Summer fun!

 "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." 

2 Timothy 3:16-17

The summer was fast and fun! For three weeks in July we had a daily program for the kids. "Walk through the word" We learned all about the story of the Bible and the kids memorized the books of the Bible in order. Many of the kids were new from the families that received food bags. We played games, sang songs, learned the story of the Bible, did crafts and memorized the books in order. It was a fun three weeks and the kids begged for more! It has been such a blessing to pour into their lives the past two years. I will miss them greatly. 

  

One Friday morning Karissa gathered several of the ladies from church to celebrate my upcoming wedding. It was a fun morning of games, words of advice, stories and yummy food. These ladies are very special to my heart and I am so thankful to have had them in my life these past 2 years. 

Other big news from these past few months is that Jorge has officially been accepted as a missionary with FIM!! After a week of distance learning and zoom calls we presented our future ministry to the board. (please let me know if you would like to see the video we made) It went really well and Jorge was accepted that afternoon. Praise the Lord!! Thank you for all your prayers. We are so excited to see what God has in store for us in the future, thank your for your partnership with us in HIS ministry. 

One note of discouragement is that Jorge's appointment for the visa was cancelled because of COVID. We are still praying and talking with the visa office. We are hopeful that in March he can get his interview and then be accepted for the US visa. Please be praying with us. 

It is September and that means it is wedding month!! Exciting times to say the least!! I am currently in Puerto Vallarta continuing with ministry until the 11th. Jorge is back in Tequisquiapan, Querétaro preparing our future home (God blessed us with a house to rent). We understand that several of you would love to join us in person for the big day but can't for several reasons. We will be transmitting the service live on facebook or youtube, more information to follow. 25 days and counting!! 

Thank you so much for all your prayers and support. God is so good and has blessed us so much with each and everyone of you! Praise His name! 

Blessings,

Alicia and Jorge 

awhitmore@fim.org or jramirez@fim.org

To give financially: www.fim.org/give/whitmore 

555 S 24th St

Allentown, PA 18104

God is good

"Truly God is good to Israel, 

to those who are pure in heart."

Psalm 73:1

God has been good in these times of Coronavirus and lockdown, the youth group remained faithful, even though the internet caused troubles, we always enjoyed being together on the group call. Now that things are opening back up we are able to have our small group meet in person. Several new youth are joining us as well. One of my disciples invited her friend too! God is good! 

God is good in the faithfulness  and lives of these young ladies. It is a joy to see each one of them grow in their walk with the Lord. At the end of April Karissa surprised us all by coming to spend her summer in Vallarta. We quickly put together a sleepover to spend more time with her. God is good and we are thankful for girl time! 

God is good in women's ministry too. This was our first group to start back up in person. So many ladies from the community who we met through the food bag distribution, are now coming faithfully to women's group weekly. We finished our study on the life of Gideon and have begun studying Esther. God is good! 

God is good and and we are faithful in caring for the building of the church. Everyone has been busy at work cleaning, painting, reorganizing and laying new flooring in the church. It is looking better everyday. We are eagerly waiting the day when we can worship all together again in person. This Sunday will be my first time every playing piano for the worship!! I'm nervous and excited. 

Prayer requests: 

• The continued spiritual growth of all the disciples
• Health for everyone as things start to open back up
• That we will be able to have church services soon
• Kids club starting July 6th and running through July 23. 
• Praise the Lord that many are returning to work and the need is lessening 
• Jorge's visa for the States. He has an interview the 14th of August. Praying God will provide and open doors. He would love to be able to travel to Iowa and meet all of you. 

Thank you so much for all your prayers! God has been so good in this strange time. We are encouraged and excited to see what He will continue to do in the future.

Blessings,

Alicia Whitmore

awhitmore@fim.org

Fellowship International Mission

555 S 24th St.

Allentown, PA 18104

April News

"The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his way."

Proverbios 16:9

Plans, we make our plans and recently there have been so many plans that have been cancelled or changed or postponed. God knew the plans He had for us long before we even heard the words "corona virus" for the first time, it was always part of His plan. We can rest in Him and trust Him to establish our ways. 

Thank you for all your prayers this past month. At the beginning of April I needed to leave Mexico for visa reasons. Praise the Lord that I was able to leave, spend the night in Phoenix and fly back to Mexico the following day. There was a lot of worry and fear in my head during this travel because of the virus and things happening. God gave me peace and calmness though it all. I was able to renew my visa for another 6 months stay here in Mexico. As a result of traveling internationally we felt it best for me to quarantine for 2 weeks in my home. It was a LOOOOONG two week and a very odd Easter but I survived. It was a learning experience, God taught me several things about myself and about Him. 

During my time of isolation I took on the task of redecorating the kids classroom. It was in desperate need of attention. I made 100 or more new tissue paper tassels, painted two verses about scripture on the walls, painted facts about the bible on the chalk board and made this periodic table of books in the bible. The room is colorful and exciting now for the kids to learn more about the bible in fun ways. Can't wait for them all to see it when we are all back at church together. 

We have suspended all large group meetings at church for the past month. Ladies bible study meets over video call, small groups meet at a few different houses, it is so good to see everyone and continue to study the word together. Church services are all transmitted via facebook live. A large amount of families in our area are without jobs, those with the most need have be receiving bags of food and a visit from different people from church. This has been a great new ministry of outreach and evangelism. We have found that people are very open to the gospel, several new bible studies have started from this ministry. 

The most exciting thing that happened this month was that Jorge asked me to marry him!! We are now officially engaged and planning a September wedding here in Puerto Vallarta. We could not be happier to see what God has in store for us and our future ministry. Jorge and I would love to connect with anyone who would like to talk with us, and meet him for the first time. Please feel free to contact me. 

Jorge and I met almost two years ago at camp serving on the same team as counselors. Our friendship started there and we talked frequently for the next year through text messages and a few phone calls. This past summer at camp he invited me to the banquet on Friday and after the dinner he asked if we could talk. In our talk he asked me if I was interesting in praying together and seeing if God had more for us than just being friends, I said yes. Jorge was serving at a church in Queretaro (central Mexico). The long distance relationship was not easy but we made the best of it for 6 months. In February Jorge moved here to Puerto Vallarta, living with Frank and Rebecca (co-workers). We are now able to do ministry together and spend time together in person. God continues to bless Jorge with a job in construction and time to do ministry in the evenings and on the weekends. We appreciate your prayers for our future and seeking God's will in our lives and ministry. 

Prayer requests: 

• Praise that my travel and visa things all went smoothly, my safely and health. 
• For the families that are receiving help with food from church, that they would come to know the Lord as their Savior. 
• For health and provision for all of those affected by the world pandemic. 
• Praise for technology and ways to stay connected through social distancing. 
• Jorge's visa and english. In August he will have an interview for his visa, praying it will be granted so we can visit all of you in person. He is also studying english so that he can talk with all of you too! 

Thank you so much for your love and support. 

God is good and His timing is perfect! 

Blessings,

Alicia 

awhitmore@fim.org

Fellowship International Mission

555 S 24th St 

Allentown, PA 18104

Peace of Christ

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." -Juan 14:27

In the middle of everything that is happening in the world these days it is my prayer that each of us will find and live in the peace of Jesus. Before everything came to a stop for the moment, these are the things we have been doing since January. 

February we were in full force AWANA. The picture above is from mask day. Each kid receives extra points for making and wearing their mask. It is fun to see their creativity. The kids have school off until the 20th of Abril. We have also suspended large group activities until then; church services, AWANA and youth group. 

Youth group celebrated friendship in February. We had a dinner, played games, sang and shared a time of teaching about the love of God. It was a great time of fellowship. These youth loving spending time together, laughing and learning about God. Please pray for them, this is a hard time in their life as the word of God competes to win their hearts over all the temptations of the world. Several of the students in the picture are receiving discipleship, Praise the Lord! 

In the middle of a busy ministry life it is always refreshing to get away and spend a few days being refilled. Three of us ladies from church traveled to Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico for three days of bible teaching at a conference put on by True Woman. We heard several Godly women share and encourage us in our faith and daily walk with Christ. One thing I was encouraged to pray for and seek in my life is a desire for God's word and to study it everyday. 

Please pray with my for my visa. In early April my visa will expire. I went and talked to the Immigration office last week. They are in the process of making a plan and offering options without consequences to those of us that are in this situation. I will know more on Wednesday March 25 what their answers are. For now I will do what I can here at church/home to serve and stay connected with those in my community, doing my part in keeping everyone safe and healthy.

Thank you for continuing to support and pray for the ministry here in Mexico. Here are a few prayer requests for the next month.

• Health and safety for everyone
• My visa situation and wisdom
• Those who are being affected economically and physically buy the Coronavirus. (there are several at our church who are on break form work and pay for the time being)
• That the world situation will pass quickly so we can be back to doing ministry again in person and not online. 

Each one of you is a blessing to my life and ministry, thank you for being a part of what God is doing in Mexico. 

Blessings,

Alicia

awhitmore@fim.org

Fellowship International Mission

555 S 24th St

Allentown, PA 18104