September 2012

Back in the Saddle

There is always a period of adjustment when you leave something and you come back to try to plug back in where you left off.  It's a blessing when the ministries that you had the blessing of serving in have not only survived but have moved forward.  We are constantly reminded that Jesus is the builder of the church and we are given the opportunity to be involved in that process.  We are thankful that it's up to Him!  Getting back in to the swing of things has been challenging and fun.  

 

Renewing friendships and meeting new people has been so encouraging.  It's been exciting to see how people have warmly received us into their fellowship again.  This feels like the home that we remembered.  We are excited about what God is doing here and we look forward to seeing what He will do.  We have finally gotten our discipleship groups back together and we are looking forward to helping these young people learn what it means to walk with Jesus.

  

Two young believers who I have the pleasure of discipling have shown a great desire in ministering to other young people.  While they have had their stuggles, it's been a joy to see them not just hungry to learn, but they have a hunger to share what Jesus has done for them.  They want to know how to tell others about Jesus and see people become children of God.  With the help of another member of our church, they have developed a ministry to young people using their passion of soccer to attract the young people of a very poor neighborhood called Once de Noviember (November 11th).  Their ministry is exploding with kids!!  Seeing their hunger has encouraged me so much because often times you see people make a profession of faith and there is very little evidence of any kind of desire to know and serve.  But I am so thankful for what God is doing in their lives and we pray that God might use them in a mighty way now and in the future.  

 

One other quick note about our ministry.  The church plant (Ciudadela) that we are working with has been sort of a roller coaster over the past year and half.  We have seen some growth but it's been up and down.  Our ministry to the kids has been consistent and has seen some good fruit over the past year, but the ministry to the adults is another story. This past week we have finally determined in our hearts that we need to do more.  This past week we had 2 teams that went from house to house to explain why we are in their neighborhood starting a church and if there was an opportunity, we would share the gospel.  And praise God there was an opportunity to share the gospel with several people in our area.  

 

One of the parents of the kids (see picture below of his son) that we work with on a regular basis got to hear a clear presentation of the gospel, and on Wednesday, September 19th, he became a son of God.  What made this so exciting was that he instantly had the desire to know more and to grow spiritually!  We are excited to go back and start the process of showing him how to study the Bible and learn about who God is and what he has done.  God is so good!  Please pray as we continue to work and share in this area about how much Jesus loves them.  This is an exciting time in our ministry and we are so thankful for all of you who make this possible.  Through your faithful giving and prayers we are able to see the lives of people changed.

 

His Dad now knows Jesus!!!

  

Amor y Amistad (Love and Friendship) - Is basically our equivalent of Valentines Day in the Latin world.  I like the fact that emphasis isn't just on romantic love, but the love between friends as well.  We live in a culture that is obsessed with romantic love and the outworkings of that love and we lose sight sometimes of how amazing the love and support of a friend can be in our life and ministry.  

Over the years, God has blessed both Amanda and I with people in our lives who we have been able to share the hard things of life with.  It's hard to imagine living life without those people God has sovereignly put into our lives to love and strengthen us when we need it most.  It's easy to love those people who walk with you and share your burdens.  All of us can probably think of one person like that in our lives. The hallmark of the Christian life is love.  It's our love for each other that Jesus said would be recognizable to those people on the outside.  But let's be honest, this can be a tough one. Whether we have close friends, acquaintances, or people that we don't even know, we have been called to love everyone.    

I know that I'm not always very love-able and we all know some people who are just down right hard to love.  Some people in our lives and ministries just really know how to push our buttons and rub us the wrong way.  Right now I can think of at least one person who has been a struggle to love. There are some people who are just "life-takers".  It's like when we see them or even think of them, we can hear this giant sucking sound as they suck the joy right out of us and dare I say the love as well.  It's a shame how often this scene takes place in our churches.    

God continually brings back 1 Corinthians 13 to us.  The first 3 verses gives a description of great and mighty things that can be done by an individual, but as Paul writes, without love, these things are just an obnoxious noise.  We are still learning what it means to love others with the love of Christ, and our hope is that while we are here they will see that love of Christ within our lives and in our ministries.  We recently had a fellow missionary leave the field to return home and begin a new phase of his life.  Sam was one of those people whose love for people and for God was unmistakeable.  I'm not sure how much of his ministry will continue on after leaving, only God knows that, but what I am sure of is the way in which he loved others with the love of Christ will last and be remembered.  I pray that others will see that love of Christ permeating our lives and our ministries.  We pray that our work here would not be the sound of a clanging symbol but as 2 Corinthians 2:15 says, "For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing."  I pray that we would smell like Christ!! :) 

Below are some picture of our Amor and Amistad Celebration!

After seeing this pic of myself, I'm thankful for the love of my wife

 

Some of the young ladies of our group

 

Angel helping get the food ready

Worshiping together

Prayer Requests 

1.  Please pray for our church plant in Ciudadela as we share the gospel and make disciples.  We want to meet people who are ready to hear.  

2.  Please pray for us as we continue to work with the youth.  There are several in our group who are having some real struggles and we need wisdom as we walk with them through these hard times.

3.  Please lift up Amanda and the kids as they do home school.  

4.  Pray that as a team we would demonstrate unity and harmony.

 

5.  Please pray for Amanda and her family as they mourn the loss of their beloved Grandfather and father, Stanley Calvert.  He has been a huge blessing to our family and we will miss him dearly.   

Praises:

 

1.  We are here!!!

2.  We have been blessed with working with another couple in our church.  This is an answer to prayer.

3.  Thankful for new life in Christ and those who have placed their trust in Him

4.  We are thankful for all of those people and churches that makes it possible for us to be here serving!! Thank you all!!!

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.    

June Update

 Over the past several years we have learned a couple of things about God...  His timing is perfect, and sometimes that timing doesn't always match up with our plans.  But we can rejoice in the fact that our present and our future is secure and sovereignly guided by our loving Savior. 

We weren't able to fly back to Colombia as we had hoped, but we have chosen July 18th as our next date that we are praying for in faith.  We have been blessed by several families that have enabled us to get even closer to our goal.  We now need only about $500 in monthly support.  Praise God!  We are thankful for the many ways that God has blessed our family through others.  We are thankful for each of you that has so generously blessed us through your prayers and your financial support.  We would greatly appreciate any help that would connect us to others that might be interested in supporting God's work in another country.  If you would like to join our family as we minister in Colombia, please send us an email, or call us at 910-670-8348.    

Right before we left to return home, Amanda and I were blessed to be a part of children's outreach in a community where our church, the Esperanza, is trying to start a church.  The area consists mainly of men that work in the military and the police so this can be a very difficult area to minister.  Before leaving, with the help of our Colombian brothers and sisters, we offered a children's club where we helped them understand the true meaning of why Jesus came as a baby and died for our sins.  The response was tremendous and I have since been back with a team of teenagers to minister to the same area and the response was even better.  

People are hungry to hear about the freedom that we only can have through Jesus.  The people in the community keep asking when we are coming back.  The students in the Esperanza church and school are also asking, "When are the Howards coming back?"  We are so thankful that God gave us the opportunity to be a part of their lives and we are eager and ready to go back and be with them again and help them understand who God has created them to be.  We are desperate that they understand that a loving God desires to free them from the bondage of sin and they can have a personal relationship with the God of the universe. 

Please continue to join us in prayer as we are eager to return back to Santa Marta to continue our work with the Esperanza church developing youth ministries and planting a church in an area that desperately needs one.  We know in our hearts that this is where God would have us to use our passions and gifts to His glory.    

In Him,

April Update

Calvary Team  This past week I had the privilege of being with 14 really great kids from Calvary Church in Charlotte as they came to Santa Marta to experience a different culture and to see what God is doing in another part of the world.  There is something incredible about seeing kids who don't speak the same language communicate in ways that they never even knew were possible.  It was so cute when one boy from the group proudly proclaimed, "I made a new friend!!!".  One thing that was confirmed for me during this trip, Colombians love Americans. They love the language and the culture, so any chance they can get to rub shoulders with americans, they usually take it. God used this group of students to help encourage the Colombians, the missionaries, and our ministries.  I believe with all of my heart that what most people need is just an opportunity to see.  It's not until we can actually see the needs, both spiritual and physical, that we will be moved in our hearts to actually do something about it.  Please pray that God would use this trip in every aspect to His glory. Through my time in Colombia this week, God reaffirmed for me my love of Colombia.  It seemed like everyone that I talked to was anxious for us to come back, and we are too!  I'm thankful for the love that was expressed to me this week by our friends.

We will be back on the road again hoping to meet with folks and share about the ministry that God has blessed us with in Santa Marta.  We are up against the clock somewhat since Amanda and the children's visas will expire in June if we don't meet our required support level.  Please pray that God, in His timing, would provide all that we need to return.  We have a significant amount of support to raise over the next several weeks.  We are praying for families that will join us both in prayer and financially as we seek to continue ministering in Santa Marta.  We are praying that God would provide 15 families at $50/month, 10 families at $30/month, and 4 families at $75/month.  We need your fervent prayers and your help pointing us to others who have resources to steward toward God's work in the world.  We know that God is faithful to accomplish all that He desires.  We are thankful that we have partnered with many people over the last few years, and we are excited that God will bring new people into our lives to work together to see the gospel proclaimed.  If you would like to know more about our ministry and how you could partner with us either through prayer or financially, please send us an email at jahoward@samlink.org.   We are thankful for each and everyone one of you that has been praying for us and supporting us during this journey.

Our Ministry:  God has given us a passion for standing with young people and their families as they learn, grow, and even wrestle with their faith.  He has blessed us with many opportunities in Santa Marta to fulfill those passions as we work in a church, a school, and growing church plant reaching out to those that don't know Him, and equipping those that do.

New Opportunities

Well, we have been back in the US for almost 2 and half months now and our desire to go back to Colombia is only getting stronger.  The more we are here, the more we realize that this is not our home anymore.  The other night, Parker prayed that we could return home.  When I asked him what he meant, he said our home is in Colombia.  This made Amanda and I very happy to hear this.  Hearing things like this reminds us of how flexible kids can be even though their life is significantly less comfortable here than there, they recognize where home is.

During our time here we have had the opportunity to share about our ministry, preach, teach, hang out with some amazing youth from Providence Bible Church, and make new friends.  I am preaching more during the month of March at my parents' church in Fayetteville, and then we are returning to where I was youth pastor to preach at Fellowship Bible Church in Columbia on March 11th.  It's a privilege to share what God has allowed us to do in Colombia and share with other believers.  At the end of the month, I will be helping lead a group of 15 young adults from Calvary Church in Charlotte to Santa Marta where they will have a chance to see and be apart of what God is doing.  I'm excited for this opportunity to help others go and see.  This is exactly how God grabbed our hearts and we pray that God will do the same in the hearts of these young believers.

Group of future short-term missionaries

We are still praying that God will lead us to people who will prayerfully consider partnering with us in ministry.  We still have to raise over $1,000 monthly to be able to return to Colombia.  We aren't sure how this is going to happen, but God does.  Please join us in praying that God woud provide a way so we can get back to making disciples and sharing the gospel.  We are also praying that God will provide several people who would be committed to praying for our family on a regular basis.  We are anxious to return to where we know God has called us.  If God has laid it on your heart to either support us in prayer or financially, please send us an email at Jahoward@southamericamission.org.  Thanks to all of you who have loved and supported us both in Colombia and here in the States.

Spending some special time with Poppy, Amanda's grandfather

We are thankful for our happy little man

Going to ride horses with our new friends the Browns

Taking a Deeper Look

As our year comes to a close here in Santa Marta, we have many things to be thankful for and excited about.  One of our ministries here in helping plant a church in a local neighborhood. The area is made up of middle-class families, many of which are in the local police. One of the ladies at our church named Jasmine felt the urging of the Lord to begin a small group in her home. She has such a heart for her neighbors and wants them to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.  We have been working with our pastor, our teammate Sam, and another couple in the church to reach this area.

Over the past year, we have been working through a discipleship program with those who attend (mainly women).  We have had a recent desire to begin more purposeful outreaches in the community.  It has been somewhat of a challenge to minister in this area mainly because of the lack of interest on the part of the men.  Since many of them work long hours during the week, they want to be a home on Sundays.  At the end of September, we had a movie night that was attended by more than 40 people, plus kids. We were greatly encouraged by this and are excited to see how this will increase the attendance in our group. Two days before the event, our team walked around and handed out invitations to the people in the neighborhood. Kendall, Parker, and Logan all participated too. It is such a blessing to see your kids be a part of ministry at such a young age. The two older ones love talking in Spanish and in many ways are a bridge for us to share the gospel with people. Many people cannot understand why we would leave the United States, with three little ones, to live in Colombia. Well, the answer is easy--we want to be a part of what God is doing here.

After we watched the movie "Letters to God," we had small group discussions about how God has a purpose for each one of us and wants to have a personal relationship with us. The conversations were very positive.  There was a new energy in the house as everyone was talking. In addition to the adults, we had a kids movie, popcorn, and coloring activities for the little ones.

Over the next two months we plan on having another outreach primarily for children. Please join us in prayer as we try to come up with interesting and relevant ways to introduce people to Jesus, the Savior of the world.

We continue to work with the youth at the church. Jon and I have both started small group Bible studies in our home with several of the youth. Jon has two groups (one on Thursday and one on Saturday) and I have one on Thursday too.  The girls and I are studying a book that talks about the lies that Satan and the world uses to distract teen girls from their faith.  The boys are studying basic principles of faith.

Prayer Requests:
1) Our main prayer request right now is that our support level has dropped over the past 6 months or so.  We are seeking the Lord's wisdom as we decide whether or not to travel back home for a few months to raise more funds. With the poor economy and an increase in our insurance costs, we have had less support coming in.  We are, however, so thankful for those who continue to give to us sacrificially every month.
2) Pray for our children's outreach in the next few weeks as we plan and prepare of this. Pray that many kids will come to hear about Christ and that it will be a way to reach their parents too.
3) Jon is preaching next Sunday as part of Missions Month. He plans to talk about how we should be excited to join with God in His work and that we need to take an active role in furthering His Kingdom. Pray for clarity of thought and flow as he his putting his ideas together. Pray that those in the church would be excited about missions and that they would be open to God's leading in this area of their lives.
4)Pray for the Bible studies of the youth. Pray that they would prepare in advance and that they would allow God to work in their hearts in areas they might need to change.

Forging Ahead

About 3 weeks ago I had the opportunity to preach again in our church which is always an adventure. Teaching and preaching are things that I really enjoy, but to be honest, the preparation is something that is just really difficult for me. It always has been. It seems that when I sit down to study my mind usually ends up in a million different places about how I could teach this, or I am thinking of examples that might make a point more clear. It's a very organic process for me. So when the time comes to preach or teach in spanish, my whole process has to change. For me, everything must be written out in painstaking detail. There is no "winging" it yet for me in Spanish, because if i do "wing it" I am likely to say that Jesus puede salvarte de sus pescado "Jesus can save you from your fish" rather than Jesus peude salvarte de sus pecados. A scandal would arise and everyone would leave the church. No not really, but it scares me to think of what might come out of my mouth sometimes if left to my own devices. So I must "script" everything that i'm going to say... I hate this. This just isn't how I'm built. It goes against everything inside of me to do it this way. I long for the day when I can say whatever comes to my mind in Spanish and it be understood by everyone what I'm saying. I probably long for that in English as well.

In some ways this is such a good discipline to have. We are to be thoughtful about what comes out of our mouths, especially in regards to the scriptures. In the book of James, we are reminded that teachers are held to a different level of accountability. God takes seriously His word, and so should I.

We had a great ministry opportunity this past Saturday. We were invited by our college ministry to take part in a food and clothes "distribution" to the homeless that are on the streets in our city. They aren't hard to find, and many times they are right outside our doors, literally. I have to be honest here, this is difficult thing for me at times. Not the giving to them, that's the easy part. But when you are living in a foreign country with small children, there are times when we really struggle with what to do. I know that might sound terrible, but the safety of our children is extremely important, and there are times when even the Colombians are fearful that offering food or clothing from your house greatly increases the danger that they will seek more things from your house and thus endanger your children. There has to be a balance between using wisdom and protecting your family, and caring for those people that desperately need help and loving them as Christ would love them. I hate that this is even a consideration, but with sin in the world, it is.

So we were thankful to leave our house behind and just walk the streets with bags of clothes and food to help those that needed it. I was with a group of teenagers and some college aged kids. And i had the pleasure of taking Kendall with me as well. We want her to see how much people desperately need our physical help, as well as see people's need for Jesus. Along the way we encountered young and old that were in need of just something to eat. We met a young teenage couple where the young girl was pregnant and they were begging for money and something to eat. Can you just imagine being pregnant and homeless? Can you imagine how that little baby will develop if the mom can't eat? We had a sandwich for which they were very thankful, but we all know that this is just one meal. Where will the meals come from tomorrow and the next day come? We met some who were thankful and others who just took the food and a shirt or pants and just left. We had opportunities to share the gospel, but I pray that we will have even more opportunities in the future.

We finished our night in a place that was called "El Borro". I had never been there but I knew that this place was "special" in the sense that even the Colombians had a great fear of going to this place. My teammate Sam said going to this part of town is akin to us making the journey to a foreign country. The Colombians have heard stories about this place and in many ways they had a fear of what this place was all about. Well little Kendall and I had a first hand opportunity to find out why. We walked down a dirty road and then we were met with a street that was just filled with homeless. I have to places with homeless before, but this for some reason had a different feel. One thing that was very quickly noticeable was that the majority of people here were either physically disables or mentally disables in some way. It was an entire street of people suffering. Now i realize that many of you might have seen this before and probably on even a much greater scale, but for me, this was an eye opening experience. And one for which I am extremely greatly to have had. I'm thankful for Kendall who had no fear of these people, but stood among them. And sat with us we talked to them of God's love. I need these experiences just as much as she does. And while some people might think we are a little loco for taking her to places like this, we pray that God will use these times in all our hearts to help us understand how desperately He loves all of us. We are praying about how we can continue a ministry to these people to teach them on a regular basis who God is and how much he values them.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Together Again

To Those that we Love:

This blog will contain a little more personal information than normal.

For the past year or so we have realized that Kendall was really having some struggles in her ability to learn certain things in both the school and the house. At one point, every day she was excited to go to school and learn and be with her friends, but then, she began to complain of stomach pains and she seemed to be carrying a lot of stress about learning. We were concerned that she might have dislexia or some other learning disability because she just wasn't understanding some basic things that we really thought she should be getting. If you haven't met Kendall, she is extremely verbal and loves talking to people. She is very intelligent and that's one of the reason we were becoming so frustrated with her. We just thought she was either being disobedient or she just had very little motivation to learn like some of her friends. So we decided that it would be best to go back to the States to have her tested to see if she indeed had something going on that was impeding the learning process. So we took Kendall to both a pediatrician and specialist for learning disabilities. The learning disability specialist gave Kendall several tests and concluded that Kendall has a moderate form of ADHD.

I can already guess what some of you are thinking, because i think the same things when i hear this term. This term is loaded. So many people have so many different ideas and thoughts about this that we really felt like we had been hit by a ton of bricks. I won't get into all that she told us about ADHD but her main advice was to teach Kendall in one language..English. She also advised us to put her on medicine, which at this point, we are nowhere even close to wanting to go this route. We can't in good conscience do this without totally exhausting every other idea to help her learn. We know this works for some parents, but for us, we are going to work hard to help Kendall learn all that she needs to learn in the house.

Amanda started home schooling this week and it has gone really well. Kendall really can do well when we eliminate distractions and help her to focus. We all could would probably do better if we did this. (Her class in the school has 30 some kids, so there are always a few distractions going on) This week has given us renewed hope that she can catch up to the level of her peers. Kendall has been in a positive mood and really done a great job. We are thankful that God has provided the resources and the people around us to help support us in this endeavor.

We continue to be encouraged about our involvement in the Esperanza church. I (Jon) continue to work with the youth group and have been thankful that it feels like i'm getting more connected to the guys that attend our group. This past Saturday, Amanda commented that the majority of our group was comprised of young men. For those of you who know the church and Latin America, you know that this is not normally the case. Many of the Latin American churches are anchored by woman and it's extremely difficult to connect with the men of the community. So this is really a great opportunity for us to really pour into the young men that have decided to come and be a part of our group. This doesn't mean we don't value our young ladies, but we just know that normally the church is seen by young men as being irrelevant. Please pray as we really seek to find good discipleship material that will encourage and strengthen these young me to love and follow God. When the church has strong men, it makes a huge difference.

We continue to be involved in the school and and a local church plant. These are areas where God is continuing to teach us weekly how we can be used by Him. Developing relationships and trust takes some time, but poco a poco (little by little) God is allowing us to see growth in this area. We are thankful for the patience of our God that uses our weaknesses to bring Himself glory. The pressures and the trials that come from working cross-culturally continually expose those weaknesses, but Gloria a Dios, that's part of the process as we are being sanctified and conformed to the image of Christ.

One more thing that we'd like prayer for. God has increasingly put on my heart a desire to start an ESL (English as a Second Language) ministry here in our church. Language is such a gift that can be passed along to others, but it's also something that can used for the sake of the Gospel. And this is our desire, to find ways to use our resource (English) as a conduit to take the gospel to the people of our community. So we are really just beginning to think through this process, but we know that our church (La Esperanza) is supportive of this idea and I'm excited to think of the possibilities of this ministry. We are already seeing how God has his hands on this because our teammate Sam was approached by the University about offering some type of ESL program there. Praise God! It would be amazing if we could have an influence for Christ at the University where we can speak freely about who Jesus is and what He's done using something that we are good at... Speaking English!!!

One quick word about our support. We are so thankful for all of you who have faithfully supported over the last few years. You have been and continue to be such a blessing to us. We have recently seen a significant downward trend in our support. We know that God will continue to be faithful in this area, no matter what happens, but please join us in prayer as we would really love to stay here and see to completion some of things that God is doing. Pray that God would provide financially and spiritually.

Prayer Requests:
1. God would be honored in our ministry here
2. Pray for Kendall as she adjusts to learning with Amanda
3. Pray for the hearts of those Colombians that need to hear the message of the cross

4. Pray for direction as we think through new ministry possibilities with ESL
5. Financial support




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New Life

Well, our little Colombian is finally here.   Tuesday, May 3rd at about 11:45, we welcomed Logan Riley Howard into the world.  This was really a great experience having our 3rd child in Colombia.  Our dear friend Michelle Schirra traveled all the way from Columbia, S.C. to help us welcome him into the world.  Michelle is a nurse at Lexington Hospital, and she helped with both Kendall and Parker, so we were so excited to have her and the peace of mind that she would be with us and Logan.  Our surgery was planned for 2 p.m on Tuesday the 3rd, but the doctor called us very early on Tuesday morning to ask us if we could change to 10 a.m.  I know it's only 4 hours difference, but when you are talking about major surgery, it seemed like a lot to ask.  But Amanda handled the change with grace and calm.

 We had no idea what to expect when we got to the hospital, but when we arrived, we payed our bill (cost of everything was $700 for everything,  surgery and hospital stay, so buy your tickets now ladies and have your babies here), they then asked for us to give them diapers and towels for Logan.  So basically, you have to provide most everything for the baby.  So before we knew it, they had Amanda in a wheel chair and got her prepped for surgery.  I was pretty nervous during this process because I had no idea what was going on, they were just doing things and not telling us a whole lot.  But thankfully someone came and got me and told me to wait for the surgery.  They then brought me into a changing room where I put on scrubs.  One of the nurses asked me if I had a fear of blood... Great question..haha.  This was such a surreal experience for me.  They then told me I could go on back, so I proceed to the operating room only to walk into a room with 3 other women laying on gurneys looking like maybe they had just gotten out of surgery as well...so weird.  But I finally stumbled my way into the operating room where I saw Amanda.

The first thing I noticed was the sheet between Amanda and her stomach was quite low.  I immediately knew that this was going to be challenge for me no to see the surgery.  There are some things in life you don't need to see...this is one of them.  So I got a little stool and I tried my best to bend down really low so I wouldn't be able to see what was happening.  Must have been an interesting site for the medical staff to see the gringo bent like this.  Well, just as soon as I sit down, they start the process.  Well, I've only done 2 c-sections before this so I'm no pro, but I notice that Amanda is really starting to move pretty violently.  I'm like, what in the world, so I look up and the doctors and are both really pushing hard on the baby trying to get him down so he'll come out.  Amanda and I are just looking at each other wondering what is going on, but thankfully, all that pushing brought us our little man a few minutes later.

They immediately took him to the Pediatrician who checked his vital signs and took some blood and put him under the hot lamps to start to warm the little guy up.  I got to take him for a couple of minutes to Amanda where she got her first look.  They then took Amanda to recovery and Logan to the nursery.  Michelle and I had to wait for almost 4 hours to see Amanda and the baby again.  This seemed like a long time, but we tried to pass the time which went really slowly.  We occupied the only private room in the entire clinic and we were thankful for these accommodations which we thought were really nice.  They finally brought us both Amanda and Logan and they were both doing great.  One interesting thing, they don't have the facilities to wash the baby, so Michelle and I had the privilege to take Logan to our sink and wash his hair.  Things are just different here in the way in which they care for babies, not necessarily worse, just different.  All this to say, we are thankful that God protected all of us during this whole entire process.  Amanda is doing amazingly well.  I was shocked when I went to pick her up in the morning, she was sitting in a chair and moving around just great.  I truly believe we had a great doctor--  so thankful for that.  Both of them are during so good, and it's been fun to share this experience with our church.  We are thankful and proud that our son will be both American and Colombian.  That may not make a lot sense to most of you, but it something that we are thankful for.  We are so thankful for all of you who have prayed for us because God was so good to us during this whole process.  Also a big thanks to Chad and the kids for letting their mommy come to help us during this time.  We greatly appreciate you.

Oh one last thing.  The wonderful people from our church had a surprise baby shower for Amanda.  While we were out picking up Michelle, they set up everything in our house and so many people for the church came to show their love.  Amanda was surprised and we both felt very loved.  Thanks to all those who participated and helped with that.

Our Suite.  Only 1 in the whole clinic

Next Day picture as we are leaving

Back to real life

This is the first time the kids got to see Logan

Parker is taking a good look and trying to figure out what he thinks about little bro

When we asked Parker what he wanted to name the baby, he said, "Johnson Coca-Cola"  This sign made me laugh

Our friend who will be having a baby soon

The boys at the shower

Pastor helping to serve