Christmas 2013

Dear Friends We finished the ministry activities for the semester with a Christmas dinner with the students involved with CRU in Puebla. One student even brought a piñata, we all had a great time togeather. We also took a time to meditate in the real meaning of Christmas, where God become man and came to the world to save us. We encoraged the students that during their vacation they can enjoy this incredible fact with their family! This past year we have had many challenges, dificulties, triumphs, and joys; and thru all of it we saw that God was with us. We thank God because this year we received our second child, Ian Andres.  We are also grateful that our energetic little Leah celebrated her 2nd birthday.  We are very excited to see what God has in store for us this coming year.   We also want to thank God for you and your prayers and financial giving, without you we could not do what we are doing and we thank you so much for partnering with us in reaching college students in Mexico and the world with the life transforming messege of the gospel ! Merry Christmas! Luis, Liz,Leah, and Ian Pomares "Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord." Luke 2:11     "Soli Deo Gloria" English http://luisandelizabethpomares.blogspot.com/ Make a donation to our ministry online: https://give.cru.org/give/View/2805380 Check: Make your check payable to 'Cru' and attach a post-it note with "Luis  & 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. Donations are tax deductible

Thanksgiving     2013 Dear Friends and family, We celebrated Thanksgiving with our national director's family and we invited the students involved with Vida Estudiantil (CRU) to join us. Our kids had a great time playing, and we also enjoyed the whole evening with the students. For almost all of  them it was their first Thanksgiving and they tried for the first time foods like stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy, deviled eggs, and pumpkin pie. We planned for about 15 (maybe 20) to come, but 30 showed up!  Fortunately we had just the right amount of food, but there weren't many leftovers. Even though we weren't with our families , we have a wonderful time thanking God for His goodness, mercy, love, and provision for us. Here are some pictures. Thank you for your support and prayers, we hope that you had a wonderful time with your loved ones. P.S If you can´t see the pictures make sure that you have enabled your e-mail options to see them in this letter!

Luis, Liz,Leah, and Ian Pomares "I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving." Psalm 69:30

"Soli Deo Gloria" English http://luisandelizabethpomares.blogspot.com/ Make a donation to our ministry https://give.cru.org/give/View/2805380 Donations are tax deductible

The Pomares                    November  2013 Dear Friends, It is a pleasure to share with you what has been happening with us and the ministry in Mexico. Recently we host the students involved in the movement in Puebla at home, Liz hadn't had the opportunity to meet many of them before because many were new to the ministry, so we invited them to eat pizza, and have a time to connect and learn. It was a really nice time, Leah enjoyed seeing a lot of people in our house. ,In the beginning she was a little shy but at the end she didn’t want them to leave. For the students it was great to meet our kids and feeling like at home. I had the opportunity to share with them the importance of keep following Christ and that knowing Him is amazing and that nothing we can have is  compared with knowing Him. I asked Israel, a first semester electronic engineering student,  what is the thing that he most like about the movement in the three months he has been involved, and this is what he shared: “Is the genuine fellowship among the students involved, they take knowing God seriously, and they want others to know Him too, I´m making very good friends here.”  Here are some pictures about  time in our house. The first week of November the students and us had the opportunity of meeting Steve Douglas, Campus Crusade For Christ International president, he came for a conference named “Call to All” where he shared how God is moving in the world today, and how the local church can be involved in sharing the Gospel with the world, the students where pretty excited for listening Steve. Liz and Ian, our son, also had the opportunity to meet him in a private meeting with the Cru staff from Puebla.

Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to travel to Lima, Peru,  to a work board about our area (Latin America and the Caribbean) where we worked together in how we can improve our efforts in sending and receiving missionary projects short and long term in our countries. It was a very productive and fun time. In the home front, we thank you for your prayers, thank God, the kids are ok, something funny that happen last month was that we had a bed bugs infestation in our house, so we had to fumigate everything, wash clothes and take care of Leah that had a lot of bites. On the other hand, we ask you to continue praying for Ian since he is struggling going to the bathroom alone and we need to help him with suppositories. Thank you so much for your support such as praying and financially, it  has been a financial uncertainty the last few months but we had seen God providing for us through you. Prayer request: That the students involved in the ministry keep sharing their faith and their desire to share Christ with their classmates is bigger. That God continue giving us good health. That God continue providing for our monthly needs.

Luis, Liz,Leah, and Ian Pomares "Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm.  Let nothing move you.  Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." 1 Cor. 15:58 "Soli Deo Gloria" English http://luisandelizabethpomares.blogspot.com/ Make a donation to our ministry https://give.cru.org/give/View/2805380 Donations are tax deductible

The Pomares                     September 2013 Dear friends, We’ve already started the semester here in Puebla and Liz and I are very excited about what is happening with the students in our city and in Mexico.  As you know we have been working with a group of students at BUAP so that they might in turn lead the movement on their campus.  Our vision is to see student-led movements in the Mexican universities.  Therefore we want to take the necessary steps for this to take place.  This semester 4 students from BUAP (Pamela, Jessi, Ricardo, and Alfonso in the picture below) are now the leaders of the movement on this campus.  My role is now to encourage them to continue winning (evangelizing), building (disciplining), and sending (teaching others to do the same) on their campus.  We meet every other week to pray for the university and talk about how we can better serve the students there.  We are so happy because they have been doing an excellent job since the semester has started.  With this change our desire is to start another movement on a different campus.  We continue to pray and plan where would be a good place to start. Meanwhile I am continuing other projects such as my studies at the Birmingham Theological Seminary  in Alabama where I am finishing my second class.  I have been learning so much since I started this online certificate in christian ministry.  I have also begun planning our national conference for next year.  We need to start this early as it is important to have our publicity done as soon as possible,  to begin to invite students from all the cities in the country where we have movements.   I will also be traveling to Lima, Peru the second week of November for 4 days to participate in a committee with other missionaries to continue working to better serve our area in Latin America. On the home front we would like to share that Leah has been doing better with her health.  She has been growing and learning so much.  One of the things she has been interested in lately are insects, and she likes to say “Bug! Bug!”.  Ian on the other hand hasn't been feeling very well.  About 3 weeks ago he got a rash on his face and when we went to his check-up where the pediatrician told us that most likely Ian is allergic to the protein in Milk, as well as having acid re-flux.  Therefore, Liz had to change her diet and isn't eating anything that has milk or soy in it.  Now Ian’s face is doing better, but he is having a difficult time going to the bathroom.  With the medicine that the Dr. prescribed and the change in diet for Liz he is starting to feel better.

We thank you so much for your prayer and financial support.  These last few months have brought many unexpected medical costs, but God has provided for us thanks to you. Please pray for the following: The movement at BUAP, that God would continue to encourage the students to reach other students with the gospel. For the next campus that we will begin to plant a movement, that God would open doors so more students would know Christ. For Ian’s health, for wisdom as we take steps to know more about his allergy, for the rash on his face to completely heal, and that he would be able to go the bathroom on his own.   For our finances, that God would continue to provide for our monthly expenses.

Luis, Liz, Leah, and Ian Pomares "Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm.  Let nothing move you.  Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." 1 Cor. 15:58

The Pomares                           August 2013 Dear Friends, These last few weeks have been a little on the crazy side.  From July 8th to the 12th we had our national staff conference in Tequisquiapan, Queretaro.  We had an excellent time with our co-workers in ministry, praying together and sharing what is God doing in the various places where we have movements.  It was a time to remember the calling that God has given us, and how we can be more effective in our mission. Here is a picture of the staff. Coming back from the conference Leah got sick and had a rash that spread to her entire body.  When we took her to the doctor on Monday, July 15th and she was diagnosed with a mild case of measles.  That same day Liz went to her maternity check-up and when she got home she told me that she was 2 cm dilated and was placed on bed-rest.  So we have Leah with measles, Liz 36 weeks pregnant and dilated! Three days later, on Thursday the 18th, Liz felt that the baby had lowered and was experiencing some discomfort, so we went to the doctor’s office and found out she was 3 cm dilated and the baby was on it’s way.  It was about 5 pm and we headed to the hospital where our second baby, Ian Andrés was born at 10:52 pm, weighing 6 lbs 7 oz, and measuring 20 inches! When we came home from the hospital Leah couldn't meet Ian because her doctor said to take some precautions with the measles.  Her measles were almost all healed over so she wasn't contagious anymore, but just to be on the safe side we waited a few more days for her to meet Ian.  On the third day (Monday) Leah finally met her brother, she was happy to see a baby in our house, but at the same time she was a little jealous now that all the attention is divided between the two.   After having Ian for 4 days (Tuesday), Liz noticed that Ian had jaundice and was sleeping for a very long time without reacting to stimulation.  The next morning we took him to the pediatrician. After reviewing the labs that he had ordered he didn't find anything that warranted hospitalization.  However, after over 35 hours of Ian not waking up to eat or reacting to stimulation, Liz was really worried and after speaking with the doctor we decided to take him to the ER that night (Wednesday).  At the hospital they ran more tests and determined that Ian had a form of bacterial infection in the blood called sepsis which was causing the Jaundice to get worse.  Ian spent 3 days in the hospital for treatment and observation and returned home with us on Saturday.      We thank God that both Ian and Leah are now in good health.  Liz is fully recovered from giving birth, and we are grateful for the lives of our two children. Thank you again for praying for us in these times of joy and hardships.   We are almost ready to start another new semester, and are praying that God would use us even more this year in the lives of the students than the last.   As you can see these last few weeks have been rather hectic, and with the medical complications experienced we spent more money than anticipated.  Additionally we have had a few short paychecks these last couple of months, and are in the process of inviting others to join with us as ministry partners.  In the meantime, if you would like to give a special gift this month to help us meet these needs it would be a huge blessing.   Thank you for your partnership to reach the colleges students in Mexico!

Luis, Liz, Leah, and Ian Pomares "Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm.  Let nothing move you.  Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." 1 Cor. 15:58

May 2013

Dear friends,

Thank you for praying for us and for the things that God is doing in the universities here in Mexico.  We are very excited about the things that have been happening since our national student conference last month.  We have seen the students taking more initiative in sharing their faith with their friends as well as taking ownership to lead the movements on their campuses. 

Few weeks ago I had the opportunity to travel to Ecuador along with other CRU staff from Latin America and the Caribbean for our final of 5 leadership trainings in our areas.   It was an incredible time to hear about how God is working throughout the continent. 

I would also like to share that I have been accepted into the program for a certificate in Christian Ministry with the Birmingham Theological Seminary in Alabama.  It is a one year program, and I am very grateful for the opportunity for personal and ministerial growth.  Please pray for me that I would be able to give my best especially since the entire program is in English, as well as that I would be able to learn a lot and apply to my life what I am learning.

On the home front we’ve had a few difficult weeks after the student conference.  Leah was sick with another virus for about 2 weeks.  She recovered from the virus and did well for about a month.  Liz and Leah returned from a trip to the U.S. and Leah got sick again.  Our doctor ordered blood, urine, and poop samples to investigate further why Leah keeps getting sick so often.  A few things in her blood tests were out of range and we are going to repeat her blood tests again to see if there are any improvements in the tests when she is feeling well.  We ask that you continue to pray for Leah’s health and for wisdom for her doctor.  We are happy to share that last few days Leah has been feeling very well and is laughing, singing, playing, and eating well. 

Liz is now in her 28th week and in her last trimester of pregnancy.   Leah likes to rub her belly and give her little brother hugs.  We are all excited to meet our little boy in just a few months.  We still don’t have a name picked out, but will be happy to share this information once we know ourselves.

Thank you for your partnership with us in reaching university students with the message of the Gospel, and for praying for us and investing in our lives.  We are grateful to have such a supportive team of people alongside us in the call that God has given us.

Prayer requests:

-That God would continue to use student leaders in on their universities to reach more students with the Gospel of Christ.

-For good health for Liz and the baby, that the pregnancy would continue to go well and that the baby continues to grow healthy and strong.

-For good health for Leah and wisdom for her doctor in determining why she keeps getting sick.

Luis, Elizabeth & Leah Pomares

April 2013

Dear friends, 

Last week we had our national student conference with Student Life.  Thank you for praying for us and for this time that is so key in the ministry in Mexico.  They were some intense days but we would like to share with you that by the grace of God it was a success.  Students from many parts of the country came to learn about how they could start a movement on their campus.  We had morning prayer times, workshops, conferences, fellowship, baptisms, it was truly a time that we could see God working in the lives of many students.

In particular I would like to share about the participants from Chihuahua.  They drove 18 hours to be with us despite the fact that they don’t have a Student Life movement there; they were very excited for the conference.  I met Patricio last October at the Christian Expo in Mexico City where I invited him to attend the conference, along with some college students from the church, where he is a college student ministry leader together with his wife they have made a great effort.  At the end of the conference they shared how God has used this time to grow their hearts for God, His mission, and for their city.

Michelle, one of the participants from Chihuahua wrote:  “Thank you so much for all your support, for being able to be there in this key time to take part in this opportunity to be taught how to reach college students in Chihuahua and Mexico.”  Every student felt very challenged to start something new on their campuses.

Thank you so much for your support in prayer during this time.  Here are a few pictures where you can see a few of the activities that took place.

 

Prayer requests:

That the students would apply what God has taught them during this week of the conference.That God would use the students to begin new movements on campuses where there currently aren’t movements.That we would continue to serve students the best way possible who want to see their campuses transformed by the gospel.

Luis, Elizabeth, Leah and baby Pomares