Mission - Fergusons

Anne Marie 19 February

Dear Friends, Andrew

Greetings from Lajas! It’s good to be back in the village again and among Tepehuan friends. It seems as if nothing has changed since we left. Our banana plants have grown heaps, but apart from that, all looks unchanged.

Due to the situation with the drug war in Mexico, and the fact that we run across groups involved on our way out to the village, it’s been decided that I shouldn’t travel on my own. In the past we always travelled as a family, and this means we are not suspected as being involved and tend to be left alone. Now with the situation worsening, if I were to travel on my own, there is a chance different groups could think I’m involved and the situation could become dangerous. To avoid this, the plan is for me to travel together with Barry and Candy in one vehicle, or if we take both vehicles, we travel together.

On Sunday we packed up my truck and headed out around 9:00 AM. We had travelled about an hour when one of the tires blew. It seems that as the truck sat for a year in Canada, that the tires hardened and are no good. The tires still have a lot of tread and look o.k., but seem to come apart off road. We changed the tire and returned to Durango and reloaded into Barry’s truck. We were late leaving, but made it safely into the village by 11:00 PM.

Apart from being a little dusty, our house is in good shape. Unfortunately our solar batteries seem to have died. We had packed up the solar panels as we were afraid they would be stolen while we were gone. We had left a smaller panel with Barry so that occasionally the batteries could be recharged. Unfortunately it seems the panel wasn’t strong enough to charge the batteries, and they have died. To replace them, it would cost around $800 to $900. I have hooked up our panels in the hope the batteries may revive, and have ordered some parts that may allow me to jolt them with 120 volts from the generator. If this doesn’t work, we’ll have to buy new batteries. To make matters worse, it is unusually cold here for this time of year, and we’ve had nothing but rain, so there’s minimal chance of getting power right now. We’ve started up the generator to be able to send out emails.

Anne Marie is back in Durango, and life is busy for her running the kids to and from school plus their extra activities. I can’t say I want to do this for too long as I really enjoy being out here as a family. On my own it is a little lonesome and the people are disappointed she is not here.

Many of our Tepehuan friends have dodged the rain and dropped in. They thought I would’ve forgotten how to speak Tepehuan and some were surprised I could still speak. Each day I find its coming back. It’s sad to see that two young guys won’t be dropping around like they used to. Sario and Alejandro were murdered 6 months or so ago. It’s sad to know they didn’t get a chance to hear the Gospel in their own tongue.

Thanks to all for praying for us, we really sense His presence and protection, A couple of things that we would like prayer for are:

Continued prayer for a family to look after Joseph and Madeline so Anne Marie and Julian and Sophia can be back in the village.
Continued prayer for safety not only here but also on the road with the current situation.
Prayer for Anne Marie and the kids in Durango, for safety, and for strength to run the family on her own.
Prayer that we would improve quickly in Tepehuan and especially as we near the point of beginning the prepare Gospel messages and Bible translation.
Prayer for finances. Over the past years our financial support has been adequate but hasn’t increased any. The cost of living has risen here as well as the rent on our house, our kids are growing and schooling has become more expensive as they advance into higher grades. Our changed situation means we have had to purchase a small car for Anne Marie and there have been a lot of unexpected expenses. We’re finding that our monthly support isn’t going to cover our monthly costs. This isn’t a big concern as we know the Lord has always provided, but we do want to raise it as a matter for prayer and leave it in His hands.
Prayer that the hearts of the Tepehuan would be turned towards the Lord and they would believe in His Son Jesus. The day is coming!

For Jesus,

Andrew and Anne Marie

27/01/2010 Airports are such fun places.

We did actually make it to Mexico! It was a long cold trip and certainly wasn’t without its hassles at the U.S. border. I guess we don’t fit the mold of an average traveler. It gets quite complicated when I’m an Aussie married to a Canadian who also has Mexican citizenship. We have four children one of whom was born in Canada but also has Australian and Mexican citizenship. Two were born in Australia but also have Canadian and one also has Mexican citizenship, and then one was born in Mexico and also has Australia and Canadian citizenship. We drive an American registered pickup, but live in Durango, Mexico and you work with the “Tepe…. who????” As you can see, you probably wouldn’t let us in either.

It was good to finally make it back to our house in Durango. The truck ran well all the way and the owner had just recently painted the house before we arrived. With the help of Leo our pastor, all the kids have been enrolled in the school Colegio Anglo Español. This is a huge adjustment from school in Australia and then also having to learn in Spanish. All of them have made friends, but pray that they will be able to improve in Spanish so they can pass their grades and do well in school. The school year starts midyear here and so everyone has to do the last half of the year they just finished in Australia in December. Joseph needs the most prayer as he is in high school, or what is called here (segundo de secundaria). The standard of education is actually higher here and so it is going to be a tough task for him to be able to adjust to a new school, adjust to Spanish, and then pass into year nine. Please pray that he’ll be able to do this and that he’ll be motivated.

Some things have changed for us as a family now that we are back. Due to the fact that there is no one to help look after Joseph and Madeline whilst we are in the village, Anne Marie will need to stay in the city and I will have to be in Lajas on my own, hence the reason all four children are in a Mexican school. I’ll be gone for two weeks at a time and once there is a school break, we may try and head out as a family. There is a possibility that there might be someone available in 6 months time, and so Lord-willing, some time mid-year Anne Marie will be able to join me in Lajas. At that time, Julian and Sophia would join us as well and would be homeschooled.

Barry and Candy are in the village right now and hopefully once we are settled and we’re into a schedule as a family, I would like to head out there sometime early February.

This next incident doesn’t happen every day but it sure confirms Murphy’s law: On Saturday I washed our truck from all the road grime collected from Canada to Durango. I also spent few hours tediously polishing and amouralling until it looked almost like a new truck. It felt better to drive to church that way. Sunday night around 12:00 A.M. we were awoken by screeching tires and a loud bang. I ran to the window to see a pickup had come down our street ( a dead end street) crashed through the school cyclone fence and rammed into a palm tree. They backed up erratically collecting our truck on the way and then crashed into the neighbor’s front fence. They did a fast “U” turn and sped away with bits of glass and plastic flying everywhere. It was late and nothing could be done so I waited till morning to inspect the damage. Amazingly the truck only received some fairly long scratches and a few dents in the wheel arch and rear guard. It could’ve been a lot worse, but it did make me wonder if it been worth polishing.

Some things to praise about:

Safety in all the travels and that we made it.
For God’s protection and strength through some trying times.
His provision and opening of doors for us to be back and for the kids to get into a school mid-term.

Some things to pray for:

For adjustments and settling in as a family.
That the kids will do well in school, improve in Spanish and pass their grades, especially Joseph.
Strength and encouragement for Anne Marie as she prepares for running the family and house on her own for two week periods of time.
For clarity of mind as I move back into full-time Tepehuan study.
For provision of a family to help care for Joseph and Madeline.
For God’s Spirit to move mightily in the hearts of the Tepehuan people to hear and respond in hope to the preaching of the Gospel.
That we as a family and individually would be filled with the Spirit and strengthened for what we face today and what lies ahead.
That we all would not fall for the safety of our own ideals and patterns but be led in a fresh way by the Holy Spirit to face the challenges put before us.

For Jesus,

Andrew and Anne Marie, Joseph and Madeline, Julian and Sophia

24 December 2009

Dear Friends,

Merry Christmas from Manitoba, Canada! There is plenty of snow about and it’s looking good for a wintery white Christmas. Quite a change from the beach and BBQ Christmas in Australia. Our time back home seemed to fly by very quickly and before we knew it, we’re on a plane back to Canada. We enjoyed our year of home assignment and the kids really enjoyed being in school. Some highlights were being back together as a Ferguson family for last Christmas, lots of time at the beach, a week in Melbourne with my uncle and aunt and family, and being back at our home church. The year wasn’t as relaxing as we had hoped but that’s the way life is at our stage with growing kids. We did however have a nice change from hectic life in Mexico, to hectic life in Australia. I suppose wherever we would be, life would be full on.

Whilst home we had lots of opportunities to share about the work and to preach in many churches. We had great times with my family, and we also got to catch up with a lot of good friends. The last weeks were busy with packing up the house and getting rid of things. There was quite a hiccup with our flights in Sydney and for a while there it looked like we would be stranded. The Lord worked it that in the last moments it was worked out and we made it onto our flight.

The plan is to spend this Christmas with Anne Marie’s family here in Mitchell, Manitoba. On the 4th of January, we will begin to drive back down to Mexico hopefully arriving in Chihuahua around the 11th. The days here have been averaging around -8 degrees Celsius, which is considered quite nice for this time of year. We’ve been skating on the local ice rink and gave some of the local boys a game of ice hockey. We’d love to try and fit in a skiing trip which the kids are aching to have a go. A white Christmas is a great experience and more snow is forecast in the next few days. Enjoy the heat Aussie friends!

While we are looking forward to getting back together as a team and with our Tepehuan friends, we head back to Mexico with some reservations. Right now there is no family to help us look after Joseph and Madeline while we are in Lajas. This will mean that Anne Marie will stay in Durango while I head into the village on my own. Our prayer is that this situation will change and we can find someone to help us with this situation as soon as possible.

We will get back into our regular monthly email updates now that we’re back on the move again. Thanks for sticking with us over the years of reaching the Tepehuan. We look forward to what God is going to do in the near future. Enjoy this Christmas season with family and friends as we celebrate the day our saviour was born.

For Jesus,

Andrew, Anne Marie, Joseph, Madeline, Julian & Sophia