Allbutt Journalings
What have we been doing in recent days
An online web journal (weblog) of Mike & Vanessa Allbutt. (Updated as often as we remember to.)
Friday, August 14, 2009
Hot Weather Happiness
If you don't use Facebook then you might be asking "What have you been up to these past few months?".
We are doing well and continue to plod along with life here in Puerto Escondido, Mexico. Apart from our normal activities of being at the beach, involvement with short-term mission teams, participating in weekly groups & bible studies, we have also had some cool things we want to tell you about.
National Surfing Contest
The surfing champions of every state came to compete in the National Selection Contest in July. We were given the responsibility of keeping the beaches clean by placing trash bins on the beach and ensuring they were emptied. We were encouraged to see how positively we were received by contest organisers and attenders. Thank-you to everyone who donated so we could purchase these bins!
We were also given the opportunity to show the Walking On Water movie (a Christian surfing outreach movie) on the Friday night, which was attended by about 300 people.
Throughout the weekend, we had the tiny Surfer's Bibles, which we were able to hand out freely. On the final day of the contest we were encouraged to set up a free water stand and sell Christian Surfers merchandise and Bibles.
We feel that our involvement in the contest was well received and of blessing to many. As a team, we were able to work together in an amazing way to accomplish the tasks required, but also to be available to have meaningful conversations and encourage the people we encountered.
Trip to El Salvador
Two weeks after the contest, Mike and Andy (who was living here for 6 months to help with Christian Surfers) did a 24 hour bus trip down to La Libertad in El Salvador. There they attended the Americas Christian Surfers Conference, a three day conference for leaders of CS in every country of North and South America.
Not only was it an excellent time of encouragement for them personally, it was also an amazing opportunity to connect and partner with all the other Christian Surfers ministries in countries nearby. Many ideas have been born from these 8 days away.
In the future
The immediate future holds a trip for Mike to the US. After meeting some representatives from CS US while in El Salvador, Mike feels the need to attend the CSUS conference in October, with the view of partnering more with them. As the US is so close to us, a healthy partnership with them can be a real blessing to both countries.
This trip in late October would also be an excellent opportunity for Mike to have the first meeting with the board of directors, which exists as an accountability and governing board to Christian Surfers Mexico.
Ministry wise, there is a small beach here where the local grommets (young surfers) go to learn to bodyboard or surf. At this stage there is no outreach to this young group. We are still working out how to best get involved but some of the are ideas of having a tournament, weekly outreach events or beach movies.
We have also been challenged about how to network with other surfers around the country, to encourage and facilitate surfers who are Christian to use their surfing for reaching others. We are not sure what shape this will take as yet, but there are a few ideas we are looking at.
As a family
The rainy season is here, and yet we've had very little rain so far. It has meant a very hot summer, and heat rashes on all the kids heads and necks. We've also been dealing with some kind of stomach complaints and head colds at times. And as we love to share in our family, it has gone from one family member to another!
We are in the process of obtaining Australian citizenship and passport for Olivia. We also need a visa for Mike to enter the US. Both of these require personal interviews in Mexico City, so we are planning a road trip as a family in early September.
During this time away, Vanessa will have the opportunity to have a little holiday. She will fly to Cancún to catch up with a very dear friend from Australia, Melissa, who has a terminal disease. For a few days Mike will be caring for Priscila and Joel with friends in Cuernavaca.
We are also still waiting for the sale of Mike's website business to go through. It has been a long drawn out process, and the latest hiccup has to do with the amount to be paid. This is a huge prayer request for us, because we are still needing to make the final payment on the land we are buying, and we depend on the sale of the business for that.
House wise, we have the design of the home we would like to build, but are not in a position to start. We are planning a trip back to Australia mid 2010, so we are expecting to stay in our current rental house until then.
We are sad to see Andy and Olivia head back to Austria. This couple have been here for six months, and have been a huge blessing and encouragement to our team. The news is not all bad though, as they have gone home to pack up and make the arrangements to move to Puerto Escondido long term. We expect them back in January 2010.
Spanish Surfers Bibles
Next week we should have access to Surfers Bibles in the Spanish language. Some other Spanish speaking CS nations have been working on these for the past few years so it is a great accomplishment and much need resource that will aide out ministry greatly.
Our desire is to be able to give the word of God away through these new testaments but they cost money. Each bible will cost us about $2.50USD to give-away so we are raising funds to help us get these bibles out to surfers here in Mexico. Donations can be made via the Christian Surfers website.
Praise Points
- For the meaningful relationships we have here
- For an excellent opportunity to serve at the Surfing various contests
- For the safe travel of Mike and Andy to El Salvador and the time they could have at the conference
- The Spanish Surfers Bibles are now available
- For the opportunity Vanessa has to go to Cancún and visit her friend
Prayer Points
- For guidance in decisions regarding ministry and how to be effective
- For health & safety as we will be travelling by car to Mexico City
- That we will be granted the documents we need quickly and without any hiccups
- That Vanessa will have opportunity to talk with her friend while in Cancún, as she is not a Christian
- That we will successfully have the Board of Directors up and running by October
- For the fast sale of Mike's business, that the total will cover the remaining money owing on the land
- We will have enough funds to give away surfer bibles
Thanks again for all your prayers, support and interest. We appreciate you!
Adios from Mike, Vanessa, Priscila, Joel & Olivia
P.S. Joel & Olivia will be celebrating 3rd & 1st birthdays in September & October.
P.P.S. Mike's parents will be joining us for Christmas as long as their health issues improve.
And email us back with news of what you have been up to!
Labels: report
[By Mike 10:25 AM ] +
I trust that this Allbutt Journalings helps bring you up to date with what I have been up to recently. If you want to contact me then click here. Thanks for reading some of my thoughts. If you want to read some of the older files then they have been stored in the archives here.