July 2012 Update

  We had just finished packing and we were looking forward to getting back home to Colombia when Kendall started to complain of stomach pain and that she wanted to go to bed.  We didn't think much of it and we sent her to bed because we'd be getting up early to make our flights.  Well, the pain didn't subside and only got worse.  The pain was localized to her lower right abdomen and Amanda immediately thinks... Appendicitis. 

Now, I love my wife dearly, but sometimes I think she jumps too quickly to thinking of the worst possible scenario.  We watched Kendall carefully through the night and the pain and the vomiting only got worse.  I must make a confession.  I love my daughter greatly, but there was just this looming feeling that this is going to be really expensive and we are going to miss our flights back home which was heart-breaking to think about.  Amanda and I made the hard decision that if she had something serious, that I would take Parker and just he and I would go back to Santa Marta. Talk about feeling like a bad dad, but we had a commitment to a youth team that would be in our city on the 20th, so we did what we thought was best.  Well, Amanda was right.  Our little girl did have appendicitis and they took her in immediately for surgery.   

There are times when it feels like God's timing really stinks.  We are just about to get back home to do the things we love to do, and Kendall gets sick.  I'm not very smart sometimes because as we look back God demonstrated so much love to us by allowing this to happen before we got on a plane.  That truly would have been a nightmare that God, in His great love, allowed us to avoid.  Kendall has recuperated well with lots of love and ice cream, but she and Amanda and Logan are ready to get back home.  Thank you to everyone that prayed for us during this time.  Another shocker was the tickets that we thought we had, we didn't have them.  Avianca had no record of our tickets so Amanda and the kids missed their flights on the 30th of July.  Long story short, Amanda was able to get her tickets changed after and agonizing ordeal with Avianca who charged us $500 to change our tickets to the 9th, but they have tickets.  I will see them shortly!!!!           
  

Youth team from S.C.

The picture to the left is the reason that Parker and I went back home alone to Santa Marta.  We had the real pleasure of hosting for the first time a church (Fellowship Bible, Columbia, S.C.) that loves and supports us.  The team was comprised of 9 adults and 9 youth who came equipped to do bible clubs with our ministries here. 

 

I can't express how proud I was/am of this team.  They worked so hard at preparing their activities that when they got here it was just like they had been doing it for years.  They were prepared to do a drama, music, and teach several bible lessons.  I know lots of work went into preparing, and we are thankful for all they did. They visited 3 of the main areas that we work and each time they shared the gospel, there were many kids that received Jesus as their savior.  Praise God!!  Probably one of the coolest moments of the trip is when one of the young ladies of the group ministered to the school with 2 songs.  She did the first song in English and it was amazing... but then she did a song in Spanish.  I looked around at everyone in the building and their jaws had dropped.  It was so cool not just because it sounded beautiful, but it ministered to them because it showed them love that she would work hard to learn a song in Spanish.  Thank you Allison for that!!    

 

They helped encourage not only the national church, but the missionaries as well.  They did things without complaint even if that meant helping me clean our house to get ready for a birthday party. Whatever we asked, they did so with a joyful heart.  To me, they are a great example of what it means to lead by serving.  We are hopeful that God will bring them back sometime in the future.  

 

 E3 Partners is a mission agency that holds a very special place in my heart.  It was through my trips with them that God implanted a love of Colombia in our hearts.  So it was a big surprise when I found out that right after the youth team left, a team of Canadians was in our city to help spread the gospel with the hopes of planting new churches here.  

 

So Parker and I spent almost the entire week with them going door to door telling people about how much Jesus loves them.  The process is really cool in that it uses the testimonies of the North Americans to open the door to people's homes because they are interested in why an American is there, and then the Colombians share the gospel using a great tool called the Evangecube.  It's an incredibly effective method of sharing the gospel.  I have yet to meet a Colombian that was afraid to share their faith as we go from house to house.  What an encouragement!!  

It was so touching to see people's hearts broken and to see the tears of joy as they understood that they are now a child of the King!  There is not greater joy in this world (in my opinion) to see someone pass from death to life.  So thankful that I was given the opportunity to share the Great News with the people that I love.  

 

One last thing I want to mention here.  I never would have considered taking Parker with me to many of these things if Amanda would have been here.  But my little buddy went with me wherever I went and did what I did.  He got to hear my testimony many times and he got to hear the gospel many many times.  We were gone all day in the heat and walking, but he never complained.  I did have to perk him up sometimes with a little Coke and and a lollipop, but I'm thankful that God allowed him and I to have this time together.  At the beginning of the week he was incredibly shy, but by the end of the week, he was playing with every kid whose house we had the privilege to go to.  This is just another blessing of God's timing.  I don't doubt that God used this time in a tremendous way in his life.   

Thank You for all of you prayers and support.  It is because of you faithfulness that we are able to be apart of the gospel going out to those who have never heard and to equip those we pray will grow into faithful proclaimers of the gospel here in Colombia.  We are praying for you as well.  We are thankful for your partnership.