Monday, January 26, 2009

our first service and more Evan...

Well, we had our first service yesterday and it went quite well. I wanted to thank you all for praying and thank everyone that helped make yesterday a success. We had a good turnout and a good start. The weather was cold but it didn't snow much at all. We met inside but bad weather can keep folks away and that was a concern of ours. We had a good time of fellowship and food and then a nice worship service. We also had a kid's program. I ask you all to pray as we continue. Pray that the folks that came yesterday would come back and pray that others would come as well. Mostly, pray that we would grow in faith, in knowledge, in love and in service as we get started. Over the next few weeks, we will be laying the foundation for the church and this is a critical time. Please pray for us! Here are a couple of pictures of me and Yamil preaching. We also had a time of music and prayer.
As for another update, I wanted to let you all know that I got a temporary job with HeadStart. I know we put this as a prayer request in the last newsletter. It's a good job but just temporary. Pray that I'll find something permanent and God-willing, within the Hispanic community. Also, pray that I'll be able to bless the kids I'm working with.


Following are some recent pics of Evan and a video.
He was pretty wiped out after a busy weekend. I kind of felt the same yesterday evening.
Here he is in his playpen.
This is Evan with Immanuel, who is our friend's child. He is a son of a couple that came to help us over the weekend. They are a Cuban couple that we met at a church planting conference a couple of months ago and they live in Lawrence, Kansas. There's a pic of Yamil above.
I took this video of Evan today playing with his football rattle.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

pics, videos, and a prayer request

Here's some recent pics of Evan and some videos. I am also closing with a special prayer request and some song lyrics. Here's a couple of Evan with his mommy. Here he is after his bath.
Here he is with daddy's hat on.
He's not a real big fan of tummy time but he's doing better with it. He's not crawling but can hold himself up pretty good. He also spun around while he was holding himself up...it was gradual, though.
Here's a pic taken at the Josh McDowell conference. I really didn't have any good ones taken of him but it was a great conference. It was really an encouraging time and I felt like I learned a lot. If you haven't read any Josh McDowell, I definitely recommend him. He has an amazing testimony. He basically set out to disprove Christianity but found it to be true in every way, starting with the reliability of the Bible.
There's a couple of more videos at the end of this blog. For some reason, they wouldn't go with the other one here.

As I close, I want to share some prayer requests and some praise lyrics to reflect on. First, I want to mention a neighbor who has expressed a desire to study the Bible. His name is Benjamin and he is my 'tocayo', this is a title for two people that share the same name. I ask you to pray for him that there would a chance to study the Bible together and that God would reveal himself to us in that study. I ask you to pray that God will bless Benjamin and his family. I also want you all to pray for Sunday, that is our first service/fellowship event. The weather forecast isn't looking too good but we know that God has power over that stuff. I'm just praying that all the details will come together and for the people that will come and that God's will be done in our group on that day and in the future. I hope to have some pics from the event posted on the blog later on.
Jesus, all for Jesus, by Robin Mark
Jesus, all for Jesus, All I am and have and ever hope to be.
Jesus, all for Jesus, All I am and have and ever hope to be.
All of my ambitions, hopes and plans I surrender these into Your hands.
All of my ambitions, hopes and plans I surrender these into Your hands.
For it's only in Your will that I am free,
For it's only in Your will that I am free,
Jesus, all for Jesus, All I am and have and ever hope to be.

This is a prayer for me, my family and the new church...
Here recently he's started waving his arms like this, especially if he is happy or excited, which is pretty often.
He doesn't cry much but here's one of him crying. I think his teeth were bothering him and it was like he was trying to tell us that. At least that's what I thought.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Hello again. I have some pictures from the Royals Caravan and a couple of Evan, along with some videos. For the Royals Caravan, they had some Royals players show up at a local grocery store. It was pretty cool and it made me long for baseball season. The really cold temperatures are doing that as well (the high today was 20 and the high yesterday was 10). Here's me with Billy Butler. Here's Kevin Seitzer, an old time Royal and their hitting coach, along with Joakin Soria, the Royals all-star closer. There's the mascot, Slugger...took this one for Evan. Here's Evan with his tractor and farm friends. This was a gift from his great-grandpa Smith.




Evan the screamer and sockeater. He has many talents and has just started to scream recently. Well, we hope you enjoyed these. Guess this is all for now.

Friday, January 09, 2009

adventures with Evan

Here's a couple of pictures of Evan and some videos as well. I know they aren't very long but I'm only filming them with a digital camera and I cannot get them on my computer if they are longer than a minute. I hope you all enjoy them. Evan is really growing and developing. He has really started babbling and making a lot of noises. Here, you'll be able to hear some of his 'monster noises.' He is sitting up now and also has two bottom teeth. He really is a blessing from God.






This was a gift from Grammie.
You can see that he likes to open and shut. He can also turn lights on and off. Guess this is all for now.

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

recent pics of Evan and Happy New Year!

Here are some pictures that are from my cell phone. I had hoped to get a couple of videos on here but it didn't work. I hope you enjoy these any way. The 1st three were taken in Virginia before Christmas. This is a special place because that is where we met. We went there for a debriefing conference for a few days back in December.


The first one was taken on a country road outside of the place we were staying. We used to talk quite a few walks there during training. The debriefing time was a good time to reflect because it's quite an adjustment to come back to the US after being away for some time. I think we are still in that adjustment but feel like we're doing pretty well.
Here's a couple of random pics of Evan.

These last four were taken the other day, the day that Texas played against Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. That was quite a game. I just wish Texas played more often against teams that start with the letter 'O', like Oklahoma and Oklahoma State and now Ohio St.





Guess this is all for now. Evan says bye. We're praying that this is a new year full of God's presence and blessings for you all.