1 August 2016 Update!

First time for any work in this village and several dozen
showed up for Sports and English camps. While there they
heard stories from God's Word.

Thank you so much for your prayer support over the past few weeks. We've seen the Father do some amazing things and your prayers are an integral part of all He is doing in our midst.

We shared some prayer requests with you a couple of weeks ago. Here are some updates:

Will you pray for more workers to be called out from Mexican churches in Mexico? It is amazing how the Father is working among those churches/believers with whom we partner. We are preparing to begin a Training Class for Mexican believers who sense a call to missions. How 'bout that? Amazing.

Will you pray for our teammate Ashley and the relationships she has made with nationals? Will you pray that God will call out more workers from this group? Several members of this group are wanting more training to help them reach out to their own people.

Every morning, from July 9 to July 24, will you pray that the Father would use the students attending camp to make an eternal difference in the lives of many people in Oaxaca? We had a phenomenal two weeks of Access International Camps. Every one of our ministry sites saw people beginning a relationship with Christ or coming One Step Closer to Him.

Will you pray for the tension between the teacher's union and the government would decrease and that peaceful solutions would be found to the conflict? Nothing has slowed down our work over the past few weeks. There has been a reduction in the number and intensity of the protests.

Will you pray for Haylee and Jackson as they grow close to our summer team only to see them get on airplanes and return to the USA?  Haylee and Jackson served faithfully alongside our summer teams and developed some new friendships that have kept their social media tools buzzing.

Will you pray for our team of high school girls living in an unreached community until July 16?  Pray for A, B, E, L, M,  M, and N. This group of girls completed their assignment in a very TOUGH place. They have returned to the USA and we pray they will continue to serve faithfully there.

Will you pray that the village of 'T' will become less hostile to Christians and that we will find a way to share the Gospel in this community?  While doing some business at a local store we met a young man from the 'T' village and we are following up on a potential great opportunity to work in the 'T' village. Only God can do this and your prayers are the catalyst.  

Things slow down just a little bit in August before a busy September arrives. We will head to the Pacific Coast of Oaxaca in just a few days for a time of retreat with our teammates. We always look forward to these times. After that, we're back in Oaxaca and will be getting Jackson ready for 12th grade and Haylee ready to return for her sophomore year at Mississippi College. We also have two Hands On students coming in to work with our team. We would love to have you covering these events in prayer.

Thank you so much for 'holding the rope' through your prayer support, your giving to the Cooperative Program, and your support of the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.

Jeff, Liesa, Haylee, and Jackson

A short visit to the 'Nacho Libre' church is a great way to
start a busy three week stretch run.

Access Week One Leadership Team!

Hillcrest Baptist New Albany, MS came down for a visit!

Access Oaxaca Week One Team!

Ronnie knows napping and the tools needed.

Worship with James Tealy was the BEST way to
start the day!

The IWC Encouragram legacy continues...

The Access Week Two Leadership Team!

Liesa leading training for Week Two.

Circle Soccer!

These folks came down from California to bring the Light!

Apparently, Ronnie learned his napping skills from his wife.

Duck, duck, goose works everywhere.

Mindy and Sebastian are the best!

Jackson teaching kids in a village.

This is very cultural in Mexico. Really.

How much coffee is too much for two weeks of camp?
We never found out.

Even charter buses in Oaxaca go mud riding.

A GREAT team of workers!

We LOVE Ronnie and Diane.

Feeding these California folks breakfast before putting them
on an airplane.

Rebecca. THE BEST. She has left us and gone
to her new field of service.

Ronnie and Avery with the Bacon Tornado.

7 July 2016 Update!

After a busy June we landed
in Oaxaca ready for a
great July!

Greetings from southern Mexico!

We've had a busy month of June. Thank you for your prayer support! June began with Jeff attending Affinity Leadership Team meetings in Peru. On June 5, Jeff, Liesa, and Jackson left Jackson, Mississippi and drove to Laredo, Texas. On June 6, we crossed the border into Mexico without any problems and drove to Mexico City. We were in Mexico City for a few days so that we could begin the immigration process. We arrived home in Oaxaca on June 10. Since then we've had a lot of action with ministry work, teacher's union against the government clashes, team meetings, welcoming more summer students, saying good-bye to summer students, a trip to Costa Rica for the 2016 High School MK Retreat, and a Fourth of July Party. Time flies when you're having fun.

July is another busy month with two weeks of Access International Student Mission Camps coming up. We'll begin on July 9 and finish up on July 24. We're excited about working alongside some of our Mexican brothers and sisters and some great USA churches. We are praying for two great weeks of sharing the Gospel. We'll be partnering up with local churches in the city of Oaxaca to reach their neighborhoods with the Gospel.

While all of that is going on some of our great USA partners will be coming to work among the people to whom God has led them. Folks from churches in Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, California, and Mississippi will be joining us in Oaxaca during July. We are grateful for the workers that the Father continues to bring to the harvest in southern Mexico.

Saying 'See You Later' too many times is one of the realities of missionary life. Our teammate Christy Willis has returned to the USA after almost two years on our team BUT will be coming back to Oaxaca in September and we hope it's for a long, long time. Rebecca Harrod leaves us the last week of July and she will be SO MISSED by so many people here. Rebecca and Christy have poured out their lives for their Savior and have left an impact that will last for eternity. Goodbyes STINK!

We are so grateful for your prayer support! Here are some specific requests:

• Will you pray for more workers to be called out from Mexican churches in Mexico?
• Will you pray for our teammate Ashley and the relationships she has made with nationals? Will you pray that God will call out more workers from this group?
• Every morning, from July 9 to July 24, will you pray that the Father would use the students attending camp to make an eternal difference in the lives of many people in Oaxaca?
• Will you pray for the tension between the teacher's union and the government would decrease and that peaceful solutions would be found to the conflict?
• Will you pray for Haylee and Jackson as they grow close to our summer team only to see them get on airplanes and return to the USA?
• Will you pray for our team of high school girls living in an unreached community until July 16?  Pray for A, B, E, L, M,  M, and N.
• Will you pray that the village of 'T' will become less hostile to Christians and that we will find a way to share the Gospel in this community?

Thank you for praying for the truck repair. It's still in the shop but hopefully it will be repaired before the end of this week. The teacher's union is blocking the highways in/out of Oaxaca so getting supplies into the city is very difficult.

Thank you for your prayer support and your giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and the Cooperative Program. 

Jeff, Liesa, Haylee, and Jackson

Haylee at work!

Jackson has found ways to deal with international travel.

The 2016 High School MK Retreat in Costa Rica.

Liesa hanging out with some Awesome MK's in Costa Rica.

You know it's gonna be a fun flight when
Mark and Pam Grumbles are on the plane at 6 am!

We turned Ashley's translator training class into
a Fourth of July party!