Mackenzie...again!

EL RETO 2012 WEEK ONE

Here is a quick video update of our first week with EL RETO!  This year, it's called "The Danger Zone" in reference to the world we live in.  We are in danger all around us; the enemy wants to steal kill and destroy.  Jesus came to give life!  We added a new aspect this year called, "The Refuge."  It's a place where the students can hang out, play games, watch Christian Music Videos, or just chat with friends.  Our staff is also available to hang out with the students getting to know them and helping them understand that God is our Refuge!  We do this just after all the activities, then we move on to some worship, positive reinforcement called "Filipos," and a quick word the applies to what we're doing.  All this right before "The Vote" where each team votes for another team to do chores which is done very similar to Survivor's Tribal Council.

This first week went excellent!  We have six teams and everyone is pumped!  Looking forward to another 5 more weeks!

Mackenzie Reis Silberman Diaz

Mackenzie Reis Silberman Diaz
Time: 11:42am MST
Weight: 3.600 kg / 7lbs. 15 oz.
Length: Unknown

Church Courtyard Cement Path

On Monday and Tuesday some members of the church got together to finish the Church's courtyard.  In January, we had a team come down to put in some pavers, but we left a section open to lay a cement slap in order for the vehicles to come in and load/unload to the library/storage room.  The church raised the money themselves and we all worked together to get it done.  A special thanks to Pastor Luis, Pastor Gollo, and Hugo for staying late and giving the slabs the finishing touch.  Lots of tiring work, but well worth it!  And, thanks to all of you who pray for and support this ministry.  The church is growing in spirit and in truth and maturing in ownership.  Here are a few pics...

AUGUST UPDATE

Greetings from Cofradía, Mexico!  We pray that all is well with our friends and family this summer.  Things are going well as we are excitedly awaiting the birth of our third child and look forward to another blessing in our family.  These past couple of weeks have been a bit tough in terms of damage to certain items caused by the thunder and lightning storms we’ve had.  One of those items is Geña’s Macbook; it was confirmed to us today that the motherboard has been damaged.  It was not connected to electricity, but happened through our USB Modem for dial-up internet (which was damaged as well).  A costly mistake, but we trust that we are in the hands of our Sovereign Lord.  As many of you have heard me say before, “It’s all gonna burn in the end.” LOL!

Last month, we asked you to pray for...

• Baby The Doctor says things are going very well.  We saw him this week and the baby weighs just about 7 lbs. right now and he says that it’s a girl!  We are looking forward to announcing the birth before our next update!  Stay tuned!
• SPECIAL NEED - EL RETO We are still in need of finances for this event.  Some of you have given already, THANK YOU!  We still need finances to continue.   The students are getting excited and our Captains’ Training Retreat is coming up soon as well.  We will be giving them some practical activities to do to get them prepared for leading a team, accomplishing tasks, and working with people.  It should be really exciting! 
• Graduation Emma graduated from Kindergarten and Rebecka finished 4th grade this year.  Click here for pics.
• Upper Room Project Geña’s brother, Hugo, has been working on the smooth-wall of our house.  The work has slowed down quite a bit has he is very busy managing other jobs as well.  We still need finances to complete this job.  For details on what’s next, click here and scroll down. 
• Youth Camp Our students had an excellent time in La Cruz for Summer Camp.  Five guys went along with Pastor Luis and a couple of them came back with answers to spiritual questions they’ve had and a deeper relationship with God.  Thank you for your prayers and concern for the next generation of leaders!  I’ve heard nothing but good things about this year!
  

Links to other news:

• Men’s Discipleship Read about an “experiment” we did with three other men.
• Cofradía’s Women’s Ministry Read about what’s happening with the women of Centro Cristiano!  
• Pics from Arizona in June 
• Alternative Missions Staff 
• A Lesson from Pony, our Chihuahua dog See what happened one morning as Geña took Pony for a walk.
  

This month, will you please pray for...

• Baby Please continue to pray for a smooth and healthy pregnancy.  If you would give a little extra this month, we would appreciate it as our health insurance does not cover maternity.  Thank you!  The due date is Aug. 29
• SPECIAL NEED - EL RETO Finances, wisdom, and for an incredible impact in the youth’s lives: 
• Upper Room Project Finances.
• CAPTAIN’S TRAINING RETREAT Please keep in prayer our six captains as they prepare for EL RETO: Alfredo, Jorge, Francisco, Andres, Jazmin, and Karolina.
• Rebecka Frances will be turning 10 on August 13!!
• Children’s Ministry We will be sending 9 of our children to Camp this week!  This is the first time our church has had the opportunity to send them to camp (Aug 2-4).  Thank you for your prayers over them!
  

Thank you very much for partnering with us through your prayers and financial support.
Click here to donate to our personal support.

Blessings,
Steve, Geña, Rebecka and Emma Rose Silberman
Missionaries to Mexico
Alternative Missions Cofradia
Area Director
Facebook
SKYPE: “srsilberman”

Captains Training Retreat

"EL RETO 2012: CAPTAINS TRAINING RETREAT"

This year we will spend three days training the six captains and three co-captains preparing them for leading teams, working with people, and accomplishing tasks.  It will be an exciting time of fellowship, Worship, Teachings, and some very practical objectives for them to accomplish and learn from.  We are excited about this and look forward for God to do some excellent things in their lives!  Please keep Alfredo, Jorge, Francisco, Andrés, Jamín, and Karolina in your prayers.