December 2025-January 2026

Let us not therefore be weary of well doing: for in due season, we shall reap, if we faint not.   ~Galatians 6:9 

                                                                                                                                       

Seriously, I can hardly believe how God has answered our naïve, but sincere, prayers so spectacularly, and I'll never run out of gratitude for countless friends and co-laborers who have been vital to that well-doing process. December 12th, the Day of the Virgin here in Mexico, marked 48 years since our first day of arrival in Tepic (other than passing through en route to language school). We didn't even know what the Day of the Virgin was back then! Nor did we dream of the lifetime of stories, chapters, and sequels the Author and Finisher was about to write. The last week of December also marked 50 years since we crossed the US/Mexico border heading to Querétaro for language school...but a vapor, for sure! 

Blessings of God’s gracious harvest and “fainting not” — Years ago, more than forty now, during our early times in Tepic, Kirt met Lucio, a middle-aged man with whom he began to share the Gospel. Putting it mildly, the message was not well-received, and eventually, Lucio refused to listen at all. In fact, he was furious that we had come to Tepic for the purpose of spreading God’s Word, which he called, “the opiate for exploiting the masses.” Lucio faithfully read, memorized, and was determined to proclaim to his eight daughters and three sons, as well as everyone else he met, the teachings of his own “bible,” the Spanish version of Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto. There were no family portraits hanging in their house, instead, the living room was decorated with posters of Marx, Che Guevara, and Fidel Castro. 

Only our omniscient Father could have orchestrated the divine detours and appointments over the decades that followed, detours that began penetrating the hardened and hurting hearts of the children of that harsh and demanding father. All have professional careers, as he insisted; are divorcees, as he expected; and for years were open but empty targets of the enemy. Seven of those “girls,” now in their late forties, fifties, and sixties, have become believers in Jesus and followed Him in baptism. They are being marvelously transformed into new creatures, healing, growing, being discipled, and learning to use their God-given gifts to share the Truth with others as they begin serving their new-found Savior. 

As I walked one of them, Mirta, an esteemed director in Tepic’s public education system, through the six-month process of the basic steps of True Discipleship, God reinforced the promise that faithfulness and perseverance bear much unexpected fruit. Mirta repeatedly stopped our one-on-one sessions, placed her hand on her new, beautifully bound Bible, and with tears welling up in her eyes said: “If only I had known this before…I could have avoided so many tragedies in my life…my daughters…my ex-husband… the people I have hurt… the pain I have lived with…” 

And who would have imagined that one of hard-hearted Lucio’s grandchildren, Libertad (Her name means “Liberty”!), would be prepared to share the Gospel with him one last time, on his deathbed? We don’t know if Lucio’s last-minute confession was sincere, but we do know that his indoctrinated daughters are now our friends, sisters, Jesus’ disciples, and co-laborers. And we do know that Galatians 6:9 sustains us: Let us not therefore be weary of well doing: for in due season, we shall reap, if we faint not. 

And speaking of fainting not and reaping, we’re ramping up preparations for this year’s Huichol youth camp, Clay in the Potter’s Hands. We’ll be studying the Potter and the clay and learning to become vessels of purpose. This will be our 13th annual camp, and we’re expecting about 200 campers from across the Sierra Madre. It’s a logistical nightmare, but a dream come true, to watch hard-working, committed student leaders from IBBM–Tepic coordinate, sacrifice, and serve the Huichol community with such enthusiasm, while Huichol leaders also take on the responsibility of learning, teaching, and training their own. 

In our most recent planning meeting, it occurred to me that two kids from the very first youth camp we ever organized (not Huichol), more than four decades ago, were Martín, 15, from Tepic, and Erén, 14, from Culiacán. Who would have imagined that one day, Martín, who would become the pastor of IBBM-Tepic, along with Erén, now his wife, would be working together with the youth from our church to host a camp for young people from the Sierra Madre, who we pray will become the next generation of leaders in the Huichol church? 

No, you can’t make this up. He is faithful to His promise that in due season we will reap, and His vessels will bring ultimate glory to the divine Potter.