Our Family's Journey of Faith: End of Year 2012

Greetings Friends! This is the short version of this article. If you would like to see the entire end of year article with lots of pictures and captions, you can download it

here

We are so grateful that God has allowed us to minister among the beautiful people of Colombia, and we are so thankful for all of you who have blessed our lives through your fervent prayers and sacrificial giving. Without your love and support, we would be unable to serve here in Santa Marta. We are humbled that God has allowed us to be apart of His work here in Colombia.

We have two main areas of ministry where we are focusing our time and effort. We are working as the leaders of the youth ministry at the Esperanza church discipling and training the youth and working to equip the volunteer leaders who work with the youth. Another couple from the church has joined us in sharing the leadership responsibilities and we are thankful for them as they have been a blessing to us. Our other main area of focus is working with a church plant in a part of the city that is comprised mainly of families where the father works in either the Police or in the Colombian Army. This has proven to be a tough area, but we are thankful for the grace that He has shown as we are seeing lives changed.

The last few months Amanda worked with 3 girls from the youth group on a weekly basis as they studied the lies that many young Christians believe. This was a beneficial time for both Amanda and the girls. Amanda was blessed by the girls who came and learned, and the girls were blessed as they grew in their faith. Amanda is also an integral part of leading and directing the children's ministry for the church plant. God has blessed Amanda with the gifts necessary to help lead this ministry. She has been involved in the teaching, planning, and executing of the weekly meetings. Amanda is also working very hard home-schooling our oldest two, Kendall and Parker.

I (Jon) had the pleasure of working with 8 of the young men from our group. Every time I am with them, I am reminded of how important this time is in their lives. They are struggling to understand how God has made them to be and how they fit in this world. Their lives seems to be a roller coaster of emotions, but by God's grace they are growing and being transformed into His image. My responsibilities in the youth ministry include, teaching at least twice a month, helping to facilitate the leadership meetings, planning and executing the training and other major events.

My role in the church plant has been exciting as well. I am working alongside of the pastor of the Esperanza, Julio Caesar, to help reach this community. Pastor Julio has allowed me to have a strong voice in the leadership of the church, and I am thankful for his trust and confidence. This past September we started an initiative to be more proactive in the meeting and the sharing of the gospel with the community in which God has placed us. This has been both a challenge and a blessing. We have to keep in mind that the process of making disciples can many times be a very slow process. We are confident in the fact that God is actively drawing people to Himself and changing them.

Prayer Requests:

Pray for us as we are involved in the care of the lives of the students.

Pray that God would give us wisdom as we help lead the church plant's ministries.

Pray that God would open the hearts and eyes of the people that we are discipling and sharing the gospel with.

Pray for unity in our church. Right now we are suffering a severe attack and their is disunity among the leadership about the vision of the church.

Pray for us as we are expecting #4. We will need to raise more funds.

Pray that God would protect and strengthen our marriage and family. Living in a foreign country away from close friends and family can be difficult at times.

Praises:

God is working in the lives of many people here!

For the new life God has blessed our family with.

For the teams that came this past year to help us advance the gospel

We have been blessed to be surrounded by a loving and caring community of believers.