Greetings from Guadalajara! We miss you and hope that you are doing well. Before we get into the heart of our report, PLEASE update your address books with our new email address: steveamymexico@gmail.com. Our old address will be vanishing soon.

Going to school Monday morning was a treat for all of us. That might sound strange as for most of us this is a stressful time rather than fun, but it was fun yesterday because it was the first time we had driven to school in daylight since arriving here! Guadalajara is about as far west as Denver but is in the central time zone. So when sunrise is at 6:45 for a city on the eastern end of the central time zone, for us it's 7:45 or 8:00. We had been getting up and going to school in the dark all year until the time change this weekend (school is from 8:00 until 2:00).

We are encouraged, overall, by the various things going on. The kids are doing well in school and are beginning to pick up more Spanish. They have extra tutoring a couple of times a week now, and they are showing progress. Amy is getting involved more with Mexican women. She's been able to spend time with some of our neighbors (one of them is dying to have Amy's buttermilk biscuit recipe!), and she's able to be involved in two Bible studies, one with Mexican women from church and another that Sandy, our team leader's wife, is giving to the missionary wives. I am taking on more responsibilities. The Sunday School class I'm giving seems to be having a positive impact, and I'm also encouraged that the folks in our biblical interpretation class are learning.

We're excited about a new possibility. The lay leaders of an evangelical church here in the city have come to the conclusion that they believe the same teachings we believe and that they need further training. They are approaching us about ways we may be able to help equip them. We're praying that this leads to a close relationship among all our churches and that this relationship will be it opens up a new avenues for the gospel of God' grace to be proclaimed in the city. I'm also working on projects for our team – trying to help us function better as a ministry team and as churches. We hope that one recent project – how can our churches become more welcoming to visitors? – will help our current churches as well as the future church plant.

With regard to the future church plant, there are two noteworthy items. One is that the Lord has given us the opportunity to meet some of the men in the neighborhood (a prayer request last month). Please pray that these relationships will grow. Also, a dear couple from our main church has told us that they are interested in joining our launch team when the time comes. This is a huge answer to prayer! We need mature, committed Mexicans to enter into this work with us, and this is a great start.

The biggest struggle for us has been our continuing battle with poor health. Amy has a diagnosis of probable allergic fungal sinusitis. We are pursuing treatment options, and it looks like another sinus surgery may be the major component. Please pray for her as we make decisions. We are thankful for the extremely good healthcare that is available to us here in Guadalajara. Please pray that we all would have wisdom regarding treatment and that the doctors would have great skill. We've (mostly Amy) been researching this for several weeks and believe we're on the right track. If you know happen to have any information on this condition, please let us know!

A few more prayer requests:

• We feel that there have been spiritual attacks on our team and us. Please pray for our encouragement and protection and pray that the Lord would give a spirit of peace and reconciliation to the different workers involved with our team.
• Spanish, Spanish, Spanish. And Español. Please pray that we would all improve in our ability with the language.
• Pray that the Lord would continue to open doors for us here, giving us new opportunities with unbelievers and drawing more believers to be part of the church planting effort.

Here are some tidbits about life in Mexico:

• November 2 is Day of the Dead. I have mixed feelings about this holiday. I appreciate and respect the way the Mexican people set aside time to remember loved ones who have passed away. Still, the occult-like practices and rituals that mark this observance leave us uneasy. * October marks the beginning of the dry season here in Guadalajara. From now until June we expect almost zero rainfall. This provides some crystal-clear blue skies, great opportunities for stargazing, and lots of dust by the time April and May come. This also makes April, May and June our hottest months; the rains that start in mid-June cool things off some in the summer.

Thank you for your continued prayers for Mexico, Guadalajara, and us. We love to hear from you! Please stay in touch.

In Christ Jesus,

Steve (for all the Robertsons)
steveamymexico@gmail.com or srobertson@mtwla.org
http://www.mtwla.org/people/srobertson.htm

Mailing Address for LETTERS ONLY -
packages/items of value will be rejected/stolen/or will cost us:
413 Interamerica Blvd, WH1
PMB 070-149
Laredo, TX 78045

Our phone # from the USA: 011-52-333-855-8824

MTW donations address: PO Box 116284, Atlanta, GA 30368-6284. Mark payments Robertson 016521