Help-Project Blog

March 14, 2016 By Jodi Bueckert Leave a Comment

Random Praises and Prayer Items With Two Weeks Left to go.

We apologize for our absence these past six weeks. A lot has been happening here in Mazatlan and a lot of our daily life has been the same each week. Wake up, go to the church. Go home. Sleep. Repeat.

Highlights:

The sponsorship program is at a point administratively to take on new donors. The volunteers have been working long hours in the office daily to make this happen. The Vineyard Church will soon be able to accept online donors. Yippee!

2. The Vineyard lobby is coming, and some of the building aspects are being started this week. The only problem is that we have two weeks of volunteer time left in Mazatlan. Where did the time go? Pray for success and action!

3. Emily set a goal of raising $500 Canadian dollars towards the feeding program, and I’m happy to say she has surpassed that goal bringing her total to over 6600 pesos. (Over $500). Good thing, because she is out of stock. Thank you to all who donated rainbow looms last year, as she put them to good use providing 100% profit towards her goal of feeding as many kids possible.

What is God doing in our hearts, and what is he saying to us?

God has shown me (Jodi) that I limit him far too quickly. I’ve limited his ability to use me for his glory. I see this in all aspects of my tiny design business, and my world. I’m praying that God would send a flood of open and closed doors for this spring and summer as I fully put my trust in him.

We’ve had a lot of prayerful moments of panic in the last few weeks. A lot of moments we feel like we are drowning, not knowing how to react. Our human nature wants to crawl under the covers and wait for the tidal wave to go over us. When will it be over? When will our family see the surface? Or will we ever?

Beyond all the uncertainty, we’ve seen a lot of amazing things happen in the life of our church here in Mazatlan, our home church in Langley, our family, and new friends we’ve met through the doors of the Vineyard Church of Mazatlan. We are seeing younger couples in their 30’s and 40’s asking God how they can be apart of Gods big story here in Mazatlan. It is so encouraging to see how the small seeds are growing here. Will you join me in prayer for these families? Some of them I don’t even know yet, but God does. God loves their hearts and discontent for the status quo and their love for all of Gods children.

To put all the grandparents at ease… We don’t feel called to move to Mazatlan at this time. We actually feel quite the opposite. God has placed both Darryl and I to lead a simple and sometimes awkward life in Langley. To love, give our time away, and to tell our children stories of Gods repetitive blessings. We are still waiting on Gods direction, and praying for a clear sense of his presence within our work in Langley.

We are excited to finish off our last two weeks here, please be praying that a lot can be accomplished, and for Darryl and I to have clear minds. Pray for our children Emily and Ben. They have been great troopers through these mundane weeks at the office. God has grown our children’s abilities to wait, to adjust to new challenges. One day, I’m hoping they’ll thank me.

We are deeply looking forward to a very short vacation at the beginning of April and we will be spending that time in beautiful Mazatlan. We arrive in Langley on April 6 th very late in the night, and we are so looking forward to our own beds. (Not to mention, coming home to a clean house) 🙂

Thank you for your prayers, please let us know if there is any way we can lift you up in prayer too as we talk with our Heavenly Father daily.

Darryl, Jodi, Emily, and Ben. [Read more…] about Random Praises and Prayer Items With Two Weeks Left to go.

February 26, 2016 By Jodi Bueckert Leave a Comment

Gaining Strides.

Hola from Mazatlan. As I write, I assure you I’ve tried many times to write an update. I realize a lot of you aren’t on Facebook, so you will not be able to see our updates.

It’s been a hard few weeks, each day here passes by quicker each week. We both feel if we could just pause time, that would allow for more to get accomplished. Although, we know this is not realistic.

Praise items!

Darryl’s back and arms are doing better. After four treatments at the massage clinic, and many prayers he’s doing better. Our budget took a hit with that, but we are grateful for the great care he recieved here.

The sponsorship team has gotten through the main “fog” with the information that they have gathered. For two years the program has been run primarily on paper, so aligning information into a spreadsheet with accuracy takes time. We are very grateful to all the many people that have given their time to this. The team is getting there! We will give full exposure to the program when the time is right.

God has provided in many ways this year, and there has been many people around us (in Langley & Mazatlan) that have helped, blessed, given, and spoiled our kids with love in Mazatlan. We say thank you! We are at approximately 90% of our fundraising goal, but still waiting for God to show us the rest.

I have finally begun the process on taking a good look at the lobby and its services. The top three goals are:

To create a space that the Spanish church can use during the year. Meetings and small groups. They use the space a lot to continue the work that the pastors/leaders of each Colonia are a part of.
The changes will be a positive addition to Sunday morning worship gatherings for the English service. Many people pass through the doors November-March and being able to capitalize on this for Gods work there is key. There is a need for creating more awareness in regards to volunteer opportunities and how you can partner with The Vineyard Church.
To improve the tourist experience when they come into the lobby. From Tuesday-Friday the lobby is open to offer free telephone/internet. We see this as a terrific opportunity to create an environment in which people can feel comfortable, get out of the heat for a short time, charge their phones, or be offered a quenching cup of cold water.

With one years of thoughts and planning this project has created many ideas swirling around in my head. With a limited budget, I have my work cut out for me. Please be praying that the right people will come around this to help, build, and create a space that honors God in that place.

All in all the kids are doing very well, school is good, although limited. Emily still remains very focused on her work, and Ben is getting a great grasp on his multiplication skills.

We have a tiny, but cold roof top pool that we occasionally enjoy on the weekends.

We’ve adopted a little bird that seems to be hanging around our apartment. The kids have named him fluffy, and for awhile he slept, pooped, and ate at our door step.

That’s all for now, better get back to the grind here.

Thanks for reading.

Darryl, Jodi, Emily and Ben.

February 11, 2016 By Darryl Bueckert Leave a Comment

One Month Update!

It’s very hard to believe that we’ve been here for nearly one month. A lot has been happening and the balance with life, ministry stuff, and rest has given us a good shake. We knew it would be busy, but somehow, you can never prepare yourself.

We feel that it’s been important to try to maintain as much of our Canadian lifestyle while we are in Mazatlan. This means that we set an alarm, we exercise, we work, and we play a bit when there’s time.

We are at the the church nearly every day to some capacity. Darryl has been working with a team of dedicated volunteers to enter Donor information for the child sponsorship program. This is very tedious work, but necessary. They’ve even roped me into it too, which I’m happy to do.

This past week we really felt there was opposition with the work that is being accomplished with the Vineyard. This bible verse popped into my feed this week and it was very timely.

“Stay alert. Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him,and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.”

1 Peter 5:8,9

There were many snags last week, stresses, and a lot out of our control. God has been faithful. He has provided, forgiven, and given us what we need for this week.

The kids and I went out to the Malova Colonia with the vineyard church last Wednesday. This colonia is located at the bottom of the city dump. The families that live here are very poor. During the morning, different ages take part in a bible studies, and they are fed a really nutritious lunch. It was a wonderful morning, and I believe we plan on making this our usual Wednesday plans.

Many of you have been asking how our rental situation worked out with our home in Langley. To make a very long story short… We received most of our rent for February, and we have new renters for March. Thank you God for them! We are very grateful that it is all taken care of, and we learnt a great deal because of it.

That’s the gist for last week, I’ll be back next week with another update.

Jodi, Darryl, Emily and Ben.

January 28, 2016 By Jodi Bueckert 2 Comments

Our Update After Three Weeks In Mazatlan.

Hola from Mazatlan!

We are currently three weeks into our time here in Mazatlan. Our family transitioned easier this time after spending six months in this city last winter. We really like the apartment we’ve rented and it has provided a convenient location with our involvement with the Vineyard Church.

Some of the great things about our Location:

Ten Minute from The Vineyard Church which makes walking there every day so much better.
A Laundromat!!! Literally a two-minute walk from our apartment is the most amazing building ever built in this part of town. From a Mom who hand washed last winter for six months you have no idea what an amazing blessing this is.
We are closer to the major bus line allowing commuting all that easier.

Our time here looks quite different from last year. While we know a lot of our purpose, there is still a waiting game involved to see those areas to completion.

Jodi: I am taking the role of over seeing the kids home schooling, and we’ve taken on a more relaxed approach this year and it seems to be working better for the kids. They overall seem a lot happier and less emotions are floating around by all of us. No tears yet… (I was referring to me…) 🙂

The kids are taking the role of cleaning and preparation of the Vineyard bus for the bi-weekly compassionate tour. Two times a week the church meets to make sandwiches and bottled water to hand out to the workers who sift through garbage at the city Dump. Ben has really taken owner ship of this cleaning role and it really working hard. Emily really enjoys getting her part of the bus cleaned so she can join the sandwich making. I can see the difference that one year of experience has done for their overall outlook, and a bit of growing up has helped.

My work with making some positive changes to the front lobby has not yet begun because some of the key people are tied up with other responsibilities. Hopefully we can start to make of these changes in the near future. The key to Mexico is patience. When you finally get some, you need to ask for more.

The front of the church is really busy with people and “life” that is refreshing to see. Volunteers are busy working, women are sewing dresses for little girls to give away, and some fundraisers are happening to create great change for the life of the various community centres.

This trip has been a balance act. I’ve been trying to focus on my business more instead of it falling off the universe for three months. A family I’ve been working with in Canada since December is starting a renovation in February and I owe them the hours to take care of the details to see that their renovation is a success. I’m excited to see it to completion and I can’t wait to sit at their new kitchen Island to make a toast! I’ve had a lot of sleepless nights just thinking about the details, as I do with a lot of my clients.

Emily:

She has been working around the clock making rainbow loom bracelets to sell on Sunday mornings. She’s added some new creations that appear to be a bit hit, and every week she’s been taking special orders. To date she raised approx. $3000 Pesos towards feeding kids. That means that 300 + kids will receive a healthy meal. Way to go Emily! And she is just getting started.

Darryl:

He has been in a serious juggling act this time around, and I think he’s handling it as well as can be. He’s been working on a very exciting project with a client back home that can’t be revealed just yet. Lots of hours have been spent on start-up, and we are hoping for great things from it.

He has also slipped back into his continued role working on the administration end of the Child Sponsorship Program here at the Vineyard. This requires a lot of work with the project team in verifying all of the data points on over 600 kids and their matched donor. The eventual goal is to take all of this data and import it into a web-based software solution to manage the communication and sponsor details of the program. Since this program is still in its infancy, they must also create/define all the policy and procedures for how the program is to operate. From our perspective, he is either at the church in meetings, or working somewhere on his laptop.

Family:

As a family we try to get out in the evening for a walk on the street, or a walk on the beach to clear our heads a bit. We’ve experienced some rental challenges with our February and March Tenant and it’s taken a lot of mental energy away from the things that matter here. We’ve both struggled with trying to not let it occupy us too much; it’s all to easy to fall into that trap. Instead, we are trying our best to communicate with grace and love amongst something that is beyond our control. We have to trust that all will work out for the best, or the realization that it may not and we need to be okay with that.

Fundraising: We are almost at our Fundraising goal this time in Mazatlan (at around 85% of our target). We still have a bit more to go, and we are waiting on God to see how that will fall into place. Thank you to those who have supported us, as you have no idea how encouraging this is. Working along side of an organization that truly wants to see God honoured in their work is truly amazing to be apart of and we are most grateful for the experience for our family.

From our family to yours we thank you, we care for all of you.

Jodi and Darryl, Emily and Ben.

December 11, 2015 By Jodi Bueckert 1 Comment

Less Than Four Weeks To Go!

I Can’t believe it’s December 11th! In less than four weeks we will be on a jet plane towards Mazatlan. I realized today that I’d only been doing a few updates on Facebook and other social media to keep in touch. I haven’t posted in awhile to let you know how our our ministry is going, how the fundraising is going, and the thoughts rolling around in our old brains.

House Update:

Many of you have been asking… have we rented our house yet for the three full months?

Short answer: No, But we have one family renting for all of January. So if you know anyone needing to rent for Feb. and March let us know.

Are we still going? Yes we are. We had someone ask that the other day. We honestly don’t know how everything is going to work out, but we leave it all in Gods hands. We are confident in his plans, even while we can’t see through the thick fog.

Ministry Stuff:

Darryl is chugging along with the software for the Vineyards Child Sponsorship program. It’s getting tougher to be here in Canada, while most of the other volunteers are already in Mazatlan serving along the staff there. He regular has online meetings with the volunteer group, FaceTime meetings, and many emails back and forth.

I (Jodi) is getting excited as the plans for the Vineyard Lobby are going to happen this year, or so we think! The main Vineyard church is located in a very busy tourist area. This church provides a hub for worship on Sunday mornings (up to 350 attend each Sunday in the winter) and a meeting place for various programs. One of the more visible programs the Vineyard provides is a tourist phone program. The church doors are open every day to offer phones access and internet to tourists passing on foot. This is a fantastic opportunity for people to feel loved as they walk in, but at the same time to learn more about the Vineyard Church. It is their desire to expand on the feel and awareness of the church to tell the store better for their mission. I have the desire to work with the other volunteers to modify/enhance this space to better create a great opportunity to share Gods story with the tourists that walk in those doors.

Head Stuff:

We are trudging along. A few weeks ago I felt very anxious. For obvious reasons I know, but one Sunday morning I knew I needed to give it to God. I wept in my seat, and asked him to forgive me for not trusting more. He holds the world up with his hands, how can he not hold up my family as well? So many things swirling around in our heads. Work deadlines here, not enough hours in a day to complete. School is wrapping up for the kids on December 18th, and getting support from some of the teachers has proven to be quite difficult. We take each year as it comes, and I know every year as we prepare for this trip we will learn a little more and more.

Fundraising:

Both of us have realized that we have a lot to learn about the topic of Fundraising. One thing we know for sure is that God wants us on this trip and he will provide the funds to tackle it. God has asked us, we have said yes, and we are going.

We are encouraged by those have partnered with us for this year. We thank you. As of this week we are at 39% of our $9,000 goal needed to serve with our family this coming year. If you are reading this info for the first time, welcome here. If you’d like to hear more about what we will be doing in Mazatlan we always have time to meet for coffee.

If you’d like to hear more about what the Vineyard Church is doing, and how you can help we’d love to hook you up. Are you looking for a week away this winter and you like to share your holiday with volunteer time with your family? Let us know, we’d love to connect you. Nothing warms our hearts more that seeing people connected in a place where they can use their gifts and passions for good, big or small.

Prayer:

Please be praying as we prepare to go. Even while we have done this before, it is a daunting task to put your life and home on hold for even three short months. Please be praying for Ben and Emily. Emily is quite concerned that the new friends she has met this year will all but forget her while she’s away. Being 11 has it’s own challenges, but we know that God has good plans for both of them while they are away and that leaves us feeling confident in the kids we are trying to raise.
Please be praying for the remaining funds needed for this trip. Our flight funds are due ($2800) at the end of this month and we are short. The biggest first expenses are the flights, insurance, and our first months rent for the apartment we’ve rented just a ten minute walk from the church.
Pray for work here to be able to come to completion with success. Our minds are committed here, but our hearts are in Mazatlan already. It’s our second home!

Again, thanks for coming along on this journey with us, we feel supported, but mostly asking for Grace, and strength to complete what lies ahead. Even if it is unknown.

To God Be the Glory!

Jodi, Darryl, Ben and Emily.

October 5, 2015 By Darryl Bueckert Leave a Comment

A Few Faith Steps Towards Next Year!

As I write this post the sun is shining brightly and the week leading into Canadian Thanksgiving. If I look back on this past year, I need to be ready to ask myself…. am I more grateful this year then this time last year? The answer is Yes! I am. What our family got to witness during our 6 months in Mexico is unbelievable! We flew back to Canada this past May, and the extreme support from our church family, family and friends blew our minds! If you missed my post on Facebook, this was a photo of the mountain of groceries that we received after taking back possession of our home on May 31.

When we left Mazatlan, we knew full well that we would be going back. After all it’s our second home, we are invested, and we desire to see full circle all that was begun with the new child’s sponsorship program. About week ago we honestly panicked. With little faith we’ve had our heads in the sand, scared to move forward. The work and decisions that will be required to return to Mazatlan in 2016 for 3 months are overwhelming to say the least.

We feel God asking for a lot more trust in him, knowing full well our lives will be on hold for possibly years to come. I’m okay with my life to be on hold, as my hope can only come from God! What would it teach my children if my security was placed in money, and living a status quo life? I believe he created Darryl and I for adventure, change, and he gave me children that are equipped for change, and different environments. While this is not easy all the time, we take one day at a time.

This is scary. It’s scary when your bank account doesn’t match what your dreams require! Or so I believe? That’s where faith, trust, hard work, and Gods provision comes in.

I’m writing this post on behalf of Darryl and I. We need that accountability to move forward, to find housing, and flights as those don’t just fall on our laps. The very act to step forward a few steps every day.

You’ve likely seen Darryl’s Go Fund me page on Facebook, which is awesome! We’d like to see anyone whom reads this post to be apart of this mission (even from afar!) perhaps for years to come. We will let you know the creative details of that soon, till then feel free to ask us about our commitment, where we are at, as this is healthy dialogue that we need.

Want to connect for coffee and hear more? We always will make the time.

God Bless!

Darryl, Jodi, Emily and Ben.