IMPACTO Latino» impacto1

Jubilee’s Fifth Anniversary

impacto1 — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 17:13:07 +0000

On February 18, 2007 the Jubilee church gathered for the first time in the Hotel Del Valle. Nearly 100 people were present for this first celebration. The next month, Jubilee’s first cell (small) groups began meeting in family homes, providing pastoral care and discipleship to the members.

Five years later, the young congregation continues to grow — both numerically and in maturity. On Sunday March 11th, 230 people gathered together to worship, to receive God’s word, and to celebrate all that God has done in five years. Our theme text was taken from Ephesians 3, as we gave thanks to God for “accomplishing more than we could ask or imagine.”

We were blessed to have Vic de Leon visit and provide the teaching, the worship group prepare and lead special praise songs, folks from our sister church here in Pachuca (New Life) come to help with the kids’ program, and two sister churches in the US send representatives to celebrate with us (Northside, Houston and the The River, Ft. Wayne).

Join us in praising God for five years!

New Christians!

impacto1 — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 00:36:07 +0000

Over the past few weeks, members of Jubilee have led introductory Bible studies with friends and family that have expressed interest in knowing more about Christ. As a result of these studies and much prayer, on February 19th and March 4th, Jubilee baptized several new believers! Julio, Gloria, Toño, Caleb, Celíc, Miguel, Carmen, Antonio each received Jesus as Savior! Please keep each of them in your prayers as they begin new life.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Cor. 5:17)

New Christians’ Retreat

impacto1 — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:25:09 +0000

The Jubilee Church has a discipling program which includes an Encounter Retreat, held after newly baptized or new members complete the Christianity 101 course. On February 3 & 4 the Jubilee church held this retreat with 23 people, one of the largest groups to participate. On Friday afternoon we left for Tulancingo, a smaller city about 40 minutes from Pachuca, meeting at the Hotel Colonial. The hotel did not have a conference area, but we were blessed, through a contact in the Jubilee church, to have permission to meet in a small Methodist church next door for the Friday worship and the Saturday teaching times.

The focus of this retreat is to help new Christians understand what it really means to be a “new person” in Christ and to completely give over to Christ all aspects of their old life. We included a time at the end to burn a survey they fill out dealing with sins and addictions that they had in their old life to emphasize that these have been completely forgiven by the sacrifice of Christ.

This group of 23 has now started the second level course, Discipleship 201, which is taught on Sunday mornings before the worship celebration at Jubilee. Please keep each of them in your prayers!

Youth Retreat!

impacto1 — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 17:39:00 +0000

Our youth retreat was incredible! We took 62 in total — 24 from New Life and 38 from Jubilee. We had thought that we would be taking about 50, so we were excited that our expectations were surpassed! The retreat was based on Francis Chans’ first four themes of his series “BASIC.” We showed the videos to get started, and then everyone divided into small groups were they were talked and wrestled with the theme of that day. It was an incredible experience for everyone, not only the youth, but also for the leaders.

The smiles and fellowship were a blessing. The Holy Spirit moved in powerful ways in many young people. The New Life team that led the worship times did a great job and all the youth were blessed to praise God together. The games and fellowship, like the bonfire and hide-and-seek in the dark where also a hit! There are no words to adequately express all that God did while we were there in the hearts of our young people. Please pray that the retreat will have lasting and transforming effects in each person that went.

Registration – Celebration Sunday March 11, 2012

impacto1 — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 22:09:24 +0000

In March, the Jubilee Church plant will be celebrating its anniversary and all that God has done with the “Join the Impact” campaign, and we’re inviting all our supporting churches and individuals!

If you’d like to know more, contact us or download the packet for more information, schedule, and prices. Be sure to register below on this page, so that we know that you’re coming!

Family Teaching Series

impacto1 — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 01:40:33 +0000

In September we focused our church activities on families. Jubilee is blessed with many families with young children, and during the year we try to have at least a month of teaching to enrich this area of the church.

In a leaders’ meeting at the end of August we asked our leaders about some of the cultural norms that influence the Mexican family. Here are a few of their answers:

Women (wives) are responsible for the children
Women in most families are responsible for Spiritual leadership
Men are responsible for provision for family
Men are free to have women other than their wives
Infidelity and adultery are the woman’s fault
Marriage is not important

We were encouraged to have our leaders respond to these cultural beliefs with God’s word and know that they understand that God in His sovereignty made the family and home a place to reflect God’s love and provision. We were reminded anew of the cultural pressures that push against a godly family’s desire to walk with God.

During the month, our preaching team focused on the family, marriage, and children, while the cell groups delved deeper into living as Christian families. Our leadership team also held a seminar on one Sunday evening for parents during which many expressed their gratefulness in learning more about how to discipline and relate with their youth and children.

Independence Day Church Picnic

impacto1 — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 01:32:19 +0000

Sixty-three people from the Jubilee church met together for a picnic on this year’s Mexican Independence Day (September 16). We met at the national park, El Chico, about 20 minutes into the mountains above Pachuca and the day of fellowship and food was wonderful.

Soccer was a major activity of the day but there were also many side activities. Several of the ladies pulled out table games, and the kids enjoyed exploring and climbing some of the smaller trees close to the picnic area.

Similar to July 4th in the United States, the Mexican Independence Day is a major family occasion. To have about half of the congregation participate was a good response and helped several new participants in the congregation to get to know our Jubilee people.

Jubilee Land Purchase 98% Complete!

impacto1 — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 19:35:44 +0000

October 2011 Update
In September of 2010, the Pachuca Project team hosted a vision summit of partnering congregations. “Join The IMPACT” was the theme of the summit, and we challenged both the Jubilee congregation and our partnering churches to move dynamically forward to secure the land for the future facility of Jubilee. The land owner, a Christian, was willing to give the church three years to pay and was also willing to forgo interest for one year. It seemed impossible to think that in one year we would pay $170,000, but we are excited and extremely blessed to announce that we have paid 98% of the land price and are hopeful that we will still complete the entire amount by October 31, the one year anniversary of the contract with the land owner.

If you or your congregation can help with what remains, let us know quickly. Our goal is to have the last payment sent soon!

September 2011 Update
Over the past two months, the Jubilee church and her partnering congregations have rapidly been closing the gap on what’s owed on the land. We are hopeful that the land will be paid by year’s end!

Contributions can be made to the project by sending a check to New Mission Systems with “Impacto Land” in the memo. If you’d like to know more, contact us!

Jubilee Land Purchase Balance ( Sept.  2011 )
TOTAL FOR LAND PURCHASE  2,200,000(MXN)
From Jubilee Church, Mexico    350,000(MXN)
From Sister Churches  1,403,194(MXN)
Matching Grant from MPCC    114,000(MXN)
-----------------------
Remaining Balance for Land 27,195*(USD)
*calculation varies with exchange rates

July 2011 Update
Each week, the church here in Pachuca is steadily getting closer to its goal of a land purchase! Please consider joining in with your church, business, youth group, or Sunday school class!

If you’d like to know more, or would like to join the effort, contact us! Also, thank you for continuing to pray for us and for the Jubilee church during this project.

Jubilee Land Purchase Balance ( July.  2011 )
TOTAL FOR LAND PURCHASE   175,578
From Jubilee Church, Mexico    25,022
From Sister Churches    85,340
Matching Grant from MPCC    25,022
-----------------------
Remaining Balance for Land    40,194

March 2011 Update
The Jubilee church continues to work hard and is steadily advancing toward the purchase of the land. And supporting churches in the US also continue to show strong support for the project.

If you’d like to know more, or would like to join the effort, contact us! Also, thank you for continuing to pray for us and for the Jubilee church during this project.

Jubilee Land Purchase Balance ( Mar.  2011 )
TOTAL FOR LAND PURCHASE   175,578
Down-payment from Jubilee Church, Mexico    17,557
Contributions Received    94,583
Contributions Projected from Jubilee    15,740
-----------------------
Remaining Balance for Land    47,698
Projected Balance for First Phase Building   243,000

January 2011 Update
Our support-gathering for the Jubilee Land and Building Project is progressing very well! Several Stateside congregations have joined with Jubilee in this project, and while we still lack $60K for the land, we’re hopeful that it will be paid for by the end of 2011, and then we’ll move to the support-gathering for the first phase building. Please continue praying and spreading the word!

Jubilee Land Purchase Balance ( Jan.  2011 )
TOTAL FOR LAND PURCHASE   175,578
Down-payment from Jubilee Church, Mexico    17,557
Contributions Received    72,000
Contributions Projected from US    17,800
Contributions Projected from Jubilee     7,800
-----------------------
Projected Balance for Land    60,421
Projected Balance for First Phase Building   243,000

October 2010 Update
The vision summit at the end of September was a great blessing with the result that plans for the land purchase are moving forward. Several of our partnering churches are beginning to give to the land purchase fund and are also letting us know their plans to help with the project over the next year. The land owner is giving us one year without interest on the balance to be paid! That will save the church hundreds of dollars! We want to keep you updated as to the progress of the project, so each month we will include the graph below. Please keep this project in your prayers. If you also would like to help, you may send your contribution to NMSI and label it, “Jubilee Church”.

Jubilee Land Purchase Balance ( Oct.  2010 )
TOTAL FOR LAND PURCHASE   175,578
Down-payment from Jubilee Church, MX    17,557
Balance   158,021
Contributions received    10,914
Contributions Promised     9,000
Contributions Projected     9,000
-----------------------
Projected Balance for land   129,107

Vacation Bible School!

impacto1 — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 19:35:23 +0000

A JOB WELL DONE! This year’s VBS was a great blessing and opened doors to new families that sent children to this year’s program.

The Mt. Pleasant Christian Church of Greenwood, Indiana sent almost their entire children’s ministry staff including Chris Franklin, children’s minister. The Mt. Pleasant group came with the whole VBS program prepared, including props and costumes, while the Jubilee people volunteered as teachers and translators. The combination made for a wonderful week of songs, stories, crafts and games.

We were excited that 86 children participated in the VBS. Jubilee usually has about 35 kids at Sunday School, so we had more than 40 that participated at the invitation of Jubilee members.

The VBS ended on Saturday with a closing program and a fair. Each of the cell groups prepared a food item to sell and a game that the kids and others could play. The fair tickets raised close to $400 for the land purchase for the Jubilee Church!

The Mt. Pleasant people were a great blessing and kept a wonderful positive attitude throughout a very busy week.

New Christians!

impacto1 — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 15:01:50 +0000

After conversations and one-on-one Bible studies, several new believers accepted Christ and were baptized at the Jubilee Church! Please join us in praising God for our new brothers and sisters, and please pray for them as they begin their new life!