Success?

"God is not looking for leaders who move multitudes, but rather SERVANTS who are ready to give their life for them." Rodrigo Aguilera Often when we think of change, transformation, or even church we tend to think bigger means better. The more obvious the change, the bigger the transformation, and the larger the church are proof that God is at work and that ministry is successful. However, many times that is not true. Recently we have been studying the gospel of John with our church group and last week we studied John 6. Toward the end of chapter 6 many of Jesus' disciples told Jesus that his teaching was too difficult and so they turned back and no longer followed him. What? Jesus' followers stopped following him? Later we see that Jesus' own family didn't believe him, Judas betrayed him, and Peter denied him. Do we think Jesus' ministry was successful? According to what standard? Our ministry is not large, it is not flashy, and to some it may not seem successful, but we aren't concerned about that because we believe that God has called us here to be faithful in our daily lives in Mexico and with what he has for us. Whether that be teaching a Bible study, working at the orphanage, having deep conversations with our neighbors, teaching ballet, or teaching someone about physical fitness, we pray that we will be the servants God desires. A very wise mentor of ours told us "Find a few families in Mexico and pour your lives into them and disciple them." That is exactly what we are doing! Some days the changes are big, the transformations great, and thus we feel successful. Other days we watch people turn their back on Jesus and walk away while they make destructive choices. That is the nature of ministry and Jesus must have encountered the same joys and sorrows that we do. "Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.'" Jn. 6:35 Today we are called to trust God whether we seem successful in the eyes of the world or not remembering in him we find all we need. Pictured: -Remodeling the space for the gym. Hooray! -Friday night group.

Exciting News!

We have some exciting news to share with all of you. We have payed the deposit for the locale for the gym and the remodeling of the space will start Saturday! Thank you for those of you who have been praying and for those of you who have contributed to this project! If everything goes smoothly we will be able to open in July. Stay tuned for more details. You might be wondering why it has been so long since our last post. One reason is that Jennifer went on a last minute trip to the US for several days in order to see her father who is recovering from surgery, her friend who is ill with cancer, and to help another friend. We are thankful for several people who gifted her with the funds needed to make the trip possible. She regrets not being able to see most of you while she was there, but she hopes to return in July to see her brother who will be in Kentucky visiting. He lives in Cambodia and is going to fly her home to see him. Josh will most likely be here getting things ready for the gym and continuing with the rest of our ministry responsibilities, but if you are in Kentucky maybe Jennifer will get to visit with you. Josh took a trip to Mexico City and is returning this weekend to visit with our ministry partner, Rodrigo, and to get CrossFit certified. Since the gym will be a Crossfit gym. This week we have been busy having some counseling sessions with our friends, spending time with our neighbors, and getting all of the paper work and funds in order for the gym. How can you pray? -That we will have all the funds we need for the equipment we need for the gym and for the first few months rent -That God would guide us as we balance all of our ministries and relationships -For our friends who are having family problems -For the spiritual maturity and growth of people in our church group -That Christ would be glorified in our marriage, our church group, the gym, and all we do! To Him be the glory!!!!!!!!! Pictures: -A Crossfit gym in Mexico City -Jennifer with our Mexican friends in Kentucky -Us at a quince años party. They are very special and elegante occasions here in Mexico. A quince años is when a girl turns 15 and becomes a woman.

Body, Mind, and Soul

One of our passions is health and wellness. Josh was an exercise science major for a while and used to want to be a strength and conditioning coach. Jennifer has been into ballet since before she was five. Our love for dance and sports has given us a love for a healthy lifestyle and for nutrition. Sometimes we get criticized here for watching what we eat. Nutrition and physical fitness are not as popular here as the are in the States and so sometimes we are misunderstood. However, when one of our friend's found out she had diabetes and that her thyroid was giving her problems again she came to us to look for help. Since we are embarking on this new endeavour of starting a gym the challenge was right up our alley. We helped our friend and her entire family, with a diet plan and Josh has been going to their house 3 times a week to give them workout routines. They already feel better and are loosing weight.

We have always seen ministry as being something integral, just as we humans are integral beings consisting of body, mind, and soul. God desires the best for all areas of our life including our health and wellbeing. After all, we are living temples and should honor our Lord with our bodies! We are excited to be able to use our passions to help people in many ways, getting healthy being one of them!!!! We are still looking for the right place to start the gym. Hopefully we will find one soon!!!

Speaking of health...We have quite a few prayer requests that have to do with health. Would you please lift these up to the Lord?

-Our friend Lety who was diagnosed with diabetes. That her tests would come back with positive news this week.

-For one of Jennifer's close friends back in Kentucky who is fighting for her life against leukemia. Her name is Jen.

-For Marty Seitz, Jennifer's dad who is recovering from colon surgery. He is okay, but still in pain.

-For Jennifer's health

-For Adriana, another friend in our church group. She is 48 and pregnant. Pray for her little baby that it will be healthy!

THANKS!!!!

Semana Santa

Here in Mexico Holy Week is called "Semana Santa" and is a big deal! Everyone is off of school and businesses close Thursday through Sunday. Good Friday is the most celebrated day. EVERYTHING is closed, even stores in the mall. Sadly Christ is viewed to still be on the cross and Easter Sunday is not as popular of a day as Good Friday.

We had a great week celebrating Christ's life, death, and most importantly his resurrection! This week a missionary friend, whom we met in 2008 at Mission Training International, came to stay with us. She is living in Pachuca which is about 6 hours away. It was such a blessing to have her here with us. The day she arrived we went to the orphanage and took the kids cake and played some special games with them.

Thursday was a highlight for sure as we had a seder meal in our home to celebrate Passover. In 2010 we also had one and our friends really enjoyed it. We ate the symbolic meal by candlelight and finished it by taking communion and talking about Christ.

Sunday our church group celebrated Easter together by eating lots of yummy waffles that Jennifer spent the day preparing and having an Easter reflection together.

This week everyone is still off of school as they get two full weeks off during the Easter season. We are currently working on renting a space for the gym. Please pray that it works out okay and we will have all the funds we need in order to buy the equipment needed.

God continues to work and we are blessed to be able to be his servants here. Thanks for your prayers and support. Without them our ministry would not be possible!

Expanding Ministry

Things are getting hectic here as the city prepares for the visit of the Pope. Yes, the Pope. We on the other hand are getting ready to go out of town to take a few days of rest and relaxation and to get away from the hundreds of thousands of people that are going to be invading the city just to get a glimpse of the Pope. Please keep the city and our neighborhood in your prayers. Pray for safety! The soccer fields next to our apartment building are going to be used for parking.

On another note, we have decided to open a gym here in León. You will hear more about this soon in our newsletter. Please also join us in praying for a good space to rent and the money we need in order to start it. We think this will help our ministry as not only will it be a great place to meet people, it will give us, and especially Josh, a job that will put him more on the level of the people we minister to. It is hard for them to see us as profesional Christians without a "job." They don't see our ministry as work in the same way. Now we will be able to be seen as people who "have a job" in addition to our other ministry. We have been looking for a way to expand our ministry for a while and had mentioned to many of you in the past about eventually wanting to open a gym or ballet school. Now is the time and we are excited!

Brief Update

Hello Friends and Family,

This past weekend we traveled to Mexico City once again. We went among other things to speak with the owner of a franchise of Crossfit gyms to talk with him about the possibility of opening one here in León. It has been Josh's dream for several years to open a gym as a way to meet new people and use his love for physical fitness to reach the community. So we are in the process of deciding whether or not we take the big step to open this franchise here in León. Please be in prayer for us that we would make the right decision and that if we do decide to open it that God would provide the finances we need in order to do it. More to come on this in our next newsletter.

God is at work here. We see Him in the faces of the children we work with at the orphanage. We see him in the lives of our friends in our church group and we see him in you through your faithful prayers and gifts.

Weekend Trips

We have been behind on posting and we apologize for that! Things get kind of crazy and it slips our mind to post something, but we shouldn't have any excuses.

Well the past two weekends have been full ones. First we traveled to Mexico City last weekend to be with our co-worker and friend Rodrigo and the church plant he is starting there. We had a wonderful time with the believers there and as always it was an encouragement to be with them and share life together.

This past weekend we had the privilege of going to Acapulco with Rodrigo to a conference about Organic Church. We had never been to Acapulco before so it was a treat to be able to get to go. We endured the 10 hour bus ride and arrived to rather hot and sticky weather. We were greeted by a lovely group of believers that is starting a church. They welcomed us with open arms and showed us the love of Christ from the first moment we arrived. To start off a family gave up their only two bedrooms so that the three of us had a bed to sleep in in their humble home. We were overwhelmed by these people's generosity and love. Most of the people in this church had been very hurt by another church that they ended up leaving. They were receptive to the conference and the challenge that was presented to them be the expression of Christ as the church. Many of the ideas in the conference were new to them and not all of them were easy for them to process, but overall they responded well. One of the highlights was the time of prayer for healing that we had at the end of the conference. Many wounds were healed as we prayed for release from the past.

God is doing big things among small groups of people seeking his face. We are glad to be a part of what He is doing even though we have days when we think we aren't making a difference. We are grateful for the bond we have formed with other groups of believers that are being an organic expression of the church here in Mexico. Join us in praying that more people catch a glimpse of what it means to be the church!

One of our dear friends has been telling us that she is experiencing the love of God like she never has before. She said she asked God to reveal himself to her in a way he never had before. His love is so alive to me she said. I know now that he is real and that he loves me more than anything else.

That is the message we want to send those around us. God is real and cares deeply about every person. His love is bigger than anything we could ever imagine. It has the power to transform and make us into new people. We long to see his love transform those around us. Would you join us in praying for that transformation?

This past week was a time for celebration as we celebrated the birthdays of several people in our church group. One of the youth turned fifteen which is a big deal in Mexico if you are a young lady. On Super Bowl Sunday we had a big get together and celebrated her birthday as well. This was a wonderful time of fellowship and getting to know some new people at the party.

Please pray for continued spiritual growth of our friends and that each day that would fall more in love with the one who loves them dearly!

Back in Mexico!

Greetings from warm and sunny Central Mexico! The weather here is quite different from the snow and cold we had in Kentucky. Actually it is unusually warm in León for this time of year. We haven't had to get out our sweaters and winter coats out at all.

Late Tuesday night we returned to Mexico after spending several weeks in the States visiting friends and family. We had a wonderful time but were eager to get home to León as well.

As we enter the new year would you please consider praying for us?

Pray for:

-Guidance and direction in ministry this year

-Spiritual growth and maturity for our church group

-For the kids of the orphanage we visit and that their financial needs would be met

-The students of Jennifer's ballet class

-Josh's preparations for the theological education class he is going to teach

Thanks for joining us through your gifts and prayers as we minister here in Mexico!!!

Merry Christmas!

Hello dear friends and family!

We have been busy with Christmas dinners and alike and we are sure you have been busy too. Before Christmas comes we wanted to take a moment and share some pictures with you from our time yesterday at an orphanage that we go to every week. We held a Christmas party for the 34 children that live at the orphanage called Alfan. We took them tamales, cookies, and punch as well as Christmas gifts and a piñata. It was a delight to see their faces when they got their small Christmas gifts and candy. These children have very little and may not get any other gifts for Christmas. You may expect the children of an orphanage to no be well behaved but these children are wonderful and have very good house parents. They are grateful for what they have and are kind and loving. Would you please pray for these sweet kids? Pray that they will come to know Christ and his deep love for them.

This Christmas will be spent here in Mexico with our friends, but on the 27th we will head to Michigan and then Kentucky to spend several weeks with family and friends in the States. If you are in the Kentucky area and would like to get together with us please let us know. If you don't hear from us for a few weeks it is because we are in the States.

Remember that you can send your end of the year gift to:
GO InterNational
PO Box 123
Wilmore, KY 40390
With our names on the memo line

The orphanage is also in need of funds as it runs off of donations. If you are interested in giving a gift to help the orphanage please e-mail us at: jandjmexico@gmail.com

We hope you all have a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love,
Josh and Jennifer

Pictured: Christmas Party for the orphanage, Christmas church party

A Great Week!

Last week was a wonderful one as the Reynolds family spent the whole week with us. It was nice to have family in town especially for Thanksgiving because it is holiday when we miss home. We spent the week showing the Reynolds crew around our area of Mexico. We had a great time together. We concluded our activities with a big Thanksgiving meal the Friday after Thanksgiving. Though we bought a big turkey, we slightly underestimated how many people would attend. There were 50 of us! Thankfully, we did have enough food (barely). It was a joyous celebration as we thanked God for all that he has done for us this year. We were glad to be surrounded by family and friends.

This year there is so much to be thankful for and each of you are on the top of our list. Thanks for your ongoing prayers and support. We could not be in Mexico if it weren't for you. We are also thankful to be back in Mexico this year. We are thankful for our many Mexican friends who constantly show us their love and support. And we are thankful for health and wholeness.

We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Preparing for Thanksgiving

The first weekend of November we traveled up North again this time for Josh to give a Bible course for WGM's theological education program. Thankfully the class went well and we had no problems on our trip.

Last Saturday we went to the orphanage to the birthday party of one of the girls. There we were greeted by the cutest group of kids you have ever seen. We wish we could adopt several of them, but that wouldn't be fair to the other kids. We have been spending time with them once a week playing and helping out with homework. They have captured our hearts and we look forward to our several hours with them every week.

Currently, we are preparing for company. Josh's family is coming for the week and will be here to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. We are going to have a huge Thanksgiving dinner the Friday after Thanksgiving for our church and our friends. It will be a time to thank God for what he has done for us this year. Please pray that we will have a good dinner and that it would be a great time of fellowship for everyone involved.

Ballet

Never before have I taught ballet to such an attentive group of girls. Hola maestra I hear as I am greeted by the sweet girls in the poor neighborhood of Cañon de la India. There lies a non-for-profit organization started by a wealthy business owner. She started several libraries with classes for children and their parents as well as a youth orchestra. They have a very nice facility complete with a little ballet studio. I have enjoyed my time there on Fridays and look forward to seeing the girls faces greet me every week. Most of the girls don't have the resources to be able to have nice ballet clothes and ballet shoes. Thankfully Bluegrass Youth Ballet in Lexington, where I used to work, donated some shoes, leotards and tights to me a while back. This week I passed them out and the girls were excited to receive some lightly used items. It is exciting to teach a group of girls who have a desire to be in class and aren't just there because their parents want them to be. These young ones ranging from ages six to ten bring me much joy each week.

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

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?

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

Prayer Requests

Hello Friends and Family!

Today we want to write you to ask you to specifically pray for several things. Especially the trip that we are taking to Saltillo in Northern Mexico tonight and our return Sunday night. We are going by bus, but things aren't very secure. So please be praying that we have a safe trip.

Also we would like to ask you to pray for:

-Jennifer to have a wonderful class this weekend as she teaches "Communicating Christ Cross-Culturally." Pray for her Spanish to flow and for the class to go smoothly.

- Josh as he prepares to teach "The Synoptic Gospels" in a month. He still has lots of preparation to do.

-Our church group. That it would continue to discover who Christ is and the power of the Holy Spirit. For transformed lives.

-Our friend Lety. She is in a very difficult job situation right now and needs a new job or her current situation to improve.

We praise God for what he is doing in the lives of those around us and in our own lives. He is moving and we are excited!!!!

Thanks for praying for us and praising God with us!

You are appreciated!