Hello from Mexico!

I pray this newsletter finds you well and that you are enjoying the holidays as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

We wrapped up school for the year with Christmas programs and parties and are now on vacation. I am so thankful for the time I have with family to relax and renew my enery. On December 1st, Amelia and the students from the school in Cuauhtemoc came to help us put on a Christmas program for the people of Rosanachi. We invited everyone in the village and our students presented a Christmas play. Although not everything want as smooth as planned, I was so proud of each student as they bravely went up in front of the people. The villagers loved watching their children/ grandkids all dressed up like Maria, Joseph, etc., as this was so new to them. In fact, this was the first time for the students to celebrate Christmas. It was so neat to see Ana Cristina's dad show up, as he has did not show up the past 2 times we had an evangelism outreach event. But because his grandchildren were going to be in the play, he was curious to see them in their costumes. This is so exciting because since the beginning, Ana Cristina shared that her dream is to put on family events where families can enjoy one another in a family environment.

On that note, I want share that on the 17 of December, a group from El Paso will be coming to Rosanachi to give out gifts and food hampers to the villagers. Although this is no Christian event, the mayor of the nearby town has chosen Ana Cristina to help in planning this event. She jumped at the opportunity to present the play of Jesus' birth with our students. This makes me so incredibly excited because she is taking initiative to bring the gospel to her people. I won't be around, as I am celebrating Christmas with my family, yet that didn't stop her. She will be sharing the salvation message after the play. Please pray for the students and her, that they won't be too nervous and the people can understand the message.

I also had the opportunity to attend the Christmas program in Cuauhtemoc, and I absolutely loved watching the students from the school for the youth present a play and sing beautifully. It blows me away every time that these are the same students, 5 years ago, didn't know how to sing and had such a hard time keeping on tune. If you would like to watch the play, you can watch it on my sister's Facebook page "Amelia Wiebe Missionary in Mexico ". Everytime I come back to Cuauhtemoc and see these beautiful teens, my heart fills with joy because I see how the Lord continues to work in their hearts! And it gives me hope that the Lord has big plans for our new mission in Rosanachi as well!
Sandra, our first graduate from the school here in Cuauhtemoc, had the opportunity to attend a youth conference in November in Monterey, where she shared her testimony. Now she is getting ready to attend Bible School in January. She was overflowing with joy as I spoke to her at the concert and can barely wait to leave in about 3 weeks. Her sister, who will be graduating this coming June is full of dreams, as she talks about her graduation and her plans to go to the mission field. Her dream is to sing for Jesus and teach other girls how to defend themselves in dangerous situations, as rape and assaults are very common occurrences in their culture. I also had the opportunity to speak with the parents at the concert, and I love to see how they have opened up. In the past, parents didn't always show up, as family events were not normal to their culture. Now I was seeing parents, siblings, relatives and friends come together to celebrate Jesus' birth. I heard some of the moms expressing how they really wanted their kids to study so that they would have opportunities to pursue their dreams in the future... when in the past we struggled to get parents interest in their children's studies. God is truly so, so good and I love to watch Him at work here in Chihuahua.

Lastly, I want to share that our interns returned home to Canada at the beginning of December. It is hard to see them go, as they were such a HUGE blessing, but I am very thankful for their obedience to God as they served in the school for 3 months. There is no doubt that they took a very special place in our hearts and the students will miss them. Hopefully they will come back and visit when they have a chance! We would also like to extend that invitation to you, if you would ever like to come visit, we would love to have you! Thank you so much for all your prayers and support. Thank you for taking the time to read these updates. Please continue to pray for our students, for God's protection over them this vacation and that one day each of them would have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I also ask you to continue to pray over us as missionaries, that God will always be first in our ministry and we would serve Him out of love and sincerity. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas season as we celebrate the birth of our Savior! Merry Christmas! Amanda.