Spring 2025
- Ruth Perez
- Apr 25
- 4 min read
My intention has always been to post an update quarterly. Well, if I had a quarter every time a quarter passed without an update… As always, life on the mission field (and everywhere) is a bit nuts! No worries, though, I am finally here to update everyone on Oaxaca Missions!
School is always busy at the end of the 2nd semester- it’s as if the last few weeks fly by as everyone tries to fit in all of their projects and lessons and tests. Oaxaca Christian School’s 2nd semester is also always interrupted by MK Camp- all of my students’ favorite part of the year! The team I normally work with to help run camp changed a lot this year, but our new team pulled off an awesome camp experience filled with lots of teaching. As graduation nears, I am trying to pour into the students as much as possible. Some of the graduates for this year have been my students for 6 years, and I am going to miss them very much. As we look toward the next school year, we ask for prayer. Our school is short-staffed. We do not have anyone signed up to be principal, and we’re missing a few teachers as well. We also lost another Youth Leader once his time in Oaxaca ended, leaving only two of us to run the Youth Group. Please pray that God brings the right people to our school and youth group- Christ-like and dedicated. Our school just celebrated its 50th anniversary; 50 years of serving missionaries in Oaxaca. It’s so cool! For the past few years, other youth leaders and I have been able to give scholarships to students to come to school, kiddos to go to camp, and youths to participate in retreats and activities. I can only do so because of your generosity towards my ministries here- God has been so good with His provision through you all. Thank you. If you’d like to donate separately toward a scholarship for a missionary kid to come to school, though, OCS has set up a 50th Anniversary Scholarship Fund. I’m attaching their letter here.
Girasol has also been a flurry of activities. We welcomed a group from Texas this spring. They were so awesome, providing many activities and outreach opportunities for the women downtown and at Amanecer- from medical care, foot spas, therapeutic crafts, and more. We are so thankful. We also celebrated our 6 year Anniversary with the downtown drop-in center. As we reflected on what God has done through Girasol, we were blown away by His guidance and provision. We’ve reached an estimated 1,500 women in prostitution, provided jobs for over 15 women, given countless meals and birthday gifts, worked with over 25 volunteers from many different churches, and seen 5 women (that we know of!) leave the life of prostitution to start over. It is an absolute blessing to be a part of such an incredible ministry. Our staff has also seen many changes in the past months. One of our leaders is in the States for a year, another one of our leaders has had to travel a lot due to family obligations, and my schedule has filled up faster than I realized. As overwhelming as that has been, it’s so cool to see how many areas of life Girasol has an opportunity to serve in- how much the ladies rely on us and trust us. For the past few weeks, I’ve been a chauffeur, taking one lady to the doctor, to her xrays, back to the doctor, to an MRI, and back to the doctor again. She fell and broke and tore some things in her knee and will be having surgery on Monday. Christa, one of our leaders, took another lady to the health center because of pre-cancerous signs that showed up in the tests that the doctor did at our last medical outreach. She needs further care and we will be taking her to more appointments this week. One of the little boys, son of a woman at Amanecer, needs medical and dental care as well. It’s the year of doctor’s visits, it seems. The amazing part of taking women to the doctor is that we pick them up downtown, drive across town, and then afterwards give them a ride back. We spend hours in the car- an excellent opportunity to talk, ask questions, and hear their stories. Facing big scary medical issues has also opened the door to share the Gospel and pray for the women. My little car has been a place of worship, of prayer, and of evangelism more in the past months, than anywhere else! It’s been incredible. Since it’s the year of doctor’s visits, we are fundraising for some of these big procedures. I’ve written up a special blog about Leona’s knee surgery with some background on her story with us. I’ll share it here- and if you aren’t already receiving the blog updates from Girasol, you should subscribe! I’m pretty sure I write more updates there… If you are interested in donating towards her surgery, the link is on the Girasol blog website as well.
For those of you who asked me, I did have a small gallbladder surgery in January- I am all healed up! It was an excellent opportunity to sit and read and rest. I also was able to take Spring Break off, read some more, rest some more, and hit the ground running again. That’s it folks! I am running around printing tests, reading research papers, going to the doctor, opening the drop-in center, counseling, and youth group! I’m busy busy, but so blessed to love what I do fiercely and passionately. I continue to ask for prayer- for perseverance, health, and for more people to join us in Oaxaca!
Thank you all- for your encouragement, for caring about what we do here, for donating, for praying, and for participating in all these ways in missions. I can’t do what I do without you.
Gracias
-Ruth
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