Thank God for:

1. Thank God that the Lord is opening up many opportunities. But we are in the midst of many challenges as well.
2. In Zihuatanejo, some elderly adults have been stranded in the local hospital because their families cannot care for them. Other people are in the last stages of AIDS. We (people from the local churches and an AIDS support group) have been praying about how to care for them. Recent, a local health agency offered to renovate a building to provide housing for a few of them, and to provide water, electricity, and health care—if we can care for the people. That is an astonishing response from them! We are praying about this, and asking the Lord to pull together the people and the resources to do this. Let us know if you would like to be involved. Pray that this may also be a strong outreach to the local community.
3. Compassion International has a strong program working with thousands of children in the Dominican Republic. They are interested in CHE (community health evangelism) but their immediate need is to put together a series of health programs to teach the children over a period of several years. They have asked me to meet with their local team, along with Bibiana, who is the Regional Coordinator for that area. Pray that this helps serve their needs, that the kids (and their families) may learn practical health skills, and that this will help open up many areas in the D.R. for a CHE ministry.
4. I have been working with LifeWind International to develop new teaching materials in areas such as evaluation tools, Bible storying, and Children’s CHE. The CHE ministries in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have been instrumental in developing many of these strategies, and they would like to learn more. So I will be traveling with Charlotte, who is the Area Coordinator for those former Soviet Republic states (just west of China) to share with them and to learn from them. (For more information about CHE, see www.lifewind.org.) Pray that we may be able to build each other up.
5. Pastor Ron Cavenagh has recovered from typhoid fever. Ron and Rose lead Ixtapa Christian Fellowship.
6. My Mexican visa came through! That is always a bit of a challenge.
7. Jacob and Raquel will be traveling to Samachique, Chihuahua in May to give a Training of Trainers seminar and to meet with people from the local churches. Their seminar was postponed due to all our Zihua challenges at present.
8. Thank God for our Easter celebrations. Christ is risen indeed!

1. Pray for safety and God’s guidance in all our travels. Pray especially for Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, where there have been some peaceful demonstrations.
2. Pray for the visit with the Mexico City CHE team led by Claudia Villatoro.
3. Please pray for Brian and Patti Long, who have been faithful members of our Zihua churches. Brian is now quite sick with a pancreatic cancer. Pray for God’s comfort and strength and healing for them.
4. Wayne Johnson, one of our Zihua trainers and a music leader in the churches, is currently in the hospital receiving an effective but toxic treatment for a fungal infection of the brain. Please pray for Wayne and Gaby Johnson and their family.
5. Please also pray for my sister Janet, who recently lost her job due to a political change. Pray for God’s provision for her.
6. Pray for the leaders of the churches in Zihuatanejo—for Jacob and Raquel Sotelo, Ron and Rose Cavenagh, and John and Beti Sullivan. Pray also that we may be able to work together more with other local churches. Pray also for the development of committed leaders within the churches.

Bendiciones,