Lutheran Women in Mexico: Priscila

Welcome to the 8th installment of our series covering Lutheran women in Mexico. This week we’re featuring Priscila, who is originally from Torreón, Mexico. She now lives in Whiteriver, Arizona, with her husband Pastor Joel Sutton.

How did Priscila get involved in the Lutheran church? Here's her story:

Priscila grew up attending the Lutheran church in Torreón. "My grandmother first found the Lutheran church here," Priscila recalls. "She started bringing my mom, who then raised her own children in the church."

While Priscila’s home base was the congregation El Redentor (Redeemer) in Torreón, she also supported ongoing mission work in the area. In recent years she attended some of the new congregations in Torreón. Her smiling face was always a welcome sight, and her generous personality really helped some of the places get a jumpstart.

A couple of years ago, Priscila helped Jorge and Carlos (who were seminary students at the time) get a new mission off the ground. Every week they headed to Zaragoza Sur, where they taught children Bible stories. "I loved spending time with the kids and watching the mission grow," she says.

And grow it did. The mission started - literally - from nothing, and now has a property, building, and regular church services with an average weekly attendance of 30.

In 2006, Joel Sutton came to Torreón. He was a seminary student at the time, and spent his vicar year serving the mission congregation Jesus Pan de Vida (Bread of Life). While he was here, he met Priscila.

When it was time to return to the seminary and finish his studies, Joel kept in touch with Priscila. After they both finished school – Priscila graduating with a business degree and Joel finishing his studies at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary – they started making wedding plans. The two were married in November 2009, and now live in Arizona. Joel serves as pastor of The Church of the Open Bible in Whiteriver, which is located on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation.

We wish Priscila and Joel the richest blessings in their new life together, and ask that God would be their source of strength throughout their lives of ministry.

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This brings our series to a close. I'd like to thank all of the women in Mexico for the work they so willingly do. They continue to inspire and encourage me, and I look forward to attending the upcoming women’s convention, which will be held this summer in Monterrey. Stay tuned!

Also, if there are other topics that you'd like to see as a series, let us know and we will look into covering it. Some of our previous series are listed below:
Mexican Recipes

Things I love about Mexico

Video Series

Some Things are Still the Same

I often find myself thinking about what unique things our girls are experiencing by living in Mexico. Culture, language, even TV programs - so many aspects that will shape them as they grow up. I wonder how they'll remember their time in Mexico and the reflections they'll have of our life here.

But really, there are parts of our day that are similar to many other young families. I feed the girls, care for them, we play games together, they sprint for Mike when he comes home...

Here's an essay that shows we're still experiencing many of the typical emotions that parents with small children feel. I penned it just as Noelle was turning a year old.

Slowing Down

It’s my favorite time of the day. I turn the lights off and start pacing the length of the bedroom. When I reach the wall of the far side, I turn and head back. I’ll repeat this for the next 20 minutes. My mission: put Noelle to sleep.

She’s sprawled in my arms, chubby legs dangling off to one side. Little hands grip her last bottle of the day. In the semi-darkness, I can make out two grey eyes looking at me. I start singing, and the sucking slows to a leisurely rate. The eyes settle into a contented, droopy stare. She knows what time this is. I like to think it’s her favorite too.

Since Noelle’s birth a year ago, I have walked her (she’s a walker, not a rocker) to sleep nearly every night. Her six-pound frame once nestled easily on one arm. Now at 20 pounds, she spills over both of my arms and when she stretches, I have to juggle her weight to regain my balance.

But still we walk. Every night. At five minutes in, Noelle’s eyes begin their final descent. Ten minutes and they’re at half-mast. She finishes the bottle and flings it - in her signature style - away from her mouth. It sails across the room and drops.

When Noelle's awake, she’s on the go, and I spend most of the day chasing her, fishing things out of her mouth, picking up her messes, making more messes with her, and then repeating the cycle. Days with a two-year-old and a one-year-old can start out sunny, turn cloudy, pour, and then clear up again – and that’s before the first Baby Einstein video is even put in.

As for the rainbow after the storm – it always comes in the evening, when I’m pacing with Noelle. The orange scent of her baby bath wafts through the air as we move. I pull her up against me. She snuggles on to my chest, her head on my shoulder, arms resting between her tummy and mine. Her little legs push back and forth as they relax. I keep walking. It’s almost done now.

Too soon she’ll want to be simply tucked in to bed at night. As I do now with Trinity, I’ll read to Noelle, tell her I love her, kiss her good night, and walk away. No more bottles, no more pacing, no soft breathing against my shoulder. No more trickle of drool down my arm as she passes into the world of dreams.

When older friends see me with the girls, they almost always feel compelled to remind me, “Enjoy them while you can. Before you know it, they’ll be gone.” While the cliched phrase drives me crazy (especially on days when Trinity’s tantrums outnumber her shoe size), I’ve already learned the truth behind it. Rather than the comments, I wish someone would hand me a pause button for life. Then I could enjoy those fleeting moments just a few minutes longer.

But time, in its cold-hearted way, keeps marching on. In defense, I’m working on slowing our life down for the moment. While I walk with Noelle, I block out the nagging, endless to-do list attached with motherhood. I tune out the other worries of the day. We simply walk.

When Noelle’s out, I gently place her in her crib. She startles, aware of the adjustment even though her eyes remain closed. Then she flips on to her side and settles in again. One more look, and I walk away and close the door. No matter what the highs and lows of the day were, it’s now over.

In an effort to fight against the ticking clock, I hold both girls every chance I get. When Trinity wakes up in the morning, she calls for me. Then she asks, “Mommy, want to snuggle?” Yes, I do. The dishes can wait. The floor can be swept later. Let’s snuggle.

Fellowship and a Graduation

Last week the annual Mexico-Mequon workshop was held in Puebla. This event brings together students from the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in Mequon, Wisconsin and seminary students and pastors here in Mexico. This year, Pastor Tim Flunker traveled down to give a workshop on the visible church in action. The pastors and students here are still talking about his informative and inspiring sessions.

As the workshop came to a close, a special service was held to celebrate the graduation of Carlos Rosales. Mike was thrilled to hand him his diploma and welcome him as a fellow pastor. As the graduation serivce carried out, Mike had flashbacks of the past five years he has worked with Carlos to make this moment happen. It was a long journey, but so so worth it.


With this graduation, the Mexican Lutheran church body now has 7 pastors. What a terrific blessing!

Join us in giving thanks for these wonderful events of last week.

Lutheran Women in Mexico: Señora Tere

Welcome to the seventh installment of our series on Lutheran women in Mexico. This week we're going to talk about Señora Tere, one of the first members of the congregation Pan de Vida (Bread of Life) in Torreón.

Señora Tere first came to the congregation when it was opening as a mission in 2005. At that time, English classes were being offered inside the church. She learned about the English program and she also started talking to the pastor (who was Mike at the time). She became confirmed with the first group of members of the church.

Tere regularly comes to church with her family. Her daughter Ivonne often plays the piano for church. Her daughter Fabiola helps out with children's activities. And Tere is very involved herself. She has made most of the paraments used in the church since it first began in 2005.

Tere says that her current responsibilities include setting up for the Lord's Supper and taking care of the paraments. She also helps out with children's classes.


When I asked Tere about her favorite part of the church, she said, "I just feel good there. It's so comfortable. Best of all, of course, is that I know God is always with us and is the reason I'm going to heaven."

A beautiful testimony from a beautiful member. Thanks Señora Tere for all of your work, and may God continue to use you in his church in the years to come.

Baptisms in Puebla

On Monday, seven children were baptized at "Solo Cristo Salva" (Christ Alone Saves) in Puebla. Mike attended the special service held for these young souls. Before the baptisms took place, he preached a sermon based on the story of Philip baptizing the Eunuch.

Lucia (pictured above on left) is the mother of these seven children. She didn't know about the Lutheran church until recently. God used a difficult situation to bring her and her children to church.

Not long ago, Lucia's brother Javier was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Lucia and Javier turned to their family for support. An aunt of theirs, who is a member of the congregation "Solo Cristo Salva," offered to help. She introduced Lucia and Javier to Carlos Rosales, who is serving as vicar to the congregation.

Carlos shared the Gospel message with Javier. He also shared it with Lucia and her seven children. As he talked to them, Carlos learned that none of the children had been baptized. After some discussion, the family asked to be baptized.

Yesterday, during a special service at the congregation, all seven children were baptized.

Each of the children was assigned a member of the church to serve as their "padrino" (sponsor). These sponsors are going to encourage the children and help them continue on their journey of faith.

Praise God for these baptisms! May he watch over the family, and continue to bless the congregation with new members.

10 Reasons why it's great to be a Missionary Kid in Mexico

#10: You can get your boots shined while you're out for a walk

#9 You get to meet new kids



#8 Other missionaries treat you as family



#7 You can drink Coke at restaurants*



#6 There are parks to explore in every city



#5 Great shopping



#4 When you don't know what else to eat, there's always frijoles (refried beans)



#3 You can listen to this -

#2 Fancy hairstyles for any age




#1 And the best part? You can be whatever you want to be.



*Mom's note: Coke is a safe option in public places, since we don't have to worry about bacteria and contaminated water with it. Needless to say, Trinity doesn't mind.

New Year, New Travel Plans

We took a quick getaway to Guadalajara over the holidays. This is a picture of us on the second level of a tour bus, which was the perfect way to see some of the city's highlights (and eat copious amounts of bananas and spicy chips, according to the girls). Guadalajara is about a 9-hour drive from Torreon - not bad considering the far distances we often have to cover in Mexico.

We returned home feeling fresh and relaxed. This week we're getting ready for Mike's upcoming trips. After being in Torreon for nearly three months (the first time since 2007 that he's been home this long), Mike will travel to Puebla and Sonora later this month.

In Puebla he'll attend the annual Mexico-Mequon workshop, and in Sonora he'll install two Mexican pastors to help out Missionary Ron Baerbock. Both of these places take about a full day of travel to get to. And when he returns home from these visits, he'll schedule trips to visit the other congregations in Mexico during the rest of the year (see a map here).

Travel is an important part of mission work in Mexico. It's a big country, and many miles separate the congregations. As field coordinator of the field, it's important for Mike to personally keep in touch with the various pastors, lay leaders, and congregations. During his visits, he encourages the pastors and offers further instruction and guidance to the congregations as needed.

Pray for safe travels and good health for our family this year, that we may continue to serve God in Mexico. Our prayer is that He grant the same to you.