Pray for Donny

Hi everyone, our boss,Donny is in need of prayer. He is the one who set this blog up when Annie was hurt.He is in the hospital in Richmond,Va. and they are running tests. I am not sure what to tell you except he was running a high fever that wouldn´t come down. I will keep you updated as I know something. Please also pray for his wife and children. Jennifer was here at the retreat and now is in route to Va. and should arrive there in the morning. (Monday am) They think it could be a reaction to a Yellow Fever vacination, but really don´t know at this time. Thanks for praying!

HAVING FUN!

HI EVERYONE! We are having a great time! God is doing wonderful things with us all! We have laughed and cried and eaten! We are off to Starbucks! It has taken me 4 years to like coffee and I am now a semi-lover of it! I will post some pictures as soon as possible. Please keep praying for us all and pray for all of the fathers and husbands. Thanks for praying!

Women's Retreat

Hi everyone! I will be leaving today with a friend to go to Mexico City. International Mission Board has made it possible for all of the women in our region to get together for 3 full days of learning, fun and fellowship. Please pray for the 120 women as they travel from the US, Mexico and all of Central America. We are all very excited! Please also pray for our husbands as they tend to our children, families, and ministries by themselves. I will let you know how it goes!
Love, Missy

Nana keri is with Jesus!

This is Nana keri, doing the thing she liked doing most, making tortillas! Now she is doing that for Jesus!


Well, the past few days have been really good, and really tiring! After we found out that Nana keri had died, Greg and I decided to go visit the family. When we arrived, we found most of the family busy at work, preparing the house for the people who would come and pay their respects. Sounds normal. Nana keri was lying on a table and was covered with clothing. People would walk in, look at her, light a candle and pray. We let the family know we would return at night to talk with Angelica and Salvador who had gone to buy the casket. So... that is what we did.

We had our Monday night meeting and talked about what a church body should do when someone in the church is suffering. Then most of us went to visit the family and share in their sorrows. When we entered this time, the house was filled with people. Nana keri was now in the casket in her room and people continued to pass in and out as they viewed the body. There were a group of men who gathered in her room and began to sing. They chanted and sang and asked God to please let Nana keri into heaven. We were told that they would come back every day for the next 9 days and sing and chant so that God would let Nana keri into heaven. The thing is, Nana keri accepted Jesus into her heart about 6 months ago and we know that she is already at the feet of Jesus! After about 30 minutes these men left and Angelica and Salvador asked us to pray together as a group around Nana keri. We prayed and then we sang about 3 praise songs. It was quite an experience as all of the family watched us enter in and do this "strange" thing together. We then left to go home.

The custom here is that the family has to stay up all night with Nana keri's body until she is buried. So people come and go all night long. Barbara (good friend and strong Christian) and I (Missy) felt like Angelica needed some company so we went back to visit her again at midnight. Love this custom! ;o} I thought we would be the only people there, huh, not so! The men were back, singing and chanting and begging God to keep Nana keri from Hell. I really felt bad for them. I wanted to go up and say, " Look guys, you are so sweet to do this, but she's already there, you can go home and rest. You really don't need to beg, it's a done deal!" Of course I couldn't do that, but that was my thought process! So they stayed until 1:30 am, right before I thought I was going to fall asleep sitting up. Then Angelica said, "Now it's our turn!" We went into Nana keri's room and starting singing as best as we could, every praise and worship song we knew. We sang, " I Can Only Imagine," We Bow Down," "I Love You Lord," "The Wonderful Cross," "Here I am to Worship," and about 15 others! We ( about 7 sisters in Christ) sang until 3 in the morning. It was truly the most precious memory I have made in our almost 4 years on the field. I will never forget that night as long as I live! My friends, have become very unique in their faith. They all have a different way of showing it, but last night, we were as close as any friends could be! Celebrating the life of an 80 year old woman and knowing that she was celebrating with Jesus! It just doesn't get any better than this! It really doesn't!!

Today was the funeral and it came and went like most funerals and we visited again with the family. They were exhausted! It was a good day and I am ready for it to be over! Thank you so much for your prayers. Please continue to pray for Salvador. He seems to be doing well. We are praying God will make Himself known to Salvador in a big way. Thanks so much for praying! You are awesome!

picture of Nana Keri and Tata Keri

Please pray for Tata keri as he is suffering now, from a broken heart.


Nana Keri

Nana Keri

Nana Keri is the word for Grandma in Purepecha. We have called 2 women Nana Keri. Barbara's grandma, who passed away a few months ago and Salvador's mom, Virginia, who passed away early this morning. Praise the Lord, both of them had given their heart to the Lord! Greg and I went to see the family as soon as we heard. Salvador and Angelica had gone to town to buy a casket and some other family members were at the home with her body. The custom here is to mourn together at the home with the corpse and bury the body the next day.

I am always amazed at the women here. They are such hard workers. While we were there Salvador and Angelica's 2 daughters-in-law were hauling water needed to make the food. They are 16 and 19 years old. They had their indigenous clothing on, high heals and they were carrying about 50 pound water jugs on their backs. Water is always a problem here. The spring has almost dried up because we haven't had rain in about 4 months. So not only were they all mourning the death of a loved one, they were trying to find water to make the food for the guests who will arrive tonight.

Please pray for this family. It has been feared that there will be a lot of fighting now, over her money. Nana Keri's husband is still alive, but the money will still be a problem. Salvador has 6 brothers and one sister and they are almost all greedy. Please pray for Salvador. Our fear is that he will start drinking and won't stop. He is a very violent drunk and we are fearful he is going to cause a lot of problems for his family.

Thanks for all of your prayers!

Thanks for praying!

This is the update I received from our friend, Tom. God is so good! Thanks for praying!

Thank you for praying. I heard that you have gotten an update, but I wanted to tell you directly. God clearly got me through those moments, and everything that has happened since as we have worked through it. Here is what happened.
I was on my motorcycle and a bus in front of me stopped without any apparent reason. Then the bus quickly backed over me. I was scrambling for a distance 32 feet under the bus avoiding wheels etc. while my motorcycle was next to me getting ground up between the bus axle and the road. Fortunately I had on a good helmet with full face protection. When I realized this guy wasn't stopping and was instead speeding up, I was sure it was all over. God permitted me to live.
As it turns out, it was the driver's second day as a bus driver, and he had suddenly decided to back up and take another route. He was going to back up about 100 yards!! There was a group of construction workers by the side of the road, and they yelled to him to stop. When he realized what was happening, he stopped a second, then he floored it and took off forward. Fortunately I still had my head down so the back bumper didn't take my head off as he shot off.
The construction workers threw rocks at the bus, then it got stuck in traffic two blocks away. The guy got out and ran, but the construction workers chased him down. He came back embarrassed saying he had been scared. We've have very friendly relations with him and his dad since.
They kept me in the hospital on IV pain killers last night, and I got some bruises and knots and scrapes, but mostly just some heavy duty neck and back pain, and weird nerve sensitivity in my leg. I think much of that happened as I twisted to jump from the bike as it was getting crunched, and the bus hit me and slammed me down. CAT scan says nothing is broken, SO it's all about waiting out the pain. It was pretty intense yesterday, but with various drugs it has been easing to the point that I am home, and walking around (a little like a zombie...but walking around).

God bless you!
Tom