Photos of Emma

With big sister, Rebecka. She wasn't really happy at the moment :).

With cousin Trisha

With Mommy

A couple of minutes old.

Emma Rose...awake and not crying. THANK YOU JESUS!

With Daddy

Emma on the Internet

Here is Emma on the Hospital's Internet site.

EMMA ROSE

Emma Rose was born this morning at 5:45 am. 7lbs. 9oz. 19 1/2 inches. Lots of hair and big sister Rebecka is really excited! ...so are we :). More news later.

Hurricane Ridge

Yesterday we went up to Hurricane Ridge and played in the snow. It was really nice weather and not too cold. In certain areas it was pretty windy though. The scenery is so beautiful up there. My parent's digital camera was low on batteries so we weren't able to take a lot of scenic pics. We forgot our sled so we had to use a make-shift sled...the floor mat in my parent's car. It worked really good! We started to slide down on our bums, but that got a little cold. My dad pulled out the rubber floor mat and off we went. Rebecka joined me flying uncontrolably down a steep 20 degree, 20 foot hill :) It was a lot of fun and Rebecka really enjoyed herself. However, I think she enjoyed eating the snow more that playing in it.

The Smith Family

We went to visit Jeff and Beth Smith on Thursday and it was a lot of fun. We had a great barbecue, played Croquet, hit some golf balls, and had a great time just hanging out. Jeff is a friend of mine from college and it's always nice to be able to see him and his family. Rebecka had so much fun playing with their daughter Madeline outstide in the playhouse and playing ball with little Owen. Again, Rebecka didn't want to leave. She has so much fun playing with other kids. But she was ok after a while.

Mini-Bus

Wednesday I had the opportunity to go to Fife, Washington where they have a bus sales lot. We didn't see anything potential at the lot, but there was a park-n-sell down the road that had something that pretty much fits the description of what we're looking for. It's a 1996, 24 passenger Thomas school bus. Next week I'm going to be doing some more research as far as what's out there, because the price for this bus was over $10,000. Our budget right now, I believe, is $0...that would be a gift :). Anyway, I'm posting a picture of an idea of what we're looking for so you can be praying and looking yourselves as well. We would sure appreciate any kind of help.

The Eilertsen's

We had a great evening with the Eilertsen's yesterday. It was nice to see them, we haven't visited with them for two years. I met John in college and Monica at a church I attended for a while during college. They are some great friends who now are working with married couples and individuals for marriage counselling. It's was exciting to hear how God is using them, not only with married couples, but in the church as well. Rebecka had a great time with their children (Jet-7, Marianna-5, and Amaria-2[not sure if spelling is correct]) and did not want to leave...even telling them that we were going to see Grandpa and Grandma couldn't convince her.

Trisha Graduated

Trisha is my niece who graduated from High School last year and on Friday graduated from Esthetician school. We all thought the graduation ceremony was a 1pm, including Trisha. Gena and I had a meeting to be at in a different town and we were planning to be at the graduation on time. When we got there, we found out that everything started at 11:30, so we missed it. We all went to Olive Garden for lunch/dinner and spent the evening enjoying one another's company in celebration of Trisha's graduation. We're all proud of her. Good Job Trish!!

Interesting Quote

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her "How could God let something like this Happen?" (regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, "I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?"

Sunday Speaking

Sunday I had the opportunity to share at the 8 o'clock service at our home church. It's a nice service where we sing traditional songs and have communion each Sunday. I shared about Judas Iscariot's decision to choose his own selfish desires of greed over a continued relationship with Christ. In the end, he killed himself because he realized that what he did was wrong, but he didn't know how to handle his greif. It is interesting to me that he spent all that time with Jesus and never tried to get help for his "addiction." Granted, he was destined to betray Jesus, someone had to do it. But, this is such a picture of me when I give in to my selfish desires. Especially growing up, I used to beat myself into the ground and not forgive myself for my faults. Thank Jesus that we have forgiveness of sins and a hope for new beginnings and eternal life. We don't have to live in our "guilt." Paul says in Romans, "There is therefore, now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus and are called by his name."

The Past Week

Again, it's been real nice to be back with my family. We've had a pretty good week. We're pretty much settled in and starting on some of the projects that await us while we're here. We started working on our taxes and it looks like we'll finish that up this week. We've been doing a lot of things in the house, all couped up, going through mail, calling people and pastors, and we've had a couple of meetings to go to as well. So, on Saturday, we went on a much needed walk just the three of us down to the Bay...just minutes from my partents house. It was a nice walk. Rebecka kept on saying, "Thank you for the walk Papi (Daddy)." We got to the rocky beach and just hung out for a while, throwing rocks in the water and enjoying each other.

The Zoo

Yesterday was a nice, relaxing day. We went to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. It was the first time Rebecka had been to the Zoo. She was so excited to see all the animals! "Let's go see the giraffes", "let's go see the elephants", "let's go see the tigers"... She had a wonderful, adventurous time. She was really fun to watch. When we were finished, we got into the car to go to dinner at the Spaghetti Factory, and she fell asleep within minutes. It was a long day for her. Along with us were my parents as well as my niece Trisha. It was a really neat time. We haven't been able to spend that much time with Trisha in a while so it was very special for us.

Two Weeks in Cofradia

I flew in on Saturday afternoon after spending a couple of weeks in Cofradia without Gena and Rebecka. That was pretty hard. The last couple of days were difficult to focus. However, the time there with the youth, staff and the two teams from Texas was great. I have posted already of the first week of activities, and last week we spent the time focusing on reaching out to the friends of those in the youth group. The first night for the second team was filled with games that our youth have already played. It was a lot of fun, and it brought the team and our youth together right away, preparing them for the next night. We played games one night and the next night showed a movie and shared about the spiritual aspect the movie portrayed. Then, we repeated what we had done in Cofradia in Santa Fe. It's nice to be back with my family and I'm looking forward to seeing other family members here in Washington, and our friends as well. If this blog reaches you, drop me a line so we can get together.

Digital Camera

I just got off the phone with the Alaska Airlines Baggage Service and they said they would not be liable for the loss of our digital camera...even though they lost my luggage. That is absolutely rediculous! In the fine print of the agreement we accept by buying a ticket, it says that the only thing they would be liable for are clothes and toiletries. So, we're out a digital camera. This, to say the least, is not the best news of the day.

This Week's Team

This week has been a continuation of last week, only our youth have been the ones to invite others and bring them to the events. Sunday night was a game night for everyone to just have fun and get to know each other (the second team is a different and older group than the first team). Monday night was a basketball and volleyball hang out time and we had a number of new faces in the crowd. They were invited to a movie night on Tuesday, then after the movie to talk about the spiritual significance of it. Wednesday evening was another basketball and volleyball hang out time, but in Santa Fe. We haven't done much specifically for the youth in Santa Fe so this was new to a lot of the youth in that town. We had a few show up and we will be inviting them to a movie tonight. Tomorrow I travel with the team to Guadalajara where I'll be flying out on Saturday morning. Can't wait to see my family.

Oscar Night

Oscar Night was a very special night for everyone. The Americans did a great job of decorating and serving our youth a great meal. One of our students commented, "It was great to be treated special and made to be felt loved."

Inside the decorated church.

The girls' dinner table.

The guys' dinner table.

At the end of the evening, everyone got in their small groups they had been meeting in all week to have a time of prayer and good-bye's.

Game Night

Here are a few shots of some of the games the students played while getting to know each other and making friends.














Team Building Games: Everyone on the team had to stand on the tarp and flip it over w/o touching the cement.















Team Building Games: Try to see how many people you can get on a peice of carpet. I think there was 10.















Tossing water balloons back and forth with baby oil on your hands. Mexican/American partners.

Update from Last Week's Team

I have not been real well about blogging these past couple of weeks (as you can see). I get to the computer and cannot find the words to express what has happened the past couple of weeks here in Cofradia. It's been great! Our camera was stolen while Alaska Airlines had lost my luggage on my way down, at first they promised a reimbursement, now they say there won't be. I'm very upset about that. Please pray that I will be able to communicate well and wisely with the director of the baggage center for the airlines. I have downloaded some pictures from other staff members onto the computer so I have a couple to show you.

I wrote last Tuesday just breifly about what the team was doing. Last week was a time to focus on our youth group...the one's involved. It was a great time. The youth from Texas made very good friends with our youth through games, movies, hanging out, and each night we had a small group time. As a youth pastor, I couldn't have asked for a better team. All of our youth were impacted last week and we even had some return to the fold, and others join. On Thursday night we had an "Oscar's Night" handing out 6 prizes to some of our youth who have been very faithful these past couple of years. It was a great evening and in front of everyone I had the privilage of encouraging all the youth that participated with us during the week. The Americans did an excellent job decorating the Arrayanes church for the evening from a red carpet entrance that went all the way to the street and into the church (about 20 yards), candles, christmas lights hanging from the ceiling, a VERY good dinner. Jay did a great job putting together a video of the events of the week, and Amber (a new staff intern) put together a slide show for a fill-in while we ate. It was definatley a night to remember and I can't wait to do it again next year, Lord willing!

...I'm having difficulties uploading pictures onto the blog. I'll try this afternoon.
...Also, I'll have a post about this week's events.
...We are eating in homes for lunch today (at least once a week we take a team into the homes of people in the village to have an authentic mexican meal) I need to go, it's getting close to that time.

Update

Things are going very well here. The team showed up late Saturday night, and Sunday evening we had a youth event, played games, and divided up into small groups for the week. Yesterday the team started working on the new church property; taking out trees, digging trenches, hauling rocks. They are working towards putting the foundation in for the wall that will fence the property. In the evening, we got together in the small groups and played a bunch of team building games and had some debreifing time at the end. It's going very well. The team is doing a great job of developing friendships that last and getting to know the locals. When we were finished, the two guys' groups played speed soccer against each other on the new court. I haven't actually done that in a while...it felt good!

Lost, or...?

I went to get my luggage yesterday at a mail place. I got there the same time the truck did and I was delighted to see my bag. However, I get home and open it up and our digital camera was missing! The little case it was in, was sitting right there...empty. I was pretty disappointed that Alaska Airlines lost my luggage in the first place. Then, to receive it with items missing really upset me. I was very disappointed with the airlines. I called them to let them know our camera was gone and they said they would reimburse us. That's great, but it doesn't replace the photos that were still in the camera. Oh well, it's times like these that you just need to stop and think...it's all gonna burn in the end. So, I'm going to see if I can borrow a camera from someone to take photos and put them on the blog. Looking forward to the team that's coming this afternoon. I had a bunch of the youth at the house last night and we watched Lancelot: First Night. It was a good movie to watch with them.

Back In Cofradia

I'm back in Cofradia for a couple of weeks. I'll be working with a Short-term Missions Team from Houston who will focus on working with the youth. It should be a very productive and enjoyable time.

Gena and Rebecka are still in Washington and I miss them ALOT!

Still Alive

Yes, we're still alive. Not much to blog about. This week was full of getting settled, resting, making appointments for doctors, planning for the next few weeks in Cofradia.

Gena will be seeing the doctor on the 8th, we went in for an ultrasound last week and the doctor's still say it's a girl. We've been tossing up a few different names, once the baby is born, we'll be sure to post it.

I leave for Cofradia on Wednesday for a couple of weeks. There is a team from Texas going down that will be working with our youth. They're a great team. It'll be nice to see everyone again, however, I'm going to HATE being away from Gena and Rebecka!

Looking forward to a busy week.

Back In Washington

We made it to Washington after a loooong trip up. We drove at least 8 hours every day, up to 18 on Friday. It was nice to see friends and family on the way. In Tucson, we stayed the night at Bob and Dorothy Micher's place; on our way to Perris we visited Tom Hackett and his wife in Phoenix for a couple of minutes, then we stayed with Gena's sister in Perris, CA. We made our way up to Tracy, CA to stay with Gena's brother, Luis. While we were there, I was able to visit with a good friend from college, Adam Dalhed. It was so nice to see him again, it's been a long time. As soon as I get the picture of us, I'll put in on. The final day of our trip we left before 4am to avoid traffic in Sacramento and try to make it through the passes without snow. We managed to make it through Sacramento at 5am with no traffic. After breakfast in Redding, we purchased some chains because there was supposed to be a snow storm coming in. I think we got just the beginning of it, because it was snowing pretty hard on Mount Shasta, but the roads weren't too bad yet...just slushy. I never went back online to see pictures of the pass after we crossed, it would have been interesting. We pulled in to my parents' home on Friday night around 10pm and man were we tired! We spent Saturday just resting and kind of situating ourselves which was nice. Sunday's message at church was great! Pastor Marc is talking about 7 Choices That Please The Lord. Great stuff!! We did some more situating yesterday, we weren't able to get ahold of the doctor's because of the holiday, so we called today...no one answered so we're waiting for a phone call. That's all for now. Looking forward to seeing friends and family while we're in Washington.

On the Road

We're in Tucson. We pulled in late last night after crossing the border into the US. We had some problems bringing my mother-in-law in, there are new rules, new paperwork she has to have with her (her passport and visa are not enough), and because she didn't have that paperwork with her and there was no way to get it by fax, we had to put her on a bus back to Cofradia. We're all doing fine, we're off to Perris, California to spend the evening with Gena's sister, Julia.

Off To Washington

We leave tomorrow morning (Monday) for Washington. Our itinerary looks something like this: Cross the border on Tuesday and stay the night in Tucson, Arizona; Pass through Phoenix, meet with Tom Hackett in the morning and head out to L.A. to stay with Gena's sister on Wednesday night; Thursday we'll go to Tracy, California to stay with Gena's brother and drop off her mother who will be traveling with us; Friday and Saturday we'll be driving up I-5 going over the passes which I just checked out...snow is being forecasted for Friday and Saturday in Northern California and Southern Oregon. Hmmm. I might need to purchase some chains on the way. Thank you for your prayers, I'll try to keep in touch this week while we're on the road. Looking forward to seeing everyone!!!!

Minibus For Cofradia

We have posted on our Alternative Missions website a special need for Cofradia. Please consider how you may help. We would really like to get a bus down here, it would help out a lot with the youth and the groups that come down. Thanks.

WOW!! What A Great Time With The Students!

WOW!! What a great time with the students! Youth Pastors Brad and Dave from Houston, Texas came and led a three day Student Leadership conference for the youth of Cofradía and Arrayanes. It was a great way to give them a boost for the time that we’ll be gone, and the material is so applicable to this group right now that when we come back I plan to review these things with the youth as we “re-group.” I am so excited for the future of our youth group.

On Thursday night, we had dinner at Pastor Goyo’s house with 10 students and four of us adults as Brad and Dave shared with the youth the importance of being a servant to others if we want to be a leader. Just as Jesus demonstrated service to his disciples on the Thursday before he died at the last supper, Brad and Dave re-enacted history as they washed our disciple’s feet. It was a little awkward for some of the students, but they were all willing to take of their shoes and sandals and allow Brad and Dave to wash their fungus filled feet….(just kidding!!!) most of them had clean feet. After the foot washing we ate dinner and talked for a while, then we had communion. It was a great start to a great three days.

Friday evening we had another meeting in our house. This time we had 12 students and 6 adults. Unfortunately, Pastor Brad hadn’t been feeling well all day, so he stayed in bed to rest. Meanwhile, Pastor Dave shared with the students about Spiritual Warfare. He touched on some important issues like knowing who your enemy is, how he comes at you, how to defeat him, and what we have for armor. This meeting started a little cold with minimal participation by the students. Dave decided to take a quick 5 minute break to hang out a bit, and after that, the students started to share. Not all of them, but more than before. They were more comfortable. I was excited about this time because Dave mentioned a few things that tied in perfectly with our “Love Waits” conference a couple of weeks ago. As the evening was coming to a close, we decided to put on the movie, Island and focused on the point that many of the people were deceived into believing a lie that they thought was true, just as the enemy does in our own life. What a great night!

Saturday morning’s Leadership classes were postponed until the afternoon because now Pastor Dave was sick. Praise God! He knows the reasons for all these “miss-haps” and turns them into something good. We started in the afternoon at the church in Arrayanes and talked about Team Building, Personal Disciplines, and having an Accountability Partner. Excellent material that ties is so much to what we’ve been teaching them here. The icing on the cake was after the classes: a Worship Experience. With the room filled with candles and the lights dimly lit, we gathered in close to worship God. This was the first time we’ve had worship time with the youth with just me singing and playing on the guitar. It wasn’t about being in the band, it wasn’t about trying to hit the right notes, and it wasn’t about showing people what you can do. It was all about God, and singing praises to him. After about 15-20 minutes, the students went around to different “stations” to experience God in different ways. There were various different things to do: there was a place to write a letter to God, whether it was a love letter or just wanting to share with him your heart; there was a place to write down your prayer requests on a big piece of paper hanging on the wall; there was a place to write out your sins in the sand, then wipe them away…what an awesome example of what Christ does; there was a place to draw and paint pictures; and a place to make sculptures out of play-dough. I was so mad at myself for forgetting my camera. There was some really neat things going on and I wish a had an image to share with you…not just to share with you, but to remember better of our time with God. The talent in our group surprises me, the sculptures were phenomenal! One of them made a sculpture of Jesus on the throne holding two little kids sitting on his lap. Another sculpted a hand and letters in it saying, “You hold me in your hand.” I wish that you all could have seen it. It was an incredible night and the youth had a genuine experience with God. This is something I’ve been praying for, for a long time. I pray that it continues. We will do this again when we return to Cofradía this summer.

WOW!! What a great time with the students!

Sunday Worship Update

The students did a great job on Sunday. Chupa led worship in Cofradia and as the band accompanied him, they did wonderful!! I was very impressed with how they did. Mili did a great job in Arrayanes as well. The band could use a lot more practice. They played some songs they haven't played for a long time. Keep praying for these youth, they are very young.


Mili

Chupa

More Half Day of Prayer Pictures

Everyone went spread out and went to be alone with God. Here are some pics of their time.

Gena

Julio

Jose Angel (Chupa)

Jose Luis (Fursio)

Seahawks' Defeat?

I was happy to be able to watch the second half. I walked into the local restaurant to see Seattle miss a feild goal, then looked at the score and was disheartened. It was fun to be able to watch "my" team play in the Super Bowl, it would have been nice to see them win. I didn't see the whole game so I don't have much of an opinion on whether or not Seattle should have won, nor do I know much of how the teams played. I came across an article (which may be old news to everyone who watched the game) about how the refs weren't so Super in the Super Bowl. Here is an article from the point of view of a columnist who predicted the Steelers to win it. It was kind of encouraging to me, but the Seahawks still lost. Instead of looking at their defeat, the are the NFC CHAMPS!!! Click here to check out what this guy says about the game.

LIPS

Rebecka got into mommy's purse! She is so fascinated with lipstick right now.

A New Health Drink

Here's some interesting information about health issues concerning coffee. The article, "Coffee: The Latest Health Drink?" says that the health benefits of drinking coffee far outweigh the risks. Given you keep yourself disciplined in not drinking too much. At the end of the article are some pointers of what kinds of coffee to drink and not drink, and what kind of stuff to put in or not put in it. So, I'm looking forward to my health drink tomorrow morning.

The Smith Family Blog

Jeff Smith is a very good friend from college. He is one of the neatest guys I know. Check out his blog here. He is the one who helped me get this blog going (thanks, Jeff). For those of you who know him, I put a link on the right hand side of the page so you can check his blog out in the future as well.

The Blogger

I have a few pictures I want to show you, but I have been unable to put any on the blog since the 1/2 day of Prayer. I've been informed that they're having some technical difficulties in bloggerland. As soon as I can, I want to post some more 1/2 day of prayer pics and a funny picture of Rebecka. Thanks for praying for the youth who were leading worship yesterday. More info and pictures of them later.

GO SEAHAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!

A little bummed I won't be able to watch the game. We have a church service tomorrow evening. Hopefully I'll catch the tail end of the game on the internet. It would be so fun to join in on all the excitement. Anyway, hope they do well.

Half Day Of Prayer Agenda

Here's the agenda, I hope the format doesn't confuse you.


Half Day of Prayer




9am Meeting together for general information.
· The Agenda
· Jot down on a notepad the promises of God for you that you find during this time.

9:10 Individual Meditation:
1. Waiting on the Lord (Read: Isaiah 40:31; Psalm 27:14; Psalm 62:5)
a. To feel His presence (Read Psalm 139 [Think about His presence with each verse])
b. For your cleansing
i. Read Psalm 139:23, 24 and ask God to examine your heart just as these verses suggest. Examining our own heart can bring us to undue imaginations, unhealthy introspection, or anything else the enemy would like to put in front of us. But, when the Holy Spirit does the examining, he shows us what we need to confess and have cleansed.
ii. Read Psalm 51 and 32 (prayers and confessions of King David).
iii. *VERY IMPORTANT: If you find that you’ve sinned against one of your brothers in Christ, write it down so that you will not forget to reconcile the situation. If you do not, it will prevent you from having a clear mind the rest of the day. Do not continue until you decide when you will meet with that person.
c. For praise and adoration to God
i. Psalm 103, 111, and 145
ii. Revelations 4 and 5
iii. Sing songs of praise and adoration
iv. Spontaneously express your gratitude to God.

**If you have a concern or an important decision to make, now is the time to ask for that—before praying for others.

2. Praying for Others.
a. For specific things.
i. Friends
ii. Family
iii. Missionaries
iv. Pastors
v. Neighbors
vi. Fellow Christians
vii. Government Leaders
b. Use the Apostle Paul’s prayer
i. Philippians 1
ii. Colossians 1
iii. Ephesians 1 and 3
c. Ask for others what you would ask for yourself. Pray for them as if you were in their shoes.
3. Pray for yourself At this time, your attitude should be, “Lord, what is your opinion on how I live?”
a. Meditate on Psalm 119:18
b. Review all the scriptures you have learned applying them to your life.
c. Read a whole book of the Bible, applying it to your life.
d. Pray 1 Chronicles 4:10
e. Think about your activities. Do they glorify God? Do you take God with you wherever you go?
f. Jot down what God thinks of your activities.

*Write a summary of what God has taught you this day.

12:30 Return with the group for a time of sharing and have lunch.

Blogger Problems

For some reason I'm able to post right now. It's not letting me send any more pictures, so I'll send more later of our Half Day of Prayer.

Half Day of Prayer

This morning we took some youth who are attending one of the discipleship classes on a Half Day of Prayer retreat. It was a very nice time to get away and spend some time with God. The youth enjoyed it as well. Some said they really enjoyed being in the presence of God, others mentioned they realized they needed to forgive those that hurt them, and others noted that we need to be unified and love one another. That was pretty weird, because as I was praying for the group, my prayer was that the group would be unified and that we would learn to love one another just as Christ desires for us. Another young man who was not part of the discipleship class wanted to come along to pray also. He was a member of the last class that did this, I had no problems allowing him to participate in something I think we all can benefit from. I was encouraged when he mentioned what impacted him the most during that time was in Isaiah 40:31 where it says we will be given new strength when we wait on the Lord. That, too, was something that impacted me during this time. So many times I get weary or tired, sometimes I even get frustrated to the point of wishing I didn’t have to work with a bunch of rebellious teenagers (that may seem harsh, but it’s true). I realized that even though I read my Bible and pray regularly, I need to spend some genuine “away” time with God. I need to rest in Him, wait on Him, and trust in Him. He is the holder of my hope. In no one else will I find peace.

I really enjoyed this time. I will post a guide we used for you to use yourself. Try it. Get away from the business of life and spend some time with God. That is what HE desires.

The group: Chupa, Pedro, Fursio, Ana, Esteban, Gena.

Ana Yadira

Pedro

Coffee Addiction

Pastor Marc from my home church in Poulsbo sends out an encouraging word each week in an email called "Just-a-Byte." I really enjoy it, it helps me to stay connected to home and know what's going on. Ocasionally, he'll put some jokes in, brain teasers, or some interesting thoughts within the content. This week he sent this...

You know you’re addicted to coffee if:
o You have to watch videos in fast-forward.
o You chew on other people’s fingernails.
o You can type sixty words per minute with your feet.
o You can jump-start your car without cables.
o You walk twenty miles on your treadmill before you realize it’s not plugged in.

Coffee, that sounds good!

Worship Leaders

Please remember to pray for Chupa and Mili as they will be leading worship this Sunday. I will be sitting down to observe to see how I can help them. This is a big step for them, pray for confidence and passion to Worship God.

New Ministry Location For Alternative Missions

Click here to check out a new location that Alternative Missions will be ministering. Be sure to check out the photo album of some great pics.

Love Waits Update

Youth from La Carpa church in Guadalajara came on Saturday to give a very good presentation of "Love Waits." It's an explaination of the consequences of sex before marriage. There were dramas, statistics, activities, and they closed with small groups in the end to debrief and get to know our youth a little better. I've had a chance to talk with just a few youth so far and they all enjoyed the conference. One young man said he thought it was interesting to know that Sexually Transmitted Diseases spread so quickly and to a variety of different people.

Thank you for your prayers for that evening. Keep them in your prayers when the Lord puts them on your heart to stay pure and keep themselves for their future spouse.

Great stuff!

"Love Waits" Purity Conference

Saturday night we have a guest youth group coming from Guadalajara to share with our youth group about some pretty important realities in life. Please be praying for our youth to be receptive and that they would comprehend why it is good to wait for the person God has for them.

Mazatlan With Friends

We had a WONDERFUL time with our friends, Roger and Hazel Reeh from Washington for a few days this week in Mazatlan. I met Hazel on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic in 2000 with some doctors. They are a very neat couple and great company. We had a great time with them talking about the Bible, life, and ministry. We had a chance to walk the beach and also sit at the pool. Rebecka played in it for a while and was so excited! She got up the next morning and the first thing she said was "let's go swimming!" Thank you Roger and Hazel for a great couple of relaxing, enjoyable days. You guys are great friends!

The Weather

The weather has been getting warmer lately. It's January 27 and summer is just around the corner :) . Last night's low was 61 degrees, just last week we had a low of 41! Yesterday it was 90 in the shade and 106 in the sun! I don't think it will snow here this year.

Worship Leaders Update

Thank you for your prayers this week. Chupa and Mili did excellent! I'm so proud of the both of them!

Chupa did a great job this morning in Cofradia, calling the congregation together to begin worship, leading in the songs, praying between a couple songs, and having the people be seated when finished. Great Job!! He's been battling a cold himself, so I was extra proud of him for sticking in out. If he looses his shyness, he could be one of the strongest leaders of the church. He's a very likable person, EVERY team that comes here falls in love with this guy. Please pray that the Lord would give him a boldness and that his leadership skills would develop even further.




Mili did a wonderful job this afternoon in Arrayanes. Very much the same as far as inviting the congregation to worship, praying, singing, and closing. She has a beautiful voice and has a lot of potential to leave me without a job! She's doing great leading the group, and also is teaching the children's sunday school. Please pray that she will be able to keep her focus on giving God the glory and continue to seek His desires for her life.

Sickness

I've been feeling pretty miserable the past few days. I could hardly do anything on Friday. The Short-Term Mission team that was here from Colorado went up to Agua Aceda. I was really looking forward to going with them. For my first three years here in Cofradia, I ministered there and saw a lot of neat things happen and made lots of friends. We only go every now-and-then so I don't get a chance to see them very often. I'm feeling a bit better this evening. I had some Advil that helped my headache. Keep praying for all of our health. Thanks.

Cold Weather

I couldn't believe the thermometer this morning when it read that last night's low was 41 degrees. It was a cold one. We had orientation for the team that arrived and stayed at the church until 10pm. It was freezing! This morning was cold as well, 45 degrees at 7am when we went to breakfast. I don't think I've experienced cold weather like this here before.

Worshp Leaders

Please pray for our two Worship Leaders in training. This Sunday they will lead worship themselves. We are providing them with opportunities to grow and take ownership. Mili, the Worship Leader in Arrayanes, has experience already. However, she will still be nervous. Chupa, the Worship Leader in Cofradia has yet to lead a service. Please pray that he will have the courage to follow through. Being shy is something that dominates people here and impedes them from growing in the Lord and in their ministry. Thank you for taking time this week to pray for them.

Sunday Speaker

It was a blessing to have my friend Hector here this weekend. He preached in Cofradia and in Arrayanes. It was a great message, encouraging us to continue to seek God and not be “comfortable” where we’re at. This is my heart for the youth here because many of them are doing so well with their instruments that they have become bored with them, wanting to learn a different one. I can only teach what I don’t know to a certain point, this was a great message for them to put more effort into being creative and learning new things with the instruments they play. Hector mentioned that sometimes there are things that hold us back for stretching ourselves for something bigger. It can be different for different individuals; for some it may be fear of the unknown, for others it may be unbelief, for others it may be the love of money, and for others it may be something else. Whatever it is, we will not grow until that “something” is given over to God.

The Front Porch

We have finally finished! What there is left to do now is some landscaping in front. It's becoming to feel more and more like home. We're focusing on some details inside and outside until we have enough money to continue with the back fence (wall), then a carport floor. We would also like to get some bedrooms upstairs someday. It all depends on money. Thank you for having helped us get this far!

January Newsletter

Our Latest newsletter has been posted online. You can read by clicking here. If you do not receive our newsletter and would like to, let us know here.

Christmas Tree Party

I got our camera back. So, here's some photos of our Christmas party. It was quick.

stuff

Saturday I spent the morning working on putting a roof on our front porch with the help of one of the men in the church. I'm so glad to have that done. Hugo (Gena's brother) is working on the steps today. I haven't taken any pictures yet, maybe when the steps are done. In the afternoon I was able to use the new miter saw a friend gave me while in Arizona. I put up the trip for the doors in our's and Rebecka's bedrooms. That evening we had a less than 5 minute Christmas burning party (the three of us) of which I took pictures, but on Sunday I forgot our camera in Arrayanes. Today I'll be going there, I hope it's still around.

I had the camera in Arrayanes to take a picture of the youth as we had a special recogniction with certificates for those who finished the Discipleship course. When I get back from Arrayanes, I'll have to post the pics.

We have a staff meeting in 1/2 hour. That's all for now.

Recent Memories of Rebecka

We've been looking back and printing some old photos...finally. Here's a few of them.

"I know I have a hole in my mouth for this thing somewhere!"

"Who said you could take my picture!?"

"That's funny, this doesn't feel or look like my normal bottle."

"How do I look?"

"Just the perfect fit!" (this is a toy swimming pool)

"Comments" Section

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Normal Life

Today was a pretty normal day, sitting at the computer trying to get my overdue tasks done. I finally got the newsletter done I wanted to finish last week, there's only one thing I'm waiting on and then it will be sent out by email and postage mail. If you do not receive our newsletter and wish to, please click here to let me know and I will get one to you.

This afternoon we had worship practice for the group in Arrayanes. Mili is coming down with a cold and kind of had an "off" day today. We still all had a lot of fun practicing and even goofing off...can you do that at worship practice? We do:).

Rebecka is at a birthday party right now. Luis, her 2 year old cousin, came walking up to the house all ready to go with his gift in hand and escorted Rebecka to the party. Actually, he took her to his house where his mom took them from there. It was pretty cute though.

I'm still battling a cough and stuff, Gena still has a slight sore throat, and Rebecka's cough isn't getting better either. She had a loooong nap this afternoon which she needed quite a bit.

Anyway, this is a normal day.

"Graduation" Party

Last night, the five youth who finished all four levels of the dicipleship program came over to our house for a get-together to talk about what's ahead for them. In truth, they have accomplished something that is very hard to do especially coming from their background. The first level is pretty easy, talking about the basics of what the Bible actually says on things like Baptism, Prayer, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, etc. Very good course that was passed on to us by Pastor Rafael Gradilla in Bellevue, WA who does this course for his congregation quite often. Thank you Pastor Rafael.

The next three levels are from the Navigator's 2:7 series. There are three books; the first helps us to grow in our personal relationship with God. The next one brings it to another level, challenging us to put together our personal testimony and share it with the church. The final book teaches us how to bear fruit in the Family of God. We have a challenge that we added of having them help out in one of the Sunday services, teaching a Sunday School class, helping out with communion, or welcoming the congregation, etc. There are lots of options for them, each one has done a great job!

Now, the next step is to choose a Mentor in their life. Last night we gave them options to choose who they feel most comfortable with amongst our missionary and pastoral staff. By Sunday, they will all have chosen someone. We will help them out a little so there will be a good match. They all seem real excited about it. Out of that relationship, with the help of the Mentor, they will be guided to work as an aprentice in a certain area of the church. I may be making it sound complicated, but I believe that this is something that we can be real effective in on training up leaders and disciples for Christ.

I shared a devotional that would pertain to their postion on persevering and keeping their eyes on Christ. As we wrapped up the devotional time, we talked about the mentorship, and then got ready for Hot Dogs.

While we were waiting for the food to be cooked...

Sandra, Mili, and Ruben hung out at the kitchen counter,


Julio was trying out the hot dogs to make sure they were done,


and Goyito played with Rebecka in the wheel chair.

After dinner, we played a challenging and competative game of Pictionary.

Back on the Blog

We've been pretty busy (as usual) with meetings, a lot of catching up, and a list of to do's that are overdue...still working on those. I've been battling a cold for a couple of weeks, Rebecka has a cough, and Gena mentioned her throat was a little sore this morning. We're ok though. Sometimes I get so busy that blogging has to take a seat on the back burner (ouch!) for a while. Yesterday Dave Elias' parents arrived here in Cofradia, Jack and Marianne Elias. They are such a joy to be around. Jack mentioned that he checks out our blog quite a bit and noticed we hadn't written in a while (a week). It was encouraging to know that there are people who are keeping up with us through the blog. Thank you to all of you who take the time to read about what we're up to. The main purpose for this is to help you pray for us and keep you updated on our lives and ministry. Thank you for your prayers!