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December 25th = The Mexico team gets together in the evening to celebrate Christmas. The children acted out a Christmas play which Donna cordinated. Then everyone had some snacks, with some Christmas singing afterward. December 24th = Rachel goes back home to spend 3 weeks with her family for Christmas.                           Some of Brianne's family arrive to spend Christmas with her.                           Some of Sam's family arrive to visit him for Christmas too. December 19th = The Mexico team celebrates Christmas. December 3rd = Francisca, Julian's wife was baptized after making a decision.  December 1st = Roxina and Jesus arrive.  November 27th = The whole crew got together to celebrate Thanksgiving even though it is not celebrated by the Mexicans.  November 20th = Mexico's Revolution Day.  November 16th - November 22nd = "Skyline Mennonite Church" youth group does VBS in 2 villages in the Choix area. November 9th = 2 ladies from San Pedro church are baptized after having made a commitment. November 5th = Loren's surprise Birthday party. November 3rd = Lenn takes the boys of the orphanage (and a few more) on a train ride as a reward for the work they did on their sesame seed crop. October 28th - November 3rd = "Mohican Valley Door of Hope" youth group does VBS in a village and does painting projects for the ministries.

Newsletters

	Schwartz News By:Rod Schwartz Greetings to you all, We pray all is well with you, our friends and family spread throughout the world. The countdown for Christmas is on... Praise God for the great gift He gave us through His son Jesus. May we all focus on Jesus this holiday season. We are thankful for good health and strength these past few months, and the protection of the Lord over our family here in Mexico. We also are excited to tell those of you who hav'nt heard yet. Christa is pregnant and we're looking forward to a new baby in July ! It is a real answer to prayer as we have been praying for quite a few months now for another baby. The children are very excited and can't quite imagine waiting another 7 months for the birth. We hosted two youth groups this fall, as they came down to have Bible Schools in a few villages close to Choix. We enjoyed having them here and getting to know each one as well as enjoying a good turnout at the Bible Schools in Aguajito, San Pedro, and Mochaqui, the children seemed to really enjoy the stories and activities. We also had two baptisms this fall and had the privilege of baptizing three ladies. After each service we got together for a time of fellowship and a good Mexican meal. It is exciting to see the Lord working in the lives of people and to see a person changed from the inside out. The peace and happiness that we enjoy in Christ is such a gift and it is awesome to see people enjoy it for the first time, and decide for themselves to follow Him completely. Please pray the the ones who are seeking, would take the step and turn their lives over to God. May we be bold and open to share His Word at all times. Things seem to be going well at the orphanage these days. Lenn, Debbie & family, and the staff there, do a great job of showing Jesus love to the children there. The boys harvested their sesame seed crop in Oct., after a long summer and fall of plowing, planting, and weeding, and enjoyed a decent profit. They will each put some money away for the future, for when they leave the home and then had some money to spend now. Three of the boys put their money together and bought a horse, to ride and also to help with the plowing, planting next year. Diego bought a guitar from me and is really doing well, learning fast. They are now busy cleaning our another portion of the property for planting next year. Two weeks ago a 14 yr. old girl and her little baby nephew came to live at the home, she was really rebelious and disobedient but is fitting in well here and seems to be doing well. I continue to teach a music class at the school there, and a class that we call 'adventure science', where we go out on the property, about 70 acres, and just scout around studying nature, etc. It has been fun and rewarding for me. We are practicing some Christmas songs right now and plan to sing them for everyone on Christmas Day. Things are slow paced down here, even at Christmas time, but we do have a few activities planned. This Friday, the ladies and girls are getting together for a cookie bake, also a gift exchange and special meal on the 19th, before some of the single staff leave to spend Christmas at home, then we all get together on Christmas day in the afternoon and evening. We also have our anual church new years eave party on the 31st. We are looking forward to having Christa's sister Carla here for about a week, the children are counting down the days and are very excited. We are going to start decorating this week to get in the mood, I have been hearing all the stories of snow and cold up there, things that go along with the season. We continue to enjoy 80* weather here. I hope you all have a good time together this season with friends and family and truly celebrate the birth of our saviour. If you wish to see more info about the work down here you can check out the website www.mxbma.orfanatochoix.com or our xanga site is rodnchrista. Blessings, Rod for the Schwartz'
	The Miller Tribe-une /October 2008 A Waste of Time ? By: Debbie Miller I couldn't believe it. I had just waited at the Social Security office in Cincinnati, Ohio for 2 hours and the man behind the desk told me he was sorry but because of Homeland Security laws I didn't have all the needed paperwork to obtain a Social Security number for Jeffrey. Three years ago when I went, I had less information than this time for Carol and I had no problem receiving a number for her. All I would have needed was his passport and it would have been fine. Unforturnately, his passport was in Hermosillo, Mexico waiting for our return in the Country. We had applied for his passport at the U.S. Consulate in Hermosillo, as well as we received his Birth Abroad Papers which gave him the right to be a U.S. Citizen. If only we would have had them send the passport to our address in the States, I wouldn't have had this problem. But Lenn and I did not foresee this problem, so now we have to take care of getting his SS# another time. Before the man called my number to help me, I had been having a delightful visit with two Chinese women, who were also waiting their turn. Through our conversation I discovered that the one woman, Yan Zhang,was 23 years old and planned to study chemistry for 5 years at the University of Cincinnati. She had just arrived to the States about a month earlier. The second woman, Xuhong He, whom I spoke with the most, had just arrived to the States only 10 days earlier for her first time and was going to study law at the U of C for one year. She is the mother of a 5 year old daughter, but was left in Beijing to be cared for by her Grandmother. I asked them both how they felt about being in the United States. I think they were trying to be nice and not offend me by saying anything negative. I told them that when I've asked that question to other foreigners, they said that Americans are very business like and don't really have a lot of time to spend with them. After I said this, they both smiled and nodded their heads in agreement. I told them about our family being in Mexico and how we felt so welcomed when we arrived. The Mexican culture is very hospitable. I told them I was sorry that they didn't feel very welcomed in my Country. After some time I spoke freely about the Lord, but not as much as I would have liked. We exchanged phone numbers (my parents' phone number) and I gave Xuhong an old family photo I had from 3 years back. She had first given me a commemorative pin of the Olympics from Beijing. I was touched by her kindness. I just had to get Bibles in these womens' hands. Who should I contact? Who could follow up with these women and help them in their experience in the U.S.? More importantly, who could reach them better with the Gospel more long term? Surely there had to be some sort of college campus ministry that I could hook them up with. My sister, Gina, has a friend in Cincinnati, named Cindy, who has worked with Friendships International in Cincinnati for years, specifically to the Chinese people. I contacted her and through our conversation she excitedly agreed to invite them to Friendships International as well as offer rides to them. Within the 2 weeks that our family was in Cincinnati, I had the opportunity to talk with them over their cell phones, meet up with them along with my sister, Gina, and take them some house warming gifts to make them feel welcomed in our Country. I was especially excited to be able to give them each a bilingual Chinese/English Bible. Thanks to Cindy, she was able to get them for me. She thought that if the Bibles were bilingual it would maybe encourage them more to read it since they also want to learn English better. Xuhong is married to a man who is part of the Chinese Communist Party. Both she and her husband have actually read the Bible before and have some questions about Christianity. Xhuhong told me that she once studied law under a man from America who came to China to teach. He told his law students that if you read the Bible, especially the parts about the law in the Old Testament, you will have a better understanding of law in general. I can't help but think that this was a divine appointment. I may not have gotten Jeffrey's SS# but I sure hope something eternal happened as a result of having to sit for two hours in that office with these two precious Chinese women. Maybe they will be able to reach China in a way that I never could. I'll probably never know, but I'm gonna be praying for God's will to be done in their lives while they're in the States. Miller News By:Lenn Miller Greetings in the Name of Jesus. The last time we sent out a Newsletter, we were on furlough. That seems like quite a while ago. Most of this section will be an overview of our time on furlough. Our furlough started in New Mexico with a brief visit at my parents home in Farmington, New Mexico. We enjoyed time with my parents, but left after a few days to spend 3 weeks at their cabin in a beautiful setting in Northern New Mexico. We had a lot of time to connect as a family as well as time to pray and prepare for our program that we would be giving in various Churches. After we left the cabin, we began our next phase of traveling and sharing in Churches while making our way down to the South East, where Convention was held this past summer. Before Convention, we were able to visit some family and friends. For the most part, we enjoyed Convention, especially the Missionary Retreat. Convention is a bit difficult because you see so many people, but have very little time to really talk because there's so much going on. It almost feels a bit cold because you have to keep conversations short and shallow so you're not late to meetings. At the Missionary Retreat there's not a lot scheduled, so you have more time to connect with others. We have really enjoyed our times at the Retreats, this last one included. From South Carolina, we made our way to Harrisonburg, VA. and stayed at the home of Daryl Drivers, some good friends of ours. That following Sunday we shared in Cumberland, VA. at a Church. Then on Wednesday we shared at another Church in PA. We stayed at Bob Kauffmans and J. Mark Horsts where we were shown great hospitality. From there it was on to Cincinnati where we stayed 2 weeks with Deb's family. Overall, we had a good time there. We did make a couple of little trips from Deb's parents, visiting our home Church, United Bethel, one Sunday, and sharing at Living Waters on another Sunday evening in IN. After being with Deb's family we moved into an apartment at Rosedale Bible College for 6 days to be in the community of our home Church. We enjoyed being in and out of homes eating good food (and gaining weight) as well as having good fellowship. We also shared our program on a Wednesday evening with our Church. From Rosedale we loaded up and headed back West to my parents' cabin, where we had a little family reunion with my side of the family. Our family had a litttle more time alone at the cabin before we headed back for Mexico. We had time to share, as a family, what some of our favorite things of the furlough were. In some ways it was amazing how quickly our three months was over. We had a bit of a rough landing once we did get back to Mexico both health wise and emotionally. We are thankful, though, for all the traveling we did without serious problems. What a blessing and PRAISE THE LORD! We are also thankful for the ways different people and Churches gave to us so generously and were so hospitable. We are undeserving, but appreciate it. Soon after we had left for furlough, there were some serious flair ups with three of the boys. After hearing from Rod and Loren, it seemed clear to me that they were dealing with more than just the boys, especially in one of the cases and maybe two. I believe there was some demonic activity involved. For me it was a good wake up or reminder of this Scripture:" For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places."Ephesians 6:12/NASB. It's a good reminder that wherever we are, we are in a battle, or at least should be. One little add on. Towards the end of our furlough I was given the book by a friend " Wilderness Road" by Campbell Loughmiller. I was encouraged with a lot of good ideas. I like a lot of the principals with which they operated with in working with troubled boys. I think we can improve the program down here by implementing some of those ideas. I had been praying for creativity as we develop a program with a fuller schedule for the boys in the new dorm. This may be part of the answer to those prayers. PRAISE THE LORD! Today a Youth group arrives for about a week (Oct. 28th- Nov. 3rd) from Rachel's Church in Ohio. She's pretty excited about that. Then in mid-November, another Youth group will be with us from Colorado, Lord willing. Please pray for the Lord's blessing and protection over these groups. May the Lord bless and use you for His glory and purposes as you serve Him each day. Thanks for your interest and prayers for us here in Mexico. It was a blessing and privilege to see many of you during our furlough. Lenn
	Yoder News By: Donna Yoder Greetings to one and all,   Just tonight Kyle showed me that there are Christmas lights on the light poles down the center of the street in front of our house.  There are plans for a gift exchange, a cookie bake and a New Year's eve party.  Yes, it is that time of year.  We won't be seeing any snow, nor will we be with family but Christmas is almost here.  Just the week before last we (the workers down here) were together for Thanksgiving.  It was a fun day with lots of good food (though we had chicken instead of turkey).  Thanksgiving.... reflecting..... thankfulness.... Here are a few things that we have been thankful for recently.   In October, two lady v.s.ers (Stacey Nolt and Tricia Kennell) began helping with the church plant side of the ministry.  The time that they have spent helping in the kitchen, with children's clubs, writing out songs and verses on poster board and developing relationships with local girls has been a real blessing.    This fall two youth groups came to serve.  One from Ohio and the other from Colorado.  They had "Bible school" in different villages plus the one group did some painting.  They had put time and effort into preparing for the "Bible schools" and the children who came seemed to enjoy it.  It was fun to host them and to get to know them.    We have been very thankful to see the Holy Spirit working in peoples lives.  In the last months there have been three baptisms.  The wife (Francisca), mother (Paula), and sister (Artemia) of Julian (who was baptized in the spring) all made decisions to follow Christ and requested baptism.  What has been so encouraging is to see the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives.  To hear them testify of God's peace, his joy, and of him leading in their lives is a blessing.  We can not meet all their needs - only God can - we are thankful to see them allowing God to work. Pray with us for continued growth in their lives.   In October the church in Ahome (where we had lived for the first year) had a "all day meeting" (but it wasn't all day - just morning service, lunch and afternoon service).  Quite a few from the church here went down.  Some friendships were started.  Yesterday some youth from down there came up for the day. We would like to invite their church up the end of February for similar meetings.  We can see it being a positive things for the two churches to relate back and forth.  The believers here can fellowship with others of similar beliefs and hopefully we can be an encouragement to them as well.   And now for some miscellaneous news items.  We enjoyed attending our first Mexican wedding in Ahome.  It was a new experience to attend a 15th birthday party. (lets just say it probably cost almost as much as a wedding)  There are two "new" children at the children's home.  (They had been there before)  Our dog Chispa gave birth to 6 puppies.  We had our first opportunity to try Menudo. ( a soup that consists of corn and "leftover" meat - that would be the stomach, intestines and I'm not sure all what else)    If any of you think you will have a hard time staying out of the rat race this holiday season, come on down and we will help you.  Thankful to God and to our family and friends, The Yoders