On Tuesday, June 14, we woke up early in the morning, got a van from Grace Bible Church to the Tampa airport, and checked our 8 suitcases, baby carseat, and stroller. Then we went through security with everyone and all of our carry on luggage. We looked like a traveling circus! Then we got on the plane to Ft. Lauderdale, and after a brief layover (we had about 10 minutes to get on our plane to Mexico), we were off to Toluca.
We landed in Toluca, and then we had to lug everyone onto a shuttle because the plane didn’t land at an actual gate. After what seemed like forever in the immigration line, we finally were reunited with all of our luggage we had checked (whew). In customs, they asked if all of the clothes we had brought was for us. Janell and I looked at each other and smiled, knowing how many clothes three kids go through in a week. We got the okay to leave, and were very happy to see our friends who were going to pick us up and drive us the hour it takes to get from Toluca to our house.
As we were loading all of our things in the van, Nathan was suddenly nauseous. After doing what he needed to do all over the sidewalk, we were off in the van. After about twenty minutes, we were stopped by a policeman asking us why we had so many bags and what we do in Mexico. While explaining what we do, I had to warn him that Nathan was sick and to be careful not to stand too close. He was satisfied with our answers and didn’t ask for any money or anything, so we continued on. Arriving in Mexico City, we were welcomed by the everyday occurrence of traffic, but we finally made it home.
We topped off the day by eating tacos from our favorite taco place. Nathan wasn’t sick anymore, and we were all happy. Shiloh even liked her first taste of real Mexican tacos.
Thanks for praying for our trip. Please keep praying for us. This Saturday is graduation at the Seminary. We will be celebrating the graduation of 3 diploma students and one bachelor’s degree student. We’ll post pictures next week.
We’ve been in the USA since June 2010. Our mission organization, Youth Ministry International, likes for us to return to our home culture in order to reconnect with our families and friends. It’s amazing what some time back in your home culture will do to help you in your effectiveness on the mission field.
What are you doing in the USA?
The purpose for our trip was basically four-fold. 1) Shiloh was due in August; 2) Nathan was going to Kindergarten; 3) I needed to finish my last 5 Master’s classes on campus at CIU; 4) We needed to raise the needed support to continue the work in Latin America. Here’s how we’re doing on those goals:
Shiloh was born. Yay! Our lives have changed once again. A little girl in the house is quite the contrast to the two little boys.
I have one last final draft of a project to turn in. I will graduate in May (as long as I pass this last class).
We have only 38% of the monthly support goal to raise in order to go back.
When will you go back?
Nathan finishes Kindergarten at the end of May, so we would love to be heading back to Mexico by the beginning of June. We’d like to be there during the summer to get re-oriented to the culture before he goes to first grade and classes at the Seminary start again in August.
We still have support to raise, which is a huge job. We are meeting with our friends as much as possible to try to build up our partnership team before we leave to go back to Mexico. Please pray that we will be led to those who want to be a part of reaching the almost half a billion young people in Latin America (maybe you’re one of them…we’ll be in touch).
One of the scariest parts of being a missionary is wondering if my children will grow up to thrive as adults. It’s already hard enough to be a kid these days, so throw living in another culture into the mix and one would think the difficulties arise.
Missionarycare.com is offering a few free ebooks to help missionaries. I just downloaded “Raising Resilient MKs” from their site for free. I’m looking forward to reading through this incredible volume of knowledge about how to raise children overseas.
Since you’re still reading this, will you please take some time to pray for our three kids as we try to raise them up to be adults who follow Jesus with all their hearts, souls, minds, and strength? Thanks.
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