The Thiessen Talk'O
Sharing The Love of God in La Paz, BCS, Mexico
Missionaries To Mexico, Serving With TEAM & Associate Missionaries with EMC
"I have called you back from the ends of the earth, saying, ‘You are my servant.’ For I have chosen you and will not throw you away. Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand."
~Isa. 41:9-10
~Isa. 41:9-10
Something Fun:
Here's a little Spanish glossary that might come in handy... :)
colonia = neighbourhood
fútbol = soccer
El Colegio Arbol De Vida = The Tree Of Life School
Transformados = Transformed
juegos de la mesa = table games
Muchas Gracias de Iglesia El Faro = Many Thanks From El Faro Church
El Faro = The Lighthouse
la sombra = the shade
Transformados en Acción = Transformed in Action
Here's a little Spanish glossary that might come in handy... :)
colonia = neighbourhood
fútbol = soccer
El Colegio Arbol De Vida = The Tree Of Life School
Transformados = Transformed
juegos de la mesa = table games
Muchas Gracias de Iglesia El Faro = Many Thanks From El Faro Church
El Faro = The Lighthouse
la sombra = the shade
Transformados en Acción = Transformed in Action
TEAM TRANSFORMADOS!
We
desire Transformados/Transformed to facilitate the transforming work of
Christ in people's lives and to be a spiritual community where people
can experience the love of Christ in action!
"Transformadas"/"Transformed" Sports Ministry Initiative (MI)
"...Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed..." - Rom. 12:2
As we shared in our last newsletter, our Sports MI "Transformadas/Transformed" is up and running! Here's what it looked like during the summer:
May 30th - Our official kick-off for our neighbourhood basketball club. We had a great turnout of youth, anywhere from 8-17 years old. We taught some basic basketball skills, ran some drills, had some relays, gave out a few prizes and then played a game. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and we encouraged them to return for the weekly basketball classes throughout the summer.
June 1st - July 10th - Basketball club at the community court in our colonia from 8:30 - 10:30am every Monday and Wednesday.
June 15th - A sad day as we said good-bye to our teammates, The Eagers, who returned to the US for a 6 month home assignment.
July 13th - August 22nd - Basketball club every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, from 9-11am. What a blessing it has been to develop a relationship with the directors at the Jr. High School near our home. They have been warm, welcoming and supportive. They gave us permission to use their covered basketball court during the summer months and now that school is back in session we are still able to use it on Saturdays.
July 30th - Signed a one year contract to rent a storefront office right across from the entrance to the Jr. High School where we have been having our Basketball club every week. This school has over 1000 students and we are excited to set up a sports ministry office and youth drop in center. Our desire is to create a safe and inviting place where youth, in the community, want to come and hang out. In time, we hope to offer help with English homework, English classes, workshops/courses for students and parents, fellowship meals, movie/games/sports event nights and Bible studies. We've even dreamed of one day adding baking, arts/crafts and music. When God is involved, not even is the sky the limit! Our team's vision is to not only have an office for Transformados but also a presence in the community and an open door of hospitality, so that whoever walks in, will find a listening ear and experience the love of Christ and be transformed!
August 8th - Our basketball club's first game against another team from a local league. It was great to see how much our youth had improved from the beginning of the summer when doing lay-ups had been difficult for many of them. They played hard, didn't give up and only lost by 20 points. We expressed our excitement over what they had done and encouraged them to think about how far they had come in such a short while. We then celebrated with ice cream at DQ (which was a first for many of the youth).
August 15th - Our second basketball game. This time we only lost by 10 points!
August 24th - present - Once the new school year began, we moved the Basketball club to Saturdays from 9-11am. But the youth are asking for more practice times. Therefore, we are presently in dialogue with the directors of the school to work out times, during the week, when we can use their covered court to give more basketball classes. There has also been talk about starting a boy's basketball team at the school along with continuing to train our group of mixed age/gender players that is unofficially participating in an already formed basketball league. At this point, because there is only the 2 of us working at this ministry, we are going to hold off on starting something for the younger aged children in our colonia. We had a good number of them that came during the summer, which was great, but as the number of youth grew, it also grew harder to work with a large group of varying ages, genders and skill levels. Our hope is to expand into a club for younger children, once our teammates are back and our personnel number increases to 4!
September 19th - Our team's third basketball game. This time our youth were hoping to come away with a win. Unfortunately, we lost, but we tried to encourage them to focus on all the things they did well and to remember how far they have come.
September 20th - We hosted a night of table games in the sports ministry office and were excited that a good number of our basketballers came out and enjoyed an evening of fun and laughter. Team and relationship building at it's best! :)
October - The basketball club will take a 1 month break as we return to Canada to share and re-connect with churches, supporters, family and friends. (More about this later).
November - Basketball club starts again on Saturdays and hopefully 2 more times during the week. We want to get the office painted and furnished and start to have it open on a regular basis.
Update on the other 2 Transformados target areas:
In our last newsletter we told you about the 3 target areas we are trying to reach with Transformados - Our colonia (Puesta Del Sol), the colonia (Vistas De Guadalupe) where we did a mini-fútbol tournament and the colonia (Mira Mar) where Anthony is coaching fútbol. Presently, we are only able to work in 2 of the 3 target areas. When the Eagers return, we look forward to growing our connection with Vistas De Guadalupe through sports. Anthony's coaching in Mira Mar has been going well, however, the overseers of fútbol have recently changed the age categories and now the number of players on his team has dwindled. We realize that this recent change is the cause and in time new players will join. It was encouraging to have many players and parents express their sadness at having to move to the next team up because they have really appreciated Anthony, his coaching and his leadership. However, we also find ourselves at a crossroads in regard to this 3rd target area and would appreciate your prayers. We are wondering if Anthony's time and energy would be better spent in our colonia, working to expand the basketball club as well as having more time to be at the office to further grow our presence in the community and the hours that we have it open. It really comes down to a question of quantity versus quality - doing many good things but not all of them well for lack of personnel or energy or time or doing less good things but having the personnel and energy and time to do them well. Please pray for us as we seek God's direction.
"...Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed..." - Rom. 12:2
As we shared in our last newsletter, our Sports MI "Transformadas/Transformed" is up and running! Here's what it looked like during the summer:
May 30th - Our official kick-off for our neighbourhood basketball club. We had a great turnout of youth, anywhere from 8-17 years old. We taught some basic basketball skills, ran some drills, had some relays, gave out a few prizes and then played a game. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and we encouraged them to return for the weekly basketball classes throughout the summer.
June 1st - July 10th - Basketball club at the community court in our colonia from 8:30 - 10:30am every Monday and Wednesday.
June 15th - A sad day as we said good-bye to our teammates, The Eagers, who returned to the US for a 6 month home assignment.
July 13th - August 22nd - Basketball club every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, from 9-11am. What a blessing it has been to develop a relationship with the directors at the Jr. High School near our home. They have been warm, welcoming and supportive. They gave us permission to use their covered basketball court during the summer months and now that school is back in session we are still able to use it on Saturdays.
July 30th - Signed a one year contract to rent a storefront office right across from the entrance to the Jr. High School where we have been having our Basketball club every week. This school has over 1000 students and we are excited to set up a sports ministry office and youth drop in center. Our desire is to create a safe and inviting place where youth, in the community, want to come and hang out. In time, we hope to offer help with English homework, English classes, workshops/courses for students and parents, fellowship meals, movie/games/sports event nights and Bible studies. We've even dreamed of one day adding baking, arts/crafts and music. When God is involved, not even is the sky the limit! Our team's vision is to not only have an office for Transformados but also a presence in the community and an open door of hospitality, so that whoever walks in, will find a listening ear and experience the love of Christ and be transformed!
August 8th - Our basketball club's first game against another team from a local league. It was great to see how much our youth had improved from the beginning of the summer when doing lay-ups had been difficult for many of them. They played hard, didn't give up and only lost by 20 points. We expressed our excitement over what they had done and encouraged them to think about how far they had come in such a short while. We then celebrated with ice cream at DQ (which was a first for many of the youth).
August 15th - Our second basketball game. This time we only lost by 10 points!
August 24th - present - Once the new school year began, we moved the Basketball club to Saturdays from 9-11am. But the youth are asking for more practice times. Therefore, we are presently in dialogue with the directors of the school to work out times, during the week, when we can use their covered court to give more basketball classes. There has also been talk about starting a boy's basketball team at the school along with continuing to train our group of mixed age/gender players that is unofficially participating in an already formed basketball league. At this point, because there is only the 2 of us working at this ministry, we are going to hold off on starting something for the younger aged children in our colonia. We had a good number of them that came during the summer, which was great, but as the number of youth grew, it also grew harder to work with a large group of varying ages, genders and skill levels. Our hope is to expand into a club for younger children, once our teammates are back and our personnel number increases to 4!
September 19th - Our team's third basketball game. This time our youth were hoping to come away with a win. Unfortunately, we lost, but we tried to encourage them to focus on all the things they did well and to remember how far they have come.
September 20th - We hosted a night of table games in the sports ministry office and were excited that a good number of our basketballers came out and enjoyed an evening of fun and laughter. Team and relationship building at it's best! :)
October - The basketball club will take a 1 month break as we return to Canada to share and re-connect with churches, supporters, family and friends. (More about this later).
November - Basketball club starts again on Saturdays and hopefully 2 more times during the week. We want to get the office painted and furnished and start to have it open on a regular basis.
Update on the other 2 Transformados target areas:
In our last newsletter we told you about the 3 target areas we are trying to reach with Transformados - Our colonia (Puesta Del Sol), the colonia (Vistas De Guadalupe) where we did a mini-fútbol tournament and the colonia (Mira Mar) where Anthony is coaching fútbol. Presently, we are only able to work in 2 of the 3 target areas. When the Eagers return, we look forward to growing our connection with Vistas De Guadalupe through sports. Anthony's coaching in Mira Mar has been going well, however, the overseers of fútbol have recently changed the age categories and now the number of players on his team has dwindled. We realize that this recent change is the cause and in time new players will join. It was encouraging to have many players and parents express their sadness at having to move to the next team up because they have really appreciated Anthony, his coaching and his leadership. However, we also find ourselves at a crossroads in regard to this 3rd target area and would appreciate your prayers. We are wondering if Anthony's time and energy would be better spent in our colonia, working to expand the basketball club as well as having more time to be at the office to further grow our presence in the community and the hours that we have it open. It really comes down to a question of quantity versus quality - doing many good things but not all of them well for lack of personnel or energy or time or doing less good things but having the personnel and energy and time to do them well. Please pray for us as we seek God's direction.
From Our Blog - "The Thiessen Times"
I am not very tech-savvy. I am pushed by keeping up with the youth around me by using facebook, twitter, and now WhatsApp. But I find myself seeing some positive uses and simple relationship connecting through them, so I keep trying by asking people how this or that works.
Recently, I was using the WhatsApp to keep our Jr. and Sr. High basketball team informed about what was happening that week for practice and playing times. They started to ask some basic questions, and then started teasing each other as invariably happens. Someone asked why we have such a strange name as Transformed, they had never heard such before. I know an open door when I see one, so at the next practice I had them sit down and talked to them about the importance of giving your live completely to God and how he will transform you. There were heads nodding and a serious silence as they listened, and I was blessed to be able to share what God laid on my heart.
We then walked over to the new office we are renting and they asked why we had this office. I explained that it was a mult-purpose office for basketball meetings and teaching, English tutoring and teaching on other topics. Several laughed when I asked how much they would pay for English classes and they said 5 pesos. They seemed serious about wanting some English help so it seems we may be going down the right trail. Karlene called as I was ready to say adios wanting to invite the team to our place to watch Team Mexico playing a live b-ball game that was at half time. Most of our team was up for it, so they came over, all sweaty and tired, and we watched Mexico win.
At this stage in our basketball ministry, we are investing in building strong relationships. Josiah has been invited to one home several times and we have had these two boys over as well. I have got to know the family. One girl comes to visit on Saturdays with Keyana after practice as well and her mom enjoys practicing English with us. We are seeing families and youth opening up to us, and we are praying that we can be a blessing in their lives with eternity in mind. We are blessed by the many that are praying for us, and partnering with us. We live in a time of great difficulty but great opportunity. As Jesus said many years ago, the fields are ripe, it is time for the harvest. I don't think that has changed. ~ Anthony
I am not very tech-savvy. I am pushed by keeping up with the youth around me by using facebook, twitter, and now WhatsApp. But I find myself seeing some positive uses and simple relationship connecting through them, so I keep trying by asking people how this or that works.
Recently, I was using the WhatsApp to keep our Jr. and Sr. High basketball team informed about what was happening that week for practice and playing times. They started to ask some basic questions, and then started teasing each other as invariably happens. Someone asked why we have such a strange name as Transformed, they had never heard such before. I know an open door when I see one, so at the next practice I had them sit down and talked to them about the importance of giving your live completely to God and how he will transform you. There were heads nodding and a serious silence as they listened, and I was blessed to be able to share what God laid on my heart.
We then walked over to the new office we are renting and they asked why we had this office. I explained that it was a mult-purpose office for basketball meetings and teaching, English tutoring and teaching on other topics. Several laughed when I asked how much they would pay for English classes and they said 5 pesos. They seemed serious about wanting some English help so it seems we may be going down the right trail. Karlene called as I was ready to say adios wanting to invite the team to our place to watch Team Mexico playing a live b-ball game that was at half time. Most of our team was up for it, so they came over, all sweaty and tired, and we watched Mexico win.
At this stage in our basketball ministry, we are investing in building strong relationships. Josiah has been invited to one home several times and we have had these two boys over as well. I have got to know the family. One girl comes to visit on Saturdays with Keyana after practice as well and her mom enjoys practicing English with us. We are seeing families and youth opening up to us, and we are praying that we can be a blessing in their lives with eternity in mind. We are blessed by the many that are praying for us, and partnering with us. We live in a time of great difficulty but great opportunity. As Jesus said many years ago, the fields are ripe, it is time for the harvest. I don't think that has changed. ~ Anthony
Heading North into The Brrrrrrrr of Winter...
We have the awesome opportunity to return to Canada, for the month of October, in order to share about “Transformados/Transformed” as well as to re-connect with family/friends (some of whom we haven’t seen in 3 years or more) and to attend a family wedding. We are extremely excited about this opportunity and the chance to give an update about what God is doing in La Paz and the vision He has placed on our hearts for the “Transformados” sports ministry. We are very grateful to Brenda Matthews (our newest missionary addition to La Paz) who is going to house/pet sit for us while we are away. This gives us much needed peace and provides her with a place to stay while she looks for an apartment of her own.
We arrive in Calgary on October 1st and fly out on November 3rd. Because our time is short and because one of the Sunday's is taken up with a family wedding, we only have 4 Sundays available to share. Presently, all of our Sunday mornings are booked and even if we are not able to give an update at your home church, we want to warmly invite you to attend any of the service times and locations below to hear about what God is doing in La Paz! We would love to see you and have the chance to re-connect. We are also open to sharing during Sunday or weekday evening services, organizing personal coffee times or accepting meal invitations. If we receive any of the above, we will do our best to work them into our schedule. Our month home in Alberta, has a 3-fold purpose - 1. to re-connect with churches, supporters, family and friends, 2. to look after some personal items like paperwork, homeschooling materials, medical appointments etc. and 3. to rest and refresh. We are trusting God that all 3 will be able to happen successfully.
Our October schedule is as follows:
Sunday, Oct. 4th - 11:00 am - Nampa Gospel Fellowship Church
Sunday, Oct. 4th - 6:00 pm - Manning Family Worship Center (evening service)
Oct. 5th - 10th - staying in the La Crete/Fort Vermilion area
Sat/Sun Oct. 10th - 11th - Thanksgiving with Anthony's family
Oct. 27th - Travel to Calgary
Oct. 28th - 30th - Meeting with TEAM Canada,
- Re-connecting with supporters, family and friends
Sunday, Nov. 1st - Family Wedding
Monday, Nov. 2nd - Family reunion
Tuesday, Nov. 3rd - Fly back to La Paz
We have the awesome opportunity to return to Canada, for the month of October, in order to share about “Transformados/Transformed” as well as to re-connect with family/friends (some of whom we haven’t seen in 3 years or more) and to attend a family wedding. We are extremely excited about this opportunity and the chance to give an update about what God is doing in La Paz and the vision He has placed on our hearts for the “Transformados” sports ministry. We are very grateful to Brenda Matthews (our newest missionary addition to La Paz) who is going to house/pet sit for us while we are away. This gives us much needed peace and provides her with a place to stay while she looks for an apartment of her own.
We arrive in Calgary on October 1st and fly out on November 3rd. Because our time is short and because one of the Sunday's is taken up with a family wedding, we only have 4 Sundays available to share. Presently, all of our Sunday mornings are booked and even if we are not able to give an update at your home church, we want to warmly invite you to attend any of the service times and locations below to hear about what God is doing in La Paz! We would love to see you and have the chance to re-connect. We are also open to sharing during Sunday or weekday evening services, organizing personal coffee times or accepting meal invitations. If we receive any of the above, we will do our best to work them into our schedule. Our month home in Alberta, has a 3-fold purpose - 1. to re-connect with churches, supporters, family and friends, 2. to look after some personal items like paperwork, homeschooling materials, medical appointments etc. and 3. to rest and refresh. We are trusting God that all 3 will be able to happen successfully.
Our October schedule is as follows:
Sunday, Oct. 4th - 11:00 am - Nampa Gospel Fellowship Church
Sunday, Oct. 4th - 6:00 pm - Manning Family Worship Center (evening service)
Oct. 5th - 10th - staying in the La Crete/Fort Vermilion area
Sat/Sun Oct. 10th - 11th - Thanksgiving with Anthony's family
Sunday, Oct. 11th - 10:30 am - High Level Christian Fellowship Church
Monday, Oct. 12th - Thanksgiving with Karlene's parents
Oct. 12th - 17th - staying in the La Crete/Fort Vermilion area
Sunday, Oct. 18th - 10:30 am - La Crete Christian Fellowship Church (LCCF)
Oct. 18th - 25th - staying in the La Crete/Fort Vermilion area
Sunday, Oct. 25th - 11:00 am - Faith Gospel Fellowship Church (Ft. Vermilion)Monday, Oct. 12th - Thanksgiving with Karlene's parents
Oct. 12th - 17th - staying in the La Crete/Fort Vermilion area
Sunday, Oct. 18th - 10:30 am - La Crete Christian Fellowship Church (LCCF)
Oct. 18th - 25th - staying in the La Crete/Fort Vermilion area
Oct. 27th - Travel to Calgary
Oct. 28th - 30th - Meeting with TEAM Canada,
- Re-connecting with supporters, family and friends
Sunday, Nov. 1st - Family Wedding
Monday, Nov. 2nd - Family reunion
Tuesday, Nov. 3rd - Fly back to La Paz
El Faro Building Update
We are excited to see the continued progress that is being made on the El Faro Church building! In our last newsletter we shared about our amazing experience with the short-term team from Nampa Gospel Fellowship, their financial donation toward the church building, their hard work and encouragement! We also told you that the El Faro Building had received a donation through the EMC Project Builders program! Through these two sources of help, other donations, local money raised and the continued hard work of members of the El Faro congregation, the church sanctuary has come a long way and we are now at the stage where the roof needs to be added.
Once again we want to express our thanks to Nampa Gospel Fellowship, EMC and all individuals who have given to the building fund! Please continue to pray for El Faro, it's people and it's vision. If God places it on your heart to assist in giving to the church building project, you can click on one of the links below. Thank you for your prayerful consideration!
El Faro Canadian Contribution
El Faro US Contribution
We are excited to see the continued progress that is being made on the El Faro Church building! In our last newsletter we shared about our amazing experience with the short-term team from Nampa Gospel Fellowship, their financial donation toward the church building, their hard work and encouragement! We also told you that the El Faro Building had received a donation through the EMC Project Builders program! Through these two sources of help, other donations, local money raised and the continued hard work of members of the El Faro congregation, the church sanctuary has come a long way and we are now at the stage where the roof needs to be added.
Once again we want to express our thanks to Nampa Gospel Fellowship, EMC and all individuals who have given to the building fund! Please continue to pray for El Faro, it's people and it's vision. If God places it on your heart to assist in giving to the church building project, you can click on one of the links below. Thank you for your prayerful consideration!
El Faro Canadian Contribution
El Faro US Contribution
Update On Other Ministries
Men's group
One of the things that was suggested to me by the pastors of our church is that we need to think about the men in our church. I had already been considering mentoring some of the young adults, so decided to pursue this. I have 3 men from our church and a friend that meet to talk about discipleship every other week. It has been a blessing to grow with them in our walk with Jesus.
Cell Group Bible Study
Our cell group continues to meet every Thursday in our home. We have another new person attending and the member that we were requesting prayer for is feeling better and has returned. We are grateful to Brenda for her willingness to continue hosting the cell group, in our home, while she house-sits. This enables the group to continue meeting while we are away. Pray for continued spiritual growth in us as individuals as well as in our community of faith.
~ Anthony
Men's group
One of the things that was suggested to me by the pastors of our church is that we need to think about the men in our church. I had already been considering mentoring some of the young adults, so decided to pursue this. I have 3 men from our church and a friend that meet to talk about discipleship every other week. It has been a blessing to grow with them in our walk with Jesus.
Cell Group Bible Study
Our cell group continues to meet every Thursday in our home. We have another new person attending and the member that we were requesting prayer for is feeling better and has returned. We are grateful to Brenda for her willingness to continue hosting the cell group, in our home, while she house-sits. This enables the group to continue meeting while we are away. Pray for continued spiritual growth in us as individuals as well as in our community of faith.
~ Anthony
Conference in San Jose del Cabo
On May 16th, I had the wonderful opportunity of driving our vehicle, full of ladies from El Faro, to San Jose Del Cabo for a conference on the prevention of Sexual Abuse. The conference was organized by Vicki Reyes (TEAM missionary in San Jose). It was a success and a tremendous help to all who attended. It also provided me with ample opportunity to practice my Spanish - 5 hours of driving and an all day conference in Spanish! Talk about immersion! ;) I was very grateful for my friend who sat in my passenger seat and had loads of patience for my attempts at conversation! I'm enjoying getting to know this wonderful group of ladies and I'm thankful for their friendship. Please join us in praying that the information shared at the conference will prove helpful to all who came.
So what's singing have to do with Evangelism Outreach?
I'm excited to have the opportunity to use my love for singing to be part of an evangelism outreach on the malecon, today, Saturday, September 26th. The malecon is the name for the boardwalk that runs the length of the city and it's always full of people visiting, walking, biking, running...etc. It's the perfect place to set up some mics and start an impromptu mini concert followed by some other crowd drawing activities. The end result being the opportunity to share the gospel with those who have gathered, whether through drama or someone sharing their testimony or through individuals reaching out to people in the crowd who want to talk and learn more about salvation. Please pray that God will use this outreach to touch lives and draw hearts into relationship with Him. It is the hope of all involved to have this ministry become a monthly endeavor.
~ Karlene
On May 16th, I had the wonderful opportunity of driving our vehicle, full of ladies from El Faro, to San Jose Del Cabo for a conference on the prevention of Sexual Abuse. The conference was organized by Vicki Reyes (TEAM missionary in San Jose). It was a success and a tremendous help to all who attended. It also provided me with ample opportunity to practice my Spanish - 5 hours of driving and an all day conference in Spanish! Talk about immersion! ;) I was very grateful for my friend who sat in my passenger seat and had loads of patience for my attempts at conversation! I'm enjoying getting to know this wonderful group of ladies and I'm thankful for their friendship. Please join us in praying that the information shared at the conference will prove helpful to all who came.
So what's singing have to do with Evangelism Outreach?
I'm excited to have the opportunity to use my love for singing to be part of an evangelism outreach on the malecon, today, Saturday, September 26th. The malecon is the name for the boardwalk that runs the length of the city and it's always full of people visiting, walking, biking, running...etc. It's the perfect place to set up some mics and start an impromptu mini concert followed by some other crowd drawing activities. The end result being the opportunity to share the gospel with those who have gathered, whether through drama or someone sharing their testimony or through individuals reaching out to people in the crowd who want to talk and learn more about salvation. Please pray that God will use this outreach to touch lives and draw hearts into relationship with Him. It is the hope of all involved to have this ministry become a monthly endeavor.
~ Karlene
On The Homefront
Since our last newsletter, Josiah and Keyana have finished their first year at Arbol De Vida. We enjoyed a short summer break and even made it to the beach a couple of times. They started a new school year at Arbol De Vida on August 24th. Keyana is attending gr. 4 full-time and Josiah is taking gr. 5 part-time at the school and the other half of the morning is homeschooling with Dad. Josiah continues to enjoy playing fútbol and taking drum lessons. He's recovered from his broken toe and his tooth incident and is as active as ever. Keyana continues to enjoy ballet and art class, recently started piano lessons and celebrated her 9th birthday in June. We had a bit of a rough go with her health for almost 2 months but she seems to be better now and we are thankful for God's healing. This past week someone ran over Keyana's cat, 'Socks'. It's never easy to loose a family pet and it's hard to know how to help your child deal with loss. I feel like our kids have already had a lot of loss to deal with and now this. Please pray for her broken heart and for us to be able to help her grieve in a healthy way and to come to terms with her cat's death. I'm grateful that she has our return trip to Canada to be excited about and both her and Josiah, are looking forward to playing with friends, visiting family and are praying that they will get to play in the snow before we have to return to Mexico.
Since our last newsletter, Josiah and Keyana have finished their first year at Arbol De Vida. We enjoyed a short summer break and even made it to the beach a couple of times. They started a new school year at Arbol De Vida on August 24th. Keyana is attending gr. 4 full-time and Josiah is taking gr. 5 part-time at the school and the other half of the morning is homeschooling with Dad. Josiah continues to enjoy playing fútbol and taking drum lessons. He's recovered from his broken toe and his tooth incident and is as active as ever. Keyana continues to enjoy ballet and art class, recently started piano lessons and celebrated her 9th birthday in June. We had a bit of a rough go with her health for almost 2 months but she seems to be better now and we are thankful for God's healing. This past week someone ran over Keyana's cat, 'Socks'. It's never easy to loose a family pet and it's hard to know how to help your child deal with loss. I feel like our kids have already had a lot of loss to deal with and now this. Please pray for her broken heart and for us to be able to help her grieve in a healthy way and to come to terms with her cat's death. I'm grateful that she has our return trip to Canada to be excited about and both her and Josiah, are looking forward to playing with friends, visiting family and are praying that they will get to play in the snow before we have to return to Mexico.
PRAYER
- Please pray for our outreach on the Malecon today. Pray for the music, drama and puppet teams. Pray that God will use this outreach to touch lives and draw hearts into relationship with Him.
- Pray for continued safety and protection. The drug war has made in roads into La Paz. Thankfully the violence has only involved members of waring cartels. However, we pray that we are never in the wrong place at the wrong time. We do not take our safety lightly. We trust God for his continued protection and thank you for your continued prayers.
- Please pray for our family as we travel home to Alberta for the month of October. This is a short ministry leave to give us opportunity to speak in our supporting churches, sharing and raising awareness about our new sports ministry initiative called “Transformados.” Pray for health, safe travel, protection, blessed visits and reconnections, rest and renewal and excitement and positive responses to the “Transformados” ministry.
- Pray for our missionary colleague, Brenda, as she house-sits our home. Pray for her safety and protection and that of our house as well. It's a common occurrence, here, for houses that are empty to be robbed, so we are very grateful to Brenda for being willing to take care of our home and our dog while we are away.
- Pray for our basketball club. Our desire is to build relationships through sports and to use sports as a platform to share the love of Christ with the children and youth of La Paz. Pray for the youth that have faithfully been coming and with whom we are building relationships. Pray that after a 1 month break, they will be excited to return to the court and that even more youth will find there way to the club! Pray that the time we have already invested into these youth and the program will not be lost while we are on ministry leave for the month of October.
- Pray for continued direction for Transformados/Transformed. Pray that God will use this ministry to greatly impact the city of La Paz and to build the local churches. Pray that our team will be a true spiritual community, united and ground in Christ, seeking Him first and foremost, listening to His voice and obeying His call for us as individuals and as a Ministry Initiative (MI).
- Please pray for us as we seek God's direction in whether or not Anthony should continue coaching futból in Mira Mar.
- Pray for the Eagers as they are back in the US on home assignment. Pray for healthy, safety and protection, a time of refreshing and for numerous opportunities to share about Transformados/Transformed. Pray for us as we continue the present work of Transformados/Transformed by ourselves, for a season. Pray for wisdom, strength, stamina, patience and positive relationship building.
- Pray for our continued health and healing for some minor conditions we presently have. Pray that we will be able to see the doctors and get the checkups that we need during our time back in Alberta.
- Pray for continued wisdom in regards to our children's education. Pray that we will make the right decisions in order to meet their individual learning needs and styles.
- Pray for Josiah and Keyana as they continue attending Collegio Arbol De Vida. Pray for stamina in learning another language and adapting to another culture. Pray for continued friendship building.
- Pray for our team and especially Susan Key and her family as they continue to grieve Brian's passing.
- Pray for our cell group. Pray that people will continue to come and grow and that those they invite will attend. Pray for the group as they continue to meet in our home while we are away. Pray for Marco as he leads and for Brenda as she hosts the group while we are away.
- Pray for continued opportunities for music ministry and that in all, God will be honored and glorified and hearts turned toward Him.
- Pray for perseverance as we continue with our Spanish learning.
- Pray for strength and endurance in times of discouragement.
- Pray for the continued construction at El Faro. Pray that the permanent worship sanctuary will be a blessing to the entire congregation and that El Faro will continue to develop relationships that lead to outreach into our community.
- Continue to pray for our friends, Jesús and Cesia, as they adjust to married life and as they plan to move to San Diego in January so that Jesús can attend college. Pray that they will daily grow in their love for one another and for God.
- Pray that we will be wise in keeping a balance between family and ministry.
- Pray for safety for the Baja during this present hurricane season.
- Please pray for Keyana in regards to the recent loss of her pet cat Socks. Pray for her broken heart and for us to be able to help her grieve in a healthy way and to come to terms with her cat's death.
- Please join us in praying that the information shared at the Sexual Abuse Prevention conference will prove helpful to all who came.
PRAISE
ONLINE:
TEAM Ways to Give - Canada
TEAM Ways to Give - US
CALL: TEAM Canada 1-800-295-4160
Our country code is 2400 & our personal account is #110689.
- Praise that God has brought us and the Eagers together to form a sports ministry team. Praise for the direction and leading that He has given and continues to give as we get this ministry initiative (MI) up and running.
- For the positive relationships we are building with the president, the directors of the schools and community members in our colonia and for their openness to our sports ministry efforts.
- For the good turnout and a successful fun day to kick-start a summer of basketball classes here in our colonia.
- For the great summer we had of working with many different children and youth in our basketball club. We are thankful for the relationships we are building with the youth in our community.
- For the sports ministry office/drop-in centre space we are able to rent right across from the Jr. High School where we hold the basketball club.
- For the opportunity we have to take a short ministry leave to return to Alberta in order to share about Tranformados/Transformed Sports Ministry and to re-connect with supporting churches, supporters, family and friends.
- For the continued construction that is happening at El Faro and for safety at the worksite.
- For the good friends our children are making.
- For Jesús opportunity to attend college.
- For continued safety, protection and health.
- For increased music ministry opportunities.
- For a safe government election in June.
- For Susie's recovery and healing. Our team leader's wife was medevaced to Arizona in August with myocarditis. After many tests the doctors found the cause and were able to operate and Susie is recovering well. They hope to return to La Paz in November. Thank you to everyone who had been praying for them! We give praise for her life and for God's protection and for the wisdom He has given to the doctors who have been treating her.
- For the successful Sexual Abuse Conference that was held in San Jose and for the many people who attended.
- For Keyana's healing after 1.5 months of being sick with intestinal problems.
We want to thank you for your continued support and prayers and trust that you have enjoyed reading our latest update!
Until Our Next Talk'O Together,
The Thiessens :)
STAY CONNECTED
Until Our Next Talk'O Together,
The Thiessens :)
- To receive our email newsletters contact us at: anthonythiessen7@gmail.com
- To read our blog "The Thiessen Times" visit: www.akthiessen.blogspot.com
If you would like to partner with us financially:
EMAIL: giving@teamcanada.orgONLINE:
TEAM Ways to Give - Canada
TEAM Ways to Give - US
CALL: TEAM Canada 1-800-295-4160
Our country code is 2400 & our personal account is #110689.
Thank you for considering this important role.
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