Outstanding October

"Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity."

1 Timothy 4:12

October was filled with fun activities. I was able to represent Fellowship International Mission at the Moody Bible Institute's fall missions conference. This week was a blessing for me, it was great to be able to share with the students about being a missionary and encourage them to follow God's call in their lives. It was also great to spend time with a couple of my friends from my time at Moody. 

Every Tuesday in the month of October we did an activity for the kids at church, Navegantes. We learned about how to face the storms of life with God and keep our faith in Him. A few of my favorite high lights were that one of our new kids came back the second week with the memory verse perfectly memorized (praise the Lord!) and how helpful my helpers were. They asked me if they could teach the bible stories and one completely took over crafts! This gave me time to do other things and I love watching them take responsibilities and grow in this area of service. 

 On of the most anticipated and beloved activities of the year was started back up again this past Saturday. AWANA! We had 40 kids and loads of help and fun. My biggest God moment was seeing four junior high students take over the youngest group of kids and really help them with bible verses and crafts. Looking forward to a great year of growing in Christ with these kids! 

November 6th the church here in La Misión completed 3 years of ministry. On Sunday the 10th we celebrated God's faithfulness. The kids sang songs and recited verses they have learned this year, youth and adults presented a skit in the park and after the service we all had lunch and fellowship together at church. God is good and we are thankful for these 3 years! The church was full of people who's lives have been impacted by the ministry here. 

Thank you for your prayers and support this fall. God is at work changing lives and impacting the world with His word. 

Pray for: 
AWANA and the continued outreach to the kids. 
The young women I do bible study with, that they would grow in their relationship with God.

Thank you! 
Blessings,
Alicia
awhitmore@fim.org

Fellowship International Mission
555 S 24th St
Allentown, PA 18104

¡Viva México!

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."

Joshua 1:9

This will be one of the key verses for the kids club, it is our prayer that they put their faith in Christ and remember that He is with them no matter what storms of life come their way.

 It is so exciting to see the church grow. There are several new faces each week. The church is full each Sunday morning for the morning service. Next week we will start a 5 week kids club on Tuesday evenings, excited to see how God will use this time to impact the lives of the kids. 

A few of the ladies at church felt the burden to visit the elderly at a local nursing home and share the gospel with them. We had a lovely afternoon with them and look forward to our next visit. The lady in the white blouse was very happy to see us and hear a few hymns be sung. 

September 16th is Independence day here in Mexico. This year I traveled to Guadalajara to visit a friend for her birthday. While I was there her church did a medical outreach. Several people from the community came to receive medical attention, they were also provided with spiritual healing. My main jobs were to invite and help with the kids. It was a very fun day. 

This Saturday we are having a youth girls activity at my house, we will tye-dye t-shirts and make pizzas together. The number of youth girls is growing and it is super exciting to see them excited to learn about Jesus and invite their friends to church!! God is good! 

Thank you so much for your prayers and support. Things are getting busier here in La Mision!! Please keep praying for us and all God has in store for us the next few months!

Blessings,

Alicia 

awhitmore@fim.org

Fellowship International Mission

555 S 24th St 

Allentown, PA 18104

Super summer!

"Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith."

Hebrews 12:2a

The summer kicked off with a three week kids club. The theme was "Victorious" and the kids learned about times in the bible when God gave his people the victory. Each day we learned English vocabulary that went with the story, then I taught the bible story in Spanish using the English words they had just learned and after that we did a craft that went along with the story. These weeks were so much fun! We made new friends and continued to build relationships with old friends. The ladies at church were a HUGE help each day. Our biggest day we had 31 kids! 

This summer our youth group has been on a break. The picture above is of one of our last times together. This Saturday we will be starting back up for the fall. It is hard to believe that this group has only been meeting together for one year. God is good! 

 Rain, rain, go away! The theme this year at VBS was "Jesus, my life saver". We learned about times in the bible when Jesus saved people from storms. It was very fitting that it rained everyday this week. Our numbers were lower than other years but the kids had just as much fun and heard the gospel several times. It is our prayer that in the midst of their life storms that they will remember that Jesus is always with them. 

One of the most anticipated weeks of the year is Radical, the camp Frank and Rebecca put on for youth from across Mexico. It is a joy to serve as a counselor and to learn and grow with these kids. There are over 200 youth that come to learn and grown in their faith in Christ. 

Thank you all so much for your love and support. God is good and is at work here in Mexico. This fall I will be focusing on discipling 6 young ladies, as well as doing a kids club once a week. Thank you so much for your prayers. 

Blessings,

Alicia 

awhitmore@fim.org

Fellowship International Mission

555 S 24th St

Allentown, PA 18104

Baptisms and end of year activities

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Sprit."

Matthew 28:19

One Friday before Holy week/Spring break, two kids (Jenny and Julian) from church invited me to their sports day at school. This time I was with Jenny's group. They played "cachi-bol", better know as a version of volleyball. In this version you don't hit the ball, you catch it, hence the "cachi". Julian's 3rd grade team won their section of soccer!! Yay! 

Days like these are so fun. The kids all shout my name and give me big hugs. Jenny told one of her classmates, "Hey! Alicia is here with me!" This interaction at the school helps me meet parents and be more involved in the community.  

During the Holy week vacations we spent 4 days in Guadalajara. Two of those days were spent at training for camp this summer. We played games, did team building activities, talked about counseling and several other things for camp. It was so much fun to spend time with old and new friends. After the meetings one of my friends invited me to hang out with her and another friend. We ate ice cream and talked, what a BLESSING it was to be with them. 

 After much anticipation and with great joy we attended the wedding of Francisco and Maribel. Francisco is a friend and leader at church. It was a privilege to be part of their special day. They asked me to be the "Madrina de la Biblia"; which means I gifted them a bible and presented it to them at the wedding. I encouraged them to study their bible daily and to continue to grow in their relationship with God, the only one who can make their marriage work. 

 Praise the Lord for our youth group!! These people are such a blessing to me. They are faithful and know how to have fun together. During Spring Break we had a fun night at the beach and then a movie and very little sleep at Frank and Rebecca's house in Vallarta. It was a great opportunity to get to know them all better. 

Easter Sunday we had a grill out in the park by the church. It was a special way to celebrate our risen LORD! 

The following Sunday we headed to the beach where several people from church took a step of obedience and were baptized. We celebrated with a lunch and time of fellowship together. God is so good! 

The weekend of Mother's day we had a breakfast for all the ladies in the church. We invited other ladies from the community as well. Rebecca shared the gospel and encouraged us to have a heart like Christ's. 

This past Friday we ended our women's bible study for the year. We shared what we had learned and encouraged each other one last time. Rebecca and Karissa will be heading back to the United States for a furlough and Karissa will be starting college in the fall, we celebrated their ministry and thanked them for their friendships on Friday too. They will be greatly missed. (Rebecca will be back in early 2020 and for camp this summer) 

 On Saturday we had our last AWANA day in the park for the school year. Several kids graduated to their new class and others graduated to Youth group! This ministry is growing and the kids love learning their verses. We will miss them in this break but have several fun things planned for them during summer vacation! 

Youth group: we welcomed the new youth from AWANA to our group with games, and at the same time said "see you later" to Karissa. She has been such a leader and key player in getting this group started. Each of us told her how much we are going to miss her and thanked her for being an example of Christ to us. This summer the youth will start having english classes as an outreach, do service in the neighborhood, practice dramas for VBS and enjoy a week at camp. Lot of exciting things happening. 

Prayer request: Please pray with us in this season of transition. We are going to miss Frank, Rebecca and Karissa very much. We know they will be back and that God is always with us. May the church grow and may we be faithful and a good testimony in all that we do for the Kingdom. 

Thank you for standing with us. 

Blessings,

Alicia 

awhitmore@fim.org

Fellowship International Mission

555 S 24th St

Allentown, PA 18104

Mid Abril update

"Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory though 

Jesus Christ out Lord!"

1 Corinthians 15:57

This past month and a half has really been full of events and special ministry opportunities. Pictured above is a group of pastors, church leaders and youth who spent a day in the  park together team building and planning for the upcoming camp this summer, Radical. It was a fun day to reconnect with lots of people I met last summer at camp and to be encouraged for this summer. This event took place in Guadalajara. 

Our youth have been busy getting ready for camp too. Every Sunday after church they sell yummy treats in the park to raise funds for camp. Some of the things we have sold are bean tacos, rice with milk and a spicy popsicle. They have raised enough for all those going from our church to save their spot and a few have raised all they need. If you would like to sponsor a camper please let me know by emailing me at the address below. It is about $85 for each camper, the price will go up in June. Our bus from Puerto Vallarta is already full!! Praise the Lord! 

Another encouraging time this past month was when two of the guys, Dean Ressler and Fransisco De Sosa, from our home office came to visit us. Fransisco shared the gospel with the kids at AWANA, Dean preached, we ate delicious sea food and spend time talking with them about our ministries and our goals for the future. What a blessing it is to have a team of Godly men who pray for, encourage and visit us. God is good!! 

Last week a group of 8 youth and 3 leaders came down from Washington during their Spring Break to love on the people in La Misión. During the morning they did several work projects; painting, building a fence and making swings for the kids in the park. Every time I pass the park these swings are full and there are more little ones waiting for their turn. One day a group of us handed out over 50 cups of free coffee and shirts to the bus drivers in the neighborhood. Their response was amazing. 

In the afternoon we prepared for a 3 day VBS. Once again God shocked us with the number of children we were able to reach. Our first night there were 90!! Over the 3 days we shared God's love with 138 kids! To say we were tired is an understatement. These youth worked so hard and ministered so well to the people here, they left a lasting example of Godly service for all of us. Thank you Southside youth and leaders! 

Thank you so much for your prayers and support. There are lots more exciting things coming the next few months; 138 children's families to visit, baptisms, the celebration of the resurrection of Christ, counselor training in Guadalajara and much more! 

Please continue to pray for my discipleship ladies and youth, a few of them will be baptized on the 28th! Pray for the visits and that these families will come to know Christ as their 
Savior. 
Update on Lucy: She is back to attending church activities, this week she went with me to visit and did an awesome job!! Praise the Lord for her healing. 
Update on Daniela: She is still living in another town with her mom. Sad to see her go, praying that she remembers the verses we taught her and that God loves her. 

Praise the Lord for He is good! 
Blessings,
Alicia 
awhitmore@fim.org

Fellowship International Mission
555 S 24th St 
Allentown, PA 18104

Faithful February

"The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord for the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."

Matthew 9:37-38

The above verse really speaks to how I have felt this month as the number of people myself and other church members have started to disciple has grown. There are so many people who are hungry to study God's truth with us and there are so few of us. With that said please pray for us and for our disciples, as we teach them we encourage them to share what they have learned with others, may they be brave and reach out to those around them with the good news of the gospel. 

February started off with a trip back to Iowa for a good friend's wedding and to surprise another friend for her birthday! It was a quick trip and priceless memories were made. I had not seen a February in Iowa is over 4 years, the negative temperatures were no fun. 

 Once back in Mexico I hit the ground running with bible studies, kid's ministry and teaching Daniela how to read. Rebecca asked me if I was going to jump right back in, to which I said, "YES!" However by the end of the week I had a cold and was wishing for a little time to recover. 

Things with the children are going great. They love coming over on Tuesdays, eating, playing games, memorizing AWANA verses and reading God's word together. AWANA is also going great, the kids are learning and growing so much! We had two new families at church on Sunday, kids from AWANA that brought their parents! 

Two fun things from this past month: 

I taught the lesson on Sarah waiting for Isaac dressed as Sarah. The kids learned that sometimes it is hard to wait on the Lord but in these times our faith grows and we learn to trust in Him. 
A different Saturday the kids got extra points for their teams by wearing a mask to AWANA. Several came to my house during the week to make these. It was fun to see them be so creative and excited to show them off to their friends in the park. 

Our church was invited to a night of fellowship at two other churches the weekend of Valentines. There we played games, shared wonderful food, were encouraged by God's word and what it teaches about love, and enjoyed time with friends.  

Two special prayer requests for this month: 

• Daniela: my young friend who I was teaching to read has been taken back to live with her mom. I was so encouraged by how she was doing with reading and writing, had even started a bible study with her older sister. Please pray for God to work in this situation and for Daniela and her sister to continue to seek Christ. The sister still lives here so hopefully we can continue our bible study together. 
• Lucy: mom to two of our AWANA kids and a new believer in Christ. Always gets around on a motorcycle here in town, had an accident two weeks ago, is doing much better. Pray that she keeps doing well and that this situation will bring other family members to know Christ. Praise the Lord with us that she is doing so well and is recovering at home. (she is the lady in the long back dress to my left in the picture on the left above) 

Thank you so much for your prayers and support! God is good! 

Blessings,

Alicia 

awhitmore@fim.org

Fellowship International Mission

555 S 24th St 

Allentown, PA 18104