Amanda in Mexico

December Newsletter

Kuira! (Pronounced kwee-ra, means “hello” en the Tarahumara dialect). I hope you had a blessed Christmas and the new year is going well for you! What a blessing to be able to be writing again and sharing what God has been doing here. The month of December flew by, with all our Christmas activities. We practiced and practiced our Christmas program, not one single practice going as I hoped. Every practice was an opportunity for me to work on my patience. Little Fredy was finally convicted of his behaviour and had an amazing change of attitude the day of the program when he was offered a gift as a reward if he would participate well. Honestly, on the day of the play I just said “Lord, its Yours. Be honored and glorified through this program”, and I know, without a doubt, He was. The kids did an amazing job! They did 2 plays, played 2 songs they had practiced on the guitars and the bass, and sang wholeheartedly. I was so, so proud of them, and I know God was smiling as the kids did their absolute best for Him. Before the program I told the kids, this program is not for the audience nor for your parents nor for me, it is all for God, so you do your very best for Him. They did. After the program, the kids came off the stage beaming and their joy was overflowing. They then prepared hot punch and desserts the girls had spent all day making. The girls were all split up during the day and went to houses of different Mennonite ladies to bake desserts for the concert. What a blessing to see the different cultures working together! After the concert, one of the men in church came up to some of the youth and told them how blessed he had been by the play, and it had brought tears to his eyes. One of the girls, Candelaria, was shocked and she was like ‘really?!’. The Tarahumara people aren’t very expressive and this isn’t something you would normally hear. It was the perfect opportunity to point out to Candelaria that everything we do, we should do it for God, because He can and will use it to touch other people’s lives. And her response was the best, “Wow, you are right. We were doing this play for God. From now on I am not going to complain anymore when I have to practice for a play”. I hope she remembers that for Easter….

I would also like to share with you, in the month of December, Candelaria accepted Jesus as her Saviour! She had been battling with this decision ever since she saw her sister Sandra accept Jesus in July. Often she would be so close and then she would change her mind. One day, on the way home from school, she just asked me “How can I accept Jesus?”. So I explained it to her and asked her if she wanted to make that decision. She knew she wanted Jesus in her life and made the decision to follow Him that day. It amazes me to see how these young teens are soaking up Jesus’ love and their admiration for Him in the midst of all the chaos in their lives. They are exposed to alcohol, drugs and broken families on a regular basis. They tell me the Tarahumara people cannot be different, they cannot break the chains of the past and the cycle cannot end. Yet, I see the hunger they have to be loved, accepted, understood, wanted and just to belong. Their hope is rising that maybe, just maybe, things can change. That is my prayer for the Tarahumara people and my students, that they can be set free from the chains of worthlesseness that they have been bound with for so long. I pray that they would stop believing the lies the devil has told them about who they are and find hope in God’s promises for them. That they would begin to see themselves as God sees them.

Please join me in praying for the students, as they are still on vacation, and there are many temptations as they return to the mountains to visit their families. Pray for Gods protection over them.
Pray for the school, as we will be starting up again on Monday. Pray for wisdom, patience and love for the teachers.
Please pray that God would send the helpers we need so that each student can receive the help, the attention and love he/she needs to help them become the young man/ woman God wants them to be.
Thank you so much for joining me in this journey and for all your prayers and support. They are so much appreciated! God bless.
John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Amanda