How?

How? This is a question that has come to my mind today. Jesus tells us the story of The Good Samaritian. It is a great story about, how religion gets in the way of what Jesus calls us to, and how love and mercy overcomes all obsticals. The question is, how. I am wrestling with this story this morning as I read about how the religious passed buy the man in need and the one person who shouldn't have helped did. I cannot help but see myself as the religious man. Let me explain. Here in Puerto Rico there are beggers on literally almost every major corner. Some Im sure are real needs, some are drug addicts looking for $1.00 for their next fix and some, well I'm not real sure. I find myself praying the light turns green before they get to my car, praying that they just walk on by, I don't make eye contact with them, honestly windows have even been rolled up when there are real persistent ones. I mean I have a family to keep safe and what if they remember me and come to me everytime.........This story is convicting me. This is not what Jesus would do. But what would he do? How would he do it? I mean I don't want to support a drug addiction! But at the same time I see myself acting more like the religious who pass by than the Samaritian who helps. I don't want to be the religious guy. But how do I help? How do I show mercy to these men and women on a daily bases? Yes we can hold events and hand out food, which we plan on doing, but how do we show mercy everyday? 

I honestly don't know and am struggleing with this. 

Personally speaking, these are the people I came here to help and to love. Why am I shying away from them? If they are willing to do this for a fix, imagine what they would be willing to do for Jesus! I mean think about it. How many of us are willing to go stand on street corners for money let alone Jesus? Our pride, self image, what others think of us and more get in the way right? These men and women have already gotten past that part. They don't care what people think of them, they are poor and/or addicted, and need money. Give them Jesus, I mean the real personal Jesus not just the Jesus people just talk about and say they know, if they get addicted, fall in love with Jesus what would they be willing to do for him? What would they be willing to do so others can see him too? 

Ok this may seem far fetched, making disciples out of outcastes right? But what did Jesus do? Who did he go to? Who were his first disciples? What does Jesus say in scripture about the rich, prideful, high and mighty? More important what does he say about the humble, poor and lowly? 

If we do not reach these men and women for Jesus who will? More importantly if we do not we are turning away from those that Jesus loves and we must love too. 

Sorry if this sounds like I just rambled on and on but this is something I am praying heavy about and is heavy on my heart today. How do we be the Good Samaritian and not the religious? How? That is the question that comes to my mind today.

Merry Christmas

Good morning. It is the day after Christmas and we have not posted in a few days. The Christmas season here starts mid December and goes until Jan 16! Christmas is the kick off holiday to a month long celebration, including Christmas, New Years, Three Kings Day and they even have an encore to Christmas mid January just for kicks!!!
Christmas Eve we went to a party and Jennifer's Uncle Willy's house. We thought it was a family party, well it was I guess because when you are a friend here you are family! The party started at 8pm and lasted until 12am well at least we lasted until 12am any way. After that we went to Jenns other aunt and uncles house to spend the night there and spend Christmas day with them, we (the ,Hoogeveens) celebrated our family Christmas, Christmas Eve morning. They had some gifts there for us too, which was unexpected! What a cool blessing! However our day got cut short because of a death in the church Christmas Eve. So we left the house at noon because they were preparing for the visitation and funeral. So, we spent more time together as a family, what to do? So, we went to the beach and went fishing.
Once we came home for the evening I got a phone call from our friends Armando and Jeannette. Armando said that Santa had dropped some gifts off at their house for our kids so they were coming over!!! That was a nice surprise and another great blessing! Bridger said, "Wow we are being so blessed today!" and Blake said "Wow, we still got three presents like normal!" We normally get them each three gifts to open, we could only get them one this year, God still provided them three!!! How cool. What is even cooler is that the kids noticed it!!!


I am so thankful for great friends in Michigan. I got some Merry Christmas phone calls from some great friends! That was a huge blessing in and of itself!!!!


So far all has been great. God has been doing some amazing things. We are excited to get into a routine of things after the new year. With all the holiday celebrations it is hard to get anything concrete going.
Tuesday nights are going great, both Armando, Jeannette and the girls came over this week for Bible study. Armando and me sat outside and Jennifer and Jeannette sat inside of the house with the kids and talked. I am amazed every time I talk with Armando at how much his vision is like ours that God gave us for Puerto Rico!!!
We are organizing a food handout at a local park. Here there are people on almost every major street corner begging for money. Jeannette has always wanted to give them food but never really knew how to do it. So, we got together and talked about it. We are going to be having an food hand out event in a park, fliers are being made and people being invited. Armando is going to try to get his church involved with helping volunteer and to make food for the event. This event will not be sponsored by a church as both of our families feel that is not what God wants. He wants us do do this as the body of Christ, not as a church. We are called to serve as Christians so that is what we are planning on doing. This outreach will reach the homeless, drug addicts, alcoholics, church goers, no-church goers and every one in between! Please pray for a great turn out and that God provides more than enough food so we can send people home with some!


Today we will probably go to the beach again, it is only about 5 min from the house, and go get some groceries. Then tonight we are going to church to help set up for the new year celebration gathering Sunday. We will be setting up tables, moving chairs and setting up decor for a great time.
We have made some friends at this church and are excited to serve there tonight.


I hope to post more regularly after the holiday season is done here. It has been hard to be because we never really know when we will be home. Things just kind of happen here. You really just learn to go with the flow. It is an adjustment for sure.


Here are the kids...
Blake-
Hey This is Blake, during the time here I've seen God do some cool things here with us. Like yesterday for Christmas we usually get 3 presents but our parents couldn't afford it because of this new move. So we went over to our aunts house to stay over there for Christmas and when we woke up in the morning we got a surprise present from them which was awesome.But later that day my awesome father got a call and his friend said that Santa Clause messed up and they got extra presents and they were for us . So then I was like, hey we usually get 3 presents and this year we got 3 presents and the kids were so excited.I think its just cool about what God can do in our lives.Our family has been spending so much time together which is really nice because we can go out and explore as a family so we can go out and spread Gods word.


Dallas-
I think that this experience has been one of the best that I have experienced! I have had so much fun exploring the island(mainly in our area). We have been able to spend more time together as a family and that is really nice. We have been able to go over to my Aunts house a few times and I have been able to meet some Family that I have never met before and that feels nice. I have already met some friends and we have already gone to the movies together after only knowing them for two days and I think that God wants us to get to know them really well. Some of them go to the same Church that we attended last Sunday but others go to a different church. One of the girls, named Adaia has been helping me learn some Spanish and at the movies we found out that her dad helped us move in so my dad already knows her dad! I think that we have been fitting in really well. At the church they have a dance team and I get to join! The first meeting is in January and I CAN NOT WAIT! For Christmas we were able to get together with our Family in Toa Aloa which is about 45 minutes away so we ended up just staying the night at my aunts house Christmas Eve. My mom and dad only got us one present this year(and our stockings) when we usually get three, my Aunt each got us one present and we thought that was really nice of her to do that. Later that night my dad got a call from one of his friends and he said that "Santa" messed up and that he dropped of presents for us at his house. So we ended up getting three presents this Christmas as usual and I think that God did that for a reason. I think that it is Amazing what God can do.


Bridger-


Hi everyone. Christmas was good. My mom and Dad got me a skate board, Armando and Jeannette got me a Hot Wheels track set, and Aunt Waleska and Uncle Victor got me a Hungry Bear shooting game. We went to the beach.
We went to a family Christmas party and I learned how to play a gourd. It is a cool instrument here in Puerto Rico.
I met some new family members that I have not met before. I have an uncle here that we just found out we had.
That's all for now.

Resting in His Presence

     Good evening. It has been a few days. Sorry for the delay, we have been super busy getting details taken care of now that we have our car.


     It took a total of one full day and a half of a day to get everything squared away with the car. We now officially own a car with a Puerto Rico Title!


     We have spent a lot of time together as a family which has been awesome! The kids are getting to see God is action in so many ways; so are we.


     I believe we have told you about our drain issue already, If not in short it was backed up and the sink and toilet would not drain. I tried everything I could think of. Plunging, taking the plumbing apart under the sink, having someone come over to look at it, stuck a 10 foot drain snake down the main drain, sink drain and outdoor drain....nothing everything was clean!!! However the sink would not drain. We were to our wits end. We were left with three options.


1. Leave the drain how it was, with a bucket under it and just pay attention so we can dump it.
2. Call the water company to try cleaning deeper.
3. Leave it up to God and pray about it.




     We chose option three. We gathered together as a family in the living room and prayed that God fixes our drain. Then we packed up and went to the beach. A few hours later we came back home. Low and behold.....our sink and toilet were unclogged!!!! We have not had an issue since!!!! God literally fixed our drain!




     Tuesday night the first Epic Redemption Men's Bible Study was held at our house. It was me and Armando. We started off just like back home with praise and thanksgiving. What Armando shared I was not prepared for!!
     Armando and I met at church two weeks ago. It is amazing how God works. I was with Pastor Leo, who was visiting this church in the mountains for the first time. This is a church that is part of their concelieo (denomination) Pastor Leo heads up all the churches. Armando was not supposed to be there. He goes to another church but volunteers once and a while at this church. He was supposed to volunteer the week prior but was sick. So he volunteered the week I was there. We met at the church that evening. This is what he told me he was thankful for.
     "The first time I met you it was like God touched me. I feel so different. I am happy. Even my wife says that I am happy now. I am thankful for you and happy we met." WOW, really! At all I did was share a little bit of my testimony. Amazing what God can do with so little!!!! There is more but I will not go into that.  He feels God calling him to spread the gospel. He has for a long time but kept pushing it off because he did not know how. I said, "Good I don't either, we can learn together." He said that there is a lot off work to be done on the island and it will be hard but it needs to be done. I am so excited to see this relationship grow and for us to grow together as warriors for Christ so we can fight this battle here on the island together.




     The rest of the week we had been busy changing oil in the car, changing spark plus in the car;I
have gone to Auto Zone about 5 times and Home Depot to get tools and material for the car. However, God did send Victor in my path. He is a young man that works at Auto Zone. I have been there so many times he already remembers who I am and what kind of car I have!!! He just moved here a month ago from Florida (USA). I gave him our ministry card and invited him to our Men's Bible Study on Tuesday nights. Pray he calls and joins us!  I went to to the school to drop of my police report and reference letters for the job there. That looks promising!!! Then we spent some time together as a family had some adventure days. Traveling up the coast to see what we could see. Spent an afternoon at the Indian caves and just hanging out. It has been so much fun hanging out this much as a family.


    
     Tonight we went to a Christmas Fair at the school. The kids all met new friend, and of course did not want to leave!!! We are so thankful for that. We will be attending Inglesia Neuvo Testimento in Maniti for now. We know a lot of people there and that is where Blake and Dallas' new friends go to. The church translates into English!!! Bridgers friend does not go to this church.


The bugs here are nuts. Our entire bodes are covered with bites. Praise Jesus they only itch. So far we have had lizards, fire ants, sugar ants, flys, spiders, mosquito's and who knows what else in our house. We are becoming accustomed to bring bug spray with us where ever we go.


There is so much more but the kids want to share that tomorrow. For now they are in bed. We have had many funny moments, mostly at the expense of myself. Hey I do what I can!


Some things I am learning-


     It is hard to explain really. God is really slowing me down. I am experiencing God in a way I never knew existed. Miracles literally happen every day!!! I am learning to just live in the presence of God. That everything is in Gods timing and all I have to do is rest in him and he will lead me. Back home I felt so much pressure to perform a certain way or to do this or to do that when it comes to ministry. Here, I just feel free to let go and let God. No pressure, just live in the presence of God. It is so peaceful and refreshing. I cannot explain it really. The only way I can picture it is like this. Go out side on a fresh Spring day, maybe just after a nice rain the night before, see all the bright flowers, blue sky, and smell the freshness in the air. That is what every day feels like. So refreshing. Its like God is physically with me all the time whispering in my ear, "Slow down and rest in me, let me do the work, just relax and enjoy my presence." Needless to say, God is working on my heart and changing me. I have been very very humbled, realizing that nothing is like it seems and I have little to no control over what God has planned for us.
Ye-haw its gonna be a bumpy ride!!!!!! God God!




     Thanks again for all your support. Our blog is at over 1800 hits! Thank you Jesus. 
Hopefully the kids have time to write on here tomorrow. For now, good night.






Oh Ya Prayer requests.
Please pray for our fellow brothers and sister who are part of Epic Redemption back home. They are experiencing some heavy warfare right now.
Pray for our fellow brothers and sisters in Honduras as there is a group from Ridge Point their right now.
Pray for the churches here in PR
Pray for my friend Dave who has a daughter who is sick with cancer. Pray for complete healing and for peace.
Pray for Pastor Leo as he is writing a book about Grace.
And pray for anything else the Lord lays on your heart.


Love you all!!! God bless and good night.

Good Times, Good Friends, Good God

Today is our 14th anniversary!! Blake said wow that is a long time to be married. I said, it doesn't seem like it at all. Who would a thunk 14 years later we would be here, doing this? Not I that is for sure! Not by a long shot. 

Our first Sunday here as a family. We were not able to get to church because we do not get our car until today. However, we did watch the Ridge Point service from last week online. I am so grateful for that service the Ridge Point offers.

I needed to get out to get a few things so I called Armando to see if he could come pick me up. He came over with his wife, Janet and their two girls, 9mo old and 5 years old. So while Armando, Blake and myself ran out Jennifer and Janet stayed home and got to know each other. Bridger played with their 5 year old. They were playing with Bridgers farm toys and she was helping Bridger say the names in Spanish and Bridger was helping her say them in English. Once we got home, they also stayed for dinner, we had BBQ chicken and rice. Our first meal in our toaster oven and it worked great! Praise Jesus!

After dinner we hung out for a while here and got to know each other better. Janet was teaching Bridger Spanish, he was all over it. Believe it or not, I held the baby and she even fell asleep while I was holding her. Jennifer now calls me the baby whisperer. LOL

Armando is a Police Officer, he is an investigator for robberies. Bridger thinks that is pretty cool.

It looks like God is leading me to start a men's Bible study at our house. We may be meeting this week. I brought the idea up to Armando and he said he would want to join! It may be just him and I and Blake to start but hey we gotta start someplace right? It’s pretty crazy what God will do with us when we are just willing to do it. I never thought in a million years that I would be having a Bible study at our house in Puerto Rico! It is pretty cool though.

Jennifer's uncles, sisters husband is picking me up today to go get the registration and stuff for the truck. It will be so nice to have wheels! Then we can go to church, go grocery shopping, and go to friends and families homes all on our own!

Blake wants to get back to fishing and the beach. He said he would like to start a fishing ministry! He wants to talk about Jesus while fishing. Jennifer said he could call it "Fishers of Men" I think that is really really awesome.

Prayer request

Blake has full sinuses and a nasty cough. His body is adjusting not as well as the rest of us. Pray for a fast healing.
Pray for our Spanish skills to improve fast


Pray that God gives us wisdom and discernment as we start this journey spreading the gospel.


Pray for open hearts and minds here in PR. Not just those we talk to but ours as well.


Pray for my brothers and one sister that always comes to Epic Redemption in Holland, MI those guys and girl are fighting the same battle at home.


Pray for unity in the church, both here in PR and back in Michigan. As the gospel spreads and the Holy Spirit lights hearts on fire, the devil wants to deceive! Pray against that deception. It is not our church but God's church. When we become focused on "our people, and our church" we lose sight of Jesus. It is all about Jesus guys, all about Jesus. If the Lord leads me to change the heart of one person here in PR than I did exactly what God wanted me to do. If I try to get ahead of God....well look what happened to Abraham or any other person that tried to do Gods will on their own.

Sometimes we do not understand, and God's will seems to go against what we want or think should happen. That is why he is God and we are not. God knows what is best for His kingdom. When we are focused on Gods kingdom and Jesus Christ we will not step out of Gods will and we will accept whatever God does. However, when we are focused on what we are doing for God and how we are making and impact and how we do this or that, we can easily step outside of Gods will and get frustrated, mad, jealous, angry and many other things, even at other Christians and churches. Which goes totally against what Jesus prayed about in John 17.

Well that is all for now. Talk you all later.

What a Blessed Day

Today God provided us a washing machine and a car!!!! And yesterday we got our fridge! Cold water never tasted so good! It is amazing what we took for granted in our cozy little life back in Hamilton.

Armando, a friend I have made here picked me up this morning to go look at a washing machine. People from his church gave him $100 to put towards a washer for us, so we only had to pay $75!

God is good! He shared with me that he really admires what our family has done and is doing. He talked about it with his wife last night. It is so cool so see this impact already. I was able to share more of what we are doing and why! Talking about Jesus driving through the mountains.....priceless.

Jennifer's aunt, cousin and his girls came over today as well and spent a few hours with Jenn while I was gone. It was so nice that they could come over. Dallas ended up leaving with them and will be there until Monday or Tuesday, we don't get our car until Monday. I can't wait to show you all pictures, it is pretty much awsome!

I'm finally done with school until March so that will give us time to get settled in here. 

God is providing so much it is just great! We are growing closer as a family too. Which is needed, in times like this especially. 

-This is Blake Talking-

It's been fun here while I've been here so far. God has been helping our family with everything because we just got a car which is nice to get around and go and spread the gospel. So far I've been fishing,swimming,basketball ETC. My family and I have been staying here in our house for two days without a car. My dad is finally done with school for 3 months which is nice because we can hang out as a family more.GOD IS GOOD just please pray for us because it is tough to leave all of our stuff at home and our friends.

-This is Bridger talking-        I caught two lizards. I SAW A SNAL, FUNNY. I am haveing an awesome time. Aer family came over today. My dad said I love you John in spainish I thought it was funny. I was saying hi to a boy he was .....starring at me.  Hopefully I see him again soon.  We went to the beach yesterday and I was swimming in the water and the big waves were crashing on me. We got a new car and its sort of rusty. it is raining out right now. good bye...write me soon.

 

Lizards, waves, dogs,blessings, Gods hand and so much more....

Good evening every one it has been a couple days. With Jennifer and the kids getting here yesterday afternoon, we have been very busy. The kids rooms are all set up and we have almost everything we need for the house. We get our fridge tomorrow! Praise Jesus!! Someone gave it to us!!
Jennifer has done a load of laundry in the sink already because we do not have a washer yet.
The van we were using, we do not have anymore so we are currently without a car. My dad just sold our truck back in Michigan so that is a huge blessing.
Today I did some school work. Took my last two tests and have a couple assignments to do tomorrow then I am done until March!!!!
We ran to Walmart to return some shelves we had bought, all three were broken. We picked up some dry food that does not need to go into the fridge and Jennifer made her first meal. Rice, Gondolas and Chicken. She used a rice cooker for the first time, it was amazing!
Earlier this afternoon we went to the beach. Blake fished off of the pier. He caught nothing but we did see fish jumping which was cool. We also met Nefty, a local who fished there 3-4 times a week and catches almost every time. He is a nice older man. I know we will meet again. Bridger had a blast playing in the water. Jenn made a new friend, a little black puppy. He was cute. No he did not come home with us. Once we left that spot we went to another beach to watch the waves. God sent us a nice family who told us not to go into the water there because the waves are very strong today and we could get pulled in. 10-12 foot waves. We were talking and found out that they are Christians too. They invited us to go to the beach with then after church on Sunday. I hope we are able to meet up.Lord willing we will be able to.


-This is Bridger now-
I caught two lizards and put them outside. I went to the park with mom and Blake and Dallas and found a dog. I pet it and it was really nice. I had lots of fun. We meet a few people too. Today it rained out a little. I played with basketballs today too. We also watched the movie Frozen.I went to the beach and played in the waves while my dad and brother went fishing.


-Back to John-


It is truly amazing to see God hand in everything. As we walk out this life of faith we start to see Gods hand in literally everything. From people giving us everything we need to an open parking spot at the post office. Living through faith is truly amazing. More intense than I have ever experienced. God is so close all the time. When you have very little you start to become thankful for EVERYTHING. I mean I thought I was living in faith before we came here.....
The love of Jesus is so physical you can literally feel it! I cannot explain it but it is intense. It feels like a rush of fresh air and moves you to tears.
God is humbling me very much. I am realizing more and more every day that this life I have been given is not mine to control and the timing of everything is in Gods hands. Even today my flesh was worried about a car and ours not selling. Then we sold ours. We will get our next one when God sees fit for us to need a car. Until then, we live life in our community, in our house, and on our street. God has us right where he wants us and we just have to live in that moment and see how we can glorify God right where we are.
We, as a family are learning to adjust to eating less, taking shorter showers, using less light and learning to live on, literally our daily bread. Huh, funny. Kind of what Jesus calls us to do...should of tried this sooner!!!!
God has slowed us way down, is teaching us to worry about nothing, showing us what truly matters and is guiding our life everyday.
This has been a truly amazing adventure so far, God has used our blessing to show others here in the island the power of Jesus, even pastors!!!! There is power in the name of Jesus and when you call upon him and truly know that God has promised us things, life just becomes.....WHOA.....AMAZING! All because of Jesus!
Good night more later!
Thanks for the prayers we love you all!!!

Sureal Experiance

Wow, sorry I missed the post last night. It was 11:30 before we got home.


Sunday night we went to a church in Jayuya, that is int he mountains....way up in the mountains. I was not sure what to expect. As we are driving through the winding roads, the starts a distant sound of singing.  I starts out faint at first, then the whole van breaks out in song! Now I could not understand every word, but I could make out, Jesus, Holy Spirit, God and love. I could feel the Holy Spirit in their voices. As I sat smushed against the window, I could not help but notice the beauty. The rock, trees, flowers, for, birds chirping and was so amazing to be basking in Gods creation. The it hit me....like a ton of bricks and I could not help but smile and laugh. Its like God spoke to me and said, "John, you are living it, you are doing what i have been preparing you and your family for and what you and your family and friends have been talking abut for so long. All those nights a Epic Redemption talking about those who go into the world spreading the gospel, the he videos and films watched and books read. Quotes, quoted and the desire to do the same. John you and your family are now those people! All those talks with Jennifer and the kids about knowing I am going to send you someplace but you just didn't know where. I have sent you to the mountains on a tropical Island in the middle of the Caribbean sea so spread the good news of Jesus Christ!"  Whoa....that is epic! I had to  laugh with pure joy.


God has been so faithful with my prayer for guys to walk life out with here in Puerto Rico. He has been sending me some pretty amazing friends. There is even a big strong dude like Mike Gruppen. LOL
His name is Tony and he helped me move some stuff last night, along with Pastor Leo and Issac. The dude picked up the couch like it was toy. HAHA....oh the little things God gives us.


We accomplished so much yesterday. We got our PO Box, electric, water, lease signed, most large items moved into the house and even had time for coffee. Thank You Jesus!!


Riding with Issac last night he shared with me some local info that is good to know, like, if it is past 11pm and you are alone at  stop light, don't stop just come to a slow down. He showed me where the "Bad Ghetto" is, cant wait to become friends and talk abut Jesus with some people who live there. During the day of course. ;)


Today is the last day for me to get stuff for the house and finish the big stuff. Gotta go for now more later.


Oh...prayer request
Pray for the job at the school for me, I will be talking with them today, Lord willing at some point. We still  need a car, pray for Gods chosen car shows it self tome today or tomorrow. Pray for pastor Leo and his family as they have blessed us so much and too are living by faith. Pray for my new friends, Issac, Rebbecca, Isabel, Edna,Tony, Armando, Eldwin,Viviana,George and those I will continue to meet.
Some unspoken prayers for myself. Just not sure how word it.
Thanks everyone, love ya!

Eventful Sunday

Today was very... Eventful

There is much more I wish to share about today but  using my phone because my computer broke today.

I Met George today at church, he speaks only English and has been here for 36 years. He has a cool story.

Met Edwin and Viviana at church today as well.

They are coming over this weekend to take Jennifer shopping! Well Viviana that is.

I used a Translation radio at church this morning, first time for everything.

I ordered our PO Box

Then the computer broke, the space key stopped working. Sweet!!

Then we went to the mountains for a church service tonight, what a blast! There was singing in the van ride (16 people, whom of 2 I knew, in a 15 passenger van) as we drove by houses and picked people up, some seemingly off the street, but it was awesome!

Once to the church we went back for more people living in a really poor area.

This church mainly is maid up of people living in very poor conditions with no transportation.

Driving by houses honking to let people know we are here for them.

Helped a lady into the van with only one foot who could barely move.

The church had me share what we are doing here from stage.

Pastor Wilson gave me a great word from God! I cried.

Not to mention all the great food. The food here is amazing. I ate rabbit for lunch.

I'm sure I missed some things but wanted to at least get some in. I'm exhausted so I'm going to sleep now. More to come.

Blood, Sweat and Tears....Ok just sweat :)

Wow our blog is at over 1000 hits, either I am a really good writer or God is working....I know what one it is. :)


So today was a hard working day. I started of the day by leaving the house without eating. Angeles and their daughter Rebbecca showed me where the dollar store was so I could get some cheap cleaning supplies. I picked up a mop,cleaner, broom, trash bags and an array of other things. After purchasing those I stopped by a little food stand to get some breakfast and met Nelson. I ordered in Spanish, at least what I could. The he said, "You can speak English if you want to." I have never been so thankful to speak English!! I had to work through all store transactions today in Spanglish. I was not pretty, but God got me through and I left with the items I needed!!!! YAY!


I stopped back by the Salvation Army in Arecibo and met the pastor their, Pastor Jorge. He knows of a family leaving the island and is giving all their things away. He is going to see if he can get in contact with them for us. Pray he can.
The store it self is super small, I would not even call it a store. The Holland Salvation Army is like the RiverTown Mall compared to this place.


During by driving around I almost hit a dog. I slammed on my brakes, missed the dog, but the car next to me bumped it. The dog is ok....I think.


I got to our house and met our next door neighbors, Alice and Oscar. A nice older couple. They spoke a little English, and let me use their water to fill up my bucket for cleaning. I mopped the floors, dusted, put a Bridgers bed together and weed whacked the yard, that is until I ran out of weed whacker string. We have a side walk going from the house to the street sidewalk, you could not even see it, it was overgrown. However, buying cheap is not the way to go. They have a saying here for that but i forget. My broom handle busted as I was sweeping the driveway, the "Heavy Duty" trash bags are less than heavy duty. So I have to buy the good stuff I guess.


Just so you all know, there is a down side to all this heat.....you sweat a lot, get prickers stuck to your legs because you are wearing shorts and need to drink water all the time! LOL :) No, really I feel so blessed to be sent here. God is good.


The van I am driving seems to have a loose motor mount. It shakes like crazy when you are going up hill and pushing the gas. Looks like they are going to need to get that fix. Pray for Leo and Angeles, they have been having lots or car issues. Pray that season in their life is over.


For lunch I went to Martins BBQ Chicken, Half a chicken and Plantanos for under $7, easily feeds 2 kids, maybe even two adults if your not super hungry, I brought some back home! And it is amazing!!! Ordered all by myself too :) Spanglish again but I'm learning. The lady behind the counter was yelling "Next in line" in Spanish...I completely ignored her...that is until she yelled it in English. LOL She was sweet, and you should of saw her face when I told her we just moved here. HAHA
I think that will be my go to food joint for a little.


I got back to Leo and Angeles house for dinner and their other daughter was here, she just flew in from California, and a friend was here too, oh and Angeles mom, Leo and their other two kinds. It was a full house. I love that!!!!


After dinner Leo and Angeles had to leave to go to a funeral. A member of their church passed away. I took an hour nap and then did some school work.


Over all it has been a busy, blessed day.


Please pray for my worries about a car and stuff to pass. I know God already has what we need, we just need to find it. I know I need not worry. But pray the worry stays out. I do not want to make a hasty decision just because we are in need. I need God to provide for us not us provide for us.


There still is no power or water at our house. Pray that we can get that turned on ASAP!!!
Christmas has started here already so there are literally parties all the time. Celebrations start the day after Thanksgiving until the middle of January. It basically is a two month party. Meaning, the people at these companies car more about the Christmas activities than work right now. Pray that God puts an urgency in their hearts for us.


Well, I guess that is all for the day. Thank you for the prayers and continued support.

Today's Adventure

Tonight post won't be long, just short and to the point. I'm still processing all God is doing.

I traveled around the island by myself today. It was an adventure. Missed a couple exits, made some u-turns, followed GPS just to find out that it took me out of the way to get to a spot I could have just turned right to. It was fun. 

I dropped off some stuff and our house, stopped by some stores, missed lunch ( maybe because I was a little scared to order in Spanish, maybe) met with Pastor Efron from The CenterChurchPR in Dorado. He is an awesome guy and cannot wait to get to know him more. 

They also had a matteress for us so as of right now we have 3 beds, 4 frames, a couch, and a love seat and I have not spent a dime!!!! 

Came home and had dinner with Pastor Leo and Angeles, talked for hours with Pastor Leo and took a nice long walk with him too. That was time for him to talk and feed into my life. It was great!!!!

Tomorrow I will be sweeping the house and cleaning up our yard.

Going to the store in the morning to get some supplies and hopfully getting some school work done later.

It has been a long day, but a good day.

Now I'm gonna put on some Home Alone and fall asleep. Talk to tall later.

Overwhelming day

Wow, what a day!
I arrived in San Juan at 1:25pm today. Our new home. Wow that is weird to say. So much happened today!!! But lets Start with Monday.
As of Monday we had planned on winterizing our home while we are here and no concrete place for our dog to go. We wanted so badly to bless someone with our home but the three people we offered it to could not use it for one reason or another. So we just put it out of our head.
We were at a friends house for dinner Monday night when Jennifer got a text. "I saw on your blog that you guys are leaving soon. What are you doing with you house?"
Jenn responded, "Winterizing it and letting it sit. Why, is there a need?"
Response, "Yes and immediate need!"
So, Tuesday we sat down at Sweet D's cafe in Hamilton, which I am going to miss dearly mind you, and heard her story. We could see the love of Jesus in her smile and her eyes.
 The Lord said, "Let them stay in your house." So, we now are able to bless this mother and her two children with a home!!!!!! Praise God. On top of that, they are going to keep our dog at our house and watch her for us!!!! Praise God again!!!
So now to today!
It all started on the plane ride to Baltimore. God kept a seat and baggage spot open for me five rows from the front. I was almost the last on the plane. I sat next to a couple from Rockford, MI. We started talking and I was able to share my testimony with them and what God is doing in our life.
(Back up about 3 hours) I had forgotten to get cash out of ATM. Fast forward to plane ride.
So Dave, this the name of the brother sitting next to me says this, " I accidentally made my tithe check out for less than I wanted this week..." OK pause, when does that ever happen? Like never right. So he said this, " I want to give you the remainder of the amount I was planning on Giving." Crazy right?
Then a lady in front of us overheard us talking. (I sometimes talk loud in airplanes on purpose. If I'm gonna talk about Jesus on an airplane the whole plane might as well hear about him. ;) )She leans back and says, "Hey did I see you on TV talking about a walk to DC.?" Yup that was me.
"Did you say you wrote a book? Do you have a copy? I want one and I will buy it from you."
So I sold her a book too. So I got on a plane with $4 and walked of with $64. Who needs an ATM when you got Jesus? LOL
And that's only plane ride number one!
I wont go into all the details for plane ride number two but now that God had used someone to bless me, he decided to use me to bless someone else. Again I am right up front after being almost the last on the plane. I was reading my Bible and the lady across the isle said, "Is that your Bible?"
"I do not like plane rides, I'm not really a good flier, I see your Bible and know that you are a Christian, God sent you here for me because I feel at total peace now." What!!!! I was just sitting there reading my Bible and that brought her peace? Wow what power does the Word have that we don't even know about? Amazing.


So, Angeles picks me up and we went right to the Salvation Army to look for stuff for the house. We found a couple mattresses for $50 so tomorrow, Lord willing I am getting those. Then we went and looked at the house. WOW!!! God is good. We could not ask for anything better. A/C in every room, two bathtubs, (we jokingly asked God for those, he gave them to us). It is as close to perfect as you can get. It is such a cute place. I cannot wait for people to come visit.


Then, we get a couch, love seat and DVD player given to us!!!!
God is good!!!
More updates tomorrow.


So I'm off to sleep now. It has been a long day and it is a busy one tomorrow.


Please keep the prayers coming. I love you all.

Because it is never Good Bye.

     This past week has been full of dinner dates and fellowship with friends and family. We feel so loved by all of the invites for our family to come and spend evenings with your families as we say, "See you later." Because it is never good bye. We have experienced warm hugs, nights at the movies, game nights, hot tub talks, hot dinners, and lots of love from so many of you. As we prepare for this adventure, we are praying for God to bring us families just like yours for us to be blessed by and for us to bless.
     So much of what we do lies in our relationships with others. Without those relationships with each of you and those we will meet, life seems somewhat pointless. I mean, how are we to share the love of Jesus without relationships like so many of you have shown to us?
     Jesus prayed to God for unity in the body, for us to become one like Jesus is one with God. This is a call for relationships. For us to be one, for the purpose of Gods Glory, we must be in relationship with others. All of the relationships we have here mean the world to us and the kingdom.


      On another note- Our house looks like a bomb went off inside. There is bags, clothing, and anything else you can think of everywhere! Trying to figure out what to bring when you only can take 2 -50lb pieces of luggage per person is harder than you may think. And you probably already think it is hard.
What pictures, wall decor, personal mementos, books, DVDs, clothing, sheets, pots, dishes and the list goes on, do we bring?


-We have found a home for our dog! Praise Jesus. Some great friends of ours said they would take her, and even just watch her for us if we can end up shipping her down at some point. What a blessing. Thanks guys, you know who you are.


     We were blessed this past Sunday to be able to share our mission with Lake Shore House of Prayer. We always love going into that church and sharing what God is doing. They are so welcoming and loving. I thank God for them often.
     We were also blessed to have some great friends pray for our family from Ridge Point Community Church Sunday afternoon. What a blessing to have their support too.


Well, that's is for now. The next time you see a post, it will probably be from Puerto Rico. Talk to ya later.

Language barrier challenges...

Well, change of address to USPS submitted, all local bills changed to email. As of Dec 9th all mail will be forwarded to our address in Arecibo,Puerto Rico.

We have already exprianced one challenge with the language barrier. And we are not even there yet. This whole time we thought we knew where our house was. That is until I went to submit our change of address form and the urbanization I input did not exist. (Spelling error in original text. Auto correct changed it from Spanish to English) For those we told or used Google Earth to show you, we were wrong, I think. It seems we are much closer to the city than originally thought. So to be honest, we have only an idea of where we are going to be living. I guess we really won't know until we walk in the front door. 

This is only one of many challenges we will have as we learn the language and culture. 

Let the adveture begin. 

Praise Report!!!

Some more great news!!!


Pastor Efron from The CenterChurchPR has found a couple options for cars for us when we get down to Puerto Rico. Both in the price range we are looking at!!!!
www.thecenterchurchpr.com


Jennifer also found a couple second hand stores in Aricebo! I wasn't sure there were many down there and there are two in the town we are living in! I cannot wait to go shopping there and see what God provides for us.


God also provided another $500 last night!!! We are so thankful for God's provision and the support of local churches, friends and family.


We almost have all the luggage we need. God has provided cheap quality luggage and amazing friends who have graciously donated luggage to us. Thank you God!


We have our police reports done and printed out for possible employment at the Christian Academy in Manati. Please keep praying that I get this job, it would be a huge blessing.

Finacial Support Update

After spending some time with Pastor Lloyd from Seven Hills Church we have decided on the best way to handle tax deductible financial support.
If you would like to claim any financial support, including monthly support, on your taxes please send it to:


Seven Hills Church
c/o Hoogeveen Missions
661 East 24th Street #100
Holland, MI 49423


Checks written out to Seven Hills Church
Hoogeveen Missions written in the memo spot.


If tax deduction is not a concern for you or you only use credit or debit cards you can financially support this mission by going to, www.donationto.com/matthew-28-missions
This account is directly linked to our Paypal account.


If you have any questions please contact us. Thank you for your support.

Blessed and Packing up

(John posting)

Well, I'm all packed up for the most part and we have received 1300 unexpected dollars over the past two day! What a blessing!!! Thank you God for your provision and love.

One carry-on full of school books, Bibles an other books....check

One check bag full of clothing( no winter coats, boots, hats or gloves 😊) ...check

One check bag full of house hold items including family pictures, basic hand tools  ,and Puerto Rican espresso maker...check. (Gotta have the essentials you know.)

I leave next week. This is getting real y'all!

Cliff Jumping

Some great things happend today.

First we visited some family friends before John leaves.

Then we went to Dick's Sporting Goods and bought Blake a telescoping fishing pole so he can pack a pole in his bag.

The we went back to our friends house for the rest of the day and had lunch and dinner with them. We will miss them dearly.

Once we got home I went to get mail and there was a $500 check in the mail! God is good and is providing! 

It feels like we are jumping off a cliff and God is at the bottom holding out his hand! So epic, so amazing, so freeing. Wanna jump with us?

The Tools God Gives

We are here to bring glory to God. This means, when we experience hurt, that too is to be used to bring God glory. Often times when we are hurt we ask God to take away the pain or anger we have. Sometimes, ok a lot of the time, we even ask God why. Why this or why that. What if we asked, how?

How God can I use this to bring you glory? 

What I believe will happen, and Im pretty sure there is biblical references to back it up, is that God will show us. Not only that, God will take the hurt and turn it into a tool to use to relate with others.

God revealed to me that because of something I experienced, I now have a tool to use when I get resistance from those who have experienced the same thing. I can show them that just because we experienced this doesent mean it changes who Jesus is or how much he loves us. Just because man does something dosen't mean that represents Jesus.

Jesus is so much bigger than we know. We can never be just like Jesus, but we can work towards becoming more and more like him. But when man messes up, and he will, we have to understand that humans are not Jesus, no matter how much they know or how much they love Jesus. Man will always let us down. Jesus never will.

So next time you are hurt ask God, "How?"

God is getting ready to give you a new tool.

Casting Crowns - Jesus, Friend of Sinners

This song by Casting Crowns speaks so much into the truth of what we are called to do and who JESUS is. Enjoy.

This is one of Jennifer's personal favorites.

This is Discipleship

This video is the video we share with churches when we talk about what God has called us to. When we first saw this video it spoke to our hearts and our mission as Christians. I hope you are blessed with this video like we were.

New Address

We got our new mailing address today. If you would like it please let us know.

Online Funding Site Correction

Our online funding site was mis-spelled. The correct address is

www.donationto.com/Matthew-28-missions

One Way Ticket

Well here we go....tickets are bought. I leave on December 4th and will be spending 6 days with Pastor Leo and Angeles. We will be working on getting details taken care of and getting the house set up. Jennifer and the kids will be coming down December 10th.
We have be blessed with an opportunity to get some of what we need for the house from a sister who is moving to Houston and will be selling her things. I have been asked to get a background check and refernces for the job at the church school in Manati. We are praying through this and ask you to join us.

The following is John sharing from his personal perspective. 

     I would be lying if I said my emotions are not high right now! This is all so very overwhelming. I know we are safe with Jesus and God will provide all our needs, however this is a huge leap of faith.
This is probably the hardest, yet most exciting thing I have ever done.
I try to be strong because I feel I have to be. But the honest truth is I am not strong enough to do this without Jesus. There is no way without Him I will make it. Now I’m not saying this because I am afraid but rather the opposite. I know with Jesus there is no fear, and fear has no place here! In fact, I don’t even want to do this on my own, I’m not that good; without Jesus I am helpless. We are safe in his arms and he has this all under control.  I just want to be transparent with you all. It is easier for me to share in writing than in spoken words.  Personally I write to get out what is inside. My personal posts will be very transparent about what I am personally experiencing.
     I cannot say what Jennifer or the kids will share. Just know that when I write it is coming from me and not necessarily the whole family unless otherwise stated. I want them to share what they want to share about their own journey.

On another note,
We have set up a way for those who are led to support our mission financially to be able to do it online.
You can go to the following link: www.donationto.com/Mattew-28-Missions
We are working on a way to connect this to Seven Hills so your support can be tax deductible. As of right now they are not unless a check is sent to Seven Hills.

 That’s all for now. More to come.....way more to come! To God be the glory.

"...go and make disciples..." (Jesus)

 

 

Great News Coming Soon

Well, God continues to show up. We got some information tonight we are sorting through. We will be able to share more details tomorrow. 

Received a phone call from Pastor Leo and Angeles in Puerto Rico tonight. They had some good news about the job we have been praying about for John. There is also good news about getting some much needed items for the house.

The Holland Sentinel called tonight to get more info on our trip. There should be a story running soon.

John was able to sit down with a new friend and amazing man of God, DJ, from the Band Doran Robin today and talk about possible future ministry opportunities. This man is truly anointed and has an amazing love for Jesus! 

They will be in concert at Seven Hills Church Nov. 29th for a Christmas show. You have got to hear these guys. And, its free!!! 661 East 24th Street Holland MI.

Thats all for tongiht.

Jesus prayed for unity

This is John posting.

Over the past couple years God has been leading me to unity. This has been something I have been lead away from over the past few months by distractions of the world. God has been highlighting it again and is leading me into studying unity and what that looks like. John 17 is an amazing piece of Gods word. Here, Jesus is praying to God, yes Jesus praying to God for unity within the church. But that is not what struck me. What struck me is why Jesus was praying that prayer. In vs. 1 Jesus states is his prayer to God,

"Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your son may glorify you."

Jesus knew that the whole purpose of his life and death was to bring God glory. We are to be unified as a church so God is glorified. With that being said, if we are not unified in Christ Jesus, God is not glorified!

I think this may be why God is leading us to relational missions in Puerto Rico. Without relationships how can we be unified as a church? If we are going to fulfill the Great Commission, we need to be unified Church!

I was asked today, "Unified in what?" To that I responded with, "Unified in Jesus." Paul said, I may not know much but I do know Christ crucified and that is what I am going to preach. (paraphrased)
We need to know that as the church we can differ on most things. But we must be unified in Christ crucified, died, buried, arose from the dead and ascended into heaven.

We are the body of Christ. Each one playing a different role, reaching different people. If the arm acted like the foot we would not get very far with eating. We must recognize that God has designed each of us uniquely different, playing uniquely different roles. This may mean that we may differ on our view of baptism, communion, prayer, fasting, spiritual gifts and so one, and that is ok(as long as its not counter biblical). But we cannot differ on our view of Jesus Christ.

Lets unify the church in Jesus and fulfill the great commission together!

Board Meeting In Puerto Rico

Today John got a text from Pastor Leo. They are having a board meeting with the church school in Manati. Pastor Leo and Angeles will be talking to them about the possible job opportunity for him. Please pray for this meeting.

The Journey is about to begin.

A journey starts with one step at a time. Yesterday was a big step on this journey to Puert Rico. God blessed us so much through all of those that came out to support our ministry of  discipleing through relationships. Our fundraiser was a success now on to setting a date to leave.

Some things we missed in sharing last night. John will hopefully be working part time with Pastor Leo's church school doing maintenance work. This is something we are praying about and ask you to do as well. John will remain a full time student at Liberty University studying for his degree in religion. Jennifer will be home schooling the kids which is a whole new adventure in and of itself.

Some immediate needs are going to be: A car, furniture, appliances, income for rent $550/mo.

For those who were not able to make it out to our fundraiser last night and feel led to financially us, you can send your support to Seven Hills Church. Checks made out to Seven Hills Church. Please write Hoogeveen Missions in the memo.
Seven Hills Chuch
c/o Hoogeveen Missions
661 East 24th st. #100
Holland, MI 49423

We are working on a streamline way for people to give monthly.

From here on out this journey begins for you. We hope to share our joy, struggles, laughter, pain, new relationships, and growth with all of you. Not so you see what we are doing but so that God is glorified through us.
We know this is going to be amazing in more ways than one and we are honored to have you with us.
We cannot wait to hear your stories of how you saw God glorified through this ministry.
Our eyes are on JESUS, as we walk into this bold new adventure.
We love you all and cannot wait to share more with you.