Fall 2009 Bible Institute Classes

Announcing the Fall 2009 Mexico Bible Methodist Institute Classes
in Salamanca, Guanajuato, Mexico
October 19 - 23, 2009: Monday - Friday

Visiting Professors will be:

• Heartland BM Conference President G. Clair Sams and his wife, Melba, teaching classes on Church Leadership and Sis. Sams will be speaking to the ladies.

• Hope International Missions Director Sidney Grant will be teaching classes on Eschatology and Hermeneutics.

Bible Institute President Eliezer Balderas will be teaching classes on Christian Education and Homiletics. Field Director Marc Sankey will be conducting Pastoral Mentoring Sessions. HIM Pastor Abel (Salamanca) will be teaching clases on Christian Life. The Sankeys will be teaching English Classes.

This promises to be a very full week of Biblical training and mentoring. Please help us pray for safety for our professors and pastors/families who will be traveling to the classes and for God's Spirit to rest on us during this special week.

Summer Work and Ministry Team

Excitement is high! Our 11-member Work and Ministry Team is arriving on Tuesday!

Our family and Brennan are busily preparing guest quarters, meal plans, accomodations, work projects, medical ministry details (SO excited about this), and more!

Those coming are: Ed Durham, Craig McLaughlin, Mark and Kristin Foster, Bradley and Jackie Bishop, Chris Lambeth, Paul and Alicia McIntyre, Arlette Makcen, and Marc's cousin Matt Linko. We are so excited to have them here with us!

Please pray that God will give the team traveling protection; that He would give us His success in ministry and work projects, and that souls would be won to Jesus through our efforts.

Stay tuned for pictures of the Team's arrival and activities while they're here!

Day 2 of the Bible Institute Classes

Check our family blog for pictures of Day 2!

Spring Bible Institute Classes - Day 1

Well, the Spring Bible Institute Classes are "up and running" here in Saltillo. Despite some minor mishaps and late arrivals, we are off to a great start. Here are a few pictures to share with you.

Prof. Dale Redman speaking to the Institute students who were present for Day 1.

Prof. Shane Craycraft teaching his class - Bro. Redman translating into Spanish.


Tamra and I helping out in the kitchen. Here we are making flour tortillas. Of course, we had to sample a few while we were working. Yummm....there's nothing like a fresh homemade flour tortilla, hot off the comal, spread with butter, rolled up and enjoyed. :)

Jillian enjoyed rolling out her tortilla. :)


She also fully immersed herself into what was happening around her. She joined in giving her baby doll a bath right along with the little Mexican girls - it was just too cute.

And now today is a full schedule of classes and workshops from 9 this morning until 7 in the evening, with study time and meals worked in. Thank the Lord for His help and for a great start to our Spring Bible Institute Classes here in Mexico!

More later - keep checking back. :)

Summer Work and Ministry Team Opportunities

Dear Family and Friends,

We realize that over the past few days you have received much information from Mexico Bible Methodist Missions. However, we want to inform you of a signifigant change in facts from our monthly newsletter that we recently sent out. The TLC team will not be able to come to Mexico this summer.

Therefore, there are open dates and projects available for work/ministry teams. So many of you spoke with us during our Share Support Tour and before, telling us of your interest in coming to Mexico and participating in projects here.

The open dates are June 1 - July 10, 2009. We would be able to provide your housing (a large team may need to help with rental of a facility).

Possible projects would range between light construction, painting, cleaning, roofing, remodeling several churches and parsonages.....Ministry opportunities would include VBS and tract and Bible distribution.

Maybe you are not able to come to Mexico and work but would be interested in helping with the needed funds or items (tracts or Bibles) for these projects.

If you have interest in coming to Mexico or in contributing to these projects, please email us at marcsankey@yahoo.com or melodiesankey@yahoo.com and we will be happy to give you more information.

Blessings,
Marc & Melodie Sankey

Sisters in Ministry - Care Package Project

Thank you ladies (you know who you are..smiles..) who have taken our Mexico Bible Methodist Pastors' Wives as Sisters in Ministry! Your willingness to participate in this project has been personally encouraging to me and I know will be such a special blessing to our pastors' wives. To know they have a Sister in the US who loves them and is praying for them will be wonderful for them.

Some of you have asked what is involved in having a Sister in Ministry. I would recommend a monthly contact if you are able. This could be in one of several forms:

• You could email me at melodiesankey@yahoo.com with a special message for your Sister. I could translate your message and get it to your Sister as soon as possible.


• You could send a snail mail card. This would take a little longer for me to receive, translate and pass on, but I know would be something the ladies would enjoy. In this you could include pictures of your family, yourself, your church, etc...


• If you're interested in birthday, anniversary information, I could work on getting that together and passing along a small gift you might want to send her way for those special days.


• Any additional Thinking of You care package you send would be passed on to her as I'm able.


• Sharing prayer requests you may have and asking her for any prayer requests she may have is a good way to connect. Share about your family, your children, your ministry...ask about hers.
  
  These are just a few suggestions. Thanks again for participating!

Just a quick reminder to those of you who are sending Care Package items: We need those items as soon as possible to put the packages together and have them ready by mid-April. Please send them to our Texas address included in the sidebar of our blog - we will pick them up there.

Enjoy your Wednesday! Melodie

Thank you!

I am so excited at the great response to our Pastors' Wives Care Package Project and the First Aid Project for the Bible Institute Classes coming up in April!

Thank you to so many who have volunteered to send items for the Pastors' wives, those who have donated money, those who have taken one of our Pastors' wives as your "Sister in Ministry" and to my wonderful friend, Tamra Craycraft (traveling with her husband and children to Saltillo for the Inst. classes) who has agreed to help me in the packaging and card-making for the Care Packages!

There's still "room" in the packages if you would like to donate something small/compact that would benefit our Pastors' wives in their ministry. Those items would need to be sent quickly to our TX address since the Institute classes are less than 6 weeks away.

Thank you to the Covington, GA Bible Methodist Church for providing the 20 First Aid Kits to be used with the First Aid Classes in the Institute! What a quick and gratifying response - thank you, Jeri and the Covington Church!

Your help and willing cooperation means so much - thank you! for the Bible Institute Classes coming up in April!

Melodie Sankey

Need for 20 First Aid Kits

Here is a rather last-minute opportunity for you as an individual or church to be part of the Spring Bible Institute Classes here in Saltillo, Mexico.

We are in need of 20 First Aid Kits to be used as part of the First Aid Classes that Prof. Shane Craycraft will be giving in the Institute - April 13 - 17. They could be shipped to our Texas address and we will pick them up there the week prior to the classes.

If you are interested in helping with this project, please contact us at melodiesankey@yahoo.com for more details and shipping info.

Thank you!

Marc & Melodie

Thank you to the Covington, GA Bible Methodist Church for providing these First Aid Kits!

Spring Bible Institute Classes in Saltillo

Announcing the Spring Bible Methodist Institute Classes

in Saltillo, Coah., Mexico

April 13 - 17, 2009: Monday - Friday

• Visiting Professors will be Dale Redman (Katy, TX), teaching classes on Leadership and Church Planting; and Shane Craycraft (Middletown, OH), teaching classes on Christian Stewardship and First Aid.

• Marc Sankey, Steve Stetler and Eli Balderas will also be teaching classes on Expositional, Topical and Textual Preaching

• Professor Craycraft's family will be traveling with him to Mexico. Pray for their safety as they travel.

• Please pray for Institute President Eli Balderas and the teaching staff.

• Pray for our Bible Methodist pastors as they attend the classes and for the people they will be bringing with them from their churches.

• Please pray that God's presence would be with us as we take the Bible Institute training to the people.

Pastors' Wives Ministry Care Project

Would you like to be part of a special project to encourage and equip our pastors' wives as a ministry arm of our Mexico Bible Institute? We are endeavoring to put together a special Ministry Care Package for each of our pastors' wives to either present to her if she's able to attend the Institute classes April 13 - 18 or send home with her pastor husband.

If you'd like to participate in this project, please visit our blog at www.sankeyfamily.blogspot.com for pictures of each of these ladies and information on how you can be involved, to choose a "Sister in Ministry" and more!

Thanks!

Melodie Sankey

Progress on the Saltillo Parsonage Project

Here's the most recent photo of the progress on the Saltillo Parsonage Project. They're getting very close to being ready to completely move into the upstairs. The painting is done in several of the bedrooms and the upstairs bathroom is finished. The tile floor in the upstairs hallway is being laid and many of the windows are in. Once the family is moved into the upstairs, they will start on the kitchen being installed on the ground floor. Logan has spent lots of time working at the parsonage and playing with Jazhiel, the pastor's son. He loves to work and he loves to play with Jazi.
Thank you again to all who have contributed to this project. Pastor Dolores and his family along with the church people are grateful for your help and are working hard to see this project completed.

Visit to the Bible Methodist Missions in Zacatecas

Because of the time it takes to upload pictures to each blog, I would invite you to our family blog to read the report and see the photos of the recent trip to visit the Bible Methodist Missions in the Mexican state of Zacatecas: www.sankeyfamily.blogspot.com

Thanks,
Melodie Sankey

A Wonderful Congreso de Jovenes/Youth Convention

We have just completed a wonderful Youth Convention here in Saltillo, Mexico. For more details and pictures, please visit our blog at www.sankeyfamily.blogspot.com

Thanks for your prayers for this special event!