Attitude Is Everything

I'm presently take a second language acquisition course and my brain is feeling stretched and overloaded. It's reminding me of those weeks in College when I had to pull all-nighters to get assignments and studying done. 

Today in my reading I came across this quote that I don't want to forget as we head back out on missions! It's so important and so vital! Didn't someone once say, "attitude is everything"? 

As we look forward to serving God in Mexico, my prayer is that we will serve with a Christ-like attitude! Maybe this can be your prayer for us too!

“Your attitude should be same as that of the most excellent missionary who has taken on the mind of Christ. This excellent missionary knew she was completely ethnic and fully competent and a leader in her own culture, but did not consider her own ethnic values, her expertise at home, or even her own language something to cling to.

On the contrary, she counted her cultural ways as mostly inappropriate in the new context, choosing to add a new cultural side to her personality and working hard to think, act, and talk more and more like the people she came to serve.

And having successfully acculturated herself among the people, she humbled herself before God and the people, and became a servant no matter what the cost...even unto death, but mostly unto inconvenience. As a result, although she did not seek praise, she was praised by the people, to the glory of God the Father.””

May we all aspire to be that excellent missionary whose attitudes reflect the best that God has for all of us and for our work of cross-cultural mission." - Gary Holden  (a language learning application of Paul’’s compelling picture of the incarnated servant in Philippians 2)

Packing and Sorting......

Okay, so I’m suppose to be sorting and packing and instead here I am writing a blog. Procrastinating?……….hmmmmmm……..ya...probably……:) Anyways, just wanted to give you a short update. May is going to be a crazy month! The sorting and packing is taking longer than I expected because it’s not just ‘easy throw in the box’ kind of packing. I’m having to ‘sort to throw away’, ‘sell’, ‘pack and never take to Mexico’, ‘pack to take to Mexico later’ and ‘pack to take to Mexico now’. Not to mention ‘pack to live out of’ for the next couple of months! We have to move out of our house June 1^st and are also hoping to have a garage/yard sale on May 24th and 25th to raise money for our move to Mexico. Some people have expressed interest in donating items to our sale and this is something we will gladly welcome and appreciate. 

We are grateful for a friend who has offered for us to move in with her the end of this month. We will share her home for the month of June and will continue to enjoy her place when she leaves to visit friends and family for July and August. Her offer of a place to stay has been a huge blessing.

We continue to trust God to bring in support so that we can attend our phase 4 orientation the end of July and then Spanish school in Guadalajara starting August 20^th. Presently we are at 30% of what we need per month.

Well, that’s a little snippet of our lives right now. I need to sign off and get sorting and packing. We appreciate your continued support and prayers…..especially as we face a very stressful month! Thanks so much and until the boxes are packed and I can carve out some more time to write…….as they would say in Zambia…..”stay well” and be blessed!

The Thiessen Talk'O

Hola! We are blessed to be able to bring this report to you, our brothers and sisters in Christ. 

We have shared the vision of church planting, with TEAM in Mexico, at many churches, both in the La Crete area and in Calgary. We have received encouragement and continue to feel God’s hand upon us as we obey His calling. We have 3 other local churches that have invited us to share in the next month. Please keep us in prayer as we share this coming month.

Language learning is going to be our first priority when we are in Mexico, and we are also taking steps to learn now. Karlene has registered in a 3 week course that assists in learning a second language. Anthony is up to Level 2 in Rosetta Stone, of 5 levels, and continuing to progress by practicing at least every other day. When “skyping” with a native speaker, he realized that speaking without a script is much harder than learning from Rosetta Stone. We ask for prayer as we learn a new language.

We are planning to attend Phase 4, our last training with TEAM, on July 20-28^th. If you are planning to support us, please don’t wait until our departure date, but start before June 1^st if you are able. A note to us indicating you’re partnering with us is very appreciated so that we know where we are at in this process. See our pamphlet for instructions on how to give. Pray that the support will come in according to God’s schedule.

We are humbled to receive support from others. We don’t take this lightly. There have been questions raised as to the amount of support needed. We don’t know what our needs will be when we are on the field, other than to take the advice of those who have gone before us. The budget we shared in our pamphlet is developed by TEAM using the experiences of those serving already. The total amount per month was over $6700. This amount was broken into categories that allocate about $3300 for our family living expenses, plus a housing allowance of $700. Guadalajara is a city of business and the fastest growing economy in North America according to what I read on a website recently. The cost of living is not less, but more than here. This surprised us too. The other money needed, $2700, is for health insurance, TEAM home office operations, retirement and education savings, travel for home leave, and ministry in Mexico. So the actual amount that goes to us for living expenses is $4000. Of this, we are expected to pay for the schooling of our children, save for vehicle replacement, maintenance, emergencies, computer replacement, etc. We are not allowed to ask for special project money from our supporters for items that are regularly replaced, even if they are large items. So the $4000 is the total amount to support us personally. I hope that this helps to answer any questions you may have. We are trying to live out 2 Cor. 8:20 in this process. “We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift. For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of man.”

In Luke 8:1-3, we read of Jesus going from town to town, proclaiming the good news. Others traveled with Him, and some of these were supporting the team. We are humbly asking you to be a part of our team to proclaim the good news in Mexico. As Jesus was supported by others, we realize we are undeserving, yet by His grace, we go in His name. Please pray about how God might have you partner with us. 

We trust the following is true for us all. “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” Phil. 4:19-20 

In Christ, 

Anthony, Karlene, Josiah and Keyana Thiessen

Missionaries in Mexico with