MIA Parents (Who knows where we'll be next)

Hello from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada!!!

We have been on the road for about three weeks, and been settled here in Regina for the last week. I've not blogged since we left Mexico, so thought I would give you a quick glimpse of our travels. We left Lazaro in a caravan with Tammy and Malcolm to visit a few pueblitos on the way to Morelia (3 1/2 hours from Lazaro). We also had the privilege of taking our teen-aged friend, Perla, to visit her Mom in the big city. It was a fun day!! We enjoyed a short evening with the Gonzalez family, then headed off early the next day for the border. We drove about 17 hours and hit the bridge just before dark. A night's rest and seven more hours of driving led us to Abilene where we spent four wonderful days with Bobby and Gail Lawson whom we have come to love and respect from the medical missions in Los Llanos. We had the joy of meeting about 30 folks from the Southern Hills congregation who had gathered at the Lawsons for a BBQ to hear about the work in Mexico. We continue to pray for God's guidance as the mission's committee meets and decides if Southern Hills will become our overseeing congregation!!! There are so many good works from which they must choose. Gail spoiled us and sent us on our way to San Antonio. Our first stop was the Toyota dealership as Bern checked out a truck. (You can ask him my opinion of owning a big, white truck--wink, wink.) Needing a more rugged vehicle, we checked out the great incentives Toyota was offering in July. Our next stop was Schlitterbahn Water Slides Park. We had a blast enjoying Logan's birthday gift together!!! This time, I'm glad to say that Logan was NOT catapulted from the water slide!! The next day led us to our faithful liaisons, Patty and Bob Grigg. They do so much for us by accepting mail and packages, as well as providing our housing, storage for our vehicle, and a ride to the airport. Thank you, dear friends and fellow workers!!! You are such a blessing to us!!

A full day of flying landed us in Regina, Saskatchewan where we were happily greeted by G'pa, Ashley, Uncle Dave, as well as friends, Candace and Andrea!! The next day Kresten arrived home from his camp counseling duties, so we were overjoyed to be with both of the twins and lots of other family for our traditional "Happy Birthday to Alicia and Uncle Dave" party. Sunday we headed to Kenosee Lake to share our work with the Moose Mountain congregation. We left Logan to enjoy a week of camp at Clearview Bible Camp. Reports were that he had a great time. (Not sure how the counselors fared for the week.) Another five hour drive got us to Dauphin, Manitoba where we were able to share the work with Mountain View Christian Assembly and the Dauphin Church of Christ. It was a wonderful time of visiting, although way too short!!!

Five more hours of travel got us to Saskatoon where we stayed busy with doctor, dentist, and optometrist appointments. We were again spoiled-this time by Auntie Jean, who shared the fruits of her garden--strawberries, saskatoon berries, raspberries, carrots, lettuce, and much more. Our renters were not in town so we decided to head back to Regina to spend time with Bern's sister, Wendy, and Bill before they headed back to Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Another trip to Saskatoon will give us opportunity to share the Mexico work with the congregation. We hope to rent out our house again since there will be little time for getting it up for sale at this point. We still have some hope that it will sell through word of mouth.

The plan is to be back in Abilene the end of August as we head south in our U-Haul truck to take our possessions into Mexico. We miss our lives in Mexico and look forward to being back the first of September. We look forward to our LST couple that will be joining us for three weeks in Sept.

Until next blog,
Bernard, Alicia and Logan

Breakfast of berries
every morning with
Auntie Jean.

Bern
and
sis,
Wendy





Spending time with
our twins.











G'pa watching
his grandkids

Poor Loggie--
He holds his
own with his
big bro and
sis!!

Raising Leaders

We are in an exciting place in church planting here in Lazaro Cardenas, Michoacan. Each Sunday Celebration time is a wonderful experience. We have new faces every week. Sometimes we wonder where they all come from!! We do know that God is blessing the work here as we bathe our efforts in prayer. Bernard and I have been spoiled to join a work that has had four years of foundation already laid. Those first few years can be slow as the language is learned and roots are being put down. Now, almost five years into the work, La Comunidad de Cristo is being known throughout the city as a group of God's people who are REAL-who dedicate themselves to the work of God-who live and preach the pure Word of God!!! No doubt we continue to have those who are curious as to what we are doing here in Lazaro; but what excites us most are those who are rising in leadership. As church planters we always have our eyes open to those who have a heart for God. It's not always the most talented, most articulate, or most knowledgeable of God's Word who rise to leadership. As we study the life of David, we become aware that God doesn't demand perfection but progression. The first step in raising leaders is identifying those who are being molded by the Spirit-those who hunger and thirst for the righteousness of God with humble hearts.
Bernard and I are privileged to work shoulder-to-shoulder with such servants. Knowing that our time out of Mexico was coming up, we have been praying and seeking for rising leaders who could be trained to take over the leadership of our Life Groups. We hand-picked three couples, of which two took on the challenge of meeting together weekly to learn principles and study techniques of leading a small group. We have been guiding the two couples through the book of Luke to follow up the seed-line study with, "Who is this seed of woman, Jesus, who crushes Satan's power?"
Monday nights have become one of my favourite times of the week. Francisco and Rosi, along with Blanca come to our group excited about the things God has taught them throughout the week. They dedicate themselves to a short passage in Luke which they study through the use of homiletics and three to four pages of questions that guide them into truths of that passage. They literally buzz as they chat about the many things they have gleaned from the passage. Their humble servant hearts are evident as we spend the first 45 minutes or more in prayer. We are always wanting for more when we end, knowing that we have much material to cover before our evening is depleted.
Bernard and I have no doubt these two couples will continue to grow and learn as they shepherd and teach those in their groups. We feel honoured and blessed to be a part of their growth. It's so fun watching them bloom and grow!!! Please keep the baby church in your prayers as many grow in their faith and leadership. We will miss our dear family and friends while we are away from Mexico this next month and a half, but what a joy we feel to know that others have stepped up to the task of continuing in our stead!!! We will be missed, but we are not irreplaceable!!! What a joy to know and understand that truth!! God has been good to us and we feel His blessings all around us.
Until next blog,
Bernard, Alicia and Logan Krogsgaard

Rosi, Francisco, y Blanca join us each Monday evening








Our first forty-five
minutes are dedicated
to fervent prayer.








Rosi and Blanca are both prayer warriors!!









A testimony to God's
power!!!








Blanca has overcome many
obstacles in her life. Her faith
is strong because of it!!










Mati lives his testimony as he
teaches many people in his place
of work. He is a living testimony
of how God transforms lives...from
drunk to servant!!

Los Llanos Medical Clinic

God continues to do great things as His people strive to be Jesus incarnate!!! What a privilege to be His eyes, hands, feet, mouth and heart!!! The Southern Hills church in Abilene, Texas sent a great team to meet the medical needs of 250+ people who live in an impoverished area in the state of Guerrero. This is the third medical mission that La Comunidad de Cristo has joined working hands with Southern Hills. People have come to expect our appearance every six months or so. We are coming to know many of our "regular" patients.
Southern Hills supplied us with Bobby and Gail Lawson, our excellent Dr./Nurse team, as well as two other nurses, a pharmacist, and several other helpers. This team included a special treat for us all--a team chef!!! John, who lovingly became know as "Juancito" (little John) makes the best salmon you have ever eaten. We enjoyed the evenings of gathering together, enjoying John's armadillo eggs (stuffed jalapenos wrapped in bacon..hummmmm), and mulling over God's marvels of the day of which we were privileged to witness. Jack Walker, of Southern Hills, has been instrumental in putting the clinics and teams together. God continues to develop this outreach, we hope, to the point that Los Llanos could very well be our first church plant from La Comunidad de Cristo. We are sowing seeds of helping others physically so that we may be put in a position to help them, more importantly, spiritually. Bernard and I again had the opportunity to pray with some of our patients, as well as guide some with godly counsel from God's Word. It's always a joy to sit and chat with the patients in the waiting area. Logan helped package the vitamins when he was not busy at play with the neighbours behind the clinic. The girls were tickled that Logan was back again to play with them. AND THIS TIME he was able to speak almost as well as they can!! We were glad to again have contact with Colleen, an American who lives in Los Llanos who has been instrumental in first getting the medical clinics coming, as well as arranging our housing and making appointments with the patients. What a gift she is to us!!! La Comunidad de Cristo was pleased to provide one of the two doctors. Dr. Carmi, who began attending with us about two months ago, dusted off her stethoscope and took on the challenge of working with us the four days. It was an excellent experience for her, as well as a sharp learning curve as she has not been practicing for fourteen years!! She did a great job of caring for her patients. Enjoy a few of the photos from the clinic.
Until next blog,
Bernard, Alicia and Logan Krosgsgaard

Colleen's organizational skills help the clinic run smoothly.

Little Aseret entertains the patients while Mommy makes all the appointments.










Nurses Alice and Monica, along with helpers Jitti and Jordan, check blood pressures and measure weight and height.

Logan, Nedia, and Roger help dispense the medicines and vitamins.





Bern chats with our two doctors.




Nedia translated for the nurses and loved on the patients.








Pharmacist Heath chats with Bernard about the finer points of something...

Nurse Gail gets in her finer points, too, while she gets a breath of fresh air between patients.





John makes a mean fajita!!!

Our day ends around a common table. Good food, good conversation.

Faces Of Our Lives In Mexico

Our bags are packed and we look forward to our week in Los Llanos with our medical mission. The medical team from Abilene arrived yesterday. We met for our Sunday Celebration today (breaking our record with 103-105 in attendance). We head off tomorrow bright and early.
One of our faithful blog readers commented that she enjoys seeing the pictures of those we have come to love because their faces/smiles just shine. I spent some time organizing my photos and thought about Robin's comment. I wanted to share some of these happy faces with you. I hope you enjoy them. I won't be near our computer this week, but I'll give a full report of the medical mission on the next blog.
Logan moves up to yellow belt in Karate-Do

Logan's neighbourhood crowd










Precious Socorro


Teaching my neighbour to read









Tuesday cell group

Rising leaders









Wed cell
Georgina y Salvador









Bibles from Sharon Fox














Fun with Blanca










Sweet Perla









Dear Dear Friends
Coral and Deysy











Our team


God's work








Until next blog,
Bernard, Alicia and Logan

Being Transformed

Can you imagine how shocked God's people were when Moses came down from "God's mountain" and he was glowing from being in the presence of God's glory? What a concrete visual that is for us as we too, continue to "glow" and "shine" as the Holy Spirit transforms us. I love it when I see this transformation taking place in the lives of those who make up the baby church in Lazaro. It is a testimony to God's great power!! Three of the new Christians have made the decision to completely stop their consumption of alcohol by this time next year. In a culture where alcohol is abundant, THIS is a huge commitment!! Their decision has not come as a result of "holy fingers" being shaken in their faces, but by the conviction that God has done so much for them and has called them to lead a holy life.
These three decisions convict our team even deeper that we are called to walk shoulder to shoulder with those whom Christ brings to us. We take people where they are and invite them to walk along with us as we imitate the actions and attitudes of our Saviour. We have heard that many of the evangelical churches here in Lazaro impose hard-nosed rules and regulations. Our fellowship of love and relationship is a breath of fresh air for those who have been stifled by the religious legalism set up by man. In fact, the contrast between the two paradigms is so stark that we have had "long-time Christians"who have visited us to be "a bit concerned" because people were not in coats and ties, or the neighbour who was known to "drink too much" was participating in our times of celebration. "La Comunidad de Cristo just doesn't seem to be following in the holy steps of Christianity as they should be." (Ummmm, reminds me of several stories about Jesus doing the same--eating with sinners and the such!!!)
Man-made rules and regulations did not bring our three brothers and sister to their decision to leave the way of their former life; rather the Holy Spirit has convicted them of a better way, a holy calling to which they have committed. We are keeping them in constant prayer, as well as accountability as we all continue to travel this road together. Old habits are hard to break, but He that is in us is greater than he that is in the world!!! Would you, too, bring Oni, Rigo, and Jesi before THE THRONE as they fight the temptations of the enemy?

So many of you sent sweet birthday greetings to Logan. He had a wonderful 8th birthday on June 5. Eight of us packed our pizza, pastel, pinata, and presents and headed for the water slide park. A great time was had by all. Logan enjoyed most of the day until his fateful catapult off the water slide and onto the cement. It was a scary moment for us all, but he has mended well and is now showing off his "war wounds" with valour. He has decided that being eight doesn't feel much different that being seven--how disappointing! Perhaps he'll think differently as he heads into his more difficult grade three school work in the Fall. Logan ended his grade two year well. He finished with high A's in every class except one of his Math classes (Singapore, which is on a much higher level than the Alpha Omega Math) in which we received an 89. He still continues to finish the year at Mexican school (when they have class, which isn't very often-tongue in cheek). He spends lots of time outside playing with the many children on our street. Spinning tops are the latest craze so he spends lots of time perfecting his throw. Next Monday is his first Karate-Do test, of which he is feeling confident. Perhaps he'll exchange his white belt for a yellow one.
Until next blog,
Alicia for the Krogsgaards

Logan designed his water slide cake.



Coming down is a "rush"
















The pinata

The customary
face in the cake


Got a card
from Ashley!