Home Sweet Home

Our Costa Rica Home Entrance -- A nice place for the girls to play!!

As of late we have had many discussions as a family about home.  Questions include - "Where is home now?"  "Will Colorado always be our 'real home'?" "What will our home in Ecuador be like....exactly?" Some of these questions can be answered and some cannot.  We've focused on the foundational truths of our lives.  God orchestrates things for our good.  He is Good.  We will get to see God's glory and bring Him glory as we surrender more and more to Him.  Huge concepts that even Georgia and Reese are beginning to grasp and stand on in a practical daily sense.  SOOOOOO AWESOME to see as a parent!

Our entry, living room and dining room

We can answer some of these questions.  Yay!!  We have a rental house in Costa Rica for one year.  It is bright blue (the girls love this!) and walking distance from our language school.  We thought you'd like to see pictures...  The girls get all giggly when we look at the pictures and have visions of playing in the rain and swinging in a hammock on our patio.  I'm looking forward to cooking with local ingredients and washing laundry in my "open-air" laundry room ;)  Chris, will probably most enjoy having three settled (more-settled???) women in his life.  Home is wherever God places us and we are excited to be in this Costa Rican home for a year!

Time to Travel!!!

We are so excited to be heading out to Quito, Ecuador tomorrow.  This will be our first trip without the girls and this has proven to be difficult!  However, we are resting in God's work in and through us as a family -- both in the U.S. with Georgia and Reese and in South America with Chris and I.  It's so fun to serve a God who wants good for us.  We can rest in his character and plan.

This coming weekend is extra exciting! Tina has an opportunity to share with a group of indigenous, national and western women in the pre-conference meetings.  Please pray with us that the Lord is glorified and that the ladies are unified and empowered to live abundant lives in Christ!  Chris will be attending important pre-meetings with many key leaders -- South American nationals, indigenous and foreign.  May God be glorified as the Body of Christ comes together for His purposes!

Additionally, we are so pleased to share that Tina's parents will be joining us on this trip to Ecuador.  They are so excited to meet so many of our ministry partners and to "catch the vision" of what God is doing in the Amazon and Lowland Regions of South America.  We are pleased as punch to be able to share the upcoming 11 days with them.  Yay!

Georgia and Reese have a little to say about our upcoming plans. (Imagine that?!?) If you haven't already done so, check out their blog at http://georgiaandreese.blogspot.com  

Now to finish packing and get some sleep before our 4am wakeup call.  As always, it's a pleasure to journey with so many amazing people by our side.  Truly.

Ignite A Movement In Your Heart!!!

Our family is currently a part of a new church plant launch team at Ignite Church (www.igniteamovement.org).  God has done awesome things in and through the young church.  This past Sunday we "launched" as the first missionaries to be sent by Ignite Church.  In faith, the leadership of Ignite challenged the church body to give sacrificially to create a support fund for our ministry in Ecuador.  God blew our socks off as the full $6000 was raised in one Sunday!  

Come and see what our God has done, 

what awesome miracles he performs for people!!

Psalm 66:5

We spoke about our journey into ministry, the Shamanistic strongholds in the Amazon and Lowland Regions and were able to share our journey of 

DAILY OBEDIENCE leading to CONFIDENCE to step into the unknown.

May God Ignite A Movement In Your Heart as we tell of God's awesome work

in and through surrendered people, church bodies and communities. 

Remember, just as he is working miracles in our lives, He desires to work miracles in your life as you say "YES!" to God daily.  He is worthy and able.

Publish his glorious deeds among the nations. 

Tell everyone about the amazing things he does!

I Chronicles 16:24

Going Tribal At The Rock!!

We just wrapped up 3 glorious weeks spent at The Rock of Southwest.  Although very busy, we savored each moment of conversation, vision sharing and connecting with amazing friends both new and old.  Each time we met with people of The Rock we walked away saying, "Holy cow those are some awesome people!! We're soooo blessed!!"

Ron and Alveena blessed our socks off as they shared their global ministry experience and "Went Tribal" with face paint and much more.  These two are a glimpse of the great missions team of The Rock.  Thanks Guys!!

Ron and Alveena Going Tribal!!

Revelation 7:9-10 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands crying with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb!"

Launch Day at The Rock!!

What a day Sunday was...full of hugs, laughter, inspiration and hope.  We enjoyed every minute of our time sharing at The Rock and mingling with the people.  When we walked into the church decorated in full jungle glory Reese said, "Mom!  We're home!"  In so many ways we were home -- in the jungle and at The Rock.  We have been challenged, served in ministries and have made life long friendships at The Rock.  What a gift!  And now we can push forward to our next home -- the jungle of Ecuador.

So many expressed their desire to pray for the leaders in Ecuador and the Amazon and Lowland Regions of SA. This is such an encouragement!  Additionally, we believe the Lord worked on many hearts to join our financial team so we can reach our August departure goal.  Amazing!!!

Thank you Bruce, Kathleen, Missions Team and our amazing family at The Rock.  We are blessed beyond measure by your love, care and bold support.

Countdown to Launch!

2013 in review:

• March - Traveled to Ecuador to research monthly living & ministry budget
• September - Attended the ALTECO orientation in North Carolina
• October - Hosted our first monthly information meeting
• Continued to serve on the launch team of Ignite Church as Local Outreach Directors
• Funded at 35% at year's end, 65% to go!

2014 Goals/Projections/Prayer Points:

• Continue to build team (financial and prayer) with a goal to be fully funded by August
• Depart for language school in August http://thespanishinstitute.com/home/
• Put our house up for sale in May
• Attend ALTECO's annual AC-14 meeting in Quito, Ecuador in May
• Transition out of jobs in Denver

Testimonies of God's goodness:

• We attended a prayer meeting this last Monday that was unexpectedly filled with people from our past who pray and support missionaries. This was a great reminder of how God orchestrates all things!
• WOW (kid's program at The Rock-our sending church) is highlighting us as missionaries during their annual mission series this month. We are enjoying the opportunity to share with the kids and help them catch the vision for the adventure of God's leadership in their lives.
• As we look at the year ahead, we continue to meditate on our family's theme verse: 1 Peter 1:22b "Love one another deeply, from the heart." We are learning to love others at every opportunity as we share the vision of our ministry. Thus far, it has been a great joy to tell the stories of God's faithful leadership in our lives. We pray the testimony of our lives, even in partnership development, challenges others to trust God's loving character and stand firmly on this as they strive to love others deeply in their daily lives.

God provides for our needs AND WANTS!

Over the past year we have participated in pre-field counseling. This has been a great joy as we've had the opportunity to seek wisdom and practical step guidance from an expert. Our counselor, Miss Amy (as the girls call her), strongly advised our family to take a "good vacation" before we launch our ministry in Ecuador. We saved money to work towards this goal but unexpected health issues and medical bills sucked up that cash! After much prayer and processing we felt led to humbly share our need with some of our friends/family. This was a growth point for us. Of course, in true God fashion, we received a response of incredible generosity and care. Our vacation became a reality. What a mighty God we serve!

Here are a few pics for you to savor as we certainly savored every moment of our time together. During our vacation, we went to see Winter the dolphin (from the movie Dolphin Tale), visited the NASA Space Center in Cape Canaveral, went to Discovery Cove & Sea World in Orlando and spent some glorious time building sand castles on the beach.

Beach Time!

Swimming with Dolphins!

Kennedy Space Station!

Sea World!!