Shoes . . . .

A few weeks ago, we had the very exciting opportunity to go deliver 52 pairs of shoes that our church Brainerd Baptist had purchased to give to children at a church in a needy community. The church is a very small church with about 10 - 15 adults that attend every Sunday but about 40 - 50 kids! They are praying that by reaching the kids they will reach the parents as well and it seems to be working! Yesterday, they had a program at their church with the children and invited all the parents and family members. The church was so packed out there were people standing outside! The little girls all dressed up like princesses and sang an adorable song to show how we are all princes and princes of God sings He is a king and we are his children! The little boys dressed up like soliders because we are in the Lord's army! It was an adorable program and at the end the gospel message was presented but not before Travis and I got the best gift ever - we got to hand out the shoes! The shoes were given to the 52 children that had regular attendance to the church for the past 4 months. There were a few that had come for only the first or second time and we did not have shoes for them but the pastor and his wife said it was incentive for the kids to keep coming. It was such a joy to hand shoes to the children and to hear their laughs and see their smiling faces.

After the service, it was time for Pinatas! All the children and adults chanted for (Tra - bis) to have a turn!

Thank you so much Brainerd Baptist for your awesome gift to these awesome people!

It was such a wonderful day - we finished it off with some good food and fun times at cards with some of our Mexican friends, Memo, Ale, Pablo, Jess, y Susy.

God is so good!

Thank you all so much for your prayers for my Christmas Gathering I hosted last night. Let me just tell you, God is SO good. I was hoping that maybe 3 or 4 ladies would come and we had 7 not including me and another missionary friend! We had so much fun eating together, talking together, laughing together, playing games together, and my friend Jessica presented the gospel and what Christmas means to her. While no one prayed to receive Christ last night, she presented a powerful message and the Bible says that its words will not return void. I was looking for an open door to get together with this group again and the ladies actually brought up to me about having an English class in my apartment! I said okay, how about once a month and they said no, once a week! This is going to be a real challenge for me because we are often out of our part of town and busy with teams but God is so good in that He has provided this opportunity to meet with these ladies weekly. I am praying that through these English classes I will be able to further share with them the gospel and God's love.

Although sometimes times are tough, we are reminded again and again that we are exactly where God wants us to be for this season of our life. We thank you so much for your prayers dear friends and ask that you continue to lift us up to the Father as we are working here in Mexico. For me - as I am trying to juggle our groups and reach out the ladies in my apartment building and for Travis as he is juggling school, the groups, and is trying to find ways to reach out and build relationships with the men.

Thank you again dear friends and May God bless,

Danielle

God is so good!

Prayer request

Dearest friends, please pray as I prepare for this Women's Christmas Gathering on Friday night. There are so many things that need to come together. Please pray that the message of the gospel will be clear and that the ladies hearts and eyes will be opened to the truth. Pray that ladies COME and that they feel warm, welcome, and at home here and that they want to come BACK and here more about Jesus.

I can feel the enemy attacking on all fronts. Pray for me that I won't let Satan's many lies stand in my way. Pray that I won't be stressed ( yes, I realize a miracle must occur), that I won't be discouraged, and pray that I will be strong and take courage for many many years ago in the city of David in a little town called Bethlehem a SAVIOR was born!

The party begins at 7:30 pm on Friday evening ( this is 8:30 EST).

Much love,

Danielle

Alot to talk about . . . .

We have had so much going on I haven’t had time to blog. Here is an update of what we have been up to for the past few weeks.

We had our last English Club of the semester with the College Students at UNAM and had 2 new girls come. They are very interested in coming back and we hope to see them next semester.
Travis parents came for a visit and we enjoyed our time visiting with them and were able to do lots of touristy things we don’t have the chance to do very often. Also, our home church,

Brainerd Baptist bought 52 pairs of shoes for some children that a local church is trying to minister to. We had the privilege of going shopping with the pastor and his wife and mother in law to pick out the shoes for the kids. It was such a fun experience. Now they are all stacked in our living room waiting until their special Christmas program on December 20th to hand them out.

This past week, two of our sweet neighbor little girls brought us a dessert that they ( and I am sure their mom) had made us. It was so precious it almost made me cry!

Snow sledding in Mexico? That's right. In the Zocalo which is the cities square they have a huge ice skating rink set up as well as a snow hill, place to make snowmen, a snowball fighting room, and a snowmobiling course. Talk about fun!

Friday night, we had the opportunity to go with a local church to deliver Tortas ( a sandwich with beans, ham, mayonnaise, cheese, and jalapenos) and coffee to a local hospital to the people waiting outside the hospital to be seen or on family members. The church group had a small service and we were able to talk to several people about the gospel and one lady prayed to receive Christ! It was a really neat time and we hope to do this again.

Saturday of this week was the Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe here in Mexico. People travel on foot or by bicycle from all over the country to pay homage to the virgin and to celebrate her. They literally walk for miles and miles and weeks and weeks carrying pictures or statues of Mary in their arms and on their backs. We saw people everywhere on Friday and Saturday and there were fireworks going on all night long. It was so sad for us to think that people have such dedication to such a void religion. We can only pray that they will find the one who truly desires such respect and honor – Jesus Christ.

Today is Travis’ final for his Ethics class. He has been working so hard and studying away. I am so proud of him because he has worked hard and made A’s on all his papers for this semester! Please pray for him today as he takes his final. Also pray as he is gearing up to take TWO classes next semester – it will be a lot to juggle with our busy schedule.

This week will be busy meeting with pastors, getting things together for our teams in January and planning for when my parents come to visit. We are also working on filling up the empty dates on our calendar for next year. We have many teams coming next year but are praying for God to bring us even more. We want more teams so we can help more churches grow and tell more people about Jesus!

This Friday evening, December 18, I am having a “Christmas Gathering” for my neighbor ladies and some of my friends here in Mexico. Most of these ladies are not Christians. I am having food, a game or two, and my friend Jessica (whom is also a pastor’s wife here in Mexico) is going to come share what Christmas means to her with a specific evangelical thrust. Please pray for this gathering. Pray that ladies would come and that their hearts would be open to hearing the gospel and getting to know Travis and I better so that we might share more with them. Pray also for Jessica that God would give her the words to say and that she would present clearly the gospel in a very nonthreatening way so that they might not be turned off to the message of salvation but very open to hearing about the only One who brings hope and life.

Thanks so much for all of you who have blessed us with your prayers, encouragement, gifts to us and to our ministry, and gifts to Lottie Moon. We are so thankful for each and every one of you and could not be here if it were not for you.

God bless,

Travis and Danielle

Quick Update . . . .

Quick update . . . .

This past weekend, we attended a college ministry conference. It was a great time of worship and listening to what other ministers to Mexican youth and college

students had to say about college ministry.

Today, we had our last "English Club" of the year. We had two new students join us and had a great time fellowshipping with them. Please pray for us as we are continuing to try to build relationships with the college students here at UNAM and encourage them.

Ciao for now!

Blessings Abundant . . . .

Wow, it has been a long time since I have posted. We have had a lot going on but not a whole lot extremely exciting.


Tonight, Travis and I just got back from a long long day trip to meet with a pastor at his church whom we will be working with in the future. Currently, I am checking out Christmas music on I-tunes and gearing up for the season, listening to Tony Bennett " I'll be home for Christmas" and having a pity party because I will NOT be home for Christmas neither will I be heading out for some Black Friday shopping deals the day after tomorrow. Blessings abundant - both our parents, my brothers, and one dear friend will make it down to visit and we will be having Thanksgiving dinner here with all the other missionaries tomorrow but it just isn't the same. Then, I started having pity parties about all sorts of other things. It was then that I decided, in honor of the season, to make a list of all the things I was thankful for specifically here in Mexico and share them with you.

So, here it goes.


We regularly experience a language barrier - This may seem to be a discouragement instead of a blessing. At times it is. However, I am looking to the positive side of things today and opening myself to a new realm of possible "joys." We do speak Spanish. It is not perfect Spanish with a beautiful accent but it is Spanish. However, some days I feel like all I want to do is SCREAM because I can't communicate as fast or as much as I want to - this is the tough part - However, this is probably a good thing. I have to really think about each word I am saying which makes it a lot easier for me to catch myself before saying unkind words or making derrogatory statements - blessing and a curse - what can I say? I am thankful.

We get to eat authentic Mexican food - Many of you may think you have had the real deal. You may suppose that Amigo's restaurant counts as authentic Mexican cuisine because it is run by hispanics or some of you may even consider Taco Bell on your list of international cuisines. However, until you have tried Irma's Chiles Enogadas, Lolita's Enchilada's Suizas, Hilda's rice and beans, or fresh tortillas straight off the griddle with lime, salt, and a dab of salsa - You have no idea what the real deal is - and I feel sorry for you. In Mexico City, we get to eats lots of yummy ( and fattening) Mexican food and boy do Mexicans know how to cook it up right!

We live in a city filled with beautiful history and culture - Just tonight as we were driving out to the church we were visiting, we passed the ruins of two huge Mayan pyramids, a couple of several century old churches, and a sign pointing us to where some ancient aquaducts reside. We are priviledged to live in such a city where every day is a learning experience as we get to see many parts of history and participate in learning a new culture.

We get to recognize daily how blessed we are - It is so easy being from such a great and wonderful country filled with all kinds of wealth to never realize the true meaning of "having little" or "roughing it." It is so easy for me to think that I am doing without when my hot water doesn't work or when they don't have canned biscuits at the grocery store. And then God directs us to a home that has no running water at all or where the people are struggling on a daily basis just to have food on the table. Some of the people here in Mexico are among some of the poorest I have ever seen. We have been in multiple homes that have no water, no real floor, no real . . . ANYTHING! Many many many times, I have felt compeled to complain about our situation to my husband and he ( and God) gently remind me of how much we have and how blessed we really and truly are.

The blessings just keep going on and on but this is all I have for now. Please pray for us this week as we are away from our families during the holidays.

The week with Brainerd . . . .

Last week our home church, Brainerd Baptist came all the way from Chattanooga, Tennessee to work with us here in Mexico. We worked in three little pueblos outside Mexico City. It was such an awesome week! We had nightly “revivals” where the Hispanic pastor at Brainerd, Carlos, preached each night. We had VBS nights for over 250 kids total throughout the week and did Bible Stories, crafts, games, songs, snacks, and movies. We did “gospel saturation” during the day and gave out gospels to the people in the community. We went to the homeless ministry and fed over 400 homeless men and women. We saw several come to Christ and made several good contacts in the community for the churches to follow up with. We were loved on by the people and walked away feeling like we were the ones who received the greatest blessing of the week.

There were also some firsts for groups we experienced personally with this church this week . . .

- Hiked through the woods in the dark to get to the church we would be working at

- Spent the first night of our stay in the dark when the power went out

- Held VBS one night in a home that you had to hike through the woods to get to. The home had no running water – the toilet was flushed with a bucket and the shower was a garbage can filled with water

- Trekked up and down MOUNTAINS to deliver gospels door to door

- Crammed 16 people into our 8 passenger van to go to lunch one day

- Were prepared and ate all kinds of wonderful Mexican food until we couldn’t eat any more

- Stayed an entire week under the generosity of a Mexican lady in her home

- Learned to “praise dance.”

- Watched Veggie Tales and Hermie movies over and over again in Spanish

- I held a one week old baby at the Homeless shelter

- And the list goes on . . . .

We had a wonderful wonderful week and we cannot thank Brainerd Baptist Church enough for sending this group down to work with us or the group enough for coming! We love you BBC!

Chiles en Nogadas and a Major Prayer Request . . . .

Yesterday afternoon, I met with a couple of missionary ladies and some Mexican ladies to learn to make Chiles en Nogadas a very traditional Mexican dish. I enjoyed the time so much cooking alongside these ladies , laughing, and having a great time. It was a lot of hard work but the finished product was beautiful and tasty.







We have a huge prayer request – Today, Travis and I went to the areas we will be working with our team next week. All the areas we will be working in have a very strong Catholic influence and stronghold. One area in particular is especially Catholic – the pastor has told us that if the people of this small town find out about Christians living there they will cut off their water, not allow them to buy things from the local stores, and not allow their children to attend school in the town. There are very very few Christians in the town and only this one small church. When the people of the town found out that next week we are coming to do VBS and a worship service for the adults, they planned children’s events for the same evenings to deter people from coming to this small church. We know that God wants to do something very powerful in this community and that the evil one is doing everything he can to prevent that from happening. Please pray for this group as they are coming next week, pray for the community we will be working in, and the work that will be done there.

We appreciate you all so very much!

The end of a great week . . . .

Well, the team from Eagle Heights Baptist Church in Harrison, Arkansas left today after a wonderful week. They came SO FAR on their construction project and we are so thankful that they were here working with us. Next week is our week "off" ( filled with a women's Bible Study, University ministery project, preparation for the upcoming group, car tag renewal - which could be an all day event, and looking for an apartment for a new collegue - we will still be very busy.) Next Saturday, the group from Brainerd Baptist Church in Chattanooga, TN is coming - our home church and town! We are so excited that they are headed this way - we cannot wait to see what God is going to do in San Luis Ayucan where we will be working. Please pray for us as we getting ready for the team to come next weekend. Pray that we will get much needed rest before they get here and will be ready with fresh hearts to serve the Lord.

We appreciate you all so very much and would love to hear from you. Remember you can always email us at: travisanddaniellemexico@gmail.com and we also have Skype - just look up Travis Rann in Mexico City.

Con amor,

Travis y Daniella

Victories oh, Victories

The guys here from Arkansas, Travis, David, and the Mexican gentlemen have been working hard this week and have made a TON of progress. What a victory to be almost ready to pour the concrete for the roof! Travis has enjoyed his time working alongside these guys and I have enjoyed helping with their food for the week. We are so thankful that they are here and are so pleased with the progress they have made.

Small victories for myself this week - I have now made several journey's by car around town all on my lonesome. I have now successfully made it by myself to school and back several times, to Walmart and back several times, and to Sam's and back several times. Today, I felt that I made a tremendous victory in my driving endeavors. I decided I was going to go out during lunch hour traffic and make my way to a craft store similar ( but not really ) to Michael's. I just wanted to check it out and see what they had ( fake flowers and beads - nothing terribly exciting.) Anyway, off the side of a busy street, I began to pull into the parking garage for the store ( very common here). As I was about to pull in, I noticed that there was no way that my giant twelve passenger van was going to make it into this garage without completely scraping the top. So, I backed out and pulled back out into crazy traffic and made my way to another parking garage, got my ticket, walked down the road, went inside, returned, payed for my ticket, attempted to leave the parking garage, got stuck in the "Salir" line when a lady apparently didn't know you had to pay BEFORE leaving, had to back my big van up in a long line of traffic, left the lot, and began another adventure on the way to Sam's. I wish you could see the traffic here and the way the roads are set up and then you would understand why this is a huge deal. Thankfully, I am somewhat getting accustomed. I can now play the game - "Blinker? What's that?!" " Red light?Oh, optional." "Taking one turn lane and making it into 6- normal." I have included a picture for your viewing pleasure today - this is just a mere sample of this mornings traffic on the way to our job site. You can't tell a whole lot but one day I am going to take video - until then, enjoy.

End of group one, Beginning of group two, and the Preacher man . . . .

Well, we had a wonderful week last week with the group from West Conroe Baptist Church in Conroe, Texas. We passed out gospels, shared the gospel message, fed the homeless, did a mini VBS with two groups of Tarasco's, gave a little help with a construction project, painted, did a mini VBS for a Children's home, and cleaned up a park. Wow - a lot was accomplished. We had a sharing time and dinner at our home on Friday night and then the group left Saturday morning. We appreciate so much their willingness to come and serve with us for a week.

Saturday, after Group One left, Group Two came in. These are a group of guys from Eagle Heights Baptist Church in Harrison, Arkansas. These gentlemen are here to help add on to a local missionary school. They have been working hard every day to give these kids a better place to learn. We are so thankful that they are here!

Several weeks ago, Travis was asked by a local pastor friend if he would be willing to preach this past Sunday at his church. Travis' first reply was that he didn't preach. However, in the end he gave in and did a wonderful job. I was so proud to see my sweet husband preaching the word of the Lord in front of a congregation for the first time - and in Spanish nonetheless! This church that he preached at is absolutely amazing! They meet in a home and there are few members but every week they have over 25 kids show up! They are working hard to reach their community and we are praying for a group to come down from the States to partner with them for a week!

We appreciate so much all your prayers and support. Keep praying for this group that is here with us now and pray also for the group that is to come the week after next. We love you and appreciate you!

Ciao chicos!

Travis y Daniella

More from the group this week . . . .

More from the group this week . . . .
Wednesday of this week, the group went to hand out gospels with a local church in the neighborhood where the church was located. We had several wonderful contacts and one family even asked the pastor to come teach the Bible to them in their home! Hallelujah!

My group encountered a young man who desperately needs the Lord. This young man told me that he really didn’t know what he believed.

He said he wasn’t sure if God existed because he didn’t have proof and that he thought he might believe in reincarnation because he heard some about it in a class once. He was really searching. Our group was able to give him the gospel of John and share with him the gospel message.

He left still confused about his true beliefs but I pray we planted a seed that day in his heart.

That afternoon, the men in our group went to work on a construction project with the missionary school while the ladies went out to do a mini vacation Bible School with an indigenous group called the “Tarascos.” We were not able to take any pictures of these people but were able to sing songs, tell Bible Stories and do crafts with the children. These groups come from the state of Michocan in Mexico and make furniture for a living. They live in the same tents they make furniture in with no running water and nothing over their heads but a tarp and under their feet . They typically marry at about 13 or 14 and then work in their groups “business” for the rest of their lives. Spanish is this groups second language with their indigenous language being their first. It was such a pleasure to be able to go do VBS with two of these groups .

Thursday morning, we

went to a local children’s home where we were able to paint a room that the children play in, have another mini VBS, and deliver coats to each child that the groups church donated and brought with them.
Travis spent the day with another gentleman from a group coming Saturday, working on a construction project at the school.

It has been a great couple of days and we are looking forward to tomorrow!

Equipo Numero Uno

Our first team came in on Saturday from West Conroe Baptist Church in Conroe, Texas. It is a very small group - just three people - but they are doing a great work!
Yesterday, about twelve nationals came out to help and we were able to distribute almost 3,000 gospels in downtown Mexico City! Seven prayed to receive Christ and several great contacts were made for this small house church to follow up with.

Today the group went to the Homeless Ministry to serve lunch where Travis and I try to help with each Tuesday and then afterwards went out for a little sightseeing.

Tomorrow, the group will do more gospel distribution and then a bible school in the evening with an indigenous group.

Please pray for the group this week as they are serving in different communities in Mexico City. Pray for their continued health and strength. Pray also that God would be able to break past language and cultural barriers to use them in these communities.

Please also pray for Travis and I this week as we continue to struggle with where God is leading in several areas of our lives. Also pray for Travis as he is giving his first sermon ever this Sunday - and it is in Spanish!

A Good Week

Last week, we had the opportunity to visit UNAM ( a local university) for a college praise service. It was a wonderful opportunity for us to meet other young people around the city and have a time of praise and worship to our Father.

Last weekend, we introduced our Mexican friends to the card game, Phase Ten. It ended up being a huge hit and after some good American cooking, we played until late at night. We are so blessed that God provided us with such wonderful friends here in Mexico that love the Lord and with whom we can fellowship.

We cannot tell you how much your prayers and words of encouragement mean to us. Keep them coming and as you pray for us this week please remember to pray for the team that is coming this Saturday.

Much love,

T and D

Mi casa es su casa

I always thought that the saying "Mi casa es su casa" was just some kind of joke saying. However, we have found that the people here in Mexico are so warm and friendly and have been told this several times upon visiting someone's home. I hope I can develop the same kind of selfless spirit they have in being so warm and welcoming to people who are in many ways complete strangers to them. I just thought that was such a neat thing I wanted to share.

We have been up to a lot the past week - visiting a local University group, homeless ministry, visiting a new church, time with new friends, trying to "recruit" teams, meeting new local pastor's, and getting over a bizarre flu like bug.

Tomorrow we have plans to meet with a local pastor we will be working with on a mission project in the near future and Friday we are planning on attending a college event with a local Christian college group.

Prayer Requests:

- We will continue to get over our "sickness."
- God would continue to bring us national partners and friends that we can work with to spread his love in Mexico City.
- I will be able to build relationships with the ladies in our apartment building and Travis with the men.
- God will provide groups to fill our many open spaces for next year.
- The three teams we have coming in October.

Praises:
- New national friends!
- Travis is working hard and doing well in his seminary class - I am so proud of him!
- New possible national contacts

Hasta luego!

Shrieks in the grocery store

Travis and I made a huge spectacule of ourselves a couple of days ago when traveling through the grocery store. As I was passing through the sour cream and butter, I happened upon cans of cinnamon rolls and biscuits. I began shrieking at Travis across the store who had began to go off in the opposite direction. He came running back to me and started shouting in amazment at the cinnamon rolls on the shelf. Then, he attempted to take ALL the cans off the shelf and put them into our basket. I had to explain to him that we couldn't possibly eat 10 cans of cinnamon rolls and 8 cans of biscuits before their expiration date one month from now. We were laughing, probably almost crying, as we held these amazing creations. We haven't seen such things in almost a year. I know that the people around us thought we were absolutely loco. A couple of white people in a grocery store full of Latinos creates enough of a commotion as it is but I am sure you can find cell phone videos on You-Tube of the crazy Gringos going nuts over a couple of cans of dough.

I promise we are not obsessed with food. It is just one of the instances where familiarity can breed comfort- sometimes a small taste of home can bring such joy, such comfort, and such shrieking in the grocery store.

Independence Day Fun

Wednesday was Independence Day here in Mexico. We were invited to a friends house for an afternoon of fun. We ate wonderful Sopes and Tostados, played games, and laughed a lot - especially at the Gringos playing Pictionary in Spanish. Here is a picture of Memo with his girlfriend Alejandra sporting his cool Mexico mustache and sombrero. In the other picture, Pablo and Jessica are working hard at the Pictionary game.





Gracias amigos para este buen tiempo con ustedes. Era una bendicion para nosotros. Nos vemos! Daniella



- Word of update: Still no water.

Our Week in Review

We have had a rather busy week and a half. We have seen God work in neat ways as we are preparing for teams to come and asking God to send us nationals to partner with. We are excited about what is going on here in the city.

One fun thing of the week - We saw this guy driving down the road the other day and just had to take a picture. It is amazing where you can find pieces of home. Go Vols!

A neat project we were involved with last week is helping flood victims There has been a lot of flooding in parts of Mexico City in the past couple of weeks. Many families lost much of what they owned. Because of Southern Baptists gifts to Lottie Moon, we were able to do a great work in helping purchase some of basic life necessities for some of those who were touched by these floods. Thank you for giving to Lottie Moon and the Cooperative program!

Sunday, we had the priviledge of visiting with a church just outside of Mexico City where our home church, Brainerd Baptist is going to be bringing a team in October. It was such a fun service with lots of music and young ladies playing the tambourine and doing interpretive dance in praise to the Lord. We are so excited about how God is going to use this church and the team from Brainerd to affect this community.

Monday, we made a short little trip to the nearby city of Puebla. We were able to see some of the beautiful Spanish architecture, pottery, and the nearby ruins of one of the Aztec pyramids. It was a nice time to relax before we start being really busy in the next couple of weeks.

In other news, our apartment has been without water since Saturday. That's right, I said NO WATER since Saturday. Apparently a water pump broke down the street and they still have not been able to fix it yet. We have been taking showers and flushing our toilets with pitchers of bottled water. Here is a picture of my goofy husband standing outside in the rain to get some water to flush the toilet. I was complaining of our plight today when Travis reminded me of a home he went to visit just a couple of weeks ago. The family in the home has NO running water. They always take showers from buckets of water and flush their toilets with pitchers of water. We are just experiencing for a few days what they live with in daily life. We are praising the Lord that this is not the norm for us - it was a blessing that Travis was allowed to be a guest in the other families home to help humble us in this experience.

Here are just a few highlights from our week - we hope yours is going well and appreciate so much the prayers.

Until later - Hasta luego!

A Quick Note

Dear friends,

As I am sitting on my couch this morning worshipping the Lord through praise music and preparing to have my quiet time, my heart is so full of so many things that I felt I needed to put up a quick post before we get ready to head out for the day.

We have had so much going on this week. We visited the homeless ministry and I saw the little sweet baby and her family that I was able to cuddle last week. We were also able to go visit a site that we are taking a team in October to do a mission project ( I will post pictures later). We are so excited about this team coming - from our home church, Brainerd Baptist - and cannot WAIT to see how the Lord is going to work!

I made chocolate chip cookies last night to deliver to my neighbors this afternoon with an invitation for the ladies of the apartments to come to my home for a get together Sunday night. My intention is to get to know each of them better and to also see if anyone would be interested in having a Bible Study with me. I am a little scared - okay a lot scared. Please pray for me as I seek to timidly step out and build a relationship with these ladies. Pray that I would be bold and courageous and that they would accept me. There is two - fold purpose in this plan of mine. One part is that I might share the gospel with my neighbors. Part two is that I might make FRIENDS! It can be very lonely being the only one of your "kind" in a country where you basically know no one. My wording sounds like we are a couple of aliens who just landed in from another planet but some days that is how we feel!

Also pray for Travis and I and our team member David as we go to the North of the city to look at some of the recent flooding damage to see how we might can help minister to those people in that part of the city. There is so much need in this city and we are praying for the Holy Spirit to lead our team to where and how we can best serve.

Hasta luego friends,

Danielle

Buttered Pecan Ice Cream and a Baptism

I drove to the store ( by myself I might add - if you had to drive here you would be proud too) and I found THIS . . . .

I paid a small fortune for this amazing wonder but I think it was well worth it. I think that this itself could make up an entire post but felt like I should let you in on a little of what we have been up to for the past few days.

Thursday, we had a chance to visit a local MK school were our teammate’s children attend school. The school is growing and needs more space and so they are beginning a project of adding on a second level to part of the school building. We have a team coming to help with this project in October but are feeling it may be too big for one group and are praying that a team might come in November or December of this year or the beginning of next year to help finish this project as well as another construction project with the Homeless ministry in downtown Mexico City. This ministry has a clinic in the basement that needs a lot of work. The clinic has many of the building materials already but just needs someone to come in and complete the projects. If you are interested in helping us with both or either of these projects please contact us.

Friday, we had the opportunity to visit a children’s home ran by a local church in the area. This is a place where we would LOVE to be able to take a team. There are so many needs they have and so many things that a team could do such as: give the house parents a break by cleaning the house; doing a VBS with the children; playing and loving on the children giving much needed one on one attention; help to sort and organize the home; donate school supplies, toys, and clothes; offering a week of ESL classes or crafts and the list goes on and on. The house parents and the church do an EXCELLENT job but funds are tight and there is only so much that two people can do at one time for 10 children. Here are some pictures of the children’s home as well as a couple of the precious little children who live there. If you are interested in bringing a team to work with this children’s home, please contact us and let us know.

Today, we had the opportunity in participating in a Baptismal service. One entire family among our house group churches in the city came to know Christ after their son became a believer and then led his entire family to the Lord! They were baptized today in a service in one of our missionary family’s front yards in what I believe was a water tank with the top cut off. I would like to tell you that today it was about 59 degrees where we were in the city and raining. It was so neat to see how these people desired to follow the Lord in obedience so much that they didn’t care about the temperature or the fact that they weren’t doing it in a nice baptistery in a pretty church. I was amazed at their faithfulness to the Father.

Dear friends, we cannot thank you enough for your prayers and have felt each and everyone. Our prayer requests for this week:

- God would provide the right teams for the right projects at the right times

- Travis would have the patience and time to do his seminary work with dilligence that honors the Lord.

- Health of all our teams members

We thank you dear friends!

Until all have heard,

Travi and Dani ( these are our new adopted names by the locals)

God is SO good!

What a week we have had, dear friends ! We have been incredibly busy and loving every minute of it! Here are our past several days in review:

Friday and Saturday, I had the privilege of attending the Beth Moore “Living Proof” Simulcast. That’s right – here in Mexico City! Talk about an awesome experience!
Tears came to my eyes almost immediately as we began praising the Lord in MY heart language. I had no idea how much I missed worshiping the Father in the language of my birth in a large group setting and how much I took for granted that ability when I had the opportunity my entire life until now. As I stood there in the room with Hispanic ladies and English speaking ladies, I was reminded of how special and wonderful my God is and how much He does for me. This small gift He gave me this weekend lifted my spirits and my heart in a way I never thought possible.

Sunday, we attended the anniversary party of one of the house churches that our church planting team works with. It was a wonderful time of worship, fellowship, and awesome Mexican food! The Mexicans cooked the meal and the Gringos brought the desserts.
A version of one conversation from the event between my friend Graciela and I ( translated to English of course):

Graciela: So, desserts are very important in your culture, yes?
Me: Well, I guess you could say that. My family really likes desserts.
Graciela: Hmm, we really like when the missionaries come because they always bring dessert.

And Travis always tries to tell me I can’t buy friendship with chocolate . . .

Monday morning, I was awakened around 6:40 by some very loud noise outside our bedroom window – which faces the street. Travis took a peek out the window and there was traffic as far as you could see. For some reason, drivers in Mexico City think that if there is traffic you should honk your horn – not just honk your horn, LAY on it. So, from 6:40 this morning until about 9:00 all we heard were horns. It is kind of crazy. I wanted to take a picture of the traffic for you but since there are so many trees on our street, we felt they might obstruct the view and I only wanted you to see the picture if you could get the ENTIRE glimpse of what I am talking about here. ABSOLUTE CRAZINESS. We were able to meet with our supervisor and his family on Monday and enjoyed the day learning more about our job and what the needs are here in the city.

I lost my heart today.
We went downtown to help serve lunch at a local homeless ministry (one of the places we will use teams when they come.) During worship time, I was standing toward the very back of the room right behind a young couple with a little girl no more than a year old. Throughout the entire service, she would look at me and smile and laugh – of course I would make faces and coo and smile right back. Then she started reaching her hand out to me over and over again and finally one of the parents asked if I would like to hold her – DO YOU EVEN HAVE TO ASK?!!! I imagine he could see the intense longing on my face. As I held that precious baby in my arms, it was all I could do not to run straight out of the building to the nearest store to buy her toys, clothes, food, and medical care. Travis had to remind me the baby was not mine to keep and after a little while, I gave her back to her parents.

I do not know her families situation but from their clothing and tired faces, it didn’t look good. God reminded me how blessed I am and that even in the tough situation this little one is in – HE can still take care of her. As I watched the family leave today, I so badly wanted to follow them and see their situation. Pray for this family today and that God will touch their lives. Pray also for all the other homeless men and women that were at the ministry today. It was incredible just how many are in need.

Our next few months are going to be very busy filled with recruiting, leading, and serving.
Friends, WE NEED YOU!!! There is so much need here in Mexico we cannot even begin to tell you about all of it. We are asking God to send teams to help us in our work here. We want to say to the Mexican people – We love you, we care, and we want to show you why!
Specific team prayer requests:
- We pray that God will be with our three teams that are coming in October and one in November.
- We pray that God will provide at least one more team for this year in November or December.
- We pray that our calendar will be overflowing with teams for next year.
- We pray that God will send exactly the right individuals who need to come.