Mexico Update

Some pictures and videos from the Mexico Trip

The team was out in the park and talked to some high school students about the Lord.  Trey did some stepping in order to get their attention and each one of us got a chance to share with the young people.

Cancun, Mexico (Dia Cuatro)

Pepper and Pastor Fransico

Buenos Dias!
Today started out a little differently, some of the group stayed back because of sickness, while others headed off to the beach with some of our hosts. We just can’t get over how generous our hosts have been, driving us to and from the church, breakfast and lunches and dinners, and even to the beach! They truly have servants hearts!
Buenos tardes!
Kenny and August spoke on the “10 How-To’s of Discipleship” tonight while Pepper taught on “Multiplication.”  It seems like the more we are focused and in accordance with one another, the more distractions are apparent. However, through the music blaring outside, dogs barking, and children getting sick, the Spirit was, as always, with us and the true Word was imparted into the hearts of many that were listening. It is so encouraging to see people learning the Bible! When you are watching someone’s face that is intently listening and taking in a new lesson you can almost see their lives transforming before your eyes. We hope that is the case for all that were in attendance during this conference, as we also hope that each of us on the team remains teachable, we all have a lot to learn.
Buenas Noches!
I leave you with something that brought most of all in attendance to tears. Since tonight was our last night holding the conference here in Cancun, some of the people in the congregation stayed after to say good-bye, but what we received was much more than a sweet “Adios”. Our team stood at the front of the sanctuary while the members stood and sat before us, if it wasn’t quiet outside (which it usually never was), I didn’t hear a peep outside those walls. One after another they stood up and thanked us for coming, that we had given them something they knew was important and desired to live out in their lives. One man, Hermano Jaime, even challenged us and the congregation by telling us to come back next year and ask them if they have been making disciples!!! They expressed their love for us, that they hope that God continues to bless us, and even a few children told us they hoped our journey was safe and expressed the importance it was to make disciples for Christ! Children!! It was so very lovely! And I don’t say it was lovely because they were telling us good things they appreciated about us, but because the Lord was being given the glory in everything and we were able to hear some testimonies about how the Lord had changed the hearts of some of those who heard His word! What a great blessing to know that if you allow God to use you as a vessel for His purpose, He is magnified and glorified!! Amen!

Cancun, Mexico (Dia Tres)

Becky, August, Tania (our translator), & Ashley Jo

Pepper with Jaime and his wife Katy. They were some of our wonderful hosts!

This is the church we held the conference in.

"Tres Amigos" Esteban became part of the brotherhood.

Buenos Tardes!
Our team had the great opportunity to walk around with some of the members of the church and evangelize to their neighborhood. An elderly lady, whose family attends the church, invited us over to hit the streets with her. One of her spiritual gifts is evangelism and she desires for her neighborhood to know the Lord. We split up into two teams and headed out, Katy (one of our hosts), made sure that not a single person walked by us without being stopped and spoken to even if for a moment. At one point a few of us walked up to a group of three people, part of a family, working on a roof of a home that looked as if most of it had burned down. 

There were two women and a man, the man was able to speak a little English. Kathy shared the gospel with them and we were able to pray with and for them. August exchanged jewelry with the girls, something they seemed to appreciate very much. It was an intimate moment that will forever stay in our hearts.
That evening Kenny and Ashley Jo spoke on the “10 Qualifications of a Disciple Maker” and Pepper taught on “The Master’s Plan to Make Disciples and Vocab of Disciple-making.”
It was encouraging to have people come up to us afterward to ask questions, and make sure they understood what was taught. There is such a passion in their hearts for the things of the Lord. A lady came up to me after the class and shared another passage of scripture and some examples with me that covers the same topic, it was a joy to learn from her.
Buenas Noches!
At our evening meeting one shared that they really enjoyed the night, having an opportunity to connect with more of the people there through non-verbal communication. Though there was a language barrier between her and the locals, but she was still able to serve by helping set up the snack table and by hanging out with the kids upstairs. That, I think, is a great example of loving the people of all nations.
It’s amazing to me that even though you have no idea what one another is saying, sometimes you just can’t stop talking, desiring to share whatever is on your heart with one another. Though we are different, we are the same. I leave you with Romans 1:5 

"through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations."

Cancun, Mexico (Dia Dos)

Waking up in another country doesn't always feel different, especially if you are in a hotel. But whenever you walk outside your door, or even crack open the window, the sights, the smell, the breeze (or lack of), all tell you "This is different."


We decided to go to Fonda Ixtapa again, for breakfast this time. The friendly exchange turned to more of a family feel as we shared stories and looked at pictures of our families. I know that if we come here again, our love will only grow deeper for them. After we had finished eating we headed to church for the morning services. Our team was introduced to the congregation, it was such a warm welcome, and then service began. Although as a group, not including Pepper, we hardly know Spanish, we were still able to sing praises to our Lord, just in a different language. I think that brings more of God's command to reality, at least for me, when you are in a group with people of different skin colors and culture, all worshiping the same God. It is a visible sign that God loves everyone. Before Pepper taught DJ had the pleasure of sharing a short testimony, and from the audience, you could tell he enjoyed sharing God's power in his life with everyone.


That evening the conference began. Pepper Horn taught the "Great Commission" while Becky Beavers and DJ Singfield taught on the "Profiles of a Disciple". Both were grateful to be a vessel for God's work and allowed His truth to speak through them. I know that those in the seats listening, including myself, learned applicable truth.


As we met together at the end of the evening it was so clear on my mind that though I was in a different country, and the people I am with do not share the same color of skin, we are all children of God. Though different, the same.

Cancun, Mexico (Dia Uno)

We made it!!! Those are some of the most often first used words when updating friends and family on your traveling, but boy do they have so much meaning and passion behind them! When our team left this morning from Memphis, at approximately 7:30 am, we were tired but ready to embark on our journey to serve and worship God with our brothers and sisters from another culture. About 9 hours or so later we were greeted with great warmth by Francisco, his wife Rita, their son Esteban, and another brother in Christ Jaime. And though a language barrier was assumed and proved evident for most, a love barrier had been broken upon the word "Hola".

We piled into two vehicles and set off to our hotel. Immediately we were able to see and feel some of the differences between Cancun and the United States. For one, the weather is AWESOME!! The warm, yet cool air was very inviting, and allowed us to take off a few of the layers we had needed in Memphis. The lines of buildings along the road were unpredictable, either across the street or right next to one another expensive looking buildings that were in use, lots of abandoned buildings, and then those that were in use but falling apart. Billboard after billboard lined the horizontal view and small groups of people were standing randomly along the roadside. They of course had their own purpose in being there, but I have no idea what that would be. There were visible speed limit signs, but most cars weren't obeying them or the few lane lines on the road.

Our gracious hosts, allowed us time to put our belongings in our rooms and freshen up before we left for dinner. We ate at a local family-owned Mexican restaurant, Fonda Ixtapa, and spent some time talking with the owner, Angel, and his wife. During dinner Francisco explained to us the beautiful history of the church we will be attending soon, which is where the conference will be held, "Estrella de Belen" (The "Star of Bethlehem"). It's had 23 years of life and from the stories that we heard, and the heart behind these people, I'm personally excited to worship alongside our fellow members of the body of Christ.

Before we went to bed our team headed up to the top of the hotel to spend time in worship, through prayer first and then song.

It was a lovely first day here in Mexico and as this post comes to a close please think on the sweetness of the words that flowed from our lips and offer your own heart to our God:
                  Jesus, be Jesus in me
                  Not me, but Thee,
                  Resurrection power,
                  Fill me this hour
                  Jesus, be Jesus in me

And be in prayer for us:
That God's words would flow from our lips as we teach the lessons and spend time talking with people. Our focus would remain on God and we would not be distracted by anything. The experience would not be taken for granted, but be fun as well as a time of growth. That the team would come closer together and nothing would come between us.
Thank you,
Love from Mexico!!

Mexico Trip Day 7

Praise the Lord for today! We finished our conference around 3:00 p.m and had over 100 people!! We feel extremely blessed to have a small part of the Lord's work here in Merida, Mexcio. The people here are amazing...this trip has blown us away! Seriously! Words can't express the experience here... we just owe it all to the Lord. He has answered so many prayers. Tonight we went to our host, Pastor Victor's, church to teach. Liz and Katy spoke and did a skit to the children in Awana(age 4-9) about Phillip and the Ethiopian. Brooks and Katy each gave their testimony to the youth group. One of the boys heard Brooks' testimony and the Lord broke him down and opened his eyes to see that something in his life was missing. He accepted Christ in Pastor Victor's office tonight. PRAISE THE LORD! Tomorrow we are going to explore Chichen Itza... and then heading back to Cancun to fly out Monday morning. We will see you back in the States soon. There are so many things we would love to share, and hopefully we can in person!
The women at the conference

Awana tonight with the children!!

Team Mexico in our Mexican gear

Mexico Day 5 and 6

We have had an amazing day!! We had the conference in Merida today and there were many men and women ready to learn and fellowship. They are eager to learn more and we can't wait for tomorrow to finish off strong! The Lord has given us so much strength and so many opportunities for His glory!

-From Mexico with mucho love-

Mexico Day 4

"A picture is worth a thousand words"

-Praise the Lord for the faithful men and women of Cancun, Mexico-

The whole group after the conference in Cancun.
The twinkies with the famous GLOBE!!

Liz speaking to the women on the Thessalonian Legacy

Brooks speaking to the men on the "10 How To's of Disciple Making"

Katy speaking to the women on the "10 How To's of Disciple Making"
We took a four hour bus ride today to head to Merida, Mexico. Pastor Victor picked us up from the bus stop and we are just now settling in to our hotel. There will be a prayer meeting tonight at 8:00 and we will begin another conference Friday and Saturday. Thank you for reading our updates and joining us in prayer for the Lord to work in the lives of the people of Mexico.

Mexico Day 3

Hola! Buenos dias!
It's our fourth day in Mexico, and the teaching last night went very well. Pepper taught the Great Commission and Vocabualry of a Disciple Maker. Then the men and women split, and Brooks and Liz taught Thessalonian Legacy and 9 Qualifications of a Disciple Maker. We LOVE the women!! They are really catching on and want to know how to live out disciple making. Pepper and Brooks have also really enjoyed their time with the hombres. Tonight is Part two... with Pepper on the front line, coming on strong, and Brooks and Katy bringing up the rear. We LOVE MEXICO...and might stay permanently...just kidding!! Thank you for all of your prayers! Stay tuned for updates about Merida--our next location.

Mexcio Day 2

We are up and ready to spread the good news in Mexico! We will start our teaching in Cancun today from 3:30-9:00. Yesterday we went to the church where we will hold the conference and met many of the men and women that will be attending. They were extremely joyful and loving people. There were six people that were baptized yesterday in the church of Antioch Baptist Church--Praise the Lord! Here is a video of one of the men that was baptized and a picture of us outside the church where we will hold the conference.

Amor de Mexico!!

Mexico Day One!

Hola de Mexico! We arrived around 9 last night, and thankfully no luggage was lost! Dr. Roberto and two of our other hosts met us at the airport. They took us to our hotel, then we headed straight out to get some good ole' Mexican food! We'll go to church this morning then spend the rest of the day preparing for the conference. The next two days we will begin speaking to the men and women of Cancun!
Please pray that they will catch the vision and have open ears and hearts to learn. Also, please pray that we would be open to the Spirit as we teach and that we would have endurance and strength from the Lord.
-TM (Team Mexico!)

Video Blog from Mexico

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Mexico 2010

The Mexico team has been in Valladolid since Saturday. On Sunday night the team preached in 3 different churches. Today we started the pastors conferences. The team is doing great! More information will be posted later when we have a little more time so check back for updates!

Trip Summary from Jaci

DL Mexico Men Cliff Jumping

Wednesday Mexico Update

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Our second day of training started off great! The people at the conference are so excited about the learning and applying the concepts of discipleship. They have already invited back both to run a conference next year and would like for us to another time to lead a marriage conference on discipleship! Today Steve, Doc, Sean, Kyle, Jackie, and Chalise taught. Things are going amazingly well here in Mexico – thanks for keeping the team and the work the Lord is doing in your prayers!

Tuesday Mexico Update

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This was our first day of training. Anytime we find ourselves in a new situation we are not sure what to expect. The conference to start at 8 am, but there were only seven people in attendance. Well, by 9 am the church was filled with over FIFTY people in attendance. The majority of those in attendance were pastors who normally do not work together. In the morning I (Steve) taught Vision and Strategy followed by the Great Commission. Our translator is Ron Brown who is the Assistant Director of GHO (Global Health Outreach) which is the missions branch of CMDA (Christian Medical & Dental Association). He did an amazing job of translating – perhaps the best translator I have ever had. He has spent the majority of his life serving as a missionary in the Spanish speaking world. At the end of the session the pastor who had set the conference up spoke of how they had failed to make disciples and MUST repent and begin to implement Jesus strategy. In the afternoon Dr. Reardon taught on the Vocabulary of the Disciple. He did a great job, the people loved hearing from him. Ben Bondurant was the last teacher of the day and did a great job of communicating the Thessalonian Legacy. At the end we had some more time of summary by the leadership. We had an awesome start to the conference – far exceeded any expectations. I am excited about what God is doing here! Keep us and the pastors/leaders we are training in your prayers!

Monday Mexico Update

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Mexico Update

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