Hi family and friends! We did it!!! We graduated from Roca Blanca Spanish School on October 20. What a crazy ride that was…filled with ups and downs, good and bad, trials and triumphs. But what an experience for us to learn to lean more on the Lord through all of those times. Even more so, what a PRIVILEGE to be called by the Lord to serve Him. Machaela finished strong in Level 1, and Jon and I really got into a great routine as we finished Level 4.

In October, Jon was able to go to the Pastors and Leaders Conference at Calvary Chapel Tijuana. He had a time of being refreshed and spending time with two of our pastors, along with old and new friends who serve all over Mexico. While he was away, the Spanish school went on a one day mission trip to San Martin. Machaela, Jonny, Noah, and I were able to go and it was such a blessing to be a small part of that day, while the clinic offered free medical consultations and medicine for those in need in that town.

During our final weeks in Cacalote, we were able to spend time with the friends we had made while living there. The Lord really blessed us with some amazing friendships that really grew. I love looking back to when we first arrived to when we left, and seeing the Lord’s hand on our relationships. I could go on and on about all of them so I’ll stop before I get going. 🙂

Now we are in California. We drove up here the day after school got out. It took us quite a while to drive up, but it was a great trip. Our first stop was Oaxaca City where we met up with Toby and Lydia, two girls who did Level 1 and Level 2 with us who now serve in Oaxaca City. So awesome that they came and went sight seeing with us at Monte Albán. The following night we ended in Mazatlán. Another friend, Nancy, (who we met on our trip last December to check out Roca Blanca) lives and serves at Calvary Chapel Maranatha Mazatlán, and she arranged for us to stay with Pastor Tony and his wife Angela for two nights. What a huge blessing that was because it gave us a day of rest after the LONG drive to get there. A couple of days later we finally made it to southern California, our final destination for this trip.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

• We will be working on getting our temporary residency visas while we’re here, so please pray that that all goes well
• That we would practice listening and speaking Spanish
• Financial provision to be able to go back
• God would continue to prepare our hearts for full time ministry in Mexico

PRAISE REPORTS:

• one of our biggest struggles while in school was that our kids were having such a hard time. The Lord COMPLETELY turned things around and the last two months were filled with laughter and joy and a house filled with those sounds from Jonny and Noah and their friends. Praise the Lord for that!!!
• Jon and I also were able to build some amazing relationships with people and it was really tough to say “see you later”. We thank the Lord that He gave us those friendships that I know will last a lifetime.

 

Thank you for praying for us and following our journey as we took this first step of our great adventure for JESUS! We are so excited to follow His leading into the next step.

Romans 10:14 “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?”

 

We have now been living in Cacalote, Oaxaca, Mexico for just over 6 months. Today (September 4), Jon and I began LEVEL 4 of Spanish School. This will be our final level of school and we will be finishing October 20! Wow, time has flown by!!!

It’s been a while since our last update and we are really sorry about not being better about it. Our week-long trip to California in June was a huge blessing. We got to see our beautiful niece marry her amazing husband, and spend time with family and friends. Jonny and Noah came back to Mexico with renewed spirits after going through some trials down here. Praise the Lord for that! Since our return from California, Jonny and Noah finished 4th grade, and Jon and I finished Level 3.

We had 3 weeks off after Level 3 and it was a time of many exciting things. I was invited to the women’s bible study at the local church and have been enjoying going each Friday afternoon. I have had to really put what I’ve learned into practice in order to understand and somewhat communicate with the ladies. It’s a total bonus that I’m building friendships with a few of the women. God knows our hearts, our needs, and our desires!

We also had some special visitors for a few days. Our oldest son, Austin, and his girlfriend, McKenna, flew down to spend some time with us. It was such a great time of being together and showing them how and where we live, along with doing a little bit of exploring with them. (Jon even got the opportunity to witness to a homeless man with our friend Joe.) Their visit was short but it was an answer to prayer that they were able to come see us.

And a week ago we got another visitor…our niece Machaela. She will be living with us for the rest of our time here and attending the Spanish School. She has a calling to serve in a deaf ministry in Guatemala, so this was the perfect option for her to do Level 1 and get some great education in learning the language. She’s a neat addition to our house and we are so excited to be on this journey together for the next 7 weeks…taking this step in learning the language so we can serve our Lord where He has called each of us.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

*Please pray for direction for our next steps following language school…location, financial provisions, what it is that the Lord would have us do here in Mexico to serve Him

*That we would do well in school, both Jon and I, the boys, and Machaela

*That we would stay healthy for the rest of our time here. We had a lot of health things go on during the last level of school and it was tough to play catch up after sick days, but the Lord TOTALLY got us through!

PRAISE REPORTS:

*We’ve been healthy for the last few weeks

*That we’ve been able to start using our Spanish more often during these 3 weeks of down time from school. (Pray that we continue to do so as often as possible)

*All of us had a GREAT first day of school today! Starting on an upbeat note, covered in prayer is the best feeling!!!

 

Thank you for taking the time to read this! We really appreciate all of your prayers and support. Little texts, emails, or Facebook messages come just when our hearts need a little encouragement. We thank the Lord for those. God is so good! And as always, if you have any specific prayer requests that you would like for us to pray, send us an email or text.

Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you WHEREVER you go.”

 

Jon, Allison, Jonny and Noah