Dear Friends,
Greetings from Durango. Welcome to the first update for 2005. Its so
great to have you all with us for another what we hope is an incredible
year for Jesus in Lajas. Just to catch you up. We drove down to Mazatlan
on December the 28th, and spent a few days with Anne Marie's family
there. They all flew in on her sister's standby tickets. Risky around
Christmas, but praise the Lord they all made it. The kids loved being
close to the beach and we were able to stay at the WYAM base (literally
opposite the beach). A New Zealand family working with WYAM had children the same age as ours, so it was an extra bonus for our kids. Our
favourite day was the day we headed to Cerrillitos (a beach). We
borrowed a surfboard (big one) and a body board, and enjoyed the waves.
Unfortunately, I'm not as agile on the surfboard as I used to think I
was, but I did manage to get a few good rides in. A memorable occasion
was frightening the daylights out of a number of kids as I surfed
through their midst on what can only be mentioned as the world longest
and most formidable surfboard ever made. Once again confirming in their
minds "tourists are to be avoided." It was a relaxing break.
Back in Durango, life is back to normal again, kids are back in school
and Anne Marie and I are back into language study. The house deal for
Secundino fell through. The seller apparently claims he has lost the
title. He asked if we would pay, and then he would give us the title
once he had located it. We declined his kindness wondering if we really
looked as stupid as he was implying. Needless to say, Secundino is back
in the house hunt. We are praying something shows up soon.
We have one simple goal for the first part of this year: try and move
into Lajas and live fulltime. The house is coming along, but we hesitate
to do too much more at least as far as building another room, etc., until
we have some sort of permission from the tribal leaders. The new
governor's name is Julian. On Friday we leave for Lajas as a family. We
will return the following Friday. We are trusting the Lord to be able to
talk with the governor, and have him organize a town meeting. We would
like to present to the town in as clear a way as possible our reasons for
wanting to live in their village. We have no idea how this will happen,
or if the governor will even go for it. In the past it hasn't been
possible to get his far, but we are really trusting the Lord for some
big miracles in these next days. So please pray with us. Some questions
plaguing our minds: How do we get this process started? How much do we
say about the full extent of our purpose in the village? Do we go ahead
and shoot for the whole team to be able to live out there, or just one
family for starters? The truth is, it's the Lord's deal and we want to be
ready to do whatever He allows us to do. We do want to be wise, and we
do want to see these people reached as soon as possible. The task of
reaching people with Jesus is an urgent one. Please pray with us for God
to open up doors and dialogue with the governor Julian. Pray for the
right words to say and for that the Lord would grant us much favour with
the Tepehuan. Continue to pray for us as we learn Tepehuan. It is quite
an involved and complex language the more we get into it. It is quite
different learning an unwritten language as opposed to learning Spanish.
Our coworkers are all doing well. Barry & Candy are on Furlough up in
the States. Recently they enjoyed the birth of their second grandchild
Haley Margaret Tyler. They are looking to the Lord to provide them with
a 4x4 truck for Lajas. They are encouraged with some recent response
towards some help in getting a vehicle. Their son Matt received a
serious bout of pneumonia for Christmas. Praise Jesus he is on the
improve. Scott & Lina will fly into Lajas the day we leave. They'll be
spending a few days in the village. Pray for their safety and for their
time in Lajas as they develop relationships with the people.
On the family scene, Anne Marie keeps busy trying to balance language
study and family duties. Joseph continues with soccer and is doing
really well with his drum lessons. We have been loaned a set of drums
which is great for Joseph, not so great for the neighbors nor the rest
of the family. He got to play the cow bell (percussion instrument for
the uninformed) in the praise band at church last Sunday. All the
musicians were impressed with his good rhythm. Madeline is doing well at school and is taking art lessons on the side with a lady from church.
She is doing well and has done some great drawings. Julian continues
with soccer and has migrated from the tricycle to the bicycle. Injuries
are on the rise! His Spanish is improving from going to the Mexican
kinder here close by. Sophia is growing at least out-ways. There is very
little she feels she can't do and so we are busy reining her in. She
has the impression she is the "queen", hence life is taking a learning
curve as she figures out the authority structure in the house. Quite
shocking for a child when they have to learn that life doesn't
necessarily always revolve around them al the time. When she's sweet she sure is a sweetie.
Thanks for praying for us and being with us.
For Jesus,
Andrew and Anne Marie
...
January 2005 update
