This week Naomi & I took the whole FYM team back to South Padre Beach for our end-of-the-year debrief.  Gary and Nancy Lengkeek came down from AIM's Gainesville office to help us process through the events of this year and to prepare us to return home.  This final debrief is such a vital part of missions, as we have all experienced so much during this year and grown in many ways.  Please keep the FYMs in your prayers in this time of transition as they return home on May 15^th.  God has led them in so many different directions; two will be working with AIM's short term trips this summer, a few will return to school, and some will be getting married. The Lord has done so much in all their lives this year, and I ask that you would join in my prayer that He would continue this work as they return home.  Thank you. 

As of May 15th I will no longer be using the W. Price Rd. Brownsville mailing address.  I will be visiting home on May 31^st, and I am working out the details of what I will be doing after that.  I will let you all know more very soon, but I get another local address please use my home address for any mail.  The address is:

Erin Brumit

110 Bunker Hill Rd.

Elizabethton, TN  37643 

I finally found a good internet connection, and I thought you all might like to see some photos from the construction of Antonia's house.  You can see even more in My Pictures.  Enjoy!

Yesterday afternoon we put the finishing touches on Antonia's new home!  It is a small, bright yellow house that took a little over a week to build, and it is a blessing for Antonia and her family to finally have their own home.  The building itself went well because we had all worked with the short term projects that the same type of build house; we also had a lot of help from the neighborhood children.  We enjoyed spending time with Antonia, Clara, and their families.  Antonia became a Christian this past fall, but her timidity kept us from really getting to know her.  Over these past couple weeks, as we have planned for and built the house, she has begun to open up a little more, and I am excited to see her grow over the next month that we are here in Matamoros.  Please keep Antonia, Reyes and their three children in your prayers as they get moved into their new house and as they adjust to living on Clara's family's land.  Thank you & God bless you all! 

As you may have read in my blog A Home in Need of a Family, two months ago the FYM team had planned to build a house for Lupita's sister-in-law Mari, but another church beat us to it.  We then began a search for a family needing a home, as the FYMs had already raised enough money to build it.  A month ago we found another prospective family, but that fell through as well.  We decided to go to Clara (who houses the Bible study I am a part of in Granjas) to see if she knew of anyone in need of a house.  She told us about her sister-in-law, Antonia, who has been renting a house but has been struggling to pay for rent and food because her husband does not have a well paying job.  We checked into the situation with Antonia, and starting Tuesday (providing all goes well and the creek don't rise) we will begin building a home for Antonia's family right behind Clara's house.  It will be just like Clara's AIM-build house, only yellow instead of blue.  I am thankful that the Lord has given us the opportunity to bless Antonia's family with this home.  She has just recently become a Christian, and it will allow her to spend more time with Clara, who is such a great example to the other women.  A couple of the FYMs have also gotten to know Antonia's daughter Nanci (in the picture) well and are looking forward to helping out her family.  Please pray for our FYM group as we work during this next week, but even more I ask for your prayers for Antonia's family, that this may be an opportunity to see the Lord's provision and to grow in their faith.  Thanks & God bless!

FYM Mexico devoted last weekend to building up the team before jumping into leading Johnson Ferry's week long project.  As a part of this we spent Sunday afternoon in the zoo.  We saw flamingos, rhinos, hippos, and a lot of monkeys.  It was a great day to just have fellowship with the team and invest in each other's lives right before a very busy week (and seeing all the animals was fun, too!).  It has been easy lately to forget how important the team is while we have been so busy with ministry.  We can get so caught up in "ministering" that we forget to love one another, which should be a major focus of all believers.  In John 17 Jesus prayed that we as believers would be one so that the world would know His love and know that He was sent by God.  Please join me in this prayer that we FYMs and staff here in Matamoros, Mexico would be a group of believers who are an example of the Lord's love to each other and the world.  Thank you for all your prayers; they accomplish more than you know.  God bless!

A little over a month ago I wrote to you all to keep our FYM team in your prayers.  Since then, Naomi, Jason and I (with a lot of help from Gainesville) have been making a plan for the team to finish out their year in Matamoros.  We have moved into a new house (as you saw on my last blog), we have gotten back into our normal ministries, we have continued our morning classes, and we have seen that God is faithful.  Though many things have changed, we have been able to see through all of this God's ability restore what is lost.  God has been reminding me a lot lately of His faithfulness and His ability to accomplish His purpose even when we do not see things do not go as planned.  As I write this it is Good Friday, and I am imagining the feeling of hopelessness the disciples felt when their Lord was crucified.  They thought all hope was lost, it was not what they had expected, but God had other plans.  He did the unexpected, and out of death brought life.  Through everything that our team has been through recently God has been producing fruit, fruit of unity among the team and between FYM and other AIM staff in Matamoros.  He has produced fruit of greater character in each FYM.  He has produced fruit of restored relationships in our ministry areas, as many of them did not know why we left, and we did not know whether we would return.  In all, God is continuing to show that He can redeem any situation, and I praise Him for that!  Thank you for all your prayers.  Have a blessed holiday as you celebrate the life of our lord Jesus! 

As many of you know by now, FYM Mexico is passing through some very rough times.  A couple weeks ago, one of our leaders became involved in some things that he should not have been a part of, and since that time Naomi, Jason and I have been seeking the Lord's direction (with a lot of help from our leaders at AIM) as to where to go from here.  We have been so blessed by everyone who has come alongside us in this struggle of losing a leader.  As hard as it is, I know that God will be glorified even out of this situation.  Let me share with you what I was reading the day before it all began; it is a passage about Jehoshaphat going into battle. 

          "Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God's.  You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.  Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out to face them, for the Lord is with you."  II Chr. 20:15&17

          "When they began singing and praising, the Lord sent ambushes against the sons of Amon, Moab and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, and they were routed."  II Chr. 20:22

While I was thinking and praying about all that had been happening, God reminded me that just the other day, He had shown to me through these passages that I should not fear and that I should go into every trial and test praising Him.  God will still be glorified!  Though man may fail us, God will not fail us.  He remains faithful, and as we worship Him, especially as we pass through trials, He will have the victory!  Please keep us all in your prayers during this time.  God bless!

In a little over a week 10 college age students from Canada will come to Matamoros, Mexico for a week-long project.  They will be working alongside the First Year Missionaries who are already involved in ministry in many areas of the city.  As a part of the project, they will build a house for a local family in need (similar to the one in the picture, which AIM built a couple years ago).  We have already ordered the supplies and are taking care of all the needed preparations, but we have not yet found a family for whom to build it!  This is not a common problem to have around here, as there are many families whose leaky homes are made from scrap pieces of wood found in the dump; however, the family we had planned to build for is being blessed with a home from another church, so now at the last minute we are looking for a family to fill the house we are ready to build.  This is a great opportunity to practice listening for the Lord's direction in ministry.  It would be easy to find a family that could use a better home, but we want to be sure that we choose that family that God Himself has chosen to receive this house.  Please join us in prayer that God would lead us to the right family for this house we are ready to build.  I know that this will be a blessing for the family, for each trip participant, and all the FYMs as we work together to fill a need in our community, and I thank you for your prayers that God would reveal His will in this.  God bless!

To read more about what the First Year Missionaries are up to, check out their blog at www.bobwaag.myadventures.org