St. Clair's Newsletter

Hola from Mexico,
It is hard to believe that we have been in the heart of Mexico for 3 months. We have finished our first 7 weeks of Spanish class and are now entering our next 7 weeks. We were excited a couple Sundays ago when in worship we were understanding what we were singing. It is hard to believe in such a short time how much we can understand when reading. Now speaking is a different story! We struggle with our vowel sounds in English with our southern drawl, you can imagine Spanish. Most of the Mexicans are very patient with us and truly want us to learn and speak the language.
We have been visiting a boys home here on Tuesdays for several hours to help us with our speaking. I think you feel less intimidated when you are conversing with young people. We have really enjoyed our time with them. There is a boy there who is deaf in one ear and only partial hearing in the other ear, we have been able to teach him some sign language and he is loving it. The public school has a program for handicap children but they will not allow him to come because he is to smart. He is a very bright boy with such a loving spirit and after working with the deaf in Jamaica we are so drawn to him. His name is Lewis please pray for him. We are going to visit a deaf school hopefully next week. It is a Catholic run school, just to see what its like and visit the children there.
We have had the privilege of having a fellow missionary from Jamaica staying with us her name is Mary Lee and she was a deaf ed. Teacher in Jamaica. She is between ministries and has come for a couple months to help us with the boys while we are in Language school. It has been such a blessing to us and we are so thankful to God and his provision. She has been helping us teach sign language to Lewis at the boys home also.
Hannah is doing well in her school at Youth With A Mission. It is a small school but she has really loved it and made good friends. She just finished a science project collecting bugs it included a black widow and 2 scorpions! There are a lot of scorpions here, Keith just finished spraying our house after finding 5 inside! Praise the Lord none of us have been stung.
Rebekah is doing well in school also and has many friends. We have an opportunity to put her in the language school we are attending for January and she is very excited about that. Hannah will join us also if everything works out.
The boys are doing great in school. Josiah has picked up so fast and he is correcting Keith and I’s pronunciation! It is unbelievable how fast he has picked it up and his clear pronunciation. They have made a lot of friends and are having a great time! We are so thankful how God has provided His Hand has been so evident in every part of this.
We will be going to Laredo the 3rd of December to help with work teams giving out shoe boxes to the children. We are so excited to see some of our church family who will arrive in Laredo on the 4th. We cannot wait to see everyone they are such a blessing to us in their prayers and support for us. They are true family! We will be busy throughout December with close to 300 people coming thru Steeping Stone for Christmas missions.
The country of Mexico is experiencing hard economic times as the states since the dollar there effects the dollar here. For us it has been good because we are getting a better exchange rate most days 13 to $1us where when we got here it was 9.9 to $1.
We just experienced our first Day of the Dead a holiday which is celebrated the 1st of November and usually starts the 31st of October. They place gifts on there loved ones graves saying that for this day they come back from the dead. They summon the dead with loud blast of fireworks and the scent of the marigold. It is huge here with parades and fiestas. Most people would consider Mexico an evangelized country since it is so close to the states. Nothing could be farther from the truth. They are very religious but it is primarily Catholicism, more than 75%. They have a lot of rituals but no relationship with the Savior Jesus Christ. Pray for Mexico and that the missionaries here would see more coming to the Savior.
Pray for us as we travel to Laredo in December.
Pray for us as we learn the Language.
Pray for the boys orphanage and the directors there Rodney and Keenea Dutro there house was broke into this past Sunday while they were at church they stole some jewelry& 2 laptops they used for the ministry and some cash.
Thank you for your continued support in these trying times and thanks for your prayers we could not be ministering without them. We love you so much and are so thankful to our Heavenly Father for you. We pray blessings upon each of you!
Isaiah 33:5&6
The Lord is honored because he lives on High. He will fill Zion with justice and righteousness. He will be the foundation of your future. The riches of salvation are wisdom and knowledge the fear of the Lord is your treasure.(living translation)
No matter what happens the Lord is our foundation of our future and our Treasure nothing else matters! May we learn to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Blessings from the St.Clairs
(Keith, Carole, Hannah, Rebekah, Josiah, & Jeremiah)

The local church that we attend. Makes you truly realize that the Church is a body of believers and not a building!
A local neighborhood at our language school. All the streets are rock laid, cobblestone.
Devotional time at the boy’s home we have been visiting to practice our Spanish.