Sharing about Mexico....with pre-schoolers

Last week Sharla and I enjoyed the opportunity to share about Mexico with the kids at the Presbyterian Pre-School here in Warsaw. Our daughter Kathryn went to this school back in '99 when we were up for a home assignment after our first term of serving in Mexico!

We had a wonderful time sharing about God's work there as well as some fun cultural stuff. Mexican toys are always a "hit" with kids so we showed them some of our fun things we brought up. God has opened several doors for us lately to share with kids which Sharla and I greatly enjoy doing! Afterwards the teachers organized a piñata and a Mexican Christmas tradition called a posada.

Fall Concert

Last night was a special night as we enjoyed going to the fall concert at Lakeland Christian Academy where both Kaylyn and Kathryn attend. Kaylyn was involved in playing the piano both for the band as well as for an offeratory. We greatly enjoyed watching her use her talents for the Lord! I know she was glad when it was over! I (Bob) remember those days when I played in piano recitals...especially the ones when we had to memorize our special numbers. I was always really glad when it was over!

Thanks for your prayers for Kaylyn, Kathryn, and Brent as they adjust to life here during our home assignment. They are involved in various activities which keeps them quite busy (and us as well)!

Brent's school experience

All of our kids are now in their respective schools. The girls are at Lakeland Christian Academy here in Warsaw while Brent attends Madison Elementary School. They are adjusting to life here in "gringolandia" as we call it. Plenty of adjustments but they are doing well. Although they look like "gringos" our kids definitely see themselves as more Mexican than anything else! So it has been a real adjustment for them.

Our son Brent recently had a cool experience at school. He had to share about his favorite book. He chose the Bible; author, God. So he takes his Bible to school and gets up in front of the whole classroom and shares about his favorite book. No, this wasn't something that we pushed him to do. This came totally from his own heart. We quite convinced that Brent has the gift of evangelism as we hear his comments and observe his life.

We're very grateful for the youth group at our church here. Great group of kids and excellent Bible teaching! Kaylyn and Kathryn have begun to get involved and make friends there as well as at school. They are growing in the midst of a LOT of upheaval in their lives.

Thanks for praying for our kids these days. I know they appreciate your prayers!

Here's our new "temporary home" in Warsaw, Indiana where we'll be through May of 2011 for our home assignment. Kaylyn, Kathryn and Brent are starting school and getting adjusted to life here. Lots of changes! Thanks for your prayers as we adjust to "gringo" life. We look forward to seeing many of you while we're here!!

Summer Missionary Program 2010

We are grateful for the opportunity to train over 20 youth in how to teach kids' club. As a family we went to Mexico City for the training week from July 9-15. What a GREAT time we had with the quality youth that God sent us this year.

The training involved various facets of teaching an evangelistic kids' club: teaching songs, bible verses, a Bible lesson, a missionary story.....all designed to help children learn more about what God has done for them AND helping them understand that they too can trust in Christ for salvation. Every summer several thousand children attend the 20-30 clubs taught by these youth and 100's profess faith in Christ.

This summer Sharla and I helped train the youth in the songs they would use in the clubs. Sharla came up with the motions for the songs which you can see in one of the pictures above. I was able to help in the training of the teaching of the evangelistic Bible lesson. All the youth met in small groups throughout the week to prepare their Bible lessons and then practice together before they are sent out. It's GREAT practice for them since they all learn together with us "coaching" them.

We thank God for the awesome group of youth God sent us this year. Sharla and I are grateful for the privilege to work alongside a team of both CAM missionaries and Mexican youth to organize this summer ministry! Pray that there will be long-lasting fruit from the clubs which the youth taught this summer!!

Huasteca trip: June 2010

Just got back on Tuesday from a GREAT trip to the "Huasteca Hidalguense" which is abourt 7 hours from here in Queretaro. I was thrilled to have 16 people go on this trip....some from our own church here in Queretar, several summer missionaries from years past, a dentist, a couple widows, fellow CAM missionary colleague Bryan Smith and daughter, AND most i mportantly, my own son Brent (see top photo).

We ministered in several ways....

• kids clubs taught by past summer missionaries
• free dental work to around 50-60 patients!
• teaching young people a conference on dating and marriage
• teaching leaders conferences on both Christian Education (me) and Biblical principles on communication (Bryan and another church leader from Queretaro)
• showing evangelistic movie followed by testimony and Gospel invitation
• handing out 100's of tracts and visiting people in their homes

It was a GREAT 5-day trip packed with a lot of ministry. Yes, we were exhausted when we got home! We thank the Lord for the chance to help Adolfo and Olga (church planter and his wife) who faithfully minister in this region. Thanks for praying

Having Family Close-by!!

Since arriving in Mexico, we as a family have been accustomed to living far from our family (i.e. parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, etc). It's just an aspect of missionary life that you get used to....not to say that you "like it" but it's a part of the "cost" that we knew full well when we came here. Yes, our kids call our fellow colleagues "aunt and uncle" but you still miss those family ties.

Well, in God's plan, he brought some family down to us this past spring....actually the past 3 years during the spring!! Dennis and Sharon Kirsch (my aunt and uncle) have had a wonderful ministry here since 2008 helping at our CAM-related camp close-by called "Koinonia". What an incredible blessing to have them here!!

Uncle Dennis has helped in invaluable ways at the camp with his skills in repairing, building, maintenance....well, you name it and he can do it! He did an extension on the kitchen at the camp this year....what an incredible blessing to have another third added on to the small kitchen! Now it's almost spacious!! Our house is also in much better working order due to his handyman skills that have been put to use here too! Aunt Sharon (my Dad's sister) has also been very busy helping with some data input for CAM's website called Obrero Fiel. She has done an incredible amount of work to help get a Bible study tool (called Treasury of Scripture Knowledge) online for Spanish speakers.

A couple weekends ago I traveled with them to the border just to help with any unexpected events. Fortunately, we had a safe trip with very few stops (a couple military checkpoints but that's just normal!) and basically an uneventful trip. They will soon be back "at home" in Canada. They are greatly missed here as they impacted MANY lives during their months here. I thank the Lord for the great joy of having them here and having the chance to re-connect with family!

Mega Missions Conference in Guatemala

I just returned from the beautiful country of Guatemala where I (Bob) attended a "Mega" Missions Conference in Guatemala City. The conference was held at a seminary which CAM started many years ago called SETECA. What an awesome experience to be able to attend and see how God's hand is moving to send out Latin missionaries all over the world.

Over 650 participants came from all over the world: Spain, Nicaragua, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras, El Salvador, Turkey, England, the U.S., and a host of other countries as well. A variety of workshops were offered on a variety of topics related to the missionary "enterprise" specifically from a Latin perspective. The overall theme for the conference was "Crossing New Frontiers: A Great Commission". One of the highlights for me was to see many folks go forward on the last night to commit their lives to serving God wherever that might be.

Another highlight for me was to have 9 other colleagues from Mexico (both missionary and national) with whom to share the experience! Three of us went representing the missions mobilization ministry of FAMEX here in Mexico. All of us went away even more passionate about missions as well as burdened to continue to promote a "Great Comission" vision throughout Mexico. Also, we pray that God will raise up more workers from Mexico to be sent out to the unreached peoples of the world. Please pray with us to that end.

Check out our pictures from recent events!!

Here's the link for our pictures. Check them out!

http://picasaweb.google.com/buhlersinmexico

Missions Conference at New Life Bible Church

Today we held a special missions service at the church we attend. This ended a pretty hectic weekend but we were thrilled at how God worked. The same Uruguayan couple, Augusto and Valeria, shared their plans to go to Uruguay as missionaries with FAMEX. Their presentation was very well-done and people seemed to greatly enjoy getting to know them! Perhaps our church will be able to support them in the future....we'll see how God provides. Then we invited Samuel Castro, former national director here in Mexico for Operation Mobilization, to preach and encourage our folks to actively participate in the Great Commission. He is a very motivational speaker and did a great job instilling passion for missions among our congregation. Please pray with us that God will continue to work in the hearts of the people at the New Life Bible Church in the area of missions. Perhaps some of our own youth will be sent out in the coming years! As a church we already support some missionaries in the Muslim world. May God continue to kindle the passion for missions among the Mexican churches!

Marriage Dinner at New Birth Bible Church

This past weekend was pretty jam-packed with things starting off on Friday night with a marriage dinner that Sharla and I put together. We were grateful for a good turn-out with around 15 couples in attendance. A young Uruguay couple from Puebla, Augusto and Valeria Aniano, made the 3-hour trip to be with us for the weekend. They are incredible musicians! It was a real treat to have them sing some nice romantic music for us. Then Hector Villanueva, a church leader from a nearby Bible church here in Queretaro, shared about the difference in the way men and women commmunicate. He did a great job interjecting humor while addressing this important topic of marriage communication. The evening was topp-off with a great meal of tamales and atole! For those of you who don't know what atole is.....you're just missing out! It's hard to beat a dinner of tamales and atole. You'll just have to visit us here in Mexico sometime to find out what we're talking about!

Wedding in the Huasteca

What a day we had going to the Huasteca for the wedding. We left from Pachuca around 9 AM and traveled to this remote region arriving there around 1:30 PM. The wedding was to start around 3:30 PM. Things eventually started around 4 PM. I was able to play the piano during the wedding (everything from the prelude, to processional, to accompanying the songs during the wedding, and then the recessional and postlude).

Things got really interesting when it started to rain right in the middle of the wedding ceremony. I'm under a canopy giving a sermon while it's pouring down rain. While I'm under the canopy, everyone else is running for cover....and we're talking a LOT of people. It was quite the sight to watch. Although I had a 20-30 minute sermon prepared on marriage, I only got through about 5 minutes. Honestly, no one was listening! Everyone was figuring how to stay dry (we're talking hundreds of people!). I cut everything short, figuring that we just needed to get this couple (Adolfo and Olga) married. Well, they did get married that afternoon, thank the Lord!

Now they embark on a lifelong journey together as husband and wife. Adolfo and Olga will continue to minister in this very need region of Mexico. Pray that God will protect them and encourage them in the midst of a rather hostile environment. Evangelicals continue to be persecuted in this region. They really do need your prayers!

This weekend we'll be heading to the "Huasteca" region in the state of Hidalgo. It's about 7 hours from where we live here in Queretaro. Perhaps some of you remember mission trips that I've organized to the Huasteca in recent years. Adolfo, a faithful servant for Christ in this needy area of Mexico, will be getting married to Olga (pictured above). I thank the Lord for how God has provided a wife for him. We have the privilege of participating in the wedding ceremony through music and preaching. AND something called "padrinos" of the "arras"....too complicated to explain here! Anyway, please pray for a safe trip for us and that God would use us while we're there. Also pray for Adolfo as he starts a new life as a married man!

Trip to Huauchinango, Puebla

Don't worry how to pronounce where we went! This past weekend we enjoyed traveling 3 hours to the "sierra" region of Puebla (quite mountainous AND very beautiful!) to visit our good friends Enrique and Elia Ramirez. They were some of the first to come to know Christ through the ministry of the Good Shepherd Bible Church. For the past 2 years they have been faithfully ministering in Huachinango with the purpose of seeing God raise up a church. What a great time we had....seeing what God has done over the past couple years. They now have around 13 families gathering together to worship God and serve Him together.

During our time in Huauchi....we enjoyed getting to know some of these families through a youth study, prayer meeting, Sunday AM service, and birthday celebration on Sunday afternoon for Enrique (and for our daughter Kathryn)! Please pray for Enrique and Elia as they continue to minister in this new church plant. Also pray that we'll know how we can best help and encourage them from a distance.

Below are a couple videos to give you a feel for the Sunday AM service AND how our kids entertain themselves while we're on the road. Pretty funny!!

Bible study with Adeila and family....

For the past several months, Sharla and I have been studying the Bible with Adeila and her family. They live a half-hour away from us in a small, rural town called Sabanillas. This past Thursday we made the trip to study with them and finish up our evangelistic study. We're praising God for the salvation of both Adeila and her daughter Jessica. Please pray for the salvation of the "matriarch" of the family who is standing to the right in the picture. It's obvious that she still doesn't understand that you just can earn salvation no matter what you do. That's a pretty difficult thing for somebody to understand who has lived under a system of "works" all their life! Thanks for praying for this family!

Starting to blog!

Well, this will be our first attempt in starting to blog. Our current webpage will soon be phased out so we'll be using a blog instead. Thanks for your patience as we get this up and running! We hope to keep this blog a bit more current than our website that we've had for the past few years.