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A Time of Thanksgiving
Every November, Americans celebrate the tradition of Thanksgiving by sharing a delicious meal, time together, and reflection about the things for which we are thankful.
As we close in on the end of our time down in Cacalote, we have had much to be thankful for. We would love to take this newsletter to share some of the things with which the Lord has blessed us.
Upon completing all of the Spanish School courses, Fahren has begun teaching at the preschool/kindergarten on the missionary base. What a joy to see children speaking three languages (Spanish, English, and German) playing and learning together!Upon completing her Spanish classes, Fahren was invited to help fill a position on the mission base's multi-grade school. She has been an assistant teacher in the preschool/kindergarten classroom, teaching English to the local students and teaching Spanish to the children of the foreign missionaries of the base.Taylor and Fahren speaking to the "Matrimonios" group.
God has also blessed us with opportunities to speak in front of some small groups. The first was the "Matrimonios" or marriage group. We shared the story of how the Lord has carried our relationship through thick and thin. Referencing the story of Jesus washing the disciples feet, we told the group how God has shown us how to love and serve one another when we were (and sometimes still are) being completely unlovable. How thankful we are for the Holy Spirit that empowers us to follow the example that Christ gave us!
Fahren and Taylor with an "adolescentes" group in Rio Grande, with Fahren's friend Ruby from the kitchen.The second speaking opportunity involved a different "Adolescentes" group from a church in the nearby town of Rio Grande. Invited by Fahren's friend from the kitchen, Ruby, we played a few silly games together, had a delicious dinner, and taught on James 1. We showed that the Bible is the most powerful tool we have to be conformed to the image of Christ and the daily application and renewal of its truth is integral to our spiritual health.
How thankful we are for the Word!Taylor took vitals and did the intake paperwork for patients during our visit to the village of El Mosco, using a Spanish - Mixtec translator to communicate with them.
This month we also had the opportunity to join a medical mission to the remote Mixtecan village of El Mosco. The Mixtecans are an indigenous people group that are native to Oaxaca. The clinic at Roca Blanca periodically makes short trips to nearby indigenous villages that do not have access to medical care. Students of the Spanish School are invited to join, as well as short term missions teams that come from all over the world. Fahren was able to see patients herself, helping to diagnose illnesses and recommend treatments to be approved by the team's doctor. Over the course of two days, she saw nearly 40 locals, conducting the visits with the help of a Mixtec translator. Tayor took vitals and filled out the intake paperwork, utilizing his newly acquired Spanish.
Nearly 140 patients came to see the doctor during our visit to El Mosco.
We also met the very first believer from the community. He is advanced in age but makes the trip to the church to greet each and every team that comes to visit, thanking them for being the hands and feet that bring the Good News.
How thankful we are for our time in Spanish School which allowed us to speak to a people group we never could have otherwise!
Thanksgiving dinner with two local families.
Taylor and Fahren hosted a small "Thanksgiving" meal to share with our host family as well as Fahren's friend Nidia from the kitchen on base. It was a sweet evening to share some of our own traditions, but more importantly to share just how thankful to the Lord we are for the opportunity to have spent 6 months with them. It's always challenging to say goodbye when there is genuine love, but God is the one who controls our days and we never know where His road may take us. As a couple we are renewing our minds with the fact that in view of eternity, our time apart from our friends here in Cacalote will be very short. In the blink of an eye, we will be sharing the best "Thanksgiving" meal ever at the Wedding Feast of the Lamb when we are reunited in Heaven.
We are so thankful that goodbyes are not "Adios" but instead "Hasta luego!" or "Until next time!"
We made a chicken lentil dish with rosemary and thyme, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, homemade bread, cranberry jello salad, and apple pie tamales. It's been a full month and a long newsletter, but this is the best part. At the end of the month, what are we most thankful for?
A few weeks ago, we got to have a fun afternoon on the beach with Nidia. We enjoyed some waves, a beautful sunset, and Fahren caught a fish that leapt out of the water onto the beach, but the beach was just a prelude.
On our walk home, we heard a small, strange, sad noise. The three of us whipped our heads about looking for the source of the sound. At the bottom of a nearby ditch, chest deep in mud, covered in its own feces, shivering of cold, and bleating miserably, we found a newborn baby lamb.
Fahren scaled a barbed wire fence and crawled down into the ditch to pluck the filthy lamb from the muck and bring it back up to the road. A few blocks later we were able to find the owner of the lamb who was overjoyed to have it returned. He had been walking around for hours trying to find it and was certain that it had died for it was only three days old and now separated from its mother.
This lamb, dear reader, is you and I.
More than anything else, we are thankful that even though we were lost in our sins, God sent his beloved Son to rescue us, clean us, and restore us to relationship with our beloved Father.He told them this parable. "Which of you men, if you had one hundred sheep, and lost one of them, wouldn't leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one that was lost, until he found it? When he has found it, he carries it on his shoulders, rejoicing. When he comes home, he calls together his friends, his family and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!' I tell you that even so there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance."
— Luke 15:3–7
Prayer Needs:
1. Please pray for wisdom in how to say a temporary goodbye to our brothers and sisters in Christ here. This includes our "adolescentes" group, the women from the kitchen, the team from the clinic, and several families from the local church. We have a desire to share with each and every one that we love them sincerely and that we have been compelled by Christ to live for Him and love others (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).
2. We are entering another time of transition. Please pray for peaceful dependence on the Lord as we adjust to another new living environment, culture, community, and schedule. We know our unchanging God goes with us, and that just as He was faithful to do this in Cacalote, He will be faithful in Puerto Peñasco (Exodus 33:15).
3. Please pray for a sweet time of fellowship as we return to Arizona December 12th through the end of the year. May the glory stories of the Lord go forth as we share but also hear all that He has done in the past 6 months!
Prayer Updates:
1. October 2022: Please continue to pray that the Lord would enable us to learn Spanish for the sake of the Gospel in a way that far supercedes our mere human efforts. While we still have progress to be made, we were able to open the service for the local church all in Spanish without needing a translator. This involved Fahren praying and Taylor reading a few verses and sharing about the importance of spending time with the Lord by reading His Word.
2. Please pray that Nidia and her family would continue to seek to know the truth of who God is by reading His Word (Hebrews 11:6). This will be a continued prayer need as we leave Cacalote and say goodbye to this family we love.
3. Please lift us up in prayer especially during the first week of November so that we could speak life and truth into dark places that need the hope of Christ. We were able to have a few good conversations surrounding the topic. Thank you for praying.
Sharing the Gospel and our lives,
Entregándoles no solo el evangelio de Dios sino también nuestra propia vida
Taylor and Fahren SterrettInterested in investing in the Lord's kingdom work being done in Mexico?i6eight is a gospel proclaiming, disciple making, compassion ministry that lives for the glory of God and the good of others. We exist to invest in the physical, relational, and spiritual lives of the people we serve. Our programs cover a wide range of needs, including education, housing, clothing, health care, nutrition, and community. We accomplish this by training, serving, and discipling together. The ultimate goal of each program is to see the people we serve fall in love with and worship Jesus Christ.
Pan de Vida is one such program which strives to satisfy spiritual needs as well as physical hunger for the glory of Jesus. Taylor and Fahren will join Pan de Vida in the hopes of seeing God transform hearts through Biblical training and life-on-life discipleship.
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