2011 – Mexico Mission Trip Report

Our ten-member team each experienced an inspiring move of the Lord as we worked with many local pastors and their people in the Tepic, Mexico, area to spread the Kingdom to hundreds of adults and children. This letter is a brief report.

Returning to a region we have worked in before yielded some very special blessings, with this being our seventh time there. The relationships we have built, so essential to our mission goals, yielded fruit in the lives of these brothers and sisters in Jesus, who are now lasting friends. Many of them expressed gratitude for our presence, not primarily for the work projects and outreaches we did, which they appreciated, but for the encouragement we gave them by supporting their ministries and lives in the Lord.

Pictured above is the whole team. To the right are Domingo and his wife, Azucena, with Christa and Timothy. Zion supports them regularly in their mission work in his native Huichol village. Below are Megan and Leaha with two children at Pochotitan, the Huichol village we worked in with Pastor Martin.

Zion's 2011 Mexico Mission Team

Steve and Timothy Cote, Janelle and Scott Dienner, Frankie Herr, Leaha Howe, Frances Joell, Tasha Lehman, Christa McCardell, and Megan Moffa

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Summer 2011
Peru Mission Trip Report - Mark & Kristin Cote Family

We are so grateful for all prayers and support for our family missions trip to Peru. The trip was more than we could ask or imagine it would be. Here are some of the highlights:

Victoria's Little Lambs Fund

        This fund continues to be a significant blessing in the Shipibo village of Nueva Era as well as in other communities throughout the Amazon Jungle. During a special evening dinner that we shared with the Ramirez family, we asked Pastor Samuel how things were going with the fund. He reached into his planner and pulled out the pile of monthly receipts of medicines bought for Nueva Era children. Then he pulled out a second pile for the other jungle communities. They are very careful with their funds and only use them to provide medicines for the children. He also shared that many people cried for joy when medicines were first brought into the church for the children.

        We also met a young lady who is very impressive in her love for God and commitment to missions. She is wonderful with children, as we witnessed in her interaction with our own. Several days into our trip, we learned through some missionary friends that this young lady has a dream of going into medical mission work and that she would be an excellent candidate for a medical training scholarship through Victoria's Fund. This scholarship to train a medical worker would be an investment into the long-term care of children on the missions field. Though we did not know her before this trip, God has placed on our hearts a desire to seek out such a person, and she seems to be the answer to that prayer. We marvel at the series of events and conversations that God used to bring us to this realization. Before we speak with her about the opportunity, we are working with the leaders of the ministry where she is working to partner with them in making this a supportive arrangement for her period of schooling. We have already connected with her in a meaningful way, so we pray that the details come together well. We will keep you updated on this and appreciate continued prayer that it will work out.

        We also explored another potential outpost for Victoria's Fund with the leaders of a ministry to children and youth outside of Pucallpa, Peru. It is very likely that this will become a reality. They are simply working out the details on their end.

        We enjoyed wonderful fellowship with Pastor Cesar Soto and his family. We shared a meal together early in our visit where we learned more about a personal tragedy they have experienced. Cesar's sister was murdered by her husband a couple of months ago. His sister and her husband have a little girl named, Rebeca, who is 8 years old. She already had significant psychological issues from growing up in a volatile home, and now she is orphaned with her mother murdered and her father in prison. Cesar and his family are going to try and care for her, but this will be very challenging for them, especially with her significant needs. Unexpectedly, we were able to meet Rebeca when I preached at Cesar's church one week later. Kristin and I presented her with a Jesus Storybook Bible in Spanish, and we expressed God's love for her and prayed with her. We both saw such a sweet spirit in this broken little girl, and we pray God's love will restore her. We committed to Cesar that Victoria's Fund could help with some of her initial psychological assessment and treatment. Please keep this special child in prayer.

As a family, we were able to connect with people relationally. We had both the time and opportunities throughout our visit for meaningful conversation filled with God's presence and wisdom. This was true with our hosts, the Thomas family, who serve as missionaries at Mision TEC in Pucallpa. Our time with them was wonderful. Our kids had a great time playing with Elijah, 6, and Abbie, 4. They enjoyed attending a VBS together and being around the resident camp that occurred with the youth from the community. Pictured are Kyle and Cristina, Elijah and Abbie, and at the far right is Jeannette Hocking, Cristina's mom. Cristina's parents (John and Jeannette) were missionaries in Peru as well as John's parents, so the children are 4th generation missionaries (John was away at the time of this picture though we enjoyed seeing him at the beginning of our trip). Our friendship with this family as well as others provided much needed encouragement for the mission workers as well as our family. We witnessed how vital relationship is for Kingdom impact on the mission field. This confirms what God has been showing our church as a Biblical philosophy for fruitful mission work (as spoken by Steve Saint): "Think family." It is difficult to describe in words the depth of God's grace that we experienced in our growing relationships with our Peruvian family.

Mark also visited six schools and connected with seven school leaders. The perspective gained and the connections formed with other school leaders are already very helpful. He was very excited to encounter school leaders with a heart to train their students to carry the gospel to the nations. There is much to learn from their fruit as well as their challenges.

The Lord watched over us throughout this trip. We were incredible healthy. Every day was filled with new jungle adventures for our boys. They loved it. One scary moment was when we were in a car accident early in the trip when the taxi we were riding in hit a motorcycle at an intersection. We were fine, and we hope the riders on the motorcycle are going to recover okay, although they did appear to have head injuries. Thankfully, the rest of our transportation was very smooth. The kids sure enjoyed the airplane rides.

God continues to stir in our hearts the role our family and church family can play in His Kingdom's work among the nations. This trip included a sharpening of our vision and commitment to surrender our lives to Jesus that He might live in and through us in blessing others. We do not know what all is ahead, but we are in awe at what He has done so far. Our mission is clear: Think Kingdom. Be family.

To God be the glory,

The Cote family: Mark, Kristin, Caleb, Jacob, and Rachel