Turning Point

What a wonderful blessing it is to be a servant of the Lord!  It is a mixture of total humility, dependance, following, obedience combined with the knowledge that we are totally important to, loved, pursued and cared for by God.  It is being both the precious beloved as well as incomparably small.  It brings so much freedom and also a great desire to be pleasing!

Does anything ever work out just the way we expect...?  Maybe not...  but sometimes do we learn a whole lot, grow relationships we might have otherwise missed, see new things...? Yes.  This work here is hard for each member of the team, but I am grateful for this.  It forces us toward God and makes His glory visible in spite of our frequent blindness. 

I must begin with a BIG THANKS to the short-term team that was just here.  Each of you touched my heart and it was a total joy to be with you on your journey and for you to be here as a part of mine.  Also, it was a wonderful blessing to have met particularily the female side of a few amazing couples that are involved in the administration and sheparding of the internationbal Church of the Nazarene.  Sarah Foster (Financial Coordinator of the Paraguay project for Extreme Nazarene) hosted a beakfast (Thanks Sarah!) for Sharon Graves, Natalie Ward, Lilliana Vargas, Charlie Carney, Margite Sarmiento, and myself. What a blesing it was for me to get to know in such a small way the hearts of those leading us as a whole.  It was such an encouragement to have them and their husbands here in our church.  In addition...at the tail end of the Impact project with the short-termers, we were thrice blessed with the presence of the team of officers for Extreme Nazarene Ministries.  Again, we have such confidence and trust in those leading us.  It is super exciting to get a small glimpse of where God is leading our organization.  We are so thankful to be working with so many people that eagerly and faithfully follow the Lord's leading at every turn.  If any of you are feeling called to join with Extreme Nazarene with the expansion of God's kingdon, stay tuned!!  There is some exciting news coming in September!

As a team and as a family we have had some cool breakthroughs : )  Many of us began to feel the need for a shift in our approach to ministry that seems rather obvious now, but for some reason we had sort of missed it before... I think we were missing the element of friendship in some of the relationships between our team and the "contacts."  I do believe that preaching and evangelism have great impact on people, clearly, but the deep discipleship and sincere love that God calls us to is best expressed through trusting, fun-filled, mutual friendship.  It is the living of life together in Christian community that truly fulfills and strengethens the body of Christ.  Some new friends of ours, the Hernandez family, have been missionaries here in Paraguay 7 years now, told us that they are very much missionaries in the eyes of those that send and support them, but for them now, Paraguay is their home and they are just Christians living out Christ's love and gospel.  When we look at it that way, it draws us so much more closer to the people here... I think it helped us to feel so much more a part of life here and less of an outsider trying to bring them something.  What we have in Christ in truly good news and witnessing to others is merely testifying to what we have seen heard and felt in regards to Jesus Christ.  We testify to who he is.  There is no real method to that except sincere love that is led to action by the holy spirit.  Another special tidbit that has stayed with us was spoken by John Armstrong, former missionary with his wife Glenda and kids all over South America, which was that we should try not to become worried about the splash we do or do not make and that all we need to do is follow Christ being exactly who he made us to be...and Have Fun!... the rest of the spiritual work is for God.  We follow in obedience, trying to love sincerely and we trust that the power of Christ and the words of life from the Bible will accomplish what they are sent out to accomplish. It is beautiful and freeing.  His yoke is easy. 

Some of the cool new blessings and people God has brought into our lives:

~Gabriela- a worker at the market where we always shop.  Has started coming over weekly to practice English!  She is the most sweet gal!  She has a little girl that is 3 years old : )

~Matias- a shop owner of the Panaderia (bakery) that we frequent. Yesterday we were invited to his family's farm and was amazing!  A very special treat for us!

~Lilliam and Raul- coming over for dinner Sunday : )  They plan to get married in December. 

~Tonight we have invited some people over including some of the folks from the last blog prayer list for a movie night outside! We will be showing Joseph King of Dreams in Spanish.  We hope to just get to know some people and open our lives to friendship and through this share who Christ is.  Our aim is to Love them to the Lord.  

~Our team has been experiencing very much the same things!  Each of the pairs have started having people out of nowhere asking to spend time with them, asking for in-home bible studies (I believe we have 2 or 3 new groups just this week!), and asking more about the church.  God is truly working here in our lives, in the lives of our team and in the people of our community.  It is beautiful.

Thank You all so very much for your prayers!  It is so important that we ask the Lord for his presence, peace, words, guiding, widsom...the whole bit! There is nothing we can accomplish for him without him.  You are such a blessing and encouragement to us and we love you!  Grace and Peace to you all and press on in this unpredictable journey we all have as we walk with Christ!

So we are in the middle of our 6th month in South America! That sounds like someone else's life... It is pretty surreal. Especially since often we humans don't always do a great job of seeing how great the blessings truly are in any given moment... It is pretty neat to be here! I want to ask you all to pray with us about some of the people we have been inviting to Bible study...so far our Tuesday night study is just Cole and I plus the 40/40's responsible for teaching... Help us fill the house!

~Laura - a gal working in our favorite ice cream shop. We see her practically every day on our way to the church

~Soledad - shop keeper right across from the ice cream shop

~Juan Ramon - sweet older man, a peddler, helped us so very kindly when we needed help transporting a propane tank. He asked us about when church services are but as of yet he has not come

~Lillian - a new friend at church, interested in coming to Bible study but again, has not yet made it, has also attended Jehova's Witness and Mormon churches, she has little girl Reese's age, we have invited her over to play and but this too hasn't worked out yet

Neighbors - in particular the ones across the street, they are Catholic

These are the people tha twe are praying for and pursuing right now...Please pray for God to open the doors of relationship and the Lord's word.

Please also pray for stren

gth, focus, servanthood and humility within our team. We always need your support through prayer. Your pleas on our behalf actually and totally affect what we are doing here. Please believe this.

Also keep in prayer the Short-term team that is here working right now. They are delightful and encouraging!!

We think of you all often and in many ways feel even closer to you here in being far away...We are so blessed to be serving with you as the body of Christ... I hope you are enjoying the last bits of summer and begin the new season refreshed!

Grace and Peace Always in Christ,

Kelly

Please Respond

Dearest Friends and Family~

We are struggling somewhat financially.  After several large expenses including airfare to Peru, again to Paraguay, household set-up, and training in Peru... we are nearing deficit.  A great many of our supporters are consistent and we are so thankful for each small and great bit that the Lord provides through them.  There are also some who pledged with good intention have been unable to fulfill their pledges and others are inconsistent.  We also have been having several fees each month for declined cards nearing $100 each month.   This last month of June alone, we received $700 less than was pledged.

We ask that each of you pray specifically for provision.  We are able to live here on a very small monthly budget but what we have coming in from donors is not overlapping enough that we are able to repay loans from within Extreme Nazarene for some of our large one-time expenses in April and May as well as return home for our 3 week holiday in December.  We find our overall budget short more than $8,000 at least, not counting inconsistent monthly pledges.

I know this is a huge stretch for you.  It was a massively huge stretch for our family to leave you and the life in the US that God had blessed us with.  We are finding ourselves in a bind right now and we humbly and desperately need for you to continue in support and prayer for us.  We pray that you will be blessed with all that you need to continue walking this crazy road together. 

This next month we are expecting a group of short-term volunteers that will be doing lots and lots of outreach.  We hope their experience here is a great blessing. Our church in Fernando de la Mora has just completed a patio/building that should be able to hold 400-500 people.  The structure is basically a cement pad with a roof which sounds unimpressive, but really it is quite large, usefull and cool.  The very day it was finished we hosted an area church event which turned out awesomely (and lasted until 1am!...we went to bed at 10pm).  This next week three young men from our team will be travelling to Cali, Colombia with Pastor Felix.  We are so excited to see how they will be changed by their experience there.  

Cole and I still feel very strongly that God is and will continue to use us here. Our dream is that the church in Fernando de la Mora, Paraguay will be a sort of beacon here just as Cali is for Colombia.  This is a big, big, challenge...one that may not cone to fruition just in the time that we are able to be here...but we greatly desire that God will use us in this journey of the Paraguayan church. 

How easy it is to sink into "normal" and lose the vision that we receieve from Christ.   I know that while my little family is down here so far away, you continue in the daily demands and responsibilities for your own family.  And, there are many things that we are removed from that you all are experiencing there.  Somehow, this all works together to accomplish His good and perfect will.  We said this many times while fundraising and preparing to move to South America, and it still remains true now... We have no doubt of the call God placed on our lives for this time and because of that, we know that God has called a lot of you to carry us through.  We are entirely grateful and blessed by your support and we need a few new people to step in along the jouorney or if you are able to increase.  We know that life is crazy right now. We know that the news keeps speaking of financial failure.  But honestly, who do we serve?  We are the body and the head is Christ!  What is sent out will not return void.  Please, pray with us for provision.

June

The Paraguay team of 40/40's has gone from a team of 3 pairs to 4 pairs! We welcome a Paraguayan national, Shirley; and another Brazilian, Camila! We are so happy to have them working with us! They will be working on starting an in-home bible study in our house for the people in our neighborhood as well as opening a number of other groups in the homes of people here in the Fernando de la Mora community of Asuncion. We are very excited and eager to see what great things we will be a part of of through this particular opportunity with them!

Some non-detail highlights:
- Visited Argentina!
- Teddy and Reese will be able to start school this next month!
- Reese got her cast off and is as good as new!

We have been in South America now for a little over 4 months and I imagine the toughest wave of culture shock should be here soon... The kids are doing better and better all the time but I have had a few days where the small differences really seemed too much to bear. Believe me, culture shock messes you up for a while! At least we know it passes and doesn't affect every day : ) The coolest thing for me about going through some of the adjustments has definitely been changing my focus away from myself and completely on God. At home in the states we had a very different sense of identity that related a lot to where we fit in with our church family, our regular friend circles, even with work and things like MOPS. Here as missionaries in a culture where we are outsiders, have the language barrier, and have very new relationships with people, we have felt great humility in doing what God has called us to do. It has been so freeing to just simply and sincerely ask God "how do we fit into your plan here?" Everytime I find myself feeling uncomfortable, unsure, or out of place God has given me the sense to consider His perspective rather than rely on my own inaccurate way of looking at myself. I feel like emotionally getting here was like a slow but quickening walk forward but with my back toward God...like I knew and could feel his power, his light, his call but my own sense of selfishness or self-concern kept me feeling afraid to completely let go and run straight toward him. It's desiring and feeling a great sense of excitement for the hugeness of God's plan but at the same time a fear that it will be too much to bear...that I will fail if God's expectations of me are too high. And that I suppose is what I am learning to do right now...to stop considering how God's plan affects me but rather how I fit into it. This is so not about me. It is insofar as my relationship to Christ deepens but God's master plan is about Him, the only one worthy of any praise. Humility is truly and wonderfully freeing. When we stop worring about gaining the approval of others, stop concerning ourselves with the judgement we may feel fom them, stop modifying the vision, passion, and confidence we receive from God, we will be free to live up to the highest expectations of our Lord because then will we live in His strength, under His yoke, with Christ bearing the heaviest burdens on our behalf...and I am certain it frees those around us to do the same. It is my desire to be invisible here...that we decrease so that He increases. I hope that when the time comes for us to move on, that people here would be so deep in Christ that He would be all they see.

Things in Paraguay are a little politically unstable right now. As a result of a land dispute over properties seized during the dictatorship, 17 people were killed including police and landless farmers about two weeks ago a few hours away near the Brazilian border. Directly following the dispute and deaths, parliament and the senate called to impeach the President. Within 48 hours or less of the impeachment filings, the President was removed from office and replaced by the Vice President. Other South American nations are highly suspicious of the quick removal and perceive the governemnt to be illegitimate and unstable. The day after the impeachment was announced one of the 40/40's had a sudden sense of urgency for the need to pray for Paraguay.  This brought on an intense time of prayer for our 40/40's who were at the time in Argentina visiting a church. They prayed intensely that God would show mercy, protect and cover Paraguay... that He would save them and choose them to be among his people. So far, we have not felt any sense of danger or unrest but are monitoring the situation so that we can be wise about what we need to do. We greatly deisre to see God's church grow supernaturally and live through Christ. Having heard Paraguay's reputation for being difficult and unresponsive toward God, we have come here knowing and believing whole-heartedly that this is 100% a spiritual task and doable only through miraculous intervention. Please pray with confidence for God to continue what has begun here. He is above all and grants all authorities their power. Please pray for leadership in the country but more for those who are and would be leaders in the church... that God would take those who right now are like young King David in the field being called to do that which all else are afraid to conquer, that they may be raised up to be blessed and courageous leaders of God's people.

Paraguay...FINALLY!

Sorry dear friends for such a long time between posts.  We have only had internet access at the church and having enough quiet and thoughtful time to write a blog there was just not really possible.  So, as of now, we have all that we need to live as far as the home goes...internet included! We had about a week to orient ourselves before the College Momentum short-term group came down on May 9th.  They left maybe the 22nd or so and they were tons of fun! I am sure you have seen some of the crazy antics in photos on facebook... It was a great breaking in time for us! 

June 1st started our official run as Cluster Support.  It is very nice to finally feel settled and comfortable with the beginnings of a healthy routine.  We are enamored with our team! My heart soars with admiration and love for them.  I am so thankful for this chance to work with this particular group of missionaries.  God knows what He is up to and I have great faith that He is working wonderfully through each of them.  As you have time, I definitely recommend checking out their blogs too! 

Thanks for your prayers last week!  We were feeling quite yucky as Cole and I both had Dengue fever.  It was terribly uncomfortable, but we made it!  The good part is that we are immune now to that strain of Dengue...the bad news is that if we catch one of the other strains at some point it will be much more uncomfortable.  We are pretty healthy, strong and yet young, so I am confindent we will be fine should we happen to get ill again : )  We'll just file this as "Jungle Life"...

Thank You all who are participating in our Kid's Prayer Team! It is totally awesome to know you are praying for Teddy and Reese!  Somedays I have mixed feelings about all the crazy changes they have experienced, but it is a great comfort to know that God called them to this too and that there are daily prayers on their behalf to ensure their success here. It's pretty crazy that they are "Missionary Kids" now.  May God bless their sweet and precious little growing selves... I almost forgot! Reese broke her arm!  She was playing on a tree stump that had a large rock placed on top of it.  She slipped and fell and caused the rock to fall upon her arm.  She actually took it very bravely.  We weren't sure if she had broken it and didn't get her to te hospital until the following morning.  She was a tough little girl!  She is about half-way through her time with the cast now.  She should get it removed in a couple of weeks.  She is a wild little sassafrass and not even this cast is able to slow her down.  Life as usual. 

Please, please continue praying for us.  This is a ministry not just for us and our team here, but a minstry for each of you who follow along with us.  Do not forget lift up your local church leaders along with those of us that are leading in other countries. Encourage one another daily.  We are the body of Christ.  There is nothing more important than that we love and support one another and that wwe strive together to share the good news at all costs and in all opportunities with those who God is calling.  God gives us great blessings in so many ways, but not so that we should be distracted by them... I challenge you to ask God how you can fulfill the unique purpose you have been created for.  Daily commit yourself to the Lord's work...be about your father's business at all times, in all ways.  Faith receives much more than it asks...doubt loses much more than it disbelieves.  I truly, truly love you all.  Being away from our home, family, friends and culture certainly has a way of growing our fondness for it all.  We are genuinely blessed in our being here, but also genuinely miss not being there with you.  Keep in touch with us too!  Comment and email us!    Let us be encouraged by the great things God is doing in you as well! 

Grace and Peace,
Kelly

So...we were lucky enough to make it to Cusco and Machu Picchu before leaving Peru this coming Tuesday!!!  It was very surreal and cool to visit such a magnificent place.  I just kept asking myself "why can't we build things to last anymore??!"  I imagine our kids won't remember much of these things, but I know the experiences are building their characters to be adventurous and comfortable all over the world...who knows what greater things their lives will bring!

We visited Machu Picchu as well as Ollantaytambo and Chincheros which are other sites of Inca ruins.  If you have access to facebook you can see a couple hundred pictures from this trip. You will notice that there are more steps/stairs than one could count!  These places are built up into the mountains for security as well as spiritual reasons.  While we were walking up, down and all around these ruins I kept looking back to see where we had been...the perspective is always different.  It always seems like so much farther than you had realized... While we were moving our eyes stared down at our feet so that we were sure footed and didn't fall in the moment while looking ahead...and surely you cannot look behind while trying to move on.   I think the analogy in this is obvious.  Sometimes we need to just pay attention to right now, but also important to stop and see how far we have come every now and then. 

Of course it has been absolutely wonderful to visit Lake Titicaca, Cusco and Machu Picchu...these are places that are very touristy for good reason!  I have to say that our mentality was not entirely that of tourists.  We are here on a great leap of faith that God has called us to take part in his plan here in South America.  Through these visits in other parts of Peru we have learned so much about the people that is actually quite different than some of the assumptions we had made.  In general, we really thought they were very Catholic...and to some extent that is true, but a lot of Peruvians seem to live in a religious fusion of Incan earth worship and an ambiguous Catholic belief system that primarily takes over the icons and prayer to saints. 

All over the countryside are these altars set in mountain sides, city walls, they are center pieces to children's parks, they are in restaraunts, gas stations, homes...everywhere.  Pictures of the altars are even more everywhere including hanging in almost all taxis and combis (buses), in hotel rooms, probably most homes.  It is crazy how idolic these icons have become.   At first glance, the church seems to be everywhere, but these icons are so far from related to anything in the Bible.  There are crosses everywhere too...which initially I assumed was connected primarily to the crucifixion from a more Catholic perspective but several Peruvians have told me that the cross is really just a symbol of "religion" in general and that it represents whatever belief system one may have.  Folks here seem to be very aware and believing in supernatural and spiritual things but are missing a whole lot about what the Bible says about God.  I wonder if in some conversations with people I have been ignorant in assuming what they already believe or what their culture is.  I also wonder at times if the idea of us being missionaries is offensive...that there is an annoyance about a foreigner coming in to change the beliefs that are the heritage of ancient ancestors.  I honestly have no idea.  We have met many Peruvian Christians that feel deeply the same burden to share the hope that they have in Christ.  We have had several Christian taxi drivers that have been very encouraging...we met some Brasilian pastors that church plant all over their home country...and of course the people in the local congregations in the Nazarene churches and the leadership are entirely supportive and are working with Extreme Nazarene to spread the good news of the gospel.  Seeing Machu Picchu and the immensely sophisticated community they had got me really thinking about the cultural history of the people of Peru.  I can't say that I have unravelled anything here, but it has reminded me how important it is to understand a person, to be where they are, go where they can be reached and have respect for the journey they are on as we share Christ.  I would hate to be perceived as insensitive or disrespectful in my attitude, words or actions.  At the same time, we do take part in God's reaching the world with His precious gift.

As we are fininshing up our time here in Peru, we definitely feel a great burden to understand who the people of Paraguay are not only as individuals but also who they are collectively and culturally.  I pray that God does amazing and huge things there not to change who they are but to fulfill who He made them to be.  We all have a story and a heritage but truly we are all meant to be with Him.  When our lives are wrapped up in our Christian communities, friends, church, etc.  things can feel very comfortable and as they should be...we even feel proud at how above reproach we may be...and feel accomplished in our Christian walk...but the reality is that there are millions and millions of people all over the world that are living with only a small inkling of who our Saviour is.  I don't even know how to begin tackling that except to pray.  My heart didn't even really feel this or understand this until just recently.  I am sure that sounds silly coming from someone who just "gave it all" to go into missions...but really I feel very common when it comes to the Lord and the whole reason we came down here as a family is because we felt that He was asking it of us.  All of this is one step at a time, the Lord giving in time. 

Please continue as always to keep us in prayer.  We feel very eager and ready to be a part of what God is undoubtedly doing in Asuncion.  I know that things may work out entirely different that what we may aim for but even in that I am completely sure that whatever the Lord accomplishes through Extreme during this time is going to be just as He designs and will surely produce fruit that lasts.  Right now we feel that the future is wide open and we choose not to dampen it with expectations...at the same time we have great but unknown expectations of the Lord...I am confident that He is capable and will be faithful to use each of you and us in this endeavor.  When we ask for things that please the Lord, we will surely receive them.

...late for Easter Sunday but always in season...

**I am having trouble posting photos to our blog for some reason. I will continue working on this but in the mean-time you can see them on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100000841991937&sk=info Just friend us!**

Easter weekend we were able to join a short-term group and some of the Extreme staff from Arequipa in Puno, Peru near Lake Titicaca to celebrate Easter and the first official service in a new church building constructed by the short-term volunteers and funded through donations to Extreme Building projects. It was amazing. It was very cool to see Lake Titicaca, as it is the world's highest navigable lake...but I personally was touched most by the volunteers there (short-term and long-term) but especially by the pastor's wife. I haven't talked to her ahead of time for permission to share what she shared with me, but I will just say that it is so crazy how God works years and years in bringing his plans together. He began working in the life of a little Peruvian girl years ago and calling her to minister along with her husband and family in Puno, Peru. It is beautiful.

So Sunday morning, Easter morning, I woke up and started reading in Luke about the crucufixion. Of course there are so many things that are striking about that strange time. During the last supper Jesus is speaking about being betrayed and he says "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you turn back, strengthen your brothers." (Luke 22:31-32). Of course Jesus said this knowing that Simon Peter would deny him three times after Jesus' arrest. It reminds me of Satan's asking permission to toy with Job and test his faith in hopes that he could destroy it. The cool thing about this is that in spite of the fact that He knew Peter would fail, He still prayed for him that his faith would remain strong. Right after he says he has prayed for him Jesus basically says that his faith will fail by saying "and when you turn back"... Jesus knows that we do fail and yet He is honored by our desire not to fail (Not that we do always fail of course because there are a great many times where our victory is completely secured by Christ!). God intends to change our lives, teach us, and teach others through our failure. It got me thinking about this whole story from Peter's perspective. Later on in verses 54-62 Peter denies Jesus 3 times and in that moment right after the 3rd denial, the rooster crows and it has all the drama of a movie...I imagine all sounds and movement halting except the sound of the rooster crowing and the electric gaze of Jesus piercing the heart of Peter (Lk 22:61). In that moment, Peter must have felt like the most horrible, disloyal, unfaithful friend in the world - a huge failure...small as a speck of dust...and yet, Peter is the rock upon which Christ will build his church (Mat 16:18). Christ knows exactly how we fail, He prays that our faith will remain strong but He uses us in spite of the failure and I would even say He uses us because of our failures. Peter in that moment of desperate humility must have walked away knowing his weakness in a way he could not have known before and enabled to increase in faith at having seen Christ's unwavering love and forgiveness. At the end of those verses, Jesus says "strengthen your brothers." Our failures are able to create strength!

The teams that are working down here go through so much. There are so many ups and downs and times when they may feel disappointed in themselves or in their team. I believe that these things are definitely more about the strengthening that comes after rather than our dissapointment at missing the mark we had set. We can never see all that Christ is doing. I am praying, right alongside Jesus, that our faith may not fail, but where it does let us be strengthened.

After the Resurrection, he appeared to some travellers walking on the road to Emmaus. This whole time they had no idea who He was even though they were among his followers. Now, they were kept from recognizing him until he chose to reveal himself... the women realized later that during their visit, their hearts had been burning and they knew at once why...it was because their Lord had been with them! Sometimes we don't realize what the Lord is showing us until we are able to look back on it. I hope that we have the wisdom to recognize Christ, even if not in the moment... Let us not ever become discouraged for His plans are undoubtedly unfolding as they should. When we are walking along the road to Emmaus and we feel that all is lost, I hope we turn around and realize that Christ is Risen! He has conquered it all and "now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come."(2Cor 5:5).

Easter is so emotion-filled...but awesomely beautiful at the end.

We are finishing up our time here in Arequipa this next week. We will be visiting Machu Picchu as a special little segue between our time in Peru and the beginning of our work in Paraguay. Oh my goodness it was so hard for us to get here but now I see fully in this moment that God has definitely ordained this for us and has already opened up blessings for trusting in His plan. I think this is our calm before the real work begins. Our team in Paraguay is working so very hard and they have already seen some amazing growth there but at the same time they are experiencing many challenges. Please be in prayer for them. Pray that they will not feel discouraged or incapable. We need only be willing and God will form us.

Thanks for reading all of this if you have gotten this far : ) In closing I am including a clip from David Platt, author of Radical. This is what Easter is all about...what Jesus died for, and what we are going to Paraguay for. Even here, on the mission field, we need to remember to give it all. Each day we may fail, but each day we may grow stronger. Let us be passionate in our living and bold in our faith! Let us ask of God for God...not for ourselves.

Lots of Love to you all and Thank You most whole-heartedly for your support.

**We need some of you to sign up for our Kid's Prayer Team. We have all months after May open. See http://jesusadventure.blogspot.com/p/kids-prayer-team.html to sign up. We have a few unfulfilled pledges and so are in need of a few more monthly sponsors. We are also praying about schooling for our children which would mean an additional monthly expense that does not qualify for tax-decutions for any donors. Please join us in praying for these needs.