(Jan. 25, 2004) This year was a great year in seeing God work in so many lives both north and south of the border. There was an increase in the number of churches that went down to Mexico with Mexican Medical Ministries this year over last year. I had the opportunity of working with some 42 mission teams that went to one of our eight ministry sites in Mexico. Three different colleges contacted the mission about wanting a different kind of mission experience. They wanted a mission experience that blended the classroom with interaction of the culture around them to provide an educational experience for their students. So this type of program was called the "School of Missions" (S.O.M.). Schools from Canada, Chicago and Massachusetts came and another one of our missionaries, Allan Lee and I put together a cultural teaching experience that combined the theory of missions with the practical of hands on involvement in the culture of the Indigenous Indians of Mexico. This "S.O.M." caravan team has a great potential to help prepare college students for missions. This year's missionary in training week's attendance was up over last year's. This year there were several missionary interns who came. This helped create a bond of fellowship between them, even though all of them would not be at the same site. There were training sessions in the specific ministry skills that are used at our ministry sites. They included learning how to conduct health fairs, using eyeglasses and using ballooning with children. One of the seminars was using mime in ministry and our daughter Rida along with two other "Action Ministry" members came and led the group in a couple of mimes that were used during the missionary in training week.

We want to say thank you so much for your continued prayers. We depend on your prayers because they are the lifelines of our ministry and family that connects us to the power of God. We pray that God would continue to produce the fruit of righteousness in our lives and with whom we come in contact both at home and in our ministry. We hope this for your lives also. You are in our thoughts and prayers throughout the year.