December Update--Closing 2020 and Ready for 2021

Hello everyone,

Well, we've made it to the end of 2020! Congratulations! :) Also, Merry (belated) Christmas! For our family, this year has been bitter-sweet. Like most, we've faced a lot of difficulties this year--especially with sustaining a new church-plant in the midst of the pandemic/shut-downs and with far too many hours spent in front of a computer screen for virtual classes. However, this year has also been good for our family. We have spent more time together than ever and had lots of fun and many laughs along the way. Priscilla and I have really enjoyed our growing relationships with Josiah and Hannah as they mature in their childhood. They are great kids! (I know it's written in the parent contract that I'm supposed to say that hahaha, but we really do believe it). :)

One of the greatest blessings of all is that the Lord allowed Priscilla to get pregnant and that she's been able to carry the baby to nearly full-term (we only have about 2 weeks left!) The baby's due date is January 27th but since Priscilla has to have a c-section, we will set the date sooner. We have an appointment with the doctor next week where we will schedule the date. We can't wait to welcome Abigail Joy into the family--all of us are really excited! The fact that we're able to have another child has been a huge blessing to us and an answer to prayer. As we've shared with you before, Priscilla had three miscarriages in the last few years, so this was our last attempt at having another one. There were some scary times during the pregnancy (the torn placenta and few weeks of bed-rest in the middle of the year being the scariest), but the Lord has blessed the pregnancy and kept both Priscilla and the baby safe. Priscilla is at the point of being VERY uncomfortable and ready for Abby to come already (even joking about doing some morning runs next week to help speed up the process) but she and I praise the Lord that He's allowed us to get to this point. He has been so good to our family!

There are some big praise reports and prayer requests in regards to ministry and the church, but I didn't want the bulk of the email to be too long. So please check them out below. We thank you so much for praising the Lord with us and also for lifting up our family and the ministry in prayer as well. We know that your prayer for us has had a major impact on our family and the ministry over these last few years. God bless you and Happy New Year!

-Tim, Priscilla, Josiah, Hannah & Abigail
Eph. 3:20-21

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Praise Reports
- Priscilla and the baby both seem to be healthy and we are getting all set for the birth in the next few weeks!
- God has been so good to Roca Norte, providing for all of our technical needs throughout the pandemic! (Shout out to the Chihuahua HC at New Life Houston for the computer and also CCSJC for the screen and tablet! Thank you guys so much!!!)
- God has provided amazingly for the needs of our family during the pandemic.
- Our family vacation to California in Oct/Nov was a huge blessing for us and a much needed time of rest!

Prayer Request
- For a safe and smooth delivery of the baby. Also, please pray for protection over Priscilla and I that we don't catch Coronavirus in the upcoming weeks as that would complicate things greatly for the birth.
- Please pray that God would guide us and provide all of the finances necessary for a building for the church. We currently don't have a building and although that is ok during the current shut-down, we will obviously need one soon for when we are able to open back up.
- For Chihuahua in general in regards to the pandemic and quarantine. The city has been hit very hard by the virus (like many places) There were even a few weeks in November where the hospitals were beyond capacity and Covid patients were put on waiting lists to get medical attention. Many things (including churches) are still currently shut-down, but we are praying and hoping that things will improve soon and everything will start to open back up.
- For the Lord's wisdom and guidance as far as ministry at UACH. I am praying about taking a break for next semester so that I can support Priscilla/baby and so that I can focus more of my attention on Roca Norte. Actually ministering to the students has been really hard with everything becoming virtual. It's also been really hard to devote the time needed to lead the church well. It's a big decision because I still really have a heart for the university.
- For God's wisdom and guidance as far as organizing and equipping leaders in the church.
- For God's help with homeschooling the kids well as we also balance the birth of a baby and all of the ministry commitments we have.

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October Update--Time Flies

Hello everyone,

     Hope you're doing well!  They say time flies where you're having fun.  Well time has been flying but to be brutally honest the last few months haven't always been fun.  We've gone through some stressful and difficult times in our family and some stressful and difficult times with the church.

     On the family side of things, Priscilla and the baby are doing well physically.  The due date is at the end of January, so it's approaching fast!  Also, the Lord blessed us with another house to rent!  We got everything moved over and now are just trying to finish up with little projects around the house and getting everything situated.  One of the hardest things (especially for Priscilla and the kids) has been not being able to travel home to see family in a long time.  We tried to plan a couple trips earlier in the quarantine but we had to cancel them because of everything going on.  The good news is that we're finally able to travel to California to see family this month!  Actually, Priscilla and the kids are already there and I will be joining them at the end of the week.  We're excited to be able to rest and enjoy family.

     On the ministry side of things, things have been very difficult.  After meeting virtually as a church for months, we were able to start meeting in person again about a month ago.  At right around the same time, we had to make some changes of key roles in the church.  One of the effects of the changes is that we are no longer translating the sermon, so I'm teaching the Word completely in Spanish!  I see God's sovereign hand working in all of this since we always felt like He was calling us to do our services completely in Spanish.  It happened a little sooner than I would have preferred, but God has been faithful and has blessed my study time and the delivery of the sermon as well.  We also have two major prayer needs for the church that we'd love for you to join us with.  #1). We're really praying the Lord provides a building for us.  We were meeting at school before but it is actually just a house and it's very cramped.  That doesn't work very well when we're trying to obey government Covid regulations and maintain social distancing.  So, because of that, we've been having our services outside under a tent.  That's working well for now but the weather will get cold really soon.  #2). We're also praying for a new computer for the church that is good enough to be able to handle the load of everything necessary to transmit the services live.  We really appreciate all of your prayers for those things!  Please also continue praying that God uses Roca Norte to reach Chihuahua with the Gospel and to make disciples that make disciples!

     As always, thanks for walking alongside us over the last 4+ years.  We appreciate each of you so much!  God bless you!

-Tim, Priscilla, Josiah, Hannah & Abby
Eph. 3:20-21

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Praise Reports
- Priscilla and the baby are doing well physically!
- We're able to spend some time in CA for rest and family time!
- We started meeting together in-person again as a church!
- God has been helping and strengthening me as I preach in Spanish!

Prayer Request
- For continued health for both Priscilla and the baby.
- For encouragement, rest, guidance and unity in the midst of this season of discouragement to help us continue to move forward in the calling God has for our family.
- That we would have a fun and restful time together as a family during our vacation.
- That God would provide the money necessary for a building for the church and guide us to the perfect location.
- That God would provide a new computer that is capable of handling our live transmitions.
- For God's guidance, provision and anointing upon our in-person services.
- For my classes at the university, they've been very difficult this semester and it's a challenge to still connect with the students through a computer screen.

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July Update--A Big (little) Announcement! :)

Hello everyone,

     As the picture above already gave away, we are so blessed and excited to announce that Priscilla is pregnant with our third child!  She is just finishing up her first trimester, so we look forward to welcoming the newest addition to the Ives family in January!  For those that we've been able to talk with in-depth before, you know that this is a big answer to years of prayer.  Priscilla has gone through three miscarriages over the years but we have still always desired to add more to our family if it was the Lord's will.  We've prayed a lot for this baby and ask you to continue joining us in prayer for the health of Priscilla and the baby.  In the first couple appointments, the doctor was very pleased with the baby's heartbeat and everything else he saw.  However, a couple weeks ago Priscilla wasn't feeling good and after going in for another check-up with the doctor, she was prescribed bed-rest for a week.  She is feeling better now and everything seems good with the baby but we ask you to continue joining us in prayer.  We know that this baby has been sustained by the Lord and we trust in faith that God will continue sustaining as he/she is formed.

     We also appreciate your continued support in prayer for the church (Roca Norte) and other ministry here.  To be totally honest, it has been difficult and discouraging at times.  We were only a church for about six months when Coronavirus hit and the city went into lock-down.  Today, I heard one pastor in the U.S. say that this has been the most challenging thing his church has faced in its 20 years of existence.  I guess that made me feel a little better about how we as a baby church have been able to handle it. :)  The Mexican government (and especially the government in Chihuahua) has been very cautious with the restrictions, so churches still aren't legally allowed to meet for corporate gatherings.  We have continued doing our Sunday United Church services and our Friday House Church meetings virtually the whole time.  We are praying about starting to offer in-person House Church meetings in the next few weeks--outdoors and with precautions.  One benefit of being a small church is that we've been able to stay in consistent contact with everyone in the church to see how they're doing.  As the pastor it just really weighs heavily on my heart that the people are growing in their walks with Jesus and not just getting content sitting in front of a screen.  I've also been praying a lot that we would find more ways to reach the lost during this unprecedented season.  Thanks for joining with us and supporting us in all of this.  We love you guys!

-Tim, Priscilla, Josiah, Hannah & new baby Ives :)
Eph. 3:20-21

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Praise Reports
-Priscilla is pregnant and both she and the baby are doing well!
-The quarantine has really brought us closer together as a family!
-God has continued to provide for us and sustain us throughout the quarantine!
-God provided sound equipment for Roca Norte so that we can better transmit our services virtually!

Prayer Request
-For continued health for Priscilla and the baby.
-The owner of our house wants to sell it, so we have to move out in the next three months.  Please pray that God will provide another house for us and that He will provide for us financially as well.
-That God would give us wisdom with what to do with our kids for school.  We were planning on sending them to a local school but since it looks like they will be doing everything virtually we are seriously considering Home School instead.
-For the Lord's leading with the church and how we can minister well during the lock-down.
-For wisdom and guidance with how to best return to in-person meetings and services (especially for the HC meetings and a Bible study that we are praying about resuming in-person soon).
-For rest for me and the family as this season has been a busy one and we haven't rested for a while.

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May Update--Church Life in the Quarantine

Hello everyone,

I hope you're all doing well as many of you begin to think about the transition out of the Coronavirus quarantine and back to some semblance of normalcy--even if it is a completely new normal.  We of course follow the news and have been in contact with friends and family in the U.S., so you've been on our mind and in our prayers.  We've been in a quarantine for over 8 weeks here in Chihuahua with the end not quite as close as it seems for many places in the U.S.  The local news reported that the peak of the virus was supposed to be yesterday.

In the midst of the quarantine, daily life has changed considerably--as I'm sure it has with many of you.  With Roca Norte, our Sunday United Service and Friday night House Church meetings have been moved online.  God has been blessing our online services as many people that don't attend the church have been watching--some on a consistent basis!  I've linked the video for our most recent Sunday service below if you want to check it out.  The sermon is translated from English to Spanish, so it can still be a blessing to you even if you don't know Spanish. :)  I hope it does bless you.  Beyond the virtual ministry and the texts and calls to check in on everyone in the church, we've tried to be creative with loving and ministering to the people of Roca Norte.  We've played the role of Uber Eats with some of them and brought them to-go orders of tacos just to say hi and let them know we're thinking of them and praying for them.  We were also able to drop off flowers for all of the mothers in the church for Mother's Day.  Even though God has blessed the church during this time, we're all ready to be done with the quarantine and be back worshipping side-by-side with each other.

I've also continued with teaching classes at UACH and with some of the student ministry--even though it has all been moved online as well.  It has been more difficult really connecting with the students and getting opportunities to share Christ when we only see each other through a screen.  On top of that, the initial adjustment in regards to moving the class virtual has been a little difficult.  I appreciate your prayer in regards to all of the ministry at UACH.

May we all continue to keep our eyes on Jesus--the author and perfector of our faith--during this time.  May we yearn for His return and live as if He could really come back today.  May He receive all of the glory!  Amen.

-Tim, Priscilla, Josiah and Hannah
Eph. 3:20-21

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Praise Reports
- Although the official reports are hard to completely trust and we're still not out of the woods yet, it seems that Covid-19 hasn't hit Chihuahua as hard as many thought it would.
- God has blessed our virtual services at Roca Norte and many people who might not have heard the Gospel otherwise have been watching the services!
- We as a church have been able to stay pretty well connected even in the midst of the quarantine.
- I've been able to continue teaching at the university via online classes.
- This quarantine has been really good for us as a family (and for Priscilla and I in our marriage) for spending quality time together.

Prayer Request
- For wisdom and guidance from the Lord for the church with regard to returning from the quarantine.  We need wisdom, not only for the precautions to take, but also for the technology we will need to use to accommodate all of the changes.
- For young believers and unbelievers who were consistently attending services at the church before the quarantine but have now distanced themselves a little bit from others in the church (especially Sebastian, Fernanda, Alejandra and Valeria).
- That God would continue reaching the lost and making disciples through Roca Norte--even as the situation in which we minister continues to change.  That we would keep the main things the main things.
- That God would help me to finish the semester well at UACH and continue ministering to students through virtual classes and meetings.
- That God would help our kids finish their school year well, even though online classes have been a little difficult for them.
- We had been planning a trip to California for the summer because we haven't seen many in Priscilla's family for more than two years.  It's looking like that trip isn't going to happen now for obvious reasons.  Please pray for Priscilla and the kids as it is difficult for them to imagine waiting another year to see family.

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March Update--Serving Jesus in Crazy Times

Hello everyone,

     What a crazy time we live in right?  Who would've thought a couple months ago that countries would be closing their borders, shutting down schools and restaurants and ordering people to stay in their homes?  Covid-19 has been slower in reaching Mexico, but this week schools, restaurants, churches and other public meeting places have begun closing their doors to combat the spread of the virus.

     It can be tempting to become overwhelmed and succumb to worry and fear.  We must remember that God is still on the throne!  He's not in heaven panicking about the Coronavirus.  It's interesting that in Spanish the word "corona" actually means "crown."  The title of my sermon to our church this past Sunday was "The Father Still Wears the Crown."  The crown doesn't suddenly belong to some virus but it still belongs to the Lord!  We can rest in His love and His sovereignty.

     At Roca Norte, we were able to have service this past Sunday in our usual building with half of the church physically present and the other half participating online.  I actually have the video linked below if you're interested in seeing what a service at Roca Norte looks like.  Worship is in Spanish only, but the sermon is translated from English to Spanish.  One thing that is cool that just hit me is that in this video you will be able to see two young men (Mario and Erick) that I've had the privilege of discipling through the years and have mentioned at times in these emails!  As a church, we believe that God is at work through Covid-19!  There are many people that may not normally listen to the message of the Gospel and the hope it offers but now the fear and concern that come with these times has opened up their ears to finally listen.  Even the adjustments that we as churches have been forced to make in transitioning our services online give us a new potential audience that we may not have been able to reach before.  May God give us the wisdom, flexibility and creativity that we need to use these circumstances to reach the lost with the Good News of Jesus!

     As always, thanks for your prayer, encouragement and financial support.  We can't imagine doing this without you and we are so grateful for you!

-Tim, Priscilla, Josiah and Hannah
Eph. 3:20-21

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Praise Reports
- I feel like God is blessing the unity and spiritual growth of Roca Norte with the launch of our House Church meetings and with more people serving at our Sunday morning services!
- The church has a great mix of younger, middle aged and older people all seeking Jesus together!
- Our UACH fellowship/Bible study has continued to consist of a good mix of Christian and non-Christian students talking about life and Jesus together!
- All of the measures taken to limit the spread of Covid-19 mean that we will have a lot more time together as a family!

Prayer Request
- That God would give us at Roca Norte the guidance, wisdom and creativity to use these circumstances of Covid-19 to reach the lost in our city with the Gospel.
- That God would help us with knowledge and wisdom for all of the technology issues and opportunities that come with moving all of our ministry online.
- That God would guide us with the campus ministry at UACH and with what we can do to minister to the students over this month-long break and beyond.
- For continued financial provision as Priscilla and I both have to take breaks from our paid jobs here.
- That God would give us patience, discipline and unity at home as we help the kids continue with their schoolwork virtually.

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January Update--Connecting the Church to the Campus

Hello everyone,

     I know it's a little late but Happy New Year!  The reality that the Faithful One knows what's in store for the year to come, loves us enough to promise to work things out for our good and is powerful enough to ensure that His promises come true gives me lots of hope and excitement for 2020.  May it be a blessed and fruitful year that sees us drawing closer to Jesus than ever before!

     We've been hard at work over this Christmas/New Year season to establish and prepare things at Roca Norte.  As a church, we believe that this year God is calling us to three big steps of faith.  #1.) We launch our House Church meetings next month.  #2.) We plan to launch in-depth Bible study classes in the fall.  #3.) We are praying and planning to launch a cafe at the end of 2020 or beginning of 2021. The cafe would primarily be focused on outreach but would also double as a building for church services on Sundays.  We're excited to see what God does with these three things!

     As the semester at UACH begins next week, we're also preparing for an exciting opportunity that we haven't had before--namely how we can best connect the ministry happening on-campus with what God is doing at Roca Norte.  The planting of Roca Norte was never meant to replace the vision of reaching the students of UACH with the Gospel.  I believe that the church is the best way to reach and disciple the university students!  So we are excited to launch our House Churches and are praying that God uses them powerfully to reach the lost in UACH!

Thanks for praying and we look forward to keeping you updated on how things are going both at Roca Norte and on the campus.

-Tim, Priscilla, Josiah and Hannah
Eph. 3:20-21

P.S. We're attaching some photos below the prayer requests that show a little of the church and our family. Enjoy!

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Praise Reports
- God is continuing to establish and grow Roca Norte!
- The Lord provided for a few big needs that we had as a church (a projector and a computer).  Praise the Lord and thank you to those that He used to supply those needs!
- The Lord also provided for us to be able to have the 1st annual Roca Norte Christmas Party!  The Lord used it to bring new people into the fellowship and to strengthen the bonds among the group!
- At the end of last semester, we were able to invite around 10 non-Christian students to our house where we ate together and talked about Jesus and the Gospel.  The Lord was touching many of their hearts and we're praying that they accept Jesus soon!
- The kids are getting more adapted to their new school and seem to be growing!
- Hannah turned 6 in December!

Prayer Requests
-That God would continue to lead and guide Roca Norte and use us powerfully to reach Chihuahua with the Gospel.
- That God would bless the launch of our House Churches next month and also with finalizing the pre-launch discipleship and logistics.  Please pray that He would use the HCs to provide deeper fellowship in the church and also to reach the lost.
- For the leaders of those two HCs (Priscilla/myself & Diego/Laura).  That God would give us wisdom for how to lead our groups and also fill us afresh with the Holy Spirit in order to be used mightily by Him.
- For the ministry happening on-campus at UACH this upcoming semester.  For the Lord to raise up students and leaders with hearts to evangelize and disciple students.
-For wisdom and direction regarding another building for the church and how the timing for the cafe vision comes into play with that.
- For the physical health of our family.  There has been a rotation of sickness in our family that is currently making its second round.  At least someone in our family has been sick for the last month and a half.  Please pray especially for Hannah's health as she's been really sick the past few days.

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Another Update to the Vision (or better said) A Return to the Initial Vision in Awe of God’s Ways

     God’s ways are so good!  We smile when we look back at how God has worked in our lives throughout the years.  At least for us, He has often worked according to a similar pattern.  He first shows us a vision.  In response, we get really excited and start to march forward with plans to fulfill that vision.  (OK, I’ll be honest, this applies much more to me than it does to Priscilla).  Then, God messes up the plans we thought were in store to fulfill the vision.  In response, we stress out and panic a little bit only to ultimately find our way back to the feet of Jesus, totally dependent upon Him.  Finally, He ends up working many things together to indeed fulfill that initial vision in a way that is much better and wiser than anything we could have ever imagined at the onset.  We are left echoing the words of David in Psalm 40:5, “O LORD my God, you have performed many wonders for us.  Your plans for us are too numerous to list.  You have no equal.  If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them.”

What’s Happened?

The words in the paragraph above sum up our feelings about our time thus far in Chihuahua.  We came to this city almost three and a half years ago.  As you can see from our pre-move updates HERE and HERE, we knew God had called us to plant a church in the northern part of the city.  However, God knew much better than we did that we still lacked much preparation before planting the church.  We didn’t understand a lot about Mexican culture.  We had no experience living among the people.  We weren’t in touch with the normal, everyday Chihuahuense—Christian or non-Christian.  We hadn’t built many relationships with the people.  We had no team to join us in planting the church.  Our hearts were not yet broken enough for the lost in the city.  We still have a long way to go in all of these areas and still find ourselves completely dependent on God to move powerfully, but by His grace we have grown in all of them.  We know that God has worked so many things together in such an incredible way in order to plant a church, just as He showed us in the beginning.

In the midst of the last three and a half years of preparation, God has focused our attention on the largest university in Chihuahua—UACH.  He has opened many doors and done marvelous things.  You can find more info about that in our last vision update HERE or by looking through our monthly updates on the main page.  Through English classes, conversation clubs, Bible studies and one-on-one discipleship, God has moved at the university.  We’ve been amazed by all He’s done.

What’s New?

However, something started to happen in our hearts entering this year (2019).  We started to realize that the best thing we could do to reach the university was to plant a church near it—a church with a heart to reach and disciple the students.  Our hearts also broke for the countless nearby neighborhoods full of families that don’t know Jesus as their Savior.  The Lord did many things to confirm the calling throughout the ensuing months.  He brought together a team of gifted people who love Jesus and who are sure that God has called them to join us in planting the church.  Finally, on October 6th, Roca Norte was born!  I continue to work and serve on the university campus, but we are confident that Roca Norte plays a key role in the amazing plan that the Lord has for UACH.

We are still in our infancy as a church and find ourselves humbled and expectant as we see Jesus building His church.  We yearn to be a genuine community that is passionately seeking Jesus together and reaching the lost together (Acts 2:42-47).  We are excited as the Lord has called us to implement a house church/united church hybrid model that emphasizes intentionally reaching the lost and making disciples.  May He be glorified as He leads His church!

What’s Next?

Moving forward, we are looking to see Jesus do things that are exceedingly, abundantly more than we can even imagine. We’re praying that He would allow us to start a café with the focus on reaching students on the university campus. We’re praying that He would build a church that He can use powerfully in the city of Chihuahua. Finally, we’re praying that He would grow and develop a church that plants other churches throughout Mexico. We know we are not capable of any of this unless Jesus works in a miraculous way (2 Cor. 3:5). But we rest in God’s promise in 2 Chronicles 16:9 when He says that He is searching the whole earth in order to be able to “show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.” May we remain loyal to Him and His plan so that He may show Himself strong on our behalf and glorify Himself in the city of Chihuahua!

November Update--Following the Senior Pastor

Hello everyone,

This weekend marked our 7th united service together as Roca Norte! As a group we are following, seeking, serving and enjoying Jesus together as we seek to imitate the New Testament church as much as possible. The church has primarily consisted of our core group of 8 (plus the 4 kids) along with another 4-6 that have been attending consistently. I have been so blessed and amazed by the hearts of servanthood that have been displayed by our core team. God has been so good to Priscilla and I in calling these individuals to join us in this church plant.

There are little details that we are working to add or improve as the weeks go by, but we just continue looking to Jesus as our Leader and our Guide for everything. I like to tell everyone that He's actually the Senior Pastor of Roca Norte. I get this from 1 Peter 5:4. After exhorting pastors and leaders in the first few verses of the chapter, Peter says in verse 4, "and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away." Those words "Chief Shepherd" could also be translated "Senior Pastor." So, as the Assistant Pastor of Roca Norte, I am helping encourage and mobilize the rest of the church to follow our Senior Pastor Jesus more and more closely. May we allow Him to build His church exactly how He wants so that He may receive a bunch of glory! As always, thanks for joining us in this endeavor. We cherish the privilege of having you walk alongside us to point the city of Chihuahua to Jesus!

-Tim, Priscilla, Josiah and Hannah
Eph. 3:20-21

Praise Reports
- God is blessing Roca Norte as we fellowship together, study God's Word together, worship together, pray together and serve together!
- Last week, we hosted a team from The Home Church in Rowland Heights, CA that came to provide a training for the leadership in our church as well as a few other churches in the city. We received more in-depth training regarding the united church/house church hybrid model that we'll be using in our church. We learned a lot and I'm really excited to see what the Lord does in our church and in our city through the training!
- The semester at UACH is nearing a close and it's been another great few months of sharing Jesus through the classes, conversation club and Bible study.
-The kids continue to grow and adapt in their new school.

Prayer Request
- That the Lord would continue drawing us as a church closer to Him and closer to each other through our united church gatherings and our house church meetings.
- That He would continue to guide us through all of the details of planting and organizing the church.
- That He would raise up leaders in the church and give me wisdom for how to disciple and prepare them.
- That He would give us many opportunities and wisdom to reach the lost in our city.
- For the end of the semester at the university. That the end-of-the-year parties next week would be fruitful as I share Jesus more in-depth than I'm able to throughout the semester.
- For the after semester cafe meeting that we'll be having to discuss Jesus and Christianity more in-depth with interested students. That the Lord would draw the students, anoint our conversations and save students through the meeting.

October Update--Roca Norte's First Service!!!

Hello everyone,

Well, Sunday was the launch service for Roca Norte and it was a success! The Lord blessed it as He ministered to us through worship and then through the Word as we talked about what it means to be a Christocentric church. One lady even gave her life to Jesus! Our amazing team came together to use their gifts in order to serve the Lord and all who came. We also spent some time after service eating sandwiches together and getting to know each other more. I believe the Lord was moving in the midst of all of it and was glorified!

We are so blessed by what He is doing and we can't wait to continue to see Him moving and bringing people to Himself through Roca Norte! This Friday is our first house church meeting and we are excited to see what He has in store for that. Thank you so much for your prayer, your encouragement and your support! We know that God has used many of you to help us get to this point and we know He has much more in store!

All for His glory,
-Tim, Priscilla, Josiah and Hannah
Eph. 3:20-21

September Update--Counting Down to the Launch

Hello everyone,

Twelve days! It's incredible to me, almost surreal, that we are so close to the launch of the church plant. Things have been a little crazy around here and there are so many emotions. When our eyes are on ourselves--our capabilities, our limitations, our understanding--it's easy to start to feel overwhelmed. The New Testament makes it clear that the church is such a sacred thing in the eyes of the Lord. It's His blood-bought bride and shepherding over His flock is such a weighty responsibility. It's too much for any man to take on his shoulders alone.

However, when our eyes focus upon Jesus--who He is, what He has done, what He is doing and what He promises--our perspective starts to change. We realize that it is His church and that He is the One that builds His church. It's His burden to carry. We realize that we are more than conquerors through Him and that we can do all things through Him who gives us strength. With that perspective, things get really exciting because nothing limits our God and He is ultimately the One doing the work.

The Name
"And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." -Matthew 16:18

This is the verse that the Lord has been showing us over and over again throughout this whole process. As we prayed about the name of the church, He used it mightily to remind us whose church it is and what the church is to be built upon. So, the name of the church will be......(drum roll).......Roca Norte (North Rock). "Roca" because Jesus is the Rock that is the foundation of the church--immovable, unchangeable and dependable. "Norte" because yes, we are located in the north of the city and of the country. However, "norte" also has a sense of direction and guidance here in Chihuahua. When lost and looking for directions, you can ask, "Me da el norte?" which basically means, "Can you point me north?" So, Jesus is our Rock but He is also our North (our direction and guidance) as we travel through life. We pray that this name keeps us focused on the Main Thing as we seek to glorify Jesus in Chihuahua.

Thanks so much for backing us in this step of faith. You are such a blessing to us! We'll keep you updated as the week of the launch approaches.

-Tim, Priscilla, Josiah and Hannah
Eph. 3:20-21

Praise Reports
-God continues to bring together all the details as we prepare for the launch of the church plant on October 6th!
-God has provided an awesome team of six people that will be joining us to launch the church!
-The announcement to our local sending church, Capilla Calvario, went really well as we look forward to maintaining a close relationship moving forward!
-The Lord continues to bless the ministry at UACH with various opportunities to share about Him as we serve Him in different ways on the campus!
-God provided us with a second car to help us as we balance our different commitments!
-We will celebrate Josiah's 9th birthday on October 3rd!

Prayer Request
-That God would continue to guide the vision and direction of the church as He shows us His plans to reach Chihuahua with the Gospel.
-The final plans and details as we prepare for the launch (including the various roles in the church and the application of the united church/house church hybrid model that we will be using).
-Continued unity among those of us launching out to start the church and also between our church and Capilla Calvario.
-That God would continue to provide wisdom, guidance and open doors with the ministry at UACH.
-The kids' continued transition in their new all-Spanish school. It has been a little difficult the first few weeks, so please pray that God would strengthen them and help them connect with the other students.

July Update--A Church to Reach the Lost

Hello everyone,

As I drove home the other night after meeting with a friend of mine, I passed by the busy shopping centers next to the university and near our house. I noticed that another new bar had opened and was overflowing with people. That makes five news bars that have opened in the last year or two in that little area of shopping centers--and they always seem to be packed to the max. Sure, there are lots of other stores and restaurants in the area but none of them are nearly as popular as those. I had a feeling deep down that was probably pretty similar to the feeling Paul had when walking through the city of Athens. It says he was "deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere in the city" (Acts 17:16). You see, I wasn't looking at all of those young people in judgment or disgust. Why should I expect non-Christians to act any differently? They don't have the motivation or the ability to act like Christians. No, my heart broke for them. They were going to their "temple" to worship their "idols" in an attempt to fill the emptiness in their hearts. But they'll never find their fulfillment there. They just need Jesus.

It was just further confirmation for the calling that the Lord has on our lives to plant the church near the university. One day, we would even love to be able to move into a building right next to all of those bars. We've dreamed of opening a cafe in one of those same shopping centers with the entire purpose of sharing Jesus with those at the university and in the community. Who knows what God might want to do? Since it doesn't depend on our own ability but instead on His faithfulness and power--He can do incredible things! As Paul did in Acts 17 after feeling his heart break for the people, we just want to love those that are lost and build as many bridges as possible to gain the opportunity to share Jesus with them. The Lord is in the process of opening many of those doors right now and we are so blessed and humbled to be able to walk through them. May He receive all the glory.

-Tim, Priscilla, Josiah and Hannah
Eph. 3:20-21

Praise Reports
-God is blessing the process as we move toward an October launch date for the church!
-We had a wonderful trip to Colorado where we were able to spend time with family, share at a few great churches, sell our house and sell our car!
-Priscilla celebrates her 31st birthday this week and we celebrate our 10th anniversary next month!

Prayer Request
-That the Lord would raise up a group of people with the same heart and the necessary gifts to join us in planting the church.
-That God would continue to provide unity between us and Capilla Calvario so that they would be able to send us out as a sister-church in the city.
-For the new semester at the university that starts in the next few weeks. That God would bless the Bible studies, discipleship, English classes and English conversation clubs. That He would continue to raise up students with a passion to reach and disciple other students.
-For Josiah and Hannah as they get ready to start another year in school. They are excited but a little nervous to start in a Spanish-speaking local school (actually, Hannah went to the school for a few months earlier this year but Josiah is entering the school for the first time). Please pray that they would transition well, continue to grow in their Spanish, make lots of new friends and continue growing spiritually and academically.

June Update--A Big Announcement!!!

Hello everyone,

Since even before we moved to Chihuahua three years ago, we've had a burden on our hearts--the people of this city desperately need to hear the Good News of Jesus. It's true, pretty much all of them have heard something about Jesus. Most say they believe in "God." The majority come from a Catholic background, so they've heard about Jesus dying on the cross. It's not uncommon to see images of Jesus and the cross as you go to different parts of the city. Yet, in this city of about 1 million people, the overwhelming majority know nothing of a genuine relationship with the living Christ. When you talk about being saved--not by the good things you do but only through faith in Jesus and a relationship with Him--they're shocked! If we believe what the Bible says, then that means that most of the people of this city are on a direct path to hell! We have to do something. Sure, there are some Christian churches in town. However, I've had too many conversations with local friends lamenting the lack of Bible-teaching churches, with Christians struggling in ultra-legalistic church settings and with non-Christians mocking the health and prosperity churches that are so common in our city. These observations have been confirmed time and gain as I've ministered to university students. This city doesn't need more man-centered religion. This city needs Jesus! They need to experience the power of the risen Christ in their lives! They need to grow through spending time in His Word! They need to hear the true Gospel! This is what has driven us and continues to drive us as we share Jesus's love with the people of Chihuahua.

It's that burden that has also propelled us forward into the next step of faith that God is calling us to. You may have heard whispers before, but this is our official announcement--God is calling us to plant a church on the north side of Chihuahua (near the university) in the fall of this year! Our tentative launch date is sometime in October. Coming into 2019, we weren't thinking at all about planting a church this year. We have been content serving Jesus at the university and in our wonderful church, Capilla Calvario. We thought the church plant was still a few years away. However, God has made it clear over and over again to Priscilla and I both, with confirmation from the leadership of Capilla Calvario and from the leadership of our supporting churches. It's time. We don't feel capable, but God's Word is clear that He delights in using the weak and incapable to show His power (2 Chron. 16:9; Ps. 18:27-36; 1 Cor. 1:26-29). We can rest in those promises. We are currently in the process of handing off and finishing with our ministries in Capilla Calvario. We are very thankful for Pastor Rafa's heart to have Capilla Calvario send us out as a church plant and to maintain an intimate connection between our families and the two churches moving forward. We are praying a lot about the details for the vision that Jesus has for the church plant. 1 Peter 5:1-4 makes it clear that He's the real Senior Pastor anyway, so we're looking to Him for His vision for the church. There will be more details to come but we ask you to please join us in prayer for the Lord to be glorified through this church plant and in the city of Chihuahua as a whole. All of this brings us back to one of the core verses that God has given us from the beginning of this entire journey:

"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be the glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen." --Ephesians 3:20-21

Always so thankful and humbled by your love and support,
-Tim, Priscilla, Josiah and Hannah


Praise Reports
- God has provided so much guidance and unity as we've been planning and preparing to launch the church-plant!
- There is a student named Ronnie that I've been meeting with and talking to about Jesus for over a year now. Ronnie gave his life to Jesus and is now involved in our summer discipleship study!
- We've been praying for God's provision for a car with Mexican license plates and we were finally able to buy the car earlier this month!
- God is blessing and expanding the bible studies and conversation clubs at the university!
- The kids finished the school year and are really growing and thriving in many ways!

Prayer Requests
- For the church-plant. That God would continue giving a clear vision for it, provide those He wants to be a part of the launch team and provide the resources necessary for it.
- For wisdom, humility and unity as we step down from our ministries at Capilla Calvario and launch out from the church.
- For our UACH summer discipleship study. That God would raise up the students and give them the vision for discipling other students on their campuses.
- For the English Conversation Clubs. That God would continue to give us favor and raise up others--with a passion for sharing Jesus' love but wisdom to know when and how to do it--who could lead conversation clubs throughout the university.
- For our upcoming trip to Colorado. That we would be able to accomplish the tasks that we need to (selling our house and our car) and that as we share at different churches we would shine Jesus and leave them wanting more of Him.
- For continued unity in our family and our marriage as we take a step of faith into this new season.