Back in the States...

"O God, You are more awesome than Your holy places.  The God of Israel is He who gives strength and power to His people.  Blessed be God" (Psalm 68:35). We have been back in the states for the past 6 days and already we are missing Mexico. Its a bit strange adjusting back to food and especially the weather (going from 75 degrees to 38 and snowing in Utah)..however we are enjoying our time with family, friends and sharing about the orphanage.

The last 2 weeks of our time there was incredibly busy with our missions team from Washington and Utah.  In a period of 5 working days, we were absolutely amazed at what was accomplished.  As I reflect on what the Lord did...and read what the Psalmist proclaimed...truly we have an "awesome" God.  During the trip, we were able to pour the rest of the concrete floor, frame the inside of the orphanage, install all the plumbing, dig and put in 1/2 the septic tank system, tile the 400 square foot room the summer team added onto the church...AND...have lots of time for fellowship, study through 1st Timothy, and serve over 100 kids at the Fall Festival.  The Lord was faithful to give the team strength, power, good health and a blessed trip.

On Monday, we headed up to El Paso and put the team on a plane back to WA and Utah.  Jackie, Ayantu and I, along with my dad and Jenny stayed a few extra days in El Paso.  Monday night and Tuesday morning were dedicated to our first “Board of Advisors” meeting.  I spent 8 hours with 4 brothers that I highly respect and appreciate their love for the Lord and passion for the orphanage.  I must admit there were moments throughout our time together that I felt like, “what in the world am I doing? I’m not qualified or skilled or ready for this...”  However, the Lord reminded me of the uneducated and untrained men the book of Acts talks about...

“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled.  And they realized that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13).

That is my desire...and I know it is the boards desire as well...spend more time with Jesus, meditate on Him, love and serve Him and all other things will fall into place.

On Wednesday, we flew from El Paso to Salt Lake City.  My brother and his family have been living their the past 8 years and are very involved in a great church, Calvary Mountain View.  I had the honor of sharing at the college group, Regeneration, last night. It was a sweet time of worship, fellowship and watching the Lord move on the hearts of young people in the area of missions and taking steps of faith.  The Lord has also opened the doors for me to lead worship and teach tomorrow morning as well.  Please be praying for me...I’d love that!

Finally, on Monday, we will make our trek back home to WA.  After being gone for 3 1/2 months, it will be great to be reunited with our family and church again.  For the next 2 months, I will be focusing solely on the orphanage...logistics, administration, missions trip planning and speaking at different churches.  I know the time will go by fast so we are praying that God will help us get everything done before we move back down, permanently in January.

This new chapter in our lives has been one of the biggest blessings, and yet biggest challenges.  We know now more then every before that this is what God has for us and we can’t wait to see it all unfold before us.  We cannot thank you enough for all your prayers and support thus far...it has ministered to our hearts and family greatly!

The team from WA, Utah and our brothers in Bachiniva...

We left one brother behind, Doug (El Capitan) who installed all the electrical work...

Chris, Judah, Jose and Jesse inside on our of water tanks for the septic system...these tanks are massive...

The roof is red to put the "rustic red" tin on...

"Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who ONLY does wondrous things!  And blessed be His glorious name forever!  And let the whole earth be filled with His glory.  Amen and Amen" (Psalm 72:18-19).