As most of you have probably seen, Camino Global is merging with Avant ministries. You can check out it out at https://avantcamino.org This is something that Camino and Avant leadership has been praying about for almost a year. Camino and Avant fit very well together in a lot of ways, especially doctrinally.

This merge isn’t something that is happening overnight, it will take the better part of a year to get everything merged.

Wow, it’s been a long time since I blogged last. They say it’s bad blogging etiquette to say “It’s been SO LONG. I’m sorry I’m a bad blogger. It’s been busy.”

***This post is inspired by some people who have said some
crazy things to me over the last couple months. ***

“You life is so much easier then ours because you don’t have to deal with a family”

“If i was single, I would probably just kill myself because life wouldn’t be worth living”

“You know the longer you stay in Mexico, the longer you be all alone”

“Do you feel that because you are alone and no kids that God has forgot about you?”

“When you love God with your whole heart, thats when He will give you what you need”

“If you are making an impact now, wait until your married!”

“Do you feel as though you have no voice because a man isn’t around to stand up for you?”

Etc.

First of all, I do not think that they really meant it the way it sounded nor did they mean to hurt me.
Secondly, I probably could have reacted better (internally).
Third, of course, I have thought of most of those things before… (except for the suicide thought)… I am human and sinful.

Most of the time, I am content and happy being in the place that God has me. And I do not believe that that being content and happy has nothing to do with single or married. But it has everything to do with my relationship with God.

However, I know how easy it is for singles to feel “less than” in this world. I know that the word “single” is thrown around on the mission field almost like it is a handicap.

So for all my friends (married or single) who need to hear this….

Single life is not necessarily harder, but it is definetly not easier. 

For example:

• I do not have to worry about cooking three meals a day for my husband or my family. But no one is there to celebrate with me when I nail a new recipe from ingredients that I never had to use in the states.
• I don’t have to deal with packing and traveling with others…. but I don’t have someone to watch my carry-on when I go to the bathroom in the airport.
• I don’t have to worry about others depending on me at home (except my doggies), and sometimes I can have more flexibility and time to do things. But I also don’t have someone to come home to and have a link to the familiar when I need it most.
• I don’t have kids and a husband to clean up after. But, I also have to deal with the house, finances, communicating with supporters and ministry without help.

So it is definetly not easier… but its not harder either. Everyone has the hand that God has given them and every hand has its unique challenges. And keeping that in mind is a step in bearing one another burdens in a way that puts God’s love and grace on display.

Switching topics a little.

A couple weeks ago when I was struggling with feeling “less than” I was reading in Genesis. A chapter I have read probably 100 times… but this time I thought about it in a different way.

Genesis 22:14 So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On that mountain of The Lord it will be provided”.

What does it mean to walk up the mountain with the knife and the firewood like Abraham did, and put that dream on the altar of sacrifice? I am not sure if God will provide a husband for me. However, He showed Himself to be Jehovah Jirah, God the provider, to Abraham, but also for me. He has provided me with things I have never expected.

Have you ever had to surrender something? It is hard to surrender. But that is where I am, surrendering… this worldly expectation. If I don’t, I fear it will consume me, eat away at my heart, or become a stony idol. Some days I’m there, releasing all that is in me to the safe hands of the Father, and other days I cling hard and refuse to open my hands and let go. No matter what, I want to embrace this life that God has for me. I want to live it, not waiting for something that may never come, but looking expectantly to the God who WILL provide, no matter what it is He is providing.

Everyone has this thing in their life that they have to surrender, it is not just something that singles deal with. Everyone has a dream that they thought would happen or think will happen that they need to put on the alter and leave it in the hands of the Provider.

Apparently I have been MIA from my blog since last October. It wasn’t necessarily on purpose… time just kinda got away from me. It is harder to remember to do a blog when you do not have internet in your house… but that is nothing more than an excuse.

So here is a little update on what is going on here.

1. Coffee Shop:
   -Slowly but surely business is picking up. We are making ends meet with four employees and all the bills. We still hope to be turning an actual profit by the end of the year.
   -We just put in our first request for green coffee to roast ourselves. It is a small order until we have the funds to buy more. But, this is something sooooo exciting for us! We have been waiting a while to be able to do this! We will also be able to start selling coffee by the pound which should be able to make it easier to turn a profit.
   -We attended a coffee festival last week a couple hours away. It was not as profitable for us this year as it was last year but we made some connections and reconnected with some. We are even talking to others about the possibility of roasting for them as well.
2. Community Center:
   -Over the last few months we have been creating a six level program that will ensure that we can give the best possible, well rounded English curriculum here. We have the first four done and soon the next two will be ready. Over the last five weeks we offered the first three levels. It is going very well and those students who are wanting to learn are benefiting from the intensive.
   -Our next block of classes begin when school lets out for summer break. It will be a shorter block, but should offer something for people to do when not in school.
   -We are looking into what it takes for us to offer an “official” certificate that employers in Mexico would accept.
3. Church:
   – We are still in the process of waiting for the floor above the coffee shop and community center to be finished so we can move our church into town. It was suppose to be done last August (hahaha).
   – We named our first local leader in our church a few weeks ago.
   – Brock is still teaching a Bible institute on Friday nights to a lot of the church people. It is exciting to see their hunger to learn God’s Word and put it into practice.
4. Summer Teams and Interns
   – We decided to take the summer off from interns this year and spend it focusing on getting the ministries up and going. While we still see the benefit of interns; both for the interns exposure to what God is doing around the world and the for the church people and ministries to experience new people… it has been nice to be able to 100% focus on the ministries.
   – We only have one team this summer and we are looking forward to it. We are going to be doing a mixture of church events, outreaches, community center activities and work projects.

Of course there are about 100 other things that happen here that aren’t part of those ministries that allow us to get to know people, belong to the community and be a part of what God is doing in Mexico.

I sit in awe of what God is doing in our little town. He is constantly opening the doors for new relationships and conversations because of the community center and coffee shop. He brings new faces to church constantly. He has given us everything we need, when we need it.

Thank you for constantly praying for the ministries here, we appreciate it.

Lots has been happening here in Amealco, here are some highlights…

The coffee shop is going well. We now have four very part time employees. Some days we have 1 or 2 people but most days we are holding our own. We are still covering all expenses, not having a huge surplus at the end of the month, but we are ok with that for now! Business will continue to grow!

We began our monthly specials in October. This month is pumpkin pie lattes! Eggnog and mint mochas are coming up in the next couple months!

Last week we began our first BIG block of classes in the community center. As with every block of classes we had people come the first week, but expect it to grow a lot in the next few weeks!

We are excited to be getting to know new people and begin relationships with them!

The beautiful roaster is still sitting in the trailer. Because of the crazy amount of rain that we have had lately the building is taking longer that we would like to go up. All the material for the entire building is sitting there.

We hope to be roasting by the first of the year! We will need to raise some money for the first batch of green coffee, more details on that to come soon!

When we start roasting, it will technically be the third business that we will open. This is to sell coffee to the coffee shop, the local churches, teams that come down, or whatever.

And like we had always planned, we will be using all proceeds (of all the projects mentioned above) to do community projects in Amealco. We are hoping to launch our first significant project at the end of 2018.

                                    (old photo, we actually have a patio in front now!)

Church update:

-A few weeks ago, 18 people were baptized in our little country church. Praise the Lord!
– 20 or so people are taking part in a 2 year Bible institute.
– We have bible studies, a guitar class, and various other activities.

We are also planning on moving the church into town. Right above the coffee shop and community center, actually! It will be a great location, it will allow more people to be invited to church without being invited to “someones house” and it will allow us to teach more community center classes (because the bible studies will meet upstairs). This also gives us a kitchen in this building! We can use that for church get togethers AND a place to teach baking classes for the community center. (If you are interested in donating baking supplies to stock this kitchen, let me know!)

We are officially announcing today the
newest members of our team.
It is a thousand pound coffee roaster…
and two industrial coffee grinders!!!!! 

We would love you to Praise the Lord with us as we thank Him for this wonderful blessing. If you would have asked us a year ago where we would be in these ministries. We would not say where we are today! This was all just a dream, and a roaster wasn’t even on the radar yet!

About a month ago, we when we were praying for the finances to get our roster, we were HOPING to have a dent in what we needed (about 15,000USD) by the end of the year. Well, Monday we were able to pick it up!!!

There were SEVERAL “Thank you, Jesus” moments. A few are…
1. We did NOT have to carry $15,000USD worth of money in Pesos with us! (that would have been like two suitcases full). We were able to do two bank transfers with a  small fee! That made the 6 hour trip there WAAAAY less stressful!
2. We were not pulled over by the cops and questioned as to why we have a trailer… we were all legal, but you know how the authorities are here.
3. We told the company in Veracruz that we were in a hurry and wanted to get back the same day, so they were ready for us. Not only that they treated us SO well, loaded the machine for us and made us feel completely comfortable with our purchase.
4. We had a flat tire on the way back (on the trailer). Well it wasn’t completely flat yet, we caught it in time. Not only did it happen in a “good spot” because we were on a less busy highway and only a few miles from town, we were able to find a really great tire place within miles to get new better tires. It made the cost of the trip go up but we made it home safe!
5. We were able to do the impossible ALL in one day. Got up at 4 am and pulled back into my house around 10pm. We are tired still but we did it!
6. If we would have made the trip on Tuesday instead of Monday we would have been super close to yesterdays earthquake epicenter and probably would have been effected.

What is the plan with the roaster?
With the roaster we are able to do several more things in the ministry. We are able to serve higher quality coffee then we have been (when we haven’t roasted it ourself), we can sell by the pound to people and businesses in the community along with churches around the area. But, the important part is that we will be able to generate more income to use in practical projects in this community.

We are still about a month away from being able to roast our own coffee. We are in the process of trying and picking out which green coffee we want to order. Plus we need to raise a little more money to be able to buy our first batch of green coffee (after that, the coffee shop should be able to pay!).

Plus, our roasting barn is not complete yet. We have purchased MOST of the building materials, mostly just missing electrical, water and gas tank. Right now we are waiting for the people we are hiring to actually finish the building!

All in all, we are probably going to be wanting to raise another $5k to finish this massive project.

However, today we just want to thank the Lord. We are in absolute awe as to how He is working in Amealco.

Today marks 6 years that I have been in Mexico and one year being in Amealco.

Crazy how time flies!

There have been absolutely amazing times where I have seen God do some incredible things in and through me…. He has done amazing things through other people and in the lives of so many.

There have been times that have been extremely hard and lonely.  Sometimes, I questioned being in Mexico

I have made so many new friends from all over the world.

I have learned more and more about who God is, his heart for the world and what it means to truly lean on Him daily.

I wouldn’t trade the last six years for anything else.

*cheers* to many many more years in Mexico!