Sunday

Today was a great day to be with God's people here in Leon. They are wonderful people and we are blessed to fellowship with them. We are continuing on the topic of the "Renewed church" as our sermon series, and Omar did an awesome job preaching on Ezra 3 and 4 today. After the service, we were able to give out a certificate and gift to each of the kids that participated in the "Children of faith" VBS that we have done for the past 2 weeks. The coolest part was that all of their parents came and stayed for the worship, and half of the kids are not from our congregations so there was a huge evangelistic opportunity that God gave us. It was a packed house and all of the chairs were in use today, which is always a blessing. It means that the members are evangelizing and inviting more people. Our goal has always been to make disciples that make disciples, and God is making that goal a reality. Last night was our mens meeting, and although it was long and there were the typical tensions that these types of meetings hold, it was good to see men wanting to step up and serve. The months ahead are sure to be full of change, good change. Please pray for this group of believers, they are young and are still facing many of the challenges that a young church goes through. You are all in our prayers also. God bless - Ben

Letter

Recently We had a family visit us, after leaving this is what they had to say to some congregations that support us:
“ Omar and Tana have been working for six years. They are now in their 2nd 5 year contract with us. This will see them through the year 2014. Omar and Tana are now the only remaining couple out of the original three couples. * One family left 2 years ago after the completion of their commitment. *And the second family has just left after six years. It is my belief that in each of those two cases these were basically American families ready to return to their home country.* Interestingly, these two families will be missed, but there are already in place others that are willing to assume the leadership in this mission effort. One *family is a missionary family from Toluca Mexico already in place there. They are supported from a congregation out of Dallas. Also a former aimer in Leon, has married a girl from Leon, and they are making their home there and assisting in the church work. This family* is being supported from their home congregation in Alaska. In addition to these, a new missionary* family is in place in Guanajuato, and is planting a congregation there now with the assistance of the Leon men. We in fact worshiped with that congregation a week ago Sunday.
As all these changes happen and the families departed, there has been extra burden on the leaders left. This is a time when Omar would prefer to be planting more churches. But both of the above mentioned Leon men are capable of sharing that burden as time goes on. So, Omar continues in his desire to
plant more churches. He does have after all a huge energy source at his
disposal with 2 AIM teams now in place.
With the vision these men have to plant more churches, everyone will be
needed to assist in these efforts. Yet, Omar in all his humility is in need of all our support and more. Our collaboration of small congregations (including yours) and individuals here in Texas make up about 75% (more or less) of Omar’s stated budget goals. Moreover, it is my understanding that the funding is probably just adequate for them to get by. This is sad, because who wants to just get by? And just getting by can be disheartening/discouraging...we need to encourage not discourage.
There in Leon are the building blocks for a great work throughout Mexico. These men have a special gift for evangelism. They want to see more and more souls won for Christ, and not just in that single congregation. But in congregations that plant other congregations that plant other congregations.
These are rare individuals, especially Omar Palafox. Much needs to be done to keep them in that field. There must be encouragement to everyone to stay committed to this valuable effort. Please consider these points, and thank you for the opportunity to partner together in this effort for our Master.
In closing, on this recent trip, I recalled a trip that my daughter and I made the year before Omar and Tana arrived In Leon. We were on an AIM trip to Mexico City, and while there she and I caught a bus and traveled to Leon. When we arrived Omar's parents met us and gave us a whirlwind tour of the city (we only had about 4 hours). From that trip, we decided to begin our partnership with this remarkable family. Now, some 7 or 8 years later, there are over 100 souls worshipping the Lord in Leon. There are young congregations in the cities of Tequila, Tepic, Tepatitlan, and Guanajuato. There have been over 25 Aimers that have served in Leon. There are now 2 former Aimers interning in Leon. The congregation has now sent a young man from their own to preaching school in Ecuador. And finally there are two Aimers that came from the Leon congregation just now on the field in Scotland. None of this could have been possible without the support of congregations assisting.
Please, let us do all we can and more to assist and support this wonderful effort in the city of Leon, Mexico.”
Best regards, ***
** Names have been taken out and changed for privacy***


This is a letter sent from one of Omar and Tana Palafox' main supporters to various congregations that support them. It gives a good description of the work that is being done in Leon and what has happened in the past. The Palafoxes are an amazing missionary family and we are blessed to be working with them here in Leon. Please pray for all of the missionarys who are here in Leon trying to show Jesus to Mexico. God bless

AIM!!!

Since the congregation was planted in Leon many years ago, AIM students have been involved almost since the beginning. My team of AIMers was the second to be here in Leon, and we are now on our 4th team. The new class of AIM students started their time in Lubbock only a week ago, and it is time for the mission field co-ordinators to decide whether or not they will ask for a team to come from this years AIM class. Omar Palafox is an amazing missionary, and has done a great job of being a coordinator to the AIM teams that have came to Leon. It was looking like we werent going to ask for anymore AIMers, but he has decided (after much prayer and fasting) that it would be good to have one last, final AIM team for the Leon Sur church plant. The future could hold in store another AIM team for Leon, but would most likely be for a different church plant or coordinator. AIM has always blessed missionaries around the world, and we are excited to continue working with young people who have hearts for JESUS. Please pray for the 2010 AIM class and their future mission fields! God bless

Preaching

Being a light!

Friday night we began a lock-in for the youth that lasted until this morning. The theme was "Being a light" and we enjoyed the time spent together. Everyone took a test to see how "bright" their light was, and then based on their anwers they were divided into 3 groups. Bill, Ramiro and I taught the classes and the best part was seeing how much the group opened up. We also enjoyed singing, prayer, games, food, and just general good times. There were around 30 youth that showed up, and we had quite a few visitors. The group is taking on a new direction and the leadership is really starting to step up. Please pray for them to continue to shine Jesus' light on the city of millions of people.

Abraham

As many of you know, Bill Calderon and I have been spending time with and studying the Bible with our old friend Abraham, who was a Jehovah's Witness up until recently. Since then, he has been passing time with us and it has been good to see him grow. The cool thing is he has also been spending a lot of time with the AIMers, the missionary apprentices that are working here in Leon for a while. They are doing a good job of encouraging him and showing him how Christians interact with eachother. Please continue to pray for his journey and his salvation.

PS - in the picture, Abraham is with John McCoy's father and brothers who came to visit and also two of the guy AIMers. John is one of the AIMers who is working with us down here in Leon.

Last day of summer!

Well, not literally but it was our last day for the Summer classes out at Cañada Del Real. We focused on the same topics (Respect, Trust, and no-Violence) but used different stories and games to show the points. My group taught the story of Jesus calms the storm, and had the children make boats out of popsicle sticks (check out the video). Everyone worked really hard, including AIMers, interns, missionaries, and even John McCoy's family who was only here visiting! We are blessed to be able to show Jesus to the kids and people out there, and it is time well spent and worth the effort. Please pray for them that they continue to be ministered to by God's messengers. Thanks.