Where is Tim staying this summer?

June 2008
Where is Tim staying this summer?

It's been almost a year in Mexico and the Glavors are still afloat.

It is hard to believe that it is already a year! Life has been a blur! Let’s see…… Many, many adjustments! We jumped into a new language, culture, diet, we changed careers; we are working together, we changed homes, we uprooted our family from a safe, predictable environment, both our fathers passed away, we have experienced substantial financial adjustments, we sent our daughter away to college and we dealt with a resentful son. Whew!!!! What a year!!! Amidst all this, we continue to have peace that Mexico is exactly where we should be.

We are currently gearing up for the busy summer season, planning short term mission trips. We have many new groups, even from Canada! We have groups coming to help with construction, children’s VBS, women’s and men’s classes, sports clinics, medical and dental clinics and health classes. We have had a few cancellations from groups in response to media press regarding to border violence. We fortunately have not experienced this personally in Ensenada.

I think that our favorite part of our job is getting to know all the pastors in the villages. They are amazing people. They really know the needs of their communities. They are full time pastors, counselors, social workers and most work full time jobs to support their families.

In this newsletter/BLOG we will highlight one of our favorite couple.
Pastor Samuel and Ernestina Garcia:

Pastor Samuel and Ernestina Garcia have been faithfully serving in Iglesia Vida Abundante (Abundant Life Church), in one of the poorest neighborhoods of Colony Ochenta Nueve for 11 years. Previously they served in Le Paz.

As a teen, Pastor Samuel dreamed of studying medicine, but the Lord had other plans for his life. On May 5th they celebrated 50 years of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. He has 3 children who have become medical doctors and are serving the Lord in indigenous tribes in Mexico. His children occasionally assist with our medical clinics with Agua Viva Ministries.

Pastor Samuel has Parkinson’s disease; he speaks in hushed tones, he has a tremor and shuffles as he walks with the assistance of his amazing wife, Ernestina. Despite his disease, he still has a twinkle in his eye and speaks the truth of the Gospel with authority. He still has a thriving ministry and isn’t planning on retiring anytime soon. He is surrounded by a faithful congregation who also has a passion of reaching their colony for Christ.

Yearly, Pastor Samuel sends Agua Viva Ministries formal requests for building projects. American groups have built several houses for people in need in his colony. He has never asked for anything for himself or his Church.
The last time we visited his Church, we noticed that all the electrical wire was stripped from the Sunday school rooms and the bathrooms. He said that a gang stole all the copper wire to sell for drugs. He just laughed and said that the Gospel still can be shared without electricity.
We stopped by his home and were amazed at what we saw: 35 extremely steep steps built on a cliff-like bank which led to a very small, meager home. This is the only access to their home and it is extremely challenging for him to maneuver, even with assistance up and down the stairs. Recently he fell and fractured his orbital bone which impinged the optic nerve which causes him to see double. He is wearing an eye patch while he is awaiting surgery in the next few months.

We are asking our US Churches to pray about the possibility of helping us build a new home for the Garcia family on a ground level lot which has already been purchased near his Church. We are hoping that several US Churches this year will share this burden either financially and/or with the actual construction.







We continue to be amazed that we have the privilege to serve with AVM. We also are very thankful for the patience and encouragement from the staff. We are excited what the Lord has in store for us here. Keep praying that we stay afloat! A big THANK YOU to the faithful support of family and friends in the US!!

Prayer requests:
Summer plans for Tim. We still aren’t clear where he will be staying or working this summer in Reno.
Hannah’s work schedule and new home in Portland that she would find true community and family there.
Endurance and health during the hot, busy season.
Mental clarity while programming the short term mission trips.
Perspective and balance. We still are struggling at times to find a balance with work, family and play. Since we are surrounded by so many hard working, passionate people, we feel like we need to keep in step.
Finances: monthly pledges are erratic
The phone and internet system at RAV
Continued prayer for language skills

Please check out our web-site for our upcoming adventure in prayer for Agua Viva Ministries:
http://www.aguaviva.com/updates/an-adventure-in-prayer

Diving Deep!

The Glavor Family is diving into deep water!









Spring is an exciting time here at Agua Viva Ministries (AVM). We are finishing four weeks of “SPRING BREAK”.

Missions Partnership Experience (short-term mission trips) is diving deep into the colonies and villages near Ensenada, BC Mexico. Listed are our some of our “SPRING BREAK” activities:
*10 American Church teams are coming to serve
*10 separate 4 day VBS (Children’s programs)
*3 women’s Bible study programs
*4 soccer programs
*Assisting in a “Power Week”
(a construction week at the new seminary site)
*Building a chain link fence
*Painting a mural
*Roofing
*Landscaping
*Sewing curtains
*Erosion control
*Painting
*Cleaning up garbage
*Making benches
*Installing cabinets
*BBQ and outreach in agricultural community




Simultaneous with the MPE program, this “SPRING BREAK”
Agua Viva Ministries is also diving into the follow events:
*Hosting and programming a youth camp for 250 Mexican teenagers at Rancho Agua Viva
*Hosting 300 college students from Westmont College serving Medical/Dental Clinics, construction and Children’s programs
*Weekend Mexican camping groups
*We are expecting 800 guests at Rancho Agua Viva in the next 4 weeks! (that’s a lot of tacos!)

We will be submerged until Mid-April. We hope to come up for air then!! Just in time to prepare for the summer! Don't expect a lot of mail!




MPE Programming team












An exciting aspect our jobs in the programming of Missions Partnership Experience (MPE) is getting to know the community and the pastors in and around Ensenada who have a pulse on the needs of their colonies and villages. Their vision, enthusiasm and faith is humbling, as our passion many times doesn’t go any further than our own 4 walls (let alone past our own noses!).

These pastors assess needs much deeper than poverty and social beautification. They walk the Christian talk at great personal expense while also working full-time jobs to financially support their families. We count it a privilege to help coordinate American groups to partner with such visionaries to reach Mexico for Christ.

Let us introduce you to just a few of our heroes:

Pastor Daniel and Blanca
Iglesia Puerta de Cielo
They are building a drug and alcohol rehab center. They have a vision to build 7 Christian centers in Mexico.









Pastor Marcos and Leticia (Letty)
Iglesia El Gran Rey. Their Church is surrounded by drugs, poverty and neglected children. They dream of building a day-care center for street kids. They have already claimed the property across from the Church.








Pastor Mariallena de Alba
Iglesia Betel
She is clearing the land near her Church to build a recovery house for women exiting prison. She has been ministering to the women in the local prison for the last 12 years.












Pastor Lalo and Feliz
Iglesia Nuevo Cancion
2 years ago his Church burned down. It is already rebuilt (thanks to American groups). He now is focusing on building a second story on the Church which will be used for a free tutoring center for the community.

Glavor Highlights for 2007

Highlights for Jeff in 2007:
*Mexico is our home!

*Finally beginning to understand the language more.

*Seeing Tim begin to settle in to life in Mexico.

*Seeing the care and support of family and friends in US.
















Highlights for Ineke in 2007:
*The opportunity to meet and work alongside creative, fun and passionate people here in Mexico who don’t put God in a box.
*Learning my new job. The transition has been easier than I thought!
*Electricity!!!! WooHoo!! We now have solar energy to the staff housing 24/7!!!
*Getting to spend time with family and friends in Reno at Christmas.
*Reuniting with my brother and sisters in Holland at my father's funeral.















Highlights for Tim in 2007:
· I went to Disneyland for my 16th B-day
· Summer/Christmas break with friends
· Patches (my new dog)
· Starbucks in Ensenada!
· Playing drums at Church on Thursday nights

Hannah update: Well, after a greatly successful and immensely fun first semester at Multnomah, I headed back to Reno for my Christmas break. I spent the majority of my time working at our local ski resort as snow board instructor and in my down time got to spend a relaxing break with my family and friends. School started up for me on the 16th of Jan so I embarked on the perilous journey from Reno to Portland. The semester started off a bit rocky, with minimal injuries and resilient (or rather stubborn) persistence. But I have no reason to complain. I'm loving my classes, this semester especially, I have a great group of friends and I'm getting opportunities to play music outside of my curricular music ministry. Again, I'll ask for prayer in procrastination. My motivation levels seem to be on a rollercoaster and can change at any given moment. I want to learn, don't get me wrong, but I'm getting lazy about the follow through for various reasons, which isn't good.


Please pray for direction in what my next step in life should be. I hate this transition age, everything seems to teeter upon the tiniest decisions. I don't know what to do for the summer; story of my life. I could stay here, get settled in and jump into a local ministry. I could live in Reno, get a job and nuzzle into the community I already know and love. I could do some kind of missions work, whether as an intern w/ my parents in Mexico or perhaps overseas (suggestions? connections? I'm up for anything at this point). Or maybe I could move to Colorado and work at my first bible school for a few months. So yeah. Prayer for direction would be fantastic.

Glavor Prayer Requests:

1. Endurance and health during these very busy days.
2. Continued unity with the staff.
3. Finances (Our donor giving is down 22%)
4. Continued assimilation
5. Balance: family, work, spiritual, emotional and health
6. Hannah and Tim would finish the school year strong
7. Summer plans for the kids

Please write!!! e-mail: jiglavor@aguaviva.com
snail mail: Agua Viva Ministries PO Box 1488 Lemon Grove, CA 91946

AVM is a tax-exempt 501(c) (3) #33-0107806 missions organization
donations to Agua Viva Ministries account# 313124/Glavor

Please Pray for Tim

We live in Mexico!
After many months of preparation and anticipation, we finally made it to Mexico!
Thank you all for your help and a fun send off!

Since July, life here at Agua Viva Ministries (AVM) has been a blur! Usually, the Spring and Summer are extremely busy with American short term mission trips. We were told that Fall and Winter are the quieter months (they lied!).We still have groups coming on the weekends through the middle of December. We are excited to be a part of a team at AVM that has thus far embraced us, encouraged us and definitely are fun to play with! We are learning our new responsibilities as Program Directors of the Missions Partnership Experiences (short term mission trips for American and Canadian groups), using the gifts that the Lord has given us. After 23 years of marriage and working in our individual careers, Jeff and I are now working together everyday…and we are still madly in love with each other!

What do Jeff and Ineke do all day?
Jeff primarily works with the Mexican side of planning for the short term mission groups. He partners with the Churches in the communities and assesses their needs and builds relationships with the Pastors. Currently we work with approximately 30 Mexican Churches. He makes estimates for the work and construction projects and purchases the supplies both in Mexico and the US prior to group arrival. Frequently we have several construction projects running simultaneously in various areas of town which need prior prep work and security of supplies. Often Jeff coordinates these teams. Jeff’s “jack of all trades” ability comes in handy at Rancho Agua Viva, because something is always breaking down. Jeff is also the spokesman for the Programming Department along with being the school bus driver for the children of the seminary students. Needless to say, Jeff always provides comic relief to an overworked staff.

I work primarily with the American side of programming. I correspond with the American groups and help tailor a program specific to their ministry interests, expertise, group size and their funding. We offer VBS (children’s programs), construction, women, men’s, sports, prison ministries, youth programs, medical and dental clinics and more. Typically when partnering with groups, we provide them with room and board, programming, training materials, translators, and accompany teams in ministry. Fortunately, I haven’t had to hang up my stethoscope just yet. Whenever we have medical clinics in the community, I am able to practice medicine. This year we have had a record number of seminary students with their families live here at RAV, so I have been able to help out a bit here at camp. I have also helped out with grant writing and updating our pre-trip training manuals for short term groups.

Life as we knew it has dramatically changed! Our heads are still spinning and we are trying to find our place in this wonderful place, Rancho Agua Viva which we now call home.

Hannah:
Hey peoples! "How's the daughter of the crazy Glavor family doing?", you may ask. I'm doing very well thanks! I moved out of Reno at the end of August and moved into the dorms at Multnomah Bible College in Portland, Oregon. I'm majoring in Biblical studies with a minor in Intercultural studies. I have no clue what's ahead in life, but in the meantime, I'm really enjoying all of my classes.
I'm the music leader in a ministry here called Exodus. It's a progressive arts ministry that brings together a heart for culture and a heart for worshiping God. Through film, dance, drama, music, and interactive experiences, we strive to inspire youth to genuinely live out their faith and identity through engaging worship—to not simply talk about the Truth of God, but to truly experience Him. Pretty exciting, I must say.


When I'm not busy playing music and planning Exodus events, I'm super busy with homework. The only problem is that I'm: 1.) Easily distracted 2.) A big procrastinator. So, if I could ask for prayer in anything, it would definitely be in the area of focus. Not a mere focus on the studies either, I need to keep my focus on why I'm here. It's not for the street cred by any means; it's all about the "who" I'm here for. In being distracted from studies, I also am prone to complacency and distraction in relation to God. Never good…. So I could use prayer for that. Other than that, I'm doing well. The cafeteria food could be better, but I'm healthy and happy.


Tim:
Greetings StarshineThis is Tim, and I’m writing from Mexico (lame)hmmmwell, I’m not really liking it here, but I’m keeping busy...kinda... I’m taking a few classes in a public school in Ensenada, called CETYS Universitad y Prepatoria. The rest of my classes are home schooled. I got a new puppy, named Patches. She bites a lot. Ummm, I play drums at my church on occasion. And that’s mostly what I do. Oh, and MySpace. Haha.
peace.




Prayer requests:
Tim for adjustment, motivation, and attitude
Language skills
Cultural understanding and patience
Balance between ministry, work, family and play

We miss you all!! Please e-mail us!

Jeff and Ineke: jiglavor@aguaviva.com
Tim: homestarmy@juno.com or MySpace
Hannah:bananaflavor@gmail.com