Just a quick update from Mexico.  Hope you all had a wonderful and blessed Christmas season.  We had a great time in North Carolina with family.  Greg and Rachel were able to be home, and we were able to spend lots of time with Ben and Misty and the kids.  I spent the first couple weeks building an airplane for the grandkids Christmas present.  After Christmas I was able to renew some FAA certificates.  We were also able to visit a couple churches, our home church and one other supporting church.  It really was encouraging to see what God is doing at “home” as well.  We are grateful for safe travels and the ability to see friends and family.

                                                            

 

We arrived back in Guadalajara, MX on Jan 6^th (our 27^th anniversary).  We had a very
smooth border crossing, and safe travel.  We left San Antonio, TX at 6:30 AM, and
arrived in Guadalajara by 11:30 PM.  Rachel was able to come back with us for a few
days before her semester began at New Tribes Bible Institute.  We really enjoyed
having her here for a while.  She flew back to school on Mon the 16^th.  While she
was here, we were able to go to the beach for a few days and Rachel even tried surfing.

 

                                                          

We are really glad to be back. Language School is in full swing, and is going very well. 
Although I would be lying if I said I was learning as quickly as I want to.  We would
appreciate your prayers for ability to learn.  To be honest it is very difficult, and
sometimes discouraging, but we are very grateful for the opportunity.  It is supposed
to be our job as parents to encourage our kids, but sometimes in our family it is opposite.
 Rachel, seeing that we were somewhat discouraged by how slow the language was coming, left us a note that said “If you don’t think you’ll ever learn Spanish, that might actually be a good place to be, because then once you do learn it, you’ll know that it was all because of Christ.”  She is absolutely right.  If it came easy I would just get proud.  We just completed our 3^rd week of level 3 of 4 levels.  We are feeling much better and have hired a tutor to help us a couple times a week.  Please keep praying that we would get the language down so we can communicate effectively the love of Jesus Christ.

 

Some of you have been praying faithfully about the sale of our building in Alta, IA.  Just this week we have leased our building with the option to buy.  This is a big answer to prayer.  Please pray that everything will work out and the sale will go through within the next few months.  At least the lease will stop the financial bleeding for now.

 

Some of you have asked us about our financial support.  We do still need to raise another $500. per month.  When we came to Mexico we had a 4 month history of 100% support level, however some of that was due to one time gifts as we were traveling and speaking in churches   Our commitment level was at 90% and we thought we would have some more churches commit as they made budgets and had business meetings.  We certainly are not complaining, and this is not a plea for more, just to let you know how to pray.   We may need to come back this summer or fall and work on support level for a while.  We will be in the IA area in August if you would like us to visit your church. 

 

Again, thank you for your prayers and partnership.  Have a great week.

The Gospel on Wings,
                                                                  
Tim & Ginnie Ried                                                           
336-909-0897     timri1@juno.com,    tried@uim.org                                                                
UIM - Acct #515 * UIM Business Center * PO Box 6429 *  Glendale, AZ  85312