As Grammy and Auntie Mandi had to pack up to go home they found three stow-aways. We hated to see them go but we had to keep the stow-aways here with us. 

With one quick trip to the Cathedral, Basilica, or even a drive around town and you will see very quickly why God has placed our family here among a group of people claiming to be Christians. The first photo is a picture of the Virgin Guadalupe. This is a common sight in the town whether she is painted on the side of a building or as a statue in a car or a house she is everywhere. Most nationals belief that this is the image of Mary the mother of Christ as she appeared in Mexico City many years ago. Because of this she finds a high place of worship in this culture. Speaking of Mary finding a high place of worship the second picture is of a statue in the front of the Cathedral. You can see the image of God the Father (holding the earth), God the Son (holding the cross), God the Spirit (as a dove) and Mary in the center wearing a crown with the rays coming from her. This is the result of tradition, slowly over time the tradition has changed and modified leaving a very different religion. God the 3 head is still apart of the common belief but Mary is very much in front and center. Please be praying for the people of Guadalajara and all Latin America as this is one of the common problems through out Latin America. Also pray for us and the other missionaries here as we try to teach the truth to the people.

In the middle of May some of our brothers and sisters from FBC Cassville (our home church) came to work with us. The team was a huge blessing and helped us in many ways. They were able to bring so many messages of hope and love to us that we have been longing for. It is always great to be reminded that you all are there and that you guys love us and remember us. It was great to see some faces from the past again and we look forward to going back home soon to see you all again. For now we are glad that we can visit by mail, email and phone. We love and miss you all.

A big part of what the team did was door to door evangelism. We went from door to door and gave each family a copy of the Gospel of John. We then visited with them about the Bible and the importance of reading it. We invited them to a Bible Study so they could better understand the Bible and know what it says. One of the common problems here is the lack of understanding what the Bible says. The majority of people are trusting in tradition both from the church and their families but not in Jesus and the word of God. We try to make them understand the importance of Gods word and that tradition will not save us. In Acts 4:19 Peter and John tell us that we should obey God not man. And this is one of the messages that we are trying to help people understand here.

The team also helped with kids clubs and events for families as we gathered people together to start home bible studies. We all had a great time and as you can see we had several kids and families attend each event. The equipment that you see us using was provided mainly by money people have donated to the ministry.

  

If you would like to help go to www.imb.org for more information or email us ostertags@pobox.com. Thank you every one that helps financially and especially everyone that prays.

One evening when we were eating supper on the street a rainstorm blew in unexpectedly and we all got soaked. Daniel and his wife (they own the street restaurant) were very nice and allowed us to come into their home area to eat our meal and get dry and warm around the grill. Daniel and his wife are not believers but we are build a relationship with them and are slowly witnessing to them. Please join us in praying for them and their salvation.

1. Becky is doing a paint talk with the kids in Los Cantaros.
2. Matt is helping out the kids with their crafts.
3. Kandi is passing out drinks to the kids.
4. Kim and Susie are painting pictures on the kids.

Our neighborhood had games for kids and a play. It was a fun evening. The top picture is Kaitlyn and Mckenzie trying to pop each others balloons. The second picuture is Kaitlyn playing musical chairs. The last picture is the play. It was very good!

This is the girls swimming pool. One night as we were driving home from our ministry, the whole city was nothing but smoke. We had to close our windows it was so bad. The next day we found out that a mountain had caught on fire. This is the ashes and debris that fell into the pool! Yuck!

Matt, I, and the girls went to Lake Chapala for a day. It is about an hour away. It was so nice! The town is very quiet and so pretty. It was nice to get away from the big city. We took a boat ride too.

We just wanted to post a quick picture of the new haircuts in our house. Both Kaitlyn and Mckenzie went to a kids hair salon (it was cool and surprisingly cheap). They both got new braids but Kaitlyn also got about 4-5 inches cut off in length (wow Kandi and I have tried for weeks to get her to do that). Yesterday Cinnamon (our dog) went to the doggie salon and got a cut (a little close, okay really close). They shaved her totally bald and now we joke that she is naked because she has no hair at all.

TO SEE THE PHOTOS FROM THE MARCH NEWS LETTER SEE THE ARCHIVES ON THE SIDE.

Happy Easter! The girls had a lot of fun coloring Easter eggs and then having an Easter egg hunt. They wore their new Easter dresses to church. They are getting too big!

A team from Arkansas was here last week and helped us build relationships and hand out gospels. Every night we went to a park in this neighborhood and played with the kids, painted their playground, and told Bible stories. Every night there were at least 30 kids and several adults. Becky did a paint story every night. The kids loved it! They were so interested in the story. When it was time for the team to leave, the kids just cried because they were leaving. It was so touching. Matt, I, and the girls are going to go back Thursday and hopefully every week now do a Bible story with the kids and play with them and hopefully start a Bible study with the adults. Several expressed interest in wanting to know more about the Bible. That was a huge answer to prayer!

Matt's brother and his family came to visit us the first part of March. We had a lot of fun with them! We hadn't seen them for about a year and a half. The kids had a blast playing with each other! We went to the zoo, a park, and many other places. It was a great week!

Oh boy Tristen do we ever have black mail material in the future.

While Shannon, Amanda, and Tristen were here, our electricity went out first thing in the morning. We didn't think much about it. We went downtown for the day. We get back home and there is a flood in our house! The bathroom sink got left on when the electricity went out. Well, the electricity came back on while we were gone and water was everywhere! We had about 1-2 inches of water everywhere! Thank goodness we have concrete walls and tile floors!

Matt had a good Birthday. We had the Haynes's, Kim, and Laura over for grilled hamburgers and pies. We enjoyed spending time together. The kids had a great time together as you can see!

Do you want a drink? Matt, Mckenzie, and I were very sick for a week at a time. We had kind of a type of flu along with a very bad sinus infection. Our friend that helps us in our house for a couple of days every week made this for us to drink. It helps with congestion. There is garlic, cinnamon, oregano, eucalyptus, flowers, and who knows what else. It did help but I could only get half a cup down. It was not very good!

This is a glimpse of Catholicism here. This is a statue of Mary that they drove around several parts of the city so peopel could come out and show they support, love and devotion to her. Many people came out to pray and honor her. It was very hard to watch this.

We were able to help pass out the shoeboxes that were put together in the states for children that are shipped all over the world. Their faces tell it all! It was such a Blessing to help with this!

We got our van! Matt and David had an uneventful trip from Texas. Thank you for all your prayers! We got some surprises in the van, too! We were all very excited! Cinnamon, our dog, made it here fine!