Saturday, April 30, 2011

Here and There and Everywhere



This past weekend we traveled to St. Louis, MO to spend some time with the Reynolds side of the family, visit friends, and share with a small group. As we get ready to go back to Mexico we are faced with the reality that we have very little time left with our family. Therefore, we headed West to see Josh's sister and spend some time with her small group. We had the chance to share a meal with two of the leaders of her group, and we were pleased to find out we have much in common. They are starting a group within a Lutheran church that is missional in it's focus and open to various Christian traditions. We were encouraged because it was refreshing to meet others who are doing similar things that we are doing only in a different part of the world.

Tomorrow we will be a part of St. Luke UMC's Going Forth Fair in Lexington, KY. It is going to be a long but exciting day for us as we will be participating in the early service, sharing in several Sunday school classes, and participating in a luncheon to raise support for our trip back to Mexico. We are extremely thankful for our St. Luke family and the way they have so faithfully supported us over the past three years. We look forward to a full Sunday tomorrow as we challenge people to go forth into their communities and around the world to share the love of Christ.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Perfect Timing





In December we visited an Organic Church in Gainesville, FL where we were told about a Mexican whom also visited the church and who had a passion for planting organic house churches in Mexico. We became friends with Rodrigo on facebook and have been only in slight contact with him until the other day. We finally had the chance to skype with him and he gave us the incredible news that he is moving to a city only about two and a half hours away from León. We decided that we could work together and join efforts in working with a church-plant in this nearby city and with ours in León. As a group we have been in desperate need of more Mexican leadership and are thankful for this divine appointment with Rodrigo and that his new job led him to live near us. Please pray for us as we continue to pursue this possibility of working together. We were extremely excited this day, but the excitement didn't end there.

Later in the afternoon we met with a Mexican pastor who lives and ministers in Lexington, KY. His passion is to work with those who have been hurt or broken, especially by the Church. He is a very generous man and wants to help our ministry in any way he can. His small congregation is involved in many ministries in Latin America including an orphanage in León. In León of all places. We will make room to pack up some things and take them down to the orphanage from this small Lexington congregation with a big heart. We were moved by this pastor's sincerity, love, and concern for others. He wants to be a part of what we are doing in Mexico? That is amazing and encouraged us immensely. We are thrilled to get to participate in their ministry as well and get to know the family that runs the orphanage and the children that live there.

God has arranged several specific connections for us, he has provided for us, and he has a plan for our ministry. We are only starting to see the beginning of it all!

Pictured: Travels and time with college friends and prayer supporters!

Ready Set...Almost Go!

Time is flying by more quickly than the windy weather we've been experiencing in Kentucky, and we are happy to announce that we now have a return date for our journey back to Mexico. We will be leaving Sunday May 29th after the Wilmore FMC's early service where they will have a commissioning prayer for us.

Though we have a date we still need your help to get us back to Mexico. Would you consider making a one-time donation to help with travel expenses for our road trip down to Mexico? Would you consider supporting us monthly? Ten dollars a month can make a huge difference! Thank you for your continued support and prayers. God had worked in wonderful ways lately and we are overwhelmed by his goodness.

Together we can make a difference in Central Mexico!


Thursday, April 14, 2011

God is Bigger






Do you ever have so many needs that you wonder how in the world they are going to be fulfilled? Or then you think that maybe they don't matter and are not as important as the needs of the starving around the world. And maybe they aren't. And do you wonder "what is a need and what is a want anyway?"

There is a lot of gray in our lives and we often live in that gray space. However, this weekend God showed up in a BIG way and made it clear that he wants us back in Mexico as soon as possible!

Friday morning we left for Ohio to visit some supporters and speak at a church. We spent the afternoon with some close missionary friends and laughed and encouraged one another. To be quite honest as missionaries we need a lot of encouragement and the joy of being with other missionaries is priceless.

We then headed to spend the rest of the weekend with some other supporters who have become like family to us. We enjoyed every moment with them as we laughed, cried, and shared with them. God continued to provide...

One of those silly things that we don't know if we "needed" or "wanted" was a car top carrier to use to take things to Mexico. We've been asked to take things to an orphanage and many other articles and our vehicle is not expandable. So we felt like the car top carrier was necessary, but we didn't have the money to buy one. God did though and Saturday he gave us a practically new one through a wonderful older couple that felt they should give it to us.

On Sunday we shared at Cornerstone Community church and had the opportunity not only to see one of our missionary friends from Mexico there, but also one of our supporters. In addition, we made new friends and felt the Holy Spirit's presence in the service.

But God didn't stop there. He continued to provide and through a meeting later that afternoon God provided a huge amount of support for us through the generosity of a man who has a passion to support young missionaries. As I, Jennifer, write this post tears fill my eyes as I think about how much God has done in such a short amount of time, how much bigger God is than our fears, doubts, and worries, and how he accomplishes his will through the generosity and love of others.

PICTURES: From our travels to Ohio!

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Nicaragua

We'd love for you to view the video below (see the link) in order to get a better idea of our 11 day trip to Nicaragua. Our time was profitable not only because we helped others, but because those we met made an impression on our hearts. They changed us. In addition, we learned about how short-term mission trips are run and all of the work that goes into them. This trip was helpful to us as we might host a few short-term teams in Mexico.

http://animoto.com/play/dT48bVc9H0BeJwCQmouYJg?utm_content=main_link

Pray for Nicaragua. It is a needy country, but one filled with lots of love and beautiful people!

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Esperanza (Hope)


We want to tell you the story of a beautiful woman. Her name is Esperanza which means "hope." And Esperanza is a picture of hope. She is married to a man who lost a few of his children and his first wife in a mudslide that resulted from Hurricane Mitch in 1998. She and her husband live in what amounts to a refugee town that was built after the mudslide that forced people to relocate and leave their land. Though Esperanza and her husband Tomás have been married for eleven years, like us they have not been able to have any children of their own. And while the house Esperanza lives in has only two small rooms and is made of cinder blocks, and her life is much different from ours, she is a person who transmited much love to us during our time in Nicaragua. She helped out with VBS and was thrilled to be the star of several skits we did for children. Esperanza and Jennifer led games outside in the street one night for the little kids in her town and Esperanza was full of joy.
Esperanza's story doesn't end there...At age thirty-one she has been diagnosed with breast cancer and doesn't know if she will be able to afford the price of the opperation she needs. (GO InterNational is currently trying to aid in this effort.) While we never saw her complain about her situation, we did see her shed a few tears as she shared about her health.
Esperanza's story spoke to us deeply as we realized how much we take for granted; our health, our resources, our access to medical attention. Her story inspires us not to complain when trials come but to rejoice in the hope we have in God. For he is our only esperanza!