God Gave Them Rest...

“The Lord gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers...not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel.  All came to pass” (Joshua 21:43,44). A dear friend gave me a book before we moved down, that I have started to read and absolutely love.  Mainly, because its about one of my favorite persons in the bible, Joshua.  The book is, ‘Joshua; Mighty Warrior and Man of Faith’ by Phillip Keller.  After successfully bringing the nation of Israel across the Jordan river, defeating a lot of enemies and finally settling into the Promise Land, God’s promise to His people was fulfilled, ”...all came to pass.”

Just as the Lord gave them rest all around...it feels that way a bit down here.  After 3 weeks of packing, moving, traveling, a missions team, bringing trucks and vans of our stuff across the border, unpacking, etc...we have finally settled here and have a chance to rest.  It truly feels like home now and we are absolutely loving it.

We were able to finish the 2nd story of the youth room addition, our summer team built, which has been a blessing to the youth group on Saturday nights.  It has also been a tremendous blessing to Jackie, Antu and I as we now have the entire old youth room to ourselves.  This has allowed us to give Antu her own room, have a living room and kitchen.  While I was in the states getting the last bit of our stuff this past weekend, Jackie and the youth group did a great job rearranging and setting things up.

Antu observing Eloy, replacing a door with a wall...

We have added a new addition to the family as well, “Jessie Girl” our new German Shepherd/Siberian Husky mix dog.  Ayantu picked out the name, from Jessie on Toy Story, her favorite cow-girl.  Jessie girl eats a lot, sleeps a lot and is already growing.  Its a little adjustment, having never owned a dog before, but we love it!

Work has slowed down a bit at the orphanage as all of the main projects are being completed.  This past week, we were able to finish installing the exterior doors, mud and taping of the sheetrock and have now begun plastering the rooms (in preparation for painting them).  We are getting them ready for a missions team from Calvary Northwest in Bellingham WA that will be coming down the first week in April, to paint the inside of the facility.

We are still waiting to hear back on word regarding the water and electrical hookup.  The water line is dug and ready to be hooked up.  We just need final confirmation from our neighbor Marcello, who has agreed to let us hook up into his line.  This is a blessing because it prevents us having to run water lines from 600 meters away, to our well.  He has been out of town so hopefully next week.

Our dear friend, Pastor Jacob and another brother, Cornelius, came out to the property on Thursday to look at the power situation.  Cornelius is an electrician and has agreed to help us out.  We have narrowed down our options, really to just one, running power from the well.  We have gotten an estimate for running wire underground and are now waiting for an estimate to run the power via poles and power lines.  600 meters is too long to run underground, and unless the government gives us special permission, we’ll need to run via poles.  Cornelius is hopeful that maybe since its for an orphanage, the government will make an exception.  This too would save us money.

Pastor Jacob, Cornelius and Nieves...

We made a trip to Cuahtemoc on Friday to hopefully start the final paper work for our AC (non-profit) for the orphanage.  Unfortunately the notary was out of the country in El Paso.  Whether we make an appointment or just show up, he never seems to be there.  We will call again on Monday and LORD WILLING, be able to file the documents on Tuesday or Wednesday.  The Lord definitely teaches you patience and the importance of “waiting” on Him.  Its difficult at times, but I know that in the end...ALL will come to pass, just as it did for Joshua!

PRAYER REQUESTS...

• Please pray that we can get a hold of Marcelo and the notary to finish the water and AC paperwork.
• Please pray for Pastor Jacob and Cornelius as they look into the electrical work for the orphanage.
• Please pray for our safety, health and continual adjustment to living here. Please pray for Aaron Wiens, a brother from South Hill Calvary, who is serving here with us and will eventually end up in Peru for bible college.

“Wait on the Lord;  be of good courage and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!” (Psalm 27:14).

Thank You Jesus...

“Oh, how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear You,  which You have prepared for those who trust in You in the presence of the sons of men!’ (Psalm 31:19). This week long missions trip has been one of the most blessed ones I’ve been apart of.  God has orchestrated so many things to come together in His perfect timing...we’ve have stood in awe of His amazement.  Saints, I pray that this story encourages you all.  I pray that God would use a “backhoe and bucket”  to strengthen your faith as much as He has strengthen ours.

Our goal this week was to complete the septic tank system for the orphanage.  Chris Pengra (from Utah) started designing and working on the system back in October with a team from Puyallup WA.  We weren’t able to finish it, so Chris brought back a wonderful father/son duo from his church (Bill and Tim) to help complete the project.  One of the most important items needed to finish the septic tank system, is a back hoe.  Lots of holes and trenches need to be dug.  We have hired Tony (from Bachiniva) and his machine in the past, however, he was out of town, working in the states for 3 weeks.  Pastor Luis said “no hay problema”  I’ll call some Mennonites and see what might come of it.  God showed His faithfulness by allowing us to use a tractor from Pastor Jacob and his church...for FREE!

Bill (a modern day Paul Bunyon with an amazing beard) noticed that the machine was a “CAT” (catepillar) instead of a John Deer machine, which is what he is used to driving.  Apparently each machine has its own controls...special for that particular brand.  So, one who is used to driving John Deer machines all his life, would have great difficulty with the CAT machine and controls.  Bill climbed in to check things out and wouldn’t you know, right there in a CAT machine were John Deer controls....something that rarely happens...especially in Mexico.  Bill kept saying, “I can’t believe that this has the right controls.”  God knew EXACTLY what we needed!

After digging for an hour...work was suddenly stopped.  Unfortunately the teeth (on the bucket of the back hoe) were completely worn down to the point you couldn’t dig anymore.  That was a big problem.  Plus, the bucket itself was too big...we needed an 18 inch bucket.  We thought maybe Tony might have an extra bucket or at least know where to get some new teeth.  Not knowing if he was back in town or not, we went to his house bright and early one morning.  Tony just happened to be home, along with his backhoe.  Bill immediately noticed the size of the bucket on it, new teeth and everything, and thought, that would be perfect...if it fits.  It was an older model and he wasn’t sure it would work.  We thought we’d give it a try anyways and Tony graciously let us borrow it, for FREE.  Praying and asking the Lord to make it fit, God answered our prayers. It fit perfectly.  Everything came together just when we needed it and Bill started flying with that machine.  Over the course of the next 3 days, all of the trenches and leach fields (some 800 feet long) were dug, all the pipe was laid and hooked up, the tanks were dropped into the holes, and then, everything was covered and buried nicely.  Our prayer and desire for this missions trip was again answered in a timeframe that STILL amazes us.

As a team, we’ve been studying through the book of Philippians.  Last night we spent 2 hours, reading, praying, rejoicing and talking about how God is mindful of everything.  What might seem like a coincidence to someone, or “no big deal” to another, means so much to the Lord.  He has been mindful of the very things we needed this week before we even came down here.  I’d even say, before the foundations of the earth were formed.  That’s how amazing the Lord is.  And who are we? that He would desire to use us, empower us, let us be apart of the glorious works that He does on a daily basis.  We went to bed last night, encouraged, refreshed, and ready for a NEW DAY and all that God wants to do in our lives!

Constructing the water tower...

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love” (Ephesians 1:3-4).

Times And Seasons...

“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). Thank you so much for all of your prayers during our move and transition down to Mexico. We couldn’t have asked for a smoother, better, more blessed transition then what the Lord gave to us.  God was mindful of every little detail...whether it was loading up the moving truck, packing up our house, driving 1900 miles down to El Paso, getting vehicles permitted or crossing the border with 3 vehicles full our stuff without any problems...God was faithful in EVERY aspect.  We are still amazed at how wonderful He is.

I had a wonderful time driving down with my dad in the u-haul.  We spent 4 days talking, laughing, telling stories and moments of silence, just enjoying each others company.  It was one of those moments in life that you will never forget and a wonderful reminder of how much I love and appreciate my dad.

God has wonderfully blessed us with a beautiful red truck...for FREE.  We were able to register and permit it without any difficulties.  So, on Saturday, with 2 trucks and a 15 passenger van packed full with our stuff, we picked up 3 brothers, Chris, Bill and Tim, from Calvary Mountain View in Utah and headed to the border.  We were anticipating spending a long time there however, God had another plan.  When it was all said and down, we were there for maybe an hour, getting visas and paying our border taxes on our stuff.  The border can be very particular and meticulous with what they allow or don’t allow you to bring.  No problems for us.  It was wonderful to have 2 english speaking border workers who were excited to hear about the orphanage and a bit perplexed that we actually WANTED to move to mexico!  We arrived safely to our new home Saturday night and I must say it felt as if we hadn’t left at all.  Ayantu didn’t waste anytime finding her toys, running around and talking about how she love’s Mexico!

Church on Sunday was a blessing...so great to be back worshipping and studying the word with Calvary Chapel Bachiniva.  I was on usher duty and so I sat in the back with my wife Jackie. During the message, I looked over at my wife and noticed she was crying...I asked if she was okay and she said to me “it’s good to be home.”  I almost lost it as well, as we both just settled in to realizing, this IS our new home, and it feels so wonderful to be here!

Jackie and Antu have been busying unpacking our stuff and making our little place fell all the more like a cozy home.  I have been busy at the orphanage site as well as running errands for the work crew.  I can’t believe how BEAUTIFUL the orphanage looks.  As I walked through the halls, rooms, dining room, kitchen, bathrooms, it was incredibly emotional.  All that God has done and all that He continues to WANT to do in our midst.  I can’t wrap my mind around Him allowing me to be a part of this!

Chris, Bill and Tim are finishing up the septic tank system, and man, they are working fast.  God blessed us once again with a backhoe to dig the trenches...however, this time it was for free, from one of the Mennonite pastor's...who is letting us use if for the week.  It is extremely cold down here as a cold front is blowing through and yet work is still getting done and we are having a blast!

The internet is running very slow so I will post some pictures tomorrow morning.  I want to leave you all with a verse that we read last night.  The team is studying through the book of Philippians together....

“being confident of this very thing, that he who HAS begun a good work in you WILL complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:9).

Saints, the God who HAS...is the God who WILL...He is not done with you yet!