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| Oh goodness! This update is so long in coming that I feel silly trying to back-track and tell all that we've been doing. It's been a really crazy couple months, but, as always, our God is faithful and good and He excels in giving us more than we deserve!
I think I'd better just start with the here and now. Since coming to the States we've been staying at my Mom's house here in Newberg. (Besides when we took a trip down to Southern California and Phoenix, AZ to visit family. It was wonderful, wonderful, wonderful to love and be loved by our sweet south family. But of course, that's not the "here and now", so I'm officially digressing.)
As of this morning, after some of the most hair pulling decision-making days of our lives, we have officially decided to stay here in this area so that Vicente can go back to college to get his teaching degree!!! We are very excited to have a goal and to head towards it. I know he'll be the best teacher ever, and we might one day be able to get ourselves into the backdoor of a "closed country" with those cute little teaching credentials! It looks like Vicente's only got a couple years of school ahead of him, but we'll know more after we talk to the counselors at George Fox University. Today he went out and got a job laying hardwood floors out of Beaverton, so things are looking good in that area! (The slogan of the company is: "Say No To Rugs", ha!)
The next plan of attack is finding a place to live, which is prooving to be quite difficult. I'd love to wax elloquently (I'd love it even more if I could spell it...) on how heaven is our real home and I'm not too concerned with where we live until then, but the truth is that I'm a tad discouraged by the options of a home for us in the near future. I don't think it's a contentment issue, I'm just tired I guess. I was hoping to check out my root-growing abilities, but that may need to be put off for a bit longer. Who knows? Maybe I'm not a rootsy kind of girl anyways!
Please pray for us as we try our hardest to be faithful to whatever the Lord puts before us, and for tons of extra grace to understand His ways and will for our lives. I really love that He's in charge!!! | | |
| from Monday, June 5thHi everybody!
Started out this morning with a veggie sandwich and
some fruit and a cup of Extra Fuerte Cafe Indio
(Honduran coffee). It rained a little on the way to
church. At the door of the church (which is a civic
center that is loaned out to the church for free)I met
a married couple from the church that are blind. I
asked how she spent yesterday since it was such a
beautiful day. I thought that she may have gone out on
a long walk. She said that she spent the day listening
to the book of Daniel on tape. That got me thinking on
what I would share if given the opportunity. Before
the service I noticed that in the kitchen there were
some brethren preparing the lunch that we would be
sharing after the service. I was able to meet many of
the saints and fellowship with them. Once the service
began I was so blessed to worship in English. During
the service I kept writing in my journal things that
the Lord was blessing me with. I even had a whole
message to share with the body if given a chance.
After worship, prayer, words of encouragement,
exhortations and communion I accepted the invitation
for anyone to share a quick teaching or thought. I
spoke about being "rooted, built up in Him and
established in Him". Colasians 2:6,7. How do we do
that? Philipians 4:8 "think on these things". Meditate
on Gods truth. Why? To get us through the hard times
that we go through like the 3 Jews whose names were
changed (but no one could change their identity) and
then thrown into the firey furnice. What gave them
such boldness and integrity? They were rooted, built
up in Him and established in Him. I shared with all
how this past year was hard for my wife and I in many
ways. This past month was the hardest being away from
my wife and kids for so long (on June 8th it will be a
month total). My first couple of days after they flew
to the states I got severely deppressed. My body got
extremely weak and my appetite was gone. My arms were
beginning to feel like there was no circulation, I
felt nausea and was so sad. I prayed and prayed and
tried meditating in God's word. I thought, "I am a
missionary that fears the Lord, I cant be depressed.
It can't be!" I went to the doctor after a couple of
days and after various exams she said that the problem
was probably depression. I felt a bit ashamed that I
was a Christian missionary that has walked with the
Lord for years and here I am dealing with depression.
But I carried on in the faith and in ministry. Instead
of turning to vices or drugs I waited on the Lord and
He renewed my strength. Though I walked through the
valley of the shadow of death the Sun/Son arose and
brought me back into the light.
When I stepped out of the airport here in England I
almost cried for joy that I made it through that hard
time, and there I was in England feeling the cold wind
on my face and the blue skies above me. It was like
the nightmare ended. I persevered and waited on the
Lord and He sustained me. Halelujah. It pays off to be
rooted, and built up in Him and established in Him.
After the service many came up to me to thank me for
that word and honesty. Some were even missionaries
from South Africa and Germany. They too had been going
through hard times and felt ashamed that even as
ministers they were going through such serious
struggles. During the service other similar words of
encouragement were going out to the body. I believe
the service this morning was a restoration and
comforting service. Many were blessed. Right after
service we had the traditional Sunday lunch right
there at the church. What an excellent time of
fellowship. we started the service at 10 am or so and
ended all about 3pm. At 7 many of us went to the cafe
that the church here opened up and watched the movie
'Narnia'. We finally got out of there at about 10:30
pm. We headed over the a Pakistinian fast food place
and got some food to go. At 12pm we finished.
It is now 2pm. I had better get to sleep. May God
richly bless you all as He has blessed me. A brother
shared today that God is not just interested in our
comfort and peace but is also interested in our joy
and freedom. Sometimes to bring about that true joy
and freedom there will be hard times and a lack of
comfort. Remember the big picture and remember that
God is always good. Vicente
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| from Friday, June 2ndHello,
All is well. It is 12:42am here in New Castle
England.
The sun went down about 10:30 pm. It is very cold at
night and beautiful during the day. Yesterday was a
long walking, praying, meditating day. As the day
unfolded I went to a Turkish coffee shop. I was
treated to a wonderfully strong and thick cup of
Turkish coffee, then a Turkish cup of tea. I had a
long talk with the owner. I learned some Turkish words
and watched a bit of Turkish tv. His girlfriend is a
Christian from Africa and he is a Muslim. His name is
Dagan. He was a bit open to hearing the gospel. Please
pray for his salvation.
After that meeting with Dagan I preached at different
occasions to a girl from India, a man from Africa, 3
young men from somewhere in the middle east, and an
English couple. To end the evening off I went to a
Pakastinian fast food restaurant. I had a wonderful
skeek kabab roll nan. It was like a giant soft taco
with lamb meat. It was delicious. I will go back
tomorrow to give some Honduran coffee to the manager
who gave me a Dr.Pepper on the house. I hope to preach
the gospel to him tomorrow. At least give him a track.
While talking to the manager whose name was Mohammed
Ali and others that were there I at times would talk
to them in English using their Pakastinian accent. It
wasn’t in mockery. It just came out naturally. Several
times I almost responded to them in Spanish. It was a
very happy and fun night. I finally got home at 11pm.
Today I went for a run to the Turkish café and gave
Dagan some Honduran coffee. Asked me to stay but I
wanted to go run through the Muslim parts of town. I
will go back tomorrow. After my run Drew the
missionary here took me to a restaurant where they
were having a stag party for one of the brothers in
the church. It was Indian food. Pretty good but I cant
wait to try more Pakastinian food. Many of the guys
there were Christian and were sipping their pint of
beer. Here in England it is very acceptable and social
to drink a pint of beer at a pub whether you are a
Christian or not. So I ordered a pitcher. Just
kidding. I stuck to a glass of water that was free and
very refreshing. After dinner Drew drove me around the
city a bit and showed me some key areas where they
would preach and where there was need.
Tomorrow if there is time I will try to exercise, go
for a drive into the country with Drew and his family
and pass out some tracks to the muslim people
downtown. I have some tracks that explain the gospel
through pictures. At night the church here has a
coffee shop that will be opened from 12pm to 9pm.
About 7 pm they begin an outreach program. I will be
there to see how I can help. As the day unfolds I will
also be looking for an English chess set for Israel my
7 yr old boy. I miss my family very much. I would
appreciate your prayers. Please pray for the people
that I will run into in the next week. I pray that God
would do some big things in His kingdom through me.
May God use you to do big things in His kingdom.
It is 1:30am now. I must go to bed. Good night.
Abiding in Christ,
Vicente
Please pray for Heidi who has lost a lot of weight.
She may have some kind of parasites. She says that she
has no desire to eat. The kids are doing just fine. We
are still in prayer about where to move and serve our
Lord.
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| One week left!
Oh wow, I cannot believe we're leaving. I think this might be the most emotional move I've ever gone through! My relationship with this culture hasn't exactly been love at first sight, but it's been more like a slow growing kind of love. I think I could now be labeled as head over heels about the place, and of course I didn't know it until it was time to go! So typical.
Things are running pretty smoothly in the packing department, but I know from experience that it only *feels* that way until the last 24 hours or so, when we realize we haven't actually done anything yet! I freely admit that I am a Panic Packer - I feel no pressure until right near the end, and then I send myself and anyone near me into fits of tears and emotional outburst. Luckily Vicente is usually the only one near me, and he's not an outburst kinda guy...plus, he thinks I'm cute when I freak. :~)
Our big, exciting news for the week is that Vicente is flying to England!!! He will be staying here in Honduras until the 26th, and then he heads out over the Great Pond for a few weeks in Newcastle! He'll pray, visit, and walk around the city, seeking the Lord on when/if/how we are to be there as a family. He is so excited!
This does mean a full month that we will be apart - the longest the kids have ever been without their Papa. Please pray for us during this time, that we would end things well here, be lights where God is placing us, and come together again with a definite plan for the future. | | |
| It's official. We bought the tickets, we're on our way! The kids and I will be flying to Portland May 8th, and Vicente will follow sometime near the end of the month.
Our plan goes something like this: the babies and I will stay at my Mom's in Newberg until Vicente flies in, and then we'll head to Medford for a couple weeks. Hopefully by then the Lord will show us where we are to move next! We are deciding between Medford area, Bend, or Hood River. England is still on the horizon, but we're just going to go one step at a time!
Please keep us in your prayers! We've got two weeks to sift through all our household things, and to say goodbye to all our dear friends. My heart hurts!
Thanks for your love and care,
Heidi ~ for all 5
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