Friends united

Hi everyone! Sometimes I feel like I have so much to write that I don't write anything. Tonight I decided I just needed to start writing or I would just never tell you anything anymore due to information overload. So I will pick out the highlight of this past week and tell you about that.

We have been praying for our church in our old village for a while now. Satan has been attacking it in so many areas and it has been hard on many. Greg and I weren't sure what we were able to do from an hour away. So, we prayed. Greg decided that we needed to start doing a night of visitation to the people who have stopped coming for one reason or another. We shared this idea with the few who were present and it wasn't received as well as we had hoped. However, we arrived on Friday night with the intention of just bringing it up again and seeing how they responded. Only 12 of us showed up that night so again, we were discouraged. (5 were our family) But when we got ready to start they asked if we were going to do visitation. Greg looked a little shocked and said, "Sure if you want to!" So we got into groups and went out. Oh how we were blessed by our efforts.

One family said they were worried about how another person in the church was feeling about something that had happened recently and that person happened to be there visiting them. So they cleared up that misunderstanding and prayed and the family said they would return on Monday.

Then we visited one woman who hasn't come in a month. She was a very active participant in the church and cried when we came to visit her. She shared how she felt alienated by another member and that member was there to visit her as well. They shared their feelings and cried and hugged and prayed. It was a wonderful night. I was in awe at how God was moving in the lives of our friends! We are planning on continuing this every other week. Please pray we will see God revive our little church and bind satan from these precious people! Thank you all! Missy

Water Education

Hi friends! Me asking for prayer for water has raised many water questions. Do you have water where you live? Did you have water in your last village? How do people get water if you don't have it? These are some of the questions that have been asked about water. So I thought it would be a good time to explain the water situation to you all. First let me say that when ever I ask for prayers for things like water or electricity or saftey, I am not only asking it for our family; I am asking it for everyone around me, the people I love. They have very tough lives and if we can make their lives any easier, we will. Our purpose is not to make their lives easier but to share the Good News with them, but many times, those go hand in hand.

Now about the questions.... The village we lived in for four years before we lived here, has no water. There are no rivers, lakes, streams or anything like that anywhere near them. The government has not piped in water from the nearest large city which is about a 40 minute drive from the village. Now they have found a little bit of water where they have attached one tube and it is located at the very edge of town. This could be a mile to two mile walk from many of the homes in our old village. That is where they go to do their laundry and fill up their water jugs. They usually line up at 4  in the morning to get water. Then they have to haul the jugs of water home for the day so they can have water to live off of for that day. Now.... is that what I had to do for 4 years? NO. If you have money you can hire someone to drive a water truck (looks like a gas truck)into town and fill it up and bring you water to your home and fill up your home's tank. (if your home has a 'tank' if not some would just purchase water to fill up big barrels) There were times when we went without water then b/c we couldn't find a water truck or the roads were blocked and the water trucks couldn't get to us. So for those reasons, we went without water there. It was just all together different in our old village! I will explain more through these pictures. Click on the pictures and it will make them larger. 

This is how they haul their jugs to their homes, they are extremely HEAVY too!

This is where the women have come to wash their clothes. It is tough because they all have to share the little bit of water that is there and then they have to take all of their WET, HEAVY clothes home to dry!

When it rains, this can fill up with rain water and their is a lot more water for all to enjoy. However, that is only 5 months out of the year.

Here they are waiting to get their jugs filled up.

That little hose is the ONLY water source in the entire village for 5000 people. That tiny little drip.

They fill up those trash cans each day and then everyone has to share that water to wash their clothes; while the other women fill up their jugs with the water hose. It is really amazing there are not a lot of fights during this time!!

Waiting to wash clothes.

Now this is how we collected our water. When it rained we (as well as most everyone in the village) had our home set up to catch every drop of rain.  No one in the villages we live near now have their homes set up like this because there is an abundance of water here. Let me explain. ;o)

Tube we had coming from our roof to gather water.

How we wash our hands in our old village.

This is what runs through every village near us. Rivers, natural springs, you name it there is water. Most of the people here live close enough to a water source that having water has never been an issue. Many homes have it piped into their homes and as Americans are; well... they are spoiled by having water. They have never needed to gather water like the people in our old village. They have never needed to collect rain water off of their roof because again, it has NEVER been an issue. So, when the pipe recently broke and there was no water. Everyone here pretty much went a little crazy wondering what they would do without water. They didn't have the ability to collect water and there are no water trucks because there has never been a necessity for that either. So, there you have it, now you know the difference in this village and our old one. These two villages are only an hour apart but the difference in water is HUGE! So, you can also pray for water for our old village because, they have never had water. Love you all! Missy

Pictures say it all!!!

We have water and I am H.A.P.P.Y!! Thanks for praying! love you all, Missy

Time to pray!

Hi my friends! It has been a long day! School, groceries, lunch, ( I ate some killer grilled shrimp, just had to say that!) came home and we had the wonderful opportunity to Skype with a church in Oklahoma. It was fun! We were able to tell them what we are doing here and try to help them understand more about M in general. Now here is where it gets kinda funny. Greg had invited some people over for a time of prayer. He said there would probably be 5 or 6 people come. So I thought, NO problem, as soon as we are done with our Skype interview we will have about 15 minutes to get ready for them. HA HA HA HA! Can you hear me laughing out loud? Well they arrived early,(which is a miracle in itself!) as we were finishing our Skype conversation and I thought, still no biggie, it is only 5 people. HA HA HA HA!

 Please help me to remember to always plan for many more than my husband tells me are coming. After everyone was here we had 22 people in our home. Heehee. It was fine but it wasn't the few I had planned on. Of course how can I complain when they were all there to pray? It really was awesome to see. I mean these people were pouring their hearts out in prayer! It was a great way for all of us to talk about how we as a team can try to reach each village. There were 5 different villages represented here and we are trying to use each person to help us reach more in those villages. It is so cool to see!

One of our prayer concerns right now is we really have no water. Now when we moved here in June we went through this but it was for a different reason. Then there was water, there just wasn't enough pressure to get it up to our tank. Now we have NO water. That means that we can't find it anywhere. A pipe has broken somewhere and we don't know when it will be fixed. We are suffering now! So please pray we will get water soon! REALLY soon! Thanks!! Love you all !! Missy

After we prayed we all sat around and ate bread and drank coffee. (Well, I had milk!) ;o)

Jerod and Alex are having fun teaching some of our friends how to play Chess.

This is a pastor of a nearby church and his wife. He has been a true blessing to have nearby!

Me and my honey!

The faucet is on and we are sad!

We are trying to catch all of our rainwater but it isn't raining that much. ;o(

The outside spigot is dry as a bone too!

Here is half of the laundry we have and we are out of clean....;o)

So now you get the urgency of prayer huh?

Oh the Drama.... Please pray for Annie!

So... First let me say it has been a tough week. I was sick all last week. Then Annie and I ate some bad chicken and we were sick together. Today was our first good day of feeling fine. We were so thankful and ready for a 'normal' week. Ha! Well, we were watching television... The Biggest Loser if you must know, and we hear a scream from the school room where Annie and Alex were watching a cartoon. We run in there to find out what happened and find Annie on the floor with a very ugly, bloody toe. Her toenail was almost all the way off, however I couldn't quite get it off myself. So.... off to a Dr. friend who lives just 10 minutes down the road.

So this is what it looked like when we found her, but worse. I placed the toenail in the right position to cover it until we got to the Dr.'s house.

That is her toenail in the tweezers.

Our brave little Annie waiting for this thing to be over.

She was a little unsure about what he was going to do to her. But it is two of her best friends in the world's father so she trusted he wasn't going to hurt her. Of course he loves her as does his 19 and 21 year old daughters. (Those are the best friends!) 

This is what it looked like afterward! We had to decorate her toe to make it look fun!

Resting at home after our rush to the Dr.'s house.

The culprit. How did it happen? Well, Annie was trying to get a blanket that was in a corner of the room. I use this blanket to lie on when I am working out. Underneath that blanket was this 10 lb. weight. When she pulled the blanked down, off rolled the weight. Annie suggests that we now leave the weight on the floor, I agree! Blessings.... NO broken toe/foot! A Dr. friend who is a Christian man and would do anything for Annie. He didn't even want to charge us. He gave us medicine and everything we needed to fix up her toe and we gave him about $8. We are blessed! Annie is now sleeping peacefully and can't wait to watch her new toenail grow! We will just have to work this into homeschool and figure out just how a nail grows and how long it takes and all of that good stuff. It could be fun! Please pray she has no infection and that she will feel fine tomorrow as well. Love to all! Missy

First Day of School

Well we are back into the swing of things again. We all awoke with a little excitement to begin our new year. Annie was soooo excited. She cracks me up. She made hearts and had them coming out of my room leading down the stairs and into the school room. On each heart there was a letter and each letter together spelled,  I love you, I love you, I love you. How sweet is she? It was too precious for words.

She waited patiently outside the school room to meet her teacher. Finally the time came to meet her new teacher, Mrs. Wood and she seemed nice. Annie seemed excited to meet her and went in the classroom without a single tear or even waving good-bye to me. I was a little sad. ;o)

Then the boys went to meet their teacher. Senora Madera, wasn't quite as friendly as Annie's teacher. She greeted them at the door with a very stern look and a bat. I guess they are in for a tough year. They didn't seem to care. They too went into their classroom without any hesitation and had a great day. By the time I went to pick them all up, the teachers both looked a little run down and ready for a nap and the kids looked like they were ready for some good play time. All in all it was a great first day back!

Love to you all! Missy

What can happen in a week.....

Well friends, one week ago we went to our old village to spend time with them with our team. It was a great time of celebration and laughs and lots of encouragement.

Our team spent a lot of time a house of a lady named Cesilia. She has been one of our friends for years and we have seen her family through lots of difficult times. About 5 years ago her daughter (Lupita) got married to a 14 year old boy. That was when Lupita was 12 years old. We prayed them through that and the marriage was terminated and she returned home.  Last year when our team was here we spent time with them and Rachael (one of the team members who is Lupita's age) formed a real friendship with Lupita. Last week when we returned Lupita and Rachael picked up their friendship where they left off a year ago. They  exchanged many gifts, one of which was a backpack for Lupita because she was getting ready to leave to live in the city to go to high school. Lupita was so excited about going to school and studying so that one day she could get a good job and have a good life.

Rachael giving the backpack to Lupita

Lupita dressing Rachael in her clothes.

Rachael with the gifts that she received from Lupita.

HOWEVER.... one week has passed and we returned to see them today. There was one thing missing.....Lupita. One day after we left, she got married. Yep.... good-bye school, good-bye better life and job opportunities. She met a guy 2 weeks ago and she left with him on Saturday to his home. In this culture, that means they are married. She has only known him for 15 days. Her mother was extremely shocked and had no clue why she would choose to do this. She said that on Saturday they had purchased all of the necessary materials for her to start school. Uniform, toiletries, everything so that she could live in the city (it is a little like boarding school) and go to school. Cesilia said she was so excited about starting school and then that night this "guy" came by and they ran off together. So sad. Now there is a little bit of hope and Cesilia has asked me to ask all of you to pray. Please pray that Lupita will come to her senses soon. VERY SOON. She has a small window where she could still leave this situation. It is very small, however she can still leave him and return home if she can decide to do that soon. Please pray she will realize what a big mistake she has made and return home and go back to studying. 

So, that was the first stop we made tonight. The next news we were given was that another woman in our church got "married" this week as well. She got married when she was younger and her husband left her with a little boy. So she has been a single mom for about 3 years now. This one man showed interest in her recently and she jumped at the chance to have a spouse again. However, she is legally still married and he has 2 other wives and more than 4 children. One of his wives lives here in Mexico and has some children by him and doesn't want anything to do with him. The other wife is in the US and has the 4 kids. Now our dear friend who is about 23 years old is now living with this man. So the week did not prove to be very good for the women in our church. Please pray God will work in both of their lives. 

This sweet lady in the middle is Juanie and her son is Ricardo, she is pictured here with her mother. 

She is the other lady who got "married" this week. Her mama is very sad too! 

Please pray for us as we try to figure out how to reach them with His Word when they will no longer be able to hear it. 

Love you all! Missy