Collins Family in Mesick, MI

Is world missions a priority in your budget? What if I told you that with a mere 2% of your income, you could make a significant impact for the Kingdom of God? Let’s do the math. If you make $30,000/year, 2% of that would be $50/month. For $45,000 it’s $75/month, and for $60k that’s $100/month. Maybe that sounds like a big commitment. But think of the eternal impact that commitment would have. People’s souls are at stake. What are we doing to advance the gospel--the only way people can be made right with God? What does that look like for you? Maybe it means sponsoring a child in an orphanage, personally supporting a missionary, or giving extra toward your church’s missions program. I challenge you to do something . Maybe start with 1% if you don’t think you can do 2%. Or maybe you should do 10%. Ask God what He wants you to do, and then obey. If you would like to join our support team, we would love to have you be a part of the work God is doing in Puebla, ...

As this month of Thanksgiving draws to a close, we want to express our thankfulness to God and to you for your partnership in ministry. Thank you for your encouragement! Many of you have encouraged us with kind and helpful words and deeds during the last several months as we’ve been raising support for our mission work in Mexico. Thank you! Thank you for your prayers! Many of you have prayed for us faithfully as we’ve traveled, shared our ministry, and prepared for ministry in Mexico. We know that mission work is spiritual warfare, and we desperately need your prayers on our behalf. Thank you! Thank you for your giving! Many of you have partnered with us financially and we are very thankful for your help. We could not serve without you. Thank you! We deeply appreciate you and the part God has given you in our ministry and in our hearts. Thank you for working together with us for the advance of the gospel in Mexico. Our desire is to depart for Mexico early ...

At the end of May this year, Sarah and I cleared out our apartment in Traverse City. We had sold several items, donated several more, stored a few, and we managed to fit the rest of our earthly belongings in our car. We spent one final Wednesday night with the youth group at Bible Baptist Church. As we were getting ready to leave Traverse City to move to South Carolina, Pastor Dan (the youth pastor) came over and said with a chuckle, “Hey, you guys are homeless now!” It was true. I hadn’t thought about it until that moment (maybe I was just in denial), but we were “homeless” in a way. Until God brings us to Mexico to settle down, we are nomads. But what is “home”? Is “home” really just a place? Or is it something much deeper? I believe “home” has much more to do with a sense of belonging. “Home” is where you feel accepted and loved. In other words, I think “home” has a lot more to do with relationship than with location . Home is more a person than a place . ...

We were blessed to spend the last five weeks at The Center for Intercultural Training (CIT) in Union Mills, North Carolina. We were there along with several other missionaries, learning from each other and from the facilitators who are all seasoned missionaries! Below are some of the highlights of our time. Spiritual Growth Our time at CIT was one of incredible spiritual growth! The first week we were there, we had the Engage Retreat, which focused on spiritual formation—allowing God to work in us and change us so that we can be more effective as His servants. A key concept we looked at was examining our desires, and how God ultimately satisfies our desires more fully than anything on earth can. It was truly a transformational week for us, and God continued working in us throughout the rest of our time there as well. We have both experienced new depths in our personal relationship with God. New Friendships Another blessing from God was the formation of some new friendships...

Hi Friends! We just wanted to send a quick update on our time here at CIT (Center for Intercultural Training). The first few weeks have been a great time of learning, meeting new friends and deepening our relationship with God.   Leading music at CIT Our first week here was a spiritual retreat, where we were able to spend a lot of time in guided personal reflection and Bible study. These past two weeks we have spent time learning and discussing several things that will be important for us to keep in mind as we are getting closer to leaving for Mexico. One of the things we’ve looked at is our different mind styles and personality types and how we can best work together with the other missionaries and local ministry partners. Conflict with other missionaries is one of the most common reasons that missionaries leave the field, and so it is very important to us that work carefully to avoid this problem. Along with that topic we have looked at different views of cul...

Getting Closer By God’s grace, we now have nearly 70% of our needed monthly committed support! We still have farther to go, but we rejoice in God’s goodness and faithfulness in bringing us this far. Like the Apostle Paul, we rejoice in the partnerships God has given us with churches and individuals:   I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. (Philippians 1:3-5, ESV) We are thankful for the opportunity to work together with you to make disciples of Jesus Christ in Puebla, Mexico through Orphan Care and Theological Education. CIT and Engage Retreat Over the month of October and into the beginning of November, we will be in North Carolina at the Center for Intercultural Training (CIT) for a week-long spiritual formation retreat and a four-week cultural training. We are looking forward to this time of preparatio...

Many of Jesus' statements seem very counter-intuitive. You must lose your life to find it. You must die to have true life. And then in Acts 20:35, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." How is this the case? I want to share with you why I believe it is to your benefit to give toward gospel advance, and more specifically, through our mission work in Mexico.  Why should you partner with us financially in our ministry? How does giving benefit you as the giver?  General Benefits Biblically speaking, there are several incentives for giving toward gospel advance: Rewards in heaven Consider this clear command from Jesus: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth…. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” (Matthew 6:19-20, ESV) By giving toward gospel advance, we are laying up “treasures in heaven.” Heavenly rewards should be a much greater incentive than earthly rewards. Paul says something similar to the Philippians in his letter to the...

I believe it’s very important for women to have intentional mentoring relationships with other women. One reason that this is so important to me is because I have seen firsthand how it has impacted my own life and spiritual growth. I can honestly say that without the guidance, support, and listening ear of many women in my life, my life and relationship with God would look drastically different. In moments when I felt most discouraged, these women have spoken life and truth to me. In the moments of greatest celebration, they have been there to cheer me on. And in the moments of greatest life change, both good and bad, they have been right alongside of me. Now, the thought of being a mentor may sound intimidating, but let me jump ahead of that thought. You don’t have to be perfect; just be real . I know that for me, part of what has been so beneficial in my relationships with women who I would call my mentors is that I can see very clearly that they aren’t perfect; they have very r...

Dear Friends, Thank you so much for your prayers and financial partnership with us. You are a blessing to us. Support Raising Update By God’s grace, we have crossed the halfway point in our monthly committed support! We are over 50% of the way to full support, with the majority coming from individuals. Praise God with us for how He is providing! Our goal is to be near or at 100% of our monthly goal by the end of September. To reach our goal, we need an additional 20-40 monthly ministry partners. If you are not already partnering with us, would you prayerfully consider how you could be part of our ministry by partnering with us financially and in prayer? We would love to have you as our ministry partner in advancing the gospel in Mexico. Church Presentations We have been privileged to share our ministry with three churches over the last couple months, and two of them are considering taking us on for monthly support. We are very thankful for these opportunities God h...

Why break with tradition? Many well-meaning people have asked us this question, though usually with different words, along our support-raising journey. Why are we not spending every Sunday in different churches, visiting dozens or even hundreds of churches seeking support for our mission work? And we understand the concern, because for so long, that was the main or only model for missions support. But we have become convinced through our study of Scripture, support raising books, and the advice of many other missionaries, that the traditional model of only seeking church support is not the best way. We believe that the best model for missions support includes both churches and individuals .  Because of that, in addition to our meetings with churches, we have been spending a lot of time meeting with individuals to share our ministry and support raising needs, praying that God will lead us to the right people who will partner with us for the advance of the gospel in Mexico. ...

A New Season, A New Home Spring is a time of year that brings many changes: time change, more daylight, budding flowers and trees, and warmer temperatures. There are also many changes happening in our lives this Spring. We are both quitting our current jobs to work full-time on raising support. We are also moving from Michigan to South Carolina at the end of May to work on raising support in the South. These are not easy transitions, but we know God will meet our needs as we look to Him. We can’t wait to see how He’s going to provide! Support Raising Boot Camp The last two days of March, we participated in a two-day support raising boot camp training in Charlotte, NC. We were inspired by the speakers, practiced and refined our presentations and phone calls, and made some new friends. It was a wonderful learning and growing experience for both of us, and we came away very encouraged and motivated to work harder on raising support. As a result of the Boot Camp, we have moved...

On July 14, 2005, God called me to be a missionary to Spanish speaking people. It was during my first foreign missions trip, in Peru. I don’t remember all the details of that night, but I remember the overwhelming burden on my heart for the lost souls there. I remember praying and committing myself to serve God among Spanish speaking people. I remember my parents’ excitement and support when I told them that God was calling me to be a missionary. Summer Missions Internship in Lima, Peru I spent the next 10 years of my life preparing and looking for the place and the specific ministries God was calling me to. I returned to Peru three times, traveled to Mexico and Ecuador, and served for a year in Puerto Rico. I studied missions and Spanish in college and ministered in Spanish speaking ministries in my hometown. Throughout this time, both through my experiences and through the counsel of pastors and spiritual leaders in my life, God has burdened me for two specific areas o...

When I was finishing up eighth grade and getting ready to transition to high school, I had some decisions to make. For the first time in my education, I had some choice in what classes to take. I decided to take English class over the summer and get it out of the way so I could take another elective. For the life of me, I can’t remember why, but I had chosen German for my extra elective (no offense to any German lovers reading this!). Before finalizing my decision, I talked with my parents about my classes, and I told them my plans. Dad suggested that instead of taking German, I should consider taking Spanish because I would have more opportunities to use it, especially in ministry. His words were prophetic. I took his advice and signed up for Spanish instead. When I started taking Spanish in 9 th grade, the only words I already knew were taco, señorita, nachos, and probably a few numbers, which I picked up from the Mexican restaurants we ate at. So when the teacher came into...

New Year, New Goals Every new year provides another opportunity to set new goals and to grow in new ways. Last year was a great year for both of us in many ways, but by God’s grace, this year will be even better. As we made resolutions and set goals for this year, we made the usual goals of working on our physical and spiritual health. Beyond that, we set for ourselves a bigger, more audacious goal: to raise 100% of our needed missions support for Camino Global. Our desire is to be leaving for Mexico by next January, and to do that, we have set a goal to be at 100% support by the end of September. To be sure, it is a challenging goal, but we believe that this is what God wants for us, and so we have made it our goal. Ministry Presentations Over the last couple months, we have had opportunities to do large group presentations. We were able to present our ministry at our home church, Bible Baptist, in mid-December. We were also able to share our ministry with our church yo...