Last Week of 2010!

Last week of the year!  Where in the world did 2010 go?  It seems only yesterday we were setting up the Lighthouse Church calendar for the first time.  Looking back for just a moment reminds us of the work God has done and how blessed we are.  Looking forward reminds us that we serve a great God and he has much more to be done here on the Yucatan. 

Terry and I will leave for Cozumel Thursday morning to spend some time reflecting and regenerating for 2011.  We also will celebrate our 42nd anniversary.  We will be setting our goals for 2011 and are excited to see how God will fit our gifts and talents into Vision 2015.  We trust God he will continue to do Great and Mighty things through Yucatan Outreach Ministries.   

Once again we praise God for our supporters through YOM.  We have been blessed to see another year of ministry because of your gifts.  We really encourage you to plan to come see for yourself.  Our 2011 calendar is filling up fast but we still have room for others to come join us.

Happy New Year!

17 Baptisms this year!

What a blessing to see three more people baptized this past Sunday, Dec. 19th.  John and Lori Lou and Cowboy.  These precious people are great examples of our target group.  Good people who are learning what it means to trust Jesus for salvation and grow in their relationship with Christ through obedience. This year, 2010 has allowed us the privilege to see 17 people do this.  Thank you who support us, we could not see this if it were not for you.  You are as much a part of our ministry as we are.

We are preparing for our Christmas Eve Service.  We trust God to bring many people. We will be doing a traditional Christmas eve program with the story of Christmas from Luke and many carols.  We celebrated Christmas with our Praise Team on Monday night with a special dinner in Playa.  Terry and I will be spending Christmas relaxing at home and enjoying each other's company and I'm sure reflecting on our year and preparing for next.  We will miss our family.  This is the second year we will not be spending Christmas with our children and grandchildren.  We are surrounded by our Church family and we love them dearly.

"Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them.  But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. Luke 2:51 (NIV). This verse is not the familiar one we find at the birth of Jesus but one written for us when he was about 12 years old.  Mary and Joseph have taken Jesus to the temple in Nazareth, as was the custom for Jewish boys.  After leaving Nazareth, Mary discovers Jesus is not with them.  Mary and Joseph return to Nazareth to find him.  After searching for 3 days they find him in the temple TEACHING. Even at this point in Jesus' life his earthly parents did not fully understand what he was doing. It was a God thing.  The one part of this verse that touched me was "but his mother treasured all these things in her heart".  The other time Mary treasured all these things in her heart was at the birth of Jesus.  Funny how things don't always play out the way we expect.  But God gives us sweet memories.  I have sweet memories of my children, my grandchildren, my family and my friends.  At this time of year I will also treasure these memories.

I plan to learn to treasure and ponder instead of whine and complain. I plan to grow in my love and appreciation of Jesus, just as Mary did. I plan to marvel at His coming and revel in His glory. And most of all, this Christmas, I plan to search for Him everywhere, just as she did — and never lose sight of Him again. (copied)

Merry Christmas!

1st Anniversary for Lighthouse Church, Thanksgiving Offering and Baptisms

The past 2 weeks are now only memories.  But what memories they were.  Our one year anniversary  (11/28) for Lighthouse Church produced our largest attendance ever (67), our first and largest special "Thanksgiving Time To Build Offering" ($35,600.00 plus) and 5 baptisms in the the ocean.  It was a historic day in the life of Yucatan Outreach Ministries.

As we begin a new year at Lighthouse Church we trust God to use us to see peoples lives changed as well as our own.  We still see Christmas in Mexico as a religious holiday and people seem to be open to attending church during this season.  Thank you for your prayers and support last year.  We hope to see some of you down here this next year, you are welcome anytime.  Enjoy Christmas and share with others that it's all about Jesus!

Happy Thanksgiving

Lighthouse Church 201 Class (7 of the 11 attenders)

"Thank the Lord! Praise His Name! Tell the world about His wondrous love and how mighty He is."

Isa 12:4 LB

The past couple of months are almost a blur.  We have completed many projects and started many new ones.  I can only imagine how different our lives would be if we had not followed the call to serve as missionaries here in Mexico!  Thank you Lord and praise your name for allowing us to share your wondrous love and mighty power here on the Yucatan.   

 Our new web page is up and running.  If you have not checked it out...do!  yucatanoutreachministries.org.  Special Thanks for Daniel, our worship leader for the many hours he put into creating our new look!  Our first Lighthouse Church 201 is history; we had 11 attenders and all committed to the the habits of godly mature Christians.  I was thrilled to see how God's word speaks and how if we practice these principles we are healthy, and healthy things grow! (7 of the 11 pictured below)

We are preparing for our first Thanksgiving Dinner.  We are expecting about 100 people! We have 4 turkeys and 4 hams being prepared and our people will bring all the trimmings.  It will be a sweet fellowship as we share what we are most thankful for this Thanksgiving.  Let me say here that I am thankful for the prayers, support and friendship of our YOM followers.  When times are down as well as when times are up I know I have you there praying for us.  We love you.

Pray for Lighthouse Church this week as we prepare our hearts for our kick off Time to Build Thanksgiving Offering.  Sunday we will celebrate our 1 year birthday, probably have the largest crowd we've ever had, receive the largest offering ever, baptize at least 5 new believers! Is God good or what?  We have so much to be thankful for!  We love you all and pray God blesses each of you during this Thanksgiving week.

Preparing for Lighthouse Church 201

In preparing to teach Lighthouse Church 201 "Discovering Spiritual Maturity" I'm reminded of some of the roads in Anchorage.  Due to the heavy snow fall many times you are forced to drive in the same lane day after day.  After several months the road develops ruts. Ruts develop ease in your driving, actually you are not steering the car the ruts are.  You are giving it gas to go and your hands are on the steering wheel but the car is being guided by the ruts.  Many times this is a good picture of our spiritual walk, we are in a rut; a rut that controls us.  One of the key verses for LC 201 is found in 1 Timothy 4:7b "Take the time and the trouble to keep yourself spiritually fit." Just like getting out of the ruts on the Alaska roads take time and effort, so does getting out of your ruts in your spiritual life take time and effort.   There are 4 habits that need to stay in balance to being spiritually fit; 1. Time with God's Word. 2. Prayer. 3. Tithing and 4. Fellowship. I personally have recommitted my life to those 4 habits.  It is a must to ministry.  I can't lead someone to a place I'm not going, and as a leader in Lighthouse Church it is my responsibility to stay spiritually fit.  Pray for me as I lead our first Lighthouse Church 201 this coming Sunday.  I have 10 registered to take the CLASS.  I'm excited!

Daniel (our Worship Leader) and I have been working on a new web site for Yucatan Outreach Ministries.  It is almost complete.  Daniel is a gifted web designer and I'm so excited for you to see our new web site.  I will keep you posted on it's posting.

Yucatan Outreach Ministries Annual Board Meeting

Monday, November 1, 2010 was our 3rd annual YOM Board Meeting. This year Charles Bridges was here with us in Tulum, Mexico.  Dane Havard and David Hoffman joined us via a skype video call from Anchorage, Alaska.  It was a good year for YOM through ministry here in Mexico.  Terry highlighted the events that took place during the past year; a new church start in Tulum and the growth it has experienced over the past year through salvations, baptisms, membership classes and mission efforts, mission teams from USA, Vision 2015 for Lighthouse Church and YOM's yearly budget. We adopted our new 2011 YOM Budget and discussed efforts to raise support over this next year.  God has been good to us through YOM, and your support to this minsitry appreciated.

We did obtain our FM3 visa's last week as well as drove to the Belize border to obtain new tags for our cars for one more year. It has been a busy week.  We have enjoyed Charels Bridges visiting with us and have made it to the beach a couple of times while he was here.  We are preparing for our 3rd Lighthouse Church 101 "Discovering Church Membership" Sunday, November 7th,  and have 3-5 signed up to attend.

Once again, thank you all for your prayers and support.  Our ministry here would not be so successful without your faithfulness.  God bless you.





 Charles, Debbie & Terry

Tropical Storm Richard didn't stop and see us!

We kept our eye on Tropical Storm Richard.  It was predicted to have an impact on us but once again God moved it to the east and it lost power. It moved inland near Belize.  I know many of you will not feel sorry for us but we did get to go to the beach on Friday and it was just beautiful. Bill and Renee joined us, they had not been in 6 weeks and it was good to have them join us for a good time of fellowship.

We go to Playa this Wednesday to pick up our FM3 visas and then to Belize on Friday to tag both of the cars for another year.   Our good friend, Charles Bridges, is coming in to spend a few days with us on Saturday. We are excited to have him see first hand the work that has been done here in Tulum since last year when he visited us.  Once again we invite any of you to come for a visit, we love showing off what God is doing here on the Yucatan.

Pray for us as we prepare for Lighthouse Church 101 and Lighthouse Church 201 the first of November.  We are praying also for God to bless our people here as we prepare for our first-time Thanksgiving Time To Build Offering on November 28th.  Love and appreciate all of you!

Fall arrives in Tulum!

Praise Team preparing for worship. 

It was a beautiful fall day Sunday in Tulum.  It was nice setting up for worship with the cooler weather.  Our new caretakers at the restaurant had things clean, tables and chairs set up. Thank you Mickey and Terri for your commitment to Lighthouse Church.

We had 51 attenders this week and Terry completed his series on "Figuring Out Your Finances" with "Breaking Out of the Debt Trap,"  biblical principles on financial stewardship and the pitfalls debt.  As you can see from the video, our praise team is awesome.  They continue to improve each week; thanks, Daniel and Andrea!

We are preparing for a busy month: Lighthouse 101, Lighthouse 201, Thanksgiving Dinner, Time To Build Thanksgiving Offering.  Keep us in your prayers, and thanks for keeping up with our ministry.

Hurricane Paula has no punch!

Once again we prepared for a hurricane to hit! Mind you, I'm not complaining, but we hardly got any rain from the storm! Thanks to Bill and Marina Parker we were ready for the storm with generators they purchased for YOM. We are prepared:-)

Services this past weekend at Lighthouse Church were fantastic! We had 55 in attendance with first time visitors. We are slowly moving out of the low season and preparing for the snowbirds to return in November. We are planning as staff for how we will accommodate more attenders at LC. We are looking at seating arrangements, food and volunteer staff, as we face these welcomed growing pains. Pray for us to always have others/seekers in mind in our efforts.

Prayer requests for our prayer warriors: Some needed government decisions on the land for the new building, Vision 2015, Thanksgiving Time to Build Offering (Nov. 28th), reaching English Speakers during the High Season on the Yucatan, and continued commitment of our new believers and pre-Christians through Lighthouse Church 101 and 201.

Lighthouse Church Vision 2015 Presented

Lighthouse Church – Vision 2015

(A five-year direction for fulfilling the Purposes of Lighthouse Church)

“If people can't see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed.” (Pro. 29:18 MSG)

“Where there is no vision, the people perish…” (KJV)

1. Complete the legal requirements on the LAND ASAP

2. Begin Construction on a MULTI-PURPOSE building/campus ASAP

3. Acquire SPANISH LANGUAGE CURRICULUM for Small Groups Early 2011

4. Launch SPANISH LANGUAGE worship upon building occupancy

5. Begin monthly MEN’S GATHERING Sat. 1/29/11

6. Establish a DEACON body of servants 2011

7. Healthy Large Group & SMALL GROUPS 2011 – 2015

8. Acquire RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATION status ASAP 2011/2012

9. C.L.A.S.S. SEMINARS 2011 – 2015

10. BAPTISM for new believers 4 times each year 2011 – 2015

11. Annual WE LOVE OUR COMMUNITY events

12. Add a Volunteer CHILDREN’S COORDINATOR ASAP 2011

13. Construct 10’X16” stick & stucco HOUSE in Ek Balam 3/2011
14. Teaching in EK BALAM 3 times annually 2011 – 2015

15. Host DISCOVER Y.O.M. August annually 2011 – 2015

16. FLIER DISTRIBUTION twice annually 2011—2015

(4/2011)

17. Receive an annual THANKSGIVING OFFERING 2011 –2015

18. Annual Thanksgiving CELEBRATION MEAL 2011 – 2015

19. Annual Provision and WORK DAY at Men’s Rehab 2011 – 2015

20. HIGHWAY BILLBOARD December 2011 – 2015

21. Begin monthly WOMEN’S GATHERING December 2011

22. Establish free to low cost DAYCARE for single parents Feb. 2012

23. Launch a NEW CHURCH on the Riviera Maya Easter 4/8/2012

24. 8-Day Mission Trip for VBS in ANCHORAGE, June 2012

25. Establish a FOOD BANK May 2013

26. Short-term Mission Trip to SOMEWHERE annually 2012 – 2015

27. Launch a NEW CHURCH on the Riviera Maya Easter 4/5/2012

THE PURPOSE OF LIGHTHOUSE CHURCH IS TO LOVE GOD, LOVE PEOPLE, GUIDE PEOPLE INTO GOD’S FAMILY THROUGH JESUS CHRIST, TEACH, ENJOY AND SERVE ONE ANOTHER AND THE WORLD.

Guest from Tennessee

Kristina, Chris,Terry, Debbie, Becca, Renee, Bill and Dallas


It has been a very busy September. We have completed our Civil Association and now are a legal organization here in Mexico. Terry and Daniel met with a representative from the Religious Affairs office Saturday before last and we are beginning to make application for our Religious Association. It takes much paper work to keep things operational here in Mexico, but each time we meet with someone new, God opens the door for new friendships and ministry. Also, we have turned in papers to renew or personal FM3 documents.... so, we should be good for another year.

It was our joy to have Dallas and Becca in our home September 14- 21st. Chris and Kristina, a pastor and his wife also joined Dallas and Becca and were blessed to stay in Bill and Renee's home during this same time. They came to investigate future plans for mission teams from their association of churches in the Sullivan Baptist Association, and to partner with us over the next 3 years. We trust God to bless our work here through them. It was an encouraging and enjoyable week. Thanks guys for coming, may God bless you because of your vision for foreign missions.

Terry also surprised me with a trip to Cancun at the Sea Adventure Resort, Sept 22-25th for my 60th Birthday. It was a "10". Bill and Renee were able to join us and take a "time out" from our business of the past month. Thank you Terry! I would marry you all over again and if God allows I'll spend 60 more years celebrating with you.

Terry has completed his Vision 2015 plan for Lighthouse Church. I must say I have been impressed how God uses this "man of vision" to grow people's lives while building material things that can be left for generations to come, to share God's Word to all nations. I know God uses men with the ability to see God's vision and then to present that to his people, "If the people have no vision, they will perish". He will present this Vision 2015 to our people October 4th. I will try and put that in written form and post it on the blog once he has shared it with our church family.

With that said, I must say it looks like we will be in Mexico for the next 5 years. I'm humbled that God's plan for the Yucatan and reaching others for Christ includes me. Sometimes I ask, "Who am I that God would use me?". Then I am reminded that Terry and I are not alone in this ministry. God has given us 100's of people who support us through prayer and financial support. You are here right along with us. He has given us Bill and Renee who have come along side us in ministry, and their positive spiritual and physical impact is priceless. He has given us a loving church family here that is taking next steps each day to becoming healthy and mature. He gives us seekers everyday that will become Christian in the near future and will start this journey with us. So, when I look at the next 5 years, and wonder who am I that God would use just me; -- I see not me, but an army of God's saints marching forward on the Yucatan, and know that God himself will receive all the glory and honor, for He alone is worthy! Amen, and Amen! (I just got caught in the moment and let you join me. :o)!

Love being used by God. See you next week. Debbie

The future is as bright as the promises of God.....

I can't believe it is already September 12th. This year has just flown by. As a matter of fact I missed our anniversary date of leaving Alaska on August 16, 2009. We've been gone now for over 2 years. It seems only yesterday that we loaded up our trailer to head for Mexico. If God created the world in 6 days ..... it's easy to imagine what he has done in over 2 years. Here in Mexico the past 2 years have brought about many changes and blessings. I couldn't list everything if I wanted to, so..... I will focus on the future.

Terry has been praying about the direction of Lighthouse Church here in Tulum. He is calling this direction "Vision 2015". I know he plans on unfolding this vision to our church in the next couple of weeks, but for those who follow our blog I will let you in on a first hand glimpse. Starting in January 2011 we will start a five year plan; including building a church debt free, starting 2 new churches on the Mayan Riviera, and many other outreach ministries. Those are just the things I can share at this time! The next 5 years will fly by just like the last 2 years have. Many of these dreams will take involvement from our followers and their churches. I trust you will join us as we pray for God's leadership these next 2 weeks as Terry puts the finishing touches on this vision that God has given him.

We are honored again that each of you are taking part in this mission outreach on the Mayan Riviera here on the Yucatan Peninsula, and will keep you posted as to how God unfolds his plans through us here in Tulum.

49 in Lighthouse Worship

Lighthouse Praise Team
They are the best!

It was a great week as we saw new people attend small group, new attenders at Lighthouse Church and 11 children at our first ever Little Lights Bible Beach Club. Judi and her helpers, Mickey & Teri did an awesome job with our new monthly children's ministry. They played games, sang songs, and learned a Bible verse all pertaining to, "Water...Jesus is the living water". Thanks guys for sharing your vision to reach others and to grow others. It is a sign of growth when others take ministry and run with it.

Having 49 in worship was a high for us. The praise team did an awesome job leading us to a place of worship and the teaching, "What Do You Expect?" (story of David & Goliath) lead each of us to trust God for great expectations in our lives. One of Terry's key phrases was; "We tend to get what we expect out of life." So... "According to your faith... it will be done unto you." Matt. 9:29.

I'm expecting to hear from some of you this week about something BIG that God is doing in your life. love ya!

Simple Week

Last week was simply a work week for us. We got a lot of office work done. I'm working on re-doing Lighthouse - 201, Discovering Spiritual Maturity, which will be presented in November. I'm working on photos to send to my mother's Sunday School class of our mission efforts in Ek Balam. They have always come along side us to help us with short term mission projects like, school supplies and children's nursery/preschool needs. It takes a lot to get things up and going and any assistance or donations are really appreciated.

We had 35 in worship this past Sunday. One of our new converts has been awesome at inviting new people to church and this week he did not disappoint. He had 2 more guests attend with he and his wife. "Keep up the good work Eddy!"

Terry taught from Genesis 24 in part 3 of Achieving Through Believing. We looked at Abraham and his servant Eliezar, as they prepare to find Isaac a wife. Terry called it, "How to Reach Your Dreams". As we looked at 10 things God led them to do to find Rebecca, we learned that we too can apply those 10 things in achieving our dreams and goals for our personal life. This was the first time Terry spoke of his new God-given vision of for Lighthouse Church. It is called Vision 2015, a five year plan to grow LC with the 5 purposes in mind. We're going to build a building and plant two more churches in neighboring cities. We were asked to commit personally to pray every day for one year for Lighthouse Church, Yucatan Outreach Ministries and particularly for the development of Vision 2015 and our success. As many of you know Terry is a visionary and God loves and uses visionaries!

Add this to your prayer list as well. We will keep you posted as God works.

Ek Balam Mission Trip

Our trip to Ek Balam was again upbeat and productive. We delivered tooth brushes and tooth paste for the village clinic, and they will be given to villagers that have their teeth cleaned and checked by a visiting dentist. We met with one of the local families where Bill presented them with a water / filter system for their home. If this is used by them and we see that others will use them we will try and present one to each home in Ek Balam. The lady of the house told us of how her brother had become very ill as a result of contaminated water and that they themselves could not afford to purchase bottled water. She said the water filter system is an answer to her prayers. Praise the Lord!

We also presented a "how-to" Small Group seminar where we had 4 attend. They now have 2 homes doing small group. A young man attending has a real heart of his village and wants them to start learning more of God and what his word tells them through the Bible. He was given a Bible in Spanish and plans on sharing his teachings with others.

We had 42 in worship service yesterday with new attenders. We are planning another "Beach and Baptism Celebration" September 5th. We have 3 awaiting baptism. Our Little Lights Children's group made stick fans for our church yesterday. They presented a few ladies with the fans at the close of the service and they loved them. More will be made the next couple weeks.

Lighthouse 101 "Discovering Church Membership"

Lighthouse Church had it's 2nd Lighthouse Church 101 "Discovering Church Membership" this past Sunday, August 8th. We had 5 attending; 2 will be follow the Lord in Believer's Baptism and all 5 will be joining our membership. It was a great weekend at Lighthouse Church. On Saturday, August 7th we traveled to Playa Del Carmen to be with Daniel and Andrea in the emergency birth of their son, Sebastian. He is a healthy 5 lb boy and he and Mother are doing great and should get to go home today.

Returned home Saturday evening and met with Debi and Lalo on our further involvement with the Mayan village of Ek Balam. We will be traveling their this next week and will do a small group training with the leaders and prospective leaders of small groups. We collected tooth brushes and toothpaste to help assist a dentist that will be giving free exams next week. We will make plans for doing other mission projects in the next few months.

Sunday morning we had 46 in attendance and had a great time of worship and fellowship. We were blessed to have our new nursery worker serving this week and she did a great job working with our nursery age children. This is an answer to our prayers as this will free Renee and myself up to greet attenders and assist in other needed areas. We continue to have good numbers of children in Little Lights with 6 children attending. We ended the weekend with our LC 101 class in our home. Great week in Mexico! Continue to keep us in our prayers.

Spending time with our kids!

We had a wonderful time with our kids last week. We made 3 trips to the beach, a trip to the mall, attended worship at Lighthouse Church and swam until we thought we would drop. The grand kids especially loved the pool(as you can see from the pics). We were able to show them around our community and share our ministry with them on a first hand basis. We loved it.

Terry completed a teaching series, "What's Love Got To Do With It?" yesterday, and it was just over the top. We had 42 in worship and the spirit of love was felt the moment you entered the house. Our church family loves seeing each other and it is turning into a family get together every week. Since many of them work long hours during the week this is not only a time of worship but a time to fellowship. We are thrilled to see how God is developing the character of Lighthouse Church into one of family.

We are busy this week preparing for our second Lighthouse Church 101, new study in small group, mission projects, nursery manual and baby shower. Busy month, and thrilled to say so. We love what we are doing here and continue to cherish your prayers and support.

By the way, we have adopted a new Mayan village as part of our mission outreach and we will be posting needs in future months. The next couple of weeks we will be collecting tooth brushes and tooth paste. If you would like to assist us in anyway just email me at debbie@yucatanoutreachministrie.org --God bless, Debbie

Happy 60th Birthday, Terry - July 21st

It was a fast and busy week in Tulum. We made 2 trips to Playa Del Carmen this weekend. Picked up supplies and picked up and returned sound equipment. We continue to average around 35 at Lighthouse Church and have new attendees almost every week. We had 8 children this weekend. I want to thank Gena and Suzie for always stepping up to help out with our children's ministry. Your caring hearts are a blessing.

Our children and grandchildren; Johanna, Terry Jr., Sally, Addy and Nolen arrive on Wednesday. We are so excited we can hardly stay still. We have borrowed a baby bed, stroller, car seats and purchased a highchair. Our house has turned into a daycare center. Terry already stumped his toe on the stroller. "ox#@0z" We love every minute of it!



Terry will be celebrating his 60th birthday this week as well. It is hard to believe he is getting older but like they say, "60 is the new 40". I continue to celebrate my life with this wonderful, godly man. God has blessed me beyond measure. He has given his life to God and is willing to serve wherever God calls him and always considers me in all his decisions. He is the lover of my soul and even after 40+ years of marriage he still gives my heart flutters. Happy Birthday Terry. I love you with all my heart!

Ek Balam Discovery Trip

Visited, Ek Balam Mayan Village, Yucatan, Mexico Monday and Tuesday. Our Hostess Debi Morris has been working in this Mayan village for over 7 years. She has developed a relationship and respect from the locals and village leaders. She invited Lighthouse Church to join her and friend Eduardo Gonzalez to tour the village and discover potential mission projects and needs that YOM and Lighthouse Church might join her with in the near future. We are praying for God's leadership in our involvement with this village. Thank you Debi! God bless your work and heart for these precious people.

Above is a picture of our group. My slide show would not load. You may go on my facebook account to view the video.

Freedom Celebration at Lighthouse

What an awesome day we had at Lighthouse Church. Music and preaching were awesome. Our worship leaders, Daniel and Andrea were back from a week of vacation. They did a great job and we had missed them. Terry preached on "What Makes A Hero", learning that celebrities make a big splash but heroes make a big difference.

It was a little different celebrating Independence Day in Mexico with people from all over the world, but many of the American's were thrilled with the emphasis. We had 35 in attendance and then 25 of us spent the afternoon at the beach with pizza, and baptism. It was a day of fun and fellowship and obedience through next steps. Many first timers yesterday from here in Tulum and from the states. God continues to bring new faces weekly.

Bill and Renee will leave tomorrow, July 6th for a 3 week visit to Alaska. We are thrilled they are getting to see friends and family. We will miss them. Our progress on our Civil Association is progressing each week and God continues to bless us in reaching this goal to be a legal entity/church here in Mexico. Many of our attenders are beginning to feel the connection at LC and stepping forward to use their gifts and talents through Lighthouse Church; nursery volunteers, continental breakfast hosts and hostess, children's weekly camp (in the planning stage) and small groups continue to be the backbone of our unity. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support. Each week we see our church family develop into a mature godly church. Keep us humble and grateful to you, Lord.

Tropical Storm Alex Hits during Worship

Our praise team used the song, "Rain Down" yesterday for music. It could not have been more appropriate. It started raining about the time we reached church and started raining hard about the time we started unloading and then harder when we started services. About 30 of us weathered the storm at Lighthouse Church. Praise the Lord, it was awesome worshiping in a tropical storm. Nothing like it. Terry preached on humility yesterday and that along with the weather reminded us that everything we have comes from God, not us, but God. We had a roof over our heads and a dry place to worship. God is good all the time, all the time God is good.

Had water in the kitchen and living room floors when we returned home yesterday but nothing else was affected by the weather. We even had Internet all day. Good day for reading a book.

Terry's meetings with the head Religious of Affairs have gone great and he is turning in his paper work soon. Translation into Spanish is happening now:-)God has smiled upon LC and the process we are taking to get our Civil Association (like a non-profit in the US). This will give us a lot more freedom to grow our church with integrity.

Thanks again for the prayers and support. We love serving the Lord here in Mexico and thank God everyday for people who support us. We could not be here without you.
God bless,

Father's Day, June 20th

Lighthouse Church honored it's father's Sunday with a special card and key chain. Although many of our father's are in different parts of the world we still appreciate this special day to recognize how blessed we are because of them.

The Praise Team gets better every week. Thank you Daniel and Andrea for such hard work. We love seeing your efforts pay off in service to God through your time and talents. With time and practice we may have Hillsongs of the Mayan Riveria:-) We had 30 something at church this weekend with a visiting couple from Indiana. Renee and I were ready for kids this week but only 2 nursery age children made it. We will be ready next week!

Continue to pray for a Nursery worker. --Terry's meeting with the head of Religious Affairs on Monday, went great and we continue to get our paper work together in order to become more effective in our community.

Sunday, June 13th

Church was a busy time yesterday at Lighthouse. Children's ministry was much bigger than I expected. We had 6 children, 4 nursery age and 2 Little Lights. We are now in 2 private rooms away from the Adult worship area. We thought this would be great but 3 of our nursery age didn't think it was that great and cried most of the morning. Renee and I took turns trying to mend the brokenhearted. We recruited 2 more adults (which could also speak Spanish), and this helped the tears somewhat. We are praying for a local person who would be the nursery coordinator, and dividing the Nursery area into babies and toddlers. Moving the Little Lights (4 year olds - 6th grade) down stairs to the restaurant entrance. These changes will allow me to teach the children with little or no interruptions. I love adjusting to growth and we move ahead.

Praise Worship for Lighthouse Church was wonderful. We had 36 in attendance with one new family from the local area. Praise team improves every week and new members seem to join us each week. Daniel and Andrea are doing an awesome job leading and growing our worship team. Terry preached the second teaching in his series "What's Love Got To Do With It?" Many next steps were made to think more of others and to do something kind this week.

Had another Mission Team commit to coming this Summer. Coryell Community Church from Texas will join us in August. Their project will be rebuilding a wall that was destroyed during the 2009 hurricane for a widow in our church. Our local project with the Victory Outreach Men's Rehab Center continues as we prepare to assist them in building a tower for their water tank.

Terry and I meet later today with a former head of Religious Affairs in Playa Del Carmen on knowing how to get our religious status started. Please keep us in your prayers as we try to become a registered religious organization here in Mexico.

Great time in States!

Well, I'm home and rested, unpacked, and caught up on most of my emails. I was gone almost a month! Terry returned June 1st and was here in Mexico while I remained in Texas for another week.

I wanted to recap our trip for those of you who are keeping track. We left for Alaska on Sunday, May 9th. We arrived on Tuesday, May 11th. We had planned on attending Caleb's graduation from Dimond High, but he was short a half a credit and must complete that before he receives his diploma. We hope that will happen this summer. Caleb you keep up the good work and it will pay off!

We spent the rest of our time with Johanna and the kids (when they were not working). Saw many friends and were able to do a little business that needed to be done while we were there. Had a wonderful time on Sunday, May 16th with Rabbit Creek Church and were excited to help them celebrate the churches 25th anniversary. It was quite a blessing to see how God is blessing in our precious church in Alaska and enjoyed renewing friendships and even starting new ones.

Arrived in Montana on Tuesday, May 18th where we spent a week with our kids, Dan, Jenifer, Carly, Courtney and Collin just attending school events and helping out in the garden. Terry was able to go with Collin's class to a fishing pond where Collin caught the most fish and showed Papa how they do it in Montana. The girls thrilled us with their acting talents when their class presented "Romeo and Juliet". We were blessed to have Ken and Rosie Neupert come down and see us from Canada. Both Alaska and Montana were colder than normal and we finally had to break down and buy jackets; who would have thought it?

Headed to Texas on Tuesday, May 25th. It was much warmer when we got off the plane and we welcomed the warmth! Spent a couple days with our son and his family in Addison. Spent a couple days with my parents in Denison. Had a great time attending church with Terry and Sally and watching the kids do some swimming in their new pool! Terry, Terry Jr. and Sally left on Tuesday, June 1st. Terry returned to Mexico and Terry Jr. and Sally won a trip with his company to Turks and Cacos. Sally's mother, Marsha and I remained behind to keep Addy and Nolen and have some quality time with the grandkids. We had a good time and the kids did awesome. They were very easy to care for and the memories made were priceless.

I returned home Tuesday, June 8th. Although it was an awesome trip, the old saying "there's no place like home" once again proves to be true. We loved seeing all our family and friends and were once again reminded of the blessing God has given us through both. I will bring our blog up to date this next week on our work here in Mexico. Thank you for your prayers for our work while we were gone and a special "thank you" to Bill and Renee Johnson and Dallas and Becca Bivins who filled in many of our responsibilities while we were gone.

Slide show of vacation:

Preparing for Trip to the States!

Busy week for Terry and me as we begin preparation for our visit to the US. I prepared 4 weeks of Little Light material for those who will be filling in for me while I'm gone. "Thanks," Becca and Renee. Also prepared materials that will be needed to print worship folders, connection cards, offering envelopes and fliers for Victory Outreach Men's Rehab Center. Boy, do I need to get a secretary! (picture: Chuck, Debbie and Karla)

Also enjoyed Chuck and Karla from Anchorage. They did several projects around our condos to help make it safer and cleaner. Chuck and Bill installed a new cabinet above my washer and dryer, and while drilling some holes for the strews they hit a water line! Water everywhere! But their quick thinking solved the problem in short order. "I didn't know Billy could run!" Wish I had a picture of Chuck with his finger in the pipe! Great fun! "Thank you Chuck and Karla for taking the time, money and effort to help us out here in Mexico. It is greatly appreciated."

Terry and I hope to fly out this Sunday evening or Monday evening heading for Anchorage, Alaska to see Johanna, Caleb and Tica. Caleb is graduating from Dimond High School. Can you believe he is that old! Anyway, we will be there for about a week then on to Montana for a week to see Jenifer and the family, then on to Texas for a week to see Terry Jr and his family. Hope to see many of our friends as well!

Thanks, again, for all your prayers. Our church is just doing great! Dallas Bivins and his family will be staying here in our home in Tulum, and preaching for Terry while we are gone. Bill and Renee and our Worship leader, Daniel will be covering all the other responsibilities while we are gone. They are the best, and we can't wait to see how God blesses while we are gone!

Trip to Isla Mujures

Spent 2 days with our good friends, Peter, Debbie, Josh and Matheus on their beautiful boat in Isla Mujures. Played tennis (sort of), swam, ate great food, and just enjoyed good friends. Thank you so much, Verstoeps, for a wonderful time.

Chuck and Karla arrived Friday from Anchorage. They are trying to adjust to the heat and humidity, seemed to do better on the beach Sunday afternoon! You can always jump in the water to cool off. Bill and Renee have several tasks for them to do around the mission house in preparation for other teams. It has been great to see them and renew good friendships.

We had 38 in Worship Sunday with many returning from vacations over the past month. I think we are officially in the down season in Tulum and are trusting God to average 35 over the summer months. The owner of HC Restaurant told us yesterday he is moving to a new location. It is much smaller and so Lighthouse Church is in search of a new location. We have a couple of weeks to do this and will trust God to lead us to a location that will allow us to grow in preparation for the fall when we will be praying and working toward averaging 60-70 regular attenders.

It continues to rain and our Internet service has just been terrible the past 2 weeks. That has made it tough to talk with family and friends over Skype or magic jack. Terry will be checking into an International calling plan via cell. It has been great being able to talk to our kids or my parents anytime I needed too. The slightest storm or even clouds, it seems, really messes with our signal. The past couple of weeks has taught me once again not to take the little things for granted.

Love all of you much. Thank you for your prayers and support.

Rain, rain, rain, rain

Rain (lluvia), or "esta llovienado a cantaros or a mares" or "it's raining cats and dogs". In other words it has rained a lot this past week. I think we are through the first set of storms. We got a lot of indoor stuff done last week; finished 3 books, painted, did laundry, watched movies and of course worked in our office. It did not seem to cool off much, but when the rain fell it was a beautiful sight! Thunder, lighting, dark skies, the smell of wet dirt, and the sound of rain hitting the pavement! Good stuff!

Had a great Sunday at Lighthouse Church, 29 in attendance, still another first time attender and great spirits! The collection of toothpaste, toothbrushes and rice was once again over the top. I think there was enough there for a years worth of teeth brushing. Victory Outreach Men's Rehab Center, once again was very thankful for the items and we continue to build on our relationship with them.

Planning a trip to Isla Mujeres this weekend with our good friends; Peter, Debbie, Josh and Matheus. We will be staying on their boat a couple of days and just enjoying the island! We return Saturday morning and will join Chuck and Karla from Anchorage, Alaska! We have an exciting week planned with them and Bill and Renee and will let you know all the details next week.

Continue to keep us in your prayer as we reach people on the Rivera Maya!

First Mission Project With Victory Outreach

Lighthouse made it's first of many deliveries to the Victory Outreach Ministry Men's Rehab Center. VOM is a rehab center for men suffering from substance abuse. Pastor Alberto and his wife, Merilynn have done a tremendous job at assisting these men as they regain control of their lives through Bible Study, prayer, daily work schedule and abuse counselling. Please keep this ministry in your prayers as they make a positive impact on Tulum and local families. They live in a very primitive setting along with the resident patients. It is a ministry of sacrifice and commitment and Pastor and Merilynn are great examples of that in this ministry.

Lighthouse Church began a 6 week mission project of collecting everyday items that the men usually live without. Soap, razors, flip flops, towels, deodorant, pain killers, first aid items and food items such as rice, tuna, beans, and tortillas, just to name of few. We are also preparing to assist them with building a dinning hall and a tower for an overhead water tank so they can have running water.

Mission teams are welcome to assist us at anytime. If you are interested please contact our mission pastor, Bill Johnson at mission-man@live.com

EASTER IS OVER THE TOP!

Celebrate Jesus, Celebrate! Easter was just over the top with 55 in attendance (highest attendance ever), 3 professions of faith, many next steps indicated on the Connection Cards, great Easter Potluck and topped it off with 3 believers following the Lord in believer's baptism! Thank you Lord and we celebrate you for the blessings!

Terry started a new series called "Life: The Whole Enchilada" first teaching was "Life in Surround Sound". Several new attenders committed to be present for the series which will run through May 2nd. Once again we will trust God for the increase!

I want to thank our faithful church family for their faithfulness in helping make Easter Sunday 2010 at Lighthouse Church Over The Top! God honored your efforts and some lives will never be the same again because you cared. We love you.

Preparing for Easter in Mexico!

As we prepare for our first Easter at Lighthouse Church, we want to thank our wonderful church family for their commitment to God and their church. Many have given hours of their time over the past few months to volunteer with set up, preparing continental breakfast, greeting, overheads, nursery & children's ministry, clean up after service and small groups (just to mention a few). Thank you so much!

Much to do this week and we trust God to honor our efforts as we communicate Easter Sunday Services to our area. We will hand out hundreds of fliers and posters to individuals, resorts and hotels. We have several listings on local electronic forum pages, and we'll try any other way we can find to invite people to church. Our goal is to have over 60 in our service. We trust God for a great Sunday.

We are praying for churches across the world as they celebrate the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ this next week. We look forward to hearing from you and we expect great things for you and yours. Because of Jesus.

Quiet, Productive Week

It was a cool, quiet week in Tulum. We had our normal activities; small groups, staff meeting, weekly outreach and added a Saturday birthday party for Bill and Renee.

We are gearing up for Easter 2010. We have had new fliers, posters and business cards made and hope to get them delivered to hotels, resorts, restaurants, and local businesses by April 1st. Our goal is to have 60 people for our first Easter Service. Yesterday our attendance was 35, with 4 first time attendees. We're going for the "everyone brings ONE" and trusting God we'll go over this goal. We've never had 60 before. 52 has been the high, so we're planning to break this attendance barrier.

God is presenting us with new opportunities here in Tulum. We have 2 more mission teams on the calendar for this summer and fall. Many others have contacted us about the possibility of coming to assist us with local fix up construction projects and local outreach. We continue to trust God for leadership and direction as we reach our area for Christ.

"Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do no swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil." Proverbs 4:25-27

First Lighthouse Church 101

Victory Outreach Ministry

We had our first Lighthouse Church 101-Discovering Church Membership yesterday. We had 8 attend and everyone enjoyed learning the purposes and strategy of Lighthouse Church based on God's Word. Thank you, Terry, for preparing this seminar with your people in mind, and you did it in less than 3 hours. You are my favorite!

We had a good week in Tulum and finished off the week with about 3 hours at the beach on Friday with Estrada, Cora and EJ from Anchorage, Alaska. How sweet it is to renew friendships. Our time together made us grateful for Christian friends who have shared their lives with us and we have shared ours with them. We were also blessed to see Faren and Stephanie Chase once again before they left Mexico. FRIENDS ARE OUR BLESSINGS FROM GOD THE FATHER!

We had 2 contacts this past week from churches wanting to send down mission teams this summer and fall. We are so excited. We have many things in mind for them to do in the way of ministry and outreach. Please keep us in your prayers as we reach out into our community and through our church to assist those in need and to enable others to be blessed by others wanting to serve God here in Mexico on short term mission trips. I know this will only make peoples lives better and will make Jesus smile.

First Mission Family to Lighthouse Church

We had our first incoming Mission Family serve at Lighthouse Church this week. The Campions, our good friends from Minnesota. They were able to paint a bodega (storage shed), redo our courtyard flower garden, attend our small group, visit and take some supplies to Victory Outreach Ministry here in Tulum, assist in set up at worship on Sunday morning. They worked very hard, and were a great encouragement. They were also able to go to the beach, go sailing on a 50 foot catamaran, go to Xel-Ha and enjoy the pool here at the house.

We are so thankful they were here to help us. We truly enjoyed renewing our friendship and sharing our vision for our work here in Tulum. We were able to also see Doug, Faren and Stefanie Chase from Anchorage.

We have our first Lighthouse Church 101 this Sunday, March 14th and have 6 signed up to attend. We continue to see growth everyday and continue to trust God for a more permanent place to hold Lighthouse Church worship on Sundays.

Check out the slide show of our First Mission Family to Lighthouse Church.