Spring 2011 Update

Recently someone asked me how long I have been in Acapulco.  I almost couldn’t believe it myself when I said two and a half years!  The last time I wrote I asked for prayer in how to proceed as my two-year term was coming to a close.  I am thankful that your prayers were answered as MTW has allowed me to extend my term until July 2012. 

This spring has been a busy one for New Horizon Christian School.  Our English students were able to present a program about the Seven Days of Creation on March 11.  They worked so hard preparing songs and verses of the Bible in English to share with parents.   It was fun to see them show their work and be able to cheer them on during their presentation.  Even our youngest students, the three year old preschoolers, had a chance to participate by singing “He’s Got the Whole World In His Hands.”

New Horizon has always only gone through sixth grade, so students have had to transition to new schools after primaria (elementary school.)  It has always been on the hearts and minds of the school board and teachers to one day open a middle school, or secondaria.  How exciting it is to report that those prayers have been answered and we will open the first level of secondaria for the coming school year!  Please pray with us as we begin this new endeavor in August 2011.  Also, please pray for the financial and staff needs of New Horizon at every level.  Acapulco is in the midst of an economic crisis and enrollment is down. Please pray for additional students and for scholarships for the Casa Hogar kids who attend the school.  We also have several staff openings that need to be filled for the coming school year, including an additional English teacher.

A few weeks ago, a Mexican friend and I began meeting with a small group of girls in their first year of secondaria.  These are girls that graduated from New Horizon last year and are now attending several different schools in Acapulco.  Middle school can be such a challenging time, especially when the world desires to pull us away from a relationship with Jesus Christ.  We will be studying Lies Young Women Believe when we return from Spring Break.  Please pray that this will be a time of spiritual growth for these girls that Sandra and I would be able to communicate truth and love to each of these young women.  

The first weekend of February I had the privilege of serving with a team of 16 in Yoloxóchitl, a Mixtec village about 3 hours SW of Acapulco, and home of one of Joshua Project’s least reached people groups. We went to lead a VBS program for about 90 kids, as well as spend time with the Mexican missionaries who live there. We returned on April 9 to present a day program for about 50 of the children. 

 
Yoloxóchitl is a very dark area spiritually and a place where ministry is very challenging.  Spirit worship and a lot of witchcraft traditions make it hard for the few Christians who do live there. Some of the children we worked with actually change their name daily so no one will know what name to use to bewitch them.  The people speak a native language and gospel resources in this language are limited – almost nonexistent (kids learn Spanish in school but have a limited vocabulary). Please pray that the truth of the gospel will be proclaimed in this village, that the Bible can be translated into the Yoloxóchitl Mixtec language, and that God would be honored in this people group. Please pray for our team as we look for ways that we can continue to support and serve the people and the family ministering there.

Thank you for your love, support, and prayers and the way you are investing in this ministry. 

By His grace,

Mandy