Hello!

We had a summer full of travels and meaningful moments. Looking back, we can see how God surrounded us with opportunities to experience His grace and favor again and again.

Our first trip was a farewell visit to Belgium, and the second was a reconnection trip to the United States to see dear friends and to personally thank many of you who share with us in the Lord’s work.

We are truly grateful to each one of you who took the time to see us during our visit and to listen for a few minutes to what God has been doing in His work, wherever He has led us. Joshua 1:9 is one of those passages we have all heard at some point as a word of encouragement, but after these trips, we have felt this calling in a very personal way as a family: to remain strong and courageous, trusting that wherever the Lord leads us, He will be with us. We have seen this truth confirmed through the love and support of our community everywhere we have been.

Our Time in Grand Rapids

Birthday Celebration

What a joy it was to reconnect with many of you from the very first days of our arrival. The gathering for my birthday (Carmen) was such a special moment, and I want to sincerely thank everyone who was able to join us. We truly enjoyed sharing the tres leches cake and having conversations about what God has done in our lives and what we hope to see in the future. A special thanks to our dear friends Niki and Eddie Ramírez for their generous hospitality!
 

The visit of Pastor Jhonatan and his wife Karen was a real blessing for them and for us. We were so glad to show them a glimpse of our former life in GR.

They visited Calvin Theological Seminary, where they met with Gabriela Tijerina (Director of Latino Ministries). Jhonatan, in addition to pastoring, also teaches at the Presbyterian Theological Seminary and is a passionate student, so it was valuable to meet Gabriela and hear about the graduate opportunities Calvin is developing for Latino students.

Jhonatan also had the chance to talk with JP Gaylord, former Worship Director at Cascade Fellowship, who shared many enriching ideas for ministry in Mexico. Another uplifting conversation was with Eric VanderWall, Pastor of Discipleship at Cascade Fellowship.

We want to thank both, JP and Eric for their time and willingness to share some of their experience with them. We know the Lord will use these conversations in a very meaningful way in Jhonatan's and Kare's personal lives and ministry.

Dinner with Supporters

We enjoyed a wonderful dinner that gave us the chance to share about our first year in the field. We are deeply grateful for the understanding and words of encouragement we received from our friends and supporters regarding our time in Belgium.

The gathering was also a great opportunity for them to meet Jhonatan and Karen, with whom we have been working this past year at El Buen Pastor Church. We thank God that we have seen not only numerical growth in the congregation but also a deeper faith developing in both leaders and members.

Toward the end, we shared more about our future plans, trusting that the Lord will open doors for us to serve in Spain. We remain convinced that Europe—and particularly Spain—is a key mission field to which God is leading us.
 

Thanks to our Cascade Fellowship family, we were able to hold our annual family retreat, a time to reflect on the past year, renew our strength, and reaffirm our vision as a family. This year, we chose to focus on the word TRUST, inspired by Deuteronomy 31:8: “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Special thanks to Zach and Kaylee Vruwink for letting us use their family's beautiful cabin. 
 

Sending and prayer 
 

Once again, our congregation sent us out with prayer and support to serve in Mexico for another year.  Pastor Bill Whitt and our prayer group took special time to encourage us and lift us up in prayer.

We return to Mexico profoundly grateful, strengthened, and with a renewed vision to keep pursuing God’s will.
 

We ask you to watch this 8 minutes video about the spiritual situation of Spain and the hope that the Gospel can bring to this country that once was considered Christian, but as you will see in this video. it is not anymore. This is part of what we consider Spain the place where the Lord is calling us to go. 

Check out our websites for more information about our ministry. You can also join our private Facebook group or follow us on Instagram to see more photos and stories about us and our work.

We’d love to hear from you too—let us know how we can be praying for you! Thank you for reading this letter!

Carrillo Puerto 318
Int. Tulipán 301
Col. General Anaya
Benito Juárez, 03340
CDMX, MEXICO

Copyright © *2024* *Uri&CarmenAlcivar*, All rights reserved.