25 June 2012 Update!

Romans 15:30 (ESV) I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf,

Thank you to all who pray regularly for the work here in southern Mexico. We are grateful for the investment you make in what God is doing here.

God is definitely up to something here in the Oaxaca area. Since our arrival over 6 months ago, we have had contact with over 25 churches/conventions/ministries who are praying about beginning work among the unreached of southern Mexico. That's A LOT! We are somewhat overwhelmed at times but we know God is in control and will show us how we're supposed to do the work. Fortunately, there are a number of Mexican believers and churches that we are getting to know. Obviously, Mexican believers have the responsibility to share the Gospel with the unreached of their area. We are seeking the mind of Christ on how best to partner Mexican churches/believers and USA churches/believers. Please join us in praying about that.

We have asked you to pray for our summer missionaries. We have two summer M's who are college students from the USA and we have one Mexican student as well. These three are tasked with researching the world view of an unreached people group. They are living in a village in a small house and doing a wonderful job of loving on these people and determining the best approach to share the Gospel with them. Early indications are that the efforts of other evangelical and cult groups to forcefully share the message of Christ has done much to close the hearts of many of these people. Please join us in praying for open hearts and for opportunities to make disciples among these people over the next few years.

Another of our USA church partners has discovered a segment of an unreached people group from Oaxaca living very close to the campus of their church. They are seeking to plant a church among these people in the USA and in their villages here in Oaxaca. Please pray that more of our USA churches will reach out to those from other cultures living within the shadows of their churches. Pray that disciples will be made among them on USA soil who will return to their people in their own countries and bring the Light of the Gospel to them.

While we're talking about sharing the Gospel, exactly what does that mean? I like this definition of the Gospel:
THE JUST AND LOVING CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE HAS LOOKED UPON HOPELESSLY SINFUL PEOPLE AND SENT HIS SON, GOD IN THE FLESH, TO BEAR HIS WRATH AGAINST SIN ON THE CROSS AND TO SHOW HIS POWER OVER SIN IN THE RESURRECTION SO THAT ALL WHO TRUST IN HIM WILL BE RECONCILED TO GOD FOREVER. (David Platt)
That is the message we want to proclaim to the people of southern Mexico.

Please continue to pray. Your prayers are a powerful weapon here.

Thank you to all who give to the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. Your financial support is so important to the work of over 4600 Southern Baptist missionaries serving around the world.

Blessings!

Jackson, Haylee, Jeff, and Liesa

Jeff's mom learning how to spin wool in to yarn in Oaxaca, Mexico.

19 June 2012 Update!

Fun Day With Friends!

We took a little time off and headed out to a local Oaxaca park called Hierve El Agua to celebrate a BIG day!  John McLamb's birthday is today!  Happy Birthday John.

Jeff and John.

Jackson, Haylee, Luke, Caleb, and Elijah. (Hope was busy.)

This is an H.M.M.  (HOT MAMA MISSIONARY).  Hmmmmm.

The Holeman's including Jeff's Mom.

18 June 2012 Update!

Here's a photo tour of the last week...

Father's Day 2012.  We went to one of our favorite restaurants for some good food!

Today at the local children's home the kids hit the jackpot when they found a bunch of big, black ants! They took them in the kitchen and fried them up....

 After they are fried all you have to do is wrap them up in a tortilla and you have a great snack!  Watch for this in your local Taco Bell real soon!

 Jeff's mom had a great time with the kids at the children's home.

Liesa with one of our favorite kids.
Edu is a blessing to us!

 Our Summer M's are doing
incredible work among

a local people group.

Our Summer M's making some great friends in their village.

Thank you for praying!  Keep those prayers going....

Jeff, Liesa, Haylee, and Jackson

12 June 2012 Update!

Happy Birthday Mom!

June 12, 2012 at Monte Alban, Oaxaca, Mexico

11 June 2012 Update!

Saludos de Oaxaca!

Here's an update for all of you who are so faithful to pray for us.  We are so thankful for your commitment to support us through prayer.

We are supporting the work of three student summer missionaries.  J and E are from the USA and Z is a student from Oaxaca.  They are working out in a village as they begin the long-term ministry of one of our USA partners.  These three will be spending the next six to seven weeks building relationships and conducting research among an unreached people group.  Please pray:

• Adjustment to a new culture...emotionally and physically.
• Spiritual health for all three.
• Open doors for relationships to be made.
• Favor from the local government for future work among this people group.

Haylee, Mimi, and Jackson on the Oaxaca zocolo.

Jeff's mom arrived last week and we've hit the ground running. She has already been to our favorite taco stand and experienced a meal with one  of our pastor friends (He made ceviche which is  quite the experience.). Today she is working with  Liesa at the children's home that we have adopted  as a local ministry. She has had to adjust to life  without air-conditioning and has beaten Haylee and  Jackson in several board games. Jackson has yet to  get her playing the Wii yet...but that day is probably  coming.

We took a quick trip the USA...oops, we mean Puebla (It's a lot like the USA in Puebla)...on Sunday to deliver Haylee to the site of this year's Mexico Kid Missionary Camp.  She will be there this week for a time of spiritual enrichment and some just plain fun.  We are so thankful for the way Southern Baptists support our kids.  If you are considering the call to missions (We KNOW folks read our blog who are considering missions.) and are worried about your kids then DON'T.  The International Mission Board will do all possible to make sure our children are well taken care of.

Looks like Haylee is on the losing end of Monopoly.

Jackson is doing well.  With no school until August, Jackson is enjoying mucho pajama time and riding his bike and sharpening his Wii skills.  Jackson and Haylee will be headed to Mississippi on June 23 for several weeks of fun with family and friends.  They are excited about seeing so many of you.  

We are grateful for your prayer and for those of you who support us financially through the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.  You all are a blessing!

Jeff, Liesa, Haylee, and Jackson

3 June 2012 Update.

Greetings to all of you out there.  We want to remind you of our next Tuesday night training event.  The training will begin at 6:00 pm.  All you need is a computer with some type of speakers to listen and participate.  Terry Lassiter, our big boss, will be leading the training this week.  Other than being a Baylor fan, he's a wonderful guy and will teach us much.  Click HERE to register.

Another good week in the books here in southern Mexico.  Haylee has finished 9th grade and Jackson has finished 7th grade with flying colors.  Their grades this semester were excellent (as always)!  They are looking forward to a few lazy weeks before they head to Mississippi for several weeks with friends and family.  Jeff's mom will be coming to Oaxaca on Wednesday so it will be a lot of fun having her here.  

Jeff and Liesa were able to travel to some new villages this week to gather information for the future.  Southern Mexico has a large number of people groups that we need to explore.  We must get out to the communities and find out if there is a need for our USA partners to begin work.  In a very simple explanation,  our objective is to search for communities where the population of believers is less than 2% of the total population and there is no church-planting effort among them.  There are several of these people groups in southern Mexico.  The good news is there are a large number of believers here.  We can learn so much from the Mexican believers and we can work together to take the Gospel where it is not.

We have three summer missionaries who will begin work this week.  J and E are from the USA.  Z is from Mexico.  These students will be working in the village of S.B.Y. to be 'Jesus With Skin On' among the people, to encourage the small group of believers, and to conduct research so we can determine the best ways to communicate the Gospel.  We must understand world-view and culture before we can begin to effectively make disciples.

We are making plans for Vision Trips from churches in Texas, Virginia, and Tennessee during the next few weeks.  We are excited about a possible future partnership with a church from our hometown of Oxford, MS.  And, we have several exciting projects coming up over the next year involving students.  So, things are going well down here.

We do ask for prayer from each of you.  We always want to be doing exactly what the Father desires.  Serving as missionaries doesn't make us 'super-spiritual' or even more committed to Jesus than each of you.  It is merely by the grace of God that we are here.  Most of you would make much better missionaries than us.  Working for a large mission organization certainly has many benefits, but there are challenges that sometimes overshadow the benefits.  We are trying to be very careful to not become dependent on anyone other than our Lord.  The Father is so good to provide everything we need each moment of each day.  We know that your prayers are such a huge part of what happens to us each day.

Please join us in praying for:

• The Right Places.  Pray that the Father would guide our travels to the communities where He wants us to work.
• The Right People.  Pray that the Father would allow us to continue to build relationships with Mexican believers.  Pray that we will have humble hearts that can learn from our Mexican brothers and sisters.
• The Right Things.  Pray that our time will be spent doing things that make an eternal impact.  Pray for our USA partners to have humble hearts that will listen first and speak later.  We need USA partners who will make a commitment to learn culture before launching plans.  Pray for USA partners with humble hearts and love for these precious people.

Thank You for praying.  You are all loved more than you know....

Jeff, Liesa, Haylee, and Jackson