Dear Friends at Rockville UMC                         

 

 

We will see you soon!  

 

Between March 21st and May 7th, we will visit churches in the Baltimore Washington Conference and the Susquehanna Conference (with possible visits to a church in Virginia and New Jersey). Our Sunday's are taken. But we have many other days left to get together with at least a few of you to share about our next assignment and to thank you for your years of support. And we really want to connect with you - even if "you" is two or three people. We know that those with whom we meet will share our news with others.

 

So, what is our news??

 

We have accepted a new missionary assignment in Puebla, Mexico with Give Ye Them to Eat (GYTTE). This organization was founded in 1977 by Mexican Methodists and a missionary couple you may know - The Henderson's (now retired but still supporting GYTTE). We just returned from a visit there.

 

GYTTE’s offices are in Puebla, but the majority of work is in a remote town called Tlancualpican where they have a training center and small farm in what is almost a desert. “The purpose of Give Ye Them to Eat is to strengthen the capabilities of marginalized people and communities to meet their basic needs, and to determine and sustain a just and integrated development process.” They provide training on different kinds of appropriate technologies, sustainable agriculture and health so that people can improve their lives.  Tlancualpican was at the center of the last earthquake and many families lost homes. The staff has been training people to make straw-bale homes that are also more earthquake resistant than homes built with bricks or blocks.

GYTTE supports “the spiritual growth of the Methodist congregations through training events and retreats for laity, clergy, youth and adults as well as the production and distribution of Christian Education Materials”. 

GYTTE also hosts VIM type groups known as AWARE where you work alongside Mexican friends. This is a work/study week full of learning the Mexican reality, contributing, faith-deepening and tourism. We hope and pray that many of our Covenant Churches will send groups over the next few years!  To read more, their website is:  www.gytte.org

 

Please remember to write or call us with proposals for our visit to your church, thanks. And please hold us in your prayers as we transition to new work, a new place, and a new culture.

 

Joy and peace, 

Nan and Miguel