Please, give thanks to God that there are now five additional AMO Trainers in Mexico! Afrika, Marlene, Fidel, Diana and Esther (L to R in photo with banner) completed their practicum last week here in Tabasco and will now begin training parents and others, on a voluntary basis, using Biblical Principles of Christian Education and the AMO® Program, by Chrysalis International.

Dr. Elizabeth Youmans, supporting from her office in Florida, and Francelia worked diligently evaluating, giving feedback, and approving the certifications. Both expressed joy, congratulations and affirmation of our promise to continue walking together with these committed leaders.

Eager to get started, the new AMO Trainers have already organized two new trainings for February. Please, pray for each of them as they disciple families and their nation from a whole new level of commitment and preparation.

Also, please, pray for the remaining TOT’s who are preparing for their practicum in Mérida and Puebla this April. Rubí, Mildred, Liliana, Judith, Susie, Betzabé and Pablo, upon their certifications, will bring the total to seventeen AMO Trainers in Mexico.

Thank you for your role in making all this happen!

In Christ,

Chris and Francelia

Preliminary group of AMO Trainers approved in Tabasco!

New AMO Trainers in Tabasco

Youth from six churches met last week in Campeche, México. Invited by the group’s leaders, Francelia taught the youth that each person is to use the potential God placed in him or her to glorify Him in all they do. The arts, vocations, schooling, family life, worship – everything – is to be lived out for God’s glory and restorative purpose. This is what transforms our cultures.

Andres, 13 years old said, “what I liked most was when we all knelt together to pray for our country.” The youth were encouraged as they were taught that, as Christ’s body, they are God’s agents of transformation and healing for their nation.

• Pray for the youth of Mexico to receive God’s vision for their lives and nation.
• Pray also for our TOT’s here in Tabasco who will finalize, this week, their near-year-long preparation to become AMO trainers in Mexico. Fidel, Afrika, Diana, Marlene, and Esther will train others, for five days, as we evaluate and give feedback. The remaining TOT’s will train in March and April. Thanks for your prayers and support.

Blessings to you in this New Year!

Chris and Francelia

Campeche youth praising God through music and dance.

Francelia discussing with youth how their lives glorify God

Youth Singing and Dancing in Praise

Eighty-seven people representing twenty-four churches gathered in Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, Mexico, last week for a very special training in Biblical Principles of Christian Education and the AMO® Program. They will now form programs for children in the aftermath of the September earthquakes which have left public schools crippled, operating only one or two days per week. Thousands of people still live in tents and shelters.

Churches have coordinated to continue meeting physical, spiritual, and educational needs. By God’s providence, three of our AMO Trainer of Teachers (TOT’s) live in Oaxaca, with one more to be certified very soon. This will enable us to walk closely with new programs to offer whatever help they need. We invite you to help educate a new generation with biblical principles to transform lives and disciple the nation.

Nueva Vida Church of Oaxaca City has committed to supplying 9 programs with all the material supplies they need to serve 225 children. Children from the church packed and prayed over each box. They demonstrated that most of the essential supplies for one program fits into a 2x2x4 ft. box! The material cost is about $400 per year per program. We also need to raise funds to help our TOT’s move about. If you and/or your church would like to help, please call (830) 719-5812 or donate at The Antioch Partners.

Even as the aftershocks continue, there is a hopeful sense of new beginnings and transformation for the region. Pastora Martha Ramirez’ church was destroyed in the earthquake. “I’ve learned so much through the difficulty. We continue fasting and praying. God wants us to impact our society” she says.

Our week ended, as usual, with an in-depth look at biblical principles concerning fine arts. This provides a perfect time to show off the internal creativity and beauty that God has placed in each person. Enjoy the photos by clicking below.

Please, pray for this region and we invite you to consider funding efforts there.

In Christ,

Chris and Francelia

Juchiteca with backdrop of AMO art projects

Francelia with amiguita

TOT’s – Gloria Viveros, Francelia McReynolds and Esther Suarez – reviewing plans as they train in Salina Cruz.

Tito Quiroz, violinist and recipient of the 2015 National Youth of the Year Award in Mexico visits our training.

Traditional dresses of the Tehuantepec region

Congregation in Ixtaltepec meeting at home after destruction of church in Sept. earthquakes

Parents and leaders training to raise up the next generations with God’s Word nurturing the full potential He has placed in each one.

Dear Friends,

Following the September earthquakes that devastated towns in Oaxaca and Chiapas, the Assemblies of God Church in Mexico made a plan to help. They called on us to help with Christian education for children at homes and churches. The need is great since public schools are still not holding regular classes.

We’ve been meeting with congregations everyday this week in Juchitán, Oaxaca, and surrounding towns. We are teaching biblical worldview materials and inviting them to attend next week’s AMO® Program training in nearby Salina Cruz. AMO Trainers, Esther Suarez, joined us on Wednesday to cover more churches, and Gloria Viveros will join us next week.

Many here are fasting and praying for this AMO training. We ask for your prayers for safety and success and, if you like, join in fasting. Encourage the people here by letting us know you plan to do so. If you’d like to help with funding, please donate through The Antioch Partners/McReynolds.

PRAISES! The nine month, Chrysalis International, AMO Trainer of Teachers class finished their online portion yesterday. We are very thankful for Dr. Elizabeth Youmans and others who devoted themselves to disciple these new trainers for Mexico and several other countries in Latin America. Now, each Mexican participant will be evaluated by Francelia and I as they carry out their own five-day AMO Trainings. Please, pray for them and pray that God will use each of them in His plan to transform the nation.

Widespread damage in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, press photo from September 2017.

We are thankful to God for the many people…

• who are patient with all our travelling
• who write notes and call
• who pray for us and for the ministry
• who spend time helping us think through the needs of the ministry
• who help us raise funds
• who disciple us with God’s Word
• who train to be trainers with us
• who tend to our administrative needs
• who always search for better health insurance for us
• who inspire us and teach us
• who invest their time and effort teaching children with the AMO® Program
• who invite us to their homes and ministries
• who plan retreats for us
• who donate their vehicle for our use
• who invite us to their table
• who donate to our support
• who challenge us to grow
• who offer wise counsel
• who hold us accountable
• who go before us and on whose shoulders we stand
• who exemplify Jesus’ self sacrifice for others

And we are thankful for so much more. Thank you for all you do!

Love,

Chris and Francelia

Freepik image

The nine month online class, by Chrysalis International, to prepare additional AMO Trainer of Teachers (TOT’s) for Mexico, and other nations, will finish soon. As mentors for the TOT’s in Mexico, here is some of what we have been hearing from them.

• Liliana, founder/director of a Christian school in Puebla, sometimes invites her teenage students to join her in the online classes. In the days following, she notices through their conversations how the biblical teaching shapes her students ideas and decisions.
• Judith, also of Puebla, has been ministering to children of dysfunctional families using AMO’s bible story curriculum, Wellspring of Wonder. She now plans to begin using it with children traumatized by the recent earthquakes.
• One TOT works with two groups in her church – the older youth and the children. She shared that the children in her AMO classes demonstrate stronger reasoning and behavior skills than do the older youth, who have not had AMO.
• Betzabé, TOT from Oaxaca, and her church have begun comprehensive work for helping people hard-hit by earthquakes in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in and around the city of Juchitán. They are focusing on three things: temporary housing, equipping and training appropriate pastoral response, and children’s education. As public schools struggle, they will bring in AMO Training for parents/teachers and AMO Programs for the children. If you’d like to help fund any of these efforts, call Chris at (830) 719-5812.

Please, pray for all the TOT’s as they wind down their studies and prepare for their practicums in early 2018. Pray also for ongoing earthquake recovery in south and central Mexico.

You are invited to join, from wherever you are, First Presbyterian Church of San Antonio in praying for Mexico and the Americas at 12 noon, Oct. 26th. If your church would like to initiate a similar annual prayer service, we would be glad to help. Also, contact us if you would like to receive a copy of FPC’s prayer bulletin by email.

Thanks and blessings to each of you,

Chris and Francelia McReynolds

The same church after the earthquake…still standing but must be demolished.

AMO training at the church in Juchitán in 2014.

In Mexico about 435 deaths have occurred in earthquakes so far this month; first in Oaxaca and Chiapas, then in Mexico City, Morelos, Puebla, and Mexico State. Aftershocks continue, mostly centered around Oaxaca’s Pacific coast.

Our MeXed gathering in Oaxaca last week began as the earthquake hit the Mexico City region. Some participants en route to MeXed turned back midway to check on family and congregations.

We are thankful for all those who shared testimonies and teachings including pastors, seminary leaders, children’s ministry leaders, children and parents. Zurisadai, a primary school teacher and AMO teacher in a rural town in Veracruz, shared her testimony.

“One in five of my students have family members missing or directly affected by the Drug Cartel violence. One little girl, traumatized, could hardly speak at the beginning of the year” she explained. “As we read Charlotte’s Web and reflected on the biblical principles contained in the story, her heart began to heal. Her mother wrote me a letter at the end of the year expressing her gratitude” she continued in tears. Drug violence has claimed at least 10,000 lives each year in Mexico for the last 10 years.

God’s command to disciple the nations is a serious one. The gathering is an important time of prayer, networking, and building one another up in the Lord in current circumstances and for the long-term work in God’s transformation of the nation.

We are thankful for all of you who held us up in prayer and provided material support. The community involved is growing and coming together.

Please, continue to pray for the recovery and for God’s calming of the earthquakes. We also continue to pray for the many people suffering from the hurricanes and flooding.

Thank you and blessings to each of you,

Chris and Francelia McReynolds

MeXed Oaxaca 2017

Letter to Zurisadai from a mother expressing thanks for healing of her daughter’s heart by God’s Word present in a children’s story and in her teacher.

Communicating with a growing network of partners through a growing number of ways can be a challenge. Here’s Francelia in a hotel room in Chiapas “Whatsapping” with one of our fellow AMO Trainers.

We join with all of you praying for those in Houston and in all areas affected by the hurricane. Please, pray for our team at The Antioch Partners (TAP), based in Houston. News from TAP’s director, Andrew Adair, is that they are safe and very busy helping others.

Andrew asks for prayer for Evelyn Smith, Personnel Assistant for TAP, who suffered a severe fracture to her left leg while in Uganda with a team from her church. Pray for her safe return from Uganda and her care back in Houston, if she is to stay there. Evelyn is a wonderful support to us and all TAP members around the world.

Please, pray for The Antioch Partners fundraiser dinner planned for the 28th of September. As mentioned, TAP provides support to us, and all TAP partners around the world, in a variety of very important ways. From health insurance and income tax withholding to educational support and spiritual well-being, they truly dedicated themselves to helping us. Please, consider donating to TAP and keep an eye on the website for updates.

Finally, we ask for your continued prayers for our upcoming MeXed gathering in Oaxaca, this September 19-21. Biblical Christian educators and friends from around Mexico and the United States will gather for the fifth year to strategize and equip for discipling the nation. Staying connected as the body of Christ is a crucial part of the work. Call (830) 719-5812 in the U.S. and (55) 2118-3003 in Mexico to join us.

MeXED Oaxaca 2017…join us!

Please, give thanks to God for the very successful AMO Training by Gloria Viveros in Guadalajara last week. This training for nine leaders, perhaps small by some measures, is crucial for opening future opportunities in that city.

Pray for Gloria and her training next week at Sureste Presbyterian Seminary in Tabasco. Pray for strength as she takes on these near-consecutive trainings. We are thankful and blessed by Gloria’s help which allows us to address other areas.

Since the last training at Sureste Seminary in January, approximately 100 more children have entered AMO® Programs. Also the video of the training, recorded at that time, has been sent for use in a Spanish-speaking ministry in – of all places – Stockholm, Sweden!

Dr. Elizabeth Youman’s was contacted by the ministry in Stockholm and has assigned one of our new AMO Trainers, Ely Aguilar in Oaxaca, to mentor the group by Skype as they go through the video training. (Congratulations to team AMO for putting technology to work for the Kingdom!)

Last week’s Disciple Nations Alliance (DNA) conference in Mexico City, led by the up-and-coming DNA Mexico team, was a great success, according to future AMO Trainer, Susie Frerichs, who attended. Susie reports these leaders should greatly help the spread of a biblical worldview among ministries across México. This in-turn helps implementation of AMO Program. Please, pray for this team led by José Curiel of YWAM Guadalajara.

Our visits in Chiapas last week rendered new friendships and future AMO Program training partners. Pray for Chiapas. Pray for the many poor rural indigenous communities who are influenced by activists pushing Marxist ideas, on the one hand, and discriminated against and marginalized by many in Mexico, on the other. Pray for the Church here to embrace AMO and engage in the battle of ideas that is raging. We thank God for his protection when we encountered a roadblock by activists demanding money for their cause, a common occurrence according to pastors we met with.

Pray for Mission On the Move Children’s Home in Tapachula, Chiapas. This group is doing wonderful work with children in need and we plan to offer AMO training for their house parents in future trainings.

Finally, pray for MeXED coming up September 19-20-21. You are invited to join us in Oaxaca for this important gathering of educators, proactive and focused, on Jesus’ command to make disciples of all nations. Contact us for details on how to attend…call Chris at U.S. mobile (830) 719-5812.

Dear Friends,

• Thanks for your prayers for Gloria Viveros. Gloria trained a wonderful group of parents and leaders in Mérida, Yucatán, earlier this month and expects at least three new children’s programs will result in local churches. She is now off to Guadalajara! She needs your continued prayers for another training starting there this coming week.
• We ask your prayers for Chiapas. We are here sharing about AMO Program for the first time. Pray for vision among the leaders here for the long-term commitment that it takes to implement education that transforms hearts and minds.
• Continue to pray for the group being trained to be AMO Trainers. The struggle of keeping up with classwork along with life’s many other obligations is difficult. Pray for clarity and wisdom from God in their coursework.
• Please, pray for the upcoming biblical worldview vision conference in Mexico City this August 7-11. Pray for the group of Mexican leaders who have organized the event, along with Disciple Nations Alliance, and will be doing much of the teaching. This is an important step in the spreading of God’s vision for life throughout Mexico.
• 

  MeXED 2016 panel discussion at San Pablo Seminary, Mérida, Yucatán.

  We invite you to join us at MeXED. We will gather in Oaxaca, September 19, 20, 21. We ask for your prayers for this important gathering of a variety of educators and supporters from Mexico and the United States. Pray for God’s vision of biblical Christian education and discipleship, for all ages, in Mexico to be clearly communicated and received. Please, call (830) 719-5812 for more information.

Thank you, for your prayers and we hope to see you in Oaxaca!

Chris and Francelia