Prayer

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Mexico City stretches on as far as the eye can see. To reach it, we’ll need the Spirit’s strategy.

As we shared in our previous prayer update, there has been a growing hunger in our lives to see God’s kingdom break through in power in Mexico and beyond. Still, in the face of the pandemic and the tremendous need (see photo) there is an acute awareness of our inability to satisfy this hunger through human means. It’s for that reason that we are excited to join with missionaries around the world, from a variety of organizations, for the united goal of taking “40 Days to Listen” for the strategy of the Spirit. We recognize that Missions is God’s heart. Therefore, we take this time to intentionally focus on Him, allowing Him to direct us to accomplish his purposes.

During these 40 days, starting August 24th and extending through October 2nd, we’ll be working to align ourselves with the Holy Spirit. We’re laying aside the regular routine and rhythm of life and ministry so that we can pick up the practices or disciplines that will give Him a dedicated space to speak to us individually and corporately.

The cornerstone of our practice is the dedication of extravagant amounts of time. Our missionary fellowship leadership team has committed to tithe our waking hours, giving God 1 hour and 36 minutes, even though He owns it all, to pray and listen, read and memorize His Word, and intercede for the salvation of 10% of the yet unreached people of Mexico. We will be focused on the gospel of John, reading it through twice with a challenge to memorize Chapter 17, Jesus’ High Priestly prayer. For devotional reading, we’re using Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s book, The Cost of Discipleship.

To allow for this shift, we’re drastically reducing our use of media, limiting our time on social networks and eliminating entirely other forms of entertainment. When it comes to food, we have decided to forego sugar and everything processed for the 40 days and go without for a 24 hour period each week, finding our satisfaction increasingly in Jesus, the Bread of Life.

Do you long to see God’s kingdom come? Do you long to hear the Spirit’s voice? We invite you to join us in any or all of these practices. We’ve created a calendar to guide your reading and prayer emphasis. Download a copy and be a part of these “40 Days to Listen.”

Thanks for joining us during this special time. If you’d like more information from the Godzwas or would like to print this update, take a look at the full PDF version of our quarterly newsletter.

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We’re all healthy, even the dog!

From church to school to check-ins with the office, everything has gone “virtual.” Screens, which had dominated our lives prior to the Coronavirus Pandemic, are now taking up every waking minute and often putting us to bed at night. As we immerse ourselves further into this digital world, we find ourselves longing for “real” experiences. We’re anxious for the day that we’ll be able to break out of quarantine and get back to living.

Still, although we’re not asking for these stay-at-home orders to be extended, our family has found that gratitude for what we can enjoy in the meantime has helped ease the sting of our restricted lifestyle.  So we thought we’d share with you some of our real reasons for thanksgiving in this increasingly virtual world in which we’re living.

First of all, we’re healthy! Yes, although we’d been potentially exposed to the coronavirus, none of us have exhibited symptoms. Instead, we’ve been able to enjoy some special moments, like Dave’s 46th birthday and a trip to a local park. And, although she had to undergo oral surgery, our dog, Kaixin, is doing fine as well. 

Second, our 24 missionaries in Mexico are OK! One of our more pressing concerns has been the missionary body in Mexico, especially as the situation has worsened. We’re happy to report, however, that they are well and, although some have had to make moves because of the virus, they are continuing to engage in ministry as their situation permits. BTW, Greg Mundis and Thomas Carpenter, mentioned in our previous newsletter, have made miraculous comebacks!

Last, but certainly not least, your generosity is paying dividends! Through your support, we’ve been able to participate in a program that is giving assistance to 1,150 pastors throughout Mexico as services are suspended and businesses are closed. We’ve also been able to participate with missionaries Paul and Sandy Kazim as they provide funds for personal protective equipment (PPE) for medical professionals. These doctors and nurses, who had worked with them in outreaches, are suddenly on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19.  These PPEs are helping them stay focused on meeting the need. 

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#RallyHope: Our Mexico Missionaries pray for those sick with COVID-19

I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

These words from Philippians 4:12-13, some of the first verses that we memorized in Spanish, have gained much more meaning in these last weeks:

  • A month ago, we had plenty of funds, having needed just $150 of monthly support to finish our itineration.
  • A month ago we had plenty of plans, having weekends full of services and upcoming trips to participate in strategic ministry and important meetings.
  • A month ago we had plenty of confidence, thinking that we were prepared to face any eventuality. But then came the disease called COVID-19.

Now, because of a virus so small that it is invisible to the naked eye, everything has changed.

  • Our itineration has been suspended.
  • Our travel plans have been canceled.
  • And any confidence in ourselves that we had to handle the crisis has disappeared in the face of a situation that continues to change minute by minute.
All travel, like our recent trip to Mexico for the Evangelism Conference, has been canceled.

Let’s face it, we do not have the strength to carry on in the face of the challenge of this disease.

  • We are active in prayer, but we do not have the power to see our companions, Greg Mundis and Thomas Carpenter, who fight against the coronavirus in their bodies, healed.
  • Being Mexico Area Directors, coordinating the ministry and movements of 24 families, we meet almost daily with our companions to help them, but we do not have in us the wisdom to guide them in the decisions they have to make in the midst of this crisis.

But we can do everything through Christ who gives us strength.

In the same way that we had thanked him for what we enjoyed in moments of abundance, we trust him now for what we need, the resources, the power, and the wisdom to overcome this situation.

I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts this week, “Unbelievable?,” a Christian/Skeptic discussion show. Recently, they’ve switched format to focus on the new reality that we are all facing. In this particular podcast, the show host, Justin Briley, interviewed John Lennox, a renowned mathematician and Christian apologist. When talking about the grief related to the current pandemic, Lennox referenced the passage in John 11 of the death and resurrection of Lazarus (at the 5:30 mark in the podcast). In that passage, he states that Martha expressed her disappointment to Jesus upon his arrival. “Lord, if only you had been here,” she said, “my brother would not have died.” Jesus then made a statement that was difficult for her to accept. He said, “Your brother will rise again.” She had enough theology, said Lennox, to know of a coming resurrection, but she was unprepared for Jesus’s response: “I am the resurrection and the life.” He goes on to say that he suspected that Martha then expected something big was going to happen. We, of course, know the rest of the story.

We have lost much in this pandemic: money, plans, a clear path forward, emotional stability, even friends and loved ones, and for that loss, we grieve, but Christ remains our hope. Even as we look to an Easter Sunday under stay-at-home orders, he remains our resurrection and our life.

Our prayer is that you and your loved ones have access to that hope and that strength that only Christ can give us.

We conclude with this well-known prayer: ‘May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace. (Numbers 6:24-26)’

Para los que hablan español, he subido un video con la mayoria de este contenido. Se lo puede ver en YouTube.

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As we face the crisis related to the coronavirus and the effects of the COVID-19 disease, we wanted to update you on our situation and offer you our support. Please, take a few moments to watch this video that we’ve prepared from our home in Springfield, MO where we are serving our 8th day of self-quarantine. You can do so by simply hitting the photo above. We hope that it’s an encouragement to you.

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We’re in the middle of a 3,175-mile family road trip (see inset). Our family of 6, (yes, we’ve brought our dog, Kaixin, along) has traveled from Missouri to Pennsylvania; now we find ourselves in Florida. It’s been a journey of reconnection as we’ve had the chance to visit with family and friends, many who have been so instrumental in sending us to Mexico and maintaining us as we minister there. However, this stop in Orlando, where we find ourselves currently, was made with a different purpose in mind. While we have made reconnections as we’ve met together with hundreds of missionaries from around the world for the unprecedented gathering called Together 2019, we’ve spent the last 4 days seeking renewal, acquiring refocus, and enacting recommitment to the “greatest evangelism the world has ever 
seen.1

All this week, as Assemblies of God World Missionaries have been meeting at Calvary Christian Center, we have paused our ministry pursuits to pray for one another, to hear from the Holy Spirit and to respond to His direction. For our entire family, it has been a significant experience, especially as we take on our new responsibilities as Directors of the Mexico Area (members pictured above). It has been a time to give thanks to God and to worship Him for what He has done among us, to encourage ourselves in the Lord and in His power, and to minister and receive the ministration of others.

The culmination of the event was the signing of a document of recommissioning. It was a recommitment to the Lord and to His Great Commission to make disciples of the nations. It was a reaffirmation of our commitment to the leading of the Holy Spirit, the establishment of the Church, and to collaboration with our fellow missionaries. As we face the enormous task of reaching the tens of millions without Christ in Mexico we know that it is only as we live out that commitment that we will be able to finish the work.

So as we turn now to the labor at hand, pray for us as we seek to walk daily in the spirit of our gathering. Pray for us to cultivate a freshness in our relationship with our Lord, to maintain our focus on the work of establishing the church, and to endure in our commitment to the Lord and to one another.

1. Statement made during the 2nd General Council of the Assemblies of God in 1914.

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January marked the opening to a new semester at Instituto Bíblico Bethel and to new relationships impacting both the school and area churches. Hit the link here, or click on the picture to find out more. While you’re there, don’t miss

  • Updates on our outreach activities,
  • a bit about what’s going on with our family,
  • And an opportunity to be a part of our 2019-2020 itineration schedule.

Our online newsletter is viewable as a PDF document. If you do not have the Adobe Acrobat Reader software installed, you may download it here.


It seems so hard to believe that a year has gone by since we began the process of training our church planters throughout the Yucatán. In this video, we take the time to look back over our term, including the past year, to see the progress we’ve made in fulfilling the vision of the Yucatán full of churches diverse in class, status, education, and language, but united in their love for the Lord and one another. We pray that it’s an encouragement.

At the same time as we upload this update, we ask for your continued prayers for our evangelistic outreaches in the month of February, in which we anticipate a harvest of souls after the months of planting and watering. By the time you see this, we’ll have wrapped up two regions and should be finalizing the details in three more:

  • Centro: Hacienda Sahé, Tixpehual, February 21-22
  • Occidente: Piedra de Agua, Mérida, February 22
  • Norte: Euan, March 1

In my youth, I always loved the times when my dad would let me sit in the front seat during road trips. Not only was there ample leg room for a change, but I was also able to take charge of the map. It was amazing to me how that compact rectangle of paper, designed to fit in a glove box, could unfold to reveal our whole state, and how, with a bit of practice, I was able to not only pinpoint our location but also track our progress and estimate our time of arrival.

Long gone are the days of navigation by paper maps. Still, maps, like the one above can be useful to measure the progress that we’re making toward our destination. In this case, the destination that we’re seeking is the goal of filling the Yucatán with churches.

On this map, each pin represents a new church being planted by workers who have walked through our 12-month church planting process. The red pins represent the communities where we are holding special outreaches in the month of February designed to accelerate the growth of these new churches.

Would you take a moment this month to pray for all of our church planters and especially for the planned outreaches? If you have a bit more time, why not head over to our interactive Google Map @ https://s1.ag.org/churchmap where you’ll be able to click on each pin to reveal the names of our church planters and prayer requests associated with each work.

Thanks for your prayers!

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In our fall newsletter, we spoke of testimonies of breakthrough in the Yucatan. This article is the second in that series–the story of Isaí González and his wife Tifany, pastors of the new church, Casa del Rey, in Mérida, Yucatán in the developing neighborhood of Los Héroes.

Los Héroes is a young suburb on the eastern periphery of the city of Mérida, but the colorful facades of its new houses and the bustling activity of its thriving businesses do little to alleviate the loneliness and anxiety that plague its residents. Many of its current occupants have upended their lives elsewhere in the country to look for new opportunities that the relative safety of the capital city of Yucatan affords. It was to meet the needs of these young families that Isaí and Tifany decided to plant Casa del Rey in 2016.

We first met Isaí in Instituto Biblico Bethel, where he was a member of Dave’s first church planting class in 2012. Recalling that formative time, Isaí stated that he’d learned from Dave that the success of the implementation of a project is in its planning: visiting the area, collecting information, and asking for the Lord’s direction. This is the same methodology he’s now applying to the benefit of the residents of Los Heroes.

Emphasizing a vision of multiplication, they’ve fostered steady numerical growth and have facilitated significant personal transformation in the lives of the residents of Los Héroes. The Ruiz family* is one example of the change that has occurred. Attempting to start over after economic disaster nearly destroyed their marriage, Lalo* and Luisa* arrived in Los Héroes broken and hurting, but, through the invitation of a church member, they attended service at Casa del Rey and were touched by the presence of God. Since that first service, they’ve given their lives to the Lord, experienced restoration, and are actively participating in the church’s ministry.

Whereas the rapid growth has brought with it its share of complications, such as the need to undertake an eight-month building project to expand their facilities, Isaí and Tifany continue to strive to fulfill their vision, turning now to cell groups to increase their impact and meet needs in Los Heroes.

We’re grateful for the privilege to work with people like Isaí and Tiffany, people achieving breakthroughs in their area of ministry. And, as we enter this season of Thanksgiving, we want to take this time to thank you for your prayers and support, which grant us this opportunity.

*Name changed

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In our fall newsletter, we spoke of testimonies of breakthrough in the Yucatan. This article is the first in that series–the story of a pair of church planters, Kary and Lily.

Kary and Lily had felt for some time that they had been born for something more. Still, adversity nearly short-circuited that call. It took the experience of the baptism in the Holy Spirit to help Kary take the step of faith toward ministry, while a missions trip encouraged Lily to prepare herself. Both are currently enrolled at Instituto Bíblico Bethel.

Nevertheless, Blanca Flor, the site of their church plant, was not their original ministry destination; they had signed up to study church planting simply to assist others. However, the homework assignment they were given in their first class, to establish relationships with people outside of the reach of the evangelical church, moved them out of their comfort zone.

What they found was a forgotten place at the end of a barely passable road, a town of about 60 people who earn their living by the crops that they manage to grow. Their needs, however, are direr than their situation suggests. As the women put it, they suffer physically from a thirst for clean water but spiritually from a hunger for the Word of God.

Since that first visit, they’ve established a rapport with the people and have come to understand their needs. While they’ve taught them practical skills, they’ve also opened up the scriptures to help them understand how they speak to their everyday lives. In this way, they’ve introduced new possibilities for revenue, while facilitating conflict resolution and fostering an appreciation for the Word of God.

This initial impact has increased their conviction to build a church in Blanca Flor–a people and a place to serve as a permanent testimony of God’s love and care for this community. But their passion doesn’t end there! They encourage others to follow in their footsteps: “Don’t close yourselves within the walls of the church,” they say. “Open yourselves up to the possibility of making a difference. Why work in a place where others are already working? There are places with no workers who need to hear the gospel!”

People like Kary and Lily are working throughout the region to see the vision of the Yucatan peninsula full of churches become a reality. Stay tuned for more of their stories, and thanks for your prayers and support which give us the opportunity to encourage and resource the breakthrough their efforts are achieving.

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