In February, we had a team arrive from Farville, Va for their 1st time of Evangelism with us. Clint Dalton was the leader, and has always come with men for construction only. When they arrived, we took them to Saltillo (about 1 from Monterrey) and stayed and worked with Pastor Tony with the church La Roca. He took us to a new area on the edge of the city where they want to begin a work, and when we arrived, the people just started showing up! We didn't even go out to invite them! So we gave away bags of food and shared the Gospel and sang to them....many received Christ into their hearts that day! They live in a very rough area, in mud & slat shacks, on the edge of a clay hill, where they made bricks by hand. Later when the team was praying, they felt that the Lord was calling them to buy a truck for the pastor, so he could continue the work there (his vehicle had been totaled in an accident). So the team went back to Farmville after the week was over, and God provided a Nissan truck for Pastor Tony!!!
Clint & a few different men decided to come back in April to work with a construction team from Conroe, TX with Pastor Lloyd Maddoux, and they drove the truck down. Now we need God to do another miracle so we can get the finances needed to nationalize the truck, so Pastor Tony can drive it in Mexico. Please pray with us for this.
As I just mentioned, we also had a construction team come in April, and we worked hard on the roof of the multipurpose section of the church we have been working on for the past few years. This church and social service center is being worked on in steps, with the goal of not only serving the people in this poor garbage dump area, but also to be able to provide food, medical & dental needs and water. God has connected us with a pastor that has a heart to serve the people in both Word and deed. We had a wonderful time with this combined team of men from Conroe, TX and Farmville, VA with one man from Boston, MA, and everyone had a fun time teasing him about his accent (they all had accents to me, ha!).
I can't get my camera to download photos at this moment, but when I can, I will post them, so make sure to check back here occasionally!
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Christmas vacation & Latin American Missions Retreat
December was a month away from home (Monterrey), but we were with family, so all was well!! While Roger stayed in San Antonio with the boys for a week, Debbi flew (free with Charity's benefits) to Salt Lake City to spend time with her before Christmas. We baked cookies, fudge, all the goodies for Christmas...just like old times! It was alot of fun just to hang out together! The following week Roger, Jeremy, Josh & Albessa and her parents all drove out to be with us for Christmas! It was such a fun week in the snow together...we ended up in Park City for skiing & snowboarding. We also drove by a small street taco stand one night when it was snowing, so we all stopped and ate Mexican tacos in the snow! Even Zacky came along with his new doggie wheelchair.
Then we drove back to San Antonio and Roger & I flew from there to Orlando, FL to attend the LACC Retreat with missionaries from all over Latin America! It was so good to renew friendships and listen to God's Word as the theme was from Jeremiah 29:11...and allowing ourselves to just receive & be renewed in the services.
The week after the Retreat, a good friend of ours Harlan & Jane gave us their condo to use there in Orlando. We invited my (Debbi) brothers and sisters to come and spend the week with us...it was the 1st time in 15 years (since we left for the mission field)..that all of our brothers & sisters were together (except for my mothers funeral). Even Charity flew over for a few days to reunite with her aunts and uncles! However, the night that my family arrived, Roger came down with the flu (most believe it was the swine flu due to the symptoms). He ended up in bed the entire week with high fever and chills, so only had 1 day of vacation before my family left, poor thing.
We are now back in Monterrey, and are back to work again...lots to do this year for the Lord in Monterrey and outlying areas. Please keep us in your prayers.
Then we drove back to San Antonio and Roger & I flew from there to Orlando, FL to attend the LACC Retreat with missionaries from all over Latin America! It was so good to renew friendships and listen to God's Word as the theme was from Jeremiah 29:11...and allowing ourselves to just receive & be renewed in the services.
The week after the Retreat, a good friend of ours Harlan & Jane gave us their condo to use there in Orlando. We invited my (Debbi) brothers and sisters to come and spend the week with us...it was the 1st time in 15 years (since we left for the mission field)..that all of our brothers & sisters were together (except for my mothers funeral). Even Charity flew over for a few days to reunite with her aunts and uncles! However, the night that my family arrived, Roger came down with the flu (most believe it was the swine flu due to the symptoms). He ended up in bed the entire week with high fever and chills, so only had 1 day of vacation before my family left, poor thing.
We are now back in Monterrey, and are back to work again...lots to do this year for the Lord in Monterrey and outlying areas. Please keep us in your prayers.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Exploratory trip to visit Indigenous Villages in Veracruz
After Debbi returning from spending 3 great fun filled weeks in Salt Lake City with Charity, and helping her move into a new apartment in August, I had 2 days at home to unpack, wash clothes and repack for an Exploratory trip in southern Veracruz Mexico.
We were 7 people in all (us; Jerry from Monterrey; Abby (who we met in Costa Rica Lang. School) and her parents (pastors from Xalapa) and a pastor from Minatitlan, Veracruz for most of the trip, and then a young Mexican missionary joied us 1 day (8 people in a 7 passenger Ford Explorer and all our luggage on top!). It was pretty cramped, but so much fun and beautiful country!
We went to a couple villages high in the mountains, where they have their own dialect, so we had to have a local translate from Spanish to their languages...Popoluca & Nahuatl. While there we had an opportunity to share Christ with some local men who called us over to the cantina (bar), as they had been watching us and were very interested in who we were (esp. Roger)! We had an opportunity to use the village We were above the clouds high in the mountains with a beautiful view during the day, but the drive back down the mountain at night was very dangerous in the rain, but God kept us safe.
The next day we went to an afro-mexican village (Yanga) and prayed for a new church being planted and ate pig on a spit, yum! and prayed for the missionaries that are starting that work, and had an opportunity to share Christ with a young lady there.
We then drove south to a village called Sayula where the women were wearing their traditional dresses and they shared with Debbi how they only recently started wearing tops (no wonder, its soooo hot there!). There were lots of laughs as we talked about the possibiblities of when we return that they are going to dress her up in one of their traditional outfits (but she agreed only as long as they have a blouse to wear:). We felt a real connection with that group of believers and are pretty sure we will be returning to that village next year. They also fed us "carne de chango", which is monkey meat.
The next few days we ended up in a couple of jungle villages by the Gulf of Mexico (Soteapan & Pajapan) that are only a couple miles apart, but speak 2 different dialects. We had a great opportunity to share Christ with a drunken man who came out of the cantina to talk to us and then took us to his home, and while there his mother and wife and children all asked Christ into their hearts and he also cleared up from being drunk and asked the Lord to forgive him and then took time to speak to his family and mother to ask forgiveness. This was all so orchestrated from God, its hard to even believe it ourselves! They have opened their home for weekly bible studies and discipleship for the village to begin. The last village was deep in the jungle and we had an opportunity to speak in a little church at night where they also speak a different dialect. There Debbi got tons of bites on her legs (50 on one leg alone!), and is still scratching!
We ended the trip in Minatitlan, Vc speaking in the church of the pastor that accompanied us on this outreach. They treated us so well, feeding us lots of great foods from the south, as most of the people in this area are from the Oaxaca region. It is very hot there, as its much more humid than Monterrey, so we were melting most of the time! On Sunday when we showed up at the church to speak, all of the ladies were wearing their traditional dresses, and the pastor's wife took Debbi in a small room and gave her a beautiful traditional dress to wear that day, and to keep!!
We left on Monday morning and dropped Abby off in Cardel, where she took a bus back home (her parents had left us on Friday night as they had other engagements). We then headed to Cerro Azul and spent a couple days with some of our old staff (Dan & new wife Wendy Spurling; and David & Leah Teran and their kids! We enjoyed the Sept. 16 Festival with them and reminiscing of old times in Monterrey over the past years together!
Enjoy the photos and I'll be putting more up on Facebook soon! Also, please pray for the people in these villages, that they would all hear the message of Christ in their own language someday!
We were 7 people in all (us; Jerry from Monterrey; Abby (who we met in Costa Rica Lang. School) and her parents (pastors from Xalapa) and a pastor from Minatitlan, Veracruz for most of the trip, and then a young Mexican missionary joied us 1 day (8 people in a 7 passenger Ford Explorer and all our luggage on top!). It was pretty cramped, but so much fun and beautiful country!
We went to a couple villages high in the mountains, where they have their own dialect, so we had to have a local translate from Spanish to their languages...Popoluca & Nahuatl. While there we had an opportunity to share Christ with some local men who called us over to the cantina (bar), as they had been watching us and were very interested in who we were (esp. Roger)! We had an opportunity to use the village We were above the clouds high in the mountains with a beautiful view during the day, but the drive back down the mountain at night was very dangerous in the rain, but God kept us safe.
The next day we went to an afro-mexican village (Yanga) and prayed for a new church being planted and ate pig on a spit, yum! and prayed for the missionaries that are starting that work, and had an opportunity to share Christ with a young lady there.
We then drove south to a village called Sayula where the women were wearing their traditional dresses and they shared with Debbi how they only recently started wearing tops (no wonder, its soooo hot there!). There were lots of laughs as we talked about the possibiblities of when we return that they are going to dress her up in one of their traditional outfits (but she agreed only as long as they have a blouse to wear:). We felt a real connection with that group of believers and are pretty sure we will be returning to that village next year. They also fed us "carne de chango", which is monkey meat.
The next few days we ended up in a couple of jungle villages by the Gulf of Mexico (Soteapan & Pajapan) that are only a couple miles apart, but speak 2 different dialects. We had a great opportunity to share Christ with a drunken man who came out of the cantina to talk to us and then took us to his home, and while there his mother and wife and children all asked Christ into their hearts and he also cleared up from being drunk and asked the Lord to forgive him and then took time to speak to his family and mother to ask forgiveness. This was all so orchestrated from God, its hard to even believe it ourselves! They have opened their home for weekly bible studies and discipleship for the village to begin. The last village was deep in the jungle and we had an opportunity to speak in a little church at night where they also speak a different dialect. There Debbi got tons of bites on her legs (50 on one leg alone!), and is still scratching!
We ended the trip in Minatitlan, Vc speaking in the church of the pastor that accompanied us on this outreach. They treated us so well, feeding us lots of great foods from the south, as most of the people in this area are from the Oaxaca region. It is very hot there, as its much more humid than Monterrey, so we were melting most of the time! On Sunday when we showed up at the church to speak, all of the ladies were wearing their traditional dresses, and the pastor's wife took Debbi in a small room and gave her a beautiful traditional dress to wear that day, and to keep!!
We left on Monday morning and dropped Abby off in Cardel, where she took a bus back home (her parents had left us on Friday night as they had other engagements). We then headed to Cerro Azul and spent a couple days with some of our old staff (Dan & new wife Wendy Spurling; and David & Leah Teran and their kids! We enjoyed the Sept. 16 Festival with them and reminiscing of old times in Monterrey over the past years together!
Enjoy the photos and I'll be putting more up on Facebook soon! Also, please pray for the people in these villages, that they would all hear the message of Christ in their own language someday!
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Finally! A summer update!!
This has been a very hot summer....most of the days have been over 100 degrees! We are so thankful for our home equipped with mini-splits in each room, however the electric bill shows it (electricity is very expensive in Mexico).
We've had an unusual summer this year, with most (but not all!) of our short-term missions teams cancelling, 1st due to the violence (which the gov. here is working hard to get rid of):
Ok, there have been road blocks, and arrests of drug lords here, and we see the army trucks driving around the city filled with rifle carrying, black masked soldiers...but they are doing a great job of protecting us so far! We've really never felt in danger, but of course we are always more careful than ever in what we do here.
Swine flu...well they Mx. gov closed all the schools and public places for 2+weeks, so that really helped to reduce the spread of the flu, and now it seems like its more in the US and other countries than ever was here.
BUT... God is good, because no matter how many or how little people come for missions, God always shows up! We've been continuing ministering in many churches here and have seen many people come to the saving grace of God's salvation, along with feeding over 100 kids at a soup kitchen, loving on kids at the Celebral Palsy Orphanage and shared tacos & a cold drink and prayed with people waiting at the central zone Hospital emergency waiting area (mostly outside). Many of these people come from the mountains and stay on the floor of the waiting room for days or even weeks.
Back in June, Roger was voted in as the Coordinator of Ethnic People in Mexico at the District Conference for the National Assemblies of God. What that basically means is that he gets to promote going on missions trips to the Indigenous people groups in Mexico to all 200+ of the A/G churches in our area. We just returned from a National Missions Conference in Guadalajara, Mx last week and are now planning 4 outreaches for the Mexican church to Oaxaca, Veracruz & Chihuahua for next year.
We had a bittersweet trip to Orlando, FL at the end of June to attend the funeral of a good friend and former pioneer of the YWAM Monterrey base with us....Theresa Henkel. She had been fighting breast cancer which had finally took over the better part of her body and she resigned to go home with the Lord. It was a difficult time to see her husband Jeff and children Adam, Heather & Brianna but it was a wonderful time to reunite with some of our former staff and reunite with Zenaida Cevallos (formerly from Mazatlan who used to live with us) and meet her new husband! We also had the opportunity to meet Charity's boyfriend for the 1st time (they both flew there from Utah), and we also visited my (Debbi's) brother his wife in Lakeland. The Lord provided the finances for this trip through wonderful friends who were obedient to the Lord and gave willingly...thank you!!
Now we are ready to send out our Summer issue of our newsletter...if you are interested, please let us know and we will send one to you! Debbi is going to spend some time in Utah with Charity in August, but Roger has lots to do here! Please keep us in your prayers!
We've had an unusual summer this year, with most (but not all!) of our short-term missions teams cancelling, 1st due to the violence (which the gov. here is working hard to get rid of):
Ok, there have been road blocks, and arrests of drug lords here, and we see the army trucks driving around the city filled with rifle carrying, black masked soldiers...but they are doing a great job of protecting us so far! We've really never felt in danger, but of course we are always more careful than ever in what we do here.
Swine flu...well they Mx. gov closed all the schools and public places for 2+weeks, so that really helped to reduce the spread of the flu, and now it seems like its more in the US and other countries than ever was here.
BUT... God is good, because no matter how many or how little people come for missions, God always shows up! We've been continuing ministering in many churches here and have seen many people come to the saving grace of God's salvation, along with feeding over 100 kids at a soup kitchen, loving on kids at the Celebral Palsy Orphanage and shared tacos & a cold drink and prayed with people waiting at the central zone Hospital emergency waiting area (mostly outside). Many of these people come from the mountains and stay on the floor of the waiting room for days or even weeks.
Back in June, Roger was voted in as the Coordinator of Ethnic People in Mexico at the District Conference for the National Assemblies of God. What that basically means is that he gets to promote going on missions trips to the Indigenous people groups in Mexico to all 200+ of the A/G churches in our area. We just returned from a National Missions Conference in Guadalajara, Mx last week and are now planning 4 outreaches for the Mexican church to Oaxaca, Veracruz & Chihuahua for next year.
We had a bittersweet trip to Orlando, FL at the end of June to attend the funeral of a good friend and former pioneer of the YWAM Monterrey base with us....Theresa Henkel. She had been fighting breast cancer which had finally took over the better part of her body and she resigned to go home with the Lord. It was a difficult time to see her husband Jeff and children Adam, Heather & Brianna but it was a wonderful time to reunite with some of our former staff and reunite with Zenaida Cevallos (formerly from Mazatlan who used to live with us) and meet her new husband! We also had the opportunity to meet Charity's boyfriend for the 1st time (they both flew there from Utah), and we also visited my (Debbi's) brother his wife in Lakeland. The Lord provided the finances for this trip through wonderful friends who were obedient to the Lord and gave willingly...thank you!!
Now we are ready to send out our Summer issue of our newsletter...if you are interested, please let us know and we will send one to you! Debbi is going to spend some time in Utah with Charity in August, but Roger has lots to do here! Please keep us in your prayers!
Monday, March 9, 2009
Whirlwind tour to return to Mexico..hitting the floor running
We finally made it back to Monterrey, Mexico at the beginning of Feb. We left Costa Rica after graduating on Dec. 13, then flew with our luggage bulging to Minneapolis, MN to visit our families with temps. of -30 degrees, and no coats and Debbi already had bronchitis when we left Costa Rica!! We had a whirlwind tour of visiting 4 of Debbi's sisters/brother, Roger's brother and good friends along with Pastor Kim of Harvestime Church, E.C., WI!
On Dec. 16, we flew to Springfield, MO and our good friend Jim Wellborn picked us up at the aiport in our new Speed The Light Ford Explorer! How exciting for us (esp. Roger) to finally be able to put all of our luggage in it and drive again! We then drove to San Antonio, Tx, where we stayed with Josh & Albessa (son & daughter in law) and our little daschund Zacky! We spent Christmas with them and Jeremy & Charity arrived for the day too.
At the beginning of January, Roger & I flew out to Salt Lake City, UT to visit with Charity. While there, we went through a tough time as her roommate had just informed her she was moving back to her parents, which meant Charity was left without a roommate in a new apartment with a 6 mo. lease, and very hurt. But we know that God had us there for such a time as that.
We finally made it down to see Jeremy in McAllen after speaking in a couple churches in the Houston area (FLAG, Katy & Grace Chapel, Magnolia, TX), and even got to sort through some of our furniture and belongings in our storage area. Debbi ended up sick on her birthday (Jan. 21)...maybe it was just the thought of getting older:0
At the end of Jan. we finally crossed the Mexico border again after tooooo long...and immediately Roger got pulled over by the police! It was frustating to be asked for a bribe so soon, but we almost felt happy, as it was like being home again!! We stayed at the YWAM base while we looked for a home, and found one just 3 days after arriving...so then began the long process of moving in boxes from the border (just enough so that they don't get upset or hassle you too much).
While trying to move into our home, hook up the utilities, etc. we also had to prepare for 2 short-term missions teams that were arriving on Feb. 14 (Siren Assembly of God, Siren, WI) and on the 21st (Kingdom Expansion, Farmville, VA) We also had times of reconnecting with old friends, tacos out (YUM!!), meeting with pastors and setting up ministry and then the teams arrived. After working with the teams, up at 5am, out in the sun all day (and heavy construction the 2nd week...putting a roof on a missions church)....home super late for 14 days straight we were pretty exhausted, but loving being back and ministering to the people here (Debbi got sick with the stomach flu for a couple days too). We also had our good friend, Shauna Booth arrive to work with us from Canada for 3 weeks, and Abi Rodriquez came from Veracruz, MX (we met her in Costa Rica) come to translate for a couple months. God is so good, He always sends us those that we need in the right time. We also have felt so welcomed by the YWAM staff here. While ministering to the people, we also distributed 27 quilts to needy families that were beautifully hand made by people through the WWIB Radio Quilt Distribution...this is the 18th year of this wonderful ministry with them. Roger also had the honor of preciding over Clint & Lynnie's renewal of their wedding vows at Cola de Caballo falls while on our free day with the team.
A couple more incredible things happened recently: 1)Debbi got her prayer answered...she got a MacBook laptop, as a gift from the team from Virginia. What a blessing to have the right equipment to do your job with...thank you!! 2)Roger preached in a church here in Spanish (and Debbi translated into English for the team:)!!
On a prayer note: 1)Recently as many of you have heard, the violence in Mexico has increased and also on the border and in Monterrey a bit. Please pray for the city of Monterrey, our ministry and safety for all who come to minister and those who are concerned and decide to cancel their missions trips...
2)Zacky our 12-/12 year old daschund, is having trouble walking. His back legs aren't working at all, so he is on medication and wearing diapers. He needs prayer, as God loves the animals too, and we know he was sent to us by God. Anyone who knows our family, knows how much he means to us. Please pray for our little guy.
On Dec. 16, we flew to Springfield, MO and our good friend Jim Wellborn picked us up at the aiport in our new Speed The Light Ford Explorer! How exciting for us (esp. Roger) to finally be able to put all of our luggage in it and drive again! We then drove to San Antonio, Tx, where we stayed with Josh & Albessa (son & daughter in law) and our little daschund Zacky! We spent Christmas with them and Jeremy & Charity arrived for the day too.
At the beginning of January, Roger & I flew out to Salt Lake City, UT to visit with Charity. While there, we went through a tough time as her roommate had just informed her she was moving back to her parents, which meant Charity was left without a roommate in a new apartment with a 6 mo. lease, and very hurt. But we know that God had us there for such a time as that.
We finally made it down to see Jeremy in McAllen after speaking in a couple churches in the Houston area (FLAG, Katy & Grace Chapel, Magnolia, TX), and even got to sort through some of our furniture and belongings in our storage area. Debbi ended up sick on her birthday (Jan. 21)...maybe it was just the thought of getting older:0
At the end of Jan. we finally crossed the Mexico border again after tooooo long...and immediately Roger got pulled over by the police! It was frustating to be asked for a bribe so soon, but we almost felt happy, as it was like being home again!! We stayed at the YWAM base while we looked for a home, and found one just 3 days after arriving...so then began the long process of moving in boxes from the border (just enough so that they don't get upset or hassle you too much).
While trying to move into our home, hook up the utilities, etc. we also had to prepare for 2 short-term missions teams that were arriving on Feb. 14 (Siren Assembly of God, Siren, WI) and on the 21st (Kingdom Expansion, Farmville, VA) We also had times of reconnecting with old friends, tacos out (YUM!!), meeting with pastors and setting up ministry and then the teams arrived. After working with the teams, up at 5am, out in the sun all day (and heavy construction the 2nd week...putting a roof on a missions church)....home super late for 14 days straight we were pretty exhausted, but loving being back and ministering to the people here (Debbi got sick with the stomach flu for a couple days too). We also had our good friend, Shauna Booth arrive to work with us from Canada for 3 weeks, and Abi Rodriquez came from Veracruz, MX (we met her in Costa Rica) come to translate for a couple months. God is so good, He always sends us those that we need in the right time. We also have felt so welcomed by the YWAM staff here. While ministering to the people, we also distributed 27 quilts to needy families that were beautifully hand made by people through the WWIB Radio Quilt Distribution...this is the 18th year of this wonderful ministry with them. Roger also had the honor of preciding over Clint & Lynnie's renewal of their wedding vows at Cola de Caballo falls while on our free day with the team.
A couple more incredible things happened recently: 1)Debbi got her prayer answered...she got a MacBook laptop, as a gift from the team from Virginia. What a blessing to have the right equipment to do your job with...thank you!! 2)Roger preached in a church here in Spanish (and Debbi translated into English for the team:)!!
On a prayer note: 1)Recently as many of you have heard, the violence in Mexico has increased and also on the border and in Monterrey a bit. Please pray for the city of Monterrey, our ministry and safety for all who come to minister and those who are concerned and decide to cancel their missions trips...
2)Zacky our 12-/12 year old daschund, is having trouble walking. His back legs aren't working at all, so he is on medication and wearing diapers. He needs prayer, as God loves the animals too, and we know he was sent to us by God. Anyone who knows our family, knows how much he means to us. Please pray for our little guy.
Friday, December 19, 2008
We finished Language School and are back in the USA till Jan.
On Dec. 12, we graduated from a year at language school in Costa Rica! What a week its been...on Monday, Debbi did her final report, both written (20 pages) and oral(20minutes), in front of the entire school body.
Tuesday, Debbi went to see the doctor, and found out she has bronchitis again (doctor said due to the mold and humidity there)! Not a good thing to have with a busy schedule ahead, and traveling.
Then on Wednesday evening, our next door neighbors (Pat & Mike Henningsen) invited us for a going away supper at their apt., and while there, a bunch of students from the school showed up for a surprise party for our 32nd Anniversary! Then they all suprised us with a Mariachi Band who came to play for us! Both Roger & I wept with joy, as it reminded us so much of Mexico!!
On Friday, we received our diplomas at graduation....what a feeling of relief..no more studying, no more tests, etc! The next morning, our good Canadian friends who lived upstairs (Scott & Melissa Williams)drove us to the aiport in their rental car (thanks!!)..and we flew into Minneapolis, MN and stayed with Debbi's family. The next 2 days were spent visiting family in a whirlwind trip with temperatures of -18 and wind chills of -30 below zero! We had to just layer our clothing, as our winter clothes are in storage in Texas!
Then on Tuesday, we flew into Springfield, MO and were met at the airport by Jim Wellborn with our new Speed The Light vehicle (thank you So. Tx Youth)! Roger was so excited to be able to drive again, after a year of walking or taking bus or taxi! We then drove to JOsh & Albessa's in San Antonio, where we will be basing ourselves out of, while we drive to the Valley to visit Jeremy and some of our friends, and to Utah to visit Charity.
This Christmas will be the 1st time our family will all be together in 6 years...even though Charity will only be here for 10 hours (and is actually working a flight overnight here)...but together is together, no matter how long, we're just thankful to all be together (including Zacky..who by the way is very old now).
Tuesday, Debbi went to see the doctor, and found out she has bronchitis again (doctor said due to the mold and humidity there)! Not a good thing to have with a busy schedule ahead, and traveling.
Then on Wednesday evening, our next door neighbors (Pat & Mike Henningsen) invited us for a going away supper at their apt., and while there, a bunch of students from the school showed up for a surprise party for our 32nd Anniversary! Then they all suprised us with a Mariachi Band who came to play for us! Both Roger & I wept with joy, as it reminded us so much of Mexico!!
On Friday, we received our diplomas at graduation....what a feeling of relief..no more studying, no more tests, etc! The next morning, our good Canadian friends who lived upstairs (Scott & Melissa Williams)drove us to the aiport in their rental car (thanks!!)..and we flew into Minneapolis, MN and stayed with Debbi's family. The next 2 days were spent visiting family in a whirlwind trip with temperatures of -18 and wind chills of -30 below zero! We had to just layer our clothing, as our winter clothes are in storage in Texas!
Then on Tuesday, we flew into Springfield, MO and were met at the airport by Jim Wellborn with our new Speed The Light vehicle (thank you So. Tx Youth)! Roger was so excited to be able to drive again, after a year of walking or taking bus or taxi! We then drove to JOsh & Albessa's in San Antonio, where we will be basing ourselves out of, while we drive to the Valley to visit Jeremy and some of our friends, and to Utah to visit Charity.
This Christmas will be the 1st time our family will all be together in 6 years...even though Charity will only be here for 10 hours (and is actually working a flight overnight here)...but together is together, no matter how long, we're just thankful to all be together (including Zacky..who by the way is very old now).
Monday, December 1, 2008
Almost finished here!!
We are almost finished with this year of spanish language school here in San Jose, Costa Rica. We have been very busy this last semester of school, trying to learn all that we can here. As we are getting ready to graduate, we are required to either preach in Spanish and/or do a final project in Spanish in front of the entire school body. Roger was able to accomplish preaching his 1st sermon in Spanish 2 weeks ago and did a wonderful job! Our great techy neighbor (thanks Scott!) video taped it for us, and we have posted it on our new Facebook group called: Audorffs Missions in Monterrey (in case you want to join this group, contact us).
Next week Debbi & Leslie (missionary to Colombia) will be presenting their project "La Cumbia" to the school.
We've experienced lots of things this year, including waking up at 1:00am from a tremor from a 6.5 earthquake that was just south of us 3 weeks ago! We've heard gunshots both around our apartment and close to the school this year, we've really improved our spanish, we've met lots of wonderful new friends (both students and teachers and others) and something that was very special to us both this past month, was attending the International YWAM DNA Conference here in San Jose, CR. While there we had a chance to sit and chat with Loren Cunningham, the founder of YWAM, and share what God has been doing in our lives in this change of ministries...and with that he blessed us to do whatever God is calling us to do. We also met with our former National and Regional leaders in YWAM and had a wonderful time with them. We pray that God reveals His plan in this change, and we are believing that He knows best, and has both our and His best in mind.
Next week Debbi & Leslie (missionary to Colombia) will be presenting their project "La Cumbia" to the school.
We've experienced lots of things this year, including waking up at 1:00am from a tremor from a 6.5 earthquake that was just south of us 3 weeks ago! We've heard gunshots both around our apartment and close to the school this year, we've really improved our spanish, we've met lots of wonderful new friends (both students and teachers and others) and something that was very special to us both this past month, was attending the International YWAM DNA Conference here in San Jose, CR. While there we had a chance to sit and chat with Loren Cunningham, the founder of YWAM, and share what God has been doing in our lives in this change of ministries...and with that he blessed us to do whatever God is calling us to do. We also met with our former National and Regional leaders in YWAM and had a wonderful time with them. We pray that God reveals His plan in this change, and we are believing that He knows best, and has both our and His best in mind.
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