Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Praises and Prayer Requests

Hello everyone! It is time for a prayer update.

Here are some things we are praising God for:

-We have our visas and are legal immigrants in Mexico

-Jennifer's ballet classes are going well

-Jennifer's grandma was very ill, but is doing much better

-Josh's opportunity to referee American football

-The visitors we had at our church meeting on Friday who are from a nearby city

-Grace and strength during adversity

As you pray please pray for:

-Safety for us, especially as we travel north next weekend

-Josh's theological education class next weekend in Northern Mexico

-The spiritual growth of people in our church group

-Unity in our church group

-Wisdom and discernment for us in all we do

-More ministry opportunities

Pictured: Celebrating Pedro's birthday on Friday with our guests from out of town

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Casa Hogar



This past Tuesday we had the privilege of going to visit an orphanage where we will be volunteering once a week. We walked in the door and we were immediately greeted by seventeen girls from age one to about fourteen. Everyone of them had a smile on their face and their eyes lit up when they saw the bags of candy in our hands. These children are beautiful. Why? Because while they may only have one pair of shoes, they are rich with generosity and love. As we were talking with the girls some of them were showing off their handmade bracelets. Jennifer commented that one of them was beautiful and without even thinking about it the little girl took off her bracelet and gave it to Jennifer. She didn't want to take it knowing that for that girl the bracelet was a priceless treasure, but the girl insisted and the director of the orphanage told her to take it. What a gift! And to think of all the bracelets Jennifer has and the truth is she doesn't need another one, but out of the kindness of her heart this little girl gave what little she had to someone she barely knew. We were speechless.

After spending some time upstairs with the girls, we headed downstairs to be with the boys. There are also about seventeen of them. We were hugged and kissed by a bunch of boys dressed like cowboys. They were proud of their cowboy shirts and gladly showed them off. Then we began to talk about all sorts of things and we were suddenly surrounded by a swarm of boys. They asked us all kinds of questions and were thrilled to have us share with them some short phrases in English. Later we played games and it was obvious to us that these kids, though very well behaved, were starving for attention. The two to three women that take care of them do a great job, but there just simply aren't enough adults to go around.

On the ride home we talked about our visit and our amazement of how happy those kids are with what very little they have. We on the other hand tend to take for granted the fact that we have more than one pair of shoes and two parents that cared for us. Yes, we have soooo much. Reflecting about our time there made us even more excited about being with these children once a week. The director of the orphanage spends her days running around and finding donations to pay the bills and feed the children. They live off of donations.

Overall what a humbling we had a humbling experience. Will you join us in praying for the kids of this orphanage?

Thursday, October 6, 2011



Thanks for praying! We had a wonderful trip to Northern Mexico and a safe one as well. Jennifer's theological education class went smoothly and she feels like the students were very interested in the topic. During the class we talked about culture and knowing your audience etc as it was a communications class. Thankfully, she was able to get through 12 hours of teaching in Spanish and feels like God was helping her along the way. We also had a safe trip home and pray that we have the same sort of success in a month when we travel north again for Josh's class.

During our church meetings we've been talking about the indwelling life of Christ and his presence in us at all times. An odd thing happened the other day. Jennifer was teaching ballet class when she had the urge to go and visit our friend Lety after class. Lety works near where Jennifer teaches ballet so it was the perfect opportunity to stop by and try to be an encouragement. Jennifer went to Lety's office, mainly just to say hi, but soon she knew that it was the Holy Spirit who had laid it on her heart to stop by and see Lety. For over an hour Lety poured her heart out as she shared about the difficulties of her job and an upcoming meeting that was going to be difficult. Lety said that in the morning she prayed to God to show her that he was real and answered prayer. She said Jennifer was the answer to her prayer because she needed someone to talk to. When we are open to Christ's leading in our lives it is amazing what can happen. Lety is in a process right now of coming to know Christ and his transforming life. Please join us in praying for her and her family as they discover the risen Lord.

Pictured:
Jennifer teaching
Us at a church in León where Josh preached