Thursday, October 30, 2008

Last Week in Vegas

I've had a great last week at home.

My mom came flew in from Minnesota and we got to spend a lot of time together. My brother's 21st birthday was on Tuesday. We did our first shot of vodka as a family. I played bingo with my mom and brother. I went to Club Christ one last time. I was prayed for by the entire South Hills Church family (thank you guys!).

All that's left to do is pack and say some last goodbyes. Then I leave bright and early on Monday, November 3rd.

I want to say thank you to all of you for your love and support through all of this. Just reading my blog means a lot to me. Don't be scared to leave a comment. I like to know people are reading this stuff.
I love you all!

Here are some pics of my family and two girls from Club Christ (Mikaya & Kwestchen)





Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Thank Him.

Wow. Less than two weeks. I get little butterflies and an uncontrollable smile when I think about it.

Thank you guys for all of your prayers for me as I prepare to go and as I get my finances in order. I've been doing a lot of praying and I have to admit I've been getting a little anxious about when all of my support is going to come in. Last night, I got a call from a friend who decided to support me quite a bit. When I thanked them they were silent for a moment. Then they said, "Don't thank me, thank God."

So a HUGE thank you to God that I am now one third of the way to my goal of $14,000. And I know He will quickly provide the rest of it before I leave. We serve one powerful, loving, knowing God.

If you think God wants to use you to help me get to my support goal, let Him use you. Use the resources He has given you to bring Him all the glory and fame. We are truly making Jesus famous! You can find the address to mail checks to in the right column of my blog in my Profile area. Be sure to put my name in the Memo.

Praise God and thank Him today for what He has given you and what He is doing in your life.

(The picture was taken in the community of Iglesia Roca Fuerte (Strong Rock Church) on a warm sunny day.)

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

The October Newsletter

Rick and Tammie just sent out their October newsletter and I wanted to post it on here for all of you to read. This way you can get a quick look at what ministries we will be beginning this next year and the things God is doing.


Greetings,

We have two weeks left before we head back to Mexico. It has been a great time of connecting with churches and spending time with family. While we are up in the States, Rick needed to see a doctor. He thought he might have Gallstones. It turns out that it is not Gallstones, but it may be a couple of other things. This week Rick will get a blood test and a stress test to find out what is going on. Please pray for him, that the doctors will be able to figure out what's going on.

While we have been up in the States we have been blessed with a donated truck from Michael & Val Wedman and East Hills Alliance Church donated a bus. What a huge blessing, we are so grateful for the generosity of people and many still continue to give money for ministry expenses. For those of you who were with us last summer, you know how many people we crammed in each car to get youth to a beach outreach. This will also make it easier to transport groups.

We are all excited to go home and begin another year of ministry in Ensenada. When we return home we have several new projects we want to start with the ministry. We would like to open a coffee house and drop in center at the second floor (where our groups eat) to youth in the community. We would like to offer free Internet, games, and coffee for youth to drop in. The churches have started to work with the youth, so we want to have creative opportunities to share the gospel with the lost. With the children we will be working alongside the churches to build a healthy children's program, possibly with awana. 5 of the 6 churches are now officially Alliance Churches, with 5 official Alliance pastors. Pray as we are trying to come up with ways that they can make money and pastor their churches, we are looking at offering them micro finance loans. At this time we have two other pastors that are working toward becoming Alliance pastors, and hopefully by next summer we will be able to build them a church in the community they are working in.

We have been praying for a facility to house the groups. This next summer we have four weeks of at least one-hundred people each week. As the ministry has grown our needs have grown, God has been faithful and supplied our every need. We are Gods servants in Ensenada and want to make sure that we are in His will. One of the options is buying a facility that is ready to move in and house groups, or purchase land and build. Our need is for this summer to have a place large enough to accommadate the groups, and to be wise with our decisions. Our summer is just about fully booked, we continue to be amazed at churches who have sacrificially come alongside the ministry. One of the new opportunities we have is Praxis students serving with us for one year. Not only will they be a huge help for us, but they have the opportunity to actively be involved in missions work. We have three girls who are willing to come work alongside us, and help us do some of these new projects. Pray for Kourtney, Casey and Sarah that they will have an awesome experience and that they would be sensitive to Gods leading in their hearts. Fransisco is still continuing to run the Bible Institute at our second floor, the people are so hungry for spiritual growth. As we focus on this next year, our desire is to continue to seek Christ and do His perfect will in all. Finally, continue to pray for Juan and the boys home. It is open with three boys, but Juan continues to run into problems with the government. The government always looks for ways to get money, it gets pretty frustrating.

Thank you for faithfully praying for us and coming alongside the ministry in Ensenada. We are excited to start our fourth year in Mexico, and excited to see what God is going to do. We are humbled to be His servants, working with these Alliance Churches expanding His kingdom. We will continue to be creative and intentional using groups to help the churches, and build relationships between the United States/Canada and Mexico.

Blessings,
Rick & Tammie

Monday, October 13, 2008

The Count Down Begins

Three weeks from today I'll be in Mexico.

Oh my goodness. I'm so excited!!

I called the two girls (Casey and Kourtney) I'll be working with a couple days ago. We are all doing the same year-long program called Global Ventures Praxis through the Christian and Missionary Alliance. They are super nice. They arrived in Maneadero just after I left. So by the time I get there they'll have been there for about two months.

Funny story: I got my teeth cleaned today. I decided I don't really want to go to a dentist in Ensenada so I better get it out of the way while I'm here. But it was really funny because the dentist and dental hygenist couldn't get over the tattoo on the inside of my lip. They kept looking at it and making comments and jokes. It made visiting the dentist a little more enjoyable!