Tonight, We're in Matamoros

We had another great day of travel today.  It was a shorter day which was nice also.  We left Ciudad Victoria around 12:30 this afternoon and arrived in Matamoros around 4:00.  We were able to visit Esperanza Viva Matamoros for a short time.  We so enjoyed our visit with Elias and Vania (his daughter).  We missed visiting with Flora, Elias's wife, because she is visiting her mother in Oaxaca.  Now we are at our hotel and Jim and the kids are swimming. I am sitting in an airconditioned room which is really nice.  It is quite warm here and very humid. 

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Scenery on the road today.

As we entered Matamoros we saw flooding as a results of releasing water from several dams.

Visiting with Elias and Vania was a highlight of the day.

Swimming at the hotel.

Prayer requests for tomorrow:

* Please pray that turning in our FM3 visas to immigration will go quickly and smoothly.

* That everything will go well in customs on the US side.

* Safe travel as we continue on our journey.

We Are In Ciudad Victoria

We began our trip home today and had a great day.  We were really suprised to have so much rain.  At times is was just pouring.  It was a long day, we left at 9:30 this morning and arrived in Ciudad Victoria at about 8:30.  Tomorrow will be a shorter day as we are traveling to Matamoros which is about four hours away and is right on the border of Texas.  We plan on visiting Esperanza Viva Matamoros in the afternoon and crossing the border on Wednesday morning.  Thank you for all your prayers, please keep praying for our safe travel.

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Jonathan's last time with his friends Dylan and David.

Erin is snug in her seat ready to go.

We were rather surprised to have rain most of the day.

Views of the country side as we traveled.

We're On Our Way!

The car is packed and we're ready to go.  Today we begin our journey back to Oregon and hope to arrive no later than August 10.  The car is pretty weighted down as it was when we moved here.  We thought we had gotten rid of so much stuff but it seems that we gained a lot of stuff too.  We will be posting here as we go along our way and we will be able to post pictures along the way also.  Most hotels have free wireless Internet now, so hopefully we will be able to update daily. 

Here are a couple of prayer requests for today:
* That our car will be able to handle the topes (speed bumps) with all of the weight.  It was quite taxed on the way down here. 
* That when we hit the check points going through Mexico, we are not asked to empty the car so they can see what we have in there.  We have nothing to hide, it would just be a big hassle.
* For health and safety on our trip.

Thank you to everyone for their prayers.

We're Coming Home...

     Fifteen months ago we left Oregon to begin a life as full time missionaries in Puebla, Mexico. It has been a time of great growth for all of us and we have thoroughly enjoyed being able to be a part of the children’s lives here at Esperanza Viva. We have made deep personal connections with many of them. We have been able to see children from the time they arrive here and slowly witness their lives transformed by the love and care they receive at Esperanza Viva. We personally saw a family of four come into the home last year and now the two oldest teenagers have dedicated their lives to the Lord and were baptized this past May. How wonderful it is to see these kids on a path of serving our wonderful Lord and Savior. The children here receive far more than just a roof over their heads, food and clothing. They receive hope, the living hope that is only found in Christ Jesus.
     As part of the normal process in a missionary’s life in the ministry here we recently completed our one year evaluation. At this time, we evaluated how things were going for our family, it is a time to choose if we would be continuing on for a second year of service. After a lot of fasting, prayer, council with our church and with friends here in Mexico, we have sadly decided that God is leading us to return home sooner than we had first planned. We have had many people speak into our lives and the Lord has placed several verses in our hearts to confirm this choice.
     Proverbs 16:9 says, “In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.” And Isaiah 55:8-9 says, “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” We made plans to be here for a much longer time but it is God who determines our steps. His ways are not our ways and his thoughts are not our thoughts.
     Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” We know he has a plan for our lives and we want to follow his ways, not our own.
     Prior to moving to Mexico, God gave Joshua 1:9 as a verse to hold on to. I had always quoted this verse as saying, “Be strong and courageous! Do not be terrified, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Well, I have gone back to that verse many times while living in a foreign country with new ways and a new language to learn. But, as we have been working through this process of deciding to return home, there have been times of confusion and discouragement and God had me go back and look at this verse again. The actual quote of Joshua 1:9 is, “This is my command – be strong and courageous! Do not be terrified or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” I had totally missed the part where it says to not be discouraged. God is so good!
     So, now we are set to begin yet a new chapter in our lives. We are finishing up some tasks here in the ministry and our plan is to start our journey home on the 26th of July. We hope to be back in the Portland area sometime in early August. During the journey home we plan to visit Esperanza Viva Youth Home in Matamoros, Mexico and see the children there once more. We stopped in Matamoros on our way down and had a wonderful time getting to know them just a bit.
     We will keep you updated on our journey and would ask that you keep us in your prayers for safety and health. We look forward to sharing more about our experiences here upon our return. Thank you for all of your support and prayers. We so appreciate all of you and could not have done this without your help.

Picture Update From Mexico

It has been way too long since we updated with anything so I am going to update with some pictures from the last few weeks.  One morning last week, I came downstairs to make coffee and this full rainbow was outside our kitchen window.  What a beautiful reminder of God's promises to start the day with.

On Wednesday of this past week, we took the day off with another family and went to El Rollo which is a water park about three hours away.  We didn't take a lot of pictures because we were having too much fun.

This is a 5 meter (15 feet) "cliff" for jumping off.  When you jump off, you land in a pool at the bottom.

This shows a little better how tall it is.

Yes, I did jump off of it!

I don't know how may electricians we have viewing our blog, but you'll love this one.  There were wires coming out of here that were just going in every which direction. 

Many of these wires were just laying on sticks to keep them from touching the ground.

On Thursday night we had the Chavas (teenage girls) over for a special night.  We discovered that it was Maribel's and Angelica's birthdays.  They are sisters and have the same birthday but they say they are not twins.  They sure look alike.

Blanca is a very special young woman to me.  She had a hard time when she turned 18 this past spring.  I was able to share that God has a plan for her life and that she need not worry, but only trust in Him.  We have shared our favorite Scripture verses with each other which has been special.

Erin and Rosa.

Anna Karen also holds a special place in my heart.  I saw her the day she arrived at Esperanza Viva and she has blossomed since then.  She is such a pleasure to know.

The kids here put hot sauce on everything!

Then on Friday night, we had the Chavos (teenage boys) over.  We had a great time with them also. 

Being able to share with the Chavos is one of the highlights for Jim here in Mexico.

During the evening, Erin brought out her string and was making friendship bracelets with the boys.  It is amazing to me how many of the boys know how to make them and they really enjoy making them too.

Well, that's been the last couple of weeks in pictures.