The Joys of the Past Year

Greetings in the name of the Lord during this Christmas season.  We arrived in Colombia a year ago and have had a wonderful adventure getting to know the culture in Santa Marta, improve our Spanish, and begin our ministries here. We had anticipated this year in Colombia for a very long time, and we are very thankful for God's grace during this time.  God has demonstrated so much love to us through so many people in our lives.  From the people who are giving sacrificially and praying for us constantly, to the 4 amazing churches that have been instrumental in bringing us here and keeping us here.  We have been blessed through the support of your family, and we are thankful for each and everyone of you.

Our kids have settled in well and have really picked up Spanish. Everyone always comments on Kendall's wonderful accent. If only we had also started learning Spanish at the age of 4.  Kendall completed one full year in the christian Colombian school and will be returning in February.  We are also working on a homeschool curriculum in the afternoons.  Parker will join her next year at school, though I think he has enjoyed the one-on-one time with mommy while Kendall was gone during the day.

Here is a list our best experiences so far in Colombia:
1) We have been warmly welcomed by the members of the Esperanza Church.
2) Our youth program in underway and we are leading the students through an excellent discipleship program.
3) We have had the opportunity to help with two new church plants in the city.
4) Both of us were able to assist with small discipleship groups at the school during the week.
5) Evangelism Explosion was a great way to jump start our time here. A group of over 30 fifth graders spent  three months learning about the message of the gospel and how to share their new faith with others.
6) Kendall was able to perform in several preschool productions throughout the year and of course, loved it.
7) Jon helped with a two different youth camps, one with our church and another with a group of young people in the Guijira (basically the desert).
8) Jon was able to travel to Medellin to help with an evangelist campaign in that city.  Next year we will be able to help with a campaign right here in Santa Marta.
9) Baby #3
10) Jon was able to preach his first sermon in Spanish a couple of weeks ago.

In looking forward to the next year, we pray that the Lord will bless and strengthen our ministries and bring more people to a better understanding of Him.  We have been truely humbled by the privilege of working in Colombia.  Even though there have been times when we have wondered, "Are we really fit to be missionaries?", God has given us encouragement through His word, a teammate, or a kind word from one of the nationals.

Our main focus for the next year is to continue our work with the two church plants, develop the youth ministry, and serve the body in any way that we can.

Thank you so much for your prayers this past year. Please continue to join us in pray for the following:
1) The healthy pregnancy and arrival of Baby Howard in May.
2) We have had to change our Insurance and thus, our premiums have increased almost $300/month.  Needless to say, we are praying that God would provide this added support that will allow us to continue His work here.
3) Pray that our lives would be a testimony of God's work in and through us.
4) Pray that our church plants would grow as we think of more ways to reach out to the people of these communities. One area is a poorer neighborhood, while the other has more professionals.  Both places greatly need the influence of the gospel, but each has its own obstacles. Pray that the other leaders and us would know how to most effectively work in these areas.
5) Pray that  we would be an encouragement and help to the national leaders who we are working alongside.
6) Pray for the quick arrival of another family who is currently raising support in the States.

Kendall with a good school friend 

Tatiana putting in a hair braid.  Kenall is a little Colombiana. 

 Amanda with some of the kids she worked with doing Evangelism Explosion

 Celebrating our 1st Thanksgiving (El día de acción de gracias) with our friends 

 Getting ready for some woship time in one of our Church Plants

Doing an icebreaker.  Colombians love to have fun and laugh... So do we 

 Receiving Love

Giving Love 

Getting Ready for the Beach 

Today is the day of Salvation

There are certain things that you just know are going to be so good even before you do them.  So, I went into my latest adventure fully expecting God to do great things... and once again, I wasn't disappointed in the power of God's transforming love in the lives of Colombians.

I had the opportunity to travel to Medellin, Colombia at the beginning of August to partake in a church planting/evangelism/discipleship team from the US. The object of this type of trip is quite simple, to help an established church begin a new work in an area of the city that desperately needs followers of Christ.  First off, this city is unlike any that I have ever been to in Colombia.  It sits in a valley with beautiful views in every direction.  And from what I saw, it's one of the most advanced cities in Colombia.  At times I thought that I was in another country.  You have to love a city that has several Dunkin Doughnuts.

The hope during these trips is to equip Colombians to share their faith and to learn how to disciple a fellow believer.  We taught them how to use an evangelistic tool called the evangecube (http://www.e3resources.org/) and taught them how to use a series of discipleship materials that will help the new believer come to a much deeper understanding of who God is and what His purpose is for us.  We really tried to communicate the importance of discipleship, because many people here will do just about anything to help secure their salvation.  Medellin is an extremely Catholic city, and from what I saw, many of them would pray or do just about anything if they thought it would help them have access to God.  We had the opportunity to tell them that it was only through Jesus that we have access to God.  Discipleship is really the process where God's word can really start to strip away the lies and deception that we can earn our salvation by just trying to do our best.

I wanted to share one of the experiences that I had while I was there.  This picture shows just part of the family that lived in the house that we visited.  When we first arrived, we were met by one of the moms of the house.  When we told her why we were there, she left us and got all the rest of the members of her family that were living there.  So in about a minute, I had 4 generations of Colombians sitting in front of me as I shared my testimony of God's love for us.

You know when you're doing something or saying something, and you can tell that the person that you're sharing with is just being polite, but they really couldn't care less about what you were saying; well this was the total opposite of that.  Every single one of the 9 family members was intently listening as I shared about our problem (sin) and God's amazing solution to that problem (Jesus).  It was one of the those experiences that I will hold in my heart for a very long time because I could clearly see the penetration of God's word as one of the young mom's began to cry.  At the end, I asked if they would like to express their faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the entire household prayed with us to confess Jesus as Lord!!  The power of God's truth to change lives is truly amazing, and I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to witness God's power working in so many lives.

Since this time, I have had the opportunity to take what I learned in Medellin and share it with the many people here in Santa Marta.  I know that my Spanish isn't perfect yet, but I'm really trusting that God is going to communicate the truth of His word to the hearts of those who hear His word, even if all my words aren't perfect.  I'm so thankful for that. 

This was my first team that I worked with.  The lady on the left helped me with my Spanish which was a huge blessing.  I was so impressed with the young lady on the right though.  She was only 17 and had only been a Christian for a month.  She watched me share the gospel many times the first day, and on the second day, she was leading our team.  She had no fear at all.  So great!!  But the thing that brought such joy to me was that on her way home that night, her mom and her took out a cube, and led two guys on the bus to Jesus.  That's a disciple of Jesus.  She took what she knew about Jesus, and she shared it with others.  What a great testimony to all of us.  What a blessing to work alongside of Colombians to reach other Colombians!!     

 This was the other team that I had the privilege to work with.  All three were under the age of 22.  They had such great energy and they were so willing to learn and to use what they had learned to spread the gospel.  

Some young girls checking out an evengecard

A group of young ladies at our end of the week celebration

We just want to thank all the families and the churches that are taking part in what God is doing here.  We are so thankful for each and everyone of you.  We pray that God will continue to use us here to see many more Colombians become disciples of Jesus.

Praises and Prayer Requests:

1. Amanda continues to meet with a group of 10th graders at the school for a discipleship time. Pray that the girls would become more excited and interested in allowing God to work in their lives.  Even though they are young, God can use them in mighty ways.

2. We recently started small group bible studies with our youth at church.  We will be taking them through a program that, prayfully, will streghten their faith and help encourage both new and more mature believers.

3. Jon continues to meet on Wednesdays in one of the neighboring barrios.  This area is in need of an evangelical church. Pray that Jon and our Pastor Julio would have an effective ministry shepherding and teaching a group of young believers.

Health Ministry

This update will mainly be a picture post of the health ministry of our church that we have the privilege to serve with.  Our church has initiated a ministry to help poorer areas of the city with basic health needs.  This past Saturday we entered a neighborhood called "La Paz" (The Peace), with the hopes of serving this community.  This was the first time I had taken part in one of these health ministries and now I would like to do one every weekend.  There is something so special about being able to see people helped physically and spiritually...there's is just something so powerful about that.  We are so thankful for all those Christians who God has called to serve our physical needs.

Our church has several members that are either doctors or nurses that graciously give of their time and their gifts to help others.  So this Saturday we offered essentially free medicine (cost of about 50 cents), haircuts, medical exams, family counseling, and anti-lice shampoo.  You'll see in some of the pictures the kids who had shampoo still in their hair...so cute.  Again, we hope you can see the beauty and love in their faces.  We are so thankful for all of you who are praying and supporting God's ministry in this great country.  Thank for allowing us to be here.

A makeshift washing station for the kids

Missionary Sam helping

Letting the shampoo work

The youth from our church came and helped with the kids.  I was very proud to see their love for these young ones.

Teaching them a song about Jesus

The pastor's wife helping give haircuts

Had so much fun talking with these girls.

How cute is this little one?

Adventure in the Desert

Over the 4th of July weekend, I joined a fellow missionary and the pastor of our church for a weekend retreat in the desert of Colombia.  Our pastor did a series of talks on conflict...more about that later.   The Guajira is about a 4 hour journey from our house in Santa Mara to the city of Rioacha.  I’m always amazed at how in just a four hour trip one can see such a transformation in the countryside.

Upon arrival at CENFO (local seminary for the Wayuu Indians to train for 1 week a month for 3 years), we were greeted by the local pastor and many of the young people who had arrived before us.  The facilities here are very crude, but they met all of our needs.  Just to get an idea, the bathroom consisted of a toilet, with no seat or tank, and of course it did not flush, and a cup hanging on the wall for when it was shower time.  These are the times that I wish that I had camped more in my life...well not really.  My short time in the boy scouts cured me of those desires.  These kinds of things are always a great reminder to me that we not only can you survive on less, but you can thrive.

The purpose of our time there was to lead the activities that helped support the theme for the weekend.. Conflict.  We all know that conflict in any culture is difficult, but from what we are starting to understand about this culture, conflict with Wayuu can be extremely serious.  For example, if I’m on your property and you are the cause of some form of harm to me, I will exact harm on you or your family.  They are still living out the principle of an "eye for an eye".  Therefore, looking at how to biblically resolve our issues is really something that needs to be talked about...not only in this culture, but our's as well.

We had a really fun time teaching them games and activities that required them to work together and get to know each other.  It didn't take long to hear all of them laughing and giggling as they tried to un-tangle themselves when we played "human-knot".  God was so good to us during this weekend as we continue to be amazed at all the new things that He is teaching us about His people and how He has intricately designed all of us, and provided us with amazing cultures through which this beauty is demonstrated.

There is just something so beautiful about these people.  When we first arrived, they were quite reserved around us...they giggled a lot as we caught them staring at us several times.  The other missionary Sam, is from Asian descent, so he was quite the oddity here.  The younger ones had tons of questions for him...it was so neat to see his interaction with them and the sharing of cultures between God's people.

The women wear these beautiful robes, or mantas, that are the more traditional clothes.

So these are our sleeping arrangements here.  Not really worth mentioning except for the fact that we are the only men in this covered area.  We are "roughing" it with the teenage girls who are sleeping 2 to a hammock, while the "real" men had hung their hammocks in the trees outside.  This provided us with endless amounts of giggles.  One other side note here...most everyone was up by 3:45 a.m... I don't think my body functions at this time, so I stayed in till 5:30 a.m.
I am such a gringo.

           Picture of Sam with a couple of the ladies

This is a picture of our kitchen

Can you tell where we are in this pic?

This is a picture of the school

Woman at the well

Trying not to get hurt

For some reason, we really enjoy goats...not eating them, just watching them...but we did eat them

 Praises:
1)Amanda has finished her time with Evangelism Explosion for the year. It was a wonderful blessing to be apart of this program and share the gospel with the kids. Many of the students have already begun to share what they learned with family and friends.
2) A team from the US came a few weeks ago to construct a new roof for one of our sister churches. Jon was able to travel every day to help the team.  During this time, we also hosted our bosses from the States for 3 weeks. It's always nice to receive encouragement from them and small gifts from our families at home.
3)We received our homeschooling materials for Kendall and she is doing well. She will continue to go to the Esperanza School in the morning, but focus on English in the afternoon. It's been a little complicated learning to read in English and Spanish at the same time, but she's hanging in there.
4) In the last month, we have both been able to share our testimonies with the youth group. They responded well and we were encouraged with our Spanish.

Prayer Requests:
1)Amanda will start a discipleship Bible study with a group of 10th grade girls at the school every Wednesday morning. Pray that this would be a time of growth for the students as they learn more about the Christian life. Pray that they would also develop a new friendship with Amanda.
2) Pray for the youth as we continue to meet with them every week. Pray for clear direction and wisdom about lessons and activities for the group.
3)Jon will be traveling to Medellin at the end of the month with a group from the US.  They will be doing evangelism and discipleship with Colombians in the city.  Pray for safe travel and growth of God's Kingdom during this trip. Pray also for the encouragement of local leaders and workers who will be involved.

Thank you for your continued prayers.

In Christ,
Jon, Amanda, Kendall, and Parker

Guajira 2010

Click here to view these pictures larger

Three Important Things

I was recently reading a book that said, "There are only three things in this world that have eternal significance: God, God's Word, and the souls of men." This statement has really hit home for me the last few weeks. There are days that I struggle with feeling lonely and battle missing my family and friends back home, but I keep coming back to the fact that God has called us to Colombia. I do not doubt His calling, but I do need to keep reminding myself of it.  It is easy for me to be distracted by the routines of the day (tutoring, cleaning, laundry, shopping, Kendall's homework) and just living in Santa Marta.  Our way of life is so different now, but God and His Word are not.  We came to Santa Marta for the purpose of His glory and to further His Kingdom. When I start to question, "Why are we doing this again?" I must stop myself and think--the souls of men, the souls of men.  There is nothing more precious and more valuable then the souls of God's creation.

I continue to help the Esperanza School with "Evangelism Explosion".  Each week the kids are learning more and more about how to share their faith and how to have confidence in their salvation. Two weeks ago I was able to sit down with my group of 5 girls, go over the gospel, and question each of them about whether or not they believed. They were able to communicate that salvation comes only from the belief in Christ and His work on the cross. In a culture that is so heavily influenced by Catholic principles, it is important for us to communicate that it is through Christ alone.

Jon and I continue to work with the youth and are still trying to formulate a team and goals for our group. The kids have been very welcoming as we continue to build relationships with them. Good relationships take time, especially in another country with a different language.  Jon and one of our new teammates, Sam, have started playing basketball in the park on Sunday afternoons as a way to meet non-believers in the city and strengthen relationships with the youth at our church.  Just last week Jon meet several kids who were interested in why we were here and what we were doing. Our skin color is an open invitation for us to start talking about our presence in Santa Marta (for some reason we just don't fit in--I have know idea why).  We plan to continue going to the park as a way to meet people and share Christ with them.

Praises:
1. We have another SAM teammate here now named Sam. He's actually from Canada and will be working with university students. He has been living with us for the last month or so and will continue to do so for a couple more weeks until he can get his apartment ready.  It's exciting to see our team grow more in Colombia.
2. We are feeling more comfortable here and have had lots of opportunities to entertain our neighbors and people from our church in our home.

Prayer Requests:
1. Pray for our ministry with the youth that we would gain more confidence and develop a vision for the youth of our church and their parents.
2. Pray that the children in EE would continue to grow in their knowledge and love of the Lord.

3. Pray that Jon and I would have wisdom as we seek to parent our kids in a different culture and in the midst of ministry.
4. Pray for boldness in our language as we meet to share the gosple with others and develop relationships.