Dear Praying Friends,
We hear a lot in the news, at least the news that we get from the States, how there is much upheaval in Mexico. The USA has declared Mexico the second most unstable country in the world due to the fight of the Mexican government against the drug lords. Last year over 6000 people died here due to drug violence. Many people are concerned because they see the violence spreading and people making a mass exodus to the US. We just heard last week that the violence has even spread to the USA as Phoenix has become the city with the second largest amount of kidnappings in the whole world with 430 last year, and much of it by the Mexican drug lords--the most kidnappings per year in the world do happen in Mexico City. It was very interesting yesterday, in preaching on Naaman, to realize that Naaman's little servant girl had been kidnapped from her home and taken to Syria. While there, when Naaman contracted leprosy, she didn't say, "It serves him right," or "I know a cure, but I'm never going to tell him." Instead, she pointed him to the place where he could be healed and saved. That brought some interesting discussion from the children after the service. Mikey and Cristi both said that they would be fighting, and if someone was trying to kidnap them, we hope that they would, but they did mention also that it was really something that that little girl was a testimony even after being kidnapped and taken to a foreign country. Pray for the Lord to work continually in our children also. It's easy to become too involved in others' lives that we can forget about the needs in our own childrens' lives. Please pray that the Lord would be gracious and save each one of our children for His glory.
Yesterday in our services, there were present only about half of the people who come regularly to church. A couple of people were sick, but many were away for different reasons. Please pray for the Lord to work in lives and for us each to submit to His Lordship day by day. Sometimes, when there is a low attendance, it is easy to be discouraged from the lack of people. However, the Lord blessed us by helping us focus on worshipping Him no matter how many people were there, and it was a real blessing. Praise the Lord.
Morgan has not gone to Zitacuaro for the past 3 weeks due to the family there having "other things to do." One of them has gotten a job that really bites into his Sundays and the other three haven't been too interested in carrying on. Please pray for the Lord to encourage Morgan and for a church to be started in Zitacuaro according to the Lord's will.
Please keep Faith in your prayers with homeschooling. That is an extremely busy and taxing job for her. Pray for the children's attitudes and work to be glorifying to Christ as well.
We had an excellent time of fellowship and food with Memo and Karina and their family as well as with Vanessa yesterday afternoon. Please pray for growth in grace and for their love for our great God to increase day by day.
Praise the Lord that the new SS rooms and the nursery have been finished. It's been a blessing to see different ones get behind the physical labor and get it done. It has been a blessing to use the new rooms now for 2 weeks. Praise the Lord with us.
Thank you for your prayers,
In Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfii
Monday, February 23
Monday, February 9
Goldfuss update (February 9)
Dear Praying Friends,
We would ask you to pray this morning especially for Ruth. Many of you know that her mom has had a brain tumor. They operated on it about 6 months ago, but it grew back. They were going to operate again in a couple of days, but Ruth just received word about 30 minutes ago that her mom passed away early this morning. From all indications, she was not a believer, although Ruth has had several opportunities in the past month to really give her the gospel. Please pray for Marcos, Ruth, and their two daughters for them to be a real testimony of God's grace to Ruth's unsaved family.
The conference this past Friday and Saturday in a church downtown was excellent. We heard challenges on taking heed to ourselves and our doctrine and about different topics that help us to have a healthy church. It was excellent. Morgan, Nico, Humberto, Memo, Gabriel and Mike were able to attend both days. They were very long days as we would leave very early and take public transportation 2 hours to get there and two hours to return at night, but each man said that it was very very profitable--even if it was very painful in many applications that were given.
Martha, Sylvia, Teresa, Gloria and Maria were not present yesterday. Martha has been forced to work earlier on Sunday mornings for the past 3 weeks. She told me last night that she really wants to talk to them and let the hospital know that that is no acceptable. Sylvia has been very sick for a couple of weeks and is just starting to feel a little better. Gloria and Maria continue to have to miss due to Gloria's very difficult diabetes. Tere has just been diagnosed with Rheumatic Fever. Please pray for each one of these ladies and the different difficulties--the Lord's healing, grace, and continued trust and confidence in Him.
In the last couple of months, Francisco, Blanca and Jonatan as well as Jose, America and their two children, Jose Ruben and Priscilla have really really fallen off in their attendance. Please pray for the Lord to give much wisdom in dealing with them. It really appears that in most cases in these two families, the new birth is the main need.
Thank you so much for your prayers,
In Christ,
mike for us all
We would ask you to pray this morning especially for Ruth. Many of you know that her mom has had a brain tumor. They operated on it about 6 months ago, but it grew back. They were going to operate again in a couple of days, but Ruth just received word about 30 minutes ago that her mom passed away early this morning. From all indications, she was not a believer, although Ruth has had several opportunities in the past month to really give her the gospel. Please pray for Marcos, Ruth, and their two daughters for them to be a real testimony of God's grace to Ruth's unsaved family.
The conference this past Friday and Saturday in a church downtown was excellent. We heard challenges on taking heed to ourselves and our doctrine and about different topics that help us to have a healthy church. It was excellent. Morgan, Nico, Humberto, Memo, Gabriel and Mike were able to attend both days. They were very long days as we would leave very early and take public transportation 2 hours to get there and two hours to return at night, but each man said that it was very very profitable--even if it was very painful in many applications that were given.
Martha, Sylvia, Teresa, Gloria and Maria were not present yesterday. Martha has been forced to work earlier on Sunday mornings for the past 3 weeks. She told me last night that she really wants to talk to them and let the hospital know that that is no acceptable. Sylvia has been very sick for a couple of weeks and is just starting to feel a little better. Gloria and Maria continue to have to miss due to Gloria's very difficult diabetes. Tere has just been diagnosed with Rheumatic Fever. Please pray for each one of these ladies and the different difficulties--the Lord's healing, grace, and continued trust and confidence in Him.
In the last couple of months, Francisco, Blanca and Jonatan as well as Jose, America and their two children, Jose Ruben and Priscilla have really really fallen off in their attendance. Please pray for the Lord to give much wisdom in dealing with them. It really appears that in most cases in these two families, the new birth is the main need.
Thank you so much for your prayers,
In Christ,
mike for us all
Thursday, February 5
Goldfuss update (February 5)
Dear Praying Friends,
This past Saturday, the men were not able to work on the other side of the church because Nico had to work. He is the main organizer and has the tools and know how for the rest of us. Tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday, a good number of the men (6 or 7 of us) will be attending a conference downtown that is hosted by another missionary here in Mexico City. Please pray that this will be a good time of learning and growing and that the Lord will help us be able to finish the other side next week.
We need prayer in talking with a specific couple. It will be an important discussion and we need wisdom. Please pray for Jose and America.
Marcos and Ruth are looking for another place to live as we have been housing them in our cabin since their little baby was born. (They had been part of the family that was kicked out of their house). Ruth's mother is near death with a brain tumor. We are expecting Jon and Andrea Crocker to come and help us in March and they will be able to use the cabin. Please pray for the Lord's direction to Marcos and Ruth as to where to live.
Mike has been preaching on 5 great doctrinal words from Romans 3:9-27 for about 2 months. Sin, the Righteousness of God, Justification, Redemption and Propitiation have been a wonderful blessing on which to preach and meditate. Many have expressed that they have also been blessed by this wonderful study. Please pray for us as we finish that study up this week and for the Lord's guidance as to where to go from here in preaching. Mike is thinking about a series on Matthew.
On the home front, Spirit week in Peniel Christian Academy was crazy! If you care to see, we have the winners of some of the days! (These are put in specifically for the Grandmas).
This past Saturday, the men were not able to work on the other side of the church because Nico had to work. He is the main organizer and has the tools and know how for the rest of us. Tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday, a good number of the men (6 or 7 of us) will be attending a conference downtown that is hosted by another missionary here in Mexico City. Please pray that this will be a good time of learning and growing and that the Lord will help us be able to finish the other side next week.
We need prayer in talking with a specific couple. It will be an important discussion and we need wisdom. Please pray for Jose and America.
Marcos and Ruth are looking for another place to live as we have been housing them in our cabin since their little baby was born. (They had been part of the family that was kicked out of their house). Ruth's mother is near death with a brain tumor. We are expecting Jon and Andrea Crocker to come and help us in March and they will be able to use the cabin. Please pray for the Lord's direction to Marcos and Ruth as to where to live.
Mike has been preaching on 5 great doctrinal words from Romans 3:9-27 for about 2 months. Sin, the Righteousness of God, Justification, Redemption and Propitiation have been a wonderful blessing on which to preach and meditate. Many have expressed that they have also been blessed by this wonderful study. Please pray for us as we finish that study up this week and for the Lord's guidance as to where to go from here in preaching. Mike is thinking about a series on Matthew.
On the home front, Spirit week in Peniel Christian Academy was crazy! If you care to see, we have the winners of some of the days! (These are put in specifically for the Grandmas).
- Monday: bad hair day
- Tuesday: sports
- Wednesday: backwards day
- Thursday: clash day
- Friday: old (oops-mature) people's day
Believe it or not, we still got all of our work done and the children did a great job! Monday was Mexican Constitution day, so we took off also and went about four hours away where the Monarch butterflies winter. It was an absolutely incredible experience. Please, please go to the following link and take a look at our incredible trip to Michoacan, Mexico. I've posted some of the pix and videos we were able to take of the great creation by our even greater Creator. Please take a look and see where we were able to visit on Monday and Tuesday of this week.
Thank you for all of your prayers and faithful support and encouragement.
In Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfii
Thank you for all of your prayers and faithful support and encouragement.
In Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfii
Monarchs flying
Our family has not been able to just get away together for over a year, so we took this past Monday and Tuesday to go to Michoacan, Mexico to visit the famous monarch butterfly sanctuary.
The story of these insects is incredible. Both Faith and I had seen them growing up in Mentor, Ohio all the time. I guess that I just figured that they would die in the fall/winter from the cold and then in the spring their eggs would hatch and then they would "come out again." Little did we know that they fly all the way from Canada/Great Lakes/Northern USA regions all the way down here to Michoacan. The place that we went to visit was only 25 minutes from where Morgan has been starting a new church in Zitacuaro.
When you arrive at the bottom of the mountain, there are many local men and boys with their horses, eager to earn about 10 dollars for taking visitors to the top of the mountain.
The picture is of a rather easy part of the trail, but most of it is not easy by any means. It is mostly steep uphill and with many many rocks. Believe me, after 1 1/2 hours of riding up that mountain, I could hardly walk. When arriving at an elevation of 10,400 feet above sea level, we dismounted from the horses and walked another 300 yards or so upward. There we saw the incredible sight of the monarchs, all bunched up in pine and fir trees. 
From the picture, it appears that the tree just has some sort of nest, but those are all monarch butterflies. Each Monarch is approximately the weight of a paper clip and with all of those monarchs, it is absolutely amazing how much each of the pine boughs are bent down toward the ground. Some of the men said that it is not unusual for a big branch to break and send a whole cluster of thousands of Monarchs crashing to the ground.
It takes about 3 or 4 minutes in direct sunlight for the Monarchs to be warm enough to fly--they warm up through their wings. The sun kept coming out for several minutes and then it would go behind the clouds again
just when the butterflies would start to fly around again. That would cause them to all land and wait for the sun again. This went on for about an hour and a half off and on and we really thought that we wouldn't get to see them really flying all over the place. We prayed and the Lord brought the sun out again to stay out for about 1/2 hour. That was really an incredible thing to see. (See below for several other videos.)
When we were ready to leave, a man mentioned to us that up above there were even more butterflies so Faith and I with Matthew hiked up another 200 yards and were greeted by thousands more. The dark branches are from a giant fir tree and those dark spots are not squirrel's nests but all Monarchs.
One of the videos further down the page shows just a cloud of monarchs flying around. 
The sound is not water or wind--it is the sound of millions of Monarch butterflies flapping their wings. Whoever would have thought that they made so much noise. They even were friendly little fellows (and gals.)
The incredible thing is that the Monarchs will mate here in Michoacan, Mexico and all the males will then die. The females will head north and make it as far as Texas where they will lay their eggs and die. Once the full metamorphosis is completed, the Monarchs will head north again and make it to the middle section of the USA, where they will again lay their eggs and die. After this metamorphosis is complete, the butterflies will head north again and make it to the Northern USA and Canada. The process is completed once more there. In the fall, the fourth generation from Mexico will head south and make it all the way to Mexico again. There is no explanation as to why the generations that head north all live for only 1 or 2 months, and then the generation that heads south, makes it all the way to Mexico and lives a total of 7 months. But we know that our Great Creator has a perfect plan and reason. These beautiful little insects have been fascinating to learn about this week. The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament definitely showeth His handiwork.
In this video, you can see a little bit of how high we were. The monarchs are about 10,400 feet above sea level here. They need to be in the sun for about 3 or 4 minutes to warm their wings up and then they all start flying. There were several times where the sun would peak out for about 2 or 3 minutes and a few would fly, but then the sun would hide again behind the clouds. Toward the end of this video, you can see a little bit of the pine tree and clumps of monarchs hanging on the branches. That's where they all hang out until they warm up. I will try to get more pictures posted so that you can see other aspects of it.
The story of these insects is incredible. Both Faith and I had seen them growing up in Mentor, Ohio all the time. I guess that I just figured that they would die in the fall/winter from the cold and then in the spring their eggs would hatch and then they would "come out again." Little did we know that they fly all the way from Canada/Great Lakes/Northern USA regions all the way down here to Michoacan. The place that we went to visit was only 25 minutes from where Morgan has been starting a new church in Zitacuaro.
When you arrive at the bottom of the mountain, there are many local men and boys with their horses, eager to earn about 10 dollars for taking visitors to the top of the mountain.
The picture is of a rather easy part of the trail, but most of it is not easy by any means. It is mostly steep uphill and with many many rocks. Believe me, after 1 1/2 hours of riding up that mountain, I could hardly walk. When arriving at an elevation of 10,400 feet above sea level, we dismounted from the horses and walked another 300 yards or so upward. There we saw the incredible sight of the monarchs, all bunched up in pine and fir trees. 
From the picture, it appears that the tree just has some sort of nest, but those are all monarch butterflies. Each Monarch is approximately the weight of a paper clip and with all of those monarchs, it is absolutely amazing how much each of the pine boughs are bent down toward the ground. Some of the men said that it is not unusual for a big branch to break and send a whole cluster of thousands of Monarchs crashing to the ground.
It takes about 3 or 4 minutes in direct sunlight for the Monarchs to be warm enough to fly--they warm up through their wings. The sun kept coming out for several minutes and then it would go behind the clouds again
just when the butterflies would start to fly around again. That would cause them to all land and wait for the sun again. This went on for about an hour and a half off and on and we really thought that we wouldn't get to see them really flying all over the place. We prayed and the Lord brought the sun out again to stay out for about 1/2 hour. That was really an incredible thing to see. (See below for several other videos.)When we were ready to leave, a man mentioned to us that up above there were even more butterflies so Faith and I with Matthew hiked up another 200 yards and were greeted by thousands more. The dark branches are from a giant fir tree and those dark spots are not squirrel's nests but all Monarchs.
One of the videos further down the page shows just a cloud of monarchs flying around. 
The sound is not water or wind--it is the sound of millions of Monarch butterflies flapping their wings. Whoever would have thought that they made so much noise. They even were friendly little fellows (and gals.)
The incredible thing is that the Monarchs will mate here in Michoacan, Mexico and all the males will then die. The females will head north and make it as far as Texas where they will lay their eggs and die. Once the full metamorphosis is completed, the Monarchs will head north again and make it to the middle section of the USA, where they will again lay their eggs and die. After this metamorphosis is complete, the butterflies will head north again and make it to the Northern USA and Canada. The process is completed once more there. In the fall, the fourth generation from Mexico will head south and make it all the way to Mexico again. There is no explanation as to why the generations that head north all live for only 1 or 2 months, and then the generation that heads south, makes it all the way to Mexico and lives a total of 7 months. But we know that our Great Creator has a perfect plan and reason. These beautiful little insects have been fascinating to learn about this week. The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament definitely showeth His handiwork.
In this video, you can see a little bit of how high we were. The monarchs are about 10,400 feet above sea level here. They need to be in the sun for about 3 or 4 minutes to warm their wings up and then they all start flying. There were several times where the sun would peak out for about 2 or 3 minutes and a few would fly, but then the sun would hide again behind the clouds. Toward the end of this video, you can see a little bit of the pine tree and clumps of monarchs hanging on the branches. That's where they all hang out until they warm up. I will try to get more pictures posted so that you can see other aspects of it.
More butterflies
After a little while, the sun came out, warmed up the butterflies' wings and they came out en masse. Really amazing.
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