Airplanes, Skits and God's Grace

Howdy y'all!

I hope this update finds you all well and resting in God! Thank you again for your prayers and support!

This morning, as I was reading my devotional from Exodus 14:10, 13-16, God caught me with a couple words that fit this time in my life perfectly. This passage is from the story of Moses leading the people out of Egypt, when they look up to find Pharaoh and his army pursuing them. Moses instructs the people to “Be still” before God, then “Move on.” I’m sure you’ll soon see how these fit shortly…

When I left you last, I was transitioning out of my spring role as a Volunteer Staff Worker with Compa and into my summer role as a Facilitator with Spearhead. Since then, my new role has consumed most all of my time. The first two weeks of June were dominated by visiting churches and families that would host our Spearheaders for the summer; meeting with my co-faciliator, Carolyn; praying for the Spearheaders; and planning everything imaginable. My responsibilities ranged from scheduling the picking up of people at the airport, to a talk entitled “So You Don’t Speak Spanish?”

The chaos reached its peak on June 15th, as I coordinated the greeting and transportation of the Spearheaders from the airport to the hotel for orientation, having not slept for the previous two nights. By God’s grace, I made it through. Praise God that most everything happened close to on-schedule, and by God’s grace, I made it to the hotel in time to eat dinner before giving the Welcome, the very first presentation the Spearheaders heard when they arrived!

The next couple days passed as a bit of a blur, especially since I did the whole week on 9 hours of sleep, between Thursday and Friday nights. By God’s grace, though, I managed to remember parts for multiple skits (me, acting!) and two major speeches , while constantly observing the Spearheaders. Thursday night, less than 36 hours after having met most of our team, we had to turn our observations into the biggest decision we will make for them all summer – roommate and ministry assignments! Yikes! Yet we saw God move in a beautiful way. As we started considering roommate pairs, the leadership team was of one heart and mind and made decisions for all of our Spearheaders in about 45 minutes, over ice cream, milkshakes, and coffee… God was so good! Less than 36 hours after that, we prayed for them and sent them off on their Mexican adventures, and breathed a collective sigh of exhaustion, as we went our separate ways for the weekend.

The weekend didn’t last very long, though. With Tuesday morning we began the race again with our first Spanish class and team meeting since we sent the Spearheaders out on Saturday. It brought excitement and some interesting stories, but mostly everyone was excited to start formally learning Spanish, and to see other Americans again! The rest of the week included highlights like an evangelism workshop and a clown skit that Wendy, Stephanie, Carolyn, Patrick and I prepared, and visiting the Zocalo (literally, town square) and National Palace, before taking a break for the weekend. For the staff, that meant birthdays. We celebrated our Director, Paul’s, birthday on Saturday and my 24th birthday on Monday, separated by visits to our Spearheaders’ churches, before starting another new week, this time with a little less chaos but still at a breakneck pace.

In the midst of all of this, I have been trying to slow down and spend time with God. I have also been contemplating the questions “What will I do when I return to the States in 6 weeks?” and “Where will I live?” These lovely and disturbing questions still have no answer, and as a planner, it’s starting to get to me. Particularly in light of the fact that, after sending out multiple applications, I’ve gotten no response at all, and I have to return, at least for a time, to Michigan, to retrieve my car – plus, it’s about $125 cheaper to fly to Michigan than to Texas… Go figure!

In light of this uncertainty, God’s message to me this morning could not have been better timed! “Be still” and rest in me, and I will provide for you in all you need, yet “move on” in living life and doing what needs to be done.

I truly appreciate your prayers! They make everything I do here possible. So please be praying:

• That the Gospel would RUN here in Mexico City!


• For Carolyn’s and my team:
  o “The Gals” – Leslie and Rachel, Ig. Nazarena El Renuevo (The Renewal Nazarene Church), Compassion International site in Tultitlan - North
  o “The Guys” – Luke and Chris, Centro Cristiana Dios Es Amor (God is Love Christian Center), Cuajimalpa – West
  o “The Couple” – James and Christy, Ig. Cristiana Sion (Zion Christian Church, “The Church on the Mountain”), Magdelena Contrera – South; site of my fall ministry


• For my accountability group:
  o Christy – Ig. Cristiana Sion, ”The Church on the Mountain”
  o Jenna* – Ig. Bautista Cristo Promesa Fiel (Christ’s Faithful Promise Baptist Church); STiMer
  o Erin* – Ig. Cristiana del Valle de Mexico (Christian Church of the Valley of Mexico)


• For the team as a whole!


• That God would continue to show me the next steps after Spearhead ends in August


• For the last of my financial support to come in – now less than $900!
  

Thank you for your prayers and support! I love you all!
God bless!
Nicole


*I also “Coach” or disciple these two lovely ladies!
**Sorry for the lack of pictures… I keep forgetting to buy new batteries for my camera, preventing me from either taking pictures or uploading them to my computer…

Dogs, Teammates, and More Goodbyes

Howdy y’all!

Praise the Lord, who is faithful in all things! I specifically want to praise God and thank each of my donors, who gave in huge ways throughout the months of April and May. To the best of my knowledge, I am only about $850 away from being fully funded for the remainder of my time here! God is so good!

Summer is just around the corner, which means that I am yet again in the midst of big changes, but I know God is behind this one and I am excited about where God is taking me!

My last update detailed my travels within Mexico and my visit home to renew my tourist card. I returned to Mexico on May 3rd and jumped straight back into ministry, meeting with Abril, whom I’ve been tutoring in English this spring, and my Derecho (day-ray-ch; law) students the following day. This was followed by a party to celebrate my teammate Jonathan’s birthday and say goodbye, as he has since returned to the States. Other than that, my first two weeks back were relatively uneventful, with the exception of getting the chance to lead a Bible study in Spanish with my Derecho students! We talked about evangelism and the first evangelist with a story – Philip, in John 1. I enjoyed spending that time with my students and literally drawing in the dirt to illustrate a few of my points! Needless to say, I felt a little bit like Jesus!

The week before last, however, was time to say goodbye to ordinary, because my spring ministry came to an end and I had to say goodbye, first to my Compa students and staff team, then to my church, as I venture out to begin my new ministry this weekend. Both were sweet times of reminiscing about the work that God has done and the lives He’s allowed me to impact, often without realizing it. I think, of all the comments, thanks and praises I heard during the course of that week, the one that spoke most directly to my heart was a comment from Mario, full-time staff with Compa in Mexico City, who told me “The students love you” – rough translation – then proceeded to explain that the general rule for work with Compa is to spend the first year or two just getting to know the students. By their expectations, I not only succeeded, I soared. It was a sweet message from God to close out such a challenging spring.

With my Spring ministry and church involvement wrapped up, I prepared for the annual Leadership Training Retreat at Campomento Kikoten (Camp Kikoten), about an hour outside of Mexico City. Tuesday morning, we packed up and made the hour drive (I got to do some of the driving!), for four crazy days filled with laughter, learning, skits, and general chaos, amidst a beautiful, tree-filled camp, guarded by five or six beautiful dogs. My personal favorite was a giant, solid black mutt named Goliat (Goliath), who just loved to sit at my feet and let me scratch his ears. He was the perfect companion for exploring several acres of trees, meadows, ropes course elements and camp buildings, and he did a great job assuaging my longing for my own, beautiful Siberian Husky, Libby, who is currently living with my parents, back in Michigan. Unfortunately, hanging out with Goliat wasn’t the focus of our retreat, although he did hang around for most of it.

Actually, the retreat was meant for my teammates, Carolyn, Stephanie, Patrick and I to learn about how to be team facilitators for the summer Spearheaders, who will arrive in less than 3 weeks! We diligently attempted to absorb all the information our directors, Paul & Nydia Johnson and Wendy Der, tried to share with us, and prepare a collection of skits and workshops to give our Spearheaders; while building trust and doing fun games and activities, lead by LAM missionary Cliff McCalister, to teach us more about working together, communication, and trust. It was a fabulous week!

We also found out who our co-leaders will be for the summer! I will be working with Carolyn Deemer, of Pittsburgh, PA, who served with me while I was here in 2009. She and I are looking forward to meeting our Spearheaders and working with three churches around Mexico City. We will be working with my “Church on the Mountain” – Monte Sion, in Magdelena Contrera, in the south of the city. I can’t wait to go back and visit all my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ there, like Lupita, Sergio and Diana! We will also be working with two churches I’m less familiar with, El Renuevo, near Tultitlan, in the north, and Dios es Amor, near Tacubaya, to the west of the city. We can’t wait to see how God will use our jovenés to glorify His name and be a Light in the Darkness to the people they meet!


This summer, we will receive 13 participants from all over the United States. Strangely, with all the violence and bad publicity that certain parts of Mexico have received in recent months, we are expecting a slightly older team than is normal, and several of the participants will be older than Carolyn and I! Even so, we are excited to meet them! I am particularly looking forward to receiving the 3 STiM team (Student Training in Missions) participants from Texas! I can’t wait to meet them, learn their stories, and walk with them through this next piece in their journey with God and missions!

I would truly appreciate it if you would continue to pray for me in the following ways:

• Clarity and order in the transition out of a standard church and ministry role, to the more fluid and dynamic role of a Team Facilitator, for me and my entire YearOut team.


• Funding -Praise for the $2,660 that came in during the month of April, with more expected in May!


• For the summer Spearheaders, that they would be prepared spiritually, emotionally, physically, and financially for their summer experiences, and that they would all arrive safely, on June 15th. - At least 3 are still in financial need for the summer.


• For the entire YearOut Team:
  As we bond with our Team Facilitator partners (co-leaders): Patrick & Stephanie and Carolyn & I.
  As we visit churches and prepare for our leadership roles.
  As we consider the future, and “What’s next?” – At least one of us is still considering a second ear, and the rest of us need to find jobs when we return to the States.

Thank you for your faithful prayers and support! I love you all very dearly!
God bless!
Nicole

Travels and the Faithfulness of God

Howdy!

I can’t believe April is over, it’s been such a whirlwind! Since I last wrote to you, I have:

• Attended a three day retreat with my teammates in Valle de Bravo, Mexico.
• Read an entire book, intended for grown-ups, in Spanish!
• Moved, again!
• Attended a week-long camp in Necaxa, Puelba, with my students from Compa!
• Celebrated the resurrection of our Lord and Savior in Mexico!
• Flown back to the States to renew my tourist card for Mexico.

It has been a crazy month, but it has been filled with good things, hard things, and just plain crazy things.

Just days after writing to you, my teammates and I headed to Valle de Bravo, Mexico, to spend 3 days away from the city, praying, doing a crash course through Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Pastor Pete Scazzero. My teammates and I enjoyed meeting with God and working through exercises on family, confession, prayer, and journaling in the midst of a beautiful, Canadian-style retreat center. We also enjoyed some time on the man-made lake, taking a boat tour of the shore line, and doing some hiking to see mountain tops and waterfalls. Needless to say, after Mexico City’s pollution, the clean, fresh air, green things and clean water of God’s creation did us good! A couple of us even got a chance to drive!

After our retreat, we headed back to the city and I set myself to reading a book in Spanish about discovering the will of God. I finished it! My understanding… Well, let’s just say that it was augmented by having read several books on this topic in English… But hey, I did it! And I finished it in the midst of packing for my 6th move since January! Unfortunately, Hermana Nereyda’s son, Carlos, got transferred back to Mexico City and is living with her until his wife and son can follow in July. Since Hermana Nereyda’s home only has two bedrooms, I was out of a house. Thankfully, my community here in Mexico is wonderful and I have moved back to the home of Fernando and Elvia De Alba, where I have lived in transition times all year long. I am so thankful for their willingness to open their home yet again!

Finally, I spent all of last week in Necaxa, Puelba, for Compa’s national camp. I was able to attend with four of my students from the Derecho celula (Law small group) at UNAM, as well as over 350 staff and students from all over Mexico! It was a great time to reconnect with some friends from regional staff retreat in January, as well as my local staff team. I was also able to meet some wonderful students and staff from around Mexico, like Anayeli from Tabasco, who lead the small group I was a part of all week, and Meri, from Mexico City by way of Japan! We had a blast all week! We even saw Alex, one of the guys in our small group, accept Christ on Thursday night! I am so thankful for the time I got to spend with Compa! As the only blonde in the entire camp, I never lacked conversation partners! In fact, the lack was so pronounced and I answered so many questions (Most commonly “Where you from?”), that by Thursday morning I had managed to swallow enough air to make me physically sick! At least, that’s what the camp doctor told me when I came in… It was an amazing week of meeting with students and with God!

After camp, I returned, exhausted, to Mexico City to celebrate Easter Sunday, before flying to Michigan. I arrived Monday afternoon and will return to Mexico City on Tuesday. While here, I have visited my home church and spent time with family and friends. I have also enjoyed some rest and shopping.

Finally, I am praising God for the donation I received from a church in my hometown, giving $1000 toward my time in Mexico City! And, just today, I found out that my home church has sent in another big donation! I am now less than $2200 from being fully funded for the remainder of my time in Mexico. I would like to ask you to prayerfully consider giving $10, $25, $50, or $100 toward my final four months in Mexico City. I need to have raised $1200 of that by May 20th. Even more, I need you’re your prayers! Although my needs are big, our God is faithful!

Please continue to pray:

• I need to have at least $1200 over May’s expenses in my account by May 20th to be able to stay for the summer, so please pray that God would be faithful to provide and that people would respond to His leading.
• I will be saying goodbye to my church and to my Compa students in the next 3 weeks, as I transition to my summer ministry, so please pray for sweet goodbyes and easy transitions, and that God would be glorified in it all.
• The De Alba family presently has their home for sale. Please pray that it will sell in July or August, but that I will not have to move again until I return to the States in August.
• I will be in some form of leadership with the Spearhead Summer Team, so please pray for growth in my leadership abilities and for the Summer Spearheaders, that God would be preparing them for whatever they will face when they arrive.

God is good and faithful! I hope that He is reminding you of that in this time.

Love in Christ!
Nicole

The Humor of February

Well, my roommate Ashley wanted to create a blog of all my Facebook posts from the month of Februay, but she deleted her facebook. So, in her honor, here it is:

Nicole Dietzel
All moved in to my new home... And an 8x10 room that I will share with Ashley for, God willing, the next 7 to 8 months.... It's going to be an adventure! =D
January 26 at 4:21pm

Nicole Dietzel
Methinks I live in a zoo... We have a beta, two small shaky things commonly called chihuahuas and six, yes, six, turtles... Add in the six humans and you have created quite the menagerie.
January 28 at 9:51am

Nicole Dietzel
Walk or Metro??? If it were an hour earlier, I would definitely say walk... As it is, the dilemna remains...
January 29 at 5:35pm

Nicole Dietzel
Texas is getting snow, Michigan is under a blizzard warning... Mexico City.. Well, its about 75 and gorgeous! =D Don't be jealous, y'all!
February 1 at 12:20pm

Nicole Dietzel
if you were a fuse on a small, portable sound system, where would you be?
February 1 at 12:33pm

Nicole Dietzel
Craving salt... whether in the form of yummy, delicious tacos with lime or some yummy chips, preferably also with lime, simply doesn't matter, just as long as there's salt...
February 1 at 4:46pm

Nicole Dietzel
Day off means time for a movie, in Spanish! And I can't find the subtitles...
February 2 at 4:13pm

Nicole Dietzel
I have decided that 2 of the animals, the ones called chihuahuas, are not actually dogs, but rats... that can bark...
February 2 at 5:09pm

Nicole Dietzel
So I'm at the office, avoiding Rat 1 and Rat 2, as I have named the chihuahuas that currently cohabitat my house...
February 5 at 4:32pm

Nicole Dietzel
Is very excited! I visited my second of three potential new churches and don't anticipate visiting any more! Even better, it's like 3 minutes from my house!
February 6 at 3:43pm

Nicole Dietzel
I will dance, I will sing to be mad for my King. Nothing, Lord, is hindering this passion in my soul! - Undignified
February 8 at 3:12pm

Nicole Dietzel
Feels like shouting from the rooftops! Oh wait, I already did that! Celebrating the joy of the Lord in my new brother, Samuel! =D
February 9 at 5:41pm

Nicole Dietzel
Not sure what it means if you're afraid to lean on, set anything on or even touch the bathroom sink because you're afraid it will fall off the wall...
February 10 at 3:13pm

Nicole Dietzel
‎... So according to Ashley's computer, what we know of as our room is best defined as a padded cell...
February 10 at 4:24pm

Nicole Dietzel
Spanish class + the MegaCelula at the UNAM + Stephanie's birthday = AWESOME DAY!
February 12 at 12:03am

Nicole Dietzel
Can now add breaking and entering... Or mostly just the entering, to the list of insanities of Mexico... Ashley climbed in through the window after we got locked out doing laundry... Yay chaos!
February 14 at 1:03am

Nicole Dietzel
Homesick for a nice, yummy sirloin steak... Or any meat that is more than 1/4 an inch thick... Oh well, somebody can treat me when I come home to renew my tourist card... =D
February 14 at 1:09am

Nicole Dietzel
Finds it amusing that my 21 year old brother has greater, general, maturity than my 32 year old host brother...
February 14 at 5:06pm

Nicole Dietzel
‎... 2 Seminary classes... in Spanish... My present reading level in Spanish... about 5th grade... Might just be in over my head here...
February 15 at 1:04pm

Nicole Dietzel
Asking God what he's up to, again... But I also know that it is darkest just before the dawn, and joy comes in the morning.
February 17 at 11:05pm

Nicole Dietzel
Well... I think Rat One and Rat Two may have finally started to grow on me... As rats, not as dogs...
February 18 at 7:41pm

Nicole Dietzel
‎... Technically they're chihuahuas... but they shake and they're afraid to leave the house, I mean, they do their business on rags left around the house for them... rats...
February 19 at 10:20am

Nicole Dietzel
God seems to like asking me for just a little more than I can do on my own, but he always comes through! Like now... Hence, nap time... =D
February 21 at 5:26pm

Nicole Dietzel
Well, we said goodbye to King Neto tonight, he's leaving for Acapulco tomorrow morning and we move on Sunday. Yay for crazy families and WHOOP for seeing God move in the midst of insanity.
February 23 at 11:38pm

Nicole Dietzel
Another day, another chaos, another opportunity to see God's hand at work!
February 24 at 9:47pm

Nicole Dietzel
Has been in bed for a good 12 hours... Haven't slept for all of it, but that's ok. I feel lots better, anyway.

Not sick! If you're curious, my latest update should be up by the end of the weekend.
February 26 at 11:28am

Nicole Dietzel
Week and a half of insanity has officially ended. Now to decompress without exploding from lack of pressure...
February 27 at 4:39pm

February was as crazy month, but I saw God move and maintained a sense of humor amidst it all. So I hope you enjoyed all the humor of February!

You Write the Words

There are days when I sing for the masses
When my songs get repeated back to me by thousands
And there are days when I know
That the only one who hears me is you
So what do I do – when

I don’t know what to say that hasn’t already been said
I don’t know what to write that hasn’t already been read
I don’t know what to play that you haven’t already heard
So here’s my song, you write the words
Here’s my heart, you write the words
Here’s my life, you write the words.
- FFH, “You Write the Words”

This song has been the cry of my heart for the last several weeks, reminding me that even when I’m completely clueless and my world feels like it’s falling down around me, my God is still in control, and is calling me to hand over the pen.

Last month, God came knocking, asking for a part of my dream of staying in Mexico, sharing an apartment with my best friend here and ministering side by side on college campuses around the city, when He took my roommate and best friend, Ashley, back to the States. This month, he came knocking for the rest of my dream, because I simply won’t have the funding to stay. All this in the midst of transitioning between houses and trying to get my ministries at my church and Compa going, and while studying for seminary classes in Spanish.

To say that this month has been hard is an understatement, but I also know that our hurts force us to depend on God and our community more. The most beautiful part of all of the pain was watching my Compa staff team and students rally around me. They’re not carrying my financial burden, but they are coming alongside and carrying some of the emotional burden with me for a while, and in doing so, somehow, my burden has become lighter.

As mentioned, I continue to work with Compa and see God’s glory in the way he is moving among them. My staff team and I continue to study Ephesians together, through a class from Moore Theological College in Australia, and week by week I am becoming more and more able to comprehend and contribute to our discussions. The students in my celula at UNAM continue to amaze me as they craft wonderful thematic Bible studies, while making me laugh because they don’t quite know how to get all the plates spinning at once just yet. But it’s always fun seeing what they want to learn about each week! And I recently was able to return to my other campus, the ESCA – Tepepan, where I attended a celula last fall. It was so good to reconnect with my wonderful students there and to see a new member to our small group! Vladamir is Maricela’s younger brother and is a second semester freshman! His involvement is an answer to prayer, because it means that this celula can remain active until he graduates in 2014!

Things also continue to go well with my church, where I have recently unknowingly become one of the founding members of the jovenés worship team, as lead guitarist, because my “mad skills” are the best in the bunch… Needless to say, I’m terrified, particularly with our first song including B-minor, a bar chord, which involves holding down all strings with a single finger, which I still haven’t mastered. However, I must learn, so here goes nothing!

Finally, I am so thankful for the generous financial support that I have received thus far. However, I am facing a very grave financial deficit. I have a monthly deficit of $870 and, as of now, I will run out of funds at the end of April. I cannot stay if I begin to run a deficit with LAM. Thus, in order to stay here through the summer, I will need a grand total of $3300, which is a very reachable number, except that I have no one new to ask. At this point, I am more than happy to receive one-time gifts to fill in the gaps, but one-time gifts will not re-open the door to remain for a second year, and I will more than likely be returning in August, if not sooner, if my financial situation does not improve.

Please pray for:

• Funding, as I need to raise $3300 more to stay through the end of our summer program, the piece I’ve been most excited about since I decided to come to Mexico a year ago.
• My ESCA and UNAM students, that they would lead Bible studies that are powerful and Christ-centered, and that they would be growing in their faith and sharing it with others.
• With my return to the US pending, that someone else would be raised up to work with my students at the ESCA-Tepepan, empowering Vladamir to continue meeting with believers on his campus and that he will grow into a powerful leader there.
• My emotional health, as I will begin counseling to deal with some of the emotional issues that have come up as a result of the chaos of my life over the month and a half.
• That I would hold loosely to the many dreams I find springing up inside my head on any given day, remaining open to the things God wants to do with me.

God bless!

Nicole

Transitions and the Fingerprints of God

Howdy y’all!

I am more thankful for your prayers and support this month than I have ever been, as God has been doing some strange and stressful, but good things in my life and in the lives of those around me.

It has been a month filled with transitions for me. If you remember, in my last update, I was excited and hopeful for having just moved in with my new host family and roommate and was hopeful that I would not be moving again until August. Well, in both of those things God had other plans. Although our new family was very welcoming and wanted our trust, we encountered some of the brokenness of Mexican family life in a new way this month. Unfortunately, that brokenness inhibited Ashley and I from truly integrating with this family in a positive and healthy way. The added stress also brought to light some emotional issues in Ashley’s life, which she will be leaving Mexico to deal with more effectively. Between the two pieces, it became clear, both to my leaders and to me, that it would be best for everyone if I also move when Ashley leaves. At this point, I will be returning to the De Alba home for a few days until a new host family can be arranged.

Despite the chaos in my living situation, it remained a place of deep ministry for me. Just two weeks into my time here, I happened to be present for a conversation between my host mom, Hermana Ursula, and our cousin, Samuel, in which Hermana Ursula was presenting the benefits of faith in Christ to Samuel. When I got a chance to speak, I was able to ask Samuel if he even knew who Jesus was and thus earned the opportunity to share the Gospel of a Lord who would leave everything to become a man, even more, a baby, and then live a perfect life that we could never live and then be unjustly and cruelly murdered, but then not stay dead. Instead, this Lord was raised to life and lives to restore our world to its intended glory. Later, I got to ask a few more questions and eventually Hermana Ursula was blessed with the opportunity to lead Samuel in prayer to accept Christ as Lord! I was also able to minister to Ashley in a way that could only have been possible through the grace of God as she began dealing with the depth of her emotional issues.

A month ago, I was also nervous about finding a new church, having left my wonderful and loving church on the mountain but not having the opportunity to visit my potential new churches. This month, I visited two churches and saw God’s hand at work in amazing ways. Within minutes of walking into the first church, I knew it wasn’t the church for me, because it was simply too big for me to get involved with. Yet, the following week, when I visited the church that I would choose, I knew just as quickly that it was the right church for me. My new church is La Cuarta Iglesia Nazarene de la Cuidad de Mexico and is located just three minutes walk from my current house. Although I will be moving in a few days, I will remain with this church, for which I am truly thankful, as I am already starting to build friendships there. Thus far, my ministry consists primarily of attending services and observing at jovenes group activities, however, I look forward to having a greater voice among them as I get to know them better and am hoping to lead an inductive Bible study with a few of the more spiritually mature jovenes and leaders.

I have also had a wonderful month with Compa and my ministry there. I attended my first celula (small group) just a few days ago and look forward to getting more involved as the celulas actually get started. I have also been attending staff and leaders’ meetings and have enjoyed getting to know the members of my area staff team, Ada, Hendi, and Benjamin, better. Together, the four of us will minister to roughly eight campuses and seventeen celulas located in the southern part of the city, including La ESCA, where I attended a celula in the fall, and the UNAM, one of the largest universities in the world, with a student body numbering over 315,000! I will continue working with the students at La ESCA and have already begun a celula with the Facultad de Derecho (Faculty of Law) students. I am also hoping to get involved with a celula for the Facultades de Ingeniro y Arcitectura (Faculties of Engineering and Architecture), which I am truly looking forward to! Having grown up with my parents, both with degrees in engineering, and having attended Texas A&M, where every other student, or so it seems, is or has been an engineering student, I have been surrounded by engineers for nearly my entire life. In fact, I’ve never been away from them for this long, ever. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to being around engineers again!

One of the craziest new developments this month has been the introduction of seminary classes into my schedule. I will be taking two classes, via distance education, with Moore Theological College, located in Australia. The bigger shock, though, is that these classes will be conducted in Spanish, and I currently have about a fifth grade reading level in Spanish. And if this doesn’t seem insane or crazy to you, you didn’t read this paragraph very carefully… The incredible part, though, is that I do have a fifth grade reading level in Spanish, having studied Spanish for all of eight months of my life. Eight!

Overall, this month has been one of my most difficult months here in Mexico, but also the one where I most clearly saw God’s hand at work in the various parts of my life. From watching God move to care for Ashley and I in a deeply emotional time, to welcoming Samuel into the family, to meeting some of my new students, God’s fingerprints have been everywhere I look.

Please continue praying for:

• Ashley, that she would be restored to full emotional health and that God would lead her in this time of unexpected transitions
• All the transitions that are continuing to occur in my life, including Ashley leaving, moving in with a new family, and my seminary classes
• My students at the ESCA, that they would truly be ready to share their faith and be intentional and invitational with their fellow students, giving their celula a chance to continue into next year
• My Derecho students, that God would be at work among them and be growing them into men and women who look like Him!
• My Ingeniro y Arcitectura students, that God would give them a passion for sharing the Gospel with their fellow students

Love in Christ!

Nicole

Moving and Pink Bows

Howdy y’all!

I hope this update finds you in good health and growing in your walk with the Lord! I pray that in these days He would teach you to pray, even as He is teaching me!

I said goodbye to my church from the fall, Iglesia Cristiana Sion, almost two weeks ago. It was a sweet and beautiful goodbye from a people that I have grown to dearly love and will miss as I move into a new and equally wonderful, but very different, season in my life and my ministry. During my final Sunday in church, Johan, my pastor, singled out pretty much every member in the congregation over age 9 to say something to me, with sweet responses ranging from “Thank you for being an example to me,” to my dear Lupita, 11, who couldn’t speak through her tears, to Johan’s many sweet memories. These included teaching him English, the many, many conversations during our rides up to the church, my favorite food – Tacos al Pastor (tah-coes ah-l pah-store) and the silly jokes I liked to make when the car proved just a little too short to clear the topes (toe-pays; road humps – those bumps in the road that are way bigger than speed bumps). I later found out that one of my jovenes (hoe-ben- ace) also jokingly requested that they stick a pink bow (to match the gifts they gave me) on him so I would take him back to the States with me… Needless to say, it made everyone laugh!

Since then, I have been waiting anxiously for school to start and for my students to return from their far off lands of Puebla, the Estado de Mexico, and who knows where else, to begin their classes. For my students at the ESCA, this will be the beginning of their final semester and, hopefully, an evangelistic outreach that will allow their celula (cell-oo-lah) to continue into the coming year. I will also, most likely, be getting involved with at least one celula, possibly two, at UNAM, which is possibly the largest university in all the Americas, boasting a student body of 315,000, well over six times that of my beloved Texas A&M University, which currently ranks seventh largest public university in the United States.

I am also looking forward to beginning the process of finding a new church. I took last week off to visit my friend and YearOut teammate, Stephanie, at her church, Iglesia Bautista “El Buen Pastor en Getsemani” (Ig-lay-see-ah Bah-oo-tea-st-ah Ayl Bwayn Pah-store En Hayt-say-ma-knee). I enjoyed my visit there, but I am also excited about finding my new church and settling in there.

Finally, I have moved twice since my last update. I spent a little over a week with my director, Paul Johnson’s, in-laws, the De Alba’s, as interim housing, while my new family finished putting in a new, tile floor on the first floor of their house. My roommate, Ashley, and I met our new family and moved into our new home just two days ago. We live with a single woman, Hermana Ursula, and her three children, Ernesto (32), Ursula (30), and Ere (26; short for a name I can’t begin to pronounce, let alone write). Ashley and I share a small room with minimal furniture. We’ve managed to find places for most all of our things, but are still eagerly waiting for bed-side tables to create just a tad more shelf space, to augment the portable armoire, a small bookshelf, and the window ledges…

As you pray for me this month, please pray specifically for:

• My relationship with my new roommate and host family.
• My search for a new church home here in Mexico.
• My students, that they would return to school ready to graduate, but also ready to see their small group grow and continue on into the coming year.
• My funding! I sent out almost 60 letters just a week ago and am desperately in need of a good response from these letters. Please pray specifically that people would open their hearts and give as God leads them.
  

Much love and God bless!

Nicole

Review of The Next Christians: The Good News About the End of Christian America

Now it is not my typical response to pick up a Christian sociology book, not because it doesn’t interest me, but because I am typically more interested in the Christian Living or discipleship book about an issue that I am struggling with or feel God is leading me to deal with – often buying the book assuages that feeling for a little while… Occasionally, I even by books because dear friends are struggling with certain issues or because I’m trying to answer somebody’s ridiculously in-depth or outrageous questions that I never had with my faith. If nothing else, the Christian sociology books just tend to be outside my small budget. So why on earth did Gabe Lyons’ book catch my eye? Honestly, because it is a book about active faith. Not activism, mind you, which is purely political in nature, but faith that motivates real, practical action to fix the problems in our world.

The premise on which the book is built is based on research that Lyons’ non-profit organization did a few years ago, talking with teens about how they view faith and spirituality and the Christian name. I do understand that there are good reasons why teens and young adults have issues with their faith. Honestly, I can say that I, and a few too many of my friends, used to be among them. Our connotation when we heard the word Christian wasn’t good, and we brought a few strange ideas to the table, even if we were, ourselves, nominally Christian. Quite simply, over the last forty to fifty years, Christians have fallen from grace and from prominence of voice in the American culture. What Lyons did in this book is capture the heart of the movement of Christianity in America that will carry it into the future. It’s the type of movement that restores grace and gives Christians a voice. What makes it awesome is that Lyons gives words to the movements and changes that Christian leaders who work among teens and young adults have been seeing for the past several years.

So what’s so different about these “new” Christians? To describe them in a single word, restoration marks these new Christians. They are moving away from a “Me”-centered faith to a faith that recognizes how they fit in the world. When these new Christians find problems with their world, instead of withdrawing into themselves or deciding to just go with the flow and live among the failures of the world, they take action. They recognize that the Gospel does not start with their sin and does not end with their salvation, but that a grander plan is at work. They start at the beginning, with the created, perfect world, and end with that perfect world being restored, and they realize that THEY have an active role in creating that restoration.

In his book, Lyons talks about six dimensions of this new Christian, contrasting them with past generations of Christianity and giving living, vibrant examples of people who have put his dimensions into practice. He gives real examples, like the non-profit organization To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA), whose t-shirt design was one of Hot Topic’s best sellers for quite some time, and Paste magazine, whose founders chose to evaluate contemporary and pop art based on its artistic quality, not on the artist’s character or social faux paux.

While the book often seems to lack the scriptural references that are expected of any book in the “Christian” section of your local bookstore, Lyons does insert scripture at strategic points. He uses scripture less as the recipe, forming the definition of Christianity, instead focusing on movements in Christianity and showing how they are re-conforming themselves to scripture. This creates an interesting dynamic, because he explains where these new Christians are going, then anticipates people taking offense and correctly invokes scripture to affirm the offensive movements. In fact, for a sociologically-minded, rather than a discipleship-minded, perspective, he does, in fact, make the correct choice in using less scripture, thus creating a book that is more accessible to a secular audience, because it becomes a book about what Christianity IS instead of what it is supposed to be.

Despite the incredible strengths and occasional weak points in this book, I fell in love with it and with Lyons’ message for two reasons. First, I have seen countless numbers of his points proven true in both my own life and the lives of my friends, thereby giving confirmation to the movement he is recording. And second, as a campus minister working with the same population on which his research is based, I began to recognize the grand opportunity I have to bring this movement of restoration in Christianity to my students, specifically to my Mexican students. For so many years, the reason I ran from faith was because I recognized that the Bible spoke of active faith, yet everywhere I turned, faith was presented to me as passive and without lasting impact. My faith became my own when I finally encountered restoration-minded Christians, whose faith lead to real, tangible action. Now, my act of restoration is to pass on the restoration mind-set to my college students, who can take that restoration to so many more corners of the world and of Mexico than I could ever dream of gaining access to.

Baptisms and Babysitting Car Keys

Howdy from Mexico!

I pray that God is restoring you into the man or woman that He created you to be and that you are faithfully growing in Him and taking His restoring power into the world, wherever that may be.

I know it has been some time since you heard from me last. December and the first few weeks of January have been busy, crazy times for me. Even so, they have been a sweet blessing. In this update, you will find:

• Wrapping Up Ministry Before Christmas
• Christmas Break
• Returning to the Field
• Looking Forward and Financial Need
• Prayer Requests

Wrapping Up Ministry Before Christmas

I spent the first two weeks of December here in Mexico, ministering at my church, Iglesia Cristiana Sion, and preparing to say goodbye to the believers and my dear friends there. The most exciting moment of that time came in sharing in their Baptism service, in which around 10 people (I lost count!) from their two locations, Mexico City and Toluca, were baptized! those baptized included Carmelita, a new believer that recieved Christ during my time here, and Memo, one of my jovenes, and one of two currently pursuing high school studies in preparation for college.

Christmas Break

Midway through December, I was thankful to be able to spend a few whirlwind days in Texas, on my way home. I was able to use that time to reconnect with many dear freinds and several supporters. I then flew to Michigan to spend the remainder of the year with my family. I was delighted to celebrate both Christmas and New Year's in my picturesque hometown of Frankenmuth and to attend Frankenmuth Bible Church while there. I enjoyed reconnecting with friends and family during that time, including my baby cousin, Tommy! I was also able to shed Christ's restoring power during that time, by caring for the safety of my brother and his friends. They would choose to celebrate the New Year with alcohol and late nights, despite being underage. Rather than making my bbrother and his friends my parents' worry, or speaking words that would go unheard, I decided to ring in my New Year by "babysitting" their keys until they proved sober, thereby keeping them safely off the roads and out of the five to ten foot ditches that line many roads near my home.

Returning to Mexico

I returned to Mexico just a week and a half ago, to officially say goodbye to my Mexican church and family, as I will be moving to a new family and a new church. This transition is so that I can be more deeply involved in ministering to college students, through Compa, InterVarsity's sister organization here in Mexico. I will be officially joining the ranks of Compa's volunteer staff this semester, which I celebrated by attending their regional staff retreat last weekend. Trhoughout the weekend, God's hand was most clearly seen in the relationships I built with the other staff, comprised of predominantly part-time and volunteer staff. As volunteer staff, I will be assuming more responsibilities on my main campus, the ESCA, and will be attending at least one other celula, or small group, starting in the next several weeks.

Looking Forward and Financial Need

As I look forward to school starting, I also have to look at my reality, that I face the prospect of my severely dwindling funds. I came to Mexico as a direct result of your incredibly generous gifts, however, many of those gifts were one-time gifts, not monthly or recurring gifts which would maintain my support level over an extended time. Thus, my huge initial support is now running out as my faithful monthly supporters, though generous, cannot fulfill my financial needs on their own. At this point, I am facing a monthly deficit of roughly $900. Thus, I will be spending the next week focusing on both kicking off the Spring semester well and doing extensive fundraising. If my funding situation does not improve, I may be forced to return to the States for a time, to focus on restoring my funding to an appropriate level, which I clearly would prefer not to do.

I am desperately in need of your help! With my funding sitation as it is, if it does not improve, I could be returning to the States as soon as February or March for funding purposes. I realize that many of you currently support me, either through one-time or monthly gifts, but if you are willing, I could desperately use more of you to come on board with consistent monthly gifts, specifically those in the $10 to $50 a month category, and generous one-time gifts to get me through this financial slump. Also, if you know of anyone, even people you know I know, that I may not have thought of or may not have an address for, that may be interested in supporting me, please send me their addresses and your own, as I will be sending out fundraising letters in the next week.

Prayer Requests

My ministry and efforts cannot have their full effect without your faithful prayer support. Please be praying for these specific needs:

• That God would provide in huge ways for my financial needs over the coming months, and that people would actively get on-board with supporting my ministry here
• That I would wrap up my ministry at Iglesia Cristiana Sion well this weekend and that my transition into a new family and church would go smoothly
• That I would be able to meet with Compa leaders, both staff and students, to kick off the new semester in a way that is glorifying to god and is specific to the campuses I work with, specifically the ESCA
• That God would raise up students and student leaders at the ESCA, to take the place of those who are graduating, so that God's work through Compa can continue on that campus

Love in Christ,

Nicole Dietzel