Welcome to the world Leah Joy Pomares Bellin! 

 

 As most of you are preparing for Christmas, we´ve been preparing for the day our little daughter would arrive.    The night before we had our Christmas dinner with our AIA team, and boy was I grateful for a wonderful BIG meal since little did I know we had a big day ahead of us.  Labor started early around 7:30am with mild contractions.  My doctor suggested I stop in her office to check on my progression and I was already 3 cm at 11:30am.  She sent me to the hospital to wait for her and said the baby should be here that day.  As I was leaving for the hospital my contractions were already 3x 10 minutes.  In our short trip to the hospital my contractions were strong and she was ready to come.  On Thursday, December 15th at 15:15pm (3:15pm) she made her grand entry.       

Friday we spent the day getting to know our Leah, as well as having a few visitors at the hospital.  We were all set to be discharged early Saturday, but our plans changed.  The nurses had Leah for some routine tests as well as an immunization when they noticed some unusual movements. They called Luis down to the nursery where he saw one of these convulsive episodes that were lasting up to 4 minutes.  The Dr. sent her to ICU for tests and observation.  At this point we didn´t know what to think.  We placed our precious daughter in God´s care and asked for His healing touch.  When we were able to see her during the first visiting hour we had wonderful news, her ultrasound came back negative for any brain damage!  Although we were still awaiting the neurologist's review as well as blood work we had a sense of relief.  In a few hours the neurologist explained that she was on an anti-convulsive medicine, but as far as he could tell she was perfectly healthy, and that we should see him in 2 weeks to check on her progress.  Praise the Lord!  Her blood work confirmed that the episodes were a hyperglycemic reaction to lack of nutrition.  They recommended that we supplement her feeding with formula to insure she is eating enough and said we could take her home in the morning (Sunday 18). 

Since being home Leah has been doing extremely well.  She is eating, resting, growing stronger, and more alert with each passing day. We are so grateful to have her as our daughter. 

LEAH JOY-

Luis and I like the story of Leah in Genesis 29.  Jacob worked for 7 years to marry Leah´s younger sister Rachel, but their father, Laban, gave him Leah, the eldest daughter, instead and said he could work another 7 years to marry Rachel.  Leah had 3 children and with the birth of each child she hoped that maybe her husband would grow to love her (because it was Rachel he had loved).  With the birth of her 4th child, Judah, her heart changed and she said, “this time I will praise the Lord”. Interestingly enough Jesus came through the line of Judah, in other words a descendant of Leah, not Rachel.  The name Leah actually means weary, but that is why we really like Joy as a second name. Just as Leah´s joy came later when she decided to praise the Lord.  That is why we chose the name, Leah Joy.

From our family to yours we would like to wish you a Merry Christmas.  

¡Feliz Navidad!       

Luis, Elizabeth, and Leah Pomares

Prayer

Requests

-That Leah would continue to grow strong and healthy.

-That Leah´s neurologist would give the ok for her to go off of her anti-convulsive medicine.

-For wisdom in how to raise our daughter to fear the Lord.

-For strength, patience, and grace, throughout the many sleepless nights as we adjust to being new parents.

-To give thanks to God for being with and protecting Leah in ICU.

        We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  So often it is easy to catch ourselves grumbling (especially when you are 38 weeks pregnant), but what a blessing it is to find contentment in every situation.  Luis and I are grateful for so much; the students involved in the ministry, the love we have from our family and friends, a wonderful supportive church, and our little baby girl that is due in just a couple weeks.  We are also grateful to have been able to share Thanksgiving with almost 50 friends and co-laborers in the ministry..

         Monday, November 21st the students at BUAP had off of school since Sunday was a national holiday, Mexican independence day.  I invited some girls over for a Woman’s time lead by a fellow Cru staff, Tawny Williams, who used to serve in Mexico, and is currently serving in Colorado with her family.  She shared with us from Ephesians 4 about unity in Christ as women.  Two of the five girls who joined us for the talk, sisters Ana and Carmen, are just learning more about what it means to follow Jesus.  It was exciting to be able to encourage them in this journey and give them a Bible and notebook to write down what they are learning about and the questions that they have.  Please pray that Ana and Carmen would read their Bibles and that they would come to know Jesus personally.  

On Thursday we had an end of the semester social at our house.  It was an amazing time for students to connect with one another and grow deeper in friendship.  Starting the next semester Luis is will not be able to be on campus full time due to all Mexican staff undergoing a training class in January.  We asked the students if anyone would like to give a talk to be able to continue having the weekly meetings.  Immediately four students volunteered to give talks!  What a wonderful response.  It is encouraging to see them take initiative and ownership in the movement.  

A friend of ours from our church was kind enough to bless us with a  pregnancy photo session.  We had a wonderful time going to a park, which was  where Luis took me for our first date in Puebla.   With only 2 weeks away from our due date we are getting more and  more excited to meet our little girl.  So far everything is going wonderful in this pregnancy.  Thank you so much for your continued prayers. 

Luis and Elizabeth Pomares

Dear friends,

We hope you are doing well.  We have been bit busy lately preparing talks for a busy week of ministry.  Allow us to take you through our week, October 9th-16th.

On Sunday(9) Luis shared at our church, El Faro (Lighthouse), about how to be disciples 5G.  With the advancement of technology we have 4^th generation cell phones but what will the 5^th generation bring.  He shared 5 characteristics of what he thinks a 5G disciple should look like.  We thanks you for your prayers as many shared that they were encouraged and challenged by the talk.

Monday(10) we went to Tec de Monterrey where Luis shared with the guy’s basketball team about the importance of being trustworthy and how this quality in character can help them as a team and in their daily lives.  We did trust falls as an activity to help them trust their teammates more.  This next week Luis will talk about how to value others on the team.

Some friends who work with another student ministry at UDLAP invited Luis to participate in their weekly talk on Tuesday(11) night.  This particular week the talk was about sex and encouraging students to wait for marriage.  Another missionary and Luis gave the talk as he was asked to share from a man´s perspective.  Thankfully it went really well.

Wednesday(12) we were at BUAP for our weekly talk.  We had a guest speaker, Carlos Miranda, who worked for over 20 years with Campus Crusade.  He shared about if God is good why He allows bad things to happen.  This last week he shared about Evolution from a Christian perspective.  It was encouraging to see several new faces at our meetings who were interested in the topic.  Next Wednesday will be Carlos´s last talk and we will be doing a question and answer forum called Christianity on Trial.  Please pray that God would work in the hearts of many to know Him more.

Thursday(13) was our regular English Club meeting at BUAP.  It is exciting to see several students bring their friends to the club.  This last Thursday we had a fun day where we played charades with the students in English.  We had a lot of fun along with a lot of laughs.  There were about 8 students who wanted to continue to hang out with us so we went to lunch and played another game.  It is great to be able to develop friendships with the students through the English club.  We also use the English club as a way to invite the students to our weekly talks on Wednesdays.

Friday-Sunday(14-16) was our fall retreat with students from Xalapa and Puebla.  We spent the weekend in the beautiful countryside at a cabin near Xalapa.  Upon arriving the electric generator gave out and we spent the rest of the weekend without electricity.  The consensus was that it made the weekend even more fun.  Many of the students that joined us from Xalapa shared that they were “in process” and haven’t made a decision to make God first yet.  Other students who have made that decision already opened up about challenges they were dealing with, and the retreat was a time for them to grow in their relationship with God. 

After a wonderful whirlwind week of ministry we were able to visit Luis’s family in Xalapa from Sunday until Tuesday afternoon.  We enjoyed the blessing of rest and time with family as we don’t get to see them very often.  The family is getting excited to meet our baby when she is born. 

As you can tell last week was a busy week but we were grateful for all the blessings that came with it.  Fortunately, God allowed me to have a pleasant trip without complications.  I am now in my 32^nd week which means this little one could be showing up in 6-8 weeks!  Thank you for your continued prayers for the ministry and for our family.

Prayer Requests

-That God would continue to work in the lives of the students who attended the fall retreat. 

-That God would provide opportunities to share the Gospel with the students on the basketball and baseball teams. 

-That God would continue to protect both Liz and the baby’s health.  

 Luis and Elizabeth Pomares

Hola!

Things on our end have been going really well.  Ministry seems busier than ever but the Lord seems to give us enough time for everything.  Two girls (Jessica and Karina) from BUAP have been joining us at church these last few weeks.  Jessica is new this semester and has asked that we help her learn more about the Bible!  Karina and I plan to start follow-up (basic Christian belief Bible studies) with her so that when I can´t make it to campus Karina can continue to help her grow in her faith.  

Last Tuesday we visited the weekly meeting of another ministry in Puebla called En Vivo (Live) with several students from Tec de Monterrey.  One guy from the baseball team that Luis and John have been working with (Ruben) came and brought his girlfriend (Vane) who is on the basketball team Jolita has been giving talks to each week.  In all there were 5 girls from the basketball team and Ruben from the baseball team.  Honestly, I had 3 spiritual conversations with the girls and it was very encouraging to see how open they are.  Another funny thing was that Luis stole the show with his ping pong skills afterwards.  Lots of students wanted to play against him. :)  He learned how to play when we were students with Vida Estudiantil in Xalapa after the weekly meetings (just like En Vivo) 

Yesterday we went to rock climbing with our team, it was really fun, here are some pictures.

TEAM: Luis John Abby Natalie Jolita Liz

Dear friends,

It´s been about a month since we´ve started activities on campus again, right now I (Luis) am serving at 3 colleges.

We are still working at BUAP (the campus we were at last year) working with Campus Crusade, but I am also serving with Athletes in Action (AIA) at the Monterrey Tech (TEC) and the University of the Americas Puebla (UDLAP).  God has opened the door  to work with the men's and women's basketball team at TEC, and I have been working with the men's basketball team.

UDLAP

 The AIA team has been working with the baseball team at UDLAP since last year, but for an unknown reason, this year the university is not allowing people outside of the university to volunteer in any way which could mean that we wouldn´t be able to continue to help out on campus, please pray that God would maintain the doors open to serve at UDLAP.

TEC

With the men´s basketball team at TEC we have started a series of talks with the team to help them both on and off of the court.  So far we´ve given talks about being adaptable, teamwork, and commitment.  So far the team seems open and  interested in growing in these areas.

BUAP

This semester at BUAP we are also offering an English Club in addition to our weekly talks on campus.  We try to focus on giving the students more opportunity to practice speaking and pronunciation with native speakers.  Our goal is to be able to meet more students as well as serve them.  Each week Elizabeth and  our friend, Jon, lead the club.  New students have been getting involved and some are showing interest in joining us for our weekly meetings and even going to church.

Something that is kind of funny to share with you is that as we talk to students in the English Club many think it is strange that a married couple and another American are on campus without any apparent reason.  In addition the English Club is free, and Liz goes to campus even though she is pregnant.  Thankfully we have had many opportunities to share with them why we do what we do, and why we desire for College students to know God.

Thank you very much for your partnership in prayer and financial support.

Prayer

Requests

-For our conversations with students that God would give us opportunities to share the Gospel with them.

-That God would use us in the weekly talks with the basketball teams at TEC.

-That God would guide us in what to do with the situation at UDLAP.

-That everything would continue to go well with Liz´s pregnancy.

-Please pray for me as I am giving the sermon at our church on Oct. 9th that God would use me that day.

Luis and Elizabeth Pomares

6 months

Dear friends, 

We just returned from our national staff conference where we spent 5 days with Campus Crusade staff in Mexico.  It was a nice time to visit with friends that we don´t see very often, and to hear about what God is doing in the different parts of Mexico where they serve.  It was also encouraging to hear from our leadership about the vision and direction that God is leading us as a country.  Now that we are back in Puebla we are getting ready for the new semester with the students.  Today we are meeting with a few student leaders to pray and plan for the semester.  We are also going to be working with the local ministry of Athletes in Action on another campus in the city.  We are excited to collaborate with another ministry here and learn from them as well.  Please pray for us that our passion for the Lord would continue to increase and that many students would also know and grow in their relationships with the Lord.

We would also like to announce that we found out our baby is a little girl!  We already feel like we know her more as the days go by.  Right now the doctor thinks she will be arriving around December 21.  So far she is healthy and everything is going well in the pregnancy.  Thanks for your continued prayers for our family.

Serving together in Mexico,

Luis and Elizabeth Pomares

Dear friends,

             Now that the new semester is drawing near at BUAP (the university where we work), we want to let you know that this year we will be part of a staff team that are working with college students at different universities in the city of Puebla.  We will learn more about what this new team dynamic will look like at BUAP after our national staff conference next week.

             Speaking of the university where we will be working. there are several student leaders who want to serve in the university to reach more students with the message of the Gospel, many of whom we met this year and are eager to be part of what God is going to do in the lives of their classmates.  Please pray for us at the beginning of this new semester as we begin to plan with the student what we would like to do this semester.

Also, as you know, Liz and I are expecting a child on approximately December 17th.  Praise God, her pregnancy is going very well.  She is now coming up on week #21 and it's getting easier to see that her belly is growing.  The picture is from her baby shower with 2 of her cousins who are also expecting.  Thank you all for praying for her health and the baby's health.  On August 12th we have an appointment with the doctor and that day we will probably find out if it is a girl or a boy.  Bets, anyone?  We will let you know as soon as we know.

This summer we took some time to invite other people to invest in the ministry to college students.  Praise God, we met lots of people and many of them have already begun supporting us.  We are very glad to see how God introduced us to people who are now part of our missionary supporter team.  Also, thank you for praying for God's provision for our needs.  We were able to raise enough support to cover our monthly expenses, but we still need to raise support for the conference expenses, mission projects, and student retreats that we have throughout the year.  We are confident that God will provide for these needs in His time.  Please pray for God to continue providing for our expenses.

While we were inviting others to support us, we could see God's faithfulness in our lives, we were reminded that God is the one who provides for us, and knew that it was God who introduced us to new people to tell them about how God is expanding His kingdom all over the world and how people can take an active role in reaching the world for Christ.  We pray that we and all our ministry supporters remember that what we do (praying, sharing the Gospel, serving, giving) has a true and significant impact on eternity.

Thank you for praying for us and supporting us with your resources.  Together we are a team bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to university students in Mexico!

 Prayer

Requests

-For the beginning of the new semester, that God gives us students who are ready to hear the message of the Gospel and that He gives us courage to share it.

-For the student leaders, that they take ownership of this movement in the university, and that they would be the standard-bearers of directing and serving in their university.

-That we and the students have a heart that seeks after God and that we obey what the Lord wants us to do.

Sincerely,

Luis and Elizabeth

Omar´s Testimony

Omar García, a Senior Sociology student at B.U.A.P wrote the following :

I had never really heard of Campus Crusade for Christ.  The truth is, I found it at just the right time. I still remember going through one of the cafeterias on campus and finding a poster with this question. “ Do you relate to this symbol?” I was a picture of a Jesus fish.  At the time, I was emotionally unstable and in fact my spiritual life was stagnant.  Some situations overwhelmed me and I was considering the possibility of distancing myself from Christianity.  A few months before, I was completely involved in my local church ministry. I do not doubt for a minute though that in God’s infinite mercy, he had planned something for me. I knew it more than ever. I realized that even if I walked away from him, he would never leave me.  I decided to find out what the poster was about and went to the meeting.  I liked the idea of knowing that maybe I would learn something.

Now I know and obey God more than before. Also, I definitely trust Him more.  I have learned to expand my view about serving God.  I have understood the importance of ministries beyond what is traditionally known as a church, the place where we gather.

What I enjoy most is spending time with people who love God and encourage me to grow in my relationship with Him.  Now, I am in a Bible study with Luis. The author Henry T. Blackaby said, "A love relationship with God is more important than any other single factor in our life. " I believe that one of the important aspects of Campus Crusade is to help promote deep and meaningful relationships through fellowship and friendships.  I have witnessed the importance of this in the student community.

I also believe that God has challenged me to completely depend on Him.  In the past, I trusted in my own strength for what I could do for Him. Now, I see the things He can do for and through me. My outlook has changed.  I am also learning that the more we recognize the Lord in our lives, the more we can appreciate his wonders. We also appreciate his unique and abundant mercy, kindness and love manifested in every area of our life. Also in his infinite love, he will give us a clear direction for living.

I should add that I admire the way people spend their time, effort and even money to the work for God. I mean those who work for the ministry of Campus Crusade and of course those who support them. Henry T. Blackaby said: "You need to reorient your lives to God's purposes.  His purposes go far beyond time to eternity.  If you do not recognize that God has created you for eternity, you will invest in the wrong things."  I have no doubt that the best thing is to invest in His kingdom ...

THANK YOU FOR INVESTING IN THE LIFE OF OMAR!

YOUR PRAYERS AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT CHANGE LIVES FOREVER!