INTERESTING HAPPENINGS                                                                                             I doubt that stealing fish will ever become the theme of a TV crime drama; but for those of us involved in TEAM’s new creation care ministries, the theft of half the fish from our Fish For Life fish farm in Zimbabwe was an exciting moment, a victory of sorts, a proof of concept.  Our missionaries involved in this project  have created a desirable product, something  with perceived value, so much so that thieves broke in to steal the fish.  There are now burglar bars on the fish tank.    Creation care ministries are in a growth phase in TEAM right now as missionaries show their love for people by caring for  and protecting  the environment where they live.  Our desire is that the fish farm will be a source of both protein and employment, and that it will ease the burden on the remaining natural water sources.  Our desire is that this will also create hour after hour of time with the local people allowing them to hear about, learn about and begin to follow Jesus. Creation care ministry in TEAM is a dream come true for me.

TEAM IN GENERAL
TEAM is continuing to grow.  As we grow we are seeking to provide ministry, resources and services to other agencies and groups in an effort to help them serve and to learn from them.  A big part of my work is seeking to enter new-to-TEAM countries and  to establish and then develop partnerships, primarily in the Latin America context.  However, TEAM is now, for the first time in our 125-year history, assigning missionary staff to work in the US and Canada on a full-time basis. This is a challenge as we seek to discover what our particular role in North America is.

PLANS FOR THE FUTURE 
Our plans to return to Mexico are on the front burner again.  We are planning on returning this fall.  My role as senior director for TEAM’s ministry areas in the Americas will remain unchanged.  Please pray for us as we work towards this move.  There are many moving parts, and my work as senior director is increasing.  Lois hopes to resume her work of small group Bible study and intentional discipleship.  She has been approached about teaching Spanish and also about becoming involved with a ministry that works with victims of abuse.
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RECENT TRAVEL
A trip to Africa took me to Zimbabwe and Mozambique to spend time with our staff involved in creation care ministries, and with our various ministry partners in Southern Africa.  TEAM will still gladly pioneer new projects; but we are placing increasing value on partnering with works that already exist.  We believe God is honoring this attempt at fostering unity among fellow servants.

HOW CAN YOU PRAY

Details of the move – renting our house and selling our stuff

Remaining financial support need (about $500 a month)

The drug war in Mexico has heated up, but this time La Paz is not exempt from the violence and the murder rate is escalating alarmingly. Pray for missionary safety.

Pray for us as we lead TEAM into its new ministries in the United States and Canada.  In a continent as racially and ethnically mixed as ours, what should be our approach for honoring Jesus’ request for unity?

               The students and staff at the Dondo Bible Institute in Dondo, Mozambique.

We celebrated Lois’s birthday on this month with neighbors and friends.  Joel was able to come up from St. Louis.

Lois and I were able to travel to West Virginia for the nationals in acrobatics and tumbling.  Azusa Pacific University, Claire’s team, came in third. The blur in the air is Claire.

                                             Contact information:

  CLICK TO DONATE   Or send a check to

TEAM, PO BOX 969, Wheaton IL 60187-0969

Our fun blog is MACROCHRISTIAN

Look us up on Facebook.

BEING AND BUILDING THE BODY OF CHRIST

     MARCH 2015 UPDATE

    Steve and Lois Dresselhaus

TEAM Guatemala’s first ever annual conference

TEAM participated in the COMIMEX conference in Mexico City. This was a nationwide conference on Missions

 RECENT ACTIVITIES

     In February I completed a trip to three countries in Central America – Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras.  Lois was able to accompany me on the Guatemala portion of the trip.  As TEAM  rapidly grows we are able to expand our work into new countries, start all kinds of new projects and ministries, and develop partnerships with other agencies and church associations with whom we can serve.  It is with a sense of excitement, joy and deep expectation that we are able to seek out these new opportunities.   We are very grateful to the Lord for helping TEAM grow like this.  A personal joy for me is seeing how the ministries related to caring for the environment as a means of caring for people are blossoming around TEAM’s world and finding quick and easy acceptance.                                        I am grateful that the “Americas Team”  is now complete.  There are five us working together to give direction to TEAM’s work and ministry in all the Americas.  It is a joy to work with these wise and godly men who have a passion for the lost world and nearly limitless energy to accomplish the task.  Working with these men–Martin, Craig, Ben and Mark–is an honor.

SIGO VIVO is a church-based ministry to homeless young people and those struggling with substance abuse. We partner with them in Guatemala.

                                                              Future Activities                                                                  Obviously, moving back to La Paz is looming in the near future.  Also, my travel schedule will be somewhat heavy this year, as TEAM enters new countries in South and Central America and continues developing our North American ministries.  Much of our immediate ministry is related to the growth we are experiencing, as new missionaries, new agencies and new-to-us church associations join with us in spreading the good news of the reconciliation of all things made possible by the blood of Jesus.   We wake up every morning eager and energized to see what God has in store next.

PLEASE PRAY

For wisdom as we plan for our move back to La Paz                                                                    -That we get back to full financial support                                                                                     That our house will rent quickly so that we can move soon                                                      For a summer job for our daughter

JOINING US?      

        We are excited about the current ministries in which we are engaged, and we are thrilled with the prospects of the future as we relocate back to La Paz.   As we partner with others in Kingdom work, we are clearly experiencing the joy and blessing that comes from such work.  We would welcome your participating with  us in our work through praying, giving, visiting, corresponding, or even joining us overseas.  Could the Lord be calling you to serve overseas?

Contact information:

  CLICK TO DONATE   Or send a check to TEAM, PO Box 969 Wheaton, IL 60187-0969

Email: steven.dresselhaus@team.org or stevenloisdress@gmail.com

Our fun blog is MACROCHRISTIAN

Look us up on Facebook.
To explore TEAM go to http://www.TEAM.org

During the past two months I have had the privilege of visiting several countries in South and Central America. Some things I have seen have been amazing and encouraging. Other things have been less than encouraging.
WHAT HAS BEEN ENCOURAGING?
Seeing trained and godly leaders taking their fellowships into new and exciting ministries. Seeing people who used to be far from God now serving Him by serving others. Seeing veteran missionaries excited about mentoring the next generation missionaries into effectiveness. Seeing TEAM’s legacy in South America and confirming through the visible results just how effective our predecessors were in ministry. Being warmly welcomed by our Mexican friends during a recent trip to La Paz and seeing their joy at our pending return to live there.
WHAT HAS BEEN LESS THAN ENCOURAGING?
Seeing evidence that much of the church in South and Central America is weak and not impacting the culture or society in any meaningful way. Seeing many church goers who don’t seem to understand that Jesus followers are to be doers and not just hearers of the word. Seeing vast segments of the church being seduced by materialism and the pursuit of prosperity. Seeing some members of a congregation attempt to close down a ministry to street kids because the kids might “defile the holiness of the sanctuary.”
PRAISE AND PETITIONS
– Joel has a good job that matches his degree from college. He is helping expand the market of a manufacturing company which is growing internationally.
– Claire has a summer job, working as a steward on a mega-yacht in the Mediterranean. She starts the job as soon as she finishes her short term missions experience in Antalya, Turkey.
– We are still making plans to return to Mexico. We still need to rent our house out and we need to raise more support.
– I am working to help TEAM enter 5 new countries. Pray I will do it well. We are entering the new countries through partnership with existing national ministries. Pray that TEAM will be a good partner.
– Pray also for us was we develop TEAM’s creation care ministries.
As Lois and I raise our support we are seeking new partners who will stand by us as many of you have for so many years. We are grateful for the partners we have. If any of you have any suggestion regarding potential partners we would love to hear about it.

CONTACTING US.

Steve’s cell phone 630 639 8378   Lois’s cell phone 630 221 0308                                             Email:  steven.dresselhaus@team.org  or stevenlois@gmail.com

To make a contribution click here DONATE HERE  or mail a check to TEAM PO Box 969, Wheaton IL 60189

To read my fun (sometimes serious blog) click here MACROCHRISTIAN

This is a fun way to “go to church.”                         A taco meal with friends in La Paz.

Craig Querfeld, Me, Luis Alfonso, Luis Carlos at the Bogota airport.  The making of a team

The photos above are of a church in Guatemala City which would like to partner with TEAM in serving the poor and very needy of  the city.  The first photo,  of the rather unimposing church building,  highlights  a water purification plant at the front of the church building which offers clean water and jobs to the local population.  The middle photo is of the kids brushing their teeth after lunch – something they probably don’t do at home.  The third photo is of the church school  started in order to meet the needs of the children of the dump.  At the end of this letter are some additional photos from Guatemala.

GROWING, GROWING,GROWN

At one point in the  preparation for building the tabernacle,  Moses had to tell the people, “Stop!  Stop bringing all the gold and silver to the worksite.  There is enough already.  Stop!”   I can’t say that about Lois’ and my level  of  financial support – yet – but this is how I am tempted to feel in regards to all the new people,  new countries and new worldwide opportunities the Lord is bringing to TEAM these days.   We are overwhelmed with applicants and invitations to open new work, mostly in partnership with other agencies and with national church associations–each of which  holds dear  the last prayer of Jesus before his crucifixion when he prayed, “Father, may they be one, even as you and I are one.”    As TEAM missionaries around the world partner with others to  establish Christ honoring, society transforming churches,  God seems to be giving us his seal of approval.  We are grateful  to God for his blessing and we are grateful to you, our supporters who pray for us and who give to our work, enabling this to happen.

What is the vision God has placed before us and for which we are asking you, our teammates and companions, to pray? 

–          In the next five years TEAM hopes to enter 30 new (to TEAM) countries.  The new countries I will be involved with as TEAM’s senior director with oversight for the Americas are  Venezuela, Colombia,  Chile, Uruguay and the United States.  Yes, the United States now needs to be considered a missionary receiving nation.   The specific request is for missionary leaders to head up the work in each of these countries.

–          As you know, Lois and I are planning on returning to La Paz, Mexico where I will continue on in my current role with TEAM.  Lois will resume her work with women and be serving in the local churches.   The details of  this move are a seemingly insurmountable obstacle, as there are so many things to care for.  All the while, the increasing workload of a rapidly growing missionary workforce does not diminish.  I think Lois and  I need a series  of those “sun stood still” days like Joshua’s.

–          Pray for our kids.  Joel  is about to graduate from Cornerstone University.  Yep, he is looking for his first career job in international business.  Claire still has a year and a half to go before she graduates from Azusa Pacific University.  She will soon be heading to  Turkey for a summer missions trip.    All you parents out there in similar situations know how to pray about these things.  Thank you.

–          Before Lois and I can return to La Paz, we do need to get to full support.  CLICK HERE   This will have to be done while still engaged in my  full-time role at TEAM; and we are not sure how to go about this.

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Lois and I firmly believe  that the church, as the body of Christ , is the vehicle God does use and will continue using  as he works his will on planet Earth.  We believe that the church is just starting to understand the magnitude of her privileged role in service to God.  We are eager to participate in this world changing venture and would like you to join with us as together we serve him who served us all.

HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US?   

STEVE’S FACEBOOK

LOIS’  FACEBOOK

EMAIL:  steven.dresselhaus@team.org (Steve’s work)   –  stevenloisdress@gmail.com (personal email)

Fun/humorous blog   Macrochristian  (sometimes it is serious)

CONTRIBUTIONS:  Checks can be mailed to TEAM, PO Box 969, Wheaton, IL  60187-0969   Or you can CLICK HERE

A church run bakery to teach job skills to the poor

Showing love the Jesus way

A church run medical clinic

A sports ministry called Global Soccer Ministry

A mega church which doesn’t quite seem to fit with the poverty of
Guatemala

Inside a typical dump area church

A typical scene in the Guatemala City dump