A recent snapshot of us

Cool Bugs

Here is a link to some pictures of cool bugs we've seen over the last year!
Cool Bug Pics
If you are into that sort of thing!
:-)

Another perspective to give us balance!

This video is shorter, but also gives another important perspective on cross cultural missions!

How does this interview impact your life?

This is a bit old (from 2011), and a bit long (abt an hour) but well worth the watch!

Nov 2013

Here in Rio Verde, we recently finished teaching through 1 Peter with the believers, and have now returned to the OT to go through the life of Moses in more detail. We have a dual purpose in doing this: first, for a few of the folks, we’d really like to highlight our helpless state in the face of the Law, and our need for God’s provision in the blood of the lamb, as pictured in the Passover.  Manuel and his wife Maria, as well as several others, are among those who have been listening to the teaching for quite awhile but have yet to make a clear testimony that they understand the basic message of salvation. We pray that it will become clear in their minds as we go over these truths. (Please pray that they will faithfully come to the services over the next few weeks!)The second reason for teaching thru Moses is that we’d like to prepare the believers for studying thru the book of Hebrews in the next year.

Again we thank you for your prayers! It’s difficult to adequately express the gratitude we feel toward our Awesome God for the way He has worked in several of the ‘dark’ situations we mentioned to you last month:
• Thank the Lord, although it took several months, Kathy is now feeling much better! She hiked with me to P. Community over the weekend and did fine.
• It was true that one of the believers was involved in a situation where he was drinking and being a poor testimony, but we have seen him admit his sin, repent, and return to walking with the Lord with a humble attitude.
• The other believer who owed the debt has been able to pay that off, and has returned to the body of believers to worship with us each Sunday, with a good attitude. He is also feeling better health-wise.

Another note of praise: This weekend in P. Community, we stopped by the house of the community president, Guillermo. While his wife Gloria fed us a meal of rice and fried fish, he pulled out his map of the community center, and showed us the lot he is saving for us to put a church, Lot #76. He also reminded us that the church will need a pastor (‘That would probably be you for now,’ he said…) and that the pastor will need a house as well, so he put my name on an adjacent lot. Wow! Guillermo is not even a believer (his wife is), but he made it clear that he does desire our presence in the community. So just like that--free of charge!--the Lord has provided us with an open door to this community. In the future we would like to transition to living in this community.

On a sad note, please pray for Oscar and Lorena (in picture on right), Guillermo and Gloria’s daughter and son-in-law.  Ten days ago they lost their first baby, as he died suddenly in the middle of the night. From what we understand, the cause must have been something like Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, as the baby wasn’t sick at all. Lorena just woke up at 3 a.m. to find the baby not breathing and already getting cold. While Oscar and Lorena, and the grandparents, have been outwardly stoic about the loss of their little son, we can sense their sadness. Lorena and Gloria are believers, while Oscar has been listening to the teaching. Pray for their hearts to be strengthened by the Lord’s grace in this loss.

We enjoyed a few days out in town last month with some special visitors from Germany. Two of the mission leaders from the international headquarters (both named Martin) came to share with us as a field. As with any multi-national mission, language was a bit of challenge, with German, English, and Spanish all thrown in there. I had the privilege to translate from English to Spanish for a couple of the Bible studies. We very much enjoyed the fellowship together with our mission coworkers (and time in the hot spring pools!)

In HIS grip,
Kevin & Kathy

<for a printable version click here>

September news

In a certain sense, there have been some dark clouds hanging over the small group of believers in this community. There has been much sickness going around, and several folks have not been attending the Sunday teaching regularly. There are rumors going around that one of the believers was drunk and dancing with his whole family a few weeks ago.  (We are still working through this one. I don’t believe it’s true—but folks do love to accuse the believers of such sins!) Another one of the believers has been going through a time of trial on several fronts—a large debt, sickness, and family discord. Instead of wholeheartedly turning to the Lord in his time of need, he’s been seeking out different ‘curers’. Last Sunday he attended the service here, and then later in the day went to his brother-in-law’s house for an ‘honra’ ceremony, remembering the fifth anniversary of his nephew’s suicide. (These ceremonies are known for being occasions of drinking and dancing, as the family tries to convince the spirit of the dead one that they are ‘happy’ and that he should go on to heaven and leave them alone. Food and clothing are left out as gifts to the spirit.) Milton’s shepherd’s heart has been saddened by all the community’s rumors and accusations, as well as seeing the poor testimony of this fellow believer. (On a positive note, these situations have brought Milton to our house for several good times of discussion and counsel. He shared with me that he has been reading in Matthew, and that despite all that is going on, the Lord continues to encourage him.)

On the home front, Kathy and I have also been suffering with much sickness and feeling a bit low. Back in July we both had a vicious stomach flu that really wiped us out. Since then, Kathy especially has been struggling to regain her strength. She underwent lab work and several doctor visits without finding much help—the Dr. felt like it was a type of chronic fatigue brought on by the virus. The last few weeks have found her slowly regaining strength…until we were both hit again by a nasty cold. Last Sunday I woke up at 4 a.m. with a terrible sinus headache. It was a real struggle just to make it through the service---we are so thankful for the Lord’s strength and grace in pulling us through that day! Despite my throbbing head, I was able to teach and we had a long and lively discussion afterwards, as several had questions they wanted to ask. Thanks so much for praying for us—we have felt His strength upholding us. At this point, we thank the Lord that we are both again on the mend.

2 Corinthians 12 reminds us that His power is perfected in our weakness—and that His grace is sufficient for us. We’d appreciate your prayers that the Lord will uphold Milton, the believers, and us as missionaries through these ‘cloudy’ days. We love to remember that the work is the Lord’s (not ours) and that yes, HE IS ABLE! Amen. :-)

In HIS grip,
Kevin & Kathy

<for a printable version click here>

View from my window