http://wilsonnews.net/go en paul@wilsonnews.net Copyright 2010 2010-07-19T16:09:00-06:00 http://wilsonnews.pmhclients.com/go/home/comments/work_teams_and_camps_update/ http://wilsonnews.pmhclients.com/go/home/comments/work_teams_and_camps_update/#When:16:09:00Z We are doing well and we know that people are praying!  Thank you very much. Our first camp really went well and felt good for the first time through!  There were 42 campers in all and our two cabins (each with three rooms) were very full!  Now we are in our second camp and have 36 campers, 22 of which are street kids from all over our state of Morelos.  Keep praying!  We have two more camps after this. Our work team of 21 youth from Grace Church of Roseville, Minnesota is doing well too!  We’ve had great times together and God is at work in their lives as the serve him here at El Monte for 10 days.  We love these guys!  They’re helping build a fence, supporting the camp programs and food, and last week several worked with our local church in the Vacation Bible School where nearly 100 local kids attended. God is good!  All the time! 2010-07-19T16:09:00-06:00 http://wilsonnews.pmhclients.com/go/home/comments/work_teams_and_camps/ http://wilsonnews.pmhclients.com/go/home/comments/work_teams_and_camps/#When:01:51:01Z This week at El Monte brings some of our greatest challenges and blessings all at once.  One can catch himself complaining and overwhelmed by what really are the blessings of God being poured out. So let me be very careful to express my thanks to God and to all who are involved in the El Monte project. We covet your prayers as on Monday we welcome a work team of 20 youth coming from Grace Church of Roseville, MN.  On Wednesday, we begin our first of four youth camps.  We have 35 registered campers for the first camp and 44 for the second camp!  This will be a very busy time for us, but we are thanking the Lord for a great group of short-term summer staff that are helping us organize, plan, and implement all of it!  Our summer staff theme is PARTICIPATE! Our theme verses are: 2 Peter 1:3-4 “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.  Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” Thank you for your “participation” in reading this brief post and remembering us in your prayers! 2010-07-12T01:51:01-06:00 http://wilsonnews.pmhclients.com/go/home/comments/campesinos/ http://wilsonnews.pmhclients.com/go/home/comments/campesinos/#When:20:11:00Z Campesinos in Mexico are the rural farmers who work the land with their hands.  We’re getting a lot of new experiences here at El Monte and yesterday we learned to plant corn the way it’s been done for centuries. Our friends and co-workers, Ezekiel and Carolina and their boys asked us to help them plant this large field at El Monte.  Adam Beasterfield recently cleared this area and in the future it is planned to be a second camping zone for 200 campers. ...but for now, it’s a corn field. We were working late in the afternoon and I was surprised how hot the stick was that I had in my hands.  It was a “green” stick that had been laying in the sun all day.  It was so hot, it was burning my hands.  I got 8 blisters on my right hand from making the holes in the ground. First we made the holes and then we tossed 3-4 seeds in each and covered it with our feet as we walked along. It was slow going and they had already been working 3 different afternoons, but with many hands the work goes faster. James 5:7-8 says, “Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.” 2010-06-24T20:11:00-06:00 http://wilsonnews.pmhclients.com/go/home/comments/wedding_at_el_monte/ http://wilsonnews.pmhclients.com/go/home/comments/wedding_at_el_monte/#When:03:56:00Z Ezequiel and Carolina are workers at El Monte and good friends of ours.  We met together weekly last year for discipleship.  Now they’re part of a small group Bible study with our local church. They are new and growing believers in Christ.  Because of this, they wanted to get legally married!  They have worked and prayed and paid for over a year to get all their documents together so they could finally be married. Before the marriage ceremony, they had lots of documents to sign and mark with thumb prints.  Then it was just a waiting game of nervous energy for the time to go into the judge’s office. Finally after a long wait, they were called into the judge’s office for the wedding ceremony. After the ceremony, we went back to El Monte for the reception with our staff and a few friends.  Ezequiel surprised us all and scooped his new wife up and carried her up to the Palapa. They had never seen anyone cut the cake and feed it to each other. What a great family!  Please pray for them as they continue to grow in their walk with the Lord and in their love for each other. For more pictures, click here. 2010-06-18T03:56:00-06:00 http://wilsonnews.pmhclients.com/go/home/comments/kyle_leaves_home/ http://wilsonnews.pmhclients.com/go/home/comments/kyle_leaves_home/#When:02:10:01Z Eighteen years old, high school graduate, summer job in the States, college in the fall Kyle left home today for the States.  We knew this day would come, but it came all too fast!  We said the goodbyes this morning and then together we reviewed Hebrews 13:5b-6 which says, “...God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” After a time of prayer together, Kyle and I drove to Cuernavaca to catch the bus to the Mexico City airport.  Kyle and I ate lunch together and then he filled out his visa paperwork. We spent two hours together sharing final thoughts and then the time came for Kyle to go through immigration and security. We hugged for a long time and shed some tears.  Sorry, no pictures of that. Then he turned and walked through the glass doors. I wish this last picture would have turned out better but it is burned in my memory very clearly.  I’m finding it to be a pretty tough time letting go of my son.  Maybe it’s partly due to our being here in Mexico and him leaving home to return to life in the States--it feels really far away.  At this point, we don’t know when we’ll see each other again.  We would love to be able to go and help him move into college in August or see him at Thanksgiving or Christmas, but as of now only God knows the plan. We know that the Lord is leading him and are very glad that he will be serving at Camp Forest Springs this summer on summer staff.  He’s been accepted at Emmaus Bible College for the fall.  Will you join us in praying for Kyle as he goes through these transitions in life?  Pray for us too because we’re all transitioning!  Thanks. 2010-06-03T02:10:01-06:00