tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60704471154803762982024-03-18T20:51:12.540-06:00Journey To A HarvestServing the Deaf of Mexico.Joyful Servantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11930880625947534509noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6070447115480376298.post-48710458989558041702018-10-05T12:30:00.001-05:002018-10-05T12:30:26.652-05:00Persistent <div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i>"Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you." Luke 11:9</i></b></div>
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<b>God seems to be drawn to those who don't give up. We can see this in several stories in the Bible (Matthew 15:21-28, Mark 5:25-34 and Luke 19:1-10). We haven't given up, but some days it seemed the easiest thing to do. But praise the Lord we didn't. We constantly have more questions than we have answers, but we have learned to TURST Him in ways we never have before. </b><b>Life on the mission field is equal to living in a pressure cooker all the time. We are always under pressure; pressure to learn 2 languages, pressure on our marriage, pressure on parenting, pressure from a culture that is not our own, pressure in ministry, pressure from Spiritual warfare, just to name a few. It wears us out physically, emotionally and spiritually. </b></div>
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<b>I am sure to most people we seem crazy for being persistent and not giving up. But for us, we see that God's best rewards go to those who are persistent. Jesus has much to say about prayer and being persistent (Luke 11:5-10; 18:1-8) and only those who press through obstacles and initial appearances will receive what only He offers. We have seen God work in mighty ways because of the prayers of our prayer partners, our church family, and our team. James tells us that we do not have because we do not ask (James 4:2). So we are accepting his invitation to continue to ask and be persistent in ministry to reach the deaf in Mexico. </b></div>
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<b>As we get ready to head back to Mexico after a much needed furlough time, we are ready to be more persistent in asking, seeking and knocking. The way to experience God in more tangible ways is to ask repeatedly and persistently. We are prepared to press through the circumstances, negative voices from the enemy, the pressures of mission life, disappointments, and a lack of immediate results. We are His servants on His time schedule and we are ok with that. Because we trust HIM! </b></div>
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<b>We know the benefits of persistently seeking, asking and knocking by what we have seen God do over the 3 1/2 years we have been there. First generation High School graduates, Second generation High School graduates and 18 enrolled for this year. The hiring of 2 deaf teachers by the Government to teach elementary and middle school ages in public school. This answer to prayer made history in the country of Mexico. We would say that is one of the best rewards to persistently asking, seeking and knocking. Praise be to God for His rewards. </b></div>
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<b>On a personal update, Ashtyn graduated in May and we moved her to TX in July. Elise and Clay are expecting twin boys in February. We will return to Mexico as empty nesters. Pray for our family as we are all making adjustments in this season of life. Leaving is always a bittersweet thing for us and difficult to leave our family behind. </b></div>
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<b>I am hoping to be much better about updating the blog on a regular basis. Thank you all for keeping up with us and praying for us. We appreciate each of you. </b></div>
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Joyful Servantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11930880625947534509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6070447115480376298.post-48337410395468647272017-04-03T14:17:00.002-05:002017-04-03T14:18:10.662-05:002017 already?We were able to take our first furlough back to Alabama during part of December 2016 and part of January 2017. It was a much needed time with family for Christmas and visiting with our friends and supporting churches. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit but did feel as if we were burning the candle at both ends and were totally exhausted as it ended. Thank you to everyone who hosted us, fed us, gave us gifts, donations, loaned us vehicles, did special things for us, loved and hugged on us! You all filled our tanks with encouragement and love and it will carry us for the months to come.<br />
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As we pray and fast about what God has in store for future ministry we realize that it won't be easy and we understand that there will be spiritual warfare! But we also know that God desires to reach the deaf with the gospel and He desires for them to come to know Him personally. Deaf culture is very different than hearing culture and therefore it requires going about ministry in a different way. But we are sure that God is directing us to focus on Discipleship and raising up deaf leaders and making deaf disciples! We know that hearing people can not penetrate the inner circles of the deaf community - it HAS to be a deaf person. Our focus on discipleship will include life skill coaching, learning to be part of a family, jobs with discipleship included, tutoring and help with interpretation.<br />
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Our ministry here, <span style="color: red;">Red Letter Lives</span>, comes from Matthew 28:18-20 (remember that when Jesus speaks the letters are in red). God has reminded us that ALL authority in heaven and earth has been given to Him and that He has asked us, as believers, to do 4 things - <span style="color: red;">Go, Make Disciples, Baptize, Teach </span>- and know that He is with us always. He is the bookends to the Great Commission!!! With Him supporting us on either side with His authority and His presence, we CAN do what He has commanded us to do. We continue to have firm confirmations of <span style="color: red;">Red Letter Lives</span> and are excited to see how God will continue to open doors and ministry opportunities so that He can be glorified among the deaf here in Mexico!<br />
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Mike and I have been enjoying our classes at Samford University online to be certified in Global Missions. We have learned so much that is helping us tremendously on the field. We are so grateful for how God is equipping us to serve Him better and serve the deaf better. We recently attended a webinar and it was titled, "Deaf - the Final Frontier to The Great Commission" and we truly believe that it is. Because the deaf have not been reached in all PG's (People Groups) - they can not be considered a reached people group. So all the PG's that are labeled REACHED are probably not unless the deaf within them are reached as well. That is a HUGE task, but remember He is our anchors on either side to accomplish the task.<br />
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Ashtyn has been doing so much better in her new school, and for that we are beyond grateful. It was extremely hard for us to watch our daughter struggle so hard emotionally, spiritually and physically for the first 14-16 months we were here. She has made really good friends at her new International School. She is excelling in classes and is participating in their English Debate and Speech Team. They will be traveling to Querétaro, Mexico in May for a competition. She is excited about going.<br />
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Miriam started a new job last week and I was able to go with her on her first day to help translate and explain what they wanted her to do. She works from 6 A.M. to 1 P.M. then takes the buses to school which starts at 2 P.M. and ends at 6 P.M. so she was exhausted last week trying to adjust to this new routine. She has been sick as well for several weeks too. She seems to be doing well in school and is enjoying her new job. We have good days and hard days as we disciple her and try helping her grow in her faith with God so that He can use her. It is sometimes hard to find that fine line between helping her spread her wings as a 20 year old knowing that her maturity level is NO where near that yet. I know that there are many days that I expect her to behave and know things that a hearing 20 year old would, but she doesn't. And it can become frustrating, BUT GOD is teaching me along the way and showing us how we can do things differently in the future.<br />
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There is so much I want to say but there is so much studying and homework to do. We are in Spanish School 2 days a week, Mexican Sign Language classes 2 nights a week and Samford University online classes - so ya, we are tired and super busy. I will try and do better about catching everyone up more often with less information. Thanks for keeping up with us and praying for us!<br />
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Prayer Request:<br />
1. Visa paper work for Sherri & Ashtyn - quickly, with no problems<br />
2. Miriam to adjust to her new schedule, her faith to grow and her health<br />
3. Our language learning - Spanish and LSM<br />
4. Our team as we start looking to the future and planning strategies for future ministry<br />
5. Team unity<br />
6. Ashtyn as she prepares to travel to another city in Mexico<br />
<br />Joyful Servantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11930880625947534509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6070447115480376298.post-67419269008082396632016-10-29T14:26:00.000-05:002016-10-29T14:26:22.074-05:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">This Crazy Life! </span></div>
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There is only so much preparing you can do before going to the field full time! </div>
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The rest of it is totally flexibility and dependance on God. </div>
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We had no idea what kind of ride these last 20 months were going to be. </div>
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But here we are on the other side and getting excited about what we see God doing. </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So what is God doing?</span></div>
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We see God showing us the need for Discipling, the need for Deaf Leaders and DBS (Discovery Bible Studies) among the deaf here in Ensenada. We see God using Ensenada as a training hub to send out the deaf and hearing to reach others. </div>
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It is really cool to see Him opening doors and confirming what we have </div>
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seen Him showing us. It has been hard to fathom a different location and a new ministry </div>
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than what we thought when we first set out, but we trust God. </div>
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Part of the discipleship has come in a way we didn't expect! </div>
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<b><u>We are thrilled to have our first deaf girl living with us. </u></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Meet Miriam</span></div>
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Miriam graduated from RSM in 2015. She lost her hearing at age 5 and was at the Ranch for 10 years. She wants to continue her education by getting her Jr. High certificate and is already attending High School classes now so she can get her HS education as well. </div>
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She loves God and wants to grow in her walk with the Lord. </div>
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We can see that she has great potential to be a leader in her community. </div>
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We are working with her on how to budget her money, handling responsibilities, </div>
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being a good employee and student and how to develop a time with </div>
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God everyday to help her in her spiritual growth. </div>
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She is teaching us sign language and helping us to understand the culture much better. </div>
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Adjusting to our new life with Miriam comes with its challenges as well as many blessings. She is funny and keeps us laughing. We are thrilled that God brought her into our family and is using her to teach us as well. We know in order to be effective in ministry to another culture that we first have to know and understand it. </div>
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And what a perfect way to be able to do that. We are blessed! </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Schooling is the theme here at the Sexton Casa!! </span></div>
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Ashtyn is loving her new school. </div>
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Miriam is liking Prepa (HS) but finds it fast and hard most days. </div>
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We (Mike & Sherri) attend Spanish School 2 times a week, LSM (Mexican Sign Language) </div>
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classes 2 times a week as well as taking online College classes from Samford University. </div>
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When we complete all the classes we will be certified in Global Missions. </div>
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Whew!! We are tired by the weekends from studying and learning in 3 different languages. We aren't spring chickens anymore!! </div>
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We absolutely love our new little house and our new neighborhood. </div>
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We actually have some grass. We love all our outdoor space we now have. </div>
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And Oakley is loving all his outdoor space as well. </div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><u>Prayer Needs:</u></span></div>
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<span style="color: red;">1. More workers here with us to disciple</span></div>
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<span style="color: red;">2. Our language and culture learning to excel (both Mexican & Deaf cultures)</span></div>
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<span style="color: red;">3. Our monthly financial deficit </span></div>
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<span style="color: red;">4. Our discipleship to Miriam</span></div>
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<span style="color: red;">5. Our time in Birmingham in December </span></div>
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<span style="color: red;">(for our hearts to be prepared for the return & leaving)</span></div>
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Thank you so much for patiently sticking with us during these last 20 months </div>
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as we have muddled through this journey. </div>
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And most of the time not really knowing what to say or do and not knowing what to post. </div>
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So thank you for your patience as we have finally gotten to a peaceful place (so to speak)</div>
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in this journey and are now able to communicate better and more often. </div>
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You all are so extremely special to us and we are blessed to have you in our lives. </div>
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<br />Joyful Servantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11930880625947534509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6070447115480376298.post-40063068217874183552016-05-21T17:12:00.001-05:002016-05-21T17:12:52.297-05:00Finding Joy in this Journey............after a year!! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>"My heart is breaking as I remember how it used to be...." Psalm 42:4 (NLT)</b></div>
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Greetings from the field as we recently celebrated our 1 year mark of being on the field. And as I look back there are several things that stand out to me. The biggest is the amount of grieving we have done in a little over a years time. We really had NO idea just how much grieving we would do or all the things that we would grieve. Some things we knew would be hard and we were expecting - like missing our family and friends, our church family, our home, our jobs, our neighborhood, our first world comforts etc. Then there were the things that we didn't expect - like our favorite places to eat, holidays, some first world comforts that we took for granted, not having to think about day to day task, familiarity, watching EVERYTHING we were missing on social media, conversations in your mother tongue (other than your family living with you), christian radio stations, and being there with family and friends when they were encountering hard times and needed us to love, hug and pray with them. Some of these unknown things would hit us hard on some days. </div>
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Second would be the things that we would learn about ourselves and each other. When under so much stress it doesn't exactly bring out the best in us. In fact to be quite honest it probably has been one of the hardest times in our marriage and parenting. Trying to adjust to all the changes, trying to grieve everything we have left behind, trying to learn a new language, a new culture and navigate a new city and life has been extremely hard, lonely, and trying!! But God has been with us, although the enemy has been trying to make us think otherwise. I found the new life even harder to settle into than I expected. Each day I struggled to find joy in our new life. EVERYTHING was hard and a struggle even down to cooking (which I have always loved).<br />
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It seemed that social media was making it worse so I just stopped getting on for a while and then was very selective as to what I would look at so I couldn't be reminded everyday of just how much we were missing, just how much everyone else's life seemed normal, familiar, filled with first world comforts and surrounded by family and friends! I was watching my child struggle with anxiety attacks, physical sickness, sadness, anger and loneliness while watching all her friends get their permits and licenses, participating in things they enjoyed, going to dances, hanging out together, being recognized with awards all while being surrounded by family and friends. I felt as if we were in the boxing ring with the enemy and he seemed to be winning. We were fighting big battles here - ALONE!!<br />
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There were more days than I care to admit that I was ready to pack up and come back because honestly, it just seemed easier! I was exhausted, physically sick, emotionally spent and tired of seeing the enemy reek havoc on my family. I looked at our situation and realized that most of these things will never change here on the field so I needed to count the cost. I thought that I had done that, and to a certain extent I had. See things don't always happen as we think they will and God's ways and plans are higher and better than ours, even when we don't feel like they are. We came here thinking we knew where we would be, what we would be doing, the team we would be serving with etc. But God had other plans that we didn't know until after we had been here. And here we were staring at a God sized task in ministry, as new struggling missionaries on the field, which was putting us into another arena with the enemy for more battles, more sacrifices and more change and I was overwhelmed.<br />
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Then one morning while reading God's word, crying out in desperation for relief, asking for a break from sacrifice after sacrifice and telling God that I didn't think I could give up anything else or continue to live like this.......He spoke to me through His Word about my specific challenges. He took me to Philippians 2:1-18. His word came to life, jumped off the page and slapped me in the face - thank you Lord!! Sometimes when you are on the front lines, it's hard to remember the basic and simple things. I had forgotten who my example was and who I was to be like - how could I have forgotten such a simple thing? When I read these verses and saw ALL the sacrifices that Jesus made, I realized in that moment that they were additions NOT subtractions. He didn't lose anything as much as he added something. He went from being the most honored in heaven where He received continuous praise to taking the place of a criminal on a cruel Roman cross - humiliated, rejected and ALONE!!!<br />
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Suddenly the pain I was feeling had new meaning. It didn't go away, Jesus' certainly didn't, but now I saw it from a different perspective. I started to understand more clearly the sacrifices Jesus, the son of God, made for ME!! He gave up ALL of His comfort, honor and glory for sinners who would reject and crucify Him just so He could reveal God's saving love to a dying world. Earthly sacrifice isn't the end of the story or the end of the world. I now understand that it is a path that will teach me (all of us) more about being like Jesus, more about what it means to serve rather than lead.<br />
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I can honor the Son's sacrifice for me by being willing to make tough sacrifices (remembering that they are additions not subtractions) to accomplish God's will for my life. Learning to accept that God allows suffering and sacrifice into my life for His glory and my good. It is a step toward becoming more like my Master, my example, my Lord Jesus Christ. So I now hold even more firmly to the Word of Life, finding joy and rejoicing over the additions to our lives because God is working in us and giving us the desire and power to do what pleases HIM!<br />
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There are still hard days and days that I see many things as subtractions instead of additions and many days that the enemy will have me believe his lies. But remembering Christ's example and keeping Him as the center of my life, He will be the source of my joy. I am discovering that heart felt joy in Jesus. He is the power behind my ability to endure any circumstance. Although the God we meet in Jesus is the God who serves us, He also commands and gives - great power to accomplish His glorious will. Life is really about Jesus. Jesus is what really matters and He is the reason for JOY!!<br />
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Thank you to those who continually pray for us, encourage us and support us! You all have no idea just how grateful we are for each of you and how much you mean to us. I apologize for the long time between updates, we aren't pros at this and are learning a lot through our mistakes as newbies on the field. We appreciate so much your patience as we walk this path God has laid out for us here to serve the Deaf of Mexico.<br />
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Blessings to you all,<br />
Sherri </div>
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Joyful Servantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11930880625947534509noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6070447115480376298.post-33155339510772368112015-08-26T22:16:00.000-05:002015-08-26T22:16:06.910-05:005 months In. <br />
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For almost 7 LONG years we had moved at a snails pace and in October 2014 that all changed. Our last 5 months in the US was a whirlwind to say the least. Early one morning in mid October we prayed together before Mike went to work. We had come to a point where we had to lay this ministry down on the altar before the Lord and pray, "Lord, this is your ministry and if you are going to take it, please take it quickly. And if you are not, could you please provide the sacrifice (the lamb in the thicket) for us. We promise to RUN through any open door if YOUR will is NOT to take it from us. Lord, you know how broken we will be if your will is to sacrifice it, but we trust you to hold us and heal us. Lord, we are yours and however you see fit to work, we will continue to serve you and be obedient." That is word for word what we prayed, trust me I will NEVER forget that Thursday morning as long as I live. It was one of the hardest prayers I have ever prayed in my life, because I had no idea if the Lord's will was to sacrifice this ministry or provide the lamb. We both cried and were not sure what the days ahead would hold, but we trusted!<br />
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We had been told that November through January were not good months to gain people to partner with God for His work and that it would probably be mid to late 2015 before we would depart for the field full time. I honestly did not know if I could face another new year without caving to emotions and throwing in the white towel. It had become so difficult to understand God's timing, to trust it and have joy. I was angry with God and could not comprehend why God's people were not joining Him in His work. Bitterness had crept in and everything seemed to be falling apart instead of coming together. I was weak, very weak. So many things had happened during this time as well. Mike lost his job, our dear pastor left our church, some serious issues with family came up and we were hanging by a thread. In hind sight, I can say that is a great place to be although it sure doesn't feel like it at the time.<br />
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We had asked our awesome Advocacy Team if they would join us in fasting and praying 1 day a week from sunrise to sunset and meet with us after sunset to break the fast and fellowship. We said that prayer together on a Thursday morning and on Friday we had 2 people give us their pledge cards and said, "we are so sorry, we have been meaning to give this to you". That Sunday was our first day to fast and pray and it was also our church picnic. When it came time to eat and the sun was not yet down we decided to take a bike ride until sunset. As we were riding through the campground Mike heard someone call his name. He turned around and saw a dear friend that he hadn't seen in a long time. We began talking to him and his wife and found out that they too had come to Christ and wanted us to come and share with them more of what God was doing the next week!!! We rode away with thankful hearts believing that God had answered our prayer and told us He was in fact NOT going to sacrifice the ministry but in fact provide a lamb!!! After that day people, churches and business were contacting us to share with them!! Wow, did He ever provide.<br />
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Things started moving fast and we were making great strides to our needed 90% of funding to head to the field. It became clear in December it was going to happen way faster than we had thought possible during these months. So we decided that we had better get busy and start getting the house ready to put on the market. We worked and worked and still had a lot on the list but decided that in January that we needed to go ahead and put it on the market and continue working on things as we showed it. We put a sign in the yard on a Sunday afternoon late in January. Within 1 hour the phone was ringing off the hook and we had 26 people asking about the house. The following Sunday we had someone just stop by and ask to see it, we were reluctant but showed it and they gave us earnest money that day!!!! We ended up with 4 families interested and on a waiting list. The first two didn't work out, but the third did. And their story went like this, they walked into a bank at 4:30 and at 5:15 they walked out with a pre approval for the purchase!!! That was God too, that doesn't just happen.<br />
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We started selling more stuff, getting rid of so much stuff and packing what we for sure wanted to take with us. All of this happening so fast and extremely emotional. Our house is the only house Ashtyn knew, EVERY single memory she has was in that house. This was extremely hard on her. The new family has teenage granddaughters so her room would remain lime green and purple and she was super excited about that. We worked from daylight to well into the night packing, painting, sorting etc… It was painstaking to say the least. Imagine if right now you had to sort through every drawer, closet and nook and cranny in your house and only keep what could fit in an 8x8x12 POD!!! Ya, really hard.<br />
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There are so many stories that we could share but long story short, we sold our house and closed on it in less than 4 weeks, put all our stuff in a POD, packed our car and camper and headed toward Mexico. We had hoped to take about 2-3 weeks to drive toward the border and catch our breath and grab a hold of our emotions. But we headed out February 28th and had to stay ahead of terrible ice, snow and extreme cold temperatures. We hurriedly traveled to get to AZ where we had 2 days of debriefing before crossing the border. We crossed the border on March 11th. Whew!!!<br />
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The whirlwind didn't stop when we arrived either. From finding a house to rent, to getting our stuff from a POD in CA across the border to our house in Mexico, to finding a church to attend, starting language school etc…. The adjustments have been endless and hourly!! We stay exhausted because we can no longer do ANYTHING like we used too. It seriously is so draining. Sounds are different, smells are different, foods are different, the language is different, the culture is different, shopping is different, cooking is different, bathing is different, brushing your teeth is different, laundry is different, driving is different………. you get the idea right????? Everything requires thinking before doing anything. It is mentally exhausting so it drains us physically.<br />
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Mike and I are in language school Monday - Friday from 9 to 2. Ashtyn just started school here on Monday. Her classes begin at 7 a.m., she is to be in her seat at 6:50 and they go until 3:10 pm with only two 20 minute breaks!!! All her books are in Spanish and classes too except English class. Prayer for all of us as we learn the language and make friends is much appreciated. Below is a video of a class at our school. Our teachers do NOT speak English, so we are taught and explained to in Spanish only!! And a picture of Ashtyn on her first day.<br />
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So as you can see we have been in a whirlwind for the last 10 months now and trying to get it to settle down. Not sure that life on the mission field full time will actually allow that, but some sense of routine and familiarity in time will be welcomed. </div>
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Thanks for keeping up with us, praying for us, encouraging us and supporting us!! Will update again soon with more details of life here and what it looks like. </div>
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Willfully His, </div>
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Sherri </div>
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Joyful Servantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11930880625947534509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6070447115480376298.post-81899334355140219402015-02-02T13:12:00.001-06:002015-02-02T13:12:28.315-06:00All you can eat Churro's <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG79hlpAKAgztmitMbcDgMw6zonpehOT8Oz8pHw8Du50Il6yYwAGvioW7HhtwBLLLHe3aeIOFGrBg0kGafawl0_KY3gEt5YH0K28DkgyYFGytafpoXY5fdvWpYaFhPeY22gGuGWaPHxhB6/s1600/churros-recipe-how-to-make-the-best-churros.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG79hlpAKAgztmitMbcDgMw6zonpehOT8Oz8pHw8Du50Il6yYwAGvioW7HhtwBLLLHe3aeIOFGrBg0kGafawl0_KY3gEt5YH0K28DkgyYFGytafpoXY5fdvWpYaFhPeY22gGuGWaPHxhB6/s1600/churros-recipe-how-to-make-the-best-churros.jpg" height="133" width="200" /> </a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2dpHaUwj3CCG075sZV_b4STkP2CLFKwZR0we8etYsj3lsMTIfTFf6t5KvKJk9LYnVTShDl-BA9j3p0BmVcTaXUJ7LQMtRYpxbVxy308C8EjGS2xZIn7gZRgUdoyUFvXZ2wTUqo2CBhNA8/s1600/Oaxaca-Churros.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2dpHaUwj3CCG075sZV_b4STkP2CLFKwZR0we8etYsj3lsMTIfTFf6t5KvKJk9LYnVTShDl-BA9j3p0BmVcTaXUJ7LQMtRYpxbVxy308C8EjGS2xZIn7gZRgUdoyUFvXZ2wTUqo2CBhNA8/s1600/Oaxaca-Churros.png" height="150" width="200" /></a><br />
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So here it is February 2nd, our "Faith Date" and God has been more than faithful in His provisions and moving us forward. We are excited to tell you that by faith we will leave this month!!! We are waiting on a set closing date for our house and working on packing. Along with doing what seems like a mountain of paper work before our departure. Once again, as it has been on this LONG 7 year journey, we have more questions than answers. But we are trusting God 100% with every detail of these next steps. So very soon we will be living in the land of all you can eat churro's - Mexico!!<br />
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So many times I have wanted to update the blog and write about so many things and sensed the Lord was saying, "be silent and wait" and now it all makes sense when I look back. When I look back over the last 2 years of waiting on the Lord, they have been the most difficult for me in so many ways. And I think because I was struggling so much with how long and lonely the journey had been and seemed to still be for us, the Lord was using it to teach me something really important. <b><u>He is enough! </u></b><br />
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Our journey is different than those around us. Our journey is a journey of giving up, not gaining. Our journey is filled with grieving the loss of so many things. Our journey is lonely. Our journey is filled with change. Our journey is hard, really hard. Our journey is about the gospel and getting it to those who need to hear. Our journey is for a harvest of lost. Our journey is HIS journey! We didn't plan this before time, He did. We had no idea what this would cost, He did. We had no idea how long this would take, He did. <b><u>He is enough!</u></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">He has shown me in scripture that this was His journey first, He carved out an example for us. We simply need to be obedient. I simply needed Him to be enough for me. He needed me to run to Him <u>first</u> with my hurts, disappointments, struggles and tears. He needed me to confide in Him about everything. He needed me to be silent, like He was. He needed to see that I trusted Him more than I did those around me. He needed me to be a "by faith" follower ( you know like all those mentioned in Hebrews). He desired for me to persevere so that He could perfect my faith! Persevere is defined as: to persist in anything undertaken; maintain a purpose in spite of the difficulty, obstacles, or discouragement; continue steadfastly. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This by NO way means that I am perfect, please don't think that. It just means that He is perfecting my faith. Scripture says, "And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith." Hebrews 12:1b-2a. It was His journey too! And I have found great comfort in knowing that Jesus personally walked our journey. He was the first missionary, He endured everything and more than we have. And when I have a hard day now, I call to Him because He knows and <u><b>He is enough</b>!</u></span><br />
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Please pray for us as we pack up what little we are taking, tell family and friends "see you later", and set out to a new country, new culture, new EVERYTHING to make much of Him! We are excited, sad, nervous and a whole bunch of emotions rolled into one. We covet your prayers!!! See below for specific ways to pray.<br />
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Prayer Request:<br />
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<li>Our emotional well being over the next few weeks</li>
<li>Our family that will stay behind</li>
<li>Our house to close with no problems</li>
<li>No obstacles in our upcoming travels as we drive over 2500 miles</li>
<li>All paperwork and packing to fall into place</li>
<li>To remain firm in our journey and press on in Christ strength </li>
<li>God's continued faithfulness </li>
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Thank you so much for keeping up with us, praying for us, and supporting us. We now have a FB page where you can keep up with more current shorter updates as we set out later this month. I am not sure how much I will be able to update the blog during travels and when we first get there. So that would be an easy way to keep up. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/journeytoaharvest" target="_blank">Facebook Page</a> Incase this link doesn't work, search for us on FB Journey To A Harvest.<br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Willfully His, Sherri </span></i><br />
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<br />Joyful Servantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11930880625947534509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6070447115480376298.post-16420629973293043662014-11-01T11:05:00.000-06:002014-11-01T11:05:41.370-06:00<h1 style="font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">
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<span style="color: #cccccc;">Over 6 years ago we prayed a prayer - "God use us, we will do anything!" Our anything seems to be costing us everything. Nothing about our previous lives are the same. Over the years we have had to give up ALL CONTROL. Over the years God has led us deeper into the lives of the people He loves and further from the safety of the familiar.<br /><br /><em>"If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for My sake, you will save it." Matt 16:25</em><br /><br />There are many days and nights when tears fall and we wonder, should we take our prayer back? It some times seems easier to do that because God's ways are backwards to our human nature. God tells us to die to live, lose to find and empty yourself to be filled. And even though we have seen and experienced that many times, it still doesn't come without struggling against our flesh, tears over the emptying and loneliness in the dying. These are His beautiful exchanges. Just like He was our beautiful exchange.<br /><br />And then a reminder from Luke 14 of the parable of the Great Feast and the cost of being a disciple. Jesus describes a banquet, it is beautiful and everyone is invited. But as the host prepares to welcome his family, friends and neighbors he realizes everyone has made excuses of some sort and they don't participate. So disappointed, he sends his servant out to invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and blind from the streets. So the servant brings them to the beautiful feast and there is still room for more! So he sends his servant out again to COMPEL people to come! His master has sent him out for those who don't take love for granted.<br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cccccc;">As I read this scripture, I got a beautiful word picture of what God is allowing us to be a part of. He is sending us out to invite those least likely guest to the beautiful banquet table. We get to be a part of giving God to deaf children.<br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cccccc;">God is whispering through the words of scripture to us to run on, go get His people and fill up His table. We are His ambassadors and servants and He has told us to go quickly and invite. As a child of the Most High, He is asking you too. Are you making excuses about being a part of filling up His table? Are you only inviting your family, friends and neighbors? Scripture tells us that God will reward you for inviting those who cannot repay you. See God's economy makes beautiful exchanges: as we give, we grow! It is NOT foolish to invest in the only TWO things that will NOT die: God and people's souls.<br /><br />No matter how uncomfortable and hard it seems to be getting, we will NEVER take back our prayer! Yes, there are still plenty of tear filled days and nights but it is worth it!<br /><br />This is our life: running to the mission field, waving our arms, full of God and giving Him away! This is what we were designed for, saved for and sent out for: loving God and loving His people. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">Not to us but to Your name be the glory!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 32px;">Feb 2nd, 2015!!!!</span></span></div>
Joyful Servantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11930880625947534509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6070447115480376298.post-65716386572557328892014-10-11T15:58:00.000-05:002014-10-11T15:58:07.541-05:00Warning - Departure Date Ahead!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We were asked to pray about a "Faith Departure Date" by our Area Leader. He explained to us that it was a date to leave that God would have to make happen. He told us that it would be a date that humanly speaking we could NOT make happen. A date that God alone could make happen and He would get the glory for! Wow, that is a bit scary but we want to be a part of ALL God is asking of us including a "Faith Date". We have been on this "on ramp" for a while now and have always prayed for this Fall, this Spring, this Summer and God's timing. Maybe it was time to ask God for a specific date and run with all we had to leave on that date. So we started praying and asked others to join us. </div>
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When we began praying I didn't ask God to give me a date. I asked God to give Mike the date. I asked God for a specific day of the week. Mike had no idea that I wasn't praying for a date, I told NO ONE that I was just asking for a specific day of the week. I know from past experience that God alone can put everyone on the same page with out anyone talking about it. So I knew this would be the measuring stick to make sure that it was indeed a date from God alone!</div>
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After a few weeks I asked Mike if he had heard from the Lord and he said, "yes". This is how the conversation went.</div>
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Me: "Do you have a date?"</div>
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Mike: "Yes. February 2nd"</div>
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Me: "Okay"</div>
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Mike: "Do you know what day that is?"</div>
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Me: "Yes. Your brother's birthday"</div>
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Mike: "Yes" </div>
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We were riding in the car when we had this conversation and I didn't want to tell him yet what I had been praying for. So we talked about ALL that would have to happen by that date and how scary that was. I thought to myself how I wished his brother were here and how that would be a special day for us to leave on. </div>
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The next morning after spending time with the Lord I reached over and grabbed my calendar and turned to February 2015. And as I turned that page over my heart began to race and I looked down. There it was in black and white February 2, 2015 is on a MONDAY!!!! Wow!!! We have a date. I am not really sure what I would have done if it had not been a Monday other than tell Mike that wasn't our date. But God was sovereign and reassured me that in fact He is in control!!! </div>
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We still have to meet our financial needs to leave on that date, we have to sell our house, we have to complete security training, and a ton of paper work and details in order to pull out. But as we said it has to be a God thing. He has to totally take care of every detail as we push forward to leave for the field in February. We are excited, nervous and really a lot of emotions rolled into one. </div>
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Please pray for us as we seek to be faithful in walking in obedience toward the date God has given us. We need $2400 a month in financial partnership to be able to leave in February and we need to sell our house. Those are the 2 big things we see staring us in the face right now. Join us in praying for God's provision. We still need prayer partners, finish our security training and much paperwork and details to fall into place. Thanks so much for praying for us, supporting us and walking this journey with us. We are blessed by each of you and your sacrifices to make much of God in Mexico!! </div>
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<a href="https://webapps.pioneers.org/DP/Give/GiftInformation?name=The+Sextons&accountid=111728" target="_blank">Partner Here </a></div>
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<br />Joyful Servantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11930880625947534509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6070447115480376298.post-77531831902700840182014-09-07T21:45:00.001-05:002014-09-07T21:45:24.547-05:00Miles of Separation <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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For many years and miles our hearts have been separated from us. With all separation there is pain, questions and waiting to be reunited. So is the case with us. But we are hopeful that very soon there will be NO more waiting. And that my friends is SUPER exciting!! So we have been asked to pray for a Faith Date for our departure. A date that is NOT possible humanly but by God ALONE!!! So right now we are praying for God to reveal that faith date. Then we can have a set departure date and run with all our might toward that date with full confidence and faith that God will make a way.<br />
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We also found out that we will be attending Language School in Ensenada, Mexico. We are excited about this because it will put us 30 minutes from the Ranch!!!!! We will all be in language school full time as well as working on our sign language. Exciting times coming. We wanted to update everyone on that information and ask that you pray with us about our Faith Date.<br />
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School is starting back at the Ranch. They are short handed on help and that pulls at our heart strings. We are beyond ready to be there investing in those precious children and giving them something we can - unconditional love. Our spanish and sign language may not be really good at first but we have learned that love has NO language. And no matter how badly we slaughter our communication with them, they will understand that they are loved!!<br />
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Ashtyn has started homeschooling this year and we are busy trying to adjust and get a routine down. High school homeschooling is totally different and more demanding. We are working hard to make sure that she has plenty of opportunities to be around other teens and have plenty of socialization. This was the hardest part for her last time we attempted homeschooling. Since that experience shed so much light on what needed to be done differently, we are working hard to make it better.<br />
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This update will be short because we hope to update again soon with our departure date and other news about us leaving. We are thankful for each of you and keeping up with us. Please check back soon for another update about our departure. Please join us in prayer for the request listed below.<br />
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Prayers:<br />
1. Our faith date departure date.<br />
2. Ashtyn's homeschooling.<br />
3. The staff at Rancho Sordo Mudo as they begin a new school year short handed.<br />
4. The kids at Rancho Sordo Mudo as they begin another year of learning.<br />
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Joyful Servantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11930880625947534509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6070447115480376298.post-50768412629245493292014-08-05T19:56:00.001-05:002014-08-05T20:36:26.752-05:00If a picture is worth a thousand words, what is a video worth?<br />
RSM, RSM, RSM, RSM (beating fist on table) Sure wish it was that easy, that we could chant and bang on the table until God said ok, ok, ok - here go now!!! I tell you the FLESH is hard to tame! Yes our flesh aches, we grow weary, we cry, we get frustrated, we get mad, we get impatient; but God (don't you just love those BUT GOD statements in His word) never tarries, is never late, never forgets, never has to be reminded, is never impatient and ALWAYS has our best interest at heart. We may NOT have all the answers to all the questions and we certainly don't know the answer to why we are not on the field full time yet! But in due time God will reveal it all to us, it is not our hour yet.<br />
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We are looking forward to getting there and being able to be a part of the lives of the precious kids. Remember that when they come to the Ranch, they have no language. First we give them a language, then an education, then a trade and while doing all of this (plus some) they get to see first hand the love of Jesus Christ through all of us there! These children are used to being passed off, put out and unloved. So the unconditional love of all the missionaries at the Ranch is invaluable to their success. Behavioral issues are common at the Ranch, but loving them through it and unconditionally speaks volumes.<br />
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I wanted to show you pictures from the Ranch, so you can see first hand those precious faces and a bit of what life on the Ranch looks like for the kids and the missionaries. I am also including a few videos. Please pray for all the kids and staff at the Ranch as they gear up for the upcoming school year.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hanging out on the fire truck </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They love to have fun just like hearing kids. Check out their funny face pic </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A little game night at RSM </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Church group from CA that came to serve </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">House Parent </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">House Parent </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLQI5w0YSxE27H473_6H5AHr-Vt6KNdTvift478z4IAPhiDGzn_bndmhmOrvozPoZD0P6u6JRLhSAo-8qEsbXdXPJB697PC-Rif5toAleFN9RoxhggntlRFUEH3zALeyGl8nLV75LMbS5T/s1600/learning+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLQI5w0YSxE27H473_6H5AHr-Vt6KNdTvift478z4IAPhiDGzn_bndmhmOrvozPoZD0P6u6JRLhSAo-8qEsbXdXPJB697PC-Rif5toAleFN9RoxhggntlRFUEH3zALeyGl8nLV75LMbS5T/s1600/learning+.jpg" height="400" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Learning a trade </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOCEy4BWrbmQmeCeGy3_hbtNvRg1sPXVBBHVU91MWyXb3ialsvQyQTErZ8-Q7AOJwJ8maEW1jnQgPUCJEvJiv99Zrnab5yN1y7hWpjIJD8tdT6mbLsTWPNkZy2TQ4Vevb7HJvIcR6vQDgP/s1600/making+jam+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOCEy4BWrbmQmeCeGy3_hbtNvRg1sPXVBBHVU91MWyXb3ialsvQyQTErZ8-Q7AOJwJ8maEW1jnQgPUCJEvJiv99Zrnab5yN1y7hWpjIJD8tdT6mbLsTWPNkZy2TQ4Vevb7HJvIcR6vQDgP/s1600/making+jam+.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">learning to make jelly </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCJKMWvpcHmibkSh_J7sfxx_ZlzmmCRCpt3-ZlbL4pMPZFmdsrUu2MFZfWFJVNVE-rWCaogYr5HSmZ_2a03Mlq3-g3poSxXa397pQls-_IUJDRko7UqMdLYJq5YaZQGlenwhHjzUlPydOf/s1600/meal+time+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCJKMWvpcHmibkSh_J7sfxx_ZlzmmCRCpt3-ZlbL4pMPZFmdsrUu2MFZfWFJVNVE-rWCaogYr5HSmZ_2a03Mlq3-g3poSxXa397pQls-_IUJDRko7UqMdLYJq5YaZQGlenwhHjzUlPydOf/s1600/meal+time+.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dinner time </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitoXv9e67HlrcvDp8bnDsf7O2W5fvkml_VrbZzcHeFzOg1hX2pWH7tfAOAmcqygHqYP_EWhX9fkhEFzTJR4ANxneRPPkwWTuuQ03MqlBvRxlmdBZ7wJdmDQJCiMMrBtC3UrgV04jg-d9y6/s1600/Missionary+time+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitoXv9e67HlrcvDp8bnDsf7O2W5fvkml_VrbZzcHeFzOg1hX2pWH7tfAOAmcqygHqYP_EWhX9fkhEFzTJR4ANxneRPPkwWTuuQ03MqlBvRxlmdBZ7wJdmDQJCiMMrBtC3UrgV04jg-d9y6/s1600/Missionary+time+.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Missionary game night </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrZxGyT3z2A8GLcm8zSe6fTf2k3-MYmg-4elyQvdDEfwV1DvEZvNucGxe99MSEy7qVGKuYtlfLTIV3zdvVHQUPZHg60ggnvWDUuTyDFipF6b0wCJclVVKPKQJoQSZ-AyL_nyGck0rQPobf/s1600/skit+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrZxGyT3z2A8GLcm8zSe6fTf2k3-MYmg-4elyQvdDEfwV1DvEZvNucGxe99MSEy7qVGKuYtlfLTIV3zdvVHQUPZHg60ggnvWDUuTyDFipF6b0wCJclVVKPKQJoQSZ-AyL_nyGck0rQPobf/s1600/skit+.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">skit </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg69pJfHlkIINRCVimydLMzEQ2bqV46JeDeaK_9pTHUHo5gR43nAD2ezdlAzKjDHPX625_Gc3yxuv7N_xN0HBXJ0gedhmYdjr4e2dhcvRfd1OddQ4Bpsh4hm6D53MyrGJGmGPfyShEKjPNP/s1600/spelling+bee+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg69pJfHlkIINRCVimydLMzEQ2bqV46JeDeaK_9pTHUHo5gR43nAD2ezdlAzKjDHPX625_Gc3yxuv7N_xN0HBXJ0gedhmYdjr4e2dhcvRfd1OddQ4Bpsh4hm6D53MyrGJGmGPfyShEKjPNP/s1600/spelling+bee+.jpg" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spelling Bee </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo5xYaXDqoneqG49q5raXtvnqlbQR9L-7ldAuVmG5thtEAHEnEqzY6__D5vlGDhx6kwXR-rD7tknaMqddbfDwC6aNFMyU058UYyuXz_7Kk8B61wOs4KPFqTsb5dnY_H6liE-cgXX81Wj01/s1600/Staff+Christmas+2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo5xYaXDqoneqG49q5raXtvnqlbQR9L-7ldAuVmG5thtEAHEnEqzY6__D5vlGDhx6kwXR-rD7tknaMqddbfDwC6aNFMyU058UYyuXz_7Kk8B61wOs4KPFqTsb5dnY_H6liE-cgXX81Wj01/s1600/Staff+Christmas+2013.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Staff Christmas dinner 2013- thanks to a church in CA </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7r3coZCGHPuNvxG4Xc9cuUF3MwqszqDEy-7VmIXOmZ-YeNacYvHm9iL4LUrceZI4jJ77M1qK0y3dh3mqHgYHgL5r7MpX6WZEug4A9_CzvFsYYCRSqktUgaEKVFlMJh7YygpcKdgZpW2f8/s1600/Thanksgiving+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7r3coZCGHPuNvxG4Xc9cuUF3MwqszqDEy-7VmIXOmZ-YeNacYvHm9iL4LUrceZI4jJ77M1qK0y3dh3mqHgYHgL5r7MpX6WZEug4A9_CzvFsYYCRSqktUgaEKVFlMJh7YygpcKdgZpW2f8/s1600/Thanksgiving+.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thanksgiving 2013</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhcvbfnowKBcI5ccsPUrd01QqN9Wz7Vc6BgBUauByZOuWB6uzZOy8dIrdY2Q-C8WQZ-TNNrarVTLTskbaZHaexW_gX9YSOPSIMoBrlfBBFm7nLxolCyOU5T30lKzLsm8Ku53nDNyrQeOjn/s1600/tractor+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhcvbfnowKBcI5ccsPUrd01QqN9Wz7Vc6BgBUauByZOuWB6uzZOy8dIrdY2Q-C8WQZ-TNNrarVTLTskbaZHaexW_gX9YSOPSIMoBrlfBBFm7nLxolCyOU5T30lKzLsm8Ku53nDNyrQeOjn/s1600/tractor+.jpg" height="400" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Work day </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz7LwG97nkxpHh2ChS5g3HqU0xSuiTPc8VetWWopX-cnl8Ei1z7SNVVXf38k6N1XGzsx75-P4TFQ4WtMLZ7-Xa-TUbXXqUacLSza6B6K3m9H8lyS5vavCpWTg9y-xT9ZAN4xq96NMjCI4Q/s1600/trade+learning+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz7LwG97nkxpHh2ChS5g3HqU0xSuiTPc8VetWWopX-cnl8Ei1z7SNVVXf38k6N1XGzsx75-P4TFQ4WtMLZ7-Xa-TUbXXqUacLSza6B6K3m9H8lyS5vavCpWTg9y-xT9ZAN4xq96NMjCI4Q/s1600/trade+learning+.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Girls learning trade </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu8hH2AmCfJx-qYLTCuS0_GWEkIsp6w3npOm9sa9iACQy87I27hEdUzn0qx7ExSCSyM5K3vSIB1y-22JlejP7lfyVKsIU5FDqEyCxE9HvGmptdfD6TrY6nvuZ0RyRyyBnhqhsalp3RVpGW/s1600/waffels+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu8hH2AmCfJx-qYLTCuS0_GWEkIsp6w3npOm9sa9iACQy87I27hEdUzn0qx7ExSCSyM5K3vSIB1y-22JlejP7lfyVKsIU5FDqEyCxE9HvGmptdfD6TrY6nvuZ0RyRyyBnhqhsalp3RVpGW/s1600/waffels+.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waffles, yum yum </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9q_3CNuu6711uDSGjzQsMgASauLxEIhMTnag-g_p7_y_d28f1ZjrzWiVFjbALz7eQpfMRvd4YYiRqZW9MiRX8F_LnV3TAqKgvziGy4VNdz_m8qBOd56iluEwAvjrhTlwLgEKLzgaQEvzR/s1600/worship+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9q_3CNuu6711uDSGjzQsMgASauLxEIhMTnag-g_p7_y_d28f1ZjrzWiVFjbALz7eQpfMRvd4YYiRqZW9MiRX8F_LnV3TAqKgvziGy4VNdz_m8qBOd56iluEwAvjrhTlwLgEKLzgaQEvzR/s1600/worship+.jpg" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Corporate Worship </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB3uS66oH5YHCt_eN_AWHciA9RrL6Ky79CakpjSPNd2CEAKMVZ-c_Emm7YeAf_KdJcKW0PGT4Vdnz9zm_BywArN__lhRSTRV8NCcpmqcJWHaYGQGSq1Qd5iurGbxMff50e3BfeXgwLCU2W/s1600/Pinata+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB3uS66oH5YHCt_eN_AWHciA9RrL6Ky79CakpjSPNd2CEAKMVZ-c_Emm7YeAf_KdJcKW0PGT4Vdnz9zm_BywArN__lhRSTRV8NCcpmqcJWHaYGQGSq1Qd5iurGbxMff50e3BfeXgwLCU2W/s1600/Pinata+.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A little Piñata fun </td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">And then I ran across the MOST horrifying picture……..</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4e2KO-t2UA-Q-PJFWnhLN3IEMS7s7nQl4UFRm3qPVT2bqEgIdmqLWGeTS236dKWOTjsPwX9wGl6vtlhJLbht1sK49gx4A0kq0xAZRCeFF5vO56slRtVAvZEceoOZ15_e_8U61rT-x7aCe/s1600/frog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4e2KO-t2UA-Q-PJFWnhLN3IEMS7s7nQl4UFRm3qPVT2bqEgIdmqLWGeTS236dKWOTjsPwX9wGl6vtlhJLbht1sK49gx4A0kq0xAZRCeFF5vO56slRtVAvZEceoOZ15_e_8U61rT-x7aCe/s1600/frog.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Seriously, I am not sure I can handle this!! That is a HUGE frog people!! </div>
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The kids at RSM perform many plays, skits and videos. I am super excited to be able to be involved in helping students with dramas, skits and videos. It feels my heart with such joy to see them do these things. It has always been one of my passions but when you consider that all these children are deaf, it is even more special to watch and experience. I have attached one that was filmed so you can see just what I mean. ENJOY!!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/Dxx1Ui8gUmA?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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And I have spoken much about Johnny & Amber missionaries there who adopted a little boy from the Ranch named JJ. He has numerous difficulties other than being deaf. He is cute as a button but can be a hand full. Here he is doing a magic trick. I think you will pick up on his personality.</div>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSkaeuP1abw&list=UUkQXqmQOqXik9KaVz8SgMfQ&index=2" target="_blank">Juan Jose's Amazing Magic Trick </a></div>
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Please pray with us and for us for the following:</div>
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1. Obedience without delay</div>
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2. Sell of our house</div>
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3. Fall departure</div>
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4. Successful Home Schooling experience for Ashtyn</div>
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5. Continued peace of God's control and not our own</div>
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6. Our Pastor Search Committee at our home church </div>
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Thank you for walking this journey with us, it's not an easy one and I would never be anything but transparent about that. I pray that when I update again, I will have exciting news! Thanks to each of you that take time to read. I pray that you have been encouraged and inspired by what God is doing in the lives of these children through a bunch of sinners saved by grace that consider it pure joy to forgo our own plans, comforts and desires to say yes to Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior! May His name be exalted and glorified at Rancho Sordo Mudo in all that is said and done to increase the Kingdom for His name sake! </div>
<br />Joyful Servantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11930880625947534509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6070447115480376298.post-54434415182722908562014-05-27T05:18:00.000-05:002014-05-30T16:13:54.647-05:00Going and Sending Here we are with summer upon us and we have some goals. We have a goal to put our house on the market in June and praying that it will sell shortly after. We have no idea where we will live, but God will take care of that! We have a goal of being funded to our 90% by summer end or first of September so we can make a late September or early October departure. Plain and simple there are many things that are not being done and taken care of because we are NOT there yet!! RSM, the kids and other missionaries there need us and we really need to be leaving soon. Our desire is to be making much of God's name in the lives of the students and community in Guadalupe Valley, <u>but we can't if we are not there.</u><br />
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I had so many things I tossed around for this blog, but hands down God kept taking me to scripture after scripture, devotion after devotion, conversation after conversation about GOING!!! I am not a huge reader, what reading I do do is always my bible. But along this journey we have been required to read several books and have been given several books. While cleaning up the other day I moved some papers and saw a lime green book that caught my attention. The title was "Let the Nations be Glad!"by John Piper, so I picked it up and thumbed through it. I usually start at the back of a book and go forward. And there in the back a title that caught my attention and as I began to read, I knew this was what God wanted me to share. I was afraid that it would lose its meaning and impact if I tried to use my own words to tell you what I read, so I decided to just share what the book says. So the following is directly from the book and not my own words.</div>
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The Supremacy of God in Going and Sending</div>
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There is a wonderful passage in the often neglected epistle of 3 John that sums up the burden of this book beautifully. We want to leave you with its truth ringing in our mind and heart. There are only two ways for us to respond to the truth we have been considering about the supremacy of God in missions. We must either go out for the sake of his name, or we must send and support such people who do, and do so in a manner worthy of God. Listen to the words of the apostle John, who heard the heartbeat of Jesus as he leaned on his breast and who listened with his own ears to the giving of the Great Commission.<br />
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"The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth. Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. For I was very glad when brethren came and for witness to your truth, that is, how you are walking in truth. I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth. Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the brethren, and especially when they are strangers; and they bear witness to your love before the church; and <i style="font-weight: bold;">you will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. For they went out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from the pagans. Therefore we ought to support such men, that we may be fellow-workers with the truth." </i>3 John 1:1-8<br />
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What evidence compels this old apostle to be convinced that Gaius's soul is prospering? What is the truth in which Gaius is walking? Apparently some missionaries, whom John knew, had visited Gaius and were loved by him in a special way. They returned to the church of which John was a part and testified that Gaius treated them well, even though they were strangers to him. This so moved John that he wrote Gaius a letter to encourage him for walking in the truth and for acting faithfully. He wanted to urge Gaius to continue all the more. "You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God." Gaius was admonished by the apostle to be a sender. This phrase, "to send on one's way," occurs nine times in the New Testament, and each one occurs in a missionary context.<br />
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The most descriptive verse is found in Titus 3:13. In this verse, Paul writes to Titus, "Diligently help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way so that nothing is lacking for them"(NASB). From this verse we can learn that sending is something to be done diligently and is all inclusive - "so that <i style="font-weight: bold;">nothing </i>is lacking for them." <br />
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In 3 John, this diligence and thoroughness is captured in the phrase "in a manner worthy of God" (vs6). This elevates the importance of sending as high as can be imagined. It is a commandment of God (notice the "ought" of verse 8). The reason we must send them in a manner worthy of God is that they go out for the sake of the name. The name of God is at stake in how we treat our missionaries. God is glorified when we support them substantially with our prayers, our money, our time, and myriad other practical ways (notice the "whatever" in verse 5). God is not glorified when our missionaries are simply a name on the back of a bulletin or a line item in the budget.<br />
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It is not of secondary importance to be engaged in this ministry of sending. It is a very high calling. It is walking in the truth. It is the manifestation of a healthy and prospering soul. Senders are fellow workers with the truth. To send in a manner worthy of God is a call to excellence in the support of missionaries. It is a direct participation in God's purpose. The cruciality of sending cannot be overemphasized. Therefore, it must not be done in a shoddy manner but in "a manner worthy of God." There is a world of difference between a church "having" a missionary and a church "sending" a missionary. When we send missionaries in a manner worthy of God, God is glorified, our souls prosper, and we are fellow workers with the truth. We are in sync with God's heartbeat and his purpose to be glorified among all the peoples.<br />
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We pray that this book exert has helped you to see that whether you go as a missionary or stay as a sender is a secondary issue. We invite you to become more personally engaged in the cause of missions with a heartfelt, God-centered passion. Journey to a Harvest <b><u>has not</u></b> and <b><u>will never be</u></b> to exalt us going, but to exalt God and to exalt his mission. We absolutely cannot go in a manner worthy of God without other believers sending in a manner worthy of God! This is God's design to accomplish His work among the nations, for us as believers to link arms together and go and send in a manner worthy of God!<br />
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We are still in need of believers to partner with God in His work in Mexico through our going. We are praying that we "<u style="font-weight: bold;">lack nothing</u>" by summers end so that we may GO in a manner worthy of God and exalt His name among the deaf children of Mexico and train others to go into other nations!!<br />
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Thank you to those who have already been giving in a manner worthy of God. We are so thankful for your arms linked with ours to send us out for the sake of His name! We can not wait to be there serving and loving those kids for you too!! Thanks for your obedience. We are so grateful for each of you. Much love to each of you.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Prayer Needs:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Our upcoming moving sale.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The selling of our home.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">For the remaining part of our monthly partnership. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Staff and kids at RSM waiting for us. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">For us and our family as we prepare for departure. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">More opportunities to share what God is doing. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The many missionaries on the field serving faithfully. </span><br />
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Joyful Servantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11930880625947534509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6070447115480376298.post-67849757478548619022014-03-12T15:18:00.000-06:002014-03-12T15:18:35.816-06:00What do you mean it's 2014?<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hard to believe 2014 is here and it is already March! Wow, time certainly feels as if it starts to go by faster as I get older. I certainly had NO idea that I would update our blog for 2014 still in Birmingham! But here we are, still pressing on and being faithful. I have always been fully transparent about the struggles we face on this journey and want you to remember that we are NOT super spiritual heroes!!! I am just a sinner saved by grace, a daughter, a granddaughter, a wife, a mother, a friend, a coworker, a church member and so on. And believe it or not, I, from time to time, let satan get an upper hand!! What? Say it isn't so. Yes, it unfortunately is. I should start off by saying that I am just sharing my heart 100% and I am not alluding to anyone specific in this blog. I know that when people feel conviction they tend to take offense to it and try to make someone else out to be the bad guy! I am NOT the Holy Spirit and if you feel conviction about anything - that is the Holy Spirit and NOT me, so don't kill the messenger!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> It all started in December when I was just going about my business getting ready for the holidays with...Christmas decorations. Yes, you read that right. When I began to take out the decorations and start decorating it didn't take me long to realize that I needed to get rid of a lot of my beloved Christmas stuff. How could I? They all seemed to have so many memories and special moments all wrapped up in them--how could I part with them? That is when it began. That is when satan saw a crack in the door and stuck his whole foot in without me even knowing it! He had come to stay and brought his bag of lies, discouragement, and every trick to use against me! </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I am and always have been a cup half full girl. I don't usually find the negative or bad in things or people. I am the one finding the good, concentrating on that, and helping others to do the same. But the enemy used my own Christmas decorations to put doubt in my mind, get me to start looking at the negative side of things and people, and make me unable to see the good in anything, really. I struggled at being joyful in or about anything. The enemy got me into self pity party mode and I camped out there for a while! All I could do was think about all that we were giving up, how things in our family had changed, friends had walked away, and people didn't speak in the halls at church. Co-workers and friends were talking about us behind our backs, no one was encouraging us, no one was asking us how they could be praying for us, no one understood us. No one even seemed to care about how we were doing, that we had to leave our family behind, that we were having to sell almost every possession, and that my child had to make huge sacrifices that most people know nothing of--the list went on and on. By the time I had finished counting the cost on this journey, I was depressed!!! Seriously, if you were to write down every sacrifice on a piece of paper, it would be enough to make anybody go running as fast as they could, in a different direction, as far as they could (sound like anyone you know?). I guess you could say that I was in the belly of a fish and the fish had taken a sudden dive to depths unknown to me!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It only seemed to get worse as the month passed on. It became difficult to attend church; I totally felt like a stranger among those who I once felt so close to. I cried every time I gave stuff away and didn't really feel like celebrating Christmas. The feelings of isolation and loneliness were huge and my heart longed to be someone else, some where else! The enemy had me totally disgusted with our journey and the lack of God's people wanting to join Him in His work. There are only so many times that you can tell yourself and hear from others that God's timing is PERFECT!!! Well, from my seat it didn't feel perfect or look perfect. It looked like a train wreck to me. To have a family saying, "yes Lord, send us," and can't go doesn't exactly look perfect to me. Our heart hasn't been here in years; our hearts long to serve the Lord with our lives in a land where we don't speak the language, the culture is not ours, and the food looks and tastes different from what we are used to. Everything about this country is foreign to us, yet we long to be there and be out of our comfort zone! Most people fight to stay comfortable and not sacrifice and here we are begging and pleading to be moved from complacency and comfort and not being moved!!! This is crazy to me, and I don't understand, Lord. I felt as if the Lord was fighting against us instead of for us. I thought He isn't pleased with those who sit in comfortable pews each week doing nothing and being luke warm. I thought those people made him throw up!! So if this were true, then why? Why are we still here? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So this is
where I was at Christmas and it became even more difficult as we went
into the week of New Years. There I was at church one <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_36482234" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ">Sunday</span></span>
morning and it hit me like a ton of bricks during the service: it is
about to be 2014 and you are STILL here!!!! I lost all composure; I had
to get up and leave the service bawling my eyes out. Why, Lord? Why?
What am I doing wrong? Are we that horrible of people that you are
punishing us? What have I done to deserve this? Lord, please help me see
what I am doing wrong! Desperate loud cries, I remember even beating
on the bathroom stall door as I cried out in anguish that day! I tried
to compose myself and slip back into the service. One of my favorite
godly, seasoned men of the church was waiting for me when I came out of
the bathroom, put his arm around me and asked me what was wrong. In that
moment, as I began to cry again and sob out, "I don't want to be here
anymore!" He just lovingly held me and told me that he knew that. He
said that it is obvious in our life actions that we are ready to serve
no matter the cost and that is such an encouragement to him and his
wife! What? Did I just hear him correctly? In my messy, broken,
snot-nosed, teary life with all my why's and when's we are encouraging
you and your wife? Little did I know how God would use those soft spoken
words by a godly man that day to turn this fish around. Remember, I am
in the belly of a fish and have not been spit up yet. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I
was so ready to go that day, that I walked very fast and sat in the car
waiting on my family to come out so we could LEAVE!!! Since when did
the Sexton family leave church first? NEVER!! I didn't want to be around
anyone, talk to anyone, or see anyone. I knew people would ask if I was
ok and what was wrong and I didn't trust myself enough in this moment
not to answer, "Seriously, you have to ask? Hummm let's think about
this!" Yep, that was my attitude about what <u>"felt"</u> to me as if no
one cared. Tired of not being my normal self and feeling all this gamut
of emotions from jealousy to loneliness, I wanted to change!!! During
this whole time of sadness, I wanted to blog and write down what I was
feeling and experiencing. But God--I love those "But God" phrases in the
Bible--kept taking me to scripture when Jesus was silent. He didn't
want me to write or share and I was kinda mad about that. But I am glad
that I was obedient in it. I don't know about you, but when I need
answers I look at what scripture says. That day the Lord took me to the
Psalms and James. I didn't understand at the time, and I did complain to
God about the depressing Psalms! And I am still in Psalms today,
studying and gleaning God's nuggets to me each day. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Each
day satan would point out things to me; he had overtaken my thoughts
and it happened without me even realizing it, friends! I tried to put
on smiles and push through the days, but daily satan would hit me with
some lie, deception, and gut wrenching blows where it hurt the worst.
Trust me, he knows what to use against you and what will hurt you the
most. And he doesn't care. Babies I thought I wouldn't be here to see be
born, had been born. Three kids that I didn't think I would be here to
see come home with their forever families, came home. We saw most of our
missionary friends leave for the field and unfortunately we saw some
give up!! It was a daily struggle to see your friends hang out and do
things together and your invitation never came. To see all the pictures
on FB of their kids parties and your invitation never came. It really
hurt more to get on FB, so I stayed off because I honestly couldn't take
anymore hurt. I really started taking the fact that we were not gone
yet personally. See, these are all feelings. I was basing my attitude,
my joy, my happiness, and my future on how other people or circumstances
were making me feel!!! I am not saying any of them are right or wrong,
good or bad--they are just feelings. And we can not trust our feelings.
My prayers had become focused on how I felt and others made me feel and
wanting God to change them. However, this whole time God wanted me to
see that it was me that needed changing. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">God
took me to other scripture in His word that started cutting up the
lies, transforming my thoughts, and changing me. He didn't want me to
focus on the cost, but rather the privilege. He took me to scripture
that showed me the waiting that others did. The Israelites, Noah,
Hannah, Mary & Martha, the disciples, Jacob, Abraham & Sarah,
Zechariah & Elizabeth, Joseph and so on and so on. I was left
wondering why God was reminding me of those stories that I knew so well.
See, every one of those stories had waiting in them, and what were they
waiting on? God and His timing. When you read scripture you see that
above all else Jesus wanted to be obedient and do His Father's will.
More than how others treated Him, more than what others wanted Him to do
or say, more than what He felt like doing (He did pray for the cup to
pass from Him), more than what would make Him popular and accepted. More
than how He felt, or how long it took. More than ANYTHING He desired
to do His Father's will and only that. While spending time with the Lord
one morning, He used 6 words to pierce my heart. "My hour has not come
yet" (John 2:4). Wait, read that again. Over and over with tear-filled
eyes thanking the Lord for finally finding a bit of that joy again. </span><i style="color: #222222;"><b>It wasn't our hour either!</b></i><span style="color: #222222;">!!!
The next day was even better when He beat me over the head with 2
Corinthians 10:1-6. It is Paul's defense of his ministry and in there it
talks about the standards of the world, the battle and the weapons we
use and then, there it was…… "</span><i style="color: #222222;"> </i><span style="color: #222222;"><i>casting
down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the
knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience
of Christ"... </i>Wait, what did that just say? So I read it again and
again and realized that I was the high thing that was exalting itself
against the knowledge of God and had allowed my every thought to be </span><span style="color: #222222;">captivated by the ENEMY!!! </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">Wow, did I do
some repenting that day. How could I allow this to happen, when did it
happen? I doubted God's knowledge because of the timing I thought should
have happened. Then I began to remember one by one those bible stories.
Don't you think that the Israelites doubted their 40 years of wandering
in the desert, Mary & Martha while their brother was dying, Abraham
and Sarah on having a child and so on? So many great examples of
waiting on the Lord. For Him to prepare everything that needed to be
prepared before moving ahead, most of the time it was the people <i>themselves</i>
that needed to be worked on. That is where I had found myself. The Lord
used these two verses in powerful ways to cut to the chase I was on.
And then He used two encounters at my office to help with the rest of my
struggles. He used a patient that is a pastor to share 2 Timothy 4:9-18
with me and talk to me about what I was feeling. He suggested I read
where Paul was abandoned by everyone, felt lonely, and was asking
Timothy to hurry and get to him by winter so he wouldn't be alone. Paul
the great Bible missionary felt lonely? Pastor Matthews said, "yes and
he even calls them out by name those who had abandoned him and left
him."He told me that day, "Sherri, the day your family shared you were
leaving to do God's work in Mexico, a disconnect happened in everyones
mind and they don't even have a clue." He shared with me that our human
nature does this without us even knowing and so all this time people
have been saying goodbye to us in their minds and hearts. Wow!! That is
why we feel disconnected--we are! And it wasn't done intentionally. I
couldn't wait to get home to my Bible that day and read the chapter he
told me to read; it was awesome. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them.</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;"> </span>But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth.</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;"> </span><i>The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen." 2 Timothy 4:16-18 </i>That was it! God was rescuing
me from the lion's (the enemy's) mouth, where he had me. God wanted me
to realize that I can not depend on others to do the job of my Savior.
He is my strength and my rescue. This is all part of our growing until
it is our hour--more dependence on Him! More dependence on Him means
that we share the gospel more effectively to ALL people and for His
glory. A great check for me to remember this is NOT about me or my
family or anything else. It is and always will be about God and His
glory, His provision and His plan. Ouch! I was so upset with myself for
allowing satan to take my thoughts captive and allowing the self pity,
jealousy, loneliness and so forth to creep in. How could I, and how much
harder will this be on the field? God help me to see the warning signs
and indicators in the future; I don't want to live here again! </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The
second encounter came when I met the mother of a patient that had over
heard a conversation and wanted to speak to me. Thank you God for using
her! She and her family are missionaries and have been for years (talk
about a wealth of information). She was able to shed some light on my
struggles in a great way. I shared with her my loneliness and
feeling like we were being treated as if we were already gone. She
totally knew what I was talking about. She explained to me that
everything we are doing has a grieving process and as we are letting go
of things and people are letting go of us, we have to grieve all of
that. We didn't really know that we would or needed to. But she was so
wonderful to share with me frankly and honestly on how hard it is and
how hard it will be when we come back to visit. See, everyone else will
just continue on with their normal, nothing-much-has-changed life and
our family will start this whole everything-is-new-and-</span></span><wbr></wbr><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">everything-has-changed
life and they can not relate to it. She was so sweet in sharing and
giving me her contact information so that she could continue to pour
into our family with information, encouragement, and questions. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Even
in my dark days and struggles, God was preparing others to speak truth
to me that would encourage me and lift my spirits. He used His word to
pierce the darkness of my heart and mind to change me in areas that I
needed changing. I would love to tell you that after those moments
everything just turned right back to grand and glorious. But since I had
allowed the enemy to camp out and control my thoughts, I had to take
everyone of them back! This was a thought by thought process each and
every day. We all have learned so much over these dark few months and
although I have learned a lot and grown a lot, I don't care to live
there again!! But I am not so bold or naive enough to think that if it
can happen once, that it can't happen again. So I have on the full armor
of God and I am watching for his fiery darts! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So when I was finally spit up on shore I realized that my blessings far out way my struggles, I should always focus on what I do have and not what I don't have. It can always be worse! And that you can miss out on other blessings and being a blessing if you allow yourself to exalt yourself against the knowledge of God. And even though we don't know "our hour" it's okay, we shall continue to walk by faith and not by sight. We will press on toward the prize and keep our eyes on Jesus. I ask that you forgive me for not remembering what a blessing each of you are to us and taking that for granted. And even if I stumble again (which I am sure I will) I will quickly repent and put my eyes back on the prize. I will allow God to captivate my every thought hourly. We are beyond blessed to have all of you in our life!!! </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Thanks for keeping up with us and walking along side us on this long journey to a harvest in Mexico!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This is a song that we sang at our area meeting in New Mexico and it has been my life song for months now. Enjoy. </span></span><br />
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Joyful Servantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11930880625947534509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6070447115480376298.post-15897809470414730402013-12-07T10:24:00.000-06:002013-12-07T10:24:02.959-06:00Video updateWhen I started working on our November newsletter and blog, I really kept getting snagged and couldn't complete anything I started. I got so discouraged and kept praying asking the Lord to help me complete what I thought He had given me. His reply was "everything is different now". I kept trying to figure out what that meant and all the while never being able to pin on paper (well a keyboard) what I felt like the Lord was speaking about. I started reflecting on "everything is different now" and I came to realize that EVERYTHING about my life is different now. Since we started this journey, everything is different now. We just had our 2nd moving sell and even my house looks different now. Thanksgiving holiday was different for us this year - change, change and more change. I have always promised to be transparent so that you would understand that we are not perfect people without struggles. I came to realize that over the last 4-5 weeks I had begun to grieve too much for all that we were giving up, all the things that were different and all the changes going on. So much so that I was not embracing the new and different things and ways that God was giving us now. That is why I couldn't complete anything, I was having a pity party about all the changes and God wanted me to focus on the new and different.<br />
New and different isn't a bad thing. I then felt that a new and different way for the update was also something He was leading me to. To be honest, this update and video was probably more for me than anyone else, but I am praying that God will use it to give you a glimpse of what He is doing in Mexico through RSM. I think God wanted me to focus on the good that is in "new & different" and since our life will be completely new and different when we get to Mexico why not embrace it now! I decided to use what God always uses to encourage me when I am struggling about not being there yet, sacrifices that seem to great, tremendous spiritual warfare - MUSIC & PICTURES!! So below is our latest update done with a powerful song and pictures from the Ranch. I pray that God will use this video to speak to your heart in ways that only He can. Click below where it says November Newsletter 2013 and watch the video!<br />
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Some of these pictures I took when we were there and all the others I have gotten from Jason a missionary that teaches at RSM and other missionaries that have been at the Ranch. I am thankful that Jason keeps me feeling connected with his post and pictures. I am also excited to have someone there that shares my passion about photography! </div>
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Thanks for walking with us on this long journey. We will be sharing at two churches tomorrow in our area, so be praying for God's spirit to move among His people. If you are not receiving our monthly newsletters, you can sign up on the right hand side of this blog and you can also go back and review our older newsletters. Continue to pray for us as we continue to let go of stuff and make many changes. Pray that we will keep our eyes focused on Jesus and see the good to come for our temporary suffering! </div>
<br />Joyful Servantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11930880625947534509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6070447115480376298.post-88827624620293855082013-10-13T18:24:00.003-05:002013-10-13T18:24:51.915-05:00So much closer <div style="text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
title applies in so many areas! We are closer to each other, we are
closer in our walk with the Lord, and we are getting closer to
leaving!!! Yay!! We have just recently completed our final training
required by Pioneers before leaving for the field. So, now we just need
to sell our house and get our final monthly support required for us to
leave. That is pretty exciting for us!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We are thankful to have so many friends and family that are praying for us, loving us, encouraging us and supporting us. We
just had an opportunity to share with a church in our community
(literally 1 mile from our house). It was such a blessing to have
family and friends there to support us. We were also blessed to receive a
text message with a picture of the GA's (Girls in Action) at our church
praying for us right then. Here is the picture that was sent to us:</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Now if that doesn't just melt your heart! </span></span></td><td style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;"></td><td style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;"></td><td style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;"></td><td style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;"></td><td style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;"></td><td style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></td><td style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></td><td style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></td><td style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></td><td style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></td><td style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">They may not fully understand it all right now, but their part is so important.<span style="color: #fce5cd;"> God
hears their prayers and it is opening up their little hearts and minds
to the things that God calls us to do, while helping them understand
how important all of it is. </span>I am so thankful for a home church
that offers programs like GA's and RA's to help younger kids learn the
importance of missions and how they can be a part of it. Thank you to
those who take time to lead those little ones and teach them the things
that are important to God. Thank you GA's for praying for us and
encouraging us--we love you!!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
were so excited to find out that we were approved for our final
training in September! We were even more excited that we were going to
be there with a young lady from our team in Mexico!<span style="color: #fce5cd;"> Her
name is Alisha, and it was great to get to know her better. We got to
spend some time with her asking all kinds of questions about the Ranch
and how life is there. It made us all the more excited to get there!
She actually left for Mexico on the last day of training, so it was
bittersweet and hard not to be jealous of her going, too. S</span>he is back in Mexico and doing great, so we are very happy for her. We
do a lot of training and learning about personalities and how they work
in team life, so I think we have an advantage because we've trained
with Alisha and already know so much about each other and our
personalities. <span style="color: #fce5cd;">I think that will be beneficial to our team life together in Mexico. </span>Team
life can be tricky if you don't know how to give and take and make sure
that each person on the team feels like their voice is heard. Knowing
that decisions have to be made by team leaders but feeling like your
opinion was heard and considered helps team life go better. By human
nature we don't do that well--we don't normally think of others'
opinions more valuable than our own. We tend to think things could be
done differently than the way we would do it. But
at training, we were able role-play several group scenarios to see how
people reacted in different situations. Then we could go back with a
staff person and go over what just took place to see how our
personalities reacted so differently in the situations. It was really an
eye opener for us all! We feel that God was so good to allow us to
attend training with one of our team members so we could bond as a team. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Here we are with Alisha on the last day of training before her
brother came to pick her up and whisk her off to the airport for
Mexico. (Excuse the picture we were all tired and poor Alisha had been
sick all week!)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR1MG5tXvOqYIQDhAnksVa5zw3PaEmfBCspvG0aKm7S9UfPn-xv6-J5vRopRBSBxWs766VB2ZL38w9E78t-C0j3EKRiYBIA48xGnt0a28LOszx6jIARbxhdP_BuiSaSvcDftTd8L-ooQQ_/s1600/Alisha.JPG" style="color: #1155cc; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR1MG5tXvOqYIQDhAnksVa5zw3PaEmfBCspvG0aKm7S9UfPn-xv6-J5vRopRBSBxWs766VB2ZL38w9E78t-C0j3EKRiYBIA48xGnt0a28LOszx6jIARbxhdP_BuiSaSvcDftTd8L-ooQQ_/s1600/Alisha.JPG" width="400" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">We
are experiencing severe spiritual warfare, so your prayers would be
greatly appreciated. The enemy is doing anything he can to keep us
distracted and unable to work on our Partner Development!! We are asking
you to join us in fighting the real battle with prayer, asking God to
guard us and help us in this battle to do His work that He has asked us
to do. We are learning more and more each day just how important it is
to have other believers lifting us up in prayer before our Father
daily!!! Thank you for being a part of that. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">We
are getting ready to have another moving sale and get our house ready
to put on the market. Those are both exciting and overwhelming at the
same time. I don't know if I can properly explain to anyone how that
feels for us. Some of the words I can use are freeing, exciting, sad,
bittersweet, unsettling, and exhilarating! It really is all those things
rolled into one and some days can pull us either way in how we feel.
The excitement most always outweighs the sadness, but it is still a loss
of something in our hearts and more letting go. It is a battle in our
flesh just like anyone else and we know that it is all worth it, yet
it's a struggle. We are not super humans with a
super family, super spiritual life, super marriage, super emotions. We
don't have all the answers. We are just like you--we sin, we have
struggles, we are weak, we have disagreements--we are human. I
think sometimes people think that missionaries are some super human
elite group--but we aren't. We are just followers of Jesus Christ who
are being obedient in what He has asked us to do. Whatever you are
feeling or struggling with we probably are, too, or have, or will. We
are not immune to things; we don't have feelings of steel; we can't
quote the entire bible by memory; we don't all home-school our children
(although we will when we get to the field). We aren't all gifted with
every spiritual gift; we aren't encouraged and joyful all the time; we
aren't doing noble things; we aren't always where we should be
spiritually; and the list goes on and on. What I am finding out is that
missionaries are under attack by the enemy in ways that some have only
seen in movies and is so foreign to us here in America. I am seeing that
this is an all out battle and it is going to be difficult 24 hours a
day, 365 days a year! And some days, that is scary. I see what our
friends are facing on the field, I read and hear the statistics of
missionaries making it on the field, and it is really overwhelming. But,
I have learned to stop and ask myself, "Is HE worth it?" and a
resounding, "Yes HE is," is always my answer.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Every tear we
shed, every good bye we say, everything we sell, everything we let go
of, every child we help, every trial we go through, every bit of it is
worth it to bring honor and glory to our Lord and to spend our lives
increasing His kingdom. The Bible calls us into action, and we should
always be in a mode of action unless other wise instructed by the
Spirit. If someone is in need, help them. If someone needs to hear the
gospel, share it. We cannot sit by and think that someone else will do
it. Unless clearly directed not to do something or share with someone,
our nature should be action for the kingdom. If there is a person in
need of food, give it; a child that needs adopting, adopt them; a tribe
or nation that needs to hear the gospel, go and tell them; a widow that
needs some company, go and visit; a coworker that needs a friend, be
that friend. My point is this: don't wait or assume that some one else
will do it. If you have a personal relationship with Jesus then He is
asking YOU to do it.</span></span> <br />
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Thank you again for keeping up with us. Below I have posted a few pictures from the Ranch of the kids. We absolutely can not wait to get there and start loving on them and being part of the every day life of Rancho Sordo Mudo!!! To God be the glory!! <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJMD_CvajE2TUCp67l9IN2eWEReOTYDwnPHfO_VJzR_QQeB7Y1ICDdBr-yWO3_75jXC_epE-95TGwpMconmtE74x5dwu2Y9JSL1Y3anfSaYv-1deWw56t9oC4CGWIuto-NYpVoBYp-ySzb/s1600/RSM+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJMD_CvajE2TUCp67l9IN2eWEReOTYDwnPHfO_VJzR_QQeB7Y1ICDdBr-yWO3_75jXC_epE-95TGwpMconmtE74x5dwu2Y9JSL1Y3anfSaYv-1deWw56t9oC4CGWIuto-NYpVoBYp-ySzb/s1600/RSM+2.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kids putting on one of their many dramas! </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpamRv9nTKTZAMvHoWqk9frQFpilCVwGWjpF76KI4IvCJpo3hcUJIY8Zwfe-TPDbAgt-s8P6xuTdXyAfC5pCYJOEYq0WXhyphenhyphenAzWRf_RV7pc4MLr8ueK5UQB_-JpbzGzhmDRVfSW7TlDAhkI/s1600/RSM+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpamRv9nTKTZAMvHoWqk9frQFpilCVwGWjpF76KI4IvCJpo3hcUJIY8Zwfe-TPDbAgt-s8P6xuTdXyAfC5pCYJOEYq0WXhyphenhyphenAzWRf_RV7pc4MLr8ueK5UQB_-JpbzGzhmDRVfSW7TlDAhkI/s1600/RSM+3.jpg" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kids in class this year working hard. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixvX4GgsVPaezZtSB7Co6Ykps8CjapMGGDoP5JQ_QO1BLtHdjl_szgniSG5t5QZzlMJvspySgj5wghCR6chGqiNLYsnBEDgkGxQSXXc4hXid-71lnl14me6TmYkWC4OaTrkAI-h3cgyWD_/s1600/RSM+4+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixvX4GgsVPaezZtSB7Co6Ykps8CjapMGGDoP5JQ_QO1BLtHdjl_szgniSG5t5QZzlMJvspySgj5wghCR6chGqiNLYsnBEDgkGxQSXXc4hXid-71lnl14me6TmYkWC4OaTrkAI-h3cgyWD_/s1600/RSM+4+.jpg" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jason teaching his class. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibKEkfBdeR4kkgbPt5Z-sAgqEy45yGyVqjyT1kRLNFJWO2YF-aMTRk4NZvqG0fFycPMoqoh7bDku0nBtDGMFi2SrPPAdOAN5rxmq9yTeEAxVRwdMyBaeqF0pjStbVwhH-KOCveuH4BznvM/s1600/RSM+8+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibKEkfBdeR4kkgbPt5Z-sAgqEy45yGyVqjyT1kRLNFJWO2YF-aMTRk4NZvqG0fFycPMoqoh7bDku0nBtDGMFi2SrPPAdOAN5rxmq9yTeEAxVRwdMyBaeqF0pjStbVwhH-KOCveuH4BznvM/s1600/RSM+8+.jpg" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jason is one of the missionaries at The Ranch we will be working with. </td></tr>
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experience and strength that will be helpful to us in the more
serious trials of life." - Hudson Taylor (missionary to China)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgang7BUs2KIJWe7nob6qJnWC_Sa-Yu5RAdtS7v_yMyLnIjBSmeB1MkFZIFha0ieLRSq79zBRvOa3Mjf0-YRebW9Z_bRsEF1xEDSE9q0cMTHrRAQtvKh1hIok5GR9AtKtnSkzl_EQ0T7qe6/s1600/missionaries+at+work.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgang7BUs2KIJWe7nob6qJnWC_Sa-Yu5RAdtS7v_yMyLnIjBSmeB1MkFZIFha0ieLRSq79zBRvOa3Mjf0-YRebW9Z_bRsEF1xEDSE9q0cMTHrRAQtvKh1hIok5GR9AtKtnSkzl_EQ0T7qe6/s1600/missionaries+at+work.jpg" height="175" width="320" /></a></div>
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I am finding this to be more true every day! I remind myself daily that all that we are enduring now is preparing us for the field full time - every heartache, every tear, every joy, every step out of our comfort zone, every set back, every trial, every success, every delay, every victory - ALL of it is being used to shape us and mold us to be more like our Savior and for His work! We are getting there inch by inch, step by step and leap by leap, however and whenever they come. We are finding that we have to be faithful in the small things, if we are not faithful in the small things and are not doing them now - we will NEVER do them on the field.<br />
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We have come to realize that if we are not doing things now, we will not magically or instantly begin doing them when we get to the field. If we are not disciplined in the here and now, it will not happen in the there and then. Fact is that we will be busier than ever when we get to the field and will actually be working 6 days a week with only 1 day off (not exactly what we had envisioned for retirement years, but that is OK) so it is vitally important that we are disciplining ourselves now for the field. Fact is that things will become more difficult when we get there not easier. The spiritual warfare will become more intense which will make everything more difficult. But we are gearing up for it, because we know it is coming. We are already experiencing it here so we know when we get to the field, we become even more of a threat so it will increase.<br />
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I was given a devotion book when we were at our Area Meeting and I have savored every page since getting it. It is a devotion book written by a woman missionary and it has been like salve for my heart every single day. God always provides what we need before we know we need it or don't know what we need.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSNxCBln8YfkNJcnTrEdZGlMGdhz2dmadPosKdkOqDyV93snKbcO86UvBvJAJY1D3WqLlyEk1AJUh1-biPb0L9IyLV6mpCvy1Jgqd3IzojT_f4gJpHa7hSNzmlfoFQ7Qtu3HUYA9_2cmdm/s1600/2013+Conference.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSNxCBln8YfkNJcnTrEdZGlMGdhz2dmadPosKdkOqDyV93snKbcO86UvBvJAJY1D3WqLlyEk1AJUh1-biPb0L9IyLV6mpCvy1Jgqd3IzojT_f4gJpHa7hSNzmlfoFQ7Qtu3HUYA9_2cmdm/s1600/2013+Conference.jpg" height="237" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Group shot from our Area Meeting - great looking missionaries right :-)</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDPD0b9knqzewOgw1iMGaxQamt0Xzy5fHT8J314NZY2XqTk6vICtS5v2gz5-QIU4We0LLMMFCK6OG7d6CGKPUD19mxbtksTBUS_-XfRGtHpA3PdH49aM1NBHCB7uxhEsNdTpPsFdzdTZMu/s1600/TCK's.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDPD0b9knqzewOgw1iMGaxQamt0Xzy5fHT8J314NZY2XqTk6vICtS5v2gz5-QIU4We0LLMMFCK6OG7d6CGKPUD19mxbtksTBUS_-XfRGtHpA3PdH49aM1NBHCB7uxhEsNdTpPsFdzdTZMu/s1600/TCK's.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here are all the TCK's that were there - they had a great time! </td></tr>
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School is starting back at the Ranch and we sure wish we could be there to start the new school year, but we are praying for all the missionaries there and all the students coming in. We are praying that the transition will be good for them all. It is a bit more difficult when you have staff leave and new ones come, and everyone is trying to learn each other as well as the kids and I know it can be stressful at times. Please join us as we lift them all up to the Lord for a great school year. Below is a picture of one of the classrooms coming together.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnH1Obod2gcG6JsHD0UhpLpoA14Wp0ppEaZK3BPE5AL5fZSq2J0eKC-qZWhIBeVftQA-0BvJjTMSGPUZmkHcHlaWXFRV7jUPW6a8KBp6scxi8Y-onL3NUakTEmn84bJyvUvl-2ELvPeieo/s1600/1009843_4913442327715_1699254503_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnH1Obod2gcG6JsHD0UhpLpoA14Wp0ppEaZK3BPE5AL5fZSq2J0eKC-qZWhIBeVftQA-0BvJjTMSGPUZmkHcHlaWXFRV7jUPW6a8KBp6scxi8Y-onL3NUakTEmn84bJyvUvl-2ELvPeieo/s1600/1009843_4913442327715_1699254503_n.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jason's classroom coming together </td></tr>
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Hopefully soon we will be able to get an update on how many kids are there this year and how things are going. We are letting them get settled in before we bombard them with our many questions. We also are not sure of the staffing needs, we are aware of several teachers leaving and going elsewhere to either start or help start other deaf ministries in other places. This is exactly what we are to do! The bible gives us clear instruction to share, teach, train and send out. We are so excited about being part of God's work that does that.<br />
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We are at 30% of our needed 90% of monthly support to be able to leave. We are excited to tell you that we have clearance to do our <u><b>FINAL</b></u> (can you see the excitement!) training in September!!! Once we have completed that all that stands between us and leaving for the field full time is at least 60% of our monthly support coming in. Reality is that if just 60 families/groups/individuals give $52 a month -<b>WE LEAVE!</b>!! We are beyond thrilled about that. So with that news comes lots of stuff to get done, but we see it as a privileged not a burden! Although we may need to be reminded of that in the middle of it all when we are tired :-) We have a speaking engagement this month and we have gotten a lot of our promotional stuff done and are finalizing the rest of it. So we are ready to go!<br />
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We are still looking for anyone, any place and any where that will give us an opportunity to share what God is doing in our life. So if you happen to know someone or some place - please let us know. We will be grateful for any opportunity. Thank you for keeping up with us and standing with us. We are so thankful for each of you.<br />
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<span style="color: yellow;"><u><b>Prayer Needs:</b></u></span><br />
1. The teachers and students returning to Rancho Sordo Mudo.<br />
2. Our spiritual growth over the next few months<br />
3. The selling of our home - quickly and at the right price.<br />
4. Opportunities to share with people<br />
5. God's blessings on those who have already joined us prayerfully and financially<br />
6. An unspoken<br />
7. Encouragement that we need on the hard days - however God chooses to send it!<br />
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<br />Joyful Servantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11930880625947534509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6070447115480376298.post-23216452583844983832013-08-09T18:18:00.000-05:002013-08-09T18:18:03.203-05:00Area Metting <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> We attended our Area Meeting last week in New Mexico. This meeting is held for all teams serving in America and all Latin Countries. We were able to hear reports from all the teams serving and all the work that is being done. It was wonderful to hear all that GOD is doing through His people on the field serving. Some shared with stories, pictures, tears, laughter and some with heavy hearts. It was evident of the struggles that come with serving in cultures other than your own. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> Mike & I had no idea that we would have to report for The Ranch. Our Team Leaders were not there due to their son getting married, so when we arrived our Area Leader told us we would report on Friday for The Ranch! Good thing I had my computer with pictures on it so we could at least report on what we knew was going on. Since we are not yet on the field, we weren't sure what we could do. But God was gracious (as always) and I remembered that the Training Center was new and we could tell about it and show them pictures from our visit. Mike shared how we were called to the field and our journey to finding just where God would have us and where we left our hearts last October. And I shared all about The Ranch, how we </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">operate, the new Training Center and what our job duties will be while we are there. Even unpracticed and unrehearsed we did just fine! That was God taking Mike out of his comfort zone :-) I really didn't think that we would bring much to the table being the new kids on the block and all, but we kept hearing how we were such an inspiration to them and seeing our passion and love as we talked about The Ranch and the work there. That morning before we spoke, God told me to end the presentation with a challenge to them. He wanted me to remind them not to forsake their first love, and on the hard days to remember when they first started their passion and love for the ministry. So I did. There was a specific message for the church in Ephesus in Rev. 2:1-7 and it is still relevant today. After the Lord Jesus commended them for their good deeds, hard work, perseverance, treatment of the wicked men, discernment in spotting false apostles and for not growing weary in hardships for His name, He then said:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><u>Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. </u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> We had worship time together each morning and our speakers took us through the book of Ephesians and shared so many truths of God fullness through His word that we hid in our hearts. It was a great time of sharing, praying, discussing and diving deeper into God's word together. It was refreshing and encouraging for us to meet others that are serving on the field and ask them questions and hear their struggles, their provisions and their hearts. They have some amazing stories that brought tears to my eyes and caused the hair on my arms to stand up!!! We serve such a mighty God and I think that we forget that too easily here in the Western World where we are way to SELF sufficient!!! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> Ashtyn had a great time with all the TCK's (Third Culture Kids), she was able to see some of her friends she made while we were in Mexico on our vision trips and make new ones that are serving in Mexico as well on different teams. She loved their leaders Billy & Erica (so did we) and they also serve in Mexico. It was nice to meet new people that we can go and visit and help out from time to time. And we will be excited to visit each of them. They got to have cool bible studies, dress up, play games and all sleep in another dorm away from the adults. So needless to say they all had a great time!! We are so thankful for an organization that puts so much importance on our children and recognizes the difficulties they have on the field and go out of their way to minister to them and help them adjust and be heard!!! That means the world as a parent to know that someone else cares about your kids like you do and wants to make sure they are being taken care of and helped too. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I can honestly say that I have never been taught in church the importance of praying for missionaries!! It is not something that is at the forefront of our teaching and training and it certainly should be. I seriously had no idea how difficult their lives are and how the enemy hates the fact that they are serving and their spiritual warfare is beyond anything I have ever known. Even more important is too be praying specifically for them and against the strongholds they come against everyday. Praying Lord, help the missionaries all over the world is good - don't get me wrong, but they need specific prayers and they need them often. I think that churches should have specific names, areas and the battles they face and have them available for people to take different ones and pray for them by name, by area, for specific people they are working with and praying against the enemy in Jesus name for their battles!! I promise you that missionaries will be more than happy to share specific needs and would greatly appreciate and covet prayers for their specific needs. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> We have heard throughout every training, conference and from every missionary that the people you think will support you and pray for you don't and the ones that you think never would do. Honestly I have been saying, "that won't apply to us, I don't think that will be our case at all" - guess what <u>they were RIGHT</u></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">!!!! So trust me, when they are telling us to prepare for spiritual warfare like never before, you better believe I am listening this time and preparing. This is about to be my life and I want to be prepared and I want to know that we have people praying for us daily. I can assure you that we will only be as </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">successful on the field as our prayer warriors prayers are. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> We only have 33 prayer partners right now and we need at least 167 more!!! Would you consider being a prayer partner with us and intercede on our behalf. We would be grateful! We are at 28% of our 90% needed funds. We would love to be at 100% when we leave for the field so we won't have continued partnership development hanging over our heads while we are on the field trying to study and serve. Here are some examples of what we need to get us to the field-</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> <u>1st scenario:</u> 4 businesses or churches giving $520 a month, along with 32 families, Sunday school classes, small groups or bible studies giving $52 a month and we are fully funded and on the field!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> <u>2nd scenario</u>: 2 business or churches giving $1040 a month, along with 22 families, Sunday school classes, small groups or bible studies giving $52 a month, along with another 20 families giving $</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">26 a month has us fully funded and on the field!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> <u>3rd scenario</u>: 52 families or groups giving $52 a month along with 40 families or groups giving $26 a month and we are fully funded and on the field! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> Remember every bit that is given monthly combined with what others are giving helps us get there. There is no amount to small or to large. It takes many giving so that we can go, and we are so appreciative of each of you that are already praying, giving and encouraging us on this long journey. God promises to provide and we are seeing His provisions more and more each day and we praise Him for working in the hearts of His people to be part of His ministry in Mexico. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We would love any opportunity to speak with you face to face or come to your church, small group or Sunday school class and share. Even if you know of people who are supportive of mission work and you want to host a dessert dinner in your home and invite them to come and hear what God is doing in our life, we will bring everything if you will just open up your home and allow us to share. Any contact that you might have we will check out. We so appreciate any ideas or leads that give us an opportunity to share. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> Thank you again for keeping up with us and sharing this journey with us! We are blessed to have each of you a long side us. Please know that we pray for you often with thanksgiving in our hearts for your support. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I want to leave you with a song that we sang at our meeting last week that spoke volumes to my heart and I will be listening to it often to remind myself that we are NEVER alone! </span><br />
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<b><u>P.S. Please excuse any mess ups and mistakes, I am still on strong medicines for my 2 torn hamstrings! </u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> </span>Joyful Servantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11930880625947534509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6070447115480376298.post-1111267706683868512013-07-05T13:34:00.001-05:002013-07-05T13:34:46.082-05:00I'll give you $5 Any kind of sale whether you call it a moving sale, a yard sale, a garage sale or an estate sale - they are HARD work!!! I was reminded of this in May when we had our first moving sale. We were blessed beyond measure with family and friends that helped us and it was beyond successful. It was more than we dreamed or imagined or even prayed for because God was the center of it. Everything that He is the center of is successful and He showed us that all week long. Everyone that came to the sell heard about the love of Christ and Matthew 28! We didn't waste an opportunity to share. God blessed that so much that He allowed us to be at the airport when a couple that we met at the sell came back from their mission trip that we had been praying for all week!! That was a God thing for sure!<br />
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One thing I did notice during our 2 days of selling was how everyone wants something for nothing. And even if you have your prices set low they still want to give you less than you are asking. We had several professional (for a lack of a nicer term) hagglers. We had several scenarios with one in particular (who literally called me a sucker to my face) over the price of several items. And even though frustrating at the time, the Lord clearly used these moments to show me some things and make me ask myself some questions.<br />
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What I noticed was that their value of the item and my value of the item were not the same. Clearly my value was higher. How did I come to that value? Why was my value not the same as theirs? Why was theirs not the same as mine? Why did they find it less valuable? How could I help them to see the value was actually higher, or did they know it but didn't want to actually pay the asking value? Did they just want something for nothing? I heard God say, "this is a perfect example of Christianity". What? What do you mean God? I prayed over the next few weeks asking God to explain and show me what He meant.<br />
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So I began to ask myself what value do I put on Christ? Where do I get my value from? Is my value the same as others? I first started with what does value mean. According to the dictionary value is : <span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; cursor: default; font-family: verdana; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;">relative</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: verdana; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;"> </span><span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; cursor: default; font-family: verdana; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;">worth,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: verdana; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;"> </span><span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; cursor: default; font-family: verdana; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;">merit,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: verdana; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;"> </span><span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; cursor: default; font-family: verdana; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;">or</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: verdana; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;"> </span><span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; cursor: default; font-family: verdana; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;">importance.</span> So according to the definition what is my relative worth of Christ, His merit and His importance? Can people around us see His worth, merit and importance in our lives as Christians? Does He have any value in our life, or do we just want something for nothing? By that I mean, do we just want to have fire proof insurance and call our self a Christian but not actually do anything?<br />
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See God was using this sale to teach me and show me some important lessons. It is not a secret that I have been frustrated with how slowly our support raising has been. But God was showing me some things that I hadn't thought of before. See our obedience depends on others to be obedient and we can't go until others are obedient. I have been praying for those to be obedient soon, but God was telling me "show them the value". See I have great value for the lost and dying in the world that are going to hell if we don't reach them with the gospel. It literally keeps me awake some nights thinking about it. I see the value in God's people everywhere, not those just like me. Where did I get that value? From God himself, that is not something humanly possible to just start loving people like that.<br />
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If something has value, you will go to great links to protect it, love it, cherish it and so on. The deaf children in Mexico have great value to me. And I am willing to go to great links to protect, love and cherish them. Trust me, there is NOTHING in my human, fleshly nature that finds that much value in the forsaking and suffering for others. But my spiritual side does. The side of me that is closest to God is longing to show them their value in Christ. The kind of world they come from they definitely feel that they have no value, they struggle with finding self worth and value. And I want to show them that they are valuable and how to value God too.<br />
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We can all value God more by learning about His character and seeing His redemptive plan for mankind in His word. We can value God more by being obedient and seeing humanity with the value that He sees us with. We can value God more by trusting Him to provide and not trusting ourselves or our plans more. We can value God more by the giving of our first fruits as He commands us, and even test Him with this. We can value God more by being in an intimate relationship and communication with Him daily. We must decrease so HE can INCREASE!!!<br />
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Another thing God showed me was that we sometimes allow others to determine our value of God and we don't stand up firm when it comes to placing value on God and the commands of God. So to demonstrate this I will use the moving sell to show you what I mean.<br />
Professional Haggler offers $20 for a $60 item, Mike tells him no. He leaves, comes back(Mike is gone) and offers $30 - I call Mike and he says no. He looks around and comes back and says how about $35 - I call Mike and he is like okay, I don't have time at work to be haggled all day long - just sell it. I tell him okay $35 and he gets his wallet out and passes by $50's and $100's to count out for me $34 and tells me that is all he has. I tell him I have change, but he says "no, I am doing you a favor by taking it off your hands". I was like okay good riddance we need things to go. Right after that a man comes up and tells me that he would have given us $60 in a heart beat because it is worth more than that!! See we allowed another person to change our value on something and it really was worth the value we placed on it. Same couple came back - she wants to know if I will take a $1 for a book that is marked $2 and I say sure and he hands me 87 cents and tells me that is all he has - really!!! He also offers us $5 for a bike that we have $20 on. This is a great mountain bike practically new and only needs a new tire. So I am encouraged by friends and family there to tell him no! So I do and he starts in with it's not worth $20 and he is doing me a favor again, and I said "No! It is worth all of $20" He then proceeds to offer $6 then $7 and I am told to walk away and they tell him NO!<br />
We sold the bike the next morning for $20!!!!! See God honored that we didn't allow him once again to change the value we placed on the item.<br />
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Unfortunately, there are people out there that find no value in the people of other countries and don't mind telling you that. And people who will tell you that there are plenty of lost people here (which I totally agree with) but my question to them is, "what are YOU doing about it?" Because I am doing something about the people God has called me to minister to in Mexico. And if God asks me to come back here and minister to the people here, I will do it. But until God clearly tells me that He doesn't want me in Mexico, I can not allow others devalue to influence my value!!!<br />
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So I share all these moving sale experiences with you to say this. Don't let others determine your value of Christ or allow others to lower your value of the things of God. Stand firm, increase your own value and then show others how valuable God is and how they can increase their value of God. See God hasn't ever lowered His value on us and He doesn't expect us to do the same thing. He expects us to stand firm in our boldness and declare His value in our lives!!! Remember the value of each other and of those that are not like you or live in a different country or even a different religion. They have value to God and we must be the first to show that to others. Seriously, how could we go wrong with placing a higher value of God over anything else in our lives? We CAN'T!!!!<br />
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I pray that my life will reflect the value of God and His command in Matthew 28. Not because I am someone special or better than anyone else - because I AM NOT!!!! I am just a sinner saved by grace to glorify God with all that I am and all that I do!!! He found value in me and I plan on showing others how to find their value in Christ and because of Christ. Lord, may you never find me offering you less than the value you put on your commands and your people.<br />
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We are asking you to pray for our meetings that we are hosting with people about praying to join God's work in Mexico. Pray for all the staff and kids at the Ranch. Pray for us to make the deadlines for our last training and language school. Thank you so much for continuing to keep up with us and supporting us, words are not adequate to say thank you!!!<br />
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<br />Joyful Servantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11930880625947534509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6070447115480376298.post-23458700794107282182013-06-12T20:49:00.000-05:002013-06-12T20:49:07.422-05:00Love More<br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here it is June already! Sorry for the delay in the blog, we have been busy with many things in our normal life and working on departure stuff. Praise the Lord that our first moving sell was a huge success!!! So not only do we get asked a lot "when are you leaving?" but the next big question is "why?". Why would we sell everything and move to a foreign country to live? Well the answer for us is easy - we love more!</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We love abandoned and unwanted kids more than we love ourselves, we love the opportunity to increase the kingdom of heaven more than we love our comforts, we love Jesus more than we love our stuff and most importantly we love more because we have been forgiven more. See we are just sinners saved by grace, not special people or better than anyone else. We are just ordinary people whose lives were shaped by the truth of the gospel. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If you have ever held a baby in your arms and they have smiled at you, you smile back. Your response is automatic, no one has to tell you to do that; the response flows naturally. Worship should come that naturally to us too as a response to a transformed life by the truth of the gospel. One of the key things that should prompt our hearts to worship is an encounter between Jesus and us. Receiving forgiveness naturally gives rise to loving worship. When we drink deeply of God's forgiveness, we will find our hearts in loving worship. We are able to love more when we drink deeply, love God more and love people more. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So yes we have been forgiven much therefore we love much!!! Forgiveness is not a one time thing, it is a daily encounter with God. There is not one day that goes by that we won't have to ask forgiveness for something, whether it be a thought, or a harsh word, or a lie or a lost temper or whatever. But as we read in Luke 7 when Jesus was eating at Simon's (Pharisee) house and a woman came in and started weeping at His feet and drying His feet with her hair and pouring expensive perfume on His feet, He says, "I tell you, her sins - and they are MANY - have been forgiven, so she has shown Me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love." Jesus himself is saying that the more we are forgiven the more we love!! Not only will we love Jesus more, but we will love others more. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I would encourage you to spend time daily with God asking Him to make you sensitive to the Holy Spirit to see if there is unconfessed sin in your heart that is keeping you from loving Him and others more. I am not proud of my past in one bit, but because my sins were great and I have been forgiven much - I love much more. What about you?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So school is out at The Ranch, they had graduation on Friday. Now is the time of year that the few kids that have families will return to their homes for 2 months and the kids that do not have families will go to near by orphanages for 2 months. This also marks the time of year when we start getting a lot of churches and groups for mission work. They will help us get all kinds of repairs done, any additions that need to be done and whatever needs to be done while the kids are not in the dorms and on campus. The kids will come back at the end of August to get ready for school to start in September. School does not start until after the big Baja Race, it is a big deal out there and there are so many tourist and traffic so we wait until it is over to start school. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We are now at 23% of our support and need to get to 90% before we can depart. Please be in prayer for us as we seek those God has called to be the sending part of our going. We are not able to be obedient until those He has called to give are obedient in giving. We really need to be at 90% by fall so we can leave for language school and make the last classes before Christmas break, other wise it will be next year before we can leave!! Honestly, I really don't know how I can wait until next year - my heart aches daily to be there and to be serving!!! Please would you pray about whether God is asking you to partner with us to do His work among the deaf in Mexico!!! Our work there is not limited to just Mexico but we will also be training other deaf and hearing people to go to other parts of the world and start reaching the deaf in other countries. The deaf are one of the largest unreached people groups in the world. Together we can make a difference!!! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Thank you for keeping up with us, loving us, praying for us and supporting us!! We are grateful. Don't forget that if you don't get our monthly newsletter you can sign up here on our blog - top right hover over the black and click on sign up for newsletter. Thank you again, now enjoy pictures and the video!!! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Below I am posting some pictures and a video that one of the missionaries there made in May of this year. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here is the video that Jason made from just last month. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It gives you a snip-it look at what life is like on The Ranch. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Graduation Day - we had 4 kids graduate this year. Luke signing the graduation certificate. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These 6 boys just accepted Jesus as their personal Savior and Lord last week at The Ranch!!!<br />So thankful for all the missionaries there pouring into these kids, it makes a difference!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sammy our snake patrol. We have a ton of snakes there, mostly rattle snakes. <br />This is why the kids can not go outside alone because they can not hear the rattle snakes rattling.<br />I told Mike I am glad they are rattle snakes because they will rattle at you when you get close and that<br /> lets me know to run the other way!!!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></td></tr>
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Joyful Servantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11930880625947534509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6070447115480376298.post-29062063660284260552013-04-27T18:41:00.000-05:002013-04-27T18:41:33.662-05:00Missionary Boot Camp<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So if there was such a thing as Missionary Boot Camp, I am pretty sure we are in it. And though it is not a physical camp it is more intense and strengthening than any Boot Camp or PX90 - I like to refer to it as Crossfit (getting us fit for the crosses we are to carry). Jesus calls us to forsake ourselves, pick up our cross and follow him DAILY!!! In order to carry our cross, we have to be prepared to carry it - no matter what!! So preparing to carry our cross requires us to be conditioned to do it. Just as you have to condition your body to run in races or marathons. But in Crossfit God is the one that conditions us to carry our cross for Him daily!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I have noticed the trend of Boot Camps, PX90, Insanity and all kinds of extreme work outs and people are obsessed with them and eating vegan and paleo and on and on, there is something different each week. And I have listened and often wondered, what if they spent that much time devoted to God and His word and doing His work or serving others? I often wonder how much time these people spend in reading God's word and strengthening their relationship with Him. See we can be so easily tricked into thinking because they are good things that it is okay, but in reality they are taking the place of God and have become an idol. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So this week has been difficult for many reasons but I just felt as if God were telling me that I was in training this week. And I found myself asking Him what do you mean? I know I need to exercise more Lord, do you want me to be in a race? I went back and forth all week in prayer and asking over and over trying to figure out what the Lord was saying to me. And then it finally hit me, I am in training for the field. I am in training for the cross He has given me to carry. This week when my family members were sick in different states and my parents were in another state and we were trying to figure out who needed to get where to take care of who and my mother is in tears on the phone, all I could do was listen and help her as best as I could a state away. When I hung up to pray for everyone and for peace for my parents, I realized that I will have to do that but from another country. I felt in my spirit, this is your training - preparing you for your service and your cross. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So over the last few days as I have grieved in my spirit for not being able to be physically present with those that I love to help, comfort and pray with them, I finally had a peace that the Lord was preparing me for my cross. I recalled scripture that had always resonated with me and then I knew why. The scripture is: Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God". Luke 9:61-62</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Well I don't know about you but I want to be fit for the kingdom of God!!! I will never be ready to carry my cross if I keep looking back at what held me here for so long in the first place. I can never look back at possessions, friendships, family, church, jobs, or even serving if I want to be fit for His kingdom. We are in training and conditioning for our service in Mexico. There are so many things that we are having to adjust to it is not even funny. But at the end of the day, I can say with assurance that the saddest thing that could take place is if we kept looking back and were found not fit for the kingdom. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I can not imagine a more miserable and sad life than one that is not fit for the kingdom. So yes we are in Crossfit right now, not so we can have strong, beautiful bodies (which all die anyway just FYI) and be fit and ripped and compete in races. We have only one race that matters and we do have our eyes on the prize and we are not fond of the conditioning in this Crossfit, but we know that we are being fit for the kingdom! Our conditioning consist of long waits, loneliness, distance from friends and family, hardships, disappointments, hurts, more waiting and totally NOT in control. I may not be able to run a 5k or have a perfect figure, but one thing is for sure - I am being trained by God himself for His kingdom and that is worth more than anything else in this world!!! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Are you willing to be conditioned by God for His kingdom? Or do you keep looking back and running to those things that keep you comfortable and happy? There hasn't been a day this past week that I have been happy - but I have had joy which comes from God and not my circumstances. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">We are working on finding places to connect with churches, Sunday School classes, Bible study groups, business and individuals. We are only at 18% of our needed 90% of monthly support to be able to leave. We are so thankful for those who have joined us in God's work in Mexico. We some friends that are working hard at getting us speaking </span><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">engagements and working hard to get us there and we are forever grateful for them! God has called people to give, we just need to connect with them! Thanks again for keeping up with us, praying for us, and joining us to increase the kingdom of God in Mexico.</span></span></div>
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Some of the boys at the Ranch </div>
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Kids playing jump rope on the playground </div>
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The kids in a parade </div>
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<span style="text-align: center;"> Photos courtesy of Jason - missionary at the Ranch! </span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;"><br /></span><br />Joyful Servantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11930880625947534509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6070447115480376298.post-81166014216321500652013-04-05T11:21:00.000-06:002013-04-05T12:46:45.084-06:00Bucket List? Have you ever read something or listened to people talk about something and it just didn't sit well with you? You weren't sure if you agreed or disagreed but something just didn't feel right? I had that happen this week while listening to WDJC one morning. I can't remember what the original topic was, but somehow they started talking about Bucket Lists and something in my soul just ached. I couldn't put my finger on it, wasn't sure what it was all about. I have heard many people over the years talk about Bucket Lists, and there was even a movie about it. So why on this particular day did something not sit well with me?<br />
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In my mind that morning as I was bothered by it I was thinking, but this is so silly and why would that bother me? I mean what is the big deal, I don't even have one!!! And why would listening to other people talk about theirs, bother me? I just found it odd at the time. I shrugged it off and went into work, but I prayed and asked the Lord to show me or speak to me why I had this feeling. I have learned over the years that it is the Holy Spirit that does that to me and it is ALWAYS for a reason!! So I went about my day at work and honestly didn't think anything else about it. I had other things on my heart and mind and knew that the Lord would show me in His timing (that is the theme of my life right now).<br />
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And so I come to this morning in God's word seeking His face and it slapped me in the head like a ton of bricks as I read scripture. " So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples' feet, drying them with the towel he had around him." John 13:4-5 That was it, He wanted me to see that Jesus knew these were His final hours! Get it? Final hours!!! He had only hours to live and He was <u><b>NOT</b></u> concerned about himself and all He wanted to do or see or go!!! In His final hours, He <b><u>SERVED</u></b> others. He had no concern for the flesh or it being all about Him. He could have easily said, "hey friends, I am about to die in hours and I would like to enjoy these final hours with the things that I want and you guys need to be seeing what I want and doing what I want" Cause that sure sounds like what I would have said. Hey everyone, it's all about ME tonight!!! Talk about hard to swallow - but then it got even harder!!!<br />
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He says in verse 15, "<span style="color: red;">I have given you an example to follow</span>". Okay Lord, thank you for that example and you know that will be extremely hard for me, since I am a sinner and flawed in my thinking and ways. But, Lord, I see what you are telling me. I don't need a bucket list that would make me focus on myself, satisfying my own desires & wants causing me to lose site of my final hours. See since we have no idea when our days will come to an end, aren't we always living in final hours? I mean this could totally be my last day on earth, I may never again get a chance to hug necks (I love some neck hugging) or tell someone I love them, or serve someone, or help someone or share truth with someone. So God wants us to live each moment as if we knew it were our last and serve others. Our society says just the opposite and my fear is that we are raising generation after generation of self absorbed, me - me - me, entitled thinking people. God wants us to see and live by the example that Jesus left us. I mean I had to ask myself some really hard questions. I had to be honest that if I knew I had hours to live, would I honestly be serving others or would I gather all my friends and family together to hide out and soak up every last minute of love, hugs, laughs and memories that I could? I didn't like my answer, I would focus on myself and what I wanted in those last hours!!! I even found myself trying to justify to God right here this morning in front of His word why I should have that time. I hung my head in shame!<br />
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And that was not all, here comes the real kicker - you think that was tough (I did) watch this!!!!<br />
"Now Jesus was deeply troubled, and He exclaimed, "<span style="color: red;">I tell you the truth, one of you will betray Me</span>!" John 13:21 Wait there is more. "Jesus answered, "<span style="color: red;">Die for Me? I tell you the truth, Peter - before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know Me</span>." John 13:38<br />
I was speechless (no wise cracks)! Seriously Lord, not only do you want me to serve people in my last hours and not worry one bit about myself, you want me to serve those who betray me and ignore me like they don't even know who I am? You have got to be kidding me right? Look Lord, you have no idea how some of these people have hurt me and you want me to serve them? And as the tears began to fall, I felt a spirit of "YES my sweet child" fall over me. But God how can I do that? "You can't, but I can"; I felt Him say. But God why would I want to spend my last few hours on people who have hurt me and not with those who have not? Because that is easy and anyone can do that. But My people, who are called by My name, who have My love, don't love and serve like that. Okay Lord I am a total mess right here and so ashamed of myself for thinking I was doing pretty good about not being as self focused as the environment and culture I live in and You have totally showed me I am still missing the mark!!<br />
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So you can say I have been taken to the wood shed and back this morning by the Lord, but I am thankful! I think that we can get to a place of comparing ourselves to the culture and world we live in and by using that measuring stick we feel pretty good about ourselves and where we fall. But when we pull out God's measuring stick and see where we fall on His, it doesn't look so good anymore. God pulled out His measuring stick for me this morning and I didn't fair too well friends. I can only speak for myself, but I sure was shocked. I think God wanted to show me the danger of where I have been measuring myself lately and to remind me that only HIS example matters. Sure in the worlds eyes compared to most others I may doing pretty good, but that doesn't matter!<br />
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So maybe there are some hard questions you need to ask yourself today. Maybe you need to see what measuring stick you have been using. Maybe you needed to be reminded that we are living in the last hours now. Maybe you needed to be reminded that we are to be serving others like Jesus, even in our final hours. Maybe you needed to be reminded that you have been a little self centered lately. Maybe you needed to be reminded that there are those in your life that have hurt you and you need to serve them. Or probably a big one for our culture today is that maybe you are too busy serving YOURSELF and your FAMILY to serve God and others!!! Maybe your allowing your family to be ruled by schedules that are not of God. Maybe you needed to be reminded that the only people you serve is your family, or people you like. Maybe you needed to know that it is okay if you don't have a bucket list. I don't know what it is, but I can promise you that the Lord does. And He will speak to you and show you things, no matter how many times you have read those verses or heard them preached on. He has a word for you today, I promise.<br />
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This is perfect for what God showed me this morning!</div>
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Thank you for keeping up with us and all that you do for us, we are eternally grateful. We have had some new people join the prayer partnership of our ministry and that is so exciting!!!!<br />
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<b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><u>Prayer request:</u></span></b><br />
<b>1. Big meeting at the Ranch this month</b><br />
<b>2. Luke Everette as he travels for the Ranch and is away from family</b><br />
<b>3. All the teachers, staff and kids that are there now</b><br />
<b>4. For 90% of our funding to start coming in quickly</b><br />
<b>5. For our marriage and families - satan is trying to discourage and destroy</b><br />
<b>6. For our spiritual growth as we walk in obedience to Him </b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Willfully His, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Sherri </span>Joyful Servantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11930880625947534509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6070447115480376298.post-57792799395295196662013-03-21T11:11:00.000-06:002013-03-21T11:11:49.223-06:00Catching our breath Sorry for the delay in updating the blog, we have been extremely busy with school and just finished with it!! Yay for the old couple in school together :-) I think we have finally caught our breath some what. It has been a whirlwind last few months with finding out where we would be, learning the next steps, school, trying to kick off our partnership development, and just daily life of working, being parents, and serving the Lord while we are still waiting.<br />
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Right now we are trying to find churches, small groups, bible study groups, businesses, individuals and families that would be willing to allow us to share God's vision for the deaf and how we will be helping with that in Mexico. We have a goal of 200 prayer partners to connect with that will commit to praying for us daily and will be instrumental in intercessory prayer for urgent needs and things that God is doing while we are at the Ranch. If you want to learn more about this, please let me know and I will give you all the information and add you to our team! Not only do we know that our prayer partners will be a key to our success on the field, but so will the people that join our financial team as well. It is no secret that unless those that are called to give - give, we can not go! We have to have right at $5000 a month to live and do ministry in Mexico. A little over half of that is for us to live on and the rest is for us to do ministry with.<br />
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We will have the same expenses there as we do here (rent, food, utilities, insurance) with a few extra ones such as having car insurance in 2 countries. Some expenses such as health insurance will be more expensive than we pay now. So yes while some cost may be less expensive than what we pay here, there are other expenses that will be much higher and some that we will have to be paying in 2 countries. We do not make a salary from the Ranch, we will be living and doing ministry on our monthly support. The Ranch is a free school for the deaf and does not have any income that comes in on a regular basis. Every family and individual that is there, raises their own support and our ministry funds and donations from others is what allows the school to do what it does day to day.<br />
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So the great question of "When are you leaving?" is when we have 90% of our monthly support coming in for 3 months in a row, then we can leave. We are at approximately 15% right now. All the support that is coming in right now, is being held in our account to cover moving expenses and language school cost. We will not get a penny of any money until we leave. We are so ready to get to where we know God wants us, so please be praying about how God wants you to partner with Him to get the gospel to the deaf community in Mexico and around the world. We are thankful for each of you that have already started supporting God's work through supporting our ministry. We are a ministry- an extension of the body of Christ from Valley Creek Baptist Church joining God where He is working!<br />
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We would love an opportunity to sit down with you over coffee, dessert or ice cream (it is about to start getting hot) and answer any questions you have or explain anything that you don't understand. We want everyone to understand how things work so there is no misunderstandings or doubts. Our pastor, Kevin, just came back from Pioneers from a conference learning how our home church will play such an important part of our success. He was so impressed at how they take care of their missionaries on the field. We have all kinds of help available to us around the clock whenever we need it and that was comforting to him as our pastor to know that with a phone call we or he could get us help. Missionaries are huge targets when they hit the field and satan will use all kinds of stuff to destroy them, so it is vital that we have access to whatever kind of help we might need. We are so thankful for a Pastor and church that love us and know that the church's mission and mandate is MISSIONS!!!<br />
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So right now we are selling more items, trying to tie up loose ends on things here and preparing the house to go on the market. I have not been fearful of the house not selling, but where will we live when it does!!!! Rent is way more expensive than what we pay in mortgage payments :-( We are planning on having an Estate Sale here at our house to move some big items in April or possibly May so if you are in need of some things, watch Facebook or let me know and I will let you know when we are having it.<br />
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Thank you again for following us, loving us, praying for us, and supporting us - words are NOT adequate!!!<br />
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><u>Prayer request:</u></span><br />
<span style="color: red;">1. Rancho Sordo Mudo will be having a big meeting in April - big things happening and they need prayer!</span><br />
<span style="color: red;">2. Pray for Luke Everett, he does most of the traveling for the Ranch and the stresses of traveling, being away from his family and the future of the school lay heavy on him. </span><br />
<span style="color: red;">3. Pray for all the staff and students there </span><br />
<span style="color: red;">4. Pray that we will get to our 90% quickly so we can get to the Ranch as soon as possible, we know how they need us to be there helping and that ways heavy on our hearts!!</span><br />
<span style="color: red;">5. Pray that we reach our 200 prayer partner goal too</span><br />
<span style="color: red;">6. Pray for the selling of many items, property and house over the next few months. </span><br />
<span style="color: red;">7. Pray for a reasonable place to rent until we leave that is not more than what we pay now - actually less would be better. </span><br />
<span style="color: red;">8. Pray for us as we are learning to adjust to so many things right now. </span><br />
<span style="color: red;">9. Pray for us and our family & friends that as it draws nearer to us leaving that it will be an easy transition for all of us!!! </span><br />
<span style="color: red;">10. Unspoken </span><br />
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Thank you again and thanks for praying for these request. We are grateful for each of you!!!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The kids worshiping Jesus in song!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waiting to eat lunch. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Olivia's class </td></tr>
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<br />Joyful Servantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11930880625947534509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6070447115480376298.post-22604263469197203532013-01-27T15:53:00.001-06:002013-01-27T15:53:47.276-06:00Finding our Fit <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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God spoke and we listened. But to be honest it was so tempting to follow our human desires and try to go where we felt it would be more suitable for our comfort. Did you catch that? Yes we are human and have to fight the flesh daily! But God has such a sense of humor because He called us to serve where there is lots of heat (with no AC) and sand (we dislike sand). We were reminded like Jeremiah that we are to be His mouthpiece. We too had some protest like Jeremiah but as you continue to read in the book of Jeremiah you see where God assured him that HE would be with him and take care of him. See God is an intimate God who is personally involved with ALL of those who serve Him - not just the prophets and preachers. And because God knitted us together in our mothers womb He alone knows and can change our internal thermometer. God is "with us" more than just geographically, He is with us personally, working out His purpose for us. And we can't find any verses on how it is to be easy, comfortable or what WE WANT!!! But because He is all knowing, and His plan is perfect - we are going to..........<br />
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<span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;">Rancho Sordo Mudo in Guadalupe Valley, Mexico</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the kids dressed for school.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKBmmzOTxi156JubTcL6rV667sWVlatf5IzXkw9aJaP2jZ6ytDSq_rSjUfyNabBB39Qn_lq6eS_2rHBIK5SKrpe6d6x04BMFk8V6LxFvtcEG9huUwpKulsL-3hnofoengfcNBieVuv0gRU/s1600/RSM+soccer+field+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKBmmzOTxi156JubTcL6rV667sWVlatf5IzXkw9aJaP2jZ6ytDSq_rSjUfyNabBB39Qn_lq6eS_2rHBIK5SKrpe6d6x04BMFk8V6LxFvtcEG9huUwpKulsL-3hnofoengfcNBieVuv0gRU/s320/RSM+soccer+field+.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fun on the soccer field<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Who needs snow? Sand Angels are fun too!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxYjYS93ez-v1rlCM1ErQPV4lDZDU4NJmPeHqmIV0vQno6nFL3LM1tpWyx7RCRY2hT_muAnRCjmcm_gF5Pdl-btJonjyLGz12lSQyDEDzB94PIFSGukZgn5kh8-2Hr2dg0ufKFgjASCRsw/s1600/RSM+fun+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxYjYS93ez-v1rlCM1ErQPV4lDZDU4NJmPeHqmIV0vQno6nFL3LM1tpWyx7RCRY2hT_muAnRCjmcm_gF5Pdl-btJonjyLGz12lSQyDEDzB94PIFSGukZgn5kh8-2Hr2dg0ufKFgjASCRsw/s320/RSM+fun+.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some Ranch fun! I will not be joining that kind of fun. I have heard plenty of missionaries say, don't ever say never :-)</td></tr>
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God is ready to do a new work there on the Ranch, a new work to accomplish His plans & purposes that were laid out before we were even born and how exciting to think that He wanted us to be a part of them! Wow!!! Reality check!!!<br />
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God never says anything He doesn't mean and He intends to see His word accomplished no matter the discomforts we might endure. Followers of Christ have been called to nothing less than a willingness to die for the gospel. Speaking the truth to troubled people will always test our ability to endure suffering. Jeremiah 6:16 hit me like a ton of bricks - <span style="color: blue;">"</span><span style="background-color: #fffefd; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;"><i style="color: blue;">Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, 'No, that's not the road we want!' </i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fffefd; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;">If we don't go exactly where God planned long before time and walk in it, we will not have rest for our souls. And if you have ever done any type of mission work - even short term, you know above all else you need rest for your soul to accomplish His plans and work. I think we would all do well to remember that last sentence. "No that's not the road we want!" Did you notice that is has an explanation point - so it was said with force. Is there something God is calling you to do or to go and you keep answering Him like that? Maybe you need to stop and ask for the old, godly way and walk in it because there you will find rest for your soul. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fffefd; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;">It is a rest, peace, a joy that will NEVER be filled by doing what YOU WANT. I will not tell you that walking in it is easy, always fun and not heartbreaking at times, but I will tell promise you that onver any selfish fleshly things that we think are important or how we need to make decisions - there is is an inner sustaining peace, joy and rest that </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">transcends all the suffering, pain, discomfort & tears and comforts your soul. Our own roads lead to dead ends, heartbreak, suffering and tears with no rest for our souls - so ask God to show you the old, godly way and walk in it, you won't regret it - I promise. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Our last newsletter outlined some of our duties at the Ranch as well as what the Ranch is all about and what all we do. If you are signed up, at the top right of this blog is a place to sign up so you can stay informed as to where we are in the process and what is going on. I will post more details and cover more stuff with each post in the blog. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"><b><u>Prayer Needs:</u></b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Our biggest prayer request now is about our support raising. We have to start having our support come in now and on a consistent bases for at least 3 months before we can leave. We need prayer for us to find those supporters that God has spoken too about joining us, we need opportunities to share our journey with groups, churches etc... We need our house to sell and for things to fall in to place so that we can leave by summer time. We ask you to pray about if the Lord is asking you to join us financially or if you have any connections to groups that we could share with. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">We will be at language school for the first 8-10 months and then off to the Ranch and yes we will have to not only learn Spanish, but SML (Spanish Sign Language). So we have our work cut out for us :-)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Prayers as we finish up our class that we are in now, it has proven to be a really challenging class. We are learning so much, but it is hard. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Pray for the staff and kids at the Ranch. We are ready to join them and help lessen the load. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Pray for our friends, family, church and us as the time draws near for us to leave. It will not be an easy thing and we know that. Pray that God will be working in all of our hearts and preparing us all. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Johnny & Amber are staff members at the Ranch - here is a short review they did</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"> to see a little more of the Ranch. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Thanks for praying, supporting and keeping up with us. We love you all!!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Donations can be made <a href="https://webapps.pioneers.org/DP/Give/GiftInformation" target="_blank">Here</a> our account number is 111728 - Mike & Sherri Sexton </span></span></div>
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Joyful Servantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11930880625947534509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6070447115480376298.post-52419848972145560072012-12-25T14:23:00.000-06:002012-12-25T14:23:09.326-06:00Reminiscing, Recalling & Ready! (Big News) <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So here we are looking back on 2012 and all that we have been through, accomplished, seen and done. There have been many changes and adjustments for our family this year but we can see that this will probably be a theme for the years ahead of us as well. Change is not always a bad thing, but in most cases it is difficult and requires effort and lots of prayer (one reason most people do not like change). But as I ponder all this change in life, I have come to realize that no change means complacency. And a life of complacency is NOT a life I want. If I am never challenged and adapting to change, then I am standing still in comfort. And unfortunately that is the Western world we live in. It caters and encourages us to having it all, having the best and being COMFORTABLE!!!! I have yet to find one verse in the bible that tells us to live that life, but yet I find tons about sacrifice, counting the cost and losing my life to gain it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To highlight some of the biggest changes thus far for us this year are:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. Being appointed by Pioneers in to full time missions</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. Public school for Ashtyn</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3. Elise getting married in June</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4. Our 2 vision trips to Mexico to visit the teams and pray about where God </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> wanted us to be. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5. Mike and I going back to school</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When I look at all these changes and recall all the adjustments they required - the main thing that stood out to me was all the prayer they required. Not only by us, but by all of you - our friends and family (whether blood related or by Christ). I see more and more each day just how important and vital prayer is and I am so very thankful for all of you that pray with us and for us. That is the one thing I can see that sustained us over this last year and will continue to sustain us in the days ahead. </span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">So we wanted to update everyone as this year is coming to an end that we have BIG NEWS!!!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We now know and have gotten all approvals on our ministry and home in Mexico. We are so relieved and excited. This has been a <b><u>very long</u></b> 3 and 1/2 years and we felt it was worth a big celebration. So we are going to have a revealing party to reveal to everyone where we will be and what we will be doing. So be watching for upcoming details of when it will be in January. It will be held at our home church Valley Creek Baptist Church in Hueytown. </span>Joyful Servantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11930880625947534509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6070447115480376298.post-58748930710034386462012-11-10T21:50:00.000-06:002012-11-10T21:50:21.088-06:00Prayer, Prayer and more prayer!!!<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">So we have come to the end of our 2nd vision trip and have met some wonderful friends that are serving God with all their hearts to make His glory known among the peoples of Mexico. Each in their own way, with perseverance, love and boldness. We feel so fortunate to have made such great friends along the way, ones we know will be there to encourage us, help us and walk along side us as we all strive to serve the Lord where He has called us. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">So now what you ask? Well we ask that you continue to pray for us as we are seeking the Lord's voice in where we will be called to serve. We really thought this would just be an easy thing for some reason. I guess because it has been such a long journey to get to this point, we thought we would go and just know immediately - wow, this is it!!! Well when you go and see all the needs and that the workers are few and you meet such amazing people serving - you all of sudden feel this urgency and scariness of "oh my heavens, don't let it be what we want"! How could we as humans make such a decision as to where we are needed and where we are suppose to be, if you ask us - we would need to duplicate ourselves and become 4 families and go to each place. They all need help!!! Now it has become a hard thing to think that only 1 of 4 will get the workers they need. That is heartbreaking to know and see. So ya, we for sure don't want to make any decision alone on our personal preferences or our desires!!! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">To serve God can NOT be about us or what we want, what we think or what we prefer. Human nature is naturally that way and the culture we live in teaches and stresses that it is ALL about US and it is NOT!! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">We know that beyond a shadow of a doubt that God can and will make it perfectly clear to each of us and will reaffirm that - we don't know how, but we know that He will. We are not talking about it as a family together - instead we are praying individually and when we all 3 feel that the Lord has spoken clearly to us and come together we know that He will have us all 3 on the same page. See only God can speak to all 3 of us separately and put us all on the same page. We know that will assure us of God's voice alone. Who else could do that? Right NO ONE!!!! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Our last trip to Guadalupe Valley to Rancho Sordo Mudo was great as well. Again more wonderful people serving the Lord wholeheartedly. It is located on a 500 acre ranch where they have a school for the deaf and are now starting training for the deaf and hearing to reach the deaf not only in Mexico but all around the world. The deaf are one of the biggest unreached people groups around. Unlike here in the states, deaf people in Mexico (as well as around the world) are thrown out, discarded and mistreated. These poor kids have NO language. They have no idea that they are Mexican or live in a country called Mexico. They teach them LSM (Spanish Sign Language) and then teach them to read and write. It is amazing to see them with such excitement to be able to communicate for the first time in their lives. The way the ranch is organized and handled reminds us so much of Casa Betania in Mexico where we have been going. They have 31 kids right now, the school is free of charge to them. It was amazing to see all the things they are doing and getting started. Here are a few pictures from the trip. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Church in the new worship center - it is really nice. This was their 4th service in it. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The south hits the kitchen with some southern soul food - it was a hit :-)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No this makes a momma proud - her baby girl jumping in to serve the Lord and others!!! </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flag ceremony before school starts </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the ranch, one of my favorite spots </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The front gate </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike and Ashtyn - we were way up, it was a great hike for us. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and Mike with the ranch down below us. </td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Thanks for keeping up with us and the continued prayers on this Journey to a Harvest. We are excited about the next few weeks as we continue to pray and talk with our area leader and see what God tells us. We would be honored to serve in any of these ministries and along side these wonderful missionaries we have met along the way. To God be the glory for the great things He has for the future, and may we never forget that it is through His strength and power alone that we could even begin to make this journey. God is good and has shown us His power, provision and love throughout this whole entire journey and we are thankful. </span><br />
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<br />Joyful Servantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11930880625947534509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6070447115480376298.post-54161867520936473752012-10-22T11:24:00.002-05:002012-10-22T11:24:26.394-05:00Packing again As we are 4 days away from our last vision trip we are excited and nervous! Nervous because we know that after this, we have to determine God's will for our life in Mexico and that is HUGE!!! Never did I imagine the stress of making sure we are hearing from God clearly and how this will FOREVER change our lives. We are looking forward to our time at Rancho Sordo Mudo (it's a school for the deaf) and seeing yet another new place in Mexico that we have never seen.<br />
We never once imagined this journey to be such a lonely one and a feeling of disconnect. But it is, and at times a hard pill to swallow. But we know that there is purpose in that pain and lessons to be learned, I pray for us to learn those lesson quickly! <br />
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We covet your prayers as we travel again - this time crossing the border by car (we have never done this). And a clarity for us to discern the will of God for our family. We are still approximately $600-$700 short for this trip, but we are trusting God for the provision before the credit card bill comes due to pay for the tickets. He is a big God and will provide. <br />
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I am not sure of the internet access while there, but I will update if at all possible. Sometimes it is easier to update our page on Facebook than to get logged into the blog and update. So watch in both areas. Thank you again for your love, prayers and support. We are eternally grateful! Thanks for keeping up with us on this journey, we love you!!!<br />
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<a href="http://vimeo.com/24096893" target="_blank">Rancho Sordo Mudo Video </a></div>
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Mike eating grasshoppers in Mexico on our last trip! </div>
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Ashtyn playing ball with the kids on the street in Mexico City</div>
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Me loving on Angel & Leslie in the community center in Mexico City. </div>
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<br />Joyful Servantshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11930880625947534509noreply@blogger.com0