Update

Here is two pictures I took of the first night we went to meet with some believers who live outside of Autlan. This is the house of Juana and Fransisco who are on the left side of the picture. They have expressed their desire for a Bible study and prayer time during the week. We are blessed and encouraged by them. We started a Bible study on Friday nights at their house. We can hardly wait to see what God has in-store for these believers.

FYI: The plant that is hanging all around is called chiote, which are similar to potatoes. They have a nice patio area that is really comfortable except when you hit one of the chiotes with your head, they have little prickles all over them.

Norma and Carlos's daughter, Akati, who the girls love to play with.

Here is the first time we got to see Baby Daniel outside of the hospital. The doctors encouraged everyone to wear masks, at least for the first couple of weeks. A quick update about him. John and Elizabeth continue to see Daniel amaze the doctors. After leaving Guadalajara, John and Elizabeth were waiting to see how Daniel's eyes would do. The eye doctor said that if his eyes did not improve he would have to have another surgery. Praise the Lord his eyes improved and he does not need the surgery. The next little hurdle is his hearing. He can hear, but needs to pass a hearing exam. John and Elizabeth are going back to Guadalajara this week to get another test done. Please pray for this new baby. At the end of last week he weighed over seven pounds. YEAH!!! That is much better than two pounds.

Ok, I am stopping from this whirl-wind experience we are having with all the stuff that is going on. The last update was over a month ago and our lives has been busy since that point. First bit of news is that we found a new home! We stumbled across some guys painting an empty house and found out it was for rent. The price was about the same as what we were paying for our other house. This is the style of house that has a courtyard just on the inside of the house. It is great because it is only two blocks away from La Roca. We have come to find out that it is over a hundred years old. There are many interesting thing about the house. Right now we are in the process of having the roof re-done. It made of tiles and has many leaks. So this week we have a guy here is now removing all of the tiles and placing plastic down and putting the tiles back down so it won't leak. We thought it would only take a day. Going on day three we are hoping today it will be finished and we can put our living room and bedroom back together. After being here for two weeks we feel we have taken a step backwards the way the house looks. We are very happy that the roof won't leak anymore though. We have posted some pictures of the house on clarkcreation. You can take a look if you like. There is a link on side of this page.

The next bit of news is that English classes started last week. I (Andy) am teaching three different levels this year. Level 1, Level 2 and Level 4. It has been a bit of a challenge to focus on class preparation as there are still so many things that need to get done in our house. Jessie is again teaching level 3 this year. I have over 25 students in both level one and two. Pray that God gives us opportunities to speak into the lives of our students.

Other exciting news. John and Elizabeth have brought Daniel home. They have to get his eyes checked to see if he needs another eye surgery but as of right now everything is going very well for them. He is just about 6 pounds which is really a big difference than 2 pounds. They are all adjusting to life together. I have yet to see him due to a cold, but Jessie was able visit them on Friday and actually got to hold him. She said is a cute little baby just small. Please pray for them during this time of transition.

I wanted to add a few photos, something I haven't done in a while. Last week I went up the mountain near our house a few times to pray about the ministry in Autlan. It really helped me focus on what we are doing here. During my time on the way up, I thought you would like to see how people get there water up in the mountains. Here they use big plastic jugs that they fill up and bring to their houses. Seeing this makes me realize how good we have it, where we live. It would be hard to carry your water up the mountain everyday. In this picture they use a donkey to carry the jugs. The house behind it is adobe, which is bricks that are made out of mud that haven't been heated. They still use these bricks off and on. It is more expensive to use the normal bricks and cement, so this might be all they can afford to build their houses.

I meant to post this when we got back from Guadalajara the first time 2 half weeks ago. This is baby Daniel. He is doing well. This morning he weighs 3 lbs. 1oz. which is such a wonderful answer to prayer. He has been gaining weight more quickly now. A few weeks ago they would weigh him everyday. He wouldn't gain anything or very little. Then he started gaining 15 grams a few times. Now they weigh him every other day and he gains close to 80 grams in two days. We hope and pray that this continues to be the case. The faster he grows the sooner he will be able to come home to Autlan. Below is John the father (our ministry partner). Can you see the resemblance? John was in Autlan for a few days trying to get the process started for a birth certificate. He is now back in Guadalajara.

Tuesday

Last week was a very busy week. We went to visit John and Elizabeth on Monday and Tuesday, I started working at La Roca all week. It was a bit different to be gone from 3:30 PM to 11:00 PM everyday. It was a great time to catch up on some maintenance at La Roca.

The week ended with some sad news. Our dog Denver ran away on Thursday. He was a small Fox Terrier who loved to run. He got out underneath our front gate just after I left to return some videos. I want looking for him right after I got back about 30 mins or so later. He was no where to be seen. After a few hours it was evident that he was not coming back. We even put up signs with his picture on it with our phone number. As we started talking to people, no one had seen him. They also said there is a good chance that someone just picked him up and took him away. The worst part is not knowing what happened to him.

Today, I walked up the mountain close to our house and had a great time of prayer. (The picture of at the top of the page is of the mountain.) Someone back in states reminded me how important it is to pray and how it is a good idea to prayer walk. As I sat up there on the mountain next to "Mary Alter" I was compelled to pray that the people of Autlan would become hungry for the God's word and God would reveal Himself to them. There are many people who try so hard to earn their salvation. Our hope is in Him and not ourselves. We all have fallen short of the glory of God. It is God who redeems us.

Wednesday

Norma and Carlos the couple who were staying at our house for a few days had a baby boy Ariel Isiahi was born of Thursday morning. Both Mom and baby are doing great back at home. We plan to visit them this week. I am not sure about the weight and height but he looks really good.

On Monday, we again went to see John, Elizabeth and Daniel but this time we took some other people as well. We took Ady and her two kids Denora and Daniel as well as Barbara. Our girls came and were glad to see John and Elizabeth. It was the first time they had seen Elizabeth since leaving Mexico. Our girls have been praying for Daniel almost every night before they go to bed so it was good they finally got to see who they were praying for.

This week, Ady our waitress for La Roca needed some time off, so I am working at La Roca all week. This is a good thing because it gives me plenty of time to catch up on maintenance at La Roca when we are not busy. The shelves I wanted to build before I broke my toe will finally get finished as well as lots of little things that have needed to get fixed or painted.

Update on Baby Daniel:
Last e-mail John and Elizabeth sent out, Tuesday August 11.

This process can be a roller-coaster ride. A few days ago when we saw him in the afternoon his color was pale and his little eye lids were red tipped. Also his heart was slowing often. The doctor was just going on vacation (he set up substitutes) and his normal nurses were on their day off. So all the people that were around him were new and didn’t know that he looked different and weren’t going to do anything about it. On top of that they are not used to little white babies so his color would be harder for them to identify. So we had to ask them to call the doctor. The doctor had a blood test taken right away and discovered that his Hemoglobin was down. The next morning he was given his second transfusion. There was blood left over for him from the last one. He looked and felt much better.On a positive note the eye doctor looked at his eyes early and said that they were fine so far and he would repeat the exam in 8 days. Maybe we will avoid a laser surgery? The doctor said his heart rate was slowing because of a condition that happens to them when they eat through a feeding tube. The doctor says that is normal and that it is just that the tube agitates them a bit.

So once we got through that and felt better he started having reflux which looked rather dramatic because his heart and oxygen goes down to about half and they send us out of the room to suction away the guck that comes up. Apparently that is normal for a preemie too. They have changed his position, put him on some medicine and are feeding him more slowly so that he digests the food as it comes in rather than filling up his stomach and have it burp back up. They say that his little valve in the stomach will mature and close as he grows and he will pass this stage.

On the upside he is now 1 kilo and 50 grams. They gave him more calories and alternated mother’s milk with formula. His cheeks are more puffy and we notice more meat on his legs and arms. He is getting a round tummy like his father has developed. There is a Krispy Kreme donuts here in the city and I find it hard not to visit once in a while. Tomorrow they are going to see if his hemorrhage has cleared up in the brain.

We thank you for your continued prayers and concern. We keep hearing of people who are still praying for him daily. If you would remember these details when you pray again that would be appreciated. We will give you an update on these things soon. God bless.

John and Elizabeth

We are back in Mexico!!!

WE ARE BACK IN MEXICO!!!

We have hit the ground running. Everyday we have something that takes up most of the day. We got back on Wednesday night. Those first couple of days we were in recovery mode with Lilly and Aletta throwing-up on the way home. Sunday, we went to church (I preached), a birthday party, and I worked at La Roca. Monday, we visited Guadalajara to see John, Elizabeth and Baby Daniel. Right now we have a family staying with us that are about to have a baby. They live to far out of Autlan and do not have a car so they are staying with us to be close to the hospital. Needless to say we have been busy since getting back from the states. Everyday I mean to update. I start but never finish. So today I determined to finish.
Furlough was great. We had wonderful time all the places we went. We were so encouraged by our visits. It was a breath of fresh air for us. Even with being sick off-and-on through out our time in the US, we still loved being in the states. Every step of the trip, we were so encouraged by the love we felt from other believers. We were able to share with many of you face-to-face which is so much better than e-mail. We hope and pray that your faith was encouraged by hearing what God is doing here in Autlan.

For those of you who have been praying for Baby Daniel, John and Elizabeth's baby, please continue to pray for him. Pray that God would would continue to help him to grow. If you have a Facebook account John has post a few video's of Daniel. One is of Daniel when he was only 30 minutes old. We were so happy to be able to finally see him on Monday. He looks really good for a preemie. Thank you for praying for him!

This is an update that was written by John today. I thought I would post it for those of you who have been praying for John and Elizabeth.
Andy

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to give you an update on things. Daniel is doing very well. He continues to breath on his own. He weighed 880 grams when he was borne and now has lost weight (which is normal) and is 715 grams. His waist is 19 ½ cm his height is 32 ½ cm. He will stop loosing weight in a few days. He should be out of the lights soon which will slow his rate of loss. Also he is starting on his mother’s milk today via feeding tube which will also help. His infection appears to be clearing up and they will do a test tomorrow. We feel that he is going to make it and do well due to your prayers. It seems our faith is becoming sight. We are not out of the woods yet so please keep praying. You have all been such a blessing to us, you can’t imagine. We saw one eye open up today when they turned off the lights. It was blue like Elizabeth and we wonder if it will stay blue. He has a perfect shaped head just like his father. His little cry is absolutely heart breaking and we are filled with love for our son.

We have been shown so much love and kindness by all of you and many Mexican people here. We have a free place to stay in Guadalajara now thanks to Jeff and Lisa King our language teachers from 5 years ago. The Hotel refunded our money for the month that we booked (I will always remember their kindness). Plus some very kind people have responded to help with our bills and we thank them so much. Every bit helps allot. If you feel that someone needs to be forwarded this update don’t hesitate to do so. It is hard to get everyone when things are so crazy right now. Thanks to Bethany Baptist for sending us a good quality breast pump and prayers. That’s all for now. We will try to send pictures on our next update. We also have a video of Daniel when the Pediatrician was reviving him and we will put that on facebook when we get the chance. I am going to Autlán tomorrow to pay bills and take care of some business. My sister Charlene is flying in tonight to be with us for a week. Bless her soul. It may be a couple of days until I get a chance to update since I am going to Autlan round trip tomorrow. Don’t worry I am getting better sleep and can drive perfectly safe. God bless.

John

Update on John and Elizabeth

A CALL FOR PRAYER!

Elizabeth gave birth to Daniel at 7:45 last night. We do not know how much he weighed but Elizabeth said he was very small. Elizabeth gave birth in our small town of Autlan. A few hours after he was born he was transported by ambulance, with John, to Guadalajara. I just got word that he made it through the 3 hour drive to Guadalajara and is now in the best hospital available. Daniel is fighting for his life. Also please pray for Elizabeth as she is still in Autlan.

A call for PRAYER!

A CALL FOR PRAYER!

Dear beloved of the Lord, We are in need of your prayers. Elizabeth Rodgers our ministry partner that many of you met at our home Church in June has gone into Labor. She is only 27 weeks pregnant (just into her third trimester) and the baby is a bit small as well. If they are able to stop her labor, an ambulance will transfer her to Guadalajara where she will be able to get better medical care. We ask for you prayers for John, Elizabeth and baby Daniel. John and Elizabeth had been told they could never have children so this baby was already a miracle from the Lord. Let us pray for another miracle. We will keep you posted.

A funny video of worship music at La Roca Church

Can you tell John was a Metal head when he was younger?

Quick update

We have been extremely busy since leaving Mexico on Furlough. Right now, there are 9 children ages 1 through 8 years old, running around me so I won't even try to write something right now, in Illinois.

Here is Jessie leading worship at Church Upon the Rock. The next picture is of Jessie, John and Elizabeth at our old College Bethany College of Missions just before we shared with the students about our ministry.

Here are some pictures from our town that I meant to put up before we left. The first is of the sugar cane factory and the second is of one of the trucks full of sugar cane waiting to go into the factory. Sugar cane is one of the main crops in our state of Jalisco.

The first is of rows and rows of the plant that tequila is made of. It takes 8 years before it is ready to be harvested. Our state of Jalisco is known for it's major production of Tequila, which is creates a huge problem of Alcoholism through out Mexico. The second is one taken in a local park that we were walking through. The breaker box is wrapped to a tree. There are no such organizations like OSHA in Mexico.

A quick update

Mountain side just near our house.

We are doing well here. We are seeing the weather changing. Last night we had our first rain fall in 10 months. Jessie and I jumped out of bed late last night when we thought we though we heard it falling. Autlan is incredible dry and dusty right now, not to mention really hot! Rain was such a great sight to see. It was only for a short time but it was so refreshing. With this change comes humidity. We are beginning to feel the heat more intensely during the days. We have been told that we are in the midst of the hottest time of the year. It is dry heat right now. While we are on furlough, we will miss half of the rainy season, which is when the heat goes down but the humidity goes up.
My foot is healing nicely. Last Wednesday, I got my stitches out. Looking at my toe now, doesn't bother me any more but before I could hardly look at it. Looking at how big the cut is on my toe, I am sure glad that I was wearing tennis shoes and not sandals. I would have lost the whole tip of my toe along with my toe nail. I am grateful to the Lord that I am not in a lot of pain.
It couldn't have happened at a better time (if you can plan on breaking your toe). With the swine flu, La Roca has been shut down as well as all the English classes and many are not attending our bible studies. We are also preparing for furlough. It takes a lot of work to get everything ready for 6 weeks. So it has been helpful to sit down and work on planning.

Dia del Nino

La Roca church (our church plant) put on a big event for children's day. It is the same as Mother's day but for kids. We had it at a local park. Here are some of the pictures of the event. Jessie, Aletta, and Lillian were still sick during this time which was about three weeks ago.

Here is some pictures of the puppet show we had as well as the music
we started the event off with.

John, Daniel and Carlos barbecuing some hot dogs. A lot of hot dogs.
You can't have a party without a pinata.

A picture of the amount of people who were there which was around 100 people.
The second is of a short drama that I was apart of.

The older kids had to walk as a group from one place to the next. Not an easy task with each one of their feet tied to the person next to them.







Nothing like a parachute to through water bloons up in.

We had a good day for the kids. They all had fun. After the games there was a swimming pool that most of the kids enjoyed before lunch. We were blessed to have so many people there in the midst of the swine flu. God be the glory for what went on. We have planted some seeds in these kid's hearts. We pray that God would open up the hearts of the people in Autlan.

Our first experience at a Mexican hospital.

Today, Andy dropped a heavy piece of plywood on his foot and broke his middle toe. The wood severed his toe nail off but the Dr. ended up sewing it back into place because without it his bone was completely exposed. Poor Andy was in so much pain! He is now on crutches and will be off his feet most likely for the next week or two while he heals.

Strange times..........

First let me say that we are well! Yes, me(Jessie) and the girls got sick with colds and the flu. I was sick for about three weeks. First it was a cold, that turned laryngitis, that turned into a terrible cough. Then, just as I was starting to feel better, the girls got sick with the flu and I, of course, got it as well. No, this was not the swine flu, at least we have no reason to believe it was. We must remember that most cases of the flu are still just the common flu we are used to. All that to say, we are all feeling better now and almost fully recovered.

No cases of the swine flu have been reported in our state of Jalisco but that does not keep this small city of Autlan from remaining calm. Everything is shut down, all schools are closed, and even businesses, that has not been asked to shut down, have closed their doors. The American Consulate as even urged us to stock pile powered milk and non perishables foods! I would say about half of the town is wearing surgical masks. Many are choosing to stay home. Even the cultural hand shake and kiss greeting has been reduced to a simple head nod. This is all drastically effected our ministry. We feel like life has taken a pause. Almost all of our ministry events have been canceled, because no one will attend. As of today the Coffee house (La Roca) will closed down for the next week. For us, this is a time of prayer! We thank all of you who are praying for us.

Something that we do need at this time is hand sanitizer. We are being advised to wash our hands whenever we come in contact with people. This is not easy to do when you are out shopping or in the downtown market. Autlan is completely out of hand sanitizer and we discovered yesterday that Guadalajara is as well. I was also told that hand sanitizer is shipped from Mexico City, so we should not expect to see it any time soon. All of us missionaries (us, Rogers, & Bruggermans) could use some and if anyone would like to ship some to us, we would greatly appreciate it.

Andrew & Jessica Clark
Gavilan 78
Fracc. La Paloma
Autlan de Navarro, Jalisco
Mexico c.p 48900

Prayer request

Jessie has been sick for over a week and half now with a cough first and then it turned into the flu. She would cough through the night and be quite tired though out the day. Now she is dealing with fever and chills off and on as well as being really tired. So life has been about getting better. The girls have been sick as well. Off and on they have had fevers and colds since last week. They seem like they are doing better at times but then as the day goes on they seem to go down hill. Each one will have a fever at different times through out the day. Sometimes all they want to do is just sit there. I say this to ask for your prayers.
Also this weekend we are having an event with church for Children's day. We are anticipating over 100 kids who will come. God willing we will be able to handle all of them. Hopefully we will all be better before then.
I, (Andy) Praise the Lord, have not gotten sick during this time. I have been a bit tired from the girls getting up during the night, but that is about it.

Thank you in advanced for your prayers. They make all the difference.

Before I add a bunch of pictures to our blog, I wanted to first write a bit. I haven't sat down a written anything for a while, things have been busy. Anna had her fifth birthday last week, which was a blast with a big blow-up jumping thing. It was good, because we had some of our friends come over with their daughter, as well as a few other people. It was a good time.

Last week, we started another Alpha course. We had a few people show up. It is a real experience to actually see who comes. In this culture, they will tell you they are coming and you never see them. So, we had about 5 people there and we had a good talk afterward. We hope for more people to come this week.

I have changed my day that I meet with Daniel and Denora. It is now on Saturdays, because of Alpha on Fridays. It works better to have it on Saturday. Unfortunately Daniel has been sick for about a week and was unable to make it. Denora, I think, didn't want to walk by herself to La Roca. I am not totally for sure what happened to her on Saturday. This past week, a young guy named Ivan, who is the nephew of one of the ladies who goes to our church, was having some problems. He was struggling with suicide. Barbara asked John if he could talk with him after Alpha on Friday night. John agree to talk to him. After Alpha he came with Barbara and two friends, Fransisco and Ceaser. While John was talking to Ivan, I ended up playing cards with his friends and Barbara. It is turning out to be good thing. The following Saturday, Fransisco came as well as Christian, another young guy who is a believer. Ivan had to work, but when I spoke with him on Sunday he said that he was going to come next week. Below is a picture of the group of us while playing cards.

Ceaser, Fransisco, Ivan (who is Barbara's nephew) Barbara & Christian.
Also, I took a photo of me and Fransisco, who often comes to La Roca through out the week.

pictures of the Cathedral of Autlan

Here is our Christian bookstore at La Roca coffee house. It is the only one in Autlan. If it looks weird, I took two pictures of it and put them together.

Here we are doing some praise and worship at a church near the Regional training center. The pictures were taken just before service started. The pastor is also a Tecate International Missionary.

This is Audie, Daniel and Denora. Audie is one of two employees of La Roca. Daniel and Denora have been reading the gospel of Luke with me on Friday nights. They are good kids.

The next pictures are of the main cathedral of Autlan. The place was empty because of Carnival. You can see what we are up against here in Autlan. I have seen the place filled to capacity for mass. That is a lot of people. These people are so blinded.
They think they can earn their way to heaven.

This picture was taken from La Roca so you can see how close La Roca is to the cathedral.

Carnival

Greetings from warm Autlán! I’m so happy to be getting out this much-needed update to you. It’s Carnival time for Autlán. Carnival is huge here and everyone participates in it in one way or another. A lot of things shut down for this event, including our English school and coffee house. We wish we did not have to, but during Carnival, students stop coming to class and La Roca gets very few costumers. So during Carnival, we will be working on many “special projects” that are always on are to do list, but never get done. Although we have never been here for Carnival, we have heard enough about it to dread its arrival.

Bands start playing at 10am and the party goes all day and all night for the next 11 days. What I have been told shocks me and reminds me why we are here. People lay drunk and passed out on the sidewalks and the downtown fills with the stench of urine and vomit. It is know in Autlán as a time of letting lose and giving yourself over to whatever feels good. A shocking amount of teen pregnancies come out of this event, as well as abortion. Our La Roca coffee house is on one the streets that will be block off to party goers and alcohol venders, thus, we will be shutting our doors for the next two weeks. We ask for your prayers during this time. We are praying for the young believers and those who have come to us searching for truth.

The tan building behind the booths is a school. They are serving alcohol right in front of children all day long. This picture was taken at about 12 in the afternoon. There are many more people in the night time.

Two of the many booths. Tequila is the drink of choice, as it is produced in Mexico .
One of Autlan's major crops is the Tequila plant.

Some cowboys who are leading some bulls to the bull ring.


The park that was all decorated during Christmas is now again full of bulls and bull fighters.

A quick update.

With our first Christmas behind us, we are now getting back into the swing of life. Jessie and I both are teaching again. We have started a few Bible studies. I have just started one that is with Adie's kids (one of our waitresses at La Roca, as well as a new missionary with Tecate). Dinora and Daniel are their names. Dinora is 10 and Daniel is 12. They just gave their hearts to the Lord only a short time ago during Sunday school. They are sweet kids. They are the first young people in our church plant. I want to be faithful with the ones we have right now and as we grow as a church, hopefully and God willing, we will be able to disciple more young people.

Jessie went on a woman's retreat over the weekend, so it was just me with girls. The girls have been under the weather with colds, so it was good to have a nice and relaxing day at home while mom was away. They enjoyed watching a couple of episodes of Little house on the Prairie. Anna is understanding more and more. She would have watched the show the whole day if I would have let her.

We had a close call with our dog on Saturday morning. Denver, our young Fox Terrier, decided to chase after a man walking down the opposite side of the street. One of the roads we live on is pretty busy street. I was loading Jessie's things in the car before she left. I looked over and called for Denver. Before I knew it, he was rolling underneath a car that was driving down the road. It happened so fast. Denver started running back to our house, but was stumbling and falling and crying in pain. Thank goodness he didn't have a scratch on him. It put some fear into him, though. He won't go out in our patio, unless there is someone with him now. This is a big lesson for me as well. This is the first time I have had a dog. It has been a challenge for me to start training him. I guess I am needing to really work on it with him.

A picture of Denver

I had a chance to catch up with a guy that has been really showing signs of change in his life. His name is Ivan. He is young guy in his middle 20's that has gone through some hard life struggles. Over the last couple of months, he along with another guy, have been reading over the book of John with me and John. As he talked with me, I could see that God is working on him. Something that I was really encouraged by was that over the vacation time, he said that he prayed for the first time out loud in his room. He said that he usually prays before he goes to bed in his mind. For someone who has never prayed out loud before, this is a big step. I was able to share with him some scriptures about being obedient to God. After sharing, I prayed for him again. His response was "I am not ready yet to pray out loud, but I will let you know when I am". Some might see this as a discouragement. I saw this is a moment of God growing him. What I mean by that is, I can't do anything to make him pray. All I can do is wait for the fruit of what God is doing. This is Ivan.

This is a random picture taken from our car. Sorry it is a little smudged, the glass in our car was dirty. Who knew that a pickup truck was a family vehicle - the extended family vehicle. They are probably headed to a party. I would say about 15 people are in this truck if not more.