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life, we start on a journey of being a disciple (learner) of Jesus. To be a disciple of Jesus is to live like Jesus did, live out the stuff that the Bible teaches, and to share Jesus, calling others to the same radical obedience to Jesus and sharing the journey with them.

Jesus has changed my life, is changing my life and will continue to change my life... where are you at with Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life? He continued to say that no-one comes to the Father (God) except through Him. Jesus is the only way and he's the BEST way because he meets you where you're at with grace, forgiveness and love and will take you on a journey of transformation that is beyond your wildest dreams.

Growth, Equipping and Service in Costa Rica

Hey all, I'm going to take the time over the next few days to get up to date with some blogging and communications. I'm currently staying with Woody and Su Roland (International Teams Regional Directors) in Costa Rica! Why, you say?

I'm here in Costa Rica for a period of around three months to spend some time serving the regional team here in terms of crisis and security plans (which was my job for 5-6 years prior to joining International Teams), spending some time taking my Spanish to the next level and also getting trained and equipped with the SonLife team with a focus on being and making disciples of Jesus Christ.

I am particularly excited about the opportunity to grow in my personal relationship with Jesus as I study the life of Jesus as a basis for making disciples. We have a massive need for deep, intense, biblical discipleship amongst young people in the ministry in Queretaro, so I'm very privileged to have the opportunity to be here for this time of training so that I can put it into practice in Mexico.

Here is a quick video about the SonLife ministry here in Costa Rica...



I have a growing album of photos of my experience here in Costa Rica. Click here to see them!

People searching...

Just got back home from having a coffee with a friend and his cousin. My friend has been chatting with his cousin about Jesus for a long time and his cousin is on a journey of questioning and searching. We had a great time chatting and then waited with him for his bus.
Afterwards, my friend and I were waiting for the bus on the other side of the street when a young woman selling tamales (umm... a corn/wheat thing) came and offered us tamales. We started chatting with her and she asked me for how many days I was here. The math was too difficult to work out on the spot, so I told her I was here for two years and she asked me if I was studying or working. I explained that I was working with the Christian community here, particularly with young people. We got to chatting about the church community that we are a part of and she started explaining how difficult life is and that she has lots of challenges in her life. She was interested in coming along to experience church with us so we wrote down the church's details for her and invited her along on Sunday. She said she hoped the 10% tithe wasn't too much there and we chatted about our belief that what we give as an offering to God is voluntary and an act of thanks and worship to God - not an obligation. She seemed pretty relieved.

Hmm... it reminds me that people all around are searching. Searching for meaning to their exisitence, and help in their tough times. I regret now not buying a tamale from Jessica, really, I just wasn't hungry! But I pray that the conversations that God brings my way, the kindness I am able to show, reflect Jesus Christ to the world that really needs His love.

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!!

God’s Way Camp

Cruising down the highway for Cuernavarca, I didn't have any idea of how fantastic the weekend would be. After a quick stop-off in the city of Cuernavarca for the comida, and following some of the organisers down the wrong road (they were collecting the signs they had put on the road giving incorrect directions to the camp hehe), we arrived at Camp Kikoten.

Camp Kikoten is just out of Cuernavarca which is about 45 minutes or a bit more south of Mexico City. The theme of the camp was 1 Timothy 4:12 - Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.

One of the most impacting times for me was in the Friday night session when we had a time of worship and we sang (in Spanish) the song "Lord I Give You My Heart". This song was the song I chose for my baptism just about 10 years ago. It connected with me in a new way as I remembered how God has brought me through so many things to arrive here and that he has much more in store for my life. I can't believe that I'm here in Mexico, serving Him, being used to impact the lives of others. God is growing me lots and in that moment I remembered once again that I have to leave everything in God's hands, let go of my own pride and let God work. After I spent a little time reflecting and writing some things down that I wanted to say to God, I felt so much joy and freedom! I wanted to shout out how good God is! It was something really cool for me and another step in my journey with God.

The rest of the weekend was awesome also – a great balance of fun activities and great bible teaching. My favourite was a talk on love and purity by Jaime Foote (www.semillacuerna.com) which was very relevant and impacting for us blokes.

Check out some of the photos!

Thankfulness

Sometimes what is apparent is just the surface...
10 days after our event on the 5th of July, we had a party to celebrate what God had done in and through the event, to give thanks to God for being so good to us and to share stories!
We resurrected the Global Grounds space at the church which turned out to be really, really cool and got a band together to help us sing to God that He's the best!
Here are some photos of the fun!

Lots of stories were shared, actually, everyone got up and shared something that God had taught them, someone they met, how they had grown or some encouragement for those around.

Ric shared how he was amazed by the way God stopped the rain the week before the event for our bonfire, then on the day of the event (when even the pastor said it would rain!) so that we could enjoy the activities outside and the beautiful sun.

One of the teenage girls shared how she had arrived at the church early by chance and really didn't want to help out, but everyone kept asking her to lend a hand. She told us how God had used this to help her see how cool it was to help out others and then how she was impacted by the presentation during the event and even though she had grown up in a Christian home, decided it was time to give her whole life to Jesus.

Another guy shared how he had come to know Jesus because one of the other teenagers had prayed for him and invited him along to the youth events just over two years ago. He is so thankful that he knows Jesus as his friend and saviour and is part of the community. Now he had the opportunity to invite his friends along to the event (and he brought lots) to introduce them to Jesus too!

Another one of the teenagers was going to go on holidays on Saturday morning and wasn't going to be able to go to the event. She said she had been praying that something would change and she would be able to go because she really wanted to be a part of it. Through a turn of events, the family's travel plans changed and she was able to go to the event and then leave for her holiday afterwards!

A lot of the young people shared that they were excited about the event, but really believed that nobody would come. One by one they shared that that had been suprised and impacted by God's faithfulness in bringing along people to the event - friends, relatives, neighbours, people that we didn't expect - and that there were lots and lots of young people.

For me, the event was impacting in a stack of ways. I was excited to see the teenagers playing music in front of their friends for the first time and singing that they believed in Jesus and give Him glory and honour. I was excited that we had several teams of grafiteros come along and express themselves with awesome artwork. I was amazed by the quality and message of the winning artwork. I was encouraged to see the Global Grounds cafe space fully decked out and operating again. I was encouraged to see the way God is putting excitement in the hearts of young people to reach their world and to live a life worth of the calling that have received. I am excited that God is allowing me to be a part of what He is doing here in Queretaro!