Plus some other news
First The “Big” News
There is a pretty big change going on in the Camino Global mission agency. The process is in the beginning stages, but over the next year, you will begin to see some changes. This is the public announcement…
“In 2019, Camino Global and Avant Ministries will unite to create a combined mission with more than 500 members and a global reach extending to greater than 50 countries!
Since the 19th century, Avant and Camino have been used by God to bring the light of Christ into the darkness. Imagine the impact we will have as we join together.”
To read the detailed press release, click here.
Feel free to message me with questions. I probably won’t know the answers, but I can certainly find out for you.
My personal ministry with Obrero Fiel will continue as it has. The change will mainly be an administrative and logistic one for the back offices. For now, your financial support will stay where it is. You will be notified of any changes to payment structure by the office. It will be many months before that takes place.
Now on to ministry and personal updates
Ministry Update
Starting with a HUGE PRAISE!
I finally got past a small “technical” wall and have gotten a lot of tedious development done the website. We “relaunched” in October. The main reason for this was because users were not happy with the complicated download process. We weren’t either, but our hands were a bit tied by the company we had hired last year. Since the bulk of the changes went live (Oct 1), there have been over 14,750 resources downloaded (data taken on Nov. 29). That’s a lot in just under two months! We get emails of appreciation everyday. It is so encouraging to see the amount of people who are able to study God’s word more in depth because of this huge resource library and online school.
Our next step is to launch the video classes that our team in Puebla, MX is developing. Short “Sunday school” type classes that will lead to more in depth studies as we go and will have accompanying study sheets for deeper discussion. We will begin to add small costs to the more premium video series (like a few dollars… nothing huge). This will allow us to work toward becoming self-sustainable.
Two men on my Mexico team are developing the curriculum and producing the videos. I then edit the videos and add graphics to them and upload them to our site. All this on top of getting the rest of the “old” resources reformatted and maintaining the site. If any teens or college students would love to volunteer to serve a stint in missions in good ole’ Carrollton, TX… I have a multitude of video editing to do. I train… and have a computer if necessary. They’ll also learn the basics of web development. Just thought I’d put that out there!
We are also beginning to form partnerships with some of our resource partners that will allow them a more marketable interface with their product while it is available on our site. This will allow us a more substantial income to keep us afloat in the coming years. This and the videos are my main focus for the upcoming year. A couple of those partners who have English ministries: Hope for the Heart Ministries, Abiding Fathers, and GotQuestions.org. We also allow advertisers who offer products that go well in our format. Hope Coffee is one of those.
Now for some personal news…
At the end of July, I visited Natalie for a week to paint the boys’ walls in their new home. I’ll have photos as the end of the page. On my way home… after merging onto the freeway in Corpus Christi, I was in a rear end accident. The pickup truck behind me was merging (looking back I guess) and didn’t see that traffic had stopped for stranded motorists on the shoulder and right lane. I was not seriously injured, but the car had a good amount of damage (his looked totaled) and I was in physical therapy for whiplash until the first part of October. Rehab… everyday for two weeks, then three days a week, then two days a week. It was grueling and took about 2 1/2 hours out of my workday. Not to mention the lack of concentration from a possible concussion. My head felt like a heavy bowling ball bobbling at the top of my shoulders (try to picture that!).
Now, I am almost fully recovered from the wreck… aside from some nagging lower back pain that is new and different from my old ongoing back issues. I’ve learned to accept it and I continue at-home physical therapy to help manage it. Thank you all for your prayers. I’m sorry I didn’t update you sooner about this. I didn’t broadcast the information because of insurance stuff. We’re still waiting on all that to be finished too.
We enjoyed family time at Natalie and Carl’s wedding in the Hill Country at the end of September. The weather was perfect on the wedding day and the whole weekend was a lot of fun. We’ll be celebrating Christmas when everyone is here for the Murphy Cookie Decorating in a couple of weeks.
Baby Winry is awesome! What a joy it is to hold her. Amanda and Casey are turning into amazing parents. I included a little video for your entertainment. I get to take care of her every Wednesday. And every week she grows so much and does something new!
Joe is still in Austin working at a video game development company (any man’s dream). He’s doing well there and has been given more responsibilities.
Scot’s new work assignment is “public” now. You all can hear him back on KSCS and WBAP in the morning and mid-day. Always a praise that he continues to work… radio isn’t what it used to be.
We’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment or send a message on social media. We pray that you enjoy the Christmas holiday season and share the good news of Jesus Christ with everyone you see.
Video and photos for your enjoyment…
Hint: check that the video isn’t on mute so you can hear it.
