The Great Treasure

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Will they see Jesus?

The longer we are here, the more I ask myself this question. We’re learning more and more about the people here and some of the stuff is pretty discouraging. There are many stories about theft, abandoned children, drug and alcohol use and other things. Then I meet some of the people that are just good, hard working people trying to make it in life. They’re not much different from any American I know, they have just adapted to the world they grew up in and may deal with a few generational things that become a way of life. We use that phrase a lot lately as we sympathize with certain situations. Although things may look very strange or sometime flat out wrong to us on the surface, we realize that it is in fact a way of life here.

So what do we do? What do we say? How do we shine for Jesus? It’s not like we can offer them much in the way of material things that could change their lives. We can offer them jobs, or feed their entire family on a regular basis. We can’t really change their present situation in the physical realm much at all… and frankly, why do we need to? Have we reduced the good news of the gospel to financial gain or material possessions?  Do we judge spirituality by worldly success? Sadly, yes we do.

If I look around, realizing the hard truth of these peoples lives and that I can do little to impact their daily living, it’s easy to fall into a trap of thinking our ministry may fail. But if I realize that the gospel of Jesus is such good news that is far surpasses physical needs, that is sheer truth and hope far outweighs that of even daily meals, I am able to see the how wonderful our God really is. Jesus even told us that man can not live by bread alone. Paul refers to the gospel as glorious treasure that we carry as fragile jars of clay. God chose our frail being to deliver the good news in such a way that regardless of circumstances, we have hope and a future in His plan. If I believed that worldly treasure could change the lives of these people and point them toward God, how much more does heavenly treasure impact and change lives?

God is doing a work in our lives as we live among the people here and try to serve them in the smallest ways. He is preparing our hearts. He is revealing His good news in a deeper and more meaningful way. He is preparing us to share His truth!

Join us in praying for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit among the people here. As the early church spread across the region ministering, the Spirit fell in such a way that it was noticeable. Peter went to Cornelius and “saw that they received the spirit”. We are praying that the power of the Holy Spirit be evident here. We are praying for transformed lives more than anything as well as miracles that may accompany. The Spirit represents our “Guarantee of Christ’s return” according to 2 Corinthians, and we want to see the Miskito people overflowing with the Joy of this good news!

We have a house!...kind of.

Great news!!

We found a"permanent" rental house!

One of the local missionaries has recently bought a couple lots of property, and they were going to build a couple rental homes on it. They knew we were looking so they asked us about renting one of the homes they were building. We agreed on the amount we could afford each month for rent and the decision was made just like that!! So, they are building us a home, and we were even able to get in on the layout and design of what we liked! What a blessing!!
It won't be ready for another 60-90 days as they complete construction, but it will be brand new......AND IT'S ON THE BEACH! Yep, right on the lagoon with beautiful green waves, a nice constant breeze, and large palm trees. See the pics below for photos of the lot. Truly a blessing for the SAME price as regular apartment in town!! What do you think?!

However, here's the kicker...we will need to furnish it soon! Right now we have NOTHING but the suitcases we brought. So If you have any of the following items you could donate, there will be a crate leaving in a couple weeks from Allen,tx. This will be a HUGE blessing to our family as we move out and prepare for the next level of our ministry!

Appliances:

microwave, fridge (preferably a small butane fridge), gas stove/oven(something that I can still use when the electricity here goes out), washer, small deep freezer (or upright). **all appliances MUST BE energy efficient! Sounds picky, but electricity here is $.80/kw vs. only $.08-.10 in the states!

Small appliances: 

crockpot, mixer.

Furniture: 

most furniture we will have built here, tables and beds,etc. That's the most cost efficient and easiest way. However, I would love to have an indoor/outdoor patio sofa. Something light, like wicker, with a cushion. Also a Queen mattress and two twin mattresses. Good firm condition preferably.

One last thing:

A vehicle!
I realize this is a big need, but our God is BIGGER! The house is about 1 mile outside of town, and about 2 miles from the children's home locations where we are currently helping.
We are looking to buy a 4wd UTV, like a John Deere Gator, Kawasaki Mule, etc. these are the absolute best way of transportation here in Puerto Lempira as the roads extremely rough and muddy most of the time. They are also good on gas which can be quite expensive. We will be needing about $6-$7k to buy a good used one here in La Ceiba and have it shipped over.
If you are interested in donating to our transportation fund, you can give online at our website, www.LoveShinesMissions.com, or you can send a check to LSM at po Box 3552, Cleburne TX 76033.


I truly appreciate all of your support and outpouring of love for our family. If you have any of these donations, please email for drop off info, either in Allen, Tx or Cleburne, TX.

God bless you all, my friends !

SO HERE WE ARE....

It has a red dirt runway.

It's only accessible by boat or plane.

Google maps cannot even find it.

It's our new home.....Puerto Lempira, Honduras.

Secluded from the rest of the country, partitioned off by protected rain forest, Puerto Lempira is our new home. And I couldn't be happier!

My daily '5-year journal' asks one question for each day of the year. I can answer it on the five lines it provides. April 8 2013 went like this: "What is your secret passion?" My answer: "I'M LIVING IT!" How many people in this world get to write those words? Yet I'm able to live out my passion in the most forgotten and rejected areas of a third world country. Not even the Hondurans care about the people in the La Moskitia region of their country, but MY heart is happy!

I want to share with you what my days have been like so far. We only got here on Saturday, and today is Wednesday. It hasn't even been a week, but I wouldn't have enough time to share everything that has been going on since we've been here! So I decided to jot down some notes on April 8 in order to share with you my "typical" day so far. So here it goes....

• We woke up at 5:30 am to get 30+ kids awake to get ready for school, eat breakfast, and do their chores. Although we were already half way awake because of the BILLIONS of roosters that want to crow all hours of the night. That normally wouldn't be too much of a problem except that when the electricity goes off in the middle of the night, so do our fans. It's wayyyyy too quiet in the room, so it magnifies every...single....noise....outside of the room!

And if you've never tried to wake up 30+ kids at 5 am, count your blessings.

• A mother came in to the clinic here at House of Hope with a malnourished baby. She is 8 months old and weighed 13 lbs. She's not an extreme case, but she also had swollen thyroids, so we drove her to the hospital. Then we gathered clothes, diapers, and extra necessities for her and the mother and took those by the hospital as well.

• We drove through trash-filled red dirt streets in a UTV, learning our way through town with another local missionary. She directed us to the local stores. We then were able to (on our own) go back to those stores and buy a few necessary items, IN SPANISH! :) We also found out you can buy milk! In bags!

• We gave money to a lady who was begging on the street. She "says" her daughter was sick and needed money to be able to take her to the hospital. She was only asking for $1. Normally, I wouldn't have figured she was truly going to take her to any hospital with only $1, but earlier that day someone told me that most people come to House of Hope for help because they can't afford the .50cents it takes to get into the emergency room......  FIFTY. CENTS.

• I was asked what LOTION was used for. 

• We are CONSTANTLY attacked by knee-high children. I can't walk outside without hearing "Alicia!" and then....POW....leg hug.

• Little Rodrigo got into some trouble. He threw a plate of rice on a baby...and then smiled at me. We had to lower his discipline pin onto a different color on his board, then I returned him to the scene where I asked him to pick up his mess. He refused at first, but when I turned my back and waited for him to do so, he did. So I picked up his sweet little hand after I seen he had done enough, and I told him "thank you" for obeying, and gave him a big hug and kiss and made sure he was ok. I walked away feeling successful.

• I smiled when I heard all the kids yell, "HOORAY" at the same time. You know why? The lights came back on!

• I ended the day sitting with a group of girls and getting my hair braided while we were listening to some Spanish worship and I was listening to them sing along. 

I could add: taking the preschoolers to class across town, letting the children rummage through used shoes to find a "new" pair, putting band-aids on wounds, giving a sick child medicine, watching the babies while the nanny isn't here, sorting toys to dispose of trash and keep the good ones, hand washing clothes on the washboards out back, putting together a wheelchair, painting the side of the house, cleaning out the bookshelf, pushing toddlers on the swings, checking in at Mama Tara's orphanage to see how things are going, and seeing Linda off at the airport........ but that was just what we did TODAY! :)

So here we are...... in our new home. And I couldn't be happier!

Taking the "FUN" out of "FUNdraising.

Time is flying by...!

We are looking at our last two weeks before we leave and there is a lot going on. We’re throwing an early birthday party for my youngest daughter so she can celebrate with her friends. We’re planning a couple of family get togethers and wrapping up our speaking engagements. We’re packing up things that we’ll need to ship separately before or soon after we leave. We’re thinking about long term living arrangements, furniture and appliances, transportation while we’re there, and a lot of other things that seem to steal from the joy of God’s call. It’s been a whirlwind!

In the midst of all that’s going on we have been tried and tested repeatedly. It’s a constant battle to surrender this life and all it’s cares to Christ. I knew this would be our biggest challenge and it has already proven to be tough and we haven’t even left the country yet. We have always been pretty self-sufficient; with a J-O-B we have always had some idea of how to make ends meet and how things would eventually line up. Now, EVERYTHING is in God’s hands.

We have some great friends and family that have stepped up to help support us financially, and even strangers that I’ve never met have contributed. It has been a huge encouragement to see the hand of God move in people’s lives and compel them to give. 

The problem comes when this becomes our source of comfort. We begin to look around us and pick out those that we feel “could” or even “should” contribute to our journey, and it sets us up for disappointment.  We begin to put our faith in man rather than God. I discovered that the frustrations and times of distress always come when we rely on some ONE to help rather that our Father in heaven. God has been so faithful, yet we so easily jump ship.

From the very beginning, God has said how He wants the glory. He told me that our provision would come from un-expected places and we have experienced this. I pray that I will remember this as we move forward. We have our plane tickets and there is no turning back, but I don’t want to be the one driving this bus. It’s almost natural for me to take control and turn this thing into a business. I have more than 10 years in business marketing and have always been entrepreneurial in my thinking. But I don’t want it to be like that. I can’t afford to shift the focus of LSM towards financial success rather than supernatural movement and spiritual growth within ourselves and those we will have the chance to meet.

I truly hate the fundraising part of being a full time missionary. I appreciate those who give and realize the importance. I even see joy in the eyes of those who give as they realize their contribution is making a difference. Some don’t have the option to go but are ecstatic to help send us. I am very thankful for those people in our lives. I know that my God holds the wealth of the world in His hands and He has a purpose. There is no amount of facebook postings, or videos, or speaking engagements, or fundraising that can out give Him. We are set apart and called to serve Him and He will provide financially, spiritually, physically, and mentally.

I pray for strength to see through His eyes. I pray for vision to look out across the battlefield and see that there are more for us than against us. I pray for courage to stand when the cares of this world try to choke out the seed God has planted in our hearts. I pray for wisdom to do His will and only His will. I pray for His love to shine brighter in our lives than ever before.  I pray for faith to surrender it all to the everlasting God.

-Kasey

FAQ'S - You're doing WHAT?!!?

Now that we are back in Texas and have had a chance to talk with a lot of people, we realize that there is a lot of confusion, even from close friends and family about what we will be doing, how long we are staying, and what our needs are. We realized we haven’t been super clear about the plans. We felt the need to write this FAQ post to clear up these areas and help everyone understand some of the more candid parts of this new opportunity God has laid before us.

1.     When are we leaving?

We plan to book flights for April 4^th. This date provides the cheapest airfare, which is why we picked it. We are waiting on some funds to come through so we can buy the tickets.

2.     When are we returning?

This is a PERMANENT move! The original plan was a 90 day trip, then come back for some more fundraising for the following trip down.  This was because Honduras would only allow us (or any foreigner) in the country for only up to 90 days. However, we recently began the process to secure permanent residency, which would allow us to stay longer if we pay a monthly fee past the 90 days until residency is complete. Due to the fact that it costs around $5000 to travel round trip between here and there, it would be better for us to stay there rather than come back and have to raise the money to go again. But this question has been the most misunderstood part of this process. We are now FULL TIME MISSIONARIES, and will continue to be as long as the Lord leads us.

3.     What will we be doing?

We will share the love of Christ first and foremost. This will be accomplished through serving the people of La Moskitia. We hope to encourage the other missionaries that are there through prayer, worship and teaching. We hope to work on establishing a yearly (or twice a year) VBS style “kids camp” that will teach, feed, and encourage spiritual growth for the children. We hope to  work with the organizations that are currently there to establish school sponsorship programs and provide extracurricular classes to the local children. We will seek God on providing discipleship programs for children and adults to grow leaders; such as youth programs teaching about respect of themselves and each other, or teaching young men and women how to better themselves and dream bigger and reach higher. We will do whatever we are lead to do, which we expect will change as we immerse ourselves in the culture. Pray for the work God has for us there, that we always seek Him in every effort.

4.     Where will we live?

Initially, we will stay at the House of Hope guest quarters. This is the local children’s home in the area that provides care to kids with medical needs, the malnourished, and those with severe need. We will pay $1000/ month to stay there, which covers food and lodging. This amount barely covers the cost of us living there and we are grateful they have agreed to let us stay. While there, we will look for a more permanent place to live, which will most likely be an apartment of some sort. There are few options, but we know God has just the right location.

5.     How will we fund this ministry?

This could be the most complicated question. The short answer is: God! The long answer is: We have a good start due to the fact that we sold everything we could, however, much of that was used to pay off debt. We are not yet fully sponsored by any specific person, church, or organization. We are FULLY convinced that God has called us to HN and that He will continue to provide as He has gotten us this far. Everything in our lives for the past two years up to this point has been a direct answer to the call we now have. (If you want to hear a miracle story, just ask! We have plenty!) We have already had some awesome people who have stepped up and said they will become monthly partners and we praise God for them. However, we are not yet fully funded for this first trip. But we have set up avenues for people to give one-time donations or become a monthly partner. If you feel led to give to this ministry, visit our website at any time to donate! And we THANK YOU!

6.     What are the main needs?

·      PRAYER PARTNERS! This is HUGE!

·      Travel expenses: Any donations will help!

·      Vehicle: we are looking at a used John Deere Gator, a Polaris Ranger, a Yamaha Rhino, or something equivalent. Must be a 4x4 as the “roads” are extremely muddy.

·      Monthly rent: $1000/mo

·      Residency paperwork: we are in the process of filing our one-year residency. This is something that will need to be filed annually, and requires a membership with the Honduran Fellowship of Missionaries and Ministries. Expected costs are around $700-$800 annually.

·      An administrative help on the US side: someone who will take the reigns for us in the US and help to make phone calls, schedule church speaking engagments, run errands, paperwork, etc..  You will be our feet and hands while we are abroad and limited on what we can get done. This will be a HUGE help!

We are super excited to be on this journey God has placed before us. He knows the end result of our efforts, and we can’t wait to share it with all of you! Thanks so much for being our encouragement, our support, and our friends! Be sure you are following our journey on facebook www.facebook.com/loveshinesmissions and our photos on Instagram www.instagram.com/loveshinesmissions .

A Different kind of Christmas.

We have truly been humbled by how fast God has opened these doors. One, after another, after another..

We are so very blessed. One of the first doors we walked through was moving here to AZ and obtaining a great job. The American Dream! But it wasn't meant to be for our satisfaction. As with any other move of God, it's only for His glory. So what does the "American Dream" have to do with His glory?? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. You are blessed ONLY so that you can be a blessing to others. He doesn't take pride in seeing how much "stuff" we have when our fellow humans have nothing. I'm guilty, believe me.

We've learned a lot this year in AZ. Stepping back from our "normal" lives in TX has caused us to take a good look around. How much of this "stuff" do we really need? We do not know people in AZ, and have no friends to come by to "show off" our beautiful home to. We have been working hard this past couple months to sell off what we have and get ready for our move. We cannot take most of it to Honduras with us, and neither do these people care what kind of furniture we currently have, if I have stainless steel appliances, if we have a 60" flat screen, if we wear the latest style, or if I have a brand name purse.

Christmas was definitely different this year. It was a Christmas with the least amount of gifts exchanged in our personal history, but I believe it was the happiest. When you're selling everything you have, what do you "need" to buy? It presented quite a fun "problem". Really, think about it!!! What would you buy if you were selling everything and moving to a poor third world country?? We began to realize we are happier than we've ever been and don't need as much as we think! What a freeing state to be in!

I've seen beautiful posts about new Coach purses; I just sold my first and only one I've ever had, gifted to me two Christmases ago. I've seen posts about brand new tv's; we sold ours and downgraded. I've seen posts about bicycles; we sold the ones we just bought earlier this year. I've even seen posts about new cars; we sold my car a few months back and have been down to only one, on purpose. AND I'M TOTALLY FINE!! I couldn't be happier! What a great feeling to be free of the "stuff" and headed into God's perfect plan for our family. It just put us into kind of a different Christmas mood than we expected. For the first time ever, I couldn't think of a single thing I wanted!! I can no longer imagine spending hundreds of dollars on one single item, when that amount of money would literally save a starving baby for an entire year. I feel bad when I think of what it would be like to bring one of those sweet Honduran children to our home to give them the "tour". We have four bedrooms and two living rooms, two of those bedrooms and an extra living room that we never even used!! Things just feel different now. We were able to spend a little more time focusing on what the true meaning of Christmas is for us, celebrating Jesus and what he has in store for us this next year.

Of course, this route isn't for everyone. We can't all be over in Honduras. That's silly. But we are so very happy to be part of this venture. We have learned so much about what it means to truly love people. What it truly means to be humbled and vulnerable. We've seen so many around us who need help, right here in America.

So as we head into 2013, here's what it looks like for us... We are currently sleeping on a couch hide-a-bed mattress and air beds. We were given a decent couch that we are using to sit on during our last month here, then we will give it away again when we move. Kasey has just notified his office that we will be moving into missions, and he is making his final preparations there. Other than that, I have joined a couple local facebook buy/sell pages and have been selling off little things here and there to dwindle down everything we will take back to TX in order to be able to fit it into a 6x12 trailer and the back of our truck. Believe me, that's not much room for ANYTHING.

We will be in TX by the 1st of February 2013 and will be moving to "Hondy" in April.
We can't wait to see all of our friends and family again! We will spend as much time with everyone as possible before we head out into our new home deep in the rainforest. Can't wait to see where we will be at the end of 2013!

Love to all!

In the beginning...

SO THIS IS IT!

We are so blessed to be in this place. Although, not yet in Honduras, by "this place", I am speaking of the place of complete and utter dependence on God. This is a new place for us. Moving from a corporate world, completely dependent and reliant on the job we go to every day, into a place of being solely reliable on Christ for our every day, is a new (and exciting) place to be!

This blog, website, and move into a third-world country is a result of about two years in the making. Totally God's doing. And if you're interested in the story....read on!

ALICIA'S STORY:

About 2 years ago, we were in a different kind of "place". That oh-so-familiar place of desperation. You know, the place where you feel "trapped". Working every day to pay the bills, the bills we had for things that had we bought, the things that we had to have a job to pay for. Barely getting by. It just didn't feel like God's plan for us. We wanted to get so much more out of this life. Not looking back one day to wish we could have done MORE! We began to have a burden for people and a desire to do our part to help others. We began to realize that it was our purpose here on this earth.

 We had been doing some reading and there were a few books that really began to dig deep in the inner being of our souls, changing what we thought we knew, who we thought we should be. Everything. And so the search for "more" began...

For two days, I literally sat in front of the computer, searching for something. I researched ministries, orphanages, and organizations that may have needed some help. And by research, I mean, I went all out. I wasn't looking in our town, I was looking across the world! I figured, if there were places that needed help, and would be willing to give us a place to stay and food to eat, we could help wherever we were needed. One thing that we were particularly interested in were children's homes. We even went and interviewed at a local children's home that I had found who were looking for (paid) house parents. That wasn't meant to be, even though we seriously took it into consideration. I set up a form email and sent it out to SEVERAL organizations. Basically, introducing my family, and asking if there were any positions where we could get involved on a full time basis. I didn't know what to expect, and later that night, I even thought I had gone crazy to make such an offer. 

So over the next few days, to my surprise, I received several responses!Although, most of them were the "typical" response, saying something to the effect of 'you can apply to be a part of our next mission trip!' 'We are looking for short term and long term volunteers.' 'Fill out this application.' 'We can help you with ideas for fund raising.' etc.... What they didn't understand was, I was looking for a LIFE CHANGE, not a mission trip.

But God, in His all-knowing power, connected my little email with a wonderful lady who replied with great enthusiasm over the fact that someone would be willing to come help! Her name is Laura Waits, with ReachOutHonduras.org. And although we were not able to fill the "currently most needed" position they were looking for, somehow, our hearts were connected to this place. Over the next few months, I began to inquire more about the orphanages, and teams that were currently located in the area and a new hope began to merge within me to learn more. 

Meanwhile, at our local church where we had attended for many years, we were serving as assistant Children's Pastors for about 7 years. We LOVED what we were able to do with the kids each and every Sunday! And one Sunday, we were asked by a man named Rory Smithee of Zona Maya Ministries, who serves as a missionary, and someone we had known for quite a while, if we would be interested in doing a Children's crusade in his area of the Yucatan in Mexico Mayan villages. God had heard our cries for more! We knew this was a step in the direction God had for us. BUT....living in that place of "desperation", we knew it would take miracle for us to be able to afford the trip. And over the next few months of preparation, we were able to scrape together, save, and even sell a few things to raise enough money to be able to go. So off we went...to serve the Mayan children of Mexico! And what a fantastic time it was, resulting in many children being led to the Lord. And it lit the fire in us...

We arrived back in the US, changed. Stung by the mission bug. It was September 2011. And it so happened, after our return, that we had read on Laura's site that they were putting together a group for a mission trip to go to Puerto Lempira. Although, we had just spent MONTHS scraping money together, we felt like we should get the info on this trip. (which, I should mention, was going to take place that November!TWO.MONTHS.AWAY.)

$2600. That's how much it would be for only Kasey and I to go. It would provide a 10 day trip, travel expenses, food and lodging. It would take yet ANOTHER miracle for us to go, but we felt this connection with them already, and knew God had connected us for a reason. So we prayed. (duh) If God wanted us to go to this place, He would provide. 

**MIRACLE**

Kasey was working for a company that had a commission structure built in based on his sales. There was an account he had obtained several months earlier, but he somehow overlooked the payment for it. He turned in the account, not expecting back pay, but to begin payment on his next check. BUT GOD, in his infinite wisdom yet again, sent the entire 6 month back pay on his check! Yep, you guessed it.....EXACTLY $2600!! (God must've had it saved up in his savings account)

****

So, just two months later, we were on our SECOND fully funded missions trip for the year! Just Kasey and I this time, on a two day/3 planes/and a 3-hr bus ride trip. Finally landing on a beautifully humble red dirt runway in this little town of Puerto Lempira, Honduras. Immediately greeted from the plane by the cutest little brown faces (and camouflage wearing/machine-gun-clad soldiers). This is the week that swelled our heart. This is the week that is frozen in memory. This is the week that God called us. This is the week that began the rest of our future lives.

So after a week of loving on orphans 24/7, handing out bags of food for local families, painting and installing electrical wiring at Mama Tara's, and giving special children their "sponsor gifts", we would never be the same...

Returning to USA was difficult. Not in the literal sense, but more in the spiritual sense. We knew that we could no longer be content with just an "existence" here on this earth. There are people, REAL PEOPLE, out there that need the light of Jesus. From that next week on, we began the plans for the next trip, while discussing behind the scenes what it would really be like to go live in the mission field of PL. As we opened our hearts a little wider to whatever God would have in store for us, and making him aware that we are "willing vessels, Lord, please send US!", He began to direct our steps in ways we can only look back now to see.

During that trip in November, we were also aware of another door that we could walk through....a wonderful new job offer. We thought, by taking this trip, we would become well aware of which door God wants us to walk through. Either moving straight to PL, or moving to another foreign land...Arizona! We knew there was not going to be an option of just sitting idle any longer. So never having lived anywhere else, and not knowing a single soul there, we took the offer (since the conditions weren't yet right for PL) and moved from everything we've known. Little did we know, it was still a part of the plan God had for us in PL. 

This year in AZ has been quite the learning, and guiding, experience for us as a family. We were being "seperated" for a purpose. WE have grown as a family, we have learned to depend on each other, we have been able to learn how to have family bible study (since we are no longer a part of a church group), and we have learned what it feels like to be so far from our friends and family. Though it's been a little rough at times, we've discovered that we can manage. The hardest part was being separated from the kids church ministry we had loved for the past 7 years, but we believe this was what God had in store.

So many little "signs" have been shown to us while in AZ that lead us to trust in the fact that we are still exactly where God has directed us. We've been able to pay off bills with the extra job income this year, we've sold a car in order to pay it AND our other vehicle off, we've been able to take Spanish classes by teachers we randomly met who were, themselves, missionaries. We've even been able to go on another trip to PL this past June, and this time we took our girls to 'show them around'. ;)

June's trip was the concrete. The solid answer to what we thought was coming...a clear picture of our future home. We did not know at that time how soon, but things have been lining up since then to make the move! We couldn't be happier knowing we are following God's call for our lives. There is nothing more satisfactory than feeling the comfort and peace of His will...

So, that's a shortened summary of the whirlwind that we call our lives lately. It's like the best roller coaster you could imagine. It's the most freeing feeling in the universe. It's the whole of our existence and the reason for which we now live, to be servants of the most High is what aim for... We hope to see you one day in PL for any given length of time! Come serve with us!

KASEY'S STORY:

Jesus – He is the reason we sing. He is the reason we breathe. He is the reason we love. Nothing else can offer fulfillment in this existence apart from Him.

In 2008, somewhere around my 30^th birthday I remember looking at my life. We had a nice house, nice cars, good job and great friends but we were not happy with life. Don’t get me wrong, we were not unhappy, but I knew there had to be more. As I discuss these feelings with Alicia, I looked at her and said, “If things aren’t different in our lives by the time I’m 35, we are going to do something drastic like move to Africa (the country every American thinks of when considering missions).

We spent the next couple of years exploring business opportunities, and continuing to serve at our local church. We figured that we could start a business and get it to a place where we didn’t have to be there all the time. Once that happened we could spend more time traveling and serving.  In 2010, still seeking the American dream of owning our own business, we also began to explore missions. We had thought about it before but now we looked for an opportunity to go tell the world about Jesus. We had no clue that God was about to explode this passion in our lives.

God really began to plant a heart for children inside us. We served as assistant children’s pastors and worked in all aspects of the 1^st-5^th grade ministry. We had a hand in the improvement and growth of the children’s ministry there and we were proud to be a part of it. We loved being with the kids, going to camp, doing VBS and just being goofy. I could just see God using that passion for kids and communicating the word of God in a fun way in a big way. Then it happened, God was ready to use us in the next level of our ministry.

Each year our home church would host a mission’s conference. This was a time of refreshing for them and also a time for the church to interact with the ministries we support through tithes and offerings. We typically didn’t attend these in their entirety, most of the time we would just catch the main service. We never stayed for the fellowship afterwards. This was mostly because we already spent a significant amount of time at the church working in the children’s ministry. We were happy doing children’s ministry and we worked with a great team that we enjoyed being with. However, that year we made ourselves available in whatever capacity God wanted to use us. 

That year, our missionary friends from Zona Maya Mexico asked us to visit them and lead a kid’s crusade in the Mayan villages around where they lived. They had seen our heart for kids and saw an opportunity to minister to the children of the Zona Maya. We were excited to say yes! As I stated before, we had been exploring missions and we loved kids ministry, now both were presented in this great opportunity. Planning was underway by April that year for a September trip. We had fund raising to do and lessons to organize. 

God, in his infinite wisdom though had other plans. About two months before our trip, our great friends and children’s pastors were forced to back out of the trip due to circumstances at work. This meant we were flying alone. There was no way we were backing out though. Our friends from Zona Maya were already promoting our arrival and they were counting on us. More importantly, those kids were counting on us. 

It took all the way till the day of the trip to raise enough money, secure passports, and plan this trip but 5 months later, we finally arrived in Mexico. We spent 10 days there visiting with our friends, and ministering to the villages. We took our game filled message to the villages there and around 250 kids accepted Jesus as their personal savior. We were excited to be used by God and by the end of the trip we began to seriously think about life as full time missionaries. We had talked about it before, but we were now catapulted forward in our exploration of the idea.

We returned home on September 19^th 2011 with a new desire in our hearts. During the time leading up to our trip Alicia began to research orphanages as a way to go and serve. She has always been one step ahead of me. She was able to connect with Reach Out Honduras and they informed us of Mama Tara’s orphanage that was in desperate need of House Parents. Mama Tara was growing old and would soon need someone to take her place. We also learned more about Reach Out Honduras and were encouraged by their ministry. I firmly believe that God directs our paths and presents us with windows of opportunity. I always want to explore those opportunities and prayerfully walk through the doors that God opens

We agreed to meet with Mama Tara’s board over the phone and discuss the House Parent opportunity. Who knows maybe that is what God was preparing us for. Through that conversation we also learned that Reach Out Honduras founders, Alex & Laura Waits were from TX and visiting that summer. Again, walking through the doors that God opens, we met them for a quick lunch before they went back. This was all prior to our trip to Mexico in September. There was something working, but we were not quite sure what it was. I wasn’t even in a place that I could get too excited about it at the time, but looking back it’s pretty cool how God orchestrates his plan.

We didn’t have much time to think about Honduras during the preparation for our trip to Mexico. However, we were so hungry for more when we returned that I was compelled to visit the Reach out Honduras website and discovered that they were taking a team to Honduras in November. Alicia had thought about this way more than me. I kind of just let it float around in the atmosphere and maybe God would open the door maybe not, but this time I was aggressive in my pursuit. Ignoring the facts that I had no vacation time left, no money to make the trip and no clue who was going on the trip or what the purpose of the trip was, I inquired about the exact dates and cost of the trip. It was going to be $2600 for just Alicia and I to go. The trip was over the Thanksgiving holiday so I wouldn’t miss much work, but it took half the year to save and fundraise for the Mexico trip which wasn’t much more than that for our entire family of 4.

I looked at my wife and asked her if she would go if we had the money. She didn’t hesitate with her answer. I didn’t really even need to ask. I knew she’d say yes… I wanted to go to! We prayed and we told God that we would go if we had the money. At that moment I had no idea of how he would provide and I was not comfortable asking for more money from our friends and family that had already generously supported our Mexico trip. It was just a dream in my eyes at that point but we were serious in our prayers.

At the time I made commission from the accounts I worked on and my first week back at work after the trip to Mexico, I realized that one of my accounts was not showing up on my paycheck. It was my fault because I had not reported it on my commission schedule. I had not been paid on this account for 6 months, but the only thing I could expect was payment going forward. I reported this to my boss and to my surprise, two weeks later, my wonderful boss paid me everything from the beginning of the account. A full 6 months of commission. Guess how much it was… exactly $2600! We had the money!!

Never doubt that God knows exactly who he is dealing with. You see, I spent the first two or three days after I got the check doubting that God really wanted us to go. After all, I could send the $2600 to Honduras and it would be a huge blessing. Wouldn’t money be better than another American body? After praying and talking with a few friends, I knew that I was getting in the way. God reminded me what we said, we said that we would go!

Within a month of returning from our first mission trip, we were planning our 2nd foreign mission trip! I sat back in amazement thinking of all the time we spent getting our passports and preparing for the trip to Mexico. It took a full 5 months of preparation. Now, with just the decision to go and God’s provision, we were off. It’s hard to ignore the hand of God moving. It’s easy to let our own thoughts get in the way. We could have easily justified sending the money to Reach Out Honduras and I am confident that it would have been a blessing. I am also confident that we would have been ignoring God’s faithfulness to give us the desires of our hearts; especially when our desires are to express His love.

**IMPORTANT SIDE NOTE: Our move will come just a couple months shy of my 35th birthday. 'AFRICA' HERE WE COME! :)