bigmexicocity

Goldfuss update (July 9)

2009-07-06T11:26:00.002-05:00

Dear praying friends,

Thank you for praying! We had the team here June 13-22nd. It was a nice time and because of all of their efforts, we had 10 visitors. Lately, things have been busy with four new families coming regularly. So that is a big praise.

Please pray for:

Alejandro and Maria Elena--they have been coming and are bringing some relatives. Maria Elena's sister, Lourdes, stated that she would make this her home church and came back yesterday. This family is a result of our prayer as a church to bring us people from churches that have bad doctrine. We met this family through Mikey's basketball. He and the son Hugo are good friends.
Susana and Mauricio--have been coming since a week before the team came. Their church disbanded several months ago and Susana is concerned about her husband's desire for God since then. They have also brought many family members--brothers and sisters with their children and their parents, but Suzanna and Mauricio remain the ones that have come the last three weeks faithfully.
Leticia and her daughter, Avat, also have come since the team. Her husband is an alcoholic and they need much prayer. We do not believe that they are true believers.
Marbella and her four children are unbelievable. She gets all of these children ready and sneaks out to come to church. The problem is not her husband, who allows her to come, but her mother- in- law. They live under her roof and do not pay rent so the mother-in-law insists that she stays away from Christians. She sometimes arrives a little late and has to leave early to get back before the mother-in-law does. Her prayer request is that they can find a place of their own so the mother- in-law has no influence over their family. We cannot go and visit her because of her situation. Please pray for this family. The children are unusually attentive and very happy to be there.

Yesterday, we were full and squished. So that was wonderful!

Yet, one of our faithful faithful families is moving farther away---Juana and her sister Reme. They will still be able to come on Sundays, but not on Wednesdays because of the increased distance. That means that Wednesday nights will be rather sparse in attendance even though Sundays are full. Many work from very early (7) until 8 or 9 and make it to church there late or not at all. This is so different from just a few months ago when we had almost as many people at prayer meeting as Sunday morning.

Even though the dynamics change, it is comforting to know that our Lord never changes.

Two people have promised to come to church, but haven't yet: 1. Aide, the girls' gymnastics coach. Her grandma is very ill and has asked all to pray. 2. The people at the fruit stand.

We had a 3 hour talk with Erasmo and Matilde about Abigail, their daughter who has left home again. We left after a good conversation. They had been trying everything to get her to come back. They now really seem to see--that even though the situation is very dangerous for Abby, they need to take their hands off and allow the Lord to deal with her. This is a very hard and heart-breaking situation. Praise for the Lord's upholding grace in their lives and that Abby would be saved and not continue to try to manipulate them and make Matilde feel guilty. We were also able to talk separately with Mildred, their daughter- in- law, about her salvation. Uriel, their son, was unsure about taking the Lord's supper. So it was a really profitable visit. Praise the Lord!

Carissa, 9, left last week to go to Camp Peniel--by herself. We just talked with her this morning and she is very excited. Please pray for the Lord's working in her life through the messages.

We are getting Mikey, Cristi, and MIKE(!) ready to go this week. Mike will be preaching at Junior 2 and appreciates your prayers for eternal changes in the lives of the campers. Cristi will be attending with him that week. Mikey will be going to Teen I the following week.

When the cat is away, the mice will play!!! I (Faith) have fun things planned for the three little ones while the older ones are away. It should be a really special time with them.

The church is preparing for VBS upcoming--July 27th-30th. I need wisdom in organizing that.

Mike has been preparing for his absence for the last 2 weeks. Morgan will be preaching the first week with Jon Crocker the next. Morgan is also preaching on Wednesday nights and Jon will be leading the VBS. Please pray for these men! We are very happy to have Jon and Andrea working with us, and of course, we are always thankful for Morgan. :)

Mike has an opportunity to give some English classes to a group of 5 or 6 men and women. Please pray for the Lord to really use that as an open door for the gospel.

We have had two people who came to us asking how to go about getting some problems right with others that they had offended. What a blessing. They went and talked and the Lord has really blessed.

We do truly depend upon your prayers! Thank you!
In Christ,

Faith for the Family

Goldfuss update (June 2)

2009-06-02T13:30:00.001-05:00

Dear Praying Friends,

Last week, Mike and Carissa left at 3:45 AM on Monday to go to the border to meet Jon, Andrea, and Paul Crocker to drive back in with them. What a whirlwind trip! The Lord protected us as we came upon a horrible accident with two tractor trailers. We followed a path made by another truck over rugged terrain to go off the road and around the accident. All of this was an hour and a half delay with another hour delay at the border. We don't have AC in our van since it is not needed at 10,000 feet. The AC has a leak, and we never bothered to fix it. That was a mistake. The official temperature in Texas---99 degrees. :-) On Monday night, Carissa and I were able to buy almost everything that we needed and then took a much needed dip in the pool around 11 PM before going to bed. On Tuesday, we finished our shopping early, cleaned the van, packed, and headed over the border with the Crockers. We arrived at fellow GFA missionaries, the Zartmans in Monterrey about 9:30 PM. The next day we traveled all day to get to Mexico City by 9:00 pm. Usually there is terrible traffic getting into the city. We have waited 3 hours before, but the traffic never stopped and we made it home in an hour! That was such a wonderful blessing after a long, hard trip.

The Crockers are getting situated in the cabin and it is a real joy to be able to share that with people.

Friday and Saturday were occupied in a conference on evangelism, organized by another missionary here in Mexico City. It was an excellent conference; and I was able to take Jon Crocker, Morgan, and Humberto both days. Memo attended with us on Saturday. What an excellent reminder and challenge of what our evangelistic content and faithfulness should include.

We were missing about 30 people on Sunday who are regular attenders. Pray that the Lord would work in different hearts and meet specific needs. There are some who need to make things right between each other in the church. I don't believe that it is an accident that our SS lesson the last two weeks from Hebrews 13 has dealt with: "Let brotherly love continue." Pray that the Lord would work in all of our hearts and produce in us brotherly love for each in our church.

Sunday was an excellent opportunity for Faith to help Nico and Liliana with their little boy and discipline during her Sunday school class in the nursery. Even though that has been a subject of preaching and teaching, sometimes plain examples (using our own little cherubs) have to be demonstrated. There is so much history of abuse in people's pasts that it is extremely hard for them to discipline without thinking that they are abusing. Please pray for the Lord enable them to understand the difference and to truly discipline in love.

Abigail, Erasmo and Matilde's daughter, had left home several weeks ago but returned several days later. She left again this past Thursday and has not come back. Please pray for the Lord to save her and for wisdom for Erasmo and Matilde. Martha has not been for several MONTHS now, not weeks. She will not answer my phone calls. She answered one of Morgan's calls, so please pray that he will have wisdom in trying to talk with her again. She is living in sin and needs to leave a relationship with a man who is not her husband.

Please pray for Faith and two of our children who will be finishing school this week. Summer activities are right around the corner, so we need prayer for them to be able to finish. We need desire, patience and ability.

We are very happy to have the Crockers with us, and we were very surprised at their Spanish abilities. Jon is going to be incorporated into preaching some Wednesday nights. Morgan will be taking over the Teen meetings once a month as well as starting a teen Sunday school class. Jon and Andrea will be starting a Young Couples meeting one time per month. So our Saturdays will be something like this:

1st Sat.--Men's meeting
2nd --Women's meeting
3rd--Teen's meeting
4th--Young couple's meeting

Pray as the men plan and prepare.

June 13---22 we will be having the BJU Spanish team. There is much to be done between now and then. We are planning on having three nights of special evangelistic services. Please pray that the Lord would guide us to people whose hearts He is preparing. There is one particular couple, Rene and Elvira, who attended the three special services last year with the team. They never returned. Please pray that they would come back again this year.

We thank you for your continued prayers, encouragement and financial support.

In Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfii

Goldfuss update (May 13)

2009-05-13T13:43:00.002-05:00

Dear Praying Friends,

You should see the cabin!!! That's why we have attached pictures. Some men came and sanded and gave 4 coats of varnish. The floor should be dry soon so that we can move the furniture back into the cabin. Then it will have its last clean-over before the Crockers come at the end of the month. Please pray as the Crockers get everything packed up and ready to head for the border. Mike is planning on driving to Texas to help them on the 15 hour or so trip to Mexico City.

Praises:

Marbella and her children came back to church on Sunday!
Sr. Alejandro and Sra. Maria Elena and their family also came back--this was their second Sunday. This is the family we have met at Mikey's basketball.The ladies are teaching the younger ladies with love and humility, and the younger women seem to be responding well.

Prayer Requests:

13 year old Miguel—Nico and Liliana's son is still away from home—probably with relatives.
Matilde and Erasmo's daughter,Abigail, 18, just left home on Monday. Please pray for these families.
For those in the church who are struggling under debt.

Home news: Mikey has started a newspaper. It is called the Daily Goldfi. Sometimes Mikey puts his slant on the news. We are trying to teach him just to report the news and to leave out the "editorializing." One time this week Faith was talking with Reme and she thought she saw someone behind her. It was Mikey with a pencil and a small notepad saying, "Could you please repeat that?" It can be a little annoying having a reporter in the house, but mostly it is just fun.

Here are some of his articles:

Matthew Loves to Draw
Matthew draws and draws and draws. "I love to draw", said Matthew. Please see Matthew's bed for the results.

Cristi Does Her Best
Cristi Goldfuss, who began school this morning at 7AM finished by 1 o'clock. We here at the Daily Goldfi want to congratulate her on a job well done.

Matthew's Day With Dad
Matthew, who got to go with dad visiting the people, got to spend a whole day with dad. "I saw a boy who got sick by the bicycle path", said Matthew. "His mother was comforting him" noted Matthew who was present at the scene.

Car Gets Stolen At Gymnastics
Paviola's mother was held up with a gun as she waited outside gymnastics in her car. We are glad to report that Paviola's mother was unhurt, but only a little shaken up. Carissa said, "I was getting ready to do a roundoff when one of the workers ran in and whispered to the owner of the gym. Then they both ran out. I was getting ready to do it again when 5 year old Natalia (one of Cheri's friends) ran in and screamed, 'There's a man out there with a gun and they just stole Paviola's car.' (of course, in Spanish) ". When asked if gymnastics class was cancelled, Cristi said, "No, we just kept right on going after we saw that she was alright."

Mikey even puts announcements in his paper: "ANNOUNCING EVERYONE--Brush your teeth. We are going to the dentist on Saturday."

THERE is NEVER A DULL MOMENT—NEVER.

Please pray for all of us to know Christ Jesus better and to understand His great love. Pray that this would be a wonderful deterrent to sin in our daily lives.

In Christ,
Mike and Faith for all the Goldfii

Goldfuss update (May 3)

2009-05-03T23:56:00.001-05:00

Dear Praying Friends,

A lady from a supporting church just asked Faith for some specific prayer requests so we are pretty much copying her letter for our update this week.

So much is going on that my head is spinning! All churches were to be closed and they were giving out fines to those who did not comply. Our neighborhood has had 2 very large fiestas through all of this swine flu epidemic. (I guess drinking reunions are permitted, but not worshiping reunions.) We prayed about what to do. Mike decided to close the church and to open our home. If anyone wanted to come we were worshiping with our family. Over 40 people showed up. This is about 2/3 of the church. We were happy with the turnout . Then we had a meal with everyone here. There were 4 visitors. One was Gabriel's unsaved Mormon mother.

Prayer requests:

We just helped a couple move out of the cabin (Marcos and Ruth) and into an apartment. We miss them. Pray for Cheri and Caralyn as Ximena is their very sweet friend and they are going to really miss her.
We are getting the cabin ready for new missionaries, Jon and Andrea Crocker, to come at the end of May. Mike has a man coming tomorrow to sand and varnish the wood floor. Pray for wisdom for us to help the Crockers in the best way so that they can get a good start at being missionaries. Pray that we will remember everything that would really be a big help for them to get settled. (Sometimes it is easy to forget how they might feel since it is home to us.) And that we would forget anything that wouldn't be helpful to them spiritually.
Pray for Juana as they need to get out of where they are and the only place that they could find to live is rather far away.
Pray for us as we finish homeschooling. Matthew and Cheri are done. Carissa has only Science to finish and Mikey and Cristi should be done within the month. Yea!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please continue to pray for Cristi as she will continue to have therapy throughout the summer. She is doing very well.
Pray as we try to influence our children and our people to truly love God with their whole hearts. Pray that we would love Him with our whole hearts and that the everyday chores would not make us grow cold.
Pray for Jason Boyle who is with us now and may be coming to Mexico very soon as a missionary. He will be traveling back to the US this next Friday. Pray that we would be able to help him get established here in Mexico very soon.
Pray for the Victor LaBelle family (who are working here from the States. He is a former missionary kid). Pray as they just returned to Mexico from a business trip to the States--that the Lord would keep the family free from the flu.
Pray for Rebekah Buccio as she prepares to help us teach school and piano for 1st semester next year. Pray that we would find another teacher for second semester.
Pray for Reme (our Spanish teacher for the children and all around wonderful helper). She may need to stay with us during the week as her family is moving farther away. This is Juana's sister (see above #3). It would take her 1 hour and 45 minutes in public transportation to get to our home each day. Pray for decisions that she needs to make.

Thank you for praying!!!!!!!!!

Faith for the Family

Goldfuss update (April 29)

2009-04-29T13:52:00.001-05:00

Dear praying friends,

We have been asked by some to give an update before prayer meeting tonight.

The baby Hezrael---is doing fine and has recovered. He did not have the swine flu, but a bad respiratory infection.
Marta---for whom we have been asking much prayer--now has a bad stomach infection. They did not want her in the hospital because of all of the flu symptoms. Her defenses are very low.
Many unsaved friends have called to see how we are. One is my friend and is a doctor at one of the best hospitals here. She has moved her office from that hospital to another office because someone came to the emergency room with swine flu. He later was transferred and died at another hospital. We have just tried to call our doctor and no one answers at that very good hospital. It seems that many of the rich people have left the city for their vacation homes on the coast.

Things here are very very calm. Our people in the church are really trusting in the Lord. So that is good.

It was very interesting. After many phone calls on Monday morning, I tried to get everyone settled for school. "Ok, everyone-- lets forget about the swine flu and use all of this time at home to really study". Then one minute later I began to feel very dizzy. Immediately I thought--Oh no, am I getting sick? --when Mikey yelled from upstairs. Earthquake!!!! O good, we all thought. It is only an earthquake. ONLY!!!!!!!!!

Mike spent yesterday with Jason visiting several of the families---especially the shutins---fully equipped with masks.

Thank you so much for praying!
Faith for all

Goldfuss update (April 27)

2009-04-27T02:00:00.001-05:00

Dear Prayer Partners,

Thank you so much for all of the letters of concern for us. Swine flu???? Yes! Many things in the whole city have been shut down. All schools are closed--public and private. They have canceled over 500 events. Libraries, museums, soccer games, and movie theaters are all closed down. Mikey was watching a soccer game----with no fans in the stands! You could hear the players calling for the ball on TV in the empty stadium. All the Roman Catholic masses were canceled today. Several of our people called us to see if we would have services. Growing up, church was never cancelled; so, we had services. The government has recommended that everyone should wear surgical masks. Many all over the city are wearing them. So Faith bought masks for everyone in church. You can see by our pictures that it was a very interesting service. We were missing 3 families--all with toddlers, but we had 3 visitors!

Please pray for Mildred and Uriel's one year old baby--Hezrael. We think he has the flu. They have been trying to get his fever down since Wednesday, and they were not there at the service today. (This is the very young couple that was married last year.)
Morgan's brother Eric also is reported to have had the flu, but he is doing better now.

I am sure that you have heard that this flu is different ---a combination of pig, bird, and human viruses. They believe that it has been spreading since about the middle of March. This flu may very well be what we had that made us so ill a little over a month ago. Why is it affecting everyone so much down here? Because from what we have experienced, any flu is very rare here. We have never had the flu before while in Mexico. We have had every other bacterial illness, but not viral flu---and it is hitting hard. We may have very well been one of the very few--if not the only church having services today!

This whole week has been very strange. On Wednesday night prayer meeting, Sra. Hilaria accidentally locked herself in the bathroom. She is almost 80 and began to panic. This was all during our prayer time---and there she was banging furiously on the metal door. We all had to stop and try to get her out. You have never seen anyone fly out of a bathroom faster--once the door was finally open.

Good news: Several want to be baptized.
Bad news: Both Janet and Marta were not there today. Of course this could be because of the flu, but both did not come last Sunday, and have not returned our calls. We are hoping that they are not involved with the unsaved men for whom we have asked you to pray.

Family news: The kids are finishing different school subjects left and right. Now that their sporting activities are cancelled, , maybe even until May 6th, we will have even more time to focus on school. We will see what happens this week. I'm sure the kids will be thrilled.

Thank you for your concern and prayers. Please pray for our church family's safety and health.
In Christ,
Mike and Faith for all the Goldfii

Goldfuss update (April 15)

2009-04-15T11:59:00.001-05:00

Dear Praying Friends,

We have been blessed to have several visitors lately. Two Sundays ago, Miguel, Alondra (one of the twin girls who attended our church regularly several years ago and who lived with us for several months) and their little boy Cristofer came after not being present for about 4 months. It was great to have them again. Please pray for their salvation. Lydia and her two sons live about 2 hours away but come every once in a while to see her mom who lives near the church. She was encouraging as she said that the last time she came, she took ten CD's of our recorded messages and had listened to them all and wondered if she could have some more. :-) Please pray for Sra. Oliva to come again and also for Marbella. She has been faithful each Sunday for about a month now with her 4 children. Her husband, as with many women in our assembly who have unsaved husbands, seeks to put many obstacles in her path so that she won't be able to come. Please pray for this family.

Our Easter weekend was a real blessing. On Friday night, we had our first Good Friday service. It was very well-attended. We had 5 or 6 visitors. Alejandro, Maria Elena and their two children--Hugo and Keryn attended for the first time. The two children play basketball with Mikey and we've gotten to know the parents. During that Friday service, 6 different men in the church had prepared a short message on the 7 sayings of Jesus on the cross, with 5 taking one saying and 1 taking two sayings. Although most of them were nervous, each one had some things that were very encouraging and challenging as we thought about Christ's great sacrifice for sin. After the preaching we had the Lord's Supper together.

Saturday was a busy day getting ready for our Easter Sunday. Hadiel, Matthew's gymnastics teacher (20 years old) came on Saturday night and stayed with us til Monday afternoon. Our two services on Sunday, Bible reading in John on Sunday night and Monday morning were the first time he's ever been exposed to the gospel. Please pray for his salvation. He seemed to have a very nice time here at the house.

Sunday morning at 7 AM we had our second annual sunrise service. We went through the resurrection account in Luke 24 and sang several hymns interspersed throughout. Then we had breakfast all together here complete with waffles, egg casseroles, fruit salads, (LOTS OF) coffee, fresh squeezed orange juice, and french toast strips. It was a lot of fun. There were about 60 for the sunrise service. There were about 70 for our regular worship service which we had outside in the garage and front patio with most of us being able to be in the shade that way. We didn't have a pulpit so we turned a 55 gallon drum upside down and put a board and a nice covering over it. After our service, we fired up two grills and we had beef tacos, cactus and many other goodies that the church people had brought. It was excellent and a good time of fellowship for many. People mixed well with the visitors and it was just a really good spirit. What was also a real blessing was that ---while our family served and made the breakfast, they completely organized and did the lunch. Everyone was helping --and we just had to fit in and help wherever they said to go. This is a big step forward. After lunch, our kids loaned all the kids who came some play clothes, and we hooked the pump from our cistern up to our sprinkler and ran it back and forth across the trampoline. They all had a wonderful time, although the trampoline is a bit the worse for wear after about 25 children.

There were about 10 opportunities to speak in depth with about 10 different people. There are a lot of needs. Please pray for the Lord to be glorified by each one doing what they should do in their lives. Please pray for the Lord's grace and strength for them to put into practice what needs to be there.

We ask you to continue to pray for Martha. We mentioned last time that she is being tempted greatly to be going out with another man who is very kind to her, when her husband has been a jerk for several years--having an ongoing affair, won't help her financially or with their two children, etc. She came Sunday for the first time in several weeks. We weren't able to talk with her in depth because of so many people being around, but it does appear obvious that there are some problems. Sometimes you can just tell by a person's face or the way they carry themselves that they aren't doing well spiritually and that is how Martha appears right now.

We are happy that Jason Boyle, our intern back in 2002, has come back for about 4 weeks right now. He is planning on coming back to Mexico City as a missionary in the future. He will be preaching the 4 Wed. nights that he is here. It will be good experience for him, and a nice little break for Morgan. Pray for the Lord to give Jason wisdom in what he preaches and ability in Spanish.

On Monday evening, we had a major hail storm. It was a far cry from our very hot Sunday. We are glad the hail came Monday though and not on Sunday.

As always, we thank you so much for your prayers,

In Christ,

Mike for all the Goldfii

Goldfuss update (March 31)

2009-03-31T15:12:00.003-06:00

Dear Praying Friends,

As in any ministry, the last couple of weeks have been filled with blessings and trials.

We have a couple of people in the church who are very "communistic." They don't like to work and those in their family who do work are penalized. Pray for these situations. They create much heartache and many secondary problems.
Martha, who has suffered through low blood platelets and hospital stays, poor work conditions, and an unsaved husband who cares nothing for the family, is being tempted greatly by another unsaved man. Please pray for the Lord to strengthen her, to keep her from falling and to preserve her in His way.
Marcos and Ruth are the couple that has been living in our cabin since August. Ruth's mom died about a month ago. She also has a policeman for an uncle who lives in one of the northern states of Mexico where there has been major unrest over the drug traffickers and cartels. Last Tuesday he left his house with his twelve year old son to go to a little local store about 5 blocks away -and when he arrived there, he was shot in the back and killed (They left the son unharmed). Please pray for comfort for Ruth's family and for Ruth to have more opportunities to continue sharing the gospel with her unsaved family. (This uncle was her mother's younger brother.)
We had a good men's meeting on Friday night, again about Biblical Eldership. Please pray for the Lord to continue raising up men for his glory and leadership of the church here. On Sunday we announced a few needs for cleaning supplies for the church. In the past, all who responded would have been women. Sunday, all who responded to bring different items were men. Even though this seems little, we think it is huge. Praise the Lord.
We had 2 different ladies visiting on Sunday. Juana brought Oliva, a lady who has been exposed to Christianity before but has had some very bad experiences. Pray that she would be saved. Marbella, with an unsaved husband as well, has been visiting now for three Sundays and has brought three children. Please pray for these dear ladies. The nursery has been a huge help for new families with little ones who can't sit still for very long. They have come back to listen. Praise the Lord for this new blessing.
We have some special events coming soon. April 10--we are going to be having a Good Friday service for the first time. 6 of us men in the church--Nico, Morgan, Memo, Beto, Marcos and Mike are going to be expounding the 7 sayings of Christ from the cross. Please pray for the men to study well, to be able to communicate clearly and to be a blessing to the church. We will then have the Lord's Supper together. Please pray that Sra. Gloria and her mom, Sra. Maria will be able to attend that service. They have not been able to be at church for a number of months now. Sra. Gloria is now almost completely blind--and very sick from the medications that she has to take. There are also some other people that we know that have indicated a desire to come to that special service.

Then on Easter Sunday, we are going to be having another sunrise service with breakfast here at our home, a tradition we started last year and was a great blessing to all of us. We are also going to be having our worship service here and then lunch afterward, so it will be a busy but hopefully blessed day.

FAMILY NEWS:
We are entering a new phase of family life. On March 21, Mikey turned 13 and is officialy a teenager. On April 2, Caralyn turns two and that means we will be out of the baby stage. That sounds good. :-)

Thank you so much for your prayers,

In Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfii

Goldfuss update (March 18)

2009-03-18T15:24:00.001-06:00

Dear praying friends,

We apologize for not getting an update out last week. Our family was very much under the weather--with dad and mom being the two sickest. There were coughs, colds, dizziness, headaches,--the works. It was one of the hardest times we've been hit in 13 years of living in Mexico. Some of it is still hanging on this week, but we seem to be over the hardest part of it. Thank you for praying and please ask that the Lord would keep us healthy. It really has been a while since we've all had a bout with sickness so we are very thankful. The pollution has been very very concentrated the past few weeks. Last week one lady mentioned to us that it was the worst that she'd ever seen it in 20 years of coming and going and living in Mexico City. Although it is not rainy season right now, we have had 2 or 3 little showers just to clean out the air a little bit for which we are VERY grateful. Please pray for the Lord's work and protection in us.

Due to all of the coughing, Morgan said that he would teach SS and preach on Sunday. That was a blessing as Mike wouldn't have been able to get very far without coughing. Please pray for Morgan to continue to develop in his teaching and preaching and to be used of the Lord mightily. Please also pray for his Bell's Palsy as his partial facial paralysis is still there--although it is getting somewhat better.

We have been very happy to have Janet back in our services more regularly. Last Sunday she came to our home for dinner with her sister Vanessa. About 8 months ago Janet was very tempted to be going out with a man who is unsaved. We strongly counseled against that, but she really wanted to do her own thing. She is now 4 months pregnant. The man (she later found out) is married and has a family. She really seems to be broken about her sin and wants to go further in her walk with Christ. This past Sunday she wanted to stand before the church and confess that to them, ask their forgiveness and their support for going forward. Please pray that this situation will show God's great grace again in Janet's life, that it will draw people together in love for Janet and for each other, and serve as another grave reminder that sin is not something with which to be trifled.

Since talking with Jose and America 3 weeks ago now, they have not been back to church. It appears that her dad and mom (Francisco and Blanca) want them to go to this other charismatic/pentecostal church. Please intercede that the Lord would intervene and bring all of them back to His church here.

Martha was present for two straight Sundays but missed this past Sunday. We also had a lady (Marbella) with two children visit a week ago. Many of you remember praying for Jesus and Analilia and their 4 children. Jesus is the one who has had the hip replacement and needs one more as well as two knee replacements. They really had just dropped off the map during the past three or four months, but Analilia showed up, without Jesus, but with their four children for the last two Sundays. Praise the Lord and pray that He would save this family for His honor and glory.

We appreciate your prayers,
Please pray that we can get back on top of things healthwise.
In Christ,
The Goldfii

Goldfuss update (March 6)

2009-03-06T16:32:00.001-06:00

Dear Praying Friends,

This past Sunday we had a much better attendance than we have had for several weeks. A number of people who have been sick were back and able to be present.

Martha was back in the hospital last week with her low blood platelet count, but she was there on Sunday for the first time in about a month. Our first hymn of the day was "I know whom I have believed" and she had her eyes shut and the sweetest smile on her face as she sang that hymn. That was very encouraging as she has struggled so much lately.

Many of you have prayed for Teresa, a saved lady in our church. She has many health problems and an unsaved husband, Alberto. Last week I had the opportunity to speak with Alberto for about 1 1/2 hours about the gospel. Someone had given his daughter a CD on hell. He started listening to it while I was there and that opened the door for some very good conversation. Please pray for Alberto's salvation.

Sunday, Morgan arrived at church with facial paralasis on one side of his face. It appears to be some type of Bell's palsy. He has been struggling with that all week, is on medication, but it hasn't improved too much to date. He has had some different stressful things lately that may have contributed to this. Morgan has not been able to go to Zitacuaro for the past 4 weeks because the group (family) there is no longer interested in having Sunday services. We know that this is no fault of Morgan's, but they just do not want to continue having services. Pray for their salvation and for Morgan. He grew to really love this family and is grieved over their spiritual needs. Please pray for the Lord's will. Morgan has continued preaching on Wed. nights and his preaching has been very very good. It was especially touching to see that he continued to preach even with the paralysis. He truly has a servants heart and a desire to preach the Word---and serve the Lord in whatever way that he can.

Two Sunday's ago, Francisco advised me that his family (Blanca and Jonathan) will not be attending any more. He said that they will be helping another church that they previously attended. This comes after I had a serious talk with them about being faithful in the Lord's house. Please pray for the Lord's working in their family. They are trying to get their daughter, America, and son-in-law (Jose) and their little family not to attend---and to leave with them. Last week I was able to speak to both Jose and America. Pray that they would both focus on the Lord Jesus Christ and not just problems that they see in other people. We all have that temptation, but praise our great God that He was focused on His glory when He came to save us and not just "us."

We had another good men's meeting about biblical eldership last week. Pray for the Lord to grow and mature men through His Word to lead His church here. There is much more going on, but I believe I gave you the highlights. Pray for much wisdom in daily counselling and witnessing.

Family News:
We are in our dry season at the present and it is definitely warming up for us. The pollution has increased and just this week several members of the family have come down with sinus and throat infections. Please pray for the Lord's strength for each one of us. The good news is that some of the children are finishing some of their minor subjects already. That gives more time for the other subjects. Melissa sure gave us a good start, and praise the Lord we are progressing well. Cristi, in spite of her dyslexia, is now doing over half of the subjects completely by herself---that is an enormous praise. THANK YOU FOR PRAYING!!!!!

We thank you for your prayers, encouragement, emails and financial support.

We could not do this without you,

In Christ,
Mike for all the goldfii

Goldfuss update (February 23)

2009-02-23T21:03:00.001-06:00

Dear Praying Friends,

We hear a lot in the news, at least the news that we get from the States, how there is much upheaval in Mexico. The USA has declared Mexico the second most unstable country in the world due to the fight of the Mexican government against the drug lords. Last year over 6000 people died here due to drug violence. Many people are concerned because they see the violence spreading and people making a mass exodus to the US. We just heard last week that the violence has even spread to the USA as Phoenix has become the city with the second largest amount of kidnappings in the whole world with 430 last year, and much of it by the Mexican drug lords--the most kidnappings per year in the world do happen in Mexico City. It was very interesting yesterday, in preaching on Naaman, to realize that Naaman's little servant girl had been kidnapped from her home and taken to Syria. While there, when Naaman contracted leprosy, she didn't say, "It serves him right," or "I know a cure, but I'm never going to tell him." Instead, she pointed him to the place where he could be healed and saved. That brought some interesting discussion from the children after the service. Mikey and Cristi both said that they would be fighting, and if someone was trying to kidnap them, we hope that they would, but they did mention also that it was really something that that little girl was a testimony even after being kidnapped and taken to a foreign country. Pray for the Lord to work continually in our children also. It's easy to become too involved in others' lives that we can forget about the needs in our own childrens' lives. Please pray that the Lord would be gracious and save each one of our children for His glory.

Yesterday in our services, there were present only about half of the people who come regularly to church. A couple of people were sick, but many were away for different reasons. Please pray for the Lord to work in lives and for us each to submit to His Lordship day by day. Sometimes, when there is a low attendance, it is easy to be discouraged from the lack of people. However, the Lord blessed us by helping us focus on worshipping Him no matter how many people were there, and it was a real blessing. Praise the Lord.

Morgan has not gone to Zitacuaro for the past 3 weeks due to the family there having "other things to do." One of them has gotten a job that really bites into his Sundays and the other three haven't been too interested in carrying on. Please pray for the Lord to encourage Morgan and for a church to be started in Zitacuaro according to the Lord's will.

Please keep Faith in your prayers with homeschooling. That is an extremely busy and taxing job for her. Pray for the children's attitudes and work to be glorifying to Christ as well.

We had an excellent time of fellowship and food with Memo and Karina and their family as well as with Vanessa yesterday afternoon. Please pray for growth in grace and for their love for our great God to increase day by day.

Praise the Lord that the new SS rooms and the nursery have been finished. It's been a blessing to see different ones get behind the physical labor and get it done. It has been a blessing to use the new rooms now for 2 weeks. Praise the Lord with us.

Thank you for your prayers,
In Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfii

Goldfuss update (February 9)

2009-02-09T13:13:00.001-06:00

Dear Praying Friends,

We would ask you to pray this morning especially for Ruth. Many of you know that her mom has had a brain tumor. They operated on it about 6 months ago, but it grew back. They were going to operate again in a couple of days, but Ruth just received word about 30 minutes ago that her mom passed away early this morning. From all indications, she was not a believer, although Ruth has had several opportunities in the past month to really give her the gospel. Please pray for Marcos, Ruth, and their two daughters for them to be a real testimony of God's grace to Ruth's unsaved family.

The conference this past Friday and Saturday in a church downtown was excellent. We heard challenges on taking heed to ourselves and our doctrine and about different topics that help us to have a healthy church. It was excellent. Morgan, Nico, Humberto, Memo, Gabriel and Mike were able to attend both days. They were very long days as we would leave very early and take public transportation 2 hours to get there and two hours to return at night, but each man said that it was very very profitable--even if it was very painful in many applications that were given.

Martha, Sylvia, Teresa, Gloria and Maria were not present yesterday. Martha has been forced to work earlier on Sunday mornings for the past 3 weeks. She told me last night that she really wants to talk to them and let the hospital know that that is no acceptable. Sylvia has been very sick for a couple of weeks and is just starting to feel a little better. Gloria and Maria continue to have to miss due to Gloria's very difficult diabetes. Tere has just been diagnosed with Rheumatic Fever. Please pray for each one of these ladies and the different difficulties--the Lord's healing, grace, and continued trust and confidence in Him.

In the last couple of months, Francisco, Blanca and Jonatan as well as Jose, America and their two children, Jose Ruben and Priscilla have really really fallen off in their attendance. Please pray for the Lord to give much wisdom in dealing with them. It really appears that in most cases in these two families, the new birth is the main need.

Thank you so much for your prayers,
In Christ,
mike for us all

Goldfuss update (February 5)

2009-02-05T19:48:00.002-06:00

Dear Praying Friends,
This past Saturday, the men were not able to work on the other side of the church because Nico had to work. He is the main organizer and has the tools and know how for the rest of us. Tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday, a good number of the men (6 or 7 of us) will be attending a conference downtown that is hosted by another missionary here in Mexico City. Please pray that this will be a good time of learning and growing and that the Lord will help us be able to finish the other side next week.

We need prayer in talking with a specific couple. It will be an important discussion and we need wisdom. Please pray for Jose and America.

Marcos and Ruth are looking for another place to live as we have been housing them in our cabin since their little baby was born. (They had been part of the family that was kicked out of their house). Ruth's mother is near death with a brain tumor. We are expecting Jon and Andrea Crocker to come and help us in March and they will be able to use the cabin. Please pray for the Lord's direction to Marcos and Ruth as to where to live.

Mike has been preaching on 5 great doctrinal words from Romans 3:9-27 for about 2 months. Sin, the Righteousness of God, Justification, Redemption and Propitiation have been a wonderful blessing on which to preach and meditate. Many have expressed that they have also been blessed by this wonderful study. Please pray for us as we finish that study up this week and for the Lord's guidance as to where to go from here in preaching. Mike is thinking about a series on Matthew.

On the home front, Spirit week in Peniel Christian Academy was crazy! If you care to see, we have the winners of some of the days! (These are put in specifically for the Grandmas).

Monday: bad hair day
Tuesday: sports
Wednesday: backwards day
Thursday: clash day
Friday: old (oops-mature) people's day

Believe it or not, we still got all of our work done and the children did a great job! Monday was Mexican Constitution day, so we took off also and went about four hours away where the Monarch butterflies winter. It was an absolutely incredible experience. Please, please go to the following link and take a look at our incredible trip to Michoacan, Mexico. I've posted some of the pix and videos we were able to take of the great creation by our even greater Creator. Please take a look and see where we were able to visit on Monday and Tuesday of this week.

Thank you for all of your prayers and faithful support and encouragement.
In Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfii

Monarchs flying

2009-02-05T15:24:00.012-06:00

Our family has not been able to just get away together for over a year, so we took this past Monday and Tuesday to go to Michoacan, Mexico to visit the famous monarch butterfly sanctuary.
The story of these insects is incredible. Both Faith and I had seen them growing up in Mentor, Ohio all the time. I guess that I just figured that they would die in the fall/winter from the cold and then in the spring their eggs would hatch and then they would "come out again." Little did we know that they fly all the way from Canada/Great Lakes/Northern USA regions all the way down here to Michoacan. The place that we went to visit was only 25 minutes from where Morgan has been starting a new church in Zitacuaro.
When you arrive at the bottom of the mountain, there are many local men and boys with their horses, eager to earn about 10 dollars for taking visitors to the top of the mountain. The picture is of a rather easy part of the trail, but most of it is not easy by any means. It is mostly steep uphill and with many many rocks. Believe me, after 1 1/2 hours of riding up that mountain, I could hardly walk. When arriving at an elevation of 10,400 feet above sea level, we dismounted from the horses and walked another 300 yards or so upward. There we saw the incredible sight of the monarchs, all bunched up in pine and fir trees.

From the picture, it appears that the tree just has some sort of nest, but those are all monarch butterflies. Each Monarch is approximately the weight of a paper clip and with all of those monarchs, it is absolutely amazing how much each of the pine boughs are bent down toward the ground. Some of the men said that it is not unusual for a big branch to break and send a whole cluster of thousands of Monarchs crashing to the ground.

It takes about 3 or 4 minutes in direct sunlight for the Monarchs to be warm enough to fly--they warm up through their wings. The sun kept coming out for several minutes and then it would go behind the clouds again just when the butterflies would start to fly around again. That would cause them to all land and wait for the sun again. This went on for about an hour and a half off and on and we really thought that we wouldn't get to see them really flying all over the place. We prayed and the Lord brought the sun out again to stay out for about 1/2 hour. That was really an incredible thing to see. (See below for several other videos.)

When we were ready to leave, a man mentioned to us that up above there were even more butterflies so Faith and I with Matthew hiked up another 200 yards and were greeted by thousands more. The dark branches are from a giant fir tree and those dark spots are not squirrel's nests but all Monarchs. One of the videos further down the page shows just a cloud of monarchs flying around. The sound is not water or wind--it is the sound of millions of Monarch butterflies flapping their wings. Whoever would have thought that they made so much noise. They even were friendly little fellows (and gals.)

The incredible thing is that the Monarchs will mate here in Michoacan, Mexico and all the males will then die. The females will head north and make it as far as Texas where they will lay their eggs and die. Once the full metamorphosis is completed, the Monarchs will head north again and make it to the middle section of the USA, where they will again lay their eggs and die. After this metamorphosis is complete, the butterflies will head north again and make it to the Northern USA and Canada. The process is completed once more there. In the fall, the fourth generation from Mexico will head south and make it all the way to Mexico again. There is no explanation as to why the generations that head north all live for only 1 or 2 months, and then the generation that heads south, makes it all the way to Mexico and lives a total of 7 months. But we know that our Great Creator has a perfect plan and reason. These beautiful little insects have been fascinating to learn about this week. The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament definitely showeth His handiwork.

In this video, you can see a little bit of how high we were. The monarchs are about 10,400 feet above sea level here. They need to be in the sun for about 3 or 4 minutes to warm their wings up and then they all start flying. There were several times where the sun would peak out for about 2 or 3 minutes and a few would fly, but then the sun would hide again behind the clouds. Toward the end of this video, you can see a little bit of the pine tree and clumps of monarchs hanging on the branches. That's where they all hang out until they warm up. I will try to get more pictures posted so that you can see other aspects of it.

More butterflies

2009-02-05T14:16:00.003-06:00

After a little while, the sun came out, warmed up the butterflies' wings and they came out en masse. Really amazing.

Incredible Monarch Butterflies in Michoacan, Mexico

2009-02-05T13:18:00.003-06:00

Goldfuss update (January 26)

2009-01-26T15:03:00.001-06:00

Dear Praying friends,

Thank you for your continued prayers.

On Saturday, we had our men's work day. Memo, Marcos, Nico, Humberto and I all were able to work on getting different things done. We made some good progress. Most of the men who are coming to do the work, leave for work about 8 in the morning and return home about 8 at night. The fact that they would come to work for most of Saturday when they haven't been with their families all week is a real testimony. Please pray for other men who could also do some work but put other things first.

We do excuse Morgan from coming to the work days as he is preaching in our church on Wednesday nights and also at the new work in Zitacuaro, Michoacan on Sundays. Yesterday was their second service and the four people again were very interested in God's Word. Please keep this fledgling work in your prayers for:

Morgan's faithfulness.
Morgan's strength.
Continued interest in the Word of God and for God to save them.

We have really missed Morgan and his mother (Guille), father (Alejandro), and brother (Christian), but we are thrilled that they are going to try to help this new work to be started. Continue to pray for Alejandro and Christian's salvation.

Yesterday the women reacted to all of the men's work by volunteering to bring the last of the needed items for the church. I suggested that we wait a week or two with the men to finish the work so that they could spend some time with their families, but they said that they want to get the work DONE so that we can use the new SS rooms. Praise the Lord for their desire.

Please continue to pray for:

Martha--her health and family problems. Martha was not present yesterday and we aren't sure why.
Sra. Gloria---she found out last week that her eye problems are from two cataracts and she needs surgery. She also has other complications from her diabetes.
Uriel and Mildred are a young couple in our church who are going through some difficult times. Uriel was unjustly fired from his job. Mildred has had interest in spiritual things, but currently is fighting with Uriel over the leadership in the family and has not been attending regularly. Please pray for the Holy Spirit to open her understanding of the gospel.

This week our homeschool Peniel Christian Academy is copying Mentor Christian School (where we grew up)-- and we are having Spirit Week. Today is bad hair day--pictures included.

Thank you so much for praying,
In Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfii

Goldfuss update (Januar y 23)

2009-01-23T15:52:00.001-06:00

Dear Praying Friends,

The family's health has been much better this past week. Thank you for praying. Last week was very cold and drizzly and this week the sun has returned.

Saturday's ladies' meeting included a very good 1 1/2 hour study and then all the ladies pitched in cleaning and getting a lot of things done. The church building is looking very nice. Now tomorrow, the men are going to be doing some more work so that we can get the other side hopefully finished soon to be able to use for our extra Sunday School rooms. Please pray for a good group of men to come and work so that we can get done quickly.

This past Sunday Martha came. She had missed almost a month with different health issues. It was so good to see her and it was a blessing to see what the Lord had for us in SS that morning--perseverance in the face of afflictions and persecutions from Hebrews 10. She does struggle with depression with the great difficulties she has with her husband, family and sickness. Continue to pray for Martha.

Sra. Gloria had a doctor's appointment this week and needs to have cataract surgery in both eyes. Her sugar level has been very high still so please pray for some relief for her. It has been more than two months now since they (she and her Mom, Sra. Maria) have been able to be in church.

Thank you for praying for Morgan's first Sunday last week. He will normally go in a bus to get to Zitacuaro, but this week his Dad said that he wanted to drive down there with him. So, Alejandro and Guille, drove with him the two hours down to Michoacan for the first meeting in the interested family's home. Morgan reported that they were extremely attentive and that they studied for 2 hours on the theme of the gospel. Alejandro (who is unsaved) was even helping one of the two brothers in finding the different references. He even said that they should open the door to the house in case someone came along and wanted to hear. (Missionary Alejandro. Please pray that the Lord would use this in his life too to save him.) The whole family is definitely interested in continuing their Sunday meetings. Please pray that this would be the beginning of a local church. Pray for Morgan's sermon preparation and for his encouragement in the ministry there that will bring highs and lows. It is encouraging to see that we as a mission church are beginning to be able to send out missionaries from here. May this only be the first of many in the Lord's mercy and grace.

There are some underlying problems in our church here right now that come from a lack of love for one another. Please pray that the Lord will help people to see this and to get it right with those who have offended or have been offended.

Thank you so much for praying,
In Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfii

Goldfuss update (January 15)

2009-01-15T14:27:00.004-06:00

Dear Praying Friends,

We have had about 2 weeks here where much of the family has been struggling with some different ailments and sicknesses. Please pray for the Lord's grace and strength to endure and seek to be a glory to His name in spite of most not feeling well.

Morgan was supposed to start last week in the new ministry with the family in another state who wants to begin services. The main man has been working on Sundays, and so we were feeling like perhaps nothing was going to come of it after all. After talking with them on Sunday night, the man has stopped working on Sundays, and Morgan will be going this Sunday for the first time to preach to them. Please pray for the Lord to open a church in Zitacuaro, Michoacan for His honor and glory. Pray for Morgan's strength to continue on there and for safety as he travels each Sunday. It was neat two Sundays ago to dedicate Morgan before the whole church to the Lord for this service. That is something that we have never been able to do before.

This coming Saturday there is a ladies' meeting. They are going to be studying for 1 hour and then seeking to work for the second hour on different things that need to be done for the other side of the church to be useable. Please pray as there are several people who have promised to get some things done for the church, but they have not done them yet. They are holding up other things from getting done.

Sra. Gloria is not doing well with her diabetes. She said that last week she was not able to see out of her left eye and her right eye has been causing her problems. She is not scheduled to see the social medicine doctor until March. Please pray for the Lord to intervene on her behalf.

Martha was not in church again this past Sunday. She has many problems with her health, family and work that are a great discouragement to her. Please pray for her to not forsake the assembling of herself together with her brothers and sisters in Christ. Please pray for her to have great wisdom in dealing with the different problems that she faces each day. Pray that our church would be burdened to exhort her with much love.

Last week Mike was able to renew contact with Chucho, Miguel and Raul, three men that we haven't seen much in recent years but who were great friends when we first arrived. Miguel and Chucho listened again to the gospel. Please pray for their salvation.

Thank you for your faithful prayers, support and encouragement for us here. We greatly appreciate all of you who have a part in the Lord's work here.

Love in Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfii

Goldfuss update (December 31)

2008-12-31T12:20:00.001-06:00

Dear praying friends,

Christmas time has been a whirlwind of activities, but praise the Lord---we have been able to use the extra time (without school) to spend time with our children meditating on the TRUE meaning of Christmas. We also have been able to just BE with the children--which in the normal year is very hard to do---with ministry.

Praises:

Some people are really responding to recent messages and taking their personal walk with the Lord more seriously. This is what it is all about.
After the Christmas Eve service, half of the church went to Christmas carol at Sra Gloria and Maria's. They had been sad all day because due to illness, they were not able to attend our service. We stayed a short time, but believe that we were a real encouragement. Sra. Gloria said that she cried all day because it was her birthday and she was not able to attend church. Then we came, and she cried for joy--not because of our singing. :-) The best part was that the church people saw how important it is to the people when we take the time to encourage those who are going through difficult times.
We told the kids to be really rambunctious in our yard--in the hopes that the would be robbers would not even attempt anything to our house. We have a fence around the property and the kids obeyed perfectly. With all of the noise in the yard, the robbers must have thought that 50 people live here. We praise the Lord that we have had no problems.
The Lord allowed us to pay the entire rent for the 2009 year for the church---This includes the (new to us) other side of the floor that we are on. Now we are concentrating on finishing those Sunday school rooms to be put to good use.

Prayer Requests:

Marta is in very serious condition in the hospital again with very low platelets. Morgan and Mike visited her for 2 hours yesterday. You would not believe the conditions that Mike saw at that hospital. Socialized medicine is not a great idea. She has been very discouraged with her health (this is the second time in a month that she is back in the hospital. Last year at this same time she was hospitalized for the same thing also. She also has tremendous problems with her unsaved husband who has a mistress, financial problems and other difficulties.) I had an excellent time with her being able to read Psalm 86 and really encourage her in her dependence on Christ. Pray for her strength, encouragement and faith to be strengthened. She did mention that she thinks that she very well may die (She is only 35 years old.) Please pray for Marta.
We are having over 30 people from church for a service tonight for New Year's Eve. Pray for the testimony service and that God would be glorified. After the service, we are going to have a big New Year's Eve supper.
We would like to see complete dedication to the Lord in 4 families that struggle to put Him first in their lives--salvation may very well be the root problem. Please pray for the Lord to open their eyes to their true need of Christ.
Pray as we are trying to meet with each family and each person to see what their spiritual goals are for the New Year. Pray that this would not be seen as "in your face"---but know that even though we are getting really personal, it is because we truly love them---and want the Lord to be exalted through their lives. The time is short, and we need to redeem it.

Thank you as always for praying!

Happy New Year.
In Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfii

Goldfuss update and prayer letter (December 18)

2008-12-18T11:42:00.002-06:00

Dear Praying Friends,

We are making this a prayer update and an official prayer letter at the same time for those who do not receive our email updates.

The church seems to be moving forward in some areas---where others areas seem to be painfully slow.

Mike and Morgan left the house at 6 AM on Monday to go to three hours west of Mexico City to Michoacan. A man there who was saved in the States is very interested in beginning a Bible study in his home. His family doesn't appear to know much about the gospel but they have offered their home for services. Another missionary contacted us about another man in the area who may be interested in joining this Bible Study. If any of you have people in your churches that have family members near Zitacuaro, Michoacan---we would love to have them as contacts. Morgan is very excited about this opportunity and will begin going over there on Sundays starting in January. The only sad thing is that he will be gone all day on Sundays. We will miss him, but we are happy how the Lord is leading him. He was going to begin a teen Sunday school class, so now we need to replace him. There are two good possibilities for that position.
Although the potential for a new work was wonderful, the trip was very eventful---they ran off the road once, got stopped by the corrupt police in Toluca, got lost a couple of times, and saw an accident that I'm sure they will never forget. It was a tractor trailer vs. a lady who was crossing the street on foot. Unfortunately, the lady did not win. It was a reminder of how temporary our times are on this earth. Please pray that these thoughts will not plague their minds.
Last Thursday night, our neighbors (from Holland) about two football fields length up the road were bound and robbed at 1:30 AM in the morning. The thieves filled up the neighbor's own car with valuables and drove off in their car. On Monday night, the same thing was done to some new neighbors right across the road. The owner there is the coach for one of Mexico's soccer teams so he is a high profile man. We now have police cars outside our front gate---all night long. They are writing down when we leave and return---supposedly for security sake. If you lived here you would know that that is not a comforting thought. I really hate to write that---but it is true. The police are notorious for planning these types of things also. Mike has said that the kids are not to go out the front gate by themselves. We have calmly explained to them what they are to do and not to do if people break into the house. (I could really see Mikey and Cristi taking forceful action---and getting themselves into bigger problems). Just preparing them has really calmed things---and they slept fine. Mikey and Matthew are planning traps for the criminals---oh, the adventure. Mike reassured all of us that our hope is only in the Lord. He alone is our only true source of protection.
There may be several people coming our way from the States to help. Pray for those to work out in the Lord's perfect plan and timing.
Victor LaBelle is a former missionary kid from Mexico. He has been moved here by his company--- and his family joined him in our services this past Sunday. He played the piano for us which was a real blessing. Please pray as the family gets adjusted to the newness of Mexico. Our kids tried to welcome them and make them feel at home by helping to translate the services.
While new opportunities may be moving forward, some of our regulars just seem to be very apathetic. It is like 1/2 of the church is excited to move forward---while 1/2 is coming later and avoiding Sunday School altogether. We are trying to finish the other side of the church to use for more Sunday school classes, and we need everyone's help to begin classes for the many children that we have.
Sra. Gloria and Sra. Maria need special prayer for their health. They are so depressed that they cannot attend services. Please prays for these ladies.
We do miss Melissa. The Lord has moved her to a different ministry this next semester, so she won't be able to be back with us for second semester. But, we are very happy that her desire to is serve the Lord. Pray for her as the Lord directs her paths. She is seriously considering full-time missions.

Soooooooooooo this is a commercial message for anyone who would like to come for any amount of time from January through April to help with homeschooling. If you could help or if you know of anyone else who could help, please let us know.

Any of you who receive this before Christmas, we trust that you will have a very blessed and Christ-centered Christmas. We trust that in spite of all the upheaval in the world at the moment that our focus will be continually fixed on our one and only real Treasure, Jesus Christ.

With much love and gratefulness for your daily prayers.

Faith for the family

Goldfuss update (December 8)

2008-12-08T10:43:00.002-06:00

Dear Praying Friends,

I promised you a couple of pictures last week of the closing recital after Melissa had given piano lessons for three months. Then I didn't include them. I'm sorry. :-) Here they are.

On Thursday night, a bunch of people surprised Melissa here at our home with a going away supper. Melissa had gone with Faith to the girls' gymnastics class and when they returned, all the people were here. It was a nice time and we also got to have some good spiritual talks with a few people. Friday morning Melissa had a 6:20 AM plane to catch so Morgan arrived here in his taxi at 4AM and we took Melissa to the airport. She made her plane with plenty of time to spare so that was good for her and bad for us. She was a huge help in getting the kids caught up as were a good bit behind from last year's school year still. Please pray for the Lord to provide someone for our second semester for schooling in His plan and time. It is an overwhelming task for Faith by herself. We do thank the Lord for His grace and strength day by day to get done what needs to be done.

This past week Mike had some very good visits with different ones in the church. Jesus and Analilia haven't been back again for the past two weeks. Their oldest daughter, Luz, 11, is with them again after living with other family members in Acapulco. On Tuesday night Mike had the tremendous opportunity of giving the gospel to that whole family for about 1 1/2 hours. It was directed to Luz, but Jesus and Analilia were sitting right there also and listening intently. Luz asked some very good questions and it was a thrill again to share the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Please pray for the Lord to open the hearts of each person in this family.

Teresa has been struggling with her husband Alberto. He continues to make her life miserable. He ridicules her all the time, puts her down, yells at her and is just unbearable to live with most of the time. The first thing she said to me in our visit the other night was that she was meditating on a certain part of Scripture and that she realized how bad even her good works are most of the time and how much we need to do things just to honor our great Savior. In spite of all her difficulties in her family, it was so neat to see her meditating and thinking about Scripture and letting it work in her to change her to be more like Christ.

Martha had to be admitted to the hospital last Monday with a very low blood platelet count. She said that a person should normally have 150,000 platelets. After a blood test in the morning, she had 50,000 and by the afternoon it was down to 20,000. Since she is very susceptible to diseases, she was sent home. She went to her sister's house where she doesn't have to be outside and can rest more. Morgan and I went to see her on Thursday and she was very discouraged. We had the opportunity to encourage her though and the visit was very profitable. It was a blessing to see her come to church yesterday--she said she had to stop and sit down 3 times betwee the bus stop and church (only a two streets' walk) but she really enjoyed being there. It's always a blessing for everyone in church to see her.

Sra. Gloria continues to struggle with her diabetes. She and her mom (Sra. Maria) were not able to be there again yesterday. Pray for the Lord to touch her body and allow them to again be back in services.

We have been discouraged with several things during the past couple of weeks. Our Sunday School has been pretty sparsely attended right when we are trying to expand the classes because of past overcrowding. Sometimes it seems that many are so overwhelmed with their own problems that they don't have the time or energy to do extra work in the church. Most will come for an extra get together, but only a few will come to help work. Please pray that the Lord would put it in their hearts to get the work done and to attend SS.

If the Lord allows, Morgan and I are going to be travelling Thursday morning to Michoacan (about 2 hours away) to try to meet with a family that has no church. There is a possibility that Morgan could begin to go regularly there to work to raise up a local church by God's grace. Pray for wisdom and direction in that situation.

This Friday night we will have another men's meeting on Biblical Eldership. Please pray that the Lord would raise up faithful men to lead His church here.

Thank you for your prayers,
In Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfii

Email update (December 3)

2008-12-03T15:48:00.001-06:00

Dear Praying Friends,

We will send you a couple of pictures from our past week's activities.

Last Thursday, we celebrated Thanksgiving. We don't have any American friends in the city at the present due to furloughs and other things, so we invited a good number of our Mexican friends. Juana, Reme, Sarai, Elias, Ruth, Ximena, Gabriel, Liliana, Yoltic, Yolat and Yolotzin all joined us. We had a nice time telling them what Thanksgiving is about and they enjoyed thanking the Lord for His many blessings. We also all enjoyed a great turkey dinner. Matthew had been wanting to be an Indian for a while now so Mike gave him a mohawk. What do you think? :-)

Saturday evening was the piano recital with all of Melissa's students from the past 3 months. They had a very rough run-through beforehand, but the recital itself went wonderfully. There were a number of unsaved people present so Mike preached about 15 minutes on what it means to play and sing for God's Glory, why we would do that. The gospel was very clearly given. Pray for the salvation of those who heard. We are also including a couple of pictures of the recital.
Sunday's attendance was very down. We've had good visits and phone calls though with a good number of the missing.

Please pray for Sras. Maria and Gloria. Gloria, the daughter is really struggling with her diabetes and shingles and has been very discouraged. Please pray for the Lord to give her some relief and for them to be able to be present in the services.
Nico and family were not there on Sunday. He was struggling with gaining forgiveness of sin. We had an excellent talk and time of prayer on Monday morning though.
Tere and Silvia--two sisters with unsaved husbands, were both unable to attend. Pray for salvation for their husbands and strength for them day by day.
Jesus and Analilia--said last week that they were going to not be missing anymore. They were not there this past Sunday. I went to talk to them last night and ended up being able to proclaim the gospel to them and their children for about 1 1/2 hours. Their 11 year old daughter Luz, asked a few questions and that got the whole ball rolling. It was an EXCELLENT and encouraging opportunity. Please pray for their salvation.

This Friday, we are going to regretfully say goodbye to Melissa. She has been an incredible help and encouragement this past semester with her schoolteaching, piano playing in church and piano lesson giving. Please pray for the Lord's direction for Melissa in the future.

Please pray for the Lord will still open the door for us to have a ministry in the State of Michoacan in a place about 2 hours from here.

Thank you so much for your prayers,
in Christ,
mike for all the goldfii

Goldfuss update (November 25)

2008-11-25T14:46:00.001-06:00

Dear Praying friends,

You may get tired of hearing it, but as always, but we do thank you for your prayers.

We forgot to mention it last week, but we were thrilled to Elsa and Alondra present again in our services. They are each living out of wedlock, with a child, and they each have brought their partners to church in the past. Last Sunday they showed up together, Elsa with her little boy and Alondra by herself. Elsa's little boy was not feeling well and screamed for a lot of both services, albeit in another room. Many of you have prayed for them throughout the years. They are unsaved, but it is still a blessing to see them come to church (they have to take public transportation to get to our church and it takes over 2 hours.) Please pray for the Lord to have mercy on these two young ladies and save them for His glory and honor and their good.

On Saturday, Nico, Marcos, Memo, Beto and I worked all day to get the other part of the divisions up for our new half of the building. Please pray that we would be able to finish it up to be able to use it. There was a good spirit and it was encouraging how some different spiritual topics came up and how the men conversed about those. Praise our great God for the spirit of fellowship and communion we have because of Christ.

On Friday night, Melissa invited two of the older girls from gymnastics, Brooke and Yorman, to sleep over with her in her room above the garage. Brooke was very tired and fell asleep, but Yorman asked many questions and Melissa had an excellent opportunity to give her the gospel. Please pray for their salvation. On Saturday afternoon, Brooke and Yorman's 2 sisters and 2 other cousins came to help our girls and Melissa bake and decorate Christmas cookies. It was an enjoyable time for all of them. Please pray for our girls' testimony and witness before these unsaved friends.

Last week we asked you to pray for Francisco's father who is gravely ill and probably on his deathbed. He asked me something similar to this: "Mike, if he feels better and I can give him a bath, what do you think about me trying to baptize him with the water, even if he doesn't know it?" That was an opportunity to speak with him about what baptism really is and how it does not save. Please pray that the Lord would remove the scales from his eyes to see the glorious face of the Lord Jesus Christ in the gospel.

This Sunday, we had an incredible blessing. Jesus, Analilia, and their four children arrived!!!!!!!!!!! Many of you know that Analilia left about 1 1/2 months ago because she couldn't stand the difficulties at home with Jesus' brother and his three boys. We honestly thought that they would never return again. Praise the Lord that we were wrong and that they did come. Please pray for them to repent and believe the gospel as well.

This Saturday night at 7 PM we are having a piano recital. Melissa has done an excellent job in teaching about 15 children and young people (and a few older ones as well.) They are going to be giving us a recital after three months of lessons. Please pray that the Lord will enable some of them to continue on so that they may even be able to help in the future in accompanying our hymns in church.

Thank you for all of your prayers,

Have a Happy and very Grateful Thanksgiving.

In Christ,
mike for all the goldfii

Goldfuss update (November 19)

2008-11-19T13:01:00.001-06:00

Dear Praying Friends,

We apologize for not getting an email update out for the past several weeks. Things have been quite hectic. Thank you for your prayers during this time.

A family in our church has had some problems with Morgan about several different issues that are very legalistic. First of all, Morgan talked to the man, explaining his position biblically. Then, Morgan and I talked to the man, and then Morgan and I talked to the man and his wife. Each night was a conversation lasting about 3 or 4 hours. It was exhausting. The situation appears to have been resolved by God's grace. The wife appears to be trusting only in Christ for her salvation. The father appears to be trusting in his works and high morals for salvation. Please pray for the Lord to save Gabriel. Praise the Lord for Morgan's humility in dealing with the issues and admitting where he was wrong. After the second night of talking, things were not looking too promising as far as resolving the issues, but it was a tremendous blessing to leave their home after the third night and feel relief and gratitude to the Lord for working in the family and the situation.
That same week, Morgan dropped Mike and Mikey off at Mikey's basketball practice at 3:30 on Wed. afternoon. Morgan received a call in the parking lot from his dad asking him to go check on his grandmother who had fallen. Morgan has done this many times before and it's usually nothing. When we arrived at church at 6 PM, Ruth met us at the door telling us that Morgan's grandma had died and Morgan couldn't come. So Mike quickly prepared in 30 minutes to preach that night after our prayer service.
When someone dies in Mexico, there is normally an all night vigil in the home with the burial the next day. Mike went to the home and for the second time that evening, was called on to be instant "in season and out of season." :-) At midnight, he was able to give about a 25 minute gospel message. A "spiritist" man was present and interrupted several times to give his opinion. The interruptions and Biblical answers caused people to really listen well. Morgan and Memo drove Mike back home around 1 AM, and when they returned to the house, the spiritist man had brought his "spiritual leader in also" and that man was speaking. Morgan said that it was very interesting how people were sleeping and didn't pay any attention to him. When he would go to the kitchen, people would get up and go to the living room. When the man would go back to the living room, people would return to the kitchen. It is amazing the difference between truth and error and how people with error really have nothing to offer. Pray for the Lord to use His Word to save some of the hearers from that all night vigil. Pray for Alejandro to be saved also. He has harbored a lot of bitterness throughout the years because of some terrible things that his mother did to him when he was a child.
The next day, Mike accompanied Alejandro and his family to the cemetery where there is a crematorium. The body is delivered (in a rented casket no less) and the whole family waits around the cemetery for about 2 hours while the body is cremated. The ashes are then delivered to the family. Practices are definitely different from what we have grown up with.
Cristi, Carissa, Matthew and Cherith all take gymnastics classes. All of their friends there are unsaved. Cristi and Carissa especially have had some excellent opportunities to witness to their two friends (9 and 11 years old.) The friends are very openly opposed to the gospel and were stating their beliefs about the day of the dead in which the dead spirits of loved ones supposedly return to eat from altars with food that people have prepared in their homes. They were also asking Cristi and Carissa about why they want to be modest in gymnastics and not show off their bodies. The girls gave some excellent answers which is encouraging since we just recently had a 3 week study on glorifying Christ in our church and homes with modesty. Pray for the girls (and our boys) to truly be in Christ and that their answers would truly reflect the glory of God. It is easy to see the struggle between wanting to please friends and wanting to please our Savior and Lord. Please pray for Faith and I to have wisdom to shepherd and guide their hearts.
Last Monday Mikey and Mike went to Texas for our annual trip. We need to get our US car registration done as well as shop for things that may be cheaper there or things that we cannot get here in Mexico. It is about a 1,500 mile round trip. We left on Monday morning and arrived home on Friday night. It was a very busy and exhausting week, but we were able to get most everything that we needed. We praise the Lord for His protection as it is a grueling trip.
This Saturday we are to have another work party to try to get the divisions finished on the other side of our building. Please pray that we will have a good turnout and be able to get the job done.
Francisco called yesterday and said that his father is near death. Please pray for the Lord to use this in Francisco's life to truly save him. He has a profession of faith from past years, but very little desire to obey Christ. May God increase each of our desires to love, please and serve Christ in all that we do.

We thank you so much for your faithful prayers, encouragement and support. May the Lord richly bless you this week.

In Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfii