Sholla: Novermber 2009

News from our CMS link missionaries Peter and Sarah Sholl, with Karina, Miriam and Lucy in Monteray, Mexico.

The joy of partnership
We are very appreciative of your partnership with us in the gospel. We feel well loved by your emails, prayers, interest and giving to CMS.

In this Sholla we want to tell you about Adriana so that you can know not just our partnership with her, but feel your partnership with her as well.

We met Adriana and Vicente when we visited Monterrey in 2007. They have been very supportive of us and we attend the same church and school. We gave them some books in Spanish including Two Ways to Live. Then for Halloween, Adriana translated the children’s version of 2WTL and used it to evangelise her neighbours as they came past her garage.

Now Grahame and Patty Scarratt are going to publish her translation so it will be widely available throughout Latin America. Our pastor already is keen to use it in our church.

Our church has also been using Christianity Explored (introduced in Mexico by Rico Tice and the Scarratts in May). Sarah asked Adriana to invite some of her school friends to do the course but they could not do it at that time.

Now Adriana has decided that she can run a course for women from school.

Sarah and Adriana have invited about 12 women to meet together to read Mark and discuss who Jesus is, what his mission is and how he wants us to respond. It looks like 2 or 3 guests will join Sarah and Adriana in our house on Wednesday afternoons. Pete will run a kids club downstairs (with 8 or 9 primary age kids) and another lady will mind the pre-schoolers. We think Pete will certainly have the most difficult task!

We are excited to see the way God is working in our relationships with people here, and the doors that God is opening at just the right time.

Church update
We have been able to make the Scarratt’s books available to people here. (Spanish translations of ‘Nothing in my hand I bring’ by Ray Galea and ‘God’s Big Picture’ by Vaughan Roberts). People are appreciative and interest is growing. Thanks for your prayers about church. Pete has had more opportunity to get to know the young adults. He has joined a course that Augustine leads and he has run an evening to teach them the Swedish Bible reading method.

Please Pray
๏ Thanks that God prepares our good works.
๏ Thanks for the joy of partnership with brothers and sisters in Mexico and Australia.
๏ Thanks for Adriana’s enthusiasm to proclaim Jesus.
๏ Pray for Adriana as she leads the Mark group. Also pray for her as she is very pressured by her work at the moment.
๏ Pray for the women to have soft hearts to see the truth about Jesus, and that they will all keep coming.
๏ Pray for Pete as he runs the kids club (in Spanish)
๏ Pray for the kids to have fun learning about Jesus.
๏ Pray for ongoing gospel conversations Sarah is having with friends.
๏ Pray for Grahame and Patty in the publishing work (and MOCLAM).

Bible Verse - Mark 10:45
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Shola! News and prayer points from the Sholls

Peter and Sarah Sholl with Karina, Lucy and Miriam
In Monterrey, Mexico

An Easter road trip
During the Easter week we made a 2000km round trip to Guadalajara for VIVE09, a once-every-four-years mission conference run by the Mexican student group COMPA. It was a great way to meet some COMPA students and staff and see how they do things. We also met several people from around Latin America who are interested in further study using the Moore courses. We got to see some of the Mexican countryside and enjoyed the huge open spaces, mountains and cacti.

We went to several Catholic cathedrals during our trip. In Guadalajara and Zacatecas, the cathedrals were packed with people doing their Santa Semaña (Holy Week) business - long prayers to saints, queues for confession and extra petitions. However, we were surprised to find that the ‘big day’ is Friday, not Sunday. On Friday there were huge processions and masses requiring crowd control etc., while on Sunday it was very quiet. On Easter Sunday we went to the Catholic cathedral in Monterrey to see what was on. We found things running like any other Sunday. Perhaps this reflects the dominant focus here on a dead or suffering Jesus, rather than a risen, ruling Jesus. We’ve also noticed this emphasis in the art that decorated the cathedrals. We have much to rejoice in following our living Lord.

In brief
๏ Our house is great - light and spacious, and it will suit our family needs well. We’ve bought furniture and are well on the way to getting ourselves set up.
๏ Our car is comfortable and a great blessing.
๏ The girls have started well at school and are making friends and slowly picking up Spanish.
๏ Pete has completed a one-month Spanish intensive and Sarah has been working steadily
with a language helper. Both were due to start a new course yesterday, but due to the outbreak of swine flu, all schools in Mexico are closed for two weeks.
๏ Our boxes from Australia have arrived and most have been unpacked. The library is brilliant!

Please pray
๏ Thanks for the celebration of Miriam’s birthday with friends.
๏ Thanks for a safe and productive trip to Guadalajara, and for the enjoyment we got from time with people and exploring some of Mexico.
๏ Thanks that we are comfortable in our home and feeling quite settled in Monterrey.
๏ Thanks that we feel we have made some progress in Spanish, but pray for more.
๏ Pray that we would be feeding ourselves from the Bible.
๏ Pray that we will manage as the weather begins to get very hot.
๏ Pray that we’ll continue to learn more about Mexican culture and how to love people well.
๏ Pray for the authorities and people as they deal with the outbreak of swine flu.

Bible verse
“You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here.” (Mark 16:6, NIV)

Check out the Sholls' blog.