On our way up, we enjoyed time with Aaron’s family in Arizona.  Then we arrived in Oregon at the end of June.  We have gone canoeing, celebrated Landon’s birthday, gone rafting, visited my sisters in the Portland and Seattle areas, watched our baby start turning into a toddler, done some fixing around our property here, visited a supporting church in Central Point (and friends there), enjoyed sprinklers with safe water , gotten involved in lots of projects, and (of course) spent lots and lots of time with friends.  We have NOT, however, sold the truck.  Keep praying about that one!

The best thing that has happened during our time here has been the spiritual refreshment that God has allowed us to experience.  We are so grateful for godly people that God put in our lives to challenge, stretch and refresh us.  We came here exhausted, but we will leave here excited.  That’s a nice change.

While we are looking forward to beginning our ministry in Durango, we are sure soaking up these last few weeks here in BEAUTIFUL Oregon.

I teach literacy at the orphanage.  I have students that are ten or eleven years old and still needed to start at the beginning with letter sounds.  They are doing great with one-on-one instruction.  Somewhere around thirty kids have asked me for reading lessons and there is no way I can get to them all.  Furthermore, I will not be able to finish ALL the lessons with any of the kids before we move.  Please pray that God will send people to pick up where I leave off.

Aaron has been working hard to finish building a much-needed medical clinic at the orphanage.  Doctors and dentists will be able to volunteer their time serving the children of all the area orphanages for FREE at this clinic.  This will be a big blessing to these precious kids.  What was a huge, mostly unused storage room when Aaron got started is now turning into an awesome clinic.  What a cool way to love kids in Jesus’ name!

We are so blessed to have this privilege.  Thank you all so much for letting us be your hands and feet here in Mexico.

Kimberly

We are so encouraged by the sale of the truck! What a blessing and relief. Thank you, Lord.

Please pray for Aaron, who is on his way to El Paso to meet someone who is interested in the truck. We are praying that the truck will sell today! Please pray with us.

Why are we selling the truck? Well, we bought it thinking that we would be traveling really rough roads to serve in a remote tribal village in the mountains. As it turns out, we have changed directions and will now be serving in a city. In our new ministry we will not need a heavy duty truck, and we likely WILL need more passenger space. For that reason, we are looking into buying a used 12 or 15-passenger van. That would allow us the passenger space we need, and would also allow us to haul a lot of cargo when we need to (the back seats of these vans are removable).

Praying that it sells,
Kimberly

This pic was taken on our trip to Durango end of February.

Well, we haven’t posted anything to our website in AGES, and during that time NTM converted our website into a blog.  For most people, that is a good thing.  Blogs are easier to post to and they are easier to read/follow.  I, however, am not good at change (Yeah, I know, I’m in the wrong occupation if I don’t like change! haha), and it has taken me a while to get up the courage to figure out how to work a blog page.  Now that I am writing this I realize that, once again, my resistance to change was silly.  This is easy.

We are in the middle of a much bigger life change right now, and I am trying to remind myself that resisting this change would be silly.  We are headed right where we should be!  The change is good!  And yet, I have to confess to you that it is hard even while it is good.  I am the kind of woman who would be perfectly happy if I could live the rest of my life in the same house in the small town of Klamath Falls, Oregon.  We have lived here in Chihuahua for three years, longer than we have ever lived anywhere in all our married life, and I am not feeling eager to rip our roots out again.  So if you are thinking that all missionaries have a passion for endless travel and constant change, think again.  Missionaries usually EXPERIENCE endless travel and constant change, but we don’t all like it.  And I, for one, certainly don’t have a passionate love for the rootless, limbo feeling.

I do have a passion for Christ, though.  And He has a passion for building His church.  I am completely convinced that we are going to have the privilege of participating with Him in building His church while we are in Durango.  So off we go!  And while I am not overly excited about the packing, saying good-bye, house-hunting, etc, I most certainly AM excited about the role we will be playing in Durango.  More about that soon.  At the moment I have a one-year-old who is passionately reminding me that his current greatest concern in life is getting out of his high chair RIGHT NOW!

Kimberly

"In light of increased levels of violence in some areas of Mexico [including our city], we are taking precautions that will help safeguard us and our ministry.  While nothing can guarantee safety anywhere in the world, the steps we are taking will help minimize our risks while enabling us to carry out our ministry.  Remembering that God is our refuge and strength, please join us in praying for safety, stability and wisdom, so the Gospel can advance in Mexico."

Email us if you have any questions, and THANK YOU FOR PRAYING!