2007 Update

I’m glad to say that a couple of our friends have noticed that our blog is a bit “overdue”. Although this is a bit lame, we just finished a very long road trip to the States and “too much happened too fast”, so I decided to wait until we returned home to try to sort things out and then give some sort of report.

I guess the theme of this blog will be one of uncertainty. Basically, as some of you already know, Noreen & I are beginning the process of transitioning from serving the Lord from here in Mexico to serving from the USA. Actually, we thought we were gradually phasing out... it turns out that the transition has been accelerated. Our original target date for our return was “sometime before December 2008”. However, our new timeline appears to be sometime following the end of this Summer.

This could be an extremely long blog, so I’ll try to summarize:

One of the key factors affecting our physical transition back to the US was that of turning our leadership in the school development over to a new board. As part of this transition we reorganized the board in December and then returned to the States. Our thinking was that this would force the new board to begin to act and assume oversight and, upon our return, we would be able to figure out how we would best “fit in” under this new structure. Our concern was how well our new board members would be able to adjust their personal schedules and assume board responsibilities.

As things tend to do when the Lord is “in” something, several “mini-crisis” events occurred while we were away and our friends had to step up to the plate to make board-type decisions. All of this is to say that the new board has become a real, governing board much quicker than we anticipated. This is a very good thing, but it has placed us in the awkward position of being “lame duck” missionaries. Now that we’re back home, the challenge will be not to allow the board to “give back” these responsibilities and to insist that the school leadership look to the board for direction instead of to us... I think that this is going to be pretty hard for all of us (especially for me as I tend to be pretty quick to assume a “decision making” role). Old habits are hard to break and all of us were very comfortable with the roles we had assumed in order to get the school up and running: I hate to admit it, but we’re not needed here any more (at least in the role that we played before); in fact, I think that the longer we stay, the greater the risk that I will undermine what we have struggled so long to achieve.

On a more personal level, as both of our parents are aging and all of our kids (and grandkids) are now in the US, we have been feeling that it was time to move back to the States to be near to them.

So... now what? After living here for almost a quarter of a century, watching our kids grow up here, having the privilege of working with some of the finest people that I know and seeing the Lord prosper this work; it’s time to leave. Rationally, I’m okay with this decision... objectively, I can see that it’s the correct course of action. Emotionally, I’m not quite so solid. Looking back, I can see how the Lord has brought us to this point; looking forward, I’m not sure that I’m ready for the “goodbyes” and the tension of being here, yet not here.

Do we have any sort of plan? Actually, we do (if the Lord wills). Over the next few months we have to sell almost all of our possessions and our houses in order to get ready to return to the US. We have made a verbal commitment to purchase a small farmstead near Winnsboro, TX (just north of Tyler). Although all of this is subject to change depending on about a million variables, our goal is to continue to work under PEF, assuming a new set of responsibilities that focus on:

1. The development of Hispanic ministry resources.
2. Leadership development (both Hispanic & Anglo) for Hispanic ministries in both the US & Latin America.
3. Developing “ministry partnerships” that will help to assist the US church in it’s outreach to Hispanic communities in the US.
4. We will also be working to facilitate other “tentmaking” type ministries with our friends here in Mérida... included will be the development of an English Language Institute, a Christian College and a “Animal Husbandry” Project.
5. Helping the PEF International Developer as the “Hispanic Ministries” representative.

Some of you have asked how you can be in prayer for us... now you know! The next few months are going to be full of activity and, probably, a bit of an emotional roller coaster. We need to get ready to leave here while, at the same time, getting ready to be there. While all this is going on, we will also be hosting several work teams as well as receiving some visitors that are involved in some of the developing “partnerships”. Although I’m certain that the changes in our ministry focus will have an impact on the financial support we have received over the years... our hope is that we will maintain enough support to be able to take what has happened here to the next step; helping the Mexican Church to become a “sending” church and the ongoing development of leadership training opportunities for Hispanic ministries.

BSK

He must increase, I must decrease.

Slowly by Slowly

The month of November has come and gone (almost). It was a busy month for us regarding ministry stuff. I mentioned in our last update that Dan Fredericks of Belhaven College would be visiting us to look at possible areas where we might be able to collaborate in Educational Ministries. Dan and his wife, Mari, were here the 16-22 and it was a very profitable time for all of us. Following is a summary of a report that I submitted to our SERFAM Board.

FREDERICKS’ VISIT (BELHAVEN COLLEGE) - SUMMARY

1. Belhaven College is developing a 2 year course (in English) designed to guide the student into a biblical worldview. The course format includes reference texts with classes/lectures on DVD and is complimented by on-line sessions to review/discuss the coursework. Belhaven has offered us this course (in exchange for having us translate/transcribe the DVD lectures) and is willing to train our teachers so that we can offer the course locally (in place of the on-line sessions). There are various applications for this course:

• Having our teachers take the course to help them develop their own worldview and learn to guide our students in the course.
• Once translated, we can integrate the course into our High School curriculum (taught by our teachers).
• The integration of the course as part of our English curriculum for our advanced High School English program (taught either on-line or locally).

2. We discussed the possibility of having Dr. Wynn Kenyon (Apologetics & Christian Thought) do a workshop on worldview with our staff at the end of this school year (July 9-13, 2007).

3. Dr. Fredericks spoke with the director of Belhaven’s International Studies program (Sara Kimmel) about a visit to investigate options for placing students in Merida. This program might allow families from the Shalom Church to participate as host families for Belhaven students.

• For Belhaven students in Business, Education or Spanish majors.
• These students could also teach English at CEBP.

4. It may be possible to have some of our teachers spend a semester at Belhaven:

• To help out in the Spanish and International Dance programs.
• To allow our teachers to have an “immersion” experience to improve their English skills.

5. Belhaven is interested in exploring the market in Mexico for advanced degree programs in Business and Education. We discussed the problem of the different economies and languages but did not arrive at any specific conclusions. Dr. Fredericks authorized SERFAM to place an advertisement in our local newspaper offering Master’s programs in Business and Education. He also mentioned that Belhaven is very interested in the area of International Business and, especially, in the concept of “Business as Mission”.

6. There may be teachers from Belhaven that would be willing to serve as conference speakers for CEBP and the Shalom Church.

• Conferences/Seminars for educators.
• Conference speakers for “International Business”. Perhaps Shalom would like to host a conference for community businessmen.

We also sent some of our staff to Guatemala for a conference hosted by the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI). This conference was a great encouragement to our staff and we have decided to become members of ACSI and start the process of accreditation with them (a 3-5 year process). We are hoping to be able to host a similar conference sometime in the (distant) future.

This whole process of development is really strange; it seems that we go for weeks waiting for things to happen, with no perceivable advance… and then suddenly things happen that seem like a giant leap forward (leading to more weeks of waiting!). I guess it’s a good thing that I tend to see things “as they will be” instead of as they are, otherwise I think I’d be overcome by discouragement.

Speaking of discouragement… please continue to pray with us for the details associated with our granddaughter’s (Jessica) citizenship process. We are having to deal with very narrow minded bureaucratic processes (and people) and can never seem to get the “right” information to fulfill the necessary requirements for things to move forward. We have to deal with too many legal processes in both Mexico and the US to try to explain what I’m talking about, but we would appreciate your prayers that the Lord would overcome the difficulties that continue to frustrate this process. We would also ask you to pray for Aaron (our son)… he fell in the shower the other day and dislocated his elbow (bad) and will be out of work for a couple of weeks (worse).

We’re beginning to put together our travel schedule for the first part of next year. It looks like we might be in the US in January and February for a couple of Missions Conferences and to visit some of the churches that will be working here this summer. We’ll be starting the next phase of development (new construction) at the school this summer and have several teams planning to be here in June & July.

That’s about it for now… hope that you and yours enjoy a relaxing holiday time and that the “Real” reason for Christmas is the focus of your holiday season .

Moving on

When I started this blog, my idea was that I would be able to keep our friends “up to date” on things in our lives and ministry… after a little more than a year I’d have to say that it has almost worked! Unfortunately, there is a weak link… I actually have to write something; the blog doesn’t update itself.

First, Family stuff… Aaron & Angeles finally met with US Immigration and she has been approved for a 2 two year temporary residence visa. At the end of this period we think that she can begin the application for citizenship; that is, if the rules don’t change. In the meantime, we’re still working on getting Jessica’s (Niki’s daughter) “Certificate of Citizenship”. This has been a thoroughly frustrating process due to conflicting information, rude & unhelpful government “servants” and the impossibility of getting in touch with anyone that can give us clear instructions. A friend suggested that it might be easier for us to become Mexicans, sneak across the border and then wait for the government to declare amnesty for illegal immigrants… tempting. If this sounds sarcastic or cynical, it’s because I am. Anyway, our latest appointment is scheduled for January 19 in San Antonio… we’ll see how it goes; please pray for this issue (and my attitude).

Sara and her Aaron are still in Kansas and doing well… they’re beginning to think about relocating further south somewhere in the next couple of years. Meanwhile, Kelly & Jason have taken our other grandkids to live on Base housing at Corey Field in Pensacola. Both Julia & Josh are in school now and, to date, enjoying it. Julia still really likes riding the bus to school & Josh still can’t remember anyone’s name… but he likes everyone! Base housing has turned out to be great for the kids; they have a nice little neighborhood park in their backyard and a big one right down the street.

Ministry things continue to progress. As I mentioned in the last update, we are slowly reorganizing our ministry situation in order to spend more time doing “development” in the US. By “development”, I mean fund-raising and establishing partnerships in order to further the growth of the school and to aid US churches that are attempting to reach the Hispanic communities in their respective areas. If you are interested in knowing more about this, check the “Partnership Project” link on our personal page.

In keeping with this, we are beginning to restructure SERFAM so that the Board will be entirely Mexican, with Noreen & I participating as “emeritus” members in Quarterly Board meetings. This is to say that, as of the new year, I will no longer be the General Director overseeing all aspects of development; rather, the local Board will supervise the local development of the vision while we work in conjunction with them to further the goal of developing Christian leadership and Hispanic ministries (in both Mexico & the US). We’re very excited about the way this has progressed since our return at the beginning of October.

Summer Update

Well it’s been longer than I intended between updates, but that doesn’t mean that nothing has been happening. Noreen and I are in the US now, doing promotion and fundraising for the school. With all of the changes that have been happening in our ministry since we decided to commit to the development of a Christian College, we will be spending more time in the US for this purpose.

In part, we came to the US to attend an INS appointment with our daughter, Niki. Our hope was that we would finally be able to transmit citizenship to our granddaughter, Jessica. This turned out to be a pipe dream. Prior to the appointment we were informed by the INS that Jessica did not need to be present for the interview in San Antonio; upon arriving we were informed (rather rudely) that this was not the case and were told that it would be necessary to make a new appointment. I’m not going to enter into any detail regarding this issue, but the labyrinth of incompetence that we have encountered in our experience with the US Immigration/Homeland Security Service has been both expensive and frustrating. I only ask that you would be in prayer for us regarding this matter.

On a more positive note, in late August Noreen and I met with Dr. Dan Fredericks, the Provost of Belhaven College in Jackson, MS. Our goal was to initiate some kind of dialogue with Belhaven concerning the possibility of a future partnership with them. Frankly, I expected this discussion to be the first of a long series of interviews that might eventually lead to some further meetings to “study the possibility” of such a project. Much to our surprise, about five minutes into our discussion, Dr. Fredericks said, “Let’s do it!”

After I picked my lower jaw up off the floor, we began to discuss some of the ways in which this relationship could develop. Because I was not expecting this particular meeting to be anything more than a “get to know you” type of thing, I really didn’t have a plan to actually “do” anything. So… when Dr. Fredericks asked us what we thought we should do to start getting things moving, I really didn’t have an answer.

As I began to recover from my surprise, I suggested that maybe we could try to get a couple of his staff members down to Mérida during Spring Break 2007. His response to this was… “if we wait that long, we’ll lose this school year.” Once again, I was dumbfounded… not only was he interested, he was anxious to get started! At the end of the day, we decided that it would be best if Dr. Fredericks (and his wife) were to come to visit us and meet with our Staff. This is going to happen this November!

Please be in prayer with us about this meeting. Hopefully, we will be able to come away from this with a number of specific project ideas and some kind of time line to begin moving forward in this partnership. At this point, Belhaven has satellite campuses in Orlando and Houston… I’m hoping that we will be able to take advantage of their experience in this type of thing as we explore the possibilities for this relationship. Stay tuned, we’ll keep you posted.

Reflections

Time to catch up again. Since returning home we hosted the Augusta Christian School Senior High Class trip (May 18-24) and received a family team from our home church, Pinewoods PC in Cantonment, FL (May 27-June 3). Currently, we have been working to get ready for a big "Expo" at the school and then for Graduation on July 6.

In July (14-24) we have a group from 2nd PC, Memphis coming to do a week-long Summer Camp for our Junior High students. Tim Jewett, will be part of the leadership from this group and he will stick around afterwards to drive back to the US with Byron (in case you haven’t heard... we’ll be losing Byron for a while, he’ll be in the US next school year).

In the midst of all this, we received notice from the INS that our daughter, Niki, needs to be in San Antonio July 25 for an interview regarding the citizenship of her daughter, Jessica. Sooo... instead of Noreen & I returning to the US this Fall, we’ll be leaving here around July 21 so that we can pick up Niki in San Antonio to help her get together with her lawyer and make it to this appointment. Rather than go to the States, come back and go again in late August, we have decided to stay in the US during August-September (and maybe part of October) to get together with folks about next summer and to do some fund raising for the school. On this trip we’d also like to visit our daughter, Sara, who just lost her mother-in-law after a long battle with leukemia.

Not being here during the month of August is going to be pretty strange. Normally, while the school is closed from mid-July to mid-August, Noreen & I are scrambling to get maintenance finished in order to be ready to start the next school year. I some ways, I think that doing this allows Noreen & I have a (false) sense that we are more or less in control of what’s happening... this year we will have to delegate this to some of our staff and step back from it. You’d think we’d be happy to do this, but letting this go is kind of like watching your kids grow up; you want them to become independent and to think for themselves... unless they decide to do something that you wouldn’t do or would have done differently.

On a personal level, I’m slowly learning that it’s not irresponsible of me to cede different responsibilities to the folks that the Lord has provided to fill a given position... as long as I not only cede the responsibility but also the authority (which includes the possibility of independent thought) to complete whatever task I’m giving over. This isn’t something that I didn’t know, but it is an area where the Lord has repeatedly needed to grow my faith; knowing and doing are definitely not the same thing... faith grows in the doing. Over the last few years of our involvement at the school, we have had to learn to trust the Lord in just about every responsibility that we have turned over to staff... I wonder if Jesus felt this way when He turned the church over to His disciples.

On the other hand “doing” isn’t always a work of faith. So much of my Christian experience is based on the things that I do rather than my relationship with Jesus. “Doing” is so important and ceding responsibilities means I “do” less. It’s probable that you are familiar with the conversion experience of John Wesley. Through the influence of a group of Moravian believers and the reading of Martin Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Galatians, John Wesley felt his heart “warmed” as he came to rest in a personal relationship with Jesus. Lesser known is the experience of John’s brother Charles. When confronted with the doctrine of salvation by grace by the (German) Moravian Pastor Peter Bohler, Charles found himself at odds with the idea of a relationship with Christ based on His work, rather than our own:

Bohler put himself under Charles Wesley's care, at Oxford, to learn English. The pupil taught his teacher a yet nobler lesson. When he fell ill and seemed on the point of death Bohler asked him, "Do you hope to be saved ?"

Charles answered, "Yes."

"For what reason do you hope it?"

"Because I have used my best endeavors to serve God."

Bohler shook his head and said no more.

"I thought him very uncharitable," wrote Charles at a later day, "saying in my heart, Would he rob me of my endeavors? I have nothing else to trust to."

The sad, silent, significant shake of Peter Bohler's head shattered all Charles Wesley's false foundation of salvation by endeavors.*

To grow in faith, the Lord must continually confront my confidence in my “endeavors”. As I get older and assume responsibilities that are more “supervisory”, I lose some of my cherished “works” and have to learn that my faith must assume a different form of obedience... old dogs are slow to learn new tricks. Please pray for us.

Preach faith till you have it, and then, because you have it, you will preach faith.**

*© Copyright 1999 by the Wesley Center for Applied Theology.

**Peter Bohler to John Wesley. Taken from Wesley’s Journal entry March 4, 1738.

Playing Catch-Up

We just returned from a six-week, 10,000 mile, trip to the US. I’m a bit late in getting this update on-line because of this.

Overall, it was a good trip. We had the opportunity to touch base with the three groups that will be coming to visit/work here in the next couple of months, see Aaron & Kelly and their families, enjoy a family reunion/80^th birthday (Noreen’s Dad) and do several presentations of the ministry. Right now we’re decompressing and getting ready to receive our first group; the Senior High Class Trip from Augusta Christian School (May 18-24). After this we’ll have a couple of days to recover before the arrival of a Family Trip from Pinewoods PC (Pensacola, FL; May 27-June 3). I won’t be able to put together our next update until Pinewoods is on their way home.

After we finish with these groups, the next big event will be graduation (July 6). In the meantime we need to start putting together contracts for our school staff, do interviews for new staff and update all of our policy manuals. We now have a waiting list for 7^th Grade in spite of taking 2 groups of 25 students… Praise the Lord!. You might remember that we were uncertain that we would be able to fill two groups and that this was a bit of a “faith-step” for the school; I view this as an answer to prayer.

In July/August we will be receiving a High School Team from Second PC, Memphis (July 14-24) and then doing maintenance at the school in order to get ready for 2006-07. Noreen & I will probably return to the US around August 28 for another cycle of visiting friends/churches and raising funds. I thought that things would slow down a bit now that we’re no longer “hands-on” at the school… I was wrong. Although our role has changed, now that we have made the commitment to double the enrollment of the Junior High and to establish our first College Degree Program over the next five years, the “speed of life” seems to have accelerated somewhat.

In order to be both brief and informative, I’m going to try to summarize some our responsibilities and plans for the next 5 years. In future updates I will try to keep you abreast of how these are developing. Please be in prayer with us for the Lord’s clear direction as we begin these new steps.

School Development

1. Make payroll for this summer (this is the last year that we will need to subsidize the Operations Budget) and pay-off the new building by December 2006.
2. Oversee the organization of a scholarship fund (as much as possible, from local sources) in order to provide full scholarships for the children of our staff.
3. Develop a scholarship fund in order to have our Director complete her Doctorate and bring more of our staff to Master’s Level. I hope to have funding available (about $5,000.00) for Lupita to start her Doctorate in January 2007.
4. New Construction to manage the growth of the Junior High. We will probably need to start construction early 2007 in order to be finished for the start of the 2008-09 school year.
5. Growth, focus and direction for the development of the Senior High School. We want to make this an Intensive Discipleship Program as well as a strong Academic Program.
6. Continued academic and spiritual development of our staff. We will be more aggressive with regard to the integration of a Biblical Worldview in our in-house training and more intentional about the discipleship of our students and their parents.

Shalom Church

1. Noreen & I have become Group Leaders for our Sunday School Program. We are running a two-month commitment for each class cycle that permits us to assume this responsibility when we are not traveling.
2. As an Elder, I am involved in the “vision” aspect of the growth of the church. We have been experiencing the blessing of fairly consistent growth over the last several years. This has required that we adjust our church “programs” in order to accommodate quite a few “spiritual newborns”. We have limited facilities and leadership, so I ask that you be praying for wisdom to oversee this “problem”.
3. In keeping with the need to develop new leadership, our pastoral team (including Noreen & I) is busy developing and adapting material for our Small Groups. These studies take quite a bit of time, so personal discipline is our prayer request.

PEF Mérida

1. Although we will be losing Byron for at least a year while he takes a bit of a Sabbatical, both Noah and Julie have made a commitment to continue with us for at least one more year (you can check up on them at their respective Blogsites). It also looks as though we will be getting a 2 for 1 special when Sarah Black joins the team… she plans to marry (to Clayton Payne) next December and they both hope to join us early next year.
2. Gabriel & Norma are continuing to raise support for their ministries. We are working with them to help them in this effort.
3. Noreen & I will continue to travel twice a year to the US in order to continue to raise funds for the next phase of growth at the school, promote work teams and recruit short & medium term internships for the team here.
4. I will be assuming the role of “Hispanic Ministries Representative” for PEF. This is a newly invented position that we will be “fleshing out” over the next few years. Basically, Noreen & I will be traveling to visit the different PEF team members working in Hispanic Ministries and reporting to our International Developer. Our hope is to put together a new Web Site featuring these ministries and organize an “Online Resource Library” using materials and links being used by all.

That’s about it! I hope to update our family page in the next day or so and do some further updates on the school as well… I’ll notify you once these are posted. Thanks again for your prayers and your financial support of our ministry. Drop a line if you’re able… we enjoy hearing from you.

February Update

It seems impossible that we are already at the end of February. This month has been a busy one as we have been involved in the process of Preregistration at the school. If you’ve been reading our updates, you’ll know that we have been wrestling with the direction we need to take regarding the growth of the school. Although this has been a dominant theme in the last month, I have had a secondary (actually for me, primary) concern regarding the vision of our Senior High (Preparatoria).

So... in part because of the demand and in keeping with our primary concern for the vision of the High School, we have decided to double the number of students that will enter our 7th grade. On the one hand, because of the demand, it appears that we won’t have a problem in meeting our enrollment goal of 50 Seventh Graders (2 groups of 25); on the other hand, accepting this number of students implies that we will need to construct more classroom facilities (soon!).

Although the commitment to additional construction seems a bit overwhelming, our concern is that of the focus of our High School. To this point we have more or less taken in all applicants; in part because we needed to increase enrollment in order to make the school self sufficient economically. However, in spite of the fact that the High School is known to have a strong academic focus and has acquired a solid reputation in the community, I think that we need to be more intentional about the discipleship and leadership development of our students.

Because we will only have space for 25 students in 10th Grade, by (eventually) having 50 students a year graduate from the Junior High, we will be able to be more selective of the students we accept in the High School. By being selective, our hope is that our students will be more aware of our vision for their development and, as such, more willing to submit to biblical discipline and our leadership. As I mentioned earlier... our teachers and staff have done a great job of getting the school “on the map” academically, but I don’t think that we should be satisfied with this. Basically, because of the need for Christian leadership in Latin America, I think we need to look at the High School as a 3 year intensive discipleship opportunity that emphasizes the idea of full time ministry as a vocation. Because of the history of protestantism in Latin America, this will be an “uphill battle”.

In conclusion, we ask that you would remember us in prayer.

1. Pray for our staff... the commitment to discipleship is far more demanding than a commitment to “teach”.
2. Pray for our school leadership... once we begin to be more selective in the High School, it is very possible that we could come under pressure from some of the authorities in the educational system.
3. Pray for the continued development of our physical plant and the academic development of our staff... in other words, additional funding and volunteer work teams.