February-March 2026 

Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand. Jeremiah 18:6b. 

Since His ingenious creation of Adam, the Potter has been gathering and molding insignificant lumps of clay into an almost infinite variety of diverse and useful vessels for His glory. What a wise Potter He is, as He patiently selects, purifies, spins, shapes, and transforms His creation for good. The value and beauty of His handiwork are not derived from the worth of the common, rebellious raw material He uses, but rather from the sovereign ability of the Creator who transforms it. 

It is often difficult for that humble lump of clay to accept His plan, but as He communicated to Jeremiah, it is clearly His prerogative as the Potter to do as He pleases in the process. Over the past two months in Tepic, we have seen remarkable evidence of His power to design and produce vessels that reflect His glory. 

February started off with a round of cartel craziness and extreme violence with the assassination of the CJNG drug lord, El Mencho. The cartel retaliated with narco-blockades, carjackings, torching, firebombing of businesses, and all-around violence in our state and neighboring states. We were forced to cancel Sunday services at IBBM; schools and businesses were closed; all forms of public transport, including airport traffic, were halted; and flights were cancelled. Friends from the US who had planned a short-term mission trip to Tepic wisely postponed their visit. There is already a replacement for El Mencho, and “sleeper cells” are back at work carrying out more of their evil deeds. Regardless, we rest in the knowledge that the Potter is ultimately in control of the wheel. 

Intense preparations for the 13th annual Huichol youth camp, Clay in Your Hands, didn’t miss a beat. We never know for sure what the final count will be until everyone arrives from villages all throughout the Sierra Madre. We estimated about 200; 224 showed up. The theme this year was perfect as we studied the Potter, the clay, and what it means to become vessels of purpose through the examples of Mary Magdalene, Moses, and Peter. It’s nothing short of a miracle to watch the hard-working, committed student leaders from IBBM–Tepic coordinate, sacrifice, and serve the Huichol community with such love and enthusiasm, while Huichol leaders also take on the responsibility of learning, teaching, and training their own. The campground supplies nothing; we must store, transport, and set up everything (stoves, gas tanks, tables, chairs, even the electrical connections). As soon as everyone was registered and had received their camp T-shirts, blankets, and team assignments, we met under the enormous canopy for Pastor Refugio’s well-prepared introduction. 

No sooner had he finished praying and spoken a sentence or two of his opening remarks about our camp theme, Clay in Your Hands, than thunder clapped, lightning flashed all around us, and a super-intense tropical rainstorm, complete with one-inch hailstones, poured down. Our rainy season usually starts in mid-June. I’ve been in Tepic since 1977 and never have seen a rainstorm like this in March, the middle of the dry season. 

Everyone huddled together in the center of the auditorium under the giant canopy. Instruments were quickly stuffed into jumbo garbage bags. The IBBM volunteer staff went around with broomsticks, releasing gallons of water that kept accumulating in the canopy to keep it from collapsing. Tents were soaked, and the ground was completely saturated. Here’s a short video clip of the fun. Within minutes, what had been a grassy, dry campground turned into one giant vat of clay…in the Potter’s hands. 

After the rain had stopped, I walked to my truck to take some campers whose tents were soaked back into town to stay at my house for the night. We trudged through mud up to our ankles, and there was no high ground anywhere. 

It has been incredible to watch the response of the Tepic church leaders and youth staff as they poured out their last ounce of strength to serve the Huichol campers, all the while insisting that this is confirmation that God is doing something important that we must not ignore. By morning, blankets, clothes, and tents were spread out and hanging everywhere, soaking up the sun and drying out for the night. No one seemed to notice the disorder. Nathan (UIM pilot) and Kayla took piles of sopping wet, muddy blankets home to launder and dry by bedtime the next day. I am so very proud of them all. 

Last year’s camp theme was No Turning Back. This was a test, and they passed 100%. By the end of this camp, we could not praise the Potter enough for adding eleven new lumps of clay to His family, and many campers made the wise choice to give their lives to be vessels of purpose in His Kingdom. 

*Pictures and videos from this year’s Huichol youth camp, Clay in Your Hands, here.