The Canote E-Notes 12/30/08

Greetings from Mexicali, Mexico!

We're are having a great week here in Mexico! We have one large team here from Caledonia, Michigan. We also have a couple of families and a couple of construction teams. God is with us and is still hard at work, good, and faithful! Our evangelism team saw 17 salvation decisions yesterday on their first day at their ministry site! Praise the Lord!

Adam and the boys are doing a great job leading us in worship for the chapel services. We're also working with a great staff and team of YUGO missionaries.

We've seen all the usual distractions and speed bumps that the devil tries to throw at us to keep this work from happening. Unfortunately for him, we have God on our side. My God does what He wants and I feel like He's called us to be here and to accomplish some kingdom building ministry. So, to quote my missionary brother, Jim Slinker, we're just saying to the devil, "Neener, neener, neener!" Ha ha!

We're counting on your prayers and praise God for you!

God Bless You and Happy New Year!

Chris Canote
Missions Mobilizer
YUGO Ministries
www.yugo.org
www.thecanotefamily.com
www.thecanotefamily.blogspot.com

The Canote E-Notes 12/24/08

Greetings!

Hey, check out the new "unreached people groups" link on our web site. You can find it by clicking on the ministry link from the front page. It's provided by the Joshua Project. It will display a different unreached people group each day that you can pray for.

I plan to work on some additional changes, updates, etc. to our web site while I'm in Mexico next week. I'll be sure to let you know when those are complete.

http://www.thecanotefamily.com

http://www.joshuaproject.net


PRAYER REQUEST:
After being booked somewhere 1, 2, and even 3 times a week every week for the last several months, believe it or not, we actually don't have anything on our ministry calendar after Christmas. Please pray for opportunities to share our ministry and mobilize for missions in the coming months. Also, if you know of a church or group that could use some encouragement or would appreciate some gospel bluegrass OR contemporary worship style music or bible preaching, please let us know, or let them know about us.

God Bless You & Merry Christmas!

Chris Canote
Missions Mobilizer
YUGO Ministries
www.yugo.org
www.thecanotefamily.com
www.thecanotefamily.blogspot.com

Another "Canote Boys" video on YouTube

The boys were messing around with some Christmas tunes tonight including some a capella....so, of course, I had to get out the video camera.....

Merry Christmas!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQXZ-_j1lg8

Chris Canote
Missions Mobilizer
YUGO Ministries
www.yugo.org
www.thecanotefamily.com
www.thecanotefamily.blogspot.com

The Canote E-Notes 12/08/08

THE REASON FOR THE SEASON

God has been so good to us this year - all our needs have been met and we couldn't have asked for happier "season" in our lives. With two kids in college and one soon to be married, life is starting to take on a whole new perspective. Over the last few weeks, some of the stuff Jesus said, is starting have a whole new meaning in our hearts. God used Pastor Francis Chan and some of the other speakers at the conferences in Pittsburgh and Nashville to prompt and challenge us. We've trying to say, "how much can we give?" instead of "how much do we have to give?" The blessing has been wonderful!

OPERATION "BLESS YOUR SOCKS OFF"

The Canote family had an opportunity yesterday to experience the true meaning of Christmas and the "reason for the season". The Lord laid it on our hearts to reach out to the local Hispanic community in our area. We decided to try something we've never done before. We contacted a Pastor Martinez, who leads a weekly Spanish church service in Columbia. We told him about our ministry and that God had blessed us this year and we wanted to bless a local Hispanic family in need. He immediately knew of a family from his church who needed help.

Pastor Martinez put us in contact with a single mother of two young boys who is struggling to make ends meet. He told us she was unable to pay her bills this month and didn't know how she would cover Christmas for her boys. We were able to speak with the mom over the phone within a couple of days. In her broken English, she explained that she had been afraid to check her mail for 4 days because she knew she couldn't pay any bills if they came. We told her not to worry that we wanted to help.

I'm not telling this story to brag but instead to encourage you to try this as soon as possible! This was definitely the most rewarding thing we have ever done as a family. What's ironic is that we are probably the least able financially to do something like this, this year than we've ever been in the past. However, God laid it on our hearts to stretch ourselves. We decided it wouldn't mean much if we didn't at least make some sacrifice in order to bless this family. Boy, have we been missing out on a blessing over the years!

With some extra donations from some friends in ministry, (Thanks Ron & Suzie) we were definitely able to bless this family's socks off! What's great is that we were so blessed ourselves to be a part of it. Our whole family made a special delivery to their home last night. They were in a state of shock by the time we got done! It was so awesome!

We took several gifts for each of the boys and gift for the mom along with some cash for the bills. We took them some gift cards to Toys R Us, Barnes & Noble, and Wal-Mart. We stopped for some groceries on the way there. It was so much fun just going through the store trying to imagine what a Hispanic family might want to eat. In all, we carried in about 6 or 8 boxes of gifts and food. Our boys also took 2 bags of clothes including some winter coats. Samantha had a very nice coat that fit the mom as well.

They didn't really know what to say! I'm telling you this was so much fun! I'm getting a little moist reliving the story. :)

We stayed long enough to get to know Oscar, Juan, and Lorena a little bit. We asked about school and friends. We told them our names and about our ministry. We all had a big laugh when I challenged the mom to remember our names. We just explained that God had blessed us so we wanted to bless them. We prayed with them, wished them a Merry Christmas and left.

As we were walking back to the car, somebody said, "Now, we just need some more money so we can do this again!" This is definitely not the last time for this!

Merry Christmas!

Chris Canote
Missions Mobilizer
YUGO Ministries
www.yugo.org
www.thecanotefamily.com
www.thecanotefamily.blogspot.com

573/874-1878 Home
573/808-1195 Cell

<>< <>< <>< <>< <><

"There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord."
~ Proverbs 21:30

"Many are the plans in a man's (and my) heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."
~ Proverbs 19:21

<>< <>< <>< <>< <><

The Canote E-Notes 12/05/08

Well, first of all.....M E R R Y C H R I S T M A S!! from the Canote family to YOU! :)

The Christmas season has arrived...and to quote, our friend Jeremiah Vik (who lives near San Diego), we're looking for "the yuletide carols being sung by a choir and folks dressed up like Eskimos"! :) Actually, at 10 degrees this morning, we felt like Eskimos!

God has been so good to us this year and we're so thankful for that!

- We've had many wonderful opportunities to minister in His name,
- Our prayer and financial needs have all been met according to the riches in Christ Jesus,
- We've been joined by our fellow workers in Christ in ministering to those who need to know Jesus,
- We've had our socks blessed right off our feet on a regular basis,
- Well, this list could go on for a while..... :)

Let's just say, God is good... (Dios es bueno...) All the time... (Todo el tiempo...)!

I'm preaching in Glasgow, MO this weekend for a church currently without a pastor. We also have 2 upcoming engagements where we'll get to do lots of Christmas gospel bluegrass music....our favorite!

Adam, Chewy, and Alex will be joining me in Mexicali, Mexico between Christmas and New Years for a YUGO outreach. We have a team of 40 joining us for their 12th year in Mexicali from Caledonia, Michigan.

Que Dios le bendiga! (God Bless You!)


Chris for the Canote Family

http://www.thecanotefamily.com
http://www.thecanotefamily.blogspot.com
http://www.yugo.org

The Canote E-Notes 11/17/08

Ministry Engagements and Nashville Bound

God continues to give us opportunities to serve Him in ministry and mission mobilizing. The Canote kids, performing as "Sweet Action" have been able to share their contemporary worship ministry along with our gospel bluegrass music ministry. I have also had multiple opportunities to preach over the last few weeks. God is stretching me in this area. I feel God growing a love in my heart for His church and giving me a strong desire to challenge others with the truth of His word. Maybe this is a sign for the future. Only God knows.

One of my recent messages was recorded by the church and placed on their website: http://www.harrisburgchristian.org/Pastor/SermonTopics.html You can click on the link and hear my challenge to "stop playing duck, duck, goose with God". :)

Susan and I will be heading down to Nashville, TN this week to represent YUGO Ministries at another youth pastor's conference. There will be around 4,000 in attendance. We're excited about making new ministry contacts and about the opportunity to share about our work in Mexico.

Would you please pray that God will #1) bless our efforts in Nashville and the relationships we hope to develop while we're there and #2) help us to stay focused on Him and His plan and purposes for the Canote family.

Thank you for your prayers ~ God Bless You!

The Canote Family
www.yugo.org
www.thecanotefamily.com
www.thecanotefamily.blogspot.com

The Canote E-Notes 10/26/08

Greetings and Happy Sunday to you!

It's another busy Sunday for the Canote family. We're headed south to the Ashland Baptist Church located in beautiful downtown Ashland, MO. This is a return visit for us so we're looking forward to seeing some familiar faces. And, our former Director of Missions and good friend, Bro. George Roach is the Interim Pastor there.

I'm preaching again tonight at Sturgeon Baptist Church located in beautiful downtown Sturgeon, MO... :) I'm really enjoying this season of preaching for me. I'll be speaking about spending too much time hanging out too close to the edge.

Susan and I will driving to Pittsburgh, PA on Thursday to represent YUGO in a national youth workers conference. Our goal is to connect with some youth leaders looking for a short-term mission opportunity for their group. Please pray for those connections to happen and please continue praying for our goal of "100 teams in Mexico in 2009."

Thank you for your prayers and support. We're countin' on it.

God Bless You and have a GREAT week!

In His service,

Chris Canote
The Canote Family

http://www.thecanotefamily.com
http://www.yugo.org

The Canote E-Notes 10/20/08

We've enjoyed several ministry engagements over the last couple of weeks including a 3-hour drive to Iowa and a 15-minute drive just down the road. A local church is praying about possibly sending a team to join us in Acuña next summer. Woo hoo! Would you join them in praying for God's blessing for a team from their church to join us on the mission field in Mexico?

We very much count on and appreciate your prayers and support and we thank God for you every day! We'll be needing to make some big decisions over the next few weeks regarding finances and our future. It's comforting to know so many come along beside us in prayer.

God Bless You!

In His service,


The Canote Family
http://www.thecanotefamily.com
http://www.yugo.org

The Canote E-Notes 10/07/08

Greetings!
You may have seen an email I sent out a few weeks ago about a specific ministry prayer request for YUGO Ministries. As one of the primary mobilizers for YUGO, I have taken responsibility for setting a team recruitment goal. I have felt led over the last couple of months to pray specifically. So I have been doing that myself and am asking others to pray specifically as well. I'm praying for 100 teams to join us at one of our summer envangelism outreaches in 2009 in either Acuna, Tijuana, or Mexicali, Mexico.

Imagine, if you will, the ripple effect of increasing the number of teams who join us on the mission field in Mexico. Hundreds or even thousands more would come to know Christ as a result. Untold seeds would be planted for future decisions for Christ. Hundreds or even thousands of North American youth and adults would go home as experienced ministry leaders creating a legacy of change for generations to come.

If you haven't already done so, would you please consider praying regularly for this goal? Also, would you please consider asking your church and/or others to join us in praying for our goal of "100 in 2009"?

Thank you and God Bless You!

Chris Canote
Mobilizer
YUGO Ministries
http://www.thecanotefamily.com
http://www.yugo.org

The Canote E-Notes 10/04/08

Busy weekend ahead....we'll be sharing some gospel bluegrass and testimony tonight at the Clark Christian Church in Clark, MO. We'll do that again tomorrow morning at a school fundraiser in Macon, MO. And then I will be preaching again tomorrow night at Sturgeon Baptist Church in Sturgeon, MO.

Please keep us in your prayers. Our hope is that God would continue to use us as He sees fit and that we'll get out of the way so He can do that.

It occurred to me that some of our friends and family might not be aware of YUGO's "Project Joy" ministry in Mexico. Some of our Acuna teams have participated in year's past and will be again this year. They have found it to be a very rewarding experience.

Project Joy is a unique Christmas ministry that invites individuals of all ages to give gift-filled shoeboxes to poor children in Mexico. We invite you to join us by providing shoebox gifts to the children of Mexico. Many of the children who receive these gifts will not be receiving any other gifts to celebrate the birth of Christ this year. They are presented during a celebration and "fiesta" atmosphere including a presentation of the gospel.

This project makes for a great Sunday school, church or family project!

If you're interested, please feel free to contact me for more info or you can go directly to YUGO's website:

http://www.yugo.org/ministries/projectjoy.htm

In His Service and for The Canote Family,

Chris Canote

Mission Mobilizer

Yugo Ministries

The Canote E-Notes 09/28/08

Busy weekend for the Canote fam... :)

- Bluegrass in Southeast Missouri last night near Salem, MO at an annual all day "Old Time Camp Meeting" at the Anutt Community Church

- Speaking at Harrisburg Baptist Church this morning

- Speaking at Sturgeon Baptist Church tonight

What a blessing for the Lord to trust us with His ministry. What an honor to know that He uses so many like you to keep us "prayed up"!

Thank you for your prayers!

God Bless You!

In His Service,

The Canote Family
http://www.thecanotefamily.com

The Canote E-Notes 092008

We're sharing some outdoor gospel bluegrass at the Santa Fe Trails festival in New Franklin, MO today and more music and testimony tomorrow at the New Franklin FBC.

Would you please pray for open minds and hearts?

The Lord brought us three new Sunday night worship and preaching engagements this morning in one phone call!

Would you please pray that instead of "trying" to manage this busy schedule...we would "trust" the Lord with this busy schedule?

Thank you for your prayers ~ we need you!

God Bless You!

The Canote Family
http://www.thecanotefamily.com
http://www.yugo.org

The Canote E-Notes 091608

Susan and I were very proud parents as we sat in the audience for "Youth Night" at the Perche Baptist Church Revival Service last night.

Adam shared a personal testimony of how God used him on the mission field in Mexico and called him to the music ministry and worship leading. Adam and the boys also shared their musical gifts and talents when they led us in worship. They no doubt made lasting impression on the youth and adults in attendance.

Praise the Lord!

Chris & Susan Canote
http://www.thecanotefamily.com
http://www.yugo.org

The Canote E-Notes 091108

"Return home and tell how much God has done for you." So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him. ~ Luke 8:39

Praise:

We thought we needed to replace our 15-passenger van with one with a bigger engine in order to pull the new 15 ft. cargo trailer God provided us with. Well, Praise the Lord!, we were told this week by an "expert" in hauling and towing that our current van should have no trouble pulling our trailer! Woo hoo! That was a direct answer to prayer....just not the answer we expected! It's an extra blessing because we really love our van and didn't want to have to part with it. God is good!

Prayer Requests:

1) We are currently at less than 50% of our monthly financial support goal. "How can I help?", you ask. Please join with us in prayer that God would inspire others to join our team and provide the support needed to keep us on the field and get the job done. He has promised in His word to do that and we trust Him with the plan. If you haven't already done so, please ask God if He would have you be part of our financial team. Please consider who you may know that might be interested in being a part of team, share with them about our ministry work, and introduce us.

2) Our job is to mobilize teams and individuals to join us in Mexico. Again, you might ask, "How can I help?". Please join us in prayer that God would send more workers to the field. The U.S. has 5% of the world's population and 95% of the world's Christian workers. Let's loan a few to Mexico. Please consider who you might know that might be interested in leading a team to Mexico. Please consider who you know that attends a church or is part of a group that would be interested in allowing us to come share about our ministry with their group along with some music.

God Bless You! We thank God for you daily!

In His service,

The Canote Family
http://www.thecanotefamily.com
http://www.yugo.org

The Canote E-Notes 090508

Here's a note of encouragement and a reminder that God hears and answers our prayers.

Wow! And....wow again! That's what I have to say about my Lord because He just "wows" our socks off on a regular basis! We put the word out only a couple of days ago about a "special project" we had to find a replacement cargo trailer for hauling our sound equipment, instruments, and supplies to Mexico. It's been on our prayer list for a couple of weeks now.

For starters, before we had even advertised our old trailer, we received a phone call with an offer to buy it and sold it! Way to go God! The old trailer sold for $1,200.

Secondly, we found a GREAT deal on a replacement trailer. It's a 15' x 6' trailer located in Bellville, IL. The seller agreed to accept $2,200 for the trailer which is a steal! It will cost us nearly $200 in gas just to pick it up.

Here's where God really kicks it in.....we just received a call from a member of our ministry support team who wanted to help with the project....God inspired them to want to pitch in $1,200 towards the project! Woo hoo!

Our God is GREAT! He provided the exact amount needed to complete the purchase! Praise the Lord who provided for all our needs just as He promised! God is good....all the time!

God Bless You!

In His Service,

The Canote Family

The Canote E-Notes 090108

We had the pleasure of a visit to one of our many "home away from homes" this weekend in Clinton, KS. We ministered with music and testimony at the Clinton Presbyterian Church, in Clinton, KS.

We were joined by some of the youth and leaders who were on the first mission trip Chris took with YUGO to Reynosa, Mexico in 2003. What a blessing to rekindle old friendships and to make new ones as well. Pastor Mike Birney and wife Cindy and family also welcomed us into their home for a reunion visit complete with pie and ice cream!

And, of course, we don't head to that neck of the woods without a visit to a Canote family favorite, the Topeka Zoo!

God has continued to bless us with a full ministry calendar. We are currently booked through the end of October. This weekend we will provide the worship music for an outdoor community service in Harrisburg, MO and visit two senior adult residential care centers to celebrate Grandparent's Day.

SPECIAL PROJECT: We need to purchase a 16 ft. enclosed cargo trailer ASAP. We outgrew our old one which has served us well for several years. We sold it today which leaves with no trailer. If you would like to help out with this purchase you can do one or more of 3 things:

1) Please pray that we find a reasonably priced trailer ASAP.
2) Donate money to go towards the purchase.
3) Locate a 16 ft. trailer we can purchase.

We asked God to help sell the old one so someone called us and offered to buy it! We're also trusting Him to find us a new one and to provide the funds for the purchase. Maybe He'll use you to help...?

In His service,

God Bless You!

The Canote Family

The Canote E-Notes 081608

What a blessing and honor to enjoy some food and fellowship and an opportunity to minister to a large group last night at the Lenoir Community Center in Columbia, MO. We shared testimony and an update of our most recent trips to Mexico along with some gospel bluegrass music. A few expressed some interest in becoming a part of our ministry team at home. Praise the Lord!

We were short one and really missed our mandolin player! Chewy stayed at home recovering from corrective sinus surgery. Please pray for him as he recovers over the next few days. He's not feeling to great right now but it's mostly just waiting on the anesthesia from surgery to wear off. The plan is for him to be able to breathe through his nose once he's all healed up.

God has blessed us recently with several new bookings to minister spread out over the next couple of months which, is a a direct answer to prayer. Please join us in praying that God would fill our calendar with opportunities to serve Him and that we He would help us to manage the busy schedule that it brings. We are also praying specifically that God would double the number of teams that join us on the front lines in Mexico in 2009.

May God richly bless you this day!

In His service,

The Canote Family