Coming to the PNW!

Or: Quezada Pérez family June 2026 update

Dear brothers and sisters, after we were separated from you for a little while (though our hearts never left you), we tried very hard to come back because of our intense longing to see you again. —1 Thessalonians 2:17

For though I am far away from you, my heart is with you. And I rejoice that you are living as you should and that your faith in Christ is strong. —Colossians 2:5

Dear gang,

It's been three full years since we last did a reunion tour, SO... we're coming to visit the US and Canada! There are a number of reasons for this, but high on the list are the following:

1. To see family. That may sound generic, but what it means in practise is this: spending our first quality time in 10 years with one of my brothers and his family. Technically, we did spend some time together some 6 years ago, but that was under the freezing rain, in the middle of winter, straddling international borders, all while being watched through binoculars by US and Canadian border guards. Thank you, COVID. So not great. We're really excited about this opportunity and well, it's about time!

We—and all the other missionaries you know—live far away from family, at least on one side. The other side of the family lives a measly two hours' drive away. And while that feels relatively very close (pun not intended), it still isn't close enough to call up grandma to see if she can take the kids tonight so we can go on a date. Suffice it to say we are giddy at the prospect of being with the fam for any amount of time. Our girls are growing so fast and we want them to have a real if mostly long-distance relationship with their sisters and their cousins and their aunts. Pray that we will make the most of the it and that nothing will undermine these precious days together.

2. Fundraising: The simple and probably obvious reality is that the level of support that used to work for us when we didn't have kids and lived in a different state with different prices just isn't cutting it anymore. Again, obvious, but I (Isaac) can be slow at this sort of thing. Other things exacerbating the problem are that the dollar-peso exchange rates aren't as good as they used to be, and international political horseplay has continued to push up the price of groceries (ours, and I'm sure yours, too). Those of you reading this may already have contributed financially to our family and ministry, and we thank you so much! Now we're aiming to increase our base monthly support (which is you) by adding new recruits. Our trip will be a measly 4 weeks, so if you are the "Missions activities organiser" or something like that, we would LOVE to talk this over with you. Would your church consider opening up a time slot of any length to allow us to do a ministry presentation, brief or otherwise? Do you own a trendy coffee shop with a corner stage where, instead spoken word and slam poetry, we can talk about ministry in Mexico (or do slam poetry about ministry in Mexico?)? Are you a hedge fund manager whose wealthy clients need to make significant tax-deductible charitable donations before the end of the fiscal quarter?? CALL US!!!

Right now...

Reality: we can't afford to make this trip to fundraise so we can make this trip to fundraise [repeat ad infinitum]. That we're even going to travel means undergoing significant financial strain now and borrowing against the future. But hey, it's gotta happen at some point, right? Otherwise this is just not going to get any prettier. If you would like to give some amount to help out with gas as we drive a borrowed car all around the PNW, or to go towards other travel expenses, we would be really grateful!

Looking forward...

As we look at our monthly expenses and just how many litres of milk two little girls can down in 30 days, we're setting our goal at $2000 Canadian dollars per month (around $1450 USD). In light of this goal, right now we're only about 35% funded. Yikes! Please enjoy these photos of the progressive state of our couch as evidence of why we need to fundraise.

[NOTE: if you're keen on the budgeting details, send us a message/email, whatever]

It goes without saying, but beyond seeing family and fundraising, we also want to see loved ones who aren't necessarily family (so, you). Please send us a note if you think we can cross paths somewhere in British Columbia, Washington, or Oregon. We would love to catch up! We'll be busy, but we'll see if we can work it out.

Not going to Valsecamp 😢

For years we've done our best to serve and be part of Valsecamp, the summer music camp ministry here in Puebla. As many of you know, this camp is special to us for lots of reasons, not least of which is that we first met there. [audience: awww] :heart After trying to resolve the conflict of dates, we decided it was simply the right decision to prioritise our time in the States/Canada. After 3 years, we need to show our faces (and see all of yours :grin). We are NOT implying that we will no longer support or be at Valsecamp in the future, only that we will be otherwise engaged this summer, just as we were engaged to be married in the following photo:

CAPPA (Fer's studies)

I know this is late, but ... THANK YOU for all your support in helping Fer start studying with CAPPA. Several of you made significant contributions to getting her membership and coursework paid for, and we are so amazed at how fast it all happened! We were able to enroll her in the course back in March after a litany of technical difficulties (e.g. 6 different ways the website could NOT process our payment). But at last, she is on her way. Fer had her live online training about three weeks ago and continues studying every night. The time allotted her to complete the Childbirth Educator course is a year and a half.

We're grateful to a midwife friend of ours back in Oaxaca for lending Fer some books to get started on. We still need to buy ten-ish books for the remainder of this course. If you specifically want to contribute to helping Fer become a certified Childbirth Educator, let us know!

Even as Fer is studying, she has already given one intensive prenatal course to an expecting couple. It was so beautiful, inspiring, and cool to see my lovely wife doing what she loves and is so good at.

Wrapping up the school year

This academic year was a hodge-podge of activities for Fer and me: teaching online seminary courses, private violin, piano, and voice lessons, teaching choir and music theory, a prenatal crash course, preaching at church and playing on the worship team, men's Bible study, high school apologetics, and even teaching kindergarteners how to cook!

If that sounds like we're spreading ourselves too thin, then you're on to something. Although each one of these activities was good and beneficial in its own way, we're recognising the need to focus in and limit how many things we let ourselves get involved in. Pray that the Lord gives us wisdom to make good decisions in this area as we recognise and commit to doing "the good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Eph. 2:10)

Paperwork

I'm reminded of this section of our spring 2023 newsletter: SO. MUCH. HASSLE. So Let's play a game to lighten the mood.

What do you think took up the whole month of May and some of June?

1. a much too extensive application for Miriam's US CRBA (born-abroad birth certificate)
2. Miriam's US passport application
3. a rough trip to Mexico City in oder to obtain documents mentioned in 1. and 2.
4. renewing Fer's passport
5. a failed attempt to get Miriam's Mexican passport
6. interminable red tape shenanigans, being sent from one government office to another, more photocopying than I care to admit to, all in order have a correction made on Miriam's birth certificate, and having to PAY them to fix THEIR mistake, without which they would not issue her a Mexican passport!!! (I promise to work through this in therapy. Some day.)
7. still more trips to the passport office to get Esme's and Miriam's Mexican passports
8. all of the above

¡CORRECT! Well, correct if what you chose was no. 8, ALL OF THE ABOVE. It has been so crazy, BUT we finally have all necessary travel documents in hand, and we are ready to fly! Having to get all this stuff together in such a short time and having to drag our poor girls to so many boring appointments really took it out of us. But we're grateful to the Lord, even as we lie here exhausted, that it has all finally come together.

We want to praise the Lord for:

• An overall great school year FULL of good things, good people, and God's grace and provision over us
• Opening doors to get all required travel documents (and for the grace to persevere through the process!)
• All the support and enthusiasm everyone has shown Fer as she starts the CAPPA course
• The opportunity to see family and loved ones soon in the US and Canada

Please pray:

• for focus and clarity for our ministry
• for Marifer's struggles with anemia and overall health
• for grace for our girls to endure the trip(s) well as we hike, hitchhike, and otherwise tramp about from place to place this July
• for strength for us as parents during what will likely be an intense month of travel

As always, thanks for reading our long updates! God bless you and keep you, and if there's a chance of getting together next month let's try and make it happen!

In Christ,
Isaac, Marifer, Esme, and Miriam

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To give in Mexican pesos: get in touch!
fersukis2007@gmail.com | 🇲🇽 +52 (771) 157-0463
musicoszurdos@gmail.com | 🇲🇽 +52 (415) 108-6748 | 🇺🇸 +1 (360) 777-7786