It's Fun to PLAY at the YMCA!

Since moving to Cactus, we've begun to build a relationship with the Moore County YMCA (Dumas and Cactus). There are no after-school programs or sports programs here for the children and teens. But there is a YMCA here in Cactus with a nice big building, so it seemed like a natural partnership for Cactus Nazarene Ministry Center. We began getting to know the director here and have become official volunteers. This allows us to use the building for our events as well as helps lessen the burden for the director a bit.

In addition, the Dumas YMCA offers sports-programs that Cactus is invited to participate in. Though there are currently very few Cactus kids who participate, Vito and Eli have quickly gotten involved playing and coaching soccer and basketball. They've been assigned to the Green Acres Elementary School teams, and Vito is already getting a reputation for being a fiercely competitive (and successful) coach. We've had a lot of fun with both soccer and basketball seasons and are looking forward to the spring soccer season starting soon! Go Green Acres!

The program directors at both the Dumas and the Cactus YMCAs are Christians (one is a pastor in Dumas) and they have held on to the original mission of the YMCA. This has been a blessing as we've begun to build these relationships. We see eye-to-eye and especially see the need for the children and teens of Cactus to have a safe, Christian environment to "hang out."

Recently, the director of the Cactus YMCA asked if we (primarily Vito) would be able to help develop a "teen zone" program. The Teen Zone would meet on weekday evenings and would offer character/value lessons and a fun environment for YMCA members' children (ages 7-17 years). As Vito was talking with him about the program, it quickly because evident that this would be somewhat of a youth group. In fact, Vito asked, "So, basically you're wanting to start a youth group?" The director replied, "Pretty much!"

Beginning this evening, Vito will be leading the new Teen Zone Program at the Cactus YMCA and building relationships with 25 children and teens (and their parents). He's adapting the Nazarene Caravan curriculum to offer lessons on values such as: teamwork, respect, responsibility, honesty, citizenship, and faith . . . Wow! To God be the glory!

The Green Acres soccer team receiving their first place trophies - Fall 2013

Eli with his soccer trophy - Fall 2013

The Green Acres basketball team - Winter 2014

Animal-Control Ministry . . . the newest CNMC outreach tool

At 12:30am this morning (night?), our dog, Max, was going crazy because of all the stray dogs barking outside. One of the strays, "Mama," is in heat again which always brings the male dogs around and Max does not like it. Vito went out and "shooed" them all away with the help of his new air-soft gun. Yes, we got an air-soft gun to attempt to deter the number of strays on the property. It took care of them for at least long enough for us to go back to sleep, but we still faintly heard them multiple times during the night.

This morning, the cats were missing and Vito saw Fern was locked in the neighbors' abandoned trailer (which they've started locking for some reason and apparently have found the cats in there multiple times). Also, Gracie had gotten into the CNMC van when we got home from church last night and we didn't know.

When Vito asked the neighbor to let Fern out this morning, he found out that the big commotion during the night was that the neighbor's pit bull got off the chain and ripped up one of the strays (boy, do I feel safe now). He hasn't seen the ripped up stray yet this morning, but the pit bull is covered in blood.

Also, apparently another stray pulled a dog body out of the field behind us for them all to enjoy. The neighbor got it and threw it back into the field.

Yet another morning where I ask, "Where on earth do we live!?!?!?!?"
Can you imagine what kinds of diseases are lurking around here?

I'm thinking it's time to open up an animal-control ministry. Wonder if I can find grants for that?

Now, for some pics of the furry members of our family . . .

Max, our 7-year-old Lab mix. He's the best behaved dog I've ever met. His favorite spot is on the couch or in front of the window just watching the world fly by.

Shadow, our 6-month-old German Shepherd mix. He's a ball of energy and kind of goofy.

Gracie, our 7-month-old tuxedo cat. She is an outside cat who would love to be an inside cat. She loves to cuddle and is quite talkative.

Fern, our 7-month old tabby cat. She is also an outside cat, but wouldn't mind being inside chilling by herself. She's fearless and will take on the stray dogs with no fear.

Water, please!

We lived for 3.5 years in the far, north frozen tundra of Wisconsin and never had problems with pipes freezing. I think the middle of nowhere town of Cactus, TX could take a lesson from Wisconsin in keeping pipes from freezing (and in clearing snow-packed streets, but that's for another post). Granted, it's probably because we live in a mobile home, which is a whole new adventure for us, but we've now had frozen pipes twice in the past week. The first resulted in a break at the street-side of things and today, we learned that if you pour scalding hot water in the water meter box, the pipes will thaw and you'll have running water again. Makes no logical sense to me, but it worked! Ah, the lessons we've learned from living in a mobile home in the middle of nowhere!

Now, to help Vito clean the bathroom which is now somehow flooded since the water has come back on.

The life of a missionary!

December 2013 West Texas District Newsletter Article

The CNMC article for the West Texas District Communication Newsletter

On Saturday, December 14, Cactus Nazarene Ministry Center (CNMC) hosted the first official CNMC event – the FREE MARKET. In early November, we received a trailer load of clothes, household items, and toys from Nazarene Border Initiative. This began a dream to provide a Christmas outreach event for the people of Cactus offering clothes, toys, and more for FREE! Many more donations came in and the local YMCA graciously allowed us to use their building to host the FREE MARKET. Colorful advertising posters in four languages were posted around town, and a flyer went home in every school backpack.  

One of our prayers lately has been for God to provide a way for begin building relationships with the Burmese refugees here in Cactus. Well, God had a great plan! The FREE MARKET was scheduled to open at 12:00pm. At 8:30am, we had our first customers—a Burmese family. We allowed the children to pick out a few toys and gave them some cookies. As the mom was leaving, she turned to Jenni, and in broken English said, “You. Me. We work together. I help you.” By 11:00am, we had multiple Burmese families waiting for the doors to open. Once the doors were opened, we were flooded with people—Burmese, Hispanics, and Americans. In the first 30 minutes we had close to 150 people come through the doors and ALL of the toys, Christmas decor, and household items were gone! Throughout the day, we served at least 300 people and gave away nearly everything!

Perhaps the most touching part of the day was when a young Burmese boy by the name of Asura came in barefoot. By the time he left the FREE MARKET, he had on a pair of snow boots. Asura’s feet will be warm this winter thanks to the generous donations received and the love that was shared with everyone, regardless of ethnicity or religion.

A huge THANK YOU to the many volunteers who came from Cactus, Amarillo, Pampa, Dalhart, and even Mineral Wells to help on Friday and Saturday! Relationships were built, needs were met, and the love of God was shared—To God be the Glory!

-- Vito and Jenni Monteblanco, CNMC Directors 

 

Merry Early Christmas!

This past Sunday we were blessed to be able to speak at Dodson Church of the Nazarene in Dodson, TX. When I say that WE were blessed, that's exactly what it was! Part of our "job" is to speak at churches on the district (and surrounding areas) to share about CNMC, but it always ends up being that these churches BLESS US in immeasurable ways!

God had laid it on our hearts to look at this year's Advent curriculum, Celebrate, from NPH (which follows the lectionary) to see what the Scripture passage was for the first Sunday of Advent. Wouldn't you know that the passage provided was the passage that leads into our theme verse for CNMC?!?!?! Coincidence? I think NOT. That's just how awesome God is! So, we brought a sermon on Matthew 24-25 and shared about CNMC, enjoyed Christmas dinner with the church family, and participated in their Hanging of the Greens service. What a powerful day and a great way to bring in the Advent season!

It's typical for churches to take a love offering for us and/or the CNMC. Well, Dodson truly outdid themselves. Not only did they take a very generous love offering for CNMC, but they gave us a personal love offering AND showered our kids with Christmas presents! Every single present the kids received was EXACTLY what they would have chosen for themselves! Oh, AND they donated several items to CNMC! The blessings just kept coming and coming.

Thank you, Dodson Church of the Nazarene, for loving on our family and for supporting CNMC!

Olivia and Eli in front of their table of gifts!

The table of donations for CNMC.

This is just a fun one . . . the kids had never stayed in a hotel like this before. They were so confused! We explained to them that this was the typical hotels that we would stay in when we were kids. It may not have been what the kids are used to, but it was very clean and very friendly!

October/November 2013 West Texas District Newsletter

We’ve been in Cactus for almost two months now and we’ve learned that the old adage, “Blessed are the flexible for they shall bend and not break,” is so true! Each day in Cactus is a new adventure, especially as we get to know the people and the needs. 

Cactus is a town of about 3,100 people. There are 17 known ethnicities and over 20 spoken languages in this small town! The Texas Panhandle has become the number one location in the United States for refugees to settle. The majority of the refugees in Cactus are from Africa and Myanmar. In addition, there are many immigrants from Central America. As you can imagine, this means we have a lot of learning to do when it comes to relating to each culture. 

Through each new adventure, we continue to see God’s hand in the ministry here. For example, we have noticed that many of the Burmese ladies are pregnant. This is a culture that we are not very familiar with, so we felt that providing baby care kits might be one area in which to reach out. This was just one of the stories that we shared with Prairie Point Church of the Nazarene on October 6. After the service, the ladies stepped up and provided CNMC with four boxes full of baby-care supplies and blankets! Just one week later, a neighbor introduced us to a friend of hers who was in need of some legal assistance. The very next morning, the neighbor came to us to ask for help for her friend. Her friend has given birth early that morning to a baby girl. The baby was early and she had nothing ready. We were able to reach out to this family by putting together a care kit for this brand new baby. Thank you, Prairie Point, for your faithfulness in giving. God provides just in time!

We would love to share more stories like this with your congregation. God is definitely alive and working in Cactus! We have one Sunday available to speak in January, and several available in the spring. Please contact us if you’d like to support the ministry of Cactus Nazarene Ministry Center by having us visit your church.

Please be sure to check out the CNMC website at www.cactusministries.org. We have recently updated our needs pages. There you will find more specific needs to your congregation might be able to meet.

We regularly post pictures and updates on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/CactusNazarene. Like our Facebook page and keep up-to-date on what is happening at CNMC!

September 2013 West Texas Update

Every month we are providing a CNMC update for the West Texas District. I thought I'd share them here as well.

So, catching up . . . here's September. An abbreviated version was also published in the Nazarene Communications Network Newsletter. You can find it by clicking here.

9-3-13

By now, we hope you’ve heard about Cactus Nazarene Ministry Center (CNMC)! CNMC is a new compassionate ministries site located here on the West Texas District in the diverse Panhandle town of Cactus. CNMC seeks to serve the 17+ nationalities in Cactus and surrounding areas (primarily immigrants and refugees from Central America, Africa, and Myanmar) through ESL classes, legal assistance, health clinics, sports ministries, after-school programming, family services, and more! CNMC will also host Cactus Iglesia del Nazareno, and hopefully several other congregations in the near future.

We envision that CNMC will be a Christ-centered community center offering the message of hope in Christ through services that empower people to live successful lives and to reach their full potential. We realize, though, that this will take a lot of time and work. We are finally onsite and are truly enjoying getting to know our new town. God is already opening doors that we never thought of! This week, we will meet with the program administrator of the Moore County YMCA as they’ve offered to partner with us through the Cactus YMCA.

Our biggest need right now is Work and Witness teams to get the work in Cactus started. This past week, the first load of fill dirt for the building was delivered and compacted. We have several projects that we can use your help on—construction, campus and city beautification, sports camps, Vacation Bible School, and more! Please contact us at workandwitness@cactusministries.org for more information about bringing a team.

We’d love to visit your congregation to share more about what God is doing in Cactus, and about His vision for CNMC. We can share in Sunday School classes, as a "commercial" during the worship service, preach the sermon, or do a faith-promise type of service/weekend. We're trying to book our fall calendar now, so please let us know if you'd like us to visit your church!

God is already doing amazing things in Cactus! Thank you for your prayers and support.

 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me’” (Matthew 25:40).

Vito and Jenni Monteblanco
CNMC Directors

For more information about CNMC, visit:

www.cactusministries.org – CNMC website

www.underthecactustree.blogspot.com – Monteblanco family personal blog

www.facebook.com/CNMC - Facebook page