Beckman Baja Blog

Dear friends,

What an encouraging couple months it has been! As we wrap up our third year at the Bible College we are pretty much as happy as could be.

The Beckmans playing soccer on the temporarily green soccer field at the Bible College.

It is a complete joy to see how fruitful the ministry at the Bible College has become! Seven students will be graduating in May, and they have grown so much in the last two years – they will be missed, but they will be a huge blessing wherever they go.

We’re beginning to make our own plans to switch gears within a year or so. We’re very excited about the possibilities, but with so much to do here still we need to stay focused.

We have a nearly full Spring and Summer schedule of teams, who will help us finish the men’s dorm. That should help us accommodate the ever-growing interest in the Bible College. Then we’ll move on to expanding the dining hall and main classroom.

We also have tons of administrative work to do – locating quality volunteers to fill the jobs here and getting all the systems documented to keep things running smoothly.

Please keep all these things in fervent prayer. We need you all standing with us in the next year – as much as we ever have.

Your Colaborer,

Jacob Beckman

Project Manager

CCBC:Mexico

News, Praise & Prayer

It’s awesome to look back on our prayer requests and see God’s faithfulness in answering your prayers!

For starters, our staff and interns have caught the long-term fire! All of our current staff are on at least their second term of service. We always need more good help, so keep this in prayer, but what a great first step!

Please pray for the Bible College to find important new staff members: 1. Director (bilingual visionary leader who has a pastor’s heart) 2. Project manager (skilled servant-leader who can continue the campus expansion) 3. Missions coordinator (organized people-person who works with incoming teams and plans outreaches).

Please pray for our paperwork issues: we’ve seen some successes but we’ve also had setbacks and there is still a lot to be done. My old business is still not legally dissolved and we’re so close to having dual citizenship for the whole family that we’d really like to do that now to leave doors open for the more distant future.

Support Status:

Last month: 55%

Last 3 months: 69%

“He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.” I Peter 1:20-21

[In keeping with our now decade-old tradition, Yesenia will present our year-end family news!]

Dearest Friends and Family,

With another year dawning, and this year’s woes and joys behind us, we ask the Lord God to guide your hearts and minds toward his His Son and Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. With Christmas here I am reminded of how I once didn’t know or trust God and how now He is my sole reason for living. I pray that God will glorify Himself in our lives like never before in this coming year. We ask you to be praying for us as we have a very complex year ahead of us.

Jacob is still busy with the Bible College here in Ensenada. It continues to grow and be blessed and he joyfully struggles to keep up with it. On top of managing the project he taught some classes, including one of his favorite subjects, the Will of God. Next year could hold even more work, for on top of the normal work load he will be planning, Lord willing, for us to return stateside in early 2011, looking for a job and handing off his responsibilities here.

Emet (8) is growing into quite a young man. He’s capturing everything being said or taught around him, reasoning in his little ways the “meaning of life.” He is learning Spanish and Greek in school. His favorite pastime, by far, is Legos, but he also loves to pretend he and his brothers are wild animals, knights, police, soldiers, and restaurateurs.

Diego (5) is our comic relief, with his quick wit and tender heart. His imagination can be a bit dark at times, with his tales often ending in graphic death and destruction. But he also uses his creativity to invent sweet songs to sing to his sister. His reading and writing are coming along well, and he enjoys being “in school.”

Ezra (4 on Jan.30) has grown the most this year. He has toughened up considerably as he yearns to be seen as a big boy by his big bros. When he falls down during the adventures, rather than whining, he now exclaims, “That was awesome!” He has also joined in the schooling this year and surprises Jacob and me with his abilities to grasp his letters, reading, writing and Greek.

Luciana (1 on Jan.28) has been my, oh, so sweet joy! I was given a baby girl this year and she is everything I could have wanted. She has a very easy-going personality. She loves her brothers almost as much as they love her! It amazes me how much they care for her, despite the inconvenience a crawling baby causes them. She is intent on tasting and, if possible, eating everything they leave on the floor. She is also babbling, standing, and signing. We look forward to seeing her walk and talk soon. So are we done with four? Probably, but let’s just say the door’s still open!

As for me, I am still learning to monitor my diet after being diagnosed in June with gallstones. God has been gracious in teaching me how to do that and preventing any further attacks, which are AWFUL. Now with four kids to train up in the ways of the Lord I hardly have time to help out at the Bible College and I miss that world at times, but I’ve enjoyed being at home to raise and homeschool our kids. Grandma was nice enough to watch the kids Monday mornings during the Fall semester while I took a class at CCBC. A highlight from 2009 was that Jacob and I celebrated our ten year anniversary, and although we didn’t exactly have a romantic tropical getaway, we still had a lovely celebration with our kids, our most cherished accomplishment of these WONDERFUL years together!

We look forward to hearing from all of you as well! God’s richest spiritual blessings be upon you in 2010.

With love,
The Beckman Family

Support Status:
Last month: 92%
Last 3 months: 64%

Financial Support:
Calvary Chapel the Rock
ATTN: Beckman Mexico Missions
915-G Piner Road
Santa Rosa, CA 95403 USA

promisekings.net

The Beckman family, celebrating our late summer birthdays: Emet, Diego, and Yesenia.

Dear friends,

I’m not gonna lie. It’s been a tough couple months. On top of the normally overwhelming work schedule, our vehicles have been a headache, Ezra had to get some stitches, our dog got injured, and there just seems to be too much nonstop craziness!

I know that’s something we all experience in our lives, and I’m so grateful that God broke through my self-pity and my focus on fixing the problems to show me His work all around me.

With the wrong attitude and perspective I might have missed the fact that we have been building at the Bible College for 5 solid months now – and so much is getting done! We’ve got a new two-story men’s dorm framed and a workshop nearly ready for a second story. Students are being fed and blessed and the work is moving forward!

I might have missed seeing my beautiful daughter smile at me every time she sees me, or the simply miraculous fact that my three boys wake up daily at 7 am to sing worship songs and study the book of II Kings with me.

How many times will I relearn the truth that problems are not problems – they’re just the means God uses to draw me closer to Him and to those around me? The only thing that’s truly a problem is placing my trust in anything that is not almighty God.

News, Praise & Prayer

Another semester is underway! The dorms are just about full with students and staff that are passionate about knowing and serving the Lord. Praise God!

Praise God that Yesenia’s gallstone problem has remained stable under a strict ultra-low fat diet. We’re still looking at surgery next year.

We have begun the renewal process for my visa. Please pray for this to go smoothly and for God to provide the resources for this renewal, as well as the boys’ paperwork.

Please pray earnestly for us. While we are as overjoyed as ever as a family (which is a huge blessing), it has been a difficult time recently. We, too, feel the effects of the economy on our family finances and it can be discouraging. Please pray for us and our support team to persevere through these hard times until the job is done – we’re looking at being here at the very least until January 2011, Lord willing. If you can become a part of our monthly support team, please prayerfully consider it.

We’ve updated our need/wish list on our website. To see it, click on need/wish list on the right.

Dear Friends,
What a summer! The last month has been so fruitful and enjoyable. We have a crew of twelve working through the summer. We’re getting many projects done, running slightly ahead of schedule, and having a great time seeing God work among us in mighty ways!
We’re building a new men’s dorm to handle the growing enrollment at the Bible College. We’re also building a new workshop, since we already converted the old workshop into dorm rooms. We have a to-do list a mile long, and yet God is accomplishing it all.
Thank you for standing with us in this ministry to serve the Mexican church by providing a place for local believers to be raised up by God to reach the world for Him. We are blown away at God’s work through us and through you!

Your Colaborer,
Jacob Beckman
Project Manager
CCBC:Mexico

(Above) The summer crew pouring the slab for the new men’s dorm at the Bible College. We were blessed with an amazing deal on a cement truck. Normally we have to mix concrete one sack at a time, but this time we just poured it in!

News, Praise & Prayer

Student enrollment keeps growing. What a blessing to see God bearing fruit from our years of investment, by these young lives being touched by His word. Please pray for the fall semester, which starts late August.

Thanks for the prayers for our trip in May-June. Our van made it, and we were so happy to be able to visit so many of you.

Please pray for a number of costly, time-consuming government procedures we have to go through soon: immigration paperwork for the boys and me (Luci and Yesenia are set for life, being dual citizens) as well as SENTRI applications on the U.S. side.

Please pray for Yesenia. She has been diagnosed with gallstones. She had some very painful attacks on our trip, but the pain is under control now by keeping a strict diet. She will need surgery eventually (probably early 2010).

Please NOTE our current mailing address for financial support below. We praise God he has continued to provide for our needs in the midst of difficult times.

Frontlines

A quick story about the unique challenges and joys of missionary life.

Last Wednesday night at church Pastor Juan had us share communion together in small groups of 3 or 4 people. He talked for a few moments about what communion means, and that to partake one must believe that Jesus died for our sins and rose again, but that there are NO other requirements.

The young man in front of me did not take the bread and cup. Still, I invited him to pray with us. He said he’s been walking away from God and he’s not worthy. He was there that night to begin coming back. I asked if he believed Jesus washed his sins away. He said “Yes” so I handed him my bread and cup and told him there is never any such thing as us being worthy – Jesus is the only one that’s worthy, and he simply tells us to receive from Him.

We prayed, and he prayed last. It was simple, heartfelt, and tearful. He was truly touched by the reality of God’s kindness to him. I praise God for the privilege he’s given us to see Him work through these unworthy vessels! God is doing a might work in Mexico. Please continue to pray for this place!

Support Status:
Last month: 77%
Last 3 months: 83%
For other needs please see
www.promisekings.net

Dear Friends,

It has been an interesting couple months. According to the news media, it’s a miracle we’re still alive here in Mexico, with the bullets whizzing overhead and a pandemic having swept through the country.

We’re grateful to have been spared all of these things as God continues to show himself mighty on our behalf. We mourn for those whose lives have been touched by these tragedies. We know the media will always be driven by overblown sensationalism and hidden agendas, but you need to know the truth: Mexico is blessed beyond belief right now!

God is turning this country right-side-up in every way. If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to live in a revival, that’s exactly what we get to experience. We’re thrilled to be here to help equip some of these precious brothers to go out and bring this life to the world!

(Above) Emet lines up with the kids living at a work camp at a flower farm south of Ensenada. We went to the camp to help a visiting team with an outreach, bringing food, Bible teaching, and fun to the kids and their families.

News, Praise & Prayer

Our Fall enrollment is burgeoning, which is awesome! God’s doing great stuff. Praise Him and pray for all He has for us!
As you receive these, we will be on the road. We plan to visit our friends and churches in Sonoma County (May 18-25), North Idaho, and Winnemucca, NV (May 30-31).  Pray for our van!

Please be in prayer for our support. Things took a steep downward turn since our last update. We praise God that He found a way to get us through these months! He’s pretty amazing!

Please NOTE our mailing address for financial support has changed. It is now:

Calvary Chapel the Rock
ATTN: Beckman Mexico Missions
915-G Piner Road
Santa Rosa, CA 95403 USA
(It’s our same church, just a new name and location.)

FRONTLINES

A quick story about the unique challenges of missionary life.

I was working late at night preparing to teach a class the next day. I was working on my laptop on the couch in our living room. I kept hearing a scratching noise from somewhere inside the couch. I figured it must be a mouse, which isn’t worth tearing the couch apart and wasting time – I would just set a trap for it.

The noise kept getting louder until it sounded like it was right next to my shoulder. I looked over and saw out of the corner of my eye something very thin waving around. I figured it was the mouse’s tail. I turned to get a good look and saw that it was actually the head, antennae, and first eight shoulders of a foot-long blue centipede! These things have a nonlethal but very painful poisonous bite! I tried to pin it behind the cushion and smash it against the wall, but to no avail – it dropped down behind the couch and scurried away.

Hey, what’s that noise…?

Jacob Beckman
Project Manager
CCBC:Mexico

Support Status:
Last month: 16%
Last 3 months: 61%

Dear Friends,

Here we stand at yet another anniversary working at the Bible College. It’s been two years and the time has just flown by! We’re looking at spending another two to three years here before we move on. We’d love your prayers as we begin looking at that time horizon and seeking God’s heart for our next step.

Our time since Christmas has been blessedly packed full of so much activity: hosting teams, getting lots of work done, having a baby, and I am teaching THREE classes this semester (Hebrews, Leviticus, and Galatians). This has been an overwhelming task but one I’ve immensely enjoyed so far.

We’re also thrilled to report that the Bible College building fund has received enough to begin two construction projects. I will be busy through the summer building a large workshop and a new men’s dorm. Thank you for all of your prayers and help in this enormous work!

Your Colaborer,
Jacob Beckman
Project Manager
CCBC:Mexico

(Above) Diego, Ezra, and Emet (left to right) show off their new sister.

News, Praise & Prayer

As you can see from our support status at the bottom of the page, God has been providing through you in an amazing way. We are so grateful to Him and to you for this provision. It has come at a time of unusually high expenditures, with the birth, the many immigration costs we have to deal with right now, and some vehicle issues. Every single need has been met ahead of time, which is so amazing to see!

Along those lines, we have prepared a financial report for the year 2008 so you can see how your support has been used. This is published on our website (for our friends only: email me for the link).

As you can already see, we are making some changes in 2009. We will publish this newsletter every two months and write more emails and personal notes in between. So please don’t be alarmed if you don’t hear from us every month. We are also relying more heavily on Facebook, an online networking site, to stay in touch. If you aren’t already connected with us there, please look us up using our email addresses below. We post frequent updates, pictures, and videos. If you’d rather not receive paper newsletters, don’t be shy about letting us know.

We praise God our difficult financial situation is nearly resolved.

Please pray for our staff at the Bible College. We have very few long-term staff. Most come for a 4-month commitment, which is great, but we’d like to see more come with a heart to invest a good chunk of their lives. We’re struggling with continuity right now – having to reinvent everything every semester.

Please also pray for me. God has been revealing some very difficult things to me about myself, my abilities as a leader, and about the way I respond to things. The ability to respond with grace, patience, and humility to outright slaps in the face is what I truly need. I know I can’t do this on my own, and I have already seen God move in my life in ways I thought were impossible, so I’m confident He can do it.

Spotlight On… Luci

(above) Luci at four weeks old.

This section is dedicated to shining light on different aspects of our life besides the Bible College. This month’s spotlight is on my daughter.

Our girl, Luciana Ynez Beckman Ibarra, arrived on January 28, 2009 at 7:45 am at Velmar Hospital in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. She weighed 7 lbs 3 oz and was 20 inches long.

She is healthy and is a joy to all of us. Yesenia and I (more Yesenia of course) are a little extra tired these days but overall this is the calmest, most peaceful baby experience so far.

In Mexico, it’s culturally expected that a new baby’s family will lie low for 40 days after the birth, which is such a fantastic custom we think all of our U.S. friends should try it. I go to work, of course, but other than that we are free to stay home.

We’d appreciate your prayers for Luci, that she’d be protected from any lingering winter illnesses and that we’d be able to get all of her paperwork in order. As of this writing, she still can’t enter the U.S. We hope this will be resolved within a few weeks.

Support Status:
Last month: 96%
Last 3 months: 89%
Financial Support:
[address could change soon]
Calvary Chapel Sebastopol
ATTN: Beckman Mexico Missions
708 Gravenstein Hwy. N #228
Sebastopol, CA 95472 USA

Dear Friends,

“Routine” is a word I normally try to stay away from. I like to brave the unknown, blaze new trials, and burn the candle at both ends. But I tell you what, I have ENJOYED the routine we’ve had for the last month! It has been a refreshing time to serve the students and staff in a more personal way, to exercise more teaching and pastoring gifts, and less administrative gifts.

I’ve been privileged to work a normal 8- to 9-hour work day and then be able to go home and spend time with my family. We got to take an incredibly blessed vacation. I’ve been able to take care of some household errands, and even cook an occasional meal at home. My family and I have been blessed by this new routine schedule.

(Above) Ezra jumps on the neighbors’ trampoline while his pirate brothers spar in the background.

This all seems so foreign to us because the last couple years have not been like this. Oddly enough, we can credit one factor with this newfound tranquility: the Bible College project hasn’t received a single donation since we opened in August!

We went from almost daily miraculous provision over the summer (with God providing even paint and carpet for His Bible College) to nada. I praise my Lord for His perfect timing! I trust that when it’s time for the construction to resume at full speed He will provide for every need. In the meantime, there’s plenty of planning work, counseling, teaching, and maintenance. ‘Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus!

Your Colaborer,
Jacob Beckman
Project Manager
CCBC:Mexico

Praise & Prayer

It’s time to pray for rain again! Free water from the sky is really useful. Please pray that we’ll get plenty, and that we’ll also get gravel to pave the roads and paths at the Bible College.

Happy Thanksgiving! It’s been a rough year for many of us, but let’s be sure to thank God for all the things that really matter, especially the new life Jesus paid for on the cross.

Praise God for the work He has done this semester. He met us again and again in our need for His wisdom with issues that came up with students and staff. It has been truly amazing to see how He has maintained unity and joy on the campus!

Please pray for our outreach on November 21. The Bible College students and staff will be taking the gospel to the streets during the opening day of the Baja 1000 off-road race. It’s a great opportunity to talk to a lot of people.

Praise God for our wonderful students, who will be done with class on December 11. It looks like we have a good crop of teachers and staff for next semester. Please pray that we get a good student enrollment.

Please pray that the winter break would be action-packed and fruitful. If you’re interested in coming to work with us or helping out in any way, please see ccbcmexico.com/ministry for current projects, needs, and opportunities.

And the prayer request that never ends: our complicated personal/business financial situation. Please pray for this. We’d like it to be resolved soon!

The Bible College has an introductory video on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wC9gF7FkFzw. Check it out.

We also have a Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=46050310621.

Spotlight On… Yesenia & Baby

(above) Yesenia and her cute 6-month pregnant belly.

This section is dedicated to shining light on different aspects of our life besides the Bible College. This month’s spotlight is on my wife and daughter.

Yesenia is long overdue for a spotlight update. Although she’s no longer the hospitality team leader at the Bible College, she continues to do a phenomenal job interpreting Sign Language for the deaf congregation, including the Genesis class at the Bible College for Pastor Carlos, the deaf pastor.

She also continues to teach the boys reading and other subjects, all while making home a great place for us to be.
And that’s not all! She’s also carrying our baby GIRL, due in mid-February! Please pray for a safe final trimester!

Support Status:
Last month: 29%
Last 3 months: 59%

This just in: 85% sure we have a GIRL on the way!

But keep reading below for the bonus I had intended for you to read.

You all know how much we’ve worked this last year and a half. Well, our church took special note of the fact and sent us on a family vacation to Disneyland.

There we were, having a fabulous time, when two “Cast Members” approached us and told us Ezra was in the right place at the right time to win something really cool. We were a little skeptical, but they seemed sincere enough that we went along with it.

They were right! We won a night in the Dream Suite inside the park, right above Pirates of the Caribbean. It’s not just a hotel room — it was designed by Walt Disney as his own suite and for personal guests. He never got to see it, as the interior was just built recently. It’s amazing. I’m sitting on the veranda right now as I type this.

The prize included an amazing dinner, breakfast, lots of little gifts, and Ezra was the Grand Marshall of the parade!

What a blessing!

This is us in the living room of the suite.

I’ll try to post more pix later.

Dear Friends,
For the hundreds of people that have come to help build the Bible College, I’ve given a tour where I showed them first the site of the main classroom, then the frame of it, then the rough interior of it. And as we’d stand there I’d tell them about how God will touch people’s lives – speak to them through His word, and call them into His work in this world. Then we’d pray for those lives – that God would fulfill His purposes for them.

(Above) The Bible College worship team during morning devotions.

This of course was always done in faith – hoping for these things without having seen them. I now get to see the fulfillment of those prayers everyday, as that classroom is filled in the early morning with worship and devotions, to the classes where the students’ eyes are opened to the love, grace, and power of God that He is pouring out in their lives, and to the Sunday night service where we remember Jesus’ body broken for us and His blood poured out for us.

You have been with us through it all. You know what we’ve given and what we’ve experienced to see this through, and it is such an all-encompassing joy to see this dream fulfilled before our eyes.

Wow, God is good. And having tasted of these first fruits of what God is doing here, we are as excited as ever to help continue to build and bring this blessing to hundreds more!

Your Colaborer,
Jacob Beckman
Project Manager
CCBC:Mexico

Praise & Prayer

Baby Update: We now know there’s only one baby in there, but we STILL don’t know whether we’re having a girl! We plan to have this baby here in town. From a cost perspective, not having medical insurance, this is much more practical for us. There’s also a chance a Mexican baby will help smooth out my immigration processes in the future. Praise God for His wisdom in orchestrating all of this!

We PRAISE God for everyone that made the opening of the Bible College possible. Many like-minded individuals came on board in 2007-2008, many miraculously at the exact moment they were needed. I can’t begin to fit you all in this space, but you know who you are! Thank you, Jesus!

Please keep praying for the Bible College. We pushed so hard to open that we have very few resources left to make improvements to the campus. We trust this will be resolved in time. If you’re interested, there are always dozens of non-cash ways to help the ministry. Please see ccbcmexico.com/ministry. Please also pray for divine wisdom for us as a staff – we’re now faced with daily PEOPLE problems, which are so much more complicated than construction problems! On the other hand, these Spirit-filled young people are infinitely more glorious to see bearing fruit!

Please continue to pray for our personal finances. The remaining business debt is something we’ll be dealing with for some time. Without getting into too much detail, I just want you to know that this has nothing to do with our financial support level as missionaries. This is more of a legal situation now, and this is truly a request for PRAYER. And it would be an answer to our prayers if you know of anyone with legal expertise in these types of situations that can help us navigate the choices we have to make (and that might be willing to donate their time). If so, please get us in touch with them.

By the way, if you’re wondering if you lost your August and September newsletters, the good news is you didn’t! As you know, the end of summer got crazy. We’re back to a monthly schedule now, God willing.

Spotlight On… Birthdays

(above) Diego shows off his favorite birthday gift: boxing gloves printed with the Mexican flag.

This section is dedicated to shining light on different aspects of our life besides the Bible College. This month’s spotlight is on the 2008 birthday season.

Birthdays come in seasons in the Beckman family. In the winter we have Ezra and myself on the same day in January. Our new baby is due within two weeks of that day.

In August-September we have the rest of the Beckmans – three birthdays in two weeks. It’s always a little crazy every year, but especially this year with the Bible College opening at the exact same time.

God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think, though. All three of our cumpleañeros had a fantastic celebration. Diego was thrilled to turn four. Emet marched into his seventh year. And Yesenia turned an unusually beautiful 30!

Support Status:
Last month: 64%
Last 3 months: 82%
For other needs please see www.promisekings.net/missions