It's HOT down here and there is no snow!

Greetings Everyone

Sorry for the bad humor in the name of my post. It was Clariss's idea. I couldn't comeup with anything.
Well, with this years busy season now behind us I finally seem to have time to clear my mind and think about the up coming year. This season has been interesting to say the least. We have seen miracles, we have had the opportunity to work with so many of you on a personal basis here in the Guaymas region, and we have had the opportunity to be a part of new and exciting things to come for this area. The launch of Children's Camps Int. as well as personal project that I have been working on over the past year and a half or so. So....needless to say we are excited to see what God has in store for us.
Along with all the great things we see God doing with us, there has also been the challenges. These are expected though, it seems the enemy can never just back off for a little while. In the hustle of the busy season some things sure got neglected. We are excited though, we know God continues to affirm us and is continuing to bring restoration to all the places in our lives that need it. God is faithful, He allows challenges in our lives in order to keep our focus on Him. I sure enjoy seeing all the pieces come together! One of the biggest challenges this year for me has been health. I have had a stomach problem since mid February. I have seen 2 different doctors and have undergone blood work and "stuff." I received results back yesterday from all my tests and for the most part everything came back negative, so that is a praise item, but it still leaves us wondering why I still am battling with my stomach? I would venture to say I have lost about 20-30 lb. I have started to eat more regularly so things are looking up for me. Strange things have happened though, I can hardly convince myself to drink coke and only in the last few days have I started to drink coffee again. Maybe that is a good thing.
Soooo, having said that Clarissa and I are going to make a commitment to update this blog more often. We have very exciting news that we hope to announce next week. We are working on launching a project here in Guaymas and are trusting that all of you can be a part of it in one way or another. I can't announce it today, as much as I would like too. BUT I believe that I can announce it next week. There is a meeting happening today and the outcome may directly impact the direction we are going so I hope that you can understand I don't want to get the cart ahead of the donkey. (I think that is the saying???)
Like I mentioned, with the busy season subsiding, we are finding the time to shift priorities a bit. We are working on our family structure. It was long over due to spend some time together. Clarissa is busy home schooling the boys and I am happy to say that it is going really well. Aside from that she has her hands full with our little Leah. I am still looking at ways that Children Camps Int. can work here in our region. We have some meetings regarding this coming up so I ask you to prayerfully consider them. We have seen how children's clubs have greatly impacted children and families here in Guaymas. There is no doubt that CCI has a lot to offer the City of Guaymas. Aside from working on my side project, I am helping out at Maggie's (Agua Y Mas) fairly regularly. Her program runs daily in the afternoons. Today is field trip day, so we will all be loading up our trucks and driving the kids to the beach!!! I should also mention, we have not been involved in the Fatima program for quite awhile. Upon returning to Mexico this year, we really felt that we did all we could do to launch their program. Rafael and Maricella have done a great job managing things and we saw very quickly we were not needed anymore. In fact, so much so that we felt we were almost a burden in Fatima. Only because I am starting to see the importance of the Mexican nationals taking care of their own people. In Fatima, the community was starting to tie white people with money and blessings. Instead of them focusing on God for blessings they started to focus on man. (the community) We felt that our presence only made things more difficult so we decided to take a step back. I am happy to hear that nothing has skipped a beat. The program continues and the lives of the Children continue to be transformed.
We are starting to plan our trip home for this July. We are looking forward to seeing a bunch of you and having the opportunity to share what has been happening in our lives and what we feel God has in store for us in the future. We pray and thank the Lord for all our supporters. We think of you often. Our plan is to arrive in Winkler on July 13. We want to spend the first week catching up with family but plan to fill up our time with all of you. If your interested in a visit lets start booking the days??? I am already starting to book different churches. We are only in Winkler for a month or so and I know that it won't take long to fill up the schedule. :)
Gods richest blessing to all of you and your families. We look forward to hearing from you. Please don't hesitate to send an email or drop us a line and say hi. I listed our Canadian phone number and email address below.
Please pray that God would continue to provide and that He will give us courage and strength as we prepare for the new season. Ohhh, and lots of wisdom. We have big decisions to make.

Brian

It's so HOT down here, and there is no snow.

Greetings Everyone

Sorry for the bad humor in the name of my post. It was Clariss's idea. I  couldn't comeup with anything.
Well, with this years busy season now behind us I finally seem to have time to clear my mind and think about the up coming year. This season has been interesting to say the least. We have seen miracles, we have had the opportunity to work with so many of you on a personal basis here in the Guaymas region, and we have had the opportunity to be a part of new and exciting things to come for this area. The launch of Children's Camps Int. as well as personal project that I have been working on over the past year and a half or so. So....needless to say we are excited to see what God has in store for us.
Along with all the great things we see God doing with us, there has also been the challenges. These are expected though, it seems the enemy can never just back off for a little while. In the hustle of the busy season some things sure got neglected. We are excited though, we know God continues to affirm us and is continuing to bring restoration to all the places in our lives that need it. God is faithful, He allows challenges in our lives in order to keep our focus on Him. I sure enjoy seeing all the pieces come together! One of the biggest challenges this year for me has been health. I have had a stomach problem since mid February. I have seen 2 different doctors and have undergone blood work and "stuff." I received results back yesterday from all my tests and for the most part everything came back negative, so that is a praise item, but it still leaves us wondering why I still am battling with my stomach? I would venture to say I have lost about 20-30 lb. I have started to eat more regularly so things are looking up for me. Strange things have happened though, I can hardly convince myself to drink coke and only in the last few days have I started to drink coffee again. Maybe that is a good thing.
Soooo, having said that Clarissa and I are going to make a commitment to update this blog more often. We have very exciting news that we hope to announce next week. We are working on launching a project here in Guaymas and are trusting that all of you can be a part of it in one way or another. I can't announce it today, as much as I would like too. BUT I believe that I can announce it next week. There is a meeting happening today and the outcome may directly impact the direction we are going so I hope that you can understand I don't want to get the cart ahead of the donkey. (I think that is the saying???)
Like I mentioned, with the busy season subsiding, we are finding the time to shift priorities a bit. We are working on our family structure. It was long over due to spend some time together. Clarissa is busy home schooling the boys and I am happy to say that it is going really well. Aside from that she has her hands full with our little Leah. I am still looking at ways that Children Camps Int. can work here in our region. We have some meetings regarding this coming up so I ask you to prayerfully consider them. We have seen how children's clubs have greatly impacted children and families here in Guaymas. There is no doubt that CCI has a lot to offer the City of Guaymas. Aside from working on my side project, I am helping out at Maggie's (Agua Y Mas) fairly regularly. Her program runs daily in the afternoons. Today is field trip day, so we will all be loading up our trucks and driving the kids to the beach!!! I should also mention, we have not been involved in the Fatima program for quite awhile. Upon returning to Mexico this year, we really felt that we did all we could do to launch their program. Rafael and Maricella have done a great job managing things and we saw very quickly we were not needed anymore. In fact, so much so that we felt we were almost a burden in Fatima. Only because I am starting to see the importance of the Mexican nationals taking care of their own people. In Fatima, the community was starting to tie white people with money and blessings. Instead of them focusing on God for blessings they started to focus on man. (the community) We felt that our presence only made things more difficult so we decided to take a step back. I am happy to hear that nothing has skipped a beat. The program continues and the lives of the Children continue to be transformed.
We are starting to plan our trip home for this July. We are looking forward to seeing a bunch of you and having the opportunity to share what has been happening in our lives and what we feel God has in store for us in the future. We pray and thank the Lord for all our supporters. We think of you often. Our plan is to arrive in Winkler on July 13. We want to spend the first week catching up with family but plan to fill up our time with all of you. If your interested in a visit lets start booking the days??? I am already starting to book different churches. We are only in Winkler for a month or so and I know that it won't take long to fill up the schedule. :)
Gods richest blessing to all of you and your families. We look forward to hearing from you. Please don't hesitate to send an email or drop us a line and say hi. I listed our Canadian phone number and email address below.
Please pray that God would continue to provide and that He will give us courage and strength as we prepare for the new season. Ohhh, and lots of wisdom. We have big decisions to make.

Brian

Brian: bckrahn@gmail.com
Clarissa: clarissa_krahn@me.com
Tel: 204-808-5770

What is Family?

As we spend more time in Mexico, I am realizing that family extends further than I thought.  I have grown up with "adopted" grandparents, parents and siblings to an extent.  But as we are physically and emotionally away from our families with out realizing it, we are busy emotionally adopting in San Carlos! 

 This is a dear young friend of our family. His name is Cristian, and he is a gem. We have grown to love him as one of our own. We first met him through the Agua y Mas ministery in Guaymas.  He is one of the families that are currently living in the ministery shelter.  He has two younger sisters and a mom.  He does have a dad, who currently lives in Baja California.  He had searched for his father about 2 years ago, and with finding him.  He also found out that he the youngest of his fathers 6 children.  In hope of having a father-son relationship, he soon found out that his father was not interested. 
   As I particapate in the daily program at Agua y mas, I am able to watch him and the other children and watch their hearts shine forth.  Cristian is a young man of God.  At the age of 16, his heart is solely God's.  He is a servant to all those around him.  He wants to help, help, help!!!  I can see that helping is his way to show that he cares for you. I see this, but I also want him to see that we love him just as much when he sits down and chats (and helps us with our spanish big time!!) as when he is helping with whatever tasks are at hand.  As we have grown to love him more and more, he has slowly creeped into our "family". :)  He is able to come over some weekends and spend it with us.  He is so much fun.  He has a huge desire to learn english, and his vocabulary has exploded!!  We have to work hard with our spanish to keep up.  Having turned 16, here in Mexico you can go in and purchase your drivers license and then you can drive. Brian decided to teach Crisian how to drive so we got him his licence. You don't need to know the rules of the road or have any experience!!  (It sure explains a lot of the driving!!)  None the less, Brian had asked Cristian not to drive alone until they had practiced.  :)  A lot. lol  Like any boy, he loves to drive.  And is doing well.

Cristian is over this weekend as well, and last evening was one of "those" evenings where everything seems to go wrong.  Brian and Cristian left to go driving after 8.  First they headed to the bank to take out some gas money.  The ATM ate the debit card. ??!!!  (We use it at the bank all the time!!)  After calling the 1 800 number they found out the the card was not returnable and will be destroyed. Alright, Brian has his Visa to fill up gas.  He gets to Pemex and asks for them to run the card first before pumping.  No go.  So they leave to go to another Pemex.  On the way they are stopped by the police.  (Oh great! That is always an experience in it's self.  I recall the time I was flagged down during the day to slow down, because the cattle cross at night. ?!)  None the less, they work through it. This was the first time that Cristian was pulled over by the police. He was asked if he had been drinking and Cristian responded with "clearly not, I am a Christian!" They got back on the road and got to Pemex.  They are able to fill up, they go in the OXXO to purchase a coffee and K-Freeze.  (Like a Ice Capp.)  Well the Visa doesn't work at the Oxxo.  Oh, I can't forget that there was no cream for the  K-Freeze.  (Very important. lol) Then at some point the taillights don't work and Brian's ran out of minutes on his cell phone at the same time.  Brian is on the side of the road trying to replace the fuse but it kept shorting out. Luckily they found a short in the wiring that was causing the fuses to pop. Now, to try to buy credit for his phone, the 4th store finally accepted his Canadian Credit Card. When they get home, they enter in to find me running around because I forgot to switch off the water tap.  So the pool is flooding!!!  The sucky things is that the lowest point goes right into our bedroom.  Yup. Right now, I am just laughing. lol  I look back to yesterday and I ask myself "what was that all about?!!" I really don't think I will ever know.  But as I am mopping and mopping.  Cristian dives in to help however he can.  And in the end he goes up to me and says sorry.  Like it was his fault.  Even this morning, last night our boys had disobeyed a rule on using the ipad, it got dropped and the screen is cracked. If we take the cover off it will crumble. (still works though).  And we had said no more.  This morning one disobeyed and took it in his bedroom to play.  (Breaking multiple rules.)  None the less consequences were handed out.  And Cristian again apoligized for their actions.  Like he should have made sure they obeyed.  I'm  glad that I was able to explain how each person is responsible for their own actions. 

All in all we are doing well. We are busy helping Maggie out with her program and Brian is busy working on future plans for our Ministry here in Guaymas. We are very close to announcing what we will be up too. Please pray for us and particularily for a meeting taking place this Friday. We continue to see God busy at work here and are still encouraged that He seems to want to keep us here for awhile. Also, Please pray for our Cristian. We are in the process of applying for his USA and Canadian Visa. We really want to take him home with us for the summer. And he very badly wants to come with us. We have all the docs in order and so we trust God to help complete the process. We ask for your prayers, Cristian is very excited and any of you that have the opportunity tomeet him will be blessed.

Thank you all for praying for us, we miss you and are excited to see you soon.

Clarissa