Sunday Morning

We had a sweet and blessed Sunday morning service today. We recently changed the time of our service to 7 am. The people here get up early everyday for work, so are use to rising early. Also, with the summer heat right around the corner, the building is stifling by 10 am and almost unbearable by Noon.

It takes a bit more doing for me to get up in time to get ready, feed Nehemiah, prepare breakfast (each family brings food to the service and we enjoy breakfast and fellowship together afterwards), and then get all the children up and ready by 6:30 am, but I have been so blessed and it has been more than worth the effort.

The sun is just rising as we drive around town to pick up those who live too far to walk to the service. (Picture 3- picking up people this morning...we usually can fit about 32 in our van). Then we enjoy singing hymns together, praying and listening to Daniel share from the Word Picture 2- getting ready for the service). Then we enjoy a meal together. It is a wonderful time of fellowship (Picture 1-Daniel visiting with Don Pancho over breakfast this morning/ Picture 4- Hna. Victoria dishing up the food).

Today was extra special, for we had the Lord's Supper as a church for the first time. Daniel shared from the Word the importance and meaning of the Lord's Supper this morning. After breakfast was over, those who were saved and baptized sat around a table together and we had a sweet time of prayer. Then we passed around the bread and then a cup of grapejuice. Afterwards we sang a hymn (At the Cross) and then spent more time in prayer together.

The Bible Studies in the homes have been a tremendous blessing as well. Daniel plans on meeting in 2 more homes this week and also going out to a small village next week to hold a meeting. Please continue to pray for the Lord give the increase here in Baja Sur.

In our spare time, we continue to work on the house...We were able to paint the living room and dining room last week and Daniel is putting in flooring too. The children have been a tremendous help (well, the older ones have...the younger ones love to "help", usually make a big mess, yet the time together is priceless and sooo fun!). (Picture 4- Josiah painting).

Finally, please pray for our neighbors across the street from us...their names are Senor Pedro and Senora Luz. The are an older couple (in their late 70's early 80's). The are not Christians, yet we are able to share the gospel more and more with them each day. Snr. Pedro has a pace maker in his heart...Daniel told him he believes that the Lord has let him live so long so that he will trust Jesus Christ as his Saviour and Lord. I go over to visit Snra. Luz most every day just to chat, or bring her some food, or see if she needs anything from the market. (Picture 5- Benjamin and Senora Luz). We have grown to love them as we've gotten to know them and our hearts yearn for them to come to Jesus.

Thank you for your prayers. Have a wonderful day in the Lord!

Now that I have the little ones settled down for the night, I thought I'd write a quick update here. The days here are long and full...the Lord is so good.

Ministry here- Last week, I got together with some of the ladies from our church. We went over to the church building where we were storing 30+ large garbage bags full of clothing which people so kindly gave to us to take back for the people here. The ladies and I spent a couple of hours sorting it out and organizing it on tables. The following day, Daniel paid a man to drive through town and announce that we were giving away 1 small bag of free clothing per person at 5 pm until it ran out. We had about 100 people show up and fill up their bag, thanking us as they left. Every item was gone in about 25 minutes!

This week, Daniel began weekday evening Bible Studies in the homes of our church members. Each evening, a Bible study is held in a different home in a different part of town. A couple of hours beforehand, we go out into the neighborhood where the Bible study is going to be held and invite people to come. Many people who would never go to church will gladly come over to their neighbor's home to hear what "Hermano Daniel" has to say. As you think of us, please pray for the Lord's work to continue in the hearts of the people here. We desire for this town to turn to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Home end- The work on the house continues. We feel so blessed to have this home and have so enjoyed "setting up house" with the many things people so generously gave for the occasion. Daniel has spent the early morning and late evening hours painting the rooms inside. He only has 3 rooms left! His brother Joel gave us 25 gallons of paint that he had! What a blessing! We were just planning on painting the walls off white, but with what he gave us, we have a variety! The girl's room is pink; the boys is blue/grey; our room is green; the hallway is yellow; and I think the rest of the house will be tan. We also got doors hung, bathroom sinks put in, and floor laid in 2 of the bedrooms.

We also got a cement slab poured in the back yard where we set up our pump and water tank. Mr. Smith from our church in Millville, CA gave us a water filter system...it not only filters out the dirt and grit, but kills all the bacteria too. I can't imagine being able to drink out of our faucets! Daniel is working on getting that all set up. We battle with sickness so much here, and maybe this will help.

Nehemiah is doing well...he still has to have his nebulizer treatments 4-5 times a day or he starts to get sick again. Keep him in your prayers. He is growing better and is so sweet and smiley. Giving him his treatments takes quite some time...I started taking a hymnbook with me and singing through it to him while I wait. It has been a blessed time with him and Jesus.

The pictures are of:

1- Isaiah- silly boy...finger painting

2- The girl's room completed!

3- We are so grateful for a big room where the children can study

4- The clothing give away last week

5- Rebekah, Abigail, and Nehemiah- Beka turned 8 years old last week and lost her 2 front teeth too!

Housework, Easter, and Activities

We have been so busy the past several days, I haven't had time to get on the computer to update here. In all my "free time" I'm kissing sweet little cheeks, reading those "favorite stories" again, and baking cookies.

Daniel has been working so hard in all his spare moments on fixing up the inside of our home. We were so blessed to be given curtains, blinds, bunk beds for the children, pictures for the walls, doors, paint ect... And we've had so much fun as we little by little use each item in our home. Last week Daniel painted the children's rooms, hung blinds on their windows, and put together their new beds. They feel like kings and queens each having their very own bed to sleep in (though it is so sweet to wake up in the morning and see them often snuggled up next to a sibling). Yesterday, they got bedroom doors too. If it were me, I would have hung doors on the bathrooms first, but Daniel is so organized and wants to fully finish what he has to do one room at a time. Senor Goyo is coming over tomorrow morning to put sinks in the bathrooms, so I'm sure we'll get doors on them soon! :)

Saturday we had a fun fellowship activity with our church and the church from Cd. Constitucion. We all med together at Rodolfo's ranch for a Bible Study, meal, game time and fellowship. I spent time talking with Rodolfo's wife...I ask prayer for her (Maria), Rodolfo and their two boys. They are going through some hard times. We are going out to their home again tomorrow to talk some more. The activity was fun, but I felt so burdened for her the whole day. I'm so thankful for our loving Lord who longs for us to lay all our burdens at His feet.

Easter Sunday, we had a Sunrise Service and a time of coffee/cookies and fellowship afterwards. May our Living Saviour's name be praised!

I didn't have our camera with me to take pictures at the ranch or at our church service Easter Sunday...So I'll just post some pics of the chitlins I took tonight. I love Bath Time....My babies get all clean and I get to cuddle and snuggle and love on that sweet white skin :)

Home Sweet Home

We are so grateful to be posting this new entry from our home here in Mexico! As we pulled into our yard about 3:00 am this morning, the children all woke up with cheers and smiles as they were so happy to be home. I wonder if we awoke any of our neighbors as the children ran around the yard with their dog, squealing as they ran around the house so excited to see everything from their toys to my dishes! :) Things got a bit crazy as we found and surprised 4 rats who decided to make themselves at home while we were away. Daddy and the boys chased them around with brooms, sticks ect... while Mommy and Nehemiah stood shaking in a corner. :) The boys were having the time of their lives, except for Josiah...I found him standing in the middle of the dining room table.

We thank the Lord for bringing us safely home. What was going to only be a 10 day trip ended up lasting a month. But we truly believe the Lord brought us up so little Nehemiah could get better. The last time I posted, he was still sick and undergoing some tests. They all came back negative. Then a week ago Friday, his wheezing got really bad. He was struggling so hard to breathe that he could no longer eat. We took him to the pediatrician that we use while we are in town and the doctor was so concerned he considered flying him to Sacramento. He admitted Nehemiah into the hospital in Redding. There he recieved breathing treatments to open his airways and steroids to help heal his damaged lungs. The doctor was planning on sending him down to Sacramento the following Monday for further treatment, but he improved so much that we were able to be discharged from the hospital Sunday and continue his treatments from home. The doctor believes that basically Nehemiah's airways are reacting to something causing his breathing difficulties. We now have medicine to treat him, and Lord willing, he will continue to improve. The doctor told us that he believes the reason Nehemiah hasn't grown much is that he was using all his energy/calories just to breathe. He is so much better now.

The pictures are (1) "Get out and stretch break" on the trip back down, (2) The children with Jaynee's sister "Aunt Julee"...we were able to spend the night at her house on our way back down, (3) Traveling, (4) Nehemiah and Timothy, and (5) Nehemiah in the hospital

We praise the Lord for his care for little Nehemiah. Thank you so much for your prayers for him. It is good to be home.