Dear friends, We started out the new year attending our national staff conference with Cru Mexico from January 4-9. It always encourages us to spend time with the other missionaries working in cities all over the country where Cru has a presence.  We did training together, prayed together, listened for God’s voice and also had a whole lot of fun.  This year I was recognized for 10 years of serving God as a full-time Cru Mexico missionary, and Liz 8 years, during a small ceremony  to celebrate those who have invested many years into the national ministry.  Our children had a wonderful time hanging out with the other missionary children who were at the conference.  Here is a picture of all the Cru Mexico missionaries and our families.

When we returned home after the missionary conference, we kicked off a new semester of ministry by enjoying a traditional “Rosca de Reyes” pastry at our home with some of the student leaders at BUAP University.  Now that the new semester is underway, these leaders are working hard and believing that God will help them reach their classmates with the Gospel.  Our children always love it when the students visit our home. Something else we’re really excited about is that during the last week of January, Cru Mexico launched a movement for young professionals called “Leader Impact.”  We offered several days of training for some of the young professionals who are already connected to Cru in different cities throughout Mexico.  I am very glad to be able to continue working with these young professionals who want to make a difference for Christ in their workplace, bringing the message of Jesus to every area of our society. Thank you very much for all your prayers and financial support that made all these things happen.  It is an honor for us to partner with you to help the students and professionals to know Christ better. Prayer requests: In March we will hold our national conference for students and we are hoping that about 200 participants will go. - Help us pray for the planning of the conference, so that it will be a success. - That God will provide the necessary money for the students to attend. - That God will use this time so that the participants continue growing in their love for God.

Luis, Liz, Leah, & Ian Pomares "The Gospel for every student, A movement for every campus, Leaders for every nation." Make a donation to our ministry: Online: https://give.cru.org/2805380 Check: Make your check payable to "CRU" and attach a post-it note with "Luis and Elizabeth Pomares account # 2805380", please do not write anything in the for / memo line. The check should be mailed to CRU, PO Box 628222 Orlando, FL 32862-8222.

Dear friends, This year has gone by very quickly for us.  We celebrate God’s faithfulness in our lives and in the lives of the college students in Mexico. We would like to share with you that from December 8th-18th, Cru Mexico organized a humanitarian aid project in Unión Hidalgo, Oaxaca; one of the areas most affected by the 8.2 earthquake on September 7th, 2017. A group of 20 students, volunteers, and staff partnered with a local church to build homes, remove debris, hand out food and supplies, organize a soccer tournament and activities for kids, project the Jesus Film, share their faith, and provide medical assistance, among other things.  There is still a great need in many of the surrounding communities.  Join us in praying that God would continue to provide for each family affected, and that He would resolve this crisis for the many families going through in this area of the country.

Two weeks ago we ended the semester with a small Christmas party at our home with some of the students involved in the movement in Puebla.  We played games, broke a piñata, opened gifts, ate food and drank hot chocolate, and celebrated what God did this semester.  Our kids always enjoy having the students over at our home. On Friday 15th, Leah turned 6 years old!  We had a birthday party for her at a park where she could play with her friends.  We thank God for our happy and unique daughter, Leah. As the new year approaches we have some important upcoming events for the ministry like our Staff conference in January, and our National Student Conference in March among others.  If you would like to give a special end of the year gift to help cover the costs of these conferences it would be a great blessing.  Thank you for all your prayers and support, we are grateful and blessed to partner with you in sharing the message of the gospel to the college students in Mexico.   Feliz Navidad!     Prayer request: That God would use us even more this next year in the lives of college students in Mexico.

Luis, Liz, Leah, & Ian Pomares "The Gospel for every student, A movement for every campus, Leaders for every nation." Make a donation to our ministry: Online: https://give.cru.org/2805380 Check: Make your check payable to "CRU" and attach a post-it note with "Luis and Elizabeth Pomares account # 2805380", please do not write anything in the for / memo line. The check should be mailed to CRU, PO Box 628222 Orlando, FL 32862-8222.

Dear friends, I hope that you are all doing very well.  One of the things that we really love sharing with you is when a student puts their faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior.  In this letter, we’d like to tell you the story of Adolfo. Adolfo is a freshman at BUAP who is majoring in Applied Biochemistry.  He is from a city that is 2 hours away from Puebla, which means he has to rent a room near the university. When he began his university studies, he felt lonely because he didn´t have close relationships here.  After only a week he wanted to quit his major because he felt alone, but before he left he decided to ask the university for help.  By God’s grace and the positive presence of the Cru students at our university - the Cru group has a very positive reputation with the university administration - Adolfo’s phone number and his request for help was given to a Cru student leader named Israel.   Israel decided to call and invite him to one of our Cru meetings, so that hopefully Adolfo would feel encouraged to continue with his studies and meet new people.  Israel didn’t specifically mention on the phone that in our Cru meetings we study the Bible together or that we would talk about the life of Jesus.  Even so, Adolfo decided to check it out and kept coming every week. Two weeks ago, we studied the topic of “Jesus as King” and we asked him if Jesus was the Lord of his life.  He said no.  We asked him if he knew how to begin a personal relationship with Jesus.  He said no.  That day, the students shared the gospel with him using a booklet called “Would you like to know God personally?”  That day, Adolfo put his faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Israel and Adolfo are currently going through a follow up material to help him grow in his new faith in Jesus. In the picture, Adolfo is wearing the blue sweater, behind Liz.

Thank you so much for your prayers that help students like Adolfo come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior.  We are certain that God is working in powerful ways among the university students in Mexico. As far as our family goes, Leah and Ian returned to school after it was closed for two weeks due to the September 19th earthquake.  They are very happy to see their classmates again. Prayer requests: - That Adolfo continues to grow day by day in his relationship with Christ. - That God will allow us to meet more students who are ready to receive Christ. - That we continue to be faithful in sharing Christ with the university.

Gracias! Luis, Liz, Leah, & Ian Pomares "The Gospel for every student, A movement for every campus, Leaders for every nation." Make a donation to our ministry: Online: https://give.cru.org/2805380 Check: Make your check payable to "CRU" and attach a post-it note with "Luis and Elizabeth Pomares account # 2805380", please do not write anything in the for / memo line. The check should be mailed to CRU, PO Box 628222 Orlando, FL 32862-8222.

Dear friends, As you probably already know Mexico was hit with 2 strong earthquakes only 11 days apart.  The last one on Tuesday the epicenter was close to Puebla, were we live, and it was felt very strong. Everything shook very hard. Our kids were in school during the earthquake but thank God they were fine. Right now our family and home are fine and safe. Thanks for praying for us. Up until now 245 people have died and many people are still trapped in the collapsed buildings, many children among them. Mexico city was hit very hard with more that 40 buildings collapsing and others places around Mexico city and Puebla were hit also.   Prayer Request:   - You can pray for the families of the people that lost someone. - Pray for all the people that are still trapped that they could be rescued soon. - Pray for all the reconstruction efforts in the followings weeks. - Some students from Cru in Puebla are going to do some volunteer work in some places near by, pray for them while they help and talk to people in these areas. - Other students who study medicine at UPAEP have been serving wounded downtown Puebla where out city was most affected. Thanks for keeping Mexico in your thoughts and prayers. Gracias! Luis, Liz, Leah, & Ian Pomares "The Gospel for every student, A movement for every campus, Leaders for every nation." Make a donation to our ministry: Online: https://give.cru.org/2805380 Check: Make your check payable to "CRU" and attach a post-it note with "Luis and Elizabeth Pomares account # 2805380", please do not write anything in the for / memo line. The check should be mailed to CRU, PO Box 628222 Orlando, FL 32862-8222.

Dear friends, We hope that you are all doing very well. We are very glad to share with you that at the beginning of this school year we have given out around 10,000 welcome kits to students at more than 10 universities throughout the country.  Students and staff have worked very hard over the past 3 weeks to give out these kits to new students and to use them to engage in conversations with thousands of students. At BUAP, the university where we do the majority of our work, we gave out 2,000 welcome kits to new students, and we have also had the chance to talk with hundreds of students who are further along in their studies. Two weeks ago, on a day when we were giving out the kits, I had the chance to share the gospel with Zabdiel, a freshman, who put his faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord that day.  God has used this effort to reach incoming students so that student leaders and staff have been seeing more students coming to know Christ, and we've able to talk to them about who Jesus is and how the goal of Cru is to give every student the opportunity to hear the message of the gospel.

I thank God for touching Liz's heart to lead this initiative starting way back in April, and now we are seeing the fruits of her labor as we see students putting their faith in Jesus, more and more students joining discipleship groups, and a greater presence in the universities where Cru has student movements.  Thank you so much for your prayers and for contributing to these efforts.  Without your support, none of this would be possible. As far as our family goes, Leah and Ian have just started a new school year.  Leah is in first grade and Ian is in his second year of preschool.  They were happy to see their friends again after summer break. Prayer requests: - For follow-up opportunities with the students who indicated an interest in joining a small group. - That the staff and student leaders can work together to make sure the new students connect with Jesus in a personal way. - That God would raise up a new generation of students who are passionate for Jesus.

Gracias! Luis, Liz, Leah, & Ian Pomares "The Gospel for every student, A movement for every campus, Leaders for every nation." Make a donation to our ministry: Online: https://give.cru.org/2805380 Check: Make your check payable to "CRU" and attach a post-it note with "Luis and Elizabeth Pomares account # 2805380", please do not write anything in the for / memo line. The check should be mailed to CRU, PO Box 628222 Orlando, FL 32862-8222.

Kits update

Dear friends, We are getting ready to give away 2000 kits over the next 3 days for freshman students at Buap. Please pray with us for good conversations and students interested in knowing Jesus.

Dear friends, We hope that you’re all doing very well.  We’re writing to you to share the wonderful news that more people are joining the full-time staff of Cru in Mexico. Right now 3 married couples are in the process of becoming full-time staff.  I was part of a team of 3 staff who taught them how to invite others to invest their finances and prayers into their life and ministry.  That way they will be able to dedicate themselves full-time to reach college students for Christ in Mexico. Their names are: Alan and Cristina, Jaime and Myrna, and Fernando and Nancy. We had the training in the city of Monterrey in May. I am especially encouraged to see Fernando and Nancy join the full-time staff.  I had the opportunity to disciple Fernando when he was a university student, and for many years he and his wife have been faithful volunteers with Cru, assisting with directing the ministry in the city of Xalapa.  They are trusting that God will give them the resources they need in order to win, build, and send others into the world to spread the Gospel, now on a full-time basis. Please spend some time in prayer for these three couples, that God will bring people who will join their ministry support team as soon as possible.  That way they will soon be able to report to their assignment and take their New Staff training.

At the same time, we are finishing up the school term in the various universities throughout the country that have student movements.  We’re already starting to prepare for the opening of next school year.  A big campaign we’re launching is to assemble and give out 10,000 freshman survival kits to freshman students who are just starting out at the universities where we have a presence.  At the BUAP, we want to give out 2,000 kits.  Each kit contains a Cru Mexico folder, two pens, an evangelistic article, a 4 Laws booklet, and information about different activities that we have going on at the university.  Liz is coordinating this campaign, and our desire is to maintain a larger presence at the university.  We would like to be able to share the Gospel with each student who receives a kit.  We would like to see more students join discipleship small groups and eventually be able to launch movements in even more universities.  If you would like to give a special donation to support this initiative, just send us a message to let us know. As far as the family goes, Leah and Ian just finished the school year this week. Leah had a small party to celebrate the end of pre-school. Next year, Leah will start first grade and Ian will start his second year of preschool.  We are very happy to see them learning and growing.   Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and financial support.  We thank God for having you on our team to continue bringing the message of Christ to the university students of Mexico.   Prayer requests: - For next school year, that God will use us to share the message of Christ with thousands of university students. - That we will do a good job organizing the campaign for the kits. - That God will provide the resources we need for this campaign.

Gracias! Luis, Liz, Leah, & Ian Pomares "The Gospel for every student, A movement for every campus, Leaders for every nation." Make a donation to our ministry: Online: https://give.cru.org/2805380 Check: Make your check payable to "CRU" and attach a post-it note with "Luis and Elizabeth Pomares account # 2805380", please do not write anything in the for / memo line. The check should be mailed to CRU, PO Box 628222 Orlando, FL 32862-8222.

Dear friends, Three weeks ago we had our Mexico’s CRU National Student Conference.  We had students from 7 different states representing 15 universities. Our theme this year was “GO” based on Matthew 28, where Jesus gives the Great Commission.  It was a great time of learning and training for the participants.  It really encouraged me to see the students getting serious about their responsibility to share the Gospel and make disciples at their university.  I had the chance to have many good conversations with student leaders from different universities and to listen to them talk about their dreams and plans for their campus ministry.  It was incredible! Our children had a ton of fun with the other children of Mexico’s CRU staff members.  Normally, they don’t get to play together very often.  It was also great to see the children interacting with the students from the university ministries. We’d like to finish this letter by sending you more pictures this time so you can get an idea of what the conference was like (large-group presentations, training, team-building, small groups, baptisms, and others).

Thank you so much for partnering with us to continue bringing the message of the gospel to the university students and working together with us so that each person may meet a true follower of Jesus. Without your prayers and financial support, we wouldn’t be able to witness all these incredible things that God is doing in the lives of the students.  You are all important pieces of the work we are doing. Prayer requests: That the students apply what they learned during the conference. That we would see spiritual multiplication in the various universities that were represented at the conference. That we can launch new movements in other universities over the next few months.

Gracias! Luis, Liz, Leah, & Ian Pomares "The Gospel for every student, A movement for every campus, Leaders for every nation." Make a donation to our ministry: Online: https://give.cru.org/2805380 Check: Make your check payable to "CRU" and attach a post-it note with "Luis and Elizabeth Pomares account # 2805380", please do not write anything in the for / memo line. The check should be mailed to CRU, PO Box 628222 Orlando, FL 32862-8222.