Collins Family in Mesick, MI

26 My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever. 27 Those who desert him will perish, for you destroy those who abandon you. 28 But as for me, how good it is to be near God! I have made the Sovereign LORD my shelter, and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things you do.  (Psalm 73:26-28, NLT) This morning I was discouraged thinking about a loved one who is far away from God. I so badly want this person to repent from their sin and turn to God. I want them to experience the joy and happiness of a right relationship with God, not His righteous judgment for their sin. But at the end of the day, I’m not responsible for them. I don’t get to make that choice—it’s up to them. I can pray, I can speak the truth in love, but I can’t turn them back to God. What I am responsible for is me. My own relationship with God. That’s what the Psalmist is saying here. There is a frightening destiny for ...

It’s a Boy! We are excited to announce that baby Collins is a BOY! We are so thankful for his life and God’s protection over him and Sarah during these past months. Orphan Care Opportunities In August we had another opportunity to visit Niños de México. On this trip Chris shared a devotional with the girls on the life of Joseph, and Sarah taught the girls how to make chocolate chip cookies! We’ve also had opportunities to visit the DIF, the government orphanage here in Puebla. The kids here are in such great need, but we are so thankful for the power of the gospel to change their lives. Greek Exegesis Class Greek class is going well. The students are working hard and learning a lot! Mentoring at the Seminary We have had great opportunities to develop relationships with Seminary students through the mentoring program, sharing meals at the Seminary, having them over to our house, and even playing soccer with them. Orientation As...

Exciting News! The Lord has added a new member to our family! We are expecting the arrival of baby Collins in early 2019. Please pray with us for health for Sarah and the baby during the pregnancy. Please pray also for God’s provision for the physical and financial needs we will have as we anticipate the birth of our child. We are very thankful for this precious gift from God! Preparing for Greek Exegesis Chris has been spending a lot of time the last few weeks studying Greek and preparing for his Greek Exegesis class this fall at Puebla Bible Seminary. One of the assignments for the students is to translate John chapters 1-4, so he has been working on translating that passage. In addition, there are multiple textbooks to read through (in Spanish!), so there is still a lot of preparation to do . Spanish Tutoring One of the main things we’ve been working on the last few weeks is improving our Spanish. Though we are both fluent, there is still much more for us to le...

When we arrived in Mexico in late April, we hit the ground running. Two days after arriving, God led us to our house. The house is only an 8-minute walk to Puebla Bible Seminary, and very close to some other missionary families. Our second weekend here was our missionary team’s annual retreat, and we spent the weekend at Veracruz. We enjoyed getting to know our teammates some during that time, and we had the opportunity to share our story and how God brought us to Mexico. It was a sweet time of fellowship. Over the last month we have visited 4 churches in Puebla. We are still looking for the place where God would have us join and minister, and we’re praying for God to direct us in this decision. Already during our time here, God has begun to provide some friendships for us. We’ve enjoyed getting to know some of the other missionaries here in Puebla, as well as some Mexican believers. Some other things that have happened: We got a car and license plates and beg...

We would really appreciate your prayers as we prepare to leave for Puebla, Mexico. Here are some specific prayer requests we have as we begin our ministry there. Safety in Travel We are leaving Greenville, SC on Wednesday morning around 8 AM, and we should arrive in Puebla around 8 PM local time (9 PM EST). Pray for safety and for good flight connections. Staying Close to God Probably the most important thing you can pray for at the beginning of our time in Mexico and throughout our time there is that we would stay close to God. Pray that we would have a deep, intimate walk with God both individually and as a couple. We know that ministry flows out of being, and we can’t bring others close to God if we are not there ourselves. Pray that we would walk closely with God. Adjustment in Mexico There are a lot of things we will need to adjust to in Mexico, such as the language, the food, and many other cultural things. We are thankful we have a team of missionaries that...

Full Support! We have shared this with some of you in person already, but we wanted to let you all know we have reached our full support! Praise God for his provision! We know that many of you have been praying for us to reach our full support, and God has answered those prayers. What’s Next? Commissioning Services We shared in our last newsletter that we are having commissioning services at our two home churches, Bible Baptist in Traverse City, MI on April 8, and Suber Road Baptist in Greer, SC on April 15. We are excited for these opportunities to celebrate what God has done and His call on our lives. Visas The main hurdle we still need to cross before heading to the field is obtaining our temporary residence visas. We began working through this process over 5 weeks ago, and we have learned that it takes longer than we originally expected. We are waiting on a letter from the seminary in Mexico that we need in order to apply for the visa. Once the letter co...

Support Raising Update By God’s grace, we are very close to having all of our needed monthly committed support! We are so excited to see God’s provision and are looking forward to being at full support very soon. We are so close! Presenting our ministry at Graham Church During the recent holiday season God blessed us with quality time with much of our extended family. We really enjoyed making memories with our families as we prepare to begin serving overseas. God has also recently given us 3 opportunities to share our ministry with churches in Michigan, as well as dozens of opportunities to share with individuals and families. We are thankful for so many who have already joined our support team and helped us reach this point!   Next Steps Full support - Camino Global requires us to be 100% fully supported before we can be released to the field. We are very close to our goal! Visa process - while we continue raising support, we are working on obtaining visas. We w...

Waiting is hard. As our excitement and anticipation grow, it’s getting harder and harder to wait to begin serving the Lord in Mexico. But God is working in our lives as we wait for His provision of full support. One thing that we’ve learned during our time of raising support is that God’s timing is not our timing. We make our plans and set our goals, but ultimately we have to wait on God’s timing and provision. And God has been helping us grow in our patience and trust in Him. He has met our needs over and over again through the faithful generosity and hospitality of family and friends. He has proved Himself faithful, and we are learning to trust Him more and more. One particular verse that has encouraged me in my waiting has been Isaiah 64:4. For since the world began, no ear has heard, and no eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for him! Of course, waiting doesn’t mean sitting around and doing nothing. While we wait on God’s provision, we a...

Many people have asked us during our time of raising support, “What do your parents think of your mission work?” We thank God that we always have a quick answer: they are very supportive! Many other people have called us crazy or questioned why we’re going to Mexico, but our families have supported us in every way from the beginning. That is a huge blessing! Ever since God began calling me (Chris) to work with Spanish speaking people back in 2005, my parents encouraged me to pursue God’s calling. They even traveled with me on one of my mission trips to Peru. Late in high school I found out that my parents had prayed for me even before I was born that I would be a minister of the gospel. And they gave me the name Christopher, which (besides also being my dad’s name) means “Christ bearer.” I remember where I was when I found that out, and just thinking it’s so amazing that God had answered their prayers by calling me into the ministry. Beyond supporting our ministry fina...