Expanding our Territory

Hello from the Hoogeveen’s,    

     Moving here to Puerto Rico as missionaries has been tough. Maybe not in the way most people think, nonetheless it has been tough. Prior to moving here, and getting down and dirty when it comes to mission work I had a vision of a missionary; I mean how can I not. There are TV commercials with a gentle looking man with a grey beard and a soft, humble voice, holding starving children asking for our help. We see movie stars doing the same thing. There are mission organizations all over the world posting pictures of starving children, no clean water, thatch roof homes and no modern technology.  The images of dry dirty land and sewer plagued slop pits fill our minds when we hear the word missionary. The image of the mission field is practically forced upon us. Now, do not misunderstand me, all this and more is truth and needs the help from the Christian Church. We are not to neglect those in these conditions. Africa, Haiti, China and many other places need Jesus and they need missionaries. However, God has not called us to those places.  He has called us to the Caribbean. A visual paradise where just in the town we live in seeing Maserati’s, Porches and Ferraris are becoming normal to see. The land here is beautiful. 300 miles of public beach area, palm trees, sun and tropical breeze. Those starving here are starving by choice. The reality is, there is very little need in the Caribbean in comparison to most areas where missionaries go. As you can imagine, we have had people question our motive, question the reason we are here. People have even questioned if we are here because of God. This has been hard. There has been days where I feel guilty for being here. Then God tells me, “I sent you so stop feeling guilty.”  That takes the guilt away for a while but when the next comment is made it comes right back. Which got me thinking…Why is it that people don’t understand why we are here? What is the draw to those “other” mission fields? I don’t hear people telling those I know who go to Africa and Haiti the things we hear? Actually, we see so much financial support to those who go there. We are so thankful for that and for them, but we have to wonder, why is it so hard to get people to support what we do here? Then the Lord did something while we were meeting with Julian. He opened my eyes and my heart to the issue. The thing is giving material things and building physical things are relatively simple and there is a visible finished product or the feeling of doing good. But is that what missions is all about? What about the broken, the lost, the Christ-less nations of the wealthy? What about the beauty and the splendor God has created? Do these areas not need Jesus? Are these areas not spiritually bankrupt?  Does God’s Word not say that money is the root of all kinds of evil? Does God’s Word not say that it is hard for a rich man to enter heaven? Why then is it so hard to go to the places where the rich are? Why then is it so difficult to see people living where the monetarily wealthy but spiritually bankrupt live, for the sake of the gospel?

I was challenged to read Matthew 25:35-40. I was challenged to read and ask God what this says about the wealthy. Now as most of you know, this is seemingly not a verse about wealthy people who live on an island and drive Ferraris. However, The Lord gave me something I wish to share with you. As I was reading this scripture the Holy Spirit spoke to me and this is what He said.

“For when I was feasting and indulging on lobster and New York Strip, I was still hungry and your people have not come. When I was drinking the oldest wine and water so refined I was still thirsty and your people have not come. All people know me and respect me, yet I am a stranger and your people have not come. I wear Versace and Dior and yet I am naked, yet your people have not come. I drink $50 grass shakes every morning and visit the health spa daily, and yet I am sick and dying, yet your people have not come. My house is a fortress and I live my life in paradise, yet I am lonely and desire visitors and yet your people do not come.

 How then can my people answer, Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or naked and cloth you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?

Yet it is true that the Lord will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”

If we who have been called to the Caribbean do not answer this call who will? If because of beauty and riches we neglect this call, who will rescue the spiritually bankrupt of the Caribbean? Who will come to be persecuted, spit on, rejected, mocked, and laughed at? Who? If not us, then who? If not now, then when?

     The Lord has started to open doors we once only dreamed of. As many of you know our first year here came with a lot of ups and downs, zigs and zags. We were trying to find our place here on the island. The first 8 months was especially hard as we were all full of spit and vinegar ready to minister the entire island. We did all kinds of stuff from food handouts to the homeless, working with Hogar En Hacor (the girls home), and joining the leadership team at The Center Church Puerto Rico, among countless other things. All of which the Lord had us involved with for a short season for a specific purpose. We do however feel that we have made an impact in these areas and will continue to serve at The Center Church as our home church here and will continue to be connected with Four Hearts, which is the ministry that first came along side Hogar En- Hacor. Our role with Four Hearts however will be more defined and directed at what we have been called here to do, which is discipleship.

    Our first year here was chapter one of our story; chapter one being about relationships. The Lord knew that in order for us to be effective we needed relationships. We now know people, people know us and we have at least some sort of influence on the island now. People know we know people and know we will be here for a while. This has led us into the beginning of chapter two; Chapter two being Strategy. Ironically this has now led us to more, deeper relationships. We recently were introduced to Julian and Cindy by Julio and Stacy. Julio and Stacy are missionaries here in Cabo Rojo. Julian and Cindy are missionaries here in Mayaguez. Julian pastors Union Church which is where Julio and Stacy attend and minster at. Julian also does mission work in Haiti. Jacob and myself sat down with Julian two weeks ago and the Lord led us to partnering together to minister throughout the entire Caribbean. This has been a prayer Jennifer and I have been praying as it is something we felt the Lord telling us shortly after we arrived to Puerto Rico. Julian and Cindy have been on the island for 8 years and have seen a lot. Julian also grew up in the Virgin Islands and knows a ton about the spiritual makeup of the Caribbean. We have talked several times a week since then as we start to stratigize our next step. We knew, and shared this with several people when we moved to Puerto Rico, that PR was just a stepping stone to what God has in store for the ministry he has prepared for us. 

     Since our stepping down from leadership at CCPR, our personal discipleship ministry has hit hyper-drive. We are using the Three Thirds House Church Format from Pastor Briton at Moran Park. Checkout www.thehousechurch.org  which we will continue to implement here in Puerto Rico and elsewhere in the Caribbean as the Lord leads. Our good friend Danny, who is preparing to be a missionary at Grand Valley University, has been learning from me how to use the same format also. We have regular Skype meetings as I disciple him through the process. Danny too is seeing amazing results. The house church the Lord led us to start is seeing supernatural spiritual growth. Jacob was baptized two weeks ago and since then has shared with me that he feels the Lord calling him into missions. He has already started to share the gospel with his neighbors and is getting ready to launch a house church that we will be assisting with. Maricelle is being baptized on the 26^th of this month as well. Richard has been sharing the gospel at work and is seeing amazing personal growth too. I just finished up Rooted with the leadership at CCPR, they will now be opening up Rooted to the entire church! Rooted is a discipleship program that the Lord led Jennifer and I to bring to Pastor Efren at CCPR. We had gone through and led a group through Rooted at Ridge Point Community Church in Holland, Michigan. We are excited to see how the Lord uses Rooted at Pastor Efren’s Church. As far as our personal involvement with Rooted here, we are stepping out and letting Efren lead his church in the manner God has called him to lead it.

As we move into this next phase we ask that you partner with us in prayer as we look towards God for the next steps. Thank you for all of your support.

Do life, build life

Today our family was extremely blessed to go to El Yunque Rain Forest today with a family from Church. For us doing life is more than just knowing names or grabbing a bite to eat, it's actually living life with each other. How else are relationships supposed to grow? 

We were so blessed today. Today was more of a blessing for us than for those we were with today I think. The Lord is good.

Sunday Funday

Today at CCPR we had Morning of Worship. The entire service was dedicated to worship. It was amazing and powerful. Tears flowed as we worshiped in awe of our Lord. 

After church Bridger and I attempted to go to Old San Juan, there was a Circus Festival going on this weekend. We went to get on the ferry and the line was way to long. So Bridger decided that he wanted to go walk around Walmart and Walgreens instead. Hey you can't complain when your 9 year old just wants to go look at toys. I'm proud of him, he had 9 dollars and only bought one Hotwheels car and a Cadbury Egg. 

Now we are home relaxing, sitting on the hammock on the front porch while Bridger catches lizards and the other two are watching a movie. I am trying to motivate myself to finish up some homework. Tomorrow we will be gone all day with a family from church, we are going to El Yunque Rain Forest. 

Football, Rooted, Discipling and Downtime

Today was a good day. Blake had his final football game before the playoffs begin. His team The Dorado Spartens ended the regular season with one loss and rank 2nd. Today Blake made a touchdown and an interception. So proud of him.

After the game it was off to Rooted. Today's topic was finances. We had some great conversations about what Gods word says about them. 

Sherlyn of course made tacos. She is an amazing cook! 

Then I had an amazing conversation with a pastor/missionary who lives in Cabo Rojo, PR. We are meeting this Tuesday to talk about discipleship and what God is doing. 

Side note, Jennifer and I also watched Everest tonight. It's a great movie.

Well, I'm gonna try to post posts like this more often. I just need to get in the habit of it. 

Have a blessed night.

What good is knowledge if we don't use it?

     What is knowledge if you don't know how to use it? This seems to be an epidemic in the Church today. There are a lot of wonderful pastors teaching truth that must be taught. But we have to wonder, If there are great pastors teaching such great truths and churches are filled with people learning this truth, than why is the church declining and the gospel message so rejected? 

     There was this young man who wanted to play football, specifically he wanted to be a quarterback. So he studied football. He knew every play possible. He knew what equipment was needed and he even bought all the equipment. He bought the best money could by. He went to football conferences where the techniques were taught and learned from NFL greats. If you asked this young man anything about football, he could tell you. Stats, plays, rules...you name it. He then started to teach what he had learned. One day a young man came up to this now adult man and asked him a question. The question was, "Can you show me how to do what you are teaching?" There was a stunned silence. This man had never actually gotten on a field, no one ever actually demonstrated to him how to implement the knowledge he had learned. His response was, "I can teach you what I have learned." The young man walked away with his head looking down, he said, "No thank you, I actually want to play football.

     Church we need to stop learning so much and start doing. In the past 7-9 weeks we have been, not only learning from Pastor Britton, but actually implementing what we are being taught, as is Pastor Britton. What we have seen the Holy Spirit do in the past 6 week is amazing. Through simple obedience and action the gospel has gone out. More than that, there are brothers and sisters who six weeks ago were not saved or were saved but had never shared the gospel with anyone, accepting Christ, being baptized and sharing the gospel. But not only that ,they are actually discipling others to obey Gods Word!!!! 

     Since the Lord opened the door for us to start a house church we have been blessed to baptize one brother and have had a commitment to be baptized by another sister. This past Saturday Jacob was baptized into the body of Christ and on the 26th Maricell will be baptized as well. Mind you the house church consists of 10 people, that's including five children. The Holy Spirit is moving folks. Jacob has already started to speak into the life of others and is getting ready to start discipling. Richard and Maricell have shared the gospel at work and with family. When we put into action what we are taught and teach amazing things happen.

     I am so tired of hearing people talk the talk and not walking the walk. Being a Christian is not so much about the knowledge we have as much as it is how we use that knowledge. If we have all the knowledge but do not actually implement it ourselves is that love? I heard once that you do not truly know Jesus if you are not telling others about him. That seems pretty harsh, but I believe that is true. How can you personally know the creator of the universe, savior of our souls, the one who died and suffered for us, the one who gives us our blessings and not share Him with anyone? If you are a Christian, people what who you have! They may have had the wrong impression of who Jesus is and maybe have been taught some false information, but nonetheless, they want Jesus. I mean look at the world today. Everything everyone seems to be about is what Jesus offers, they just don't know Jesus offers it. Free Healthcare? Jesus is our healer. World Peace? Jesus gives that peace. Protection? Jesus offers protection. Pleasure? Who do you think created pleasure? Need I go on?

      Its our job to share that with the world. Its our job to share Jesus. Its your job to share Jesus. 

Matthew 28:16-20 Jesus teaches the disciples to go and make disciples. This a commission given to all followers of Jesus, ALL! But if we are not discipled and discipling, how can we obey the command of Jesus in Matthew 28?

     

     

     

Jake, post baptism😊

Edwin, a new friend from the homeless food hand out.

Ministry Update Jan 2016

     The past year has been a huge blessing. Upon entering the doors of The Center Church PR, in Dorado, PR, we knew that the Lord had led us there. The Holy Spirit filled us and we knew that CCPR was to be our church home while on the island. As we continued to attend service and serve in multiple areas we were asked to join the leadership team at CCPR. After praying about this and seeking what the Lord would have us do we accepted the invitation. Over the past year we have been blessed to serve in multiple avenues at CCPR. Our family has helped host a 70 person mission team from Tennessee, served at outreach events, served in children’s ministry, served Pastor Efren in facilities duties and we have worked with Pastor Efren and Monica to implement a duplicatable leadership and discipleship process at CCPR.  We are very excited that on Saturday January 23^rd I will be facilitating the leadership team at CCPR through a course called Rooted. This is a program that Jennifer and I have gone through and led at Ridge Point Community Church. Which was our home church for 12 years in Michigan. It had such an impact in our lives we had the desire to see others experience what the Lord does through this course. Rooted PR will be an 8 week course based on leadership and discipleship. The goal is to duplicate this into multiple small groups. There is much more that CCPR will be doing over the next year to focus on discipleship and spreading the gospel message. Rooted is just the beginning of an amazing 2016 year at CCPR. Both Jennifer and myself feel extremely blessed to be entrusted with the leadership of CCPR as we take them through Rooted, and we are excited to see God do amazing things through them.

     With all this being said, the Lord has been speaking to Jennifer and myself and has opened doors for us that we have been praying for over the past year.  Over the past year the Lord has allowed us to build relationships with many people. We knew when we moved here that discipleship was our main focus but we did not know exactly what this looked like.  Do we work exclusively with one church? Do we work with multiple churches? Do we even work with a church? Do we start our own ministry? These are all questions and prayers that we have had over the past year. During the past 5 months or so the vision of what the Lord has called us to do has gotten clearer and clearer almost by the day. It all goes back to what the Lord spoke to me while I was here in Puerto Rico in July of 2014. I was asking God what our ministry was to look like here. His answer was that we were to do ministry just as Jesus did ministry. Jesus did not have a ministry. He WAS the ministry. Jesus walked this earth and taught his disciples that their life was to be their ministry. Not ministry their life. At first this was hard for us to understand. But, as time has gone by we are seeing what that really means. When Jesus is your all, your life is a reflection of Jesus all the time. Not just in “ministry” but in everyday life. But what did this mean for us?  We are still not fully clear as I do not think we ever will be, and that’s not a bad thing. We started to realize that the type of ministry the Lord had called us to did not allow for us to be doing ministry under only one roof or under only one church. We have been called not only to serve our local church body, but to also reach out to those in other churches and those not even going to church. To build relationships and do ministry with people from multiple bodies for the purpose of what Jesus prays in John 17. This was a difficult concept to take in, but we could already see how God was allowing us to do this.  Who are we to help create unity among the Church? But, if God has called us then we will listen knowing He will equip us. So, after much prayer, conversations and counseling we have made the decision to open up a spot on the Leadership team at CCPR for someone who has been called to specifically help CCPR fulfill their mission that the Lord has given them.  By our stepping down this will allow us not only to minister and serve at CCPR, but this will open up new doors for us to minister in ways that CCPR has not been called to do. Doors have already started to open and we are so excited to see God move and change lives. As for who we will be held accountable to, that will be “In His Presence Worship Center”. This is the church and Pastor that I am ordained under and have been counseling with over the past year. When we left Michigan we technically were not under an sort of accountability. We had the Support of Seven Hills church, but that was about all. As we got more involved with CCPR they became our accountability by default. By coming fully under In His Presence Worship, they will become the church we are help accountable to as well as the church we will represent as missionaries. Pastor Georges calling gives us the freedom to do what we have been called to do in fulfilling the Great Commissions. We feel this is a huge step in the right direction as God continues to lead us.

     The girl’s home we have been working with will open back up in February and we will start working there as soon as they open. There has been a lot of work done there over the past couple months and we are praying that the home will gain occupancy very soon. We have recently had conversations with Danica from 4 HEARTS, which is the organization we’re working with at the home, about what a partnership with them may look like concerning having a discipleship training through the 4 HEARTS ministry. We also have been helping them put together their missions, vision and purpose statements.

     We now have had two house gatherings at a family’s home that we met through Blake’s football team. Jacob, a young man I have been mentoring has also been coming with us. We have been studying and learning from Pastor Britton from Moran Park Church in Michigan. It’s a concept for spreading the gospel through house gatherings/house churches. These are not intended to lead people away from their church gathering but actually just the opposite. These are intended to lead people to Jesus and train them how to disciple, so in whatever church body they belong to they will be equipped to go and make disciples. The fruit we have seen over the past couple weeks is astonishing! The Holy Spirit is working in many lives!

     With the coming of this change also comes the necessity to change our support avenue. Currently all tax deductible support is sent to CCPR, as Pastor Efren and his leadership has been gracious in allowing us to use CCPR as our support avenue thus far.

As of March 1^st 2016 all tax deductible support should be sent to:

(PLEASE DO NOT SEND SUPPORT TO THIS ADDRESS PRIOR TO MARCH 1^ST.

YOU CAN CONTIUE TO SEND TO CCPR UP UNTIL MARCH 1^ST)

In His Presence Worship Center

134 Zachary DR.

Carrollton, GA. 30117

Checks should be made out to:

In His Presence Worship Center  

In the memo line write: John Hoogeveen/Puerto Rico

     On a more personal note. The kids are getting involved with so much here. Blake has started his second season of American Football, he is starting on the varsity team at Defensive Back and Tight End.  Dallas is starting her second play at the theater class at the local library and Bridger has joined Boy Scouts and loves it. We have also joined a new homeschool group which the kids really enjoy. They are doing a play through the homeschool group as well as helping out at a farm. Blake and Dallas continue to be involved with the Youth Group at CCPR. All three are making new friends and are being invited over to their homes and vice versa. They all have adjusted very well and are enjoying their island life.

     Jennifer has also been busy. She continues to run and has joined a running group with some friends. This a great time for her just to hang out and be with the girls. She is training for the San Juan Marathon in March. The Lord has given Jennifer a nitch, and that is watching over children. She is a nanny for a family, who believe it or not is from Holland, MI. She also babysits for several other families and continues to clean a couple homes. I graduated from Liberty University this past December with my AA in Religion and have started my BS in Evangelism/Church Planting. We also have the island guiding that we do as a small income. We recently took a family from Canada to the Indian Caves and some waterfalls.  This not only gives us an opportunity to do fun things while making a little money, it gives us the opportunity to share why we are here and about Jesus. People always ask why we are here.

     We thank you for all you support and constant prayers as we could not do this without them. Please follow us on our Facebook page, Matthew 28 Missions. As this is where the most frequent updates are given. You can also follow our blog at, www.matthew28missions.blogspot.com.

In Christ,

John, Jennifer, Blake, Dallas and Bridger Hoogeveen

   

     

To God Be The Glory: Testimony of Gods abundent faithfulness (Through our truck)

Revelation 12:11 says that we defeat the devil by the blood of The Lamb and the word of our testimony.    
     Our God is amazing! He is faithful and his word is truth. Jesus tells us that we may ask him anything and he will give it to us. We must understand that there is a heart condition that we must be aware of when asking. There is much more to study on this subject. In the simplest form, when we ask for the purpose of Gods glory, Jesus will give us what we ask for. Jesus even gives more than we ask for sometimes! John 14:13-14 says this, " And I will do whatever you ask in my name so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name and I will do it." When our faith and our hearts are in the right position watch out!
      As you all know our 1988 Isuzu Trooper has been good to us for the past year. The Lord provided this truck for is in the season we needed it. However, she has past on and is no longer able to help us server the Lord. We have been asking God what he has for us. We knew that he had the perfect car out there for us, we just had to find it. All we knew is that we needed something that sat at least 7 people. This is so we can take people along with us when we go places and do ministry. After many many blessing from our church family at CCPR with rides and loaned cars, other friends of ours felt led to loan us their car until we could get one of our own. This was a huge blessing as we no longer needed to ask for rides. After a few days of using their car, the Lord had put on their heart that they were to start a car fund for us. Mind you we have only know these friends for a couple months. They are the friends that introduced us to the Girls home we work with, Hogar En-Hacor. They then contacted Pastor Efren at CCPR about how they could get involved. Pastor Efren then posted on social media and announced at church that this car fund was going on. Two days after the fundraiser started we received a call from a man in West Michigan that we knew of. This however was prior to the fundraiser being put out on mass social media, and we did not promote it at all. We had only met maybe one time. For sake of humbleness I will not mention his name. The Lord had impressed on his heart to donate $5000 for a new car!!! We were shocked!!! We were hoping for $3000 to buy something. We now had $2000 more than we were hoping for!!! Within a week another nearly $2000 came in, we were then at  nearly $7000! We have a friend who the Lord speaks to very clearly through scripture with specific words. He had used her in our life already this way. I asked her to pray for God to show her what car he had for us. So she began to pray.
      Knowing we had almost $7000 I went out with a friend last Saturday looking at cars. Our intention was to look and see what our options were. We drove about 20 minutes to the West looking for cars. He was shocked that we could only find two cars even worth looking at. As we were driving I got a text from my friend. The Lord had given her something. She was in His Word when she was led to the book of Ester. In Ester 3:7 the month of Nisan (Nissan is a car if you did not catch that) is talked about. Really!!! Nisan!!!! The Lord literally led her to the name of a car! Then he led her to Amos. In her Bible in the footnotes there was a description of a specific distance, which was five miles. She looked and there was a Nissan dealer 5 miles from her house. We were sure this was the Lord speaking to us. We were to look 5 miles from her house for a Nissan.
     So, I informed my friend who was with me looking at cars what the Lord had said. We continued to stop by a few more dealers before he asked where this dealer was. After calling the dealer we found out that they had 1 Nissan Pathfinder that seats 7. So, we turned around and headed 30-40 min in the opposite direction. Upon arriving at this dealership we saw the truck. Took a look at it but did not feel this was the one. There were a few other dealers on the same road so we drove to one more. We asked what they had, but they did not know so the dealer went inside to check. We proceeded to look around. Now at this point I have to tell you this. A friend from church has been telling us for the past few months that the Lord was telling her that he was going to get us a white car. We did not want a white car. But, as God loves humor, as we were walking there sat a WHITE NISSAN PATHFINDER THAT SAT SEVEN! We looked at it and I knew this was the one. Upon looking at the price it was $4000 more than we had at the moment. But I knew this was the truck. The Lord had told me it was. I proceeded to share the story I have shared with you thus far with the dealer, and prayed with him as he went to talk to the manager. He came back and said that he wants to help us as much as he can. So, we test drove it and then went inside to talk details. I was upfront with him. I said I had $7000 and if we could get it to that price it would be great. He was only able to get another $500 off. Which I was very grateful for. Yet I knew this was the truck. He asked if I had any money to put down on it so they could hold it until Tuesday, this was as long as they could hold it. (The fundraiser officially ends tomorrow) I had $40 cash. He said he would see what he could do with $40. While he was gone we noticed a picture of Jesus in the dealers office. Jesus was looking right at us. We then noticed in the office next-door  a statue that read, God Bless You! Both my friend and I were amazed. God was right there with us. We smiled and laughed. To be honest, I still had my doubts. He came back and they were willing to hold it for $40!!!!  Really? Then the dealer said that he needed to give me his personal number as he had no card yet. the first three numbers of his phone number are 777!!!! (Gods Number) I knew right there that God was all over this! So I had them hold the truck, not knowing how we were gonna come up with $3500 in three days. But God is faithful and I know his voice. This was our truck.
     Upon leaving the dealer I called my friend who the Lord had spoken to her previously and shared with her about the truck and asked her to pray for the $3500. Shortly after she talked with the man who gave the $5000. He asked how the truck hunt was going. She told him and he asked how much more was needed. She also told him that. He said ok let me pray and talk to others. I went home happy but still not sure how the Lord was gonna do this. Monday morning came and no more money had come in. I was honestly getting a little doubtful. Maybe I heard God wrong. Maybe all these signs were just by chance. Then God did the unthinkable!! My friend called me at this moment. She said that the man she had talked to about the amount needed has come up with the $3500!!! He told her to tell me to go buy the truck and go make disciples!!! WHAT!!!! GOD JUST PROVIDED $10,500 FOR A NEW CAR!!!!!! So, Tuesday I went and paid almost $7000 and Thursday I paid the remaining balance. We now are using Gods truck, a White 2005 Nissan Pathfinder that seats 7 people. Funny, 7 seats (that is Gods favorite number. White color. (Jesus washes white as snow) Pathfinder (we are showing people the path and walking the narrow path)
     One thing the Lord does is leave no room for man to get the glory. All the glory goes to Him!!
When we give our lives fully to the Lord, and all we do is for His glory, life changes. Material blessing will come yes, but that is not the point. The point is how those blessings come and from whom!! Jesus Christ calls us to a full life in him. A full life means our entire life is lived for Him, good or bad. When times are great we praise the Lord and give Him glory. When times are tough we praise him and give him glory. We can only do this once we understand that we are not here for ourselves. We are not here for our glory, our comfort, our good life, our pleasure, our anything. We are here for the glory of God through his Son Jesus!
I pray this testimony builds your faith in our Father. Trust Him, he will provide.

Blessed to be a blessing.

 As Christmas approaches we eagerly await the day we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have been blessed to be able to provide gifts for our kids as we have in the past. Normally we get our kids 3 gifts each, one representing each gift the Three Wise Men brought Jesus. Last year we were only able to buy them each one gift as all our finances went into moving down here last December. The Lord has opened amazing opportunities to both earn income and receive support from people like you. We feel very blessed and humbled to be receiving this opportunity to bless our children. 

We have made many new friends over the past year and are excited to spend Christmas Eve with a family we are just getting to know. There are different options that the Lord has laid on our hearts for Christmas Day. We are praying about what to do. There are many men in our community that have no family and usually sit at the park literally all day long. We are trying to see how we can bless them on Christmas Day. There are also many people who have to work on Christmas Day, we are also praying about how we can bless them and thank them for sacrificing Christmas Day (By choice or not) Gods Word tells us that we have been blessed to be a blessing and we want to bless those who need a blessing. Please join us in prayer as we listen to what the Lord would have us do. 

 Prayer Requests

-Thank the Lord for his amazing love for us and his blessings in our lives. Relationally, materially, financially, spiritually and health. We always have exactly what we need when we need it. Our Lord never leaves us lacking....EVER!!!!

-We still need a vehicle. However we do have a car that friends have loaned us until we are able to purchase one.

-Our kids that they become more and more like Jesus. The daily adjustment to homeschooling and missionary life in general can be difficult at times.

-Pray for CCPR leadership

-CCPR Rincon Campus plant

-CCPRs new discipleship process coming early 2016 and new classes coming. Church intro class, Christian Basics class and Discipleship Class

-That the Lord continues to lead us into the ministry he has for us here.

-Our missionary friends on the West Coast Julio and Stacy. That their ministry continues to bear fruit.

-Pray for spiritual revival here among churches that they start to unify not because their religion is the same but because their Father is the same.

-For Spanish language retention as we are learning it. It is rather difficult and we as for Gods supernatural blessing on our language learning. This way we can communicate more clearly with those who are from the island.

- Pray for Jacob as he has recently accepted Christ and is learning about his new life in Christ. We are meeting weekly.

-Four Hearts Ministry- this is the ministry we are working with at Hogar En-Hacor. 

-Hogar En-Hacor (the girls home we are working with) that their work gets done soon so that they can gain occupancy for the girls they are currently working with.

Update and Story Re-cap

     Good morning everyone. It has been a little while since we given a full update on our blog.
A lot has been going on here in Puerto Rico. I am gong to give a brief update on the great things that God ha been doing.
     It is Christmas time here in PR. This means everything shuts down until about early Feb and things get real slow.
     Hogar En-Hacor, which is the girls home we are now working with is closed until mid Jan. (it is not open for occupancy yet) So with that being said, we will not be back there working until they re-open.
     CCPR had their Christmas special this past Sunday it was amazing. It was a concert service telling the story of Jesus through song. All the kids from children's church performed a dance they have been learning over the past few weeks. Dallas and her friend Mady choreographed the dance and taught it to the kids. They did a fantastic job.Once the concert was done Pastor Efren gave a brief message and gave an invitation to receive Christ. Jacob, the young man I have been mentoring for the past few weeks was there. After the invitation Jacob accepted Christ!!!! I am so thrilled about his new life. I will continue to walk along side Jacob as the Lord teaches us both how to live more like Him. This is an exciting moment!!
     Jacob is a young man,19 years old. He moved hear about a month ago with his family. His step dad is in the Coast Guard and Jacob decided to move here with them to get away from things back home that were not good for him. Upon meeting him I found out that he is eager to serve and is looking for a new life! Well he found that in Christ this week!!! Prior to Sunday I was able to share with him who Jesus is to me and what Jesus calls us to do as Christians. We got into some rather deep topics. He was eating it up. The Lord allowed me to share things with him that really made him think. Not your typical first time talking about Jesus stuff. But that is how the Lord uses me sometime.  All this comes after spending some time via Skype with a pastor friend of mine back in Michigan. We have been discussing the simplicity of sharing the gospel message and how to teach them right off the bat how to make disciples. Basically if we just share who Jesus is to us, and share our story with people, people respond. It really is that simple. We make it way to hard! Then all we have to do is teach them how to share their story and who Jesus is to them with other people. This is how disciples are made Church!! We are so excited as we continue to share our story with people and teach them how to do the same.
     My responsibilities at CCPR have been hard to fulfill with all of our truck issues. I have gone in and taken care of what I could when I could. I touched up some walls with paint that needed touch ups and fixed a few other things. The Lord has been wonderful in providing us a way to church every Sunday. We arrive early so the sanctuary is ready come service time and so that Pastor does not have to worry about that part. We can see a huge release from Pastor Efrens shoulders upon me taking over the building responsibilities. We are blessed right now to have the Lord lay on the hearts of some friends of ours here to let us use their second car until we have enough money to buy a new one. What selfless people and we pray the the Lord bless them for their generosity. The Lord has been so good to us over the past three weeks since our truck broke down. Not once have we been in need of a ride, the Lord provided and continues to provide every time. From people loaning us their car, to picking us up and dropping us off with no concern whatsoever. Just selflessly loving us like Jesus does. We have seen and felt the love of Jesus more in the past few weeks than we have in a long time. Jesus is just showing us glimpse of how much he loves us and we are truly overwhelmed!! I am beginning to think this whole move over here was more for our personal growth with Jesus than for anything else because God keeps teaching us more and showing us more every day.
     I graduate from Liberty University this week with my Associates in Religion. I am very happy about this and praying the Lord opens up a door for me.  This means a lot to me and I am excited to see what the Lord has planned.
   
With all this being said I want to share something with all of you. Some of you may know this some may not so I want to share it.

When I was here in July of 2014 the Lord laid something heavy on my heart. I asked Him what our ministry here was to look like. His response was, " John what did the ministry of Jesus look like?" Upon reflecting on the life of Jesus my answer was, "Well He just lived his life. His life was His ministry." God said ,"Yes, and that is what you are going to do. Your ministry is not going to be like others. It is going to be lived out in your daily life. Your life is going to be your ministry, your ministry is not going to be your life." This was hard for me to take in. After all, I was used to seeing "ministries". People are used to seeing, "ministries". Heck I wanted a ministry. I had several conversations with God about this, but it was clear. I was told that many people will not understand what you are doing. Many people will not support what you are doing. But many did not support Jesus either. Then he shared something with me that I will never forget. He said "John, they will not understand because they are not doing it. I should not have to send you and your family to do what the Church should already be doing. The problem is people need to to see a "ministry" when they are supposed to be the ministry."
     This has been hard for me. Some reasons for selfish ambition. I wanted a ministry. I wanted something tangible for people to see. Well, during our first year here God is showing us that that is not what he has in mind for us at this time. Maybe someday we will have something physically tangible people can see and support. But right now the fruit is growing. God has planted seeds in us and they are growing. What we do know is that we are doing just as God asked us to. We are following the voice of the Lord and we are seeing things others cant see and things we cant really explain. Much like the man behind the curtain doing things that are unseen. We to are doing things that are unseen. The Lord has worked it out this way, and yet there is visible fruit from what the Lord is doing. Some fruit is not visible to use, but we hear about them later. Some fruit we will never see. Much like the farmer who plants an apple tree and years after he has past the apple tree bears fruit because of the seed the farmer planted. It is our job to listen the to Lord and do as he commands. If we do that , we can be sure fruit will be produced and lives will be changed. Who knows how long ago the seed was planted in Jacob for me to share my Jesus story with him and he accept Jesus. I played a very little part in that. I thank the one who planted the seed years ago so I can see the fruit today! Praise the Lord for those who plant seeds selflessly  never to see the fruit that their seed produces.
     We ask that you continue to pray for us as the Lord opens more doors for us to share our Jesus story with others. We ask that you pray for those we plant seeds in. I ask you to pray for us financially; that the Lord continues to provide our needs and provides a job for me in the are of ministry the Lord has prepared me for and continues to prepare me for. I ask that you pray for our family as we grow together and learn new things.
Thank you for your support and love. God bless.

Humbled to be used

It has been a while since we last posted here. Usually Facebook is the best way catch frequent updates. You can follow us there at Facebook.com/matthew28ministry

There you will see some of the ministry platforms we are now involved with including a girls home for sexually abused girls. 

The following is a post that I felt to share with you from our FB page this morning. God has been doing some amazing things for us over the past few weeks with our truck issues. For those that do not know, we are currently without a car.Through this we have grown and learned a lot about who God is and how much he loves us. 

Over the past few days we have been in contact with people watching what God is doing in our lives. We have been told that our faith is amazing and that we are an inspiration to them. As much as this makes us happy that the Lord is using us to reach others, it also humbles us. Those who are watching what God is doing do not have access to our everyday life. We know that we do not deserve what the Lord is doing through us. During my time in Gods Word this morning He reminded me why and how we are able to live through faith and be joyful during everything that has been happening in the past few weeks. The words of our Lord through Paul in Romans 5 is why. By no means possible are we able to do anything on our own. We are nothing special, we just love Jesus and he loves us. We are amazed by the love we are shown on a daily basis by our Lord. The wonderful thing about this message is that anyone can choose to live this way. Jesus opens this up to all who have faith in him! So come to him today. Build a relationship with him and live through faith in Him. Blessings to you all!  

Our Visit Home Speaking update.

Speaking update...

We will be sharing at The Corner Bible Church on Allegan, MI. on Oct 4. We have a few min during each service , 9 am and 11 am. We also have been given the whole Sunday school hour which is in between the 9 and 11 service. We hope to see you there.

Ministry Update and Visit Home

Good Morning,

     It has been a little while since we sent out our last update. The past few months have been really busy with ministry, work and guests. Here will be a quick update on what has happened in the past few months. Some of this information may be repeated from previous emails. 

     Our work with CCPR has continued to grow.  Jennifer and I are now working on the church planting team through CCPR (The Center Church Puerto Rico). We are currently working on a church plant on the West Coast  of the island in the city of Rincon. We currently make a monthly visit there as we are starting to build relationships with some locals. In Oct. CCPR will be sponsoring a surfing festival in Rincon. We will be having a tent set up to hand out waters and information about our new CCPR Rincon campus.  I have been given the responsibility of setting up those details with the festival coordinator. This is a unique city mainly composed of surfers, skaters, BMX bikers and artists. Our church here will be unique as well. We have no intention on seeking out a building right away as the services will more than likely be on the beach or in a home.  Starting in 2016 CCPR has plans for us to start making regular trips to the West Coast.  This is a 2.5 hour drive from Dorado.  We are excited about this plant and are praying that our work is effective.   We are also in the process of laying out a discipleship program for CCPR.  We are looking at several different models such as 3DM and others.  

     We have recently moved to Dorado which is a huge blessing. We have now been here a month and have already gotten to know some neighbors. Jennifer is now a part time nanny in a local community here in Dorado.  She also cleans a few homes in the area as well. I currently am still a full time student and will graduate in December with my degree in Religion as well as working part time as a handy man at a local vacation property and working part time at CCPR with different upkeep projects and assisting Pastor Efren. I have applied for and have been accepted for my BA degree in Evangelism and Church Planting at Liberty University Online and will be starting those classes in March of 2016.

     On another note, Jennifer and I have been blessed with the opportunity to come home to share what we are doing and raise more support.  We will be in Michigan September 30-October 17.  We will be sharing at The Corner Church in Allegan,MI on Oct 4 and at Harlem Reformed Church's youth group that same evening. We are also in the works to be sharing at a church in Jackson, MI on Oct. 11, we spoke with their pastor last night via Skype. This is the church of the family we meet a few months back and who bought us our plane tickets home.  I will also be meeting with Pastor Greg from Seven Hills Church, which was our covering church when we left Michigan.  We would love to be able to meet with anyone else that is interested in hearing more about what is going on here in Puerto Rico. Please contact us so we can set a time to talk.

     Being down here, doing what God has called us to do, is nothing like what we expected or have ever experienced. Ministry here in Puerto Rico is way different than ministry in West Michigan. We came down here expecting more evangelism/outreach style ministry but God gave us a relational ministry. This has been an adjustment for us as we are learning what relational ministry really is. We are learning what Paul meant when he said "I became all people so that some might be saved."  We are used to fast paced ministry with seemingly a large amount of results. God has slowed us down in a slower paced relational ministry with seemingly fewer results. Building relationships take time and we have had to learn this.  However, God knows what he is doing because the results we do see here will be lasting results. We have had to and continue to learn the culture here which we neglected to do when we first moved to Puerto Rico. This slowed us down. But we are now seeing and understanding what ministry looks like in a culture other than our own. We cannot do things the same way we do them back home.  We must learn how to adjust to the culture here. 

     We look forward to our trip home and hope we get to see a majority of  you, if not all of you. We ask that you pray about how you can financially monthly support the ministry that God has us doing through CCPR. If you are interested in more information about our experiences and needs please contact us and we would be happy to share that information with you.

New Address Update

For those of you who send us care packages, letters, cards and support 

We have posted our new address in the past but we have had some mail returned to Michigan so here is our new address again 

John and Jennifer Hoogeveen 

HC-46 Box 6119

Dorado, PR

00646

Please send all mail to this address.

Checks are still to be written to: LGLP 

-Please put all support in a security envelope and wrap in a piece of paper.-

(Our covering Church here in PR)

We have been busy with visitors for the past couple weeks. A new update is coming soon!

What a day in Rincon

Yesterday was memorable.

CCPR Dorado headed out to Rincon to get a lay of the land for our new church plant. It started out great with a walking tour of the town of Rincon. It has a warm welcoming feeling! Once we got back, someone on the group locked their keys in the truck (not me, it's impossible to do on my truck) we spent about 45 min trying to break into the car. Finally we did it! Praise God now we are on our way to the beach! Oh wait it looks like a thunder storm! Yup and it down poured! Spent about and hour or two at a local restaurant on the beach, Tamboo. Then is cleared up nicely. Spent the afternoon playing beach volly ball. Some local kids even joined our "game". Of course we had to hit the ocean too. 

This was a key trip for our church. Leaders and board members from CCPR that have not been to Rincon were able to see the environment we will be working in and get a feel for the people.

I met a local guy named Ryan. He intrigues me because he was working in the storm bringing sticks to the woods in a wheel barrow with no shirt or shoes on. He was a work horse. He runs a kite and surf shop in Rincon. Total surfer dude. 

This was about a 2 hour trip from Dorado.

Besides the fun we had, we were able to bring the light of Jesus to the area.

No one was using the vollyball court until we started playing. We were having fun and laughing then people started watching. Then they joined in. Once we left the court orders started to play as well. 

I think often times we think bringing Jesus means physically sharing the gospel. When a lot of the time it is being the gospel. 

Lets going out and be the light! 

New Mailing Address

Good evening everyone. We have been blessed to have had the opportunity to move to Dorado this past weekend. With this comes a new address. All mail including support checks which will still be written out to LGLP with Matthew 28 Missions written in the memo should be mailed to the following address.

John and Jennifer Hoogeveen
Matthew 28 Missions
HC-46 Box 6119
Dorado, PR 00646

We are very excited about this move as this will allow us to be more involved with CCPR. CCPR is putting together a church planting team, which we are now part of, so this will allow us to do what God has called us to do with CCPR. Which is to plant churches in English speaking pockets with the mission of making disciples. We are thrilled about the opportunities God has give us and look forward to sharing with you more as things develop with the Rincon church plant.

Obedience, prayer, trust and faithfulness

As you know two weeks ago we helped host a mission team with Global Passion. The house they stayed in is a four story building all of which are four separate houses. It is a large property that receives guests in large groups at least once a month. Also as you know we have been looking for work and praying for income. 

While the team was here the owner stopped by one day to feed the dogs on the property. I wanted to meet him so I walked over and said hello. After talking with him I heard his heart behind the house. He wants to provide group housing for those who want to visit the island in large groups that is safe and has all the essentials without the high cost of hotel rooms. Which most of these are churches and or ministries. I offered my help if he ever needed any type of maintaining done on the house. I did this with the sole intent of just helping out because I like what he is doing. 

That week I got a text from him saying, "If you are serious about helping me I could use your help. If you want to make some extra cash let me know." Wow what an answer to prayer thinking I could go make $50 or so. We met the next day and he has hired me to work as much as I want. All on a schedule that I make as needed! The work is indefinite due to the large amount of work needing to be done. Then just yesterday they called and want Jennifer to clean each home after guests leave!!! 

God is so faithfull. I thank God for this work. 

Continue to pray, be obedient and faithful to Gods call and He will give you all that you need!

Global Passions Mission Team

It has been a truly amazing week. This week a ministry based out of Napa, California came to the island with a group of 70 from a Church youth group in Nashville, Tennessee. Global Passion Ministry and Cornerstone Church have made a huge impact in Puerto Rico. We witnessed many lives that were touched and forever changed through this adventure.
Our role was to make sure everything ran smoothly and that the team was where they needed to be at the specific times. We also served as a representation from CCPR.
The week started on Tuesday morning when we went to the local projects area to do VBS in Spanish. The students from Cornerstone Church taught lessons, played games, did skits and shared the gospel message. This was the first time any church had come into this community to do anything like this. The first day there were 13 lives given to Jesus! To see these local children laughing and running around with these teens from Tennessee was amazing. For many of these children this was the first time they have seen Jesus in a physical, tangible way. After VBS we took the students to a local park to clean up trash and sticks. For many of these students and leaders it seemed like busy work. They didn't fully understand why they were cleaning a park. Even with that being said they did it with excellence. They would soon start to understand why they were doing it.
The second day we went back to the community to do another day of VBS. These children were so excited to see the students come back. The number of children from the community grew. After VBS we came back to the community to clean it up. Some of the residence living inside of this community could not understand why a church would come to clean up their community. They could not grasp it. One woman said and I quote, "No church has ever done this. Why are you here? Why are you doing this?" Our reply, "We are here to do what Jesus taught us to do and show you Jesus is a tangible way. We do not want to only preach the gospel but be the gospel." After this we had parents who could only speak Spanish trying to talk in broken English. One woman said, "Thank you for what you are doing for our children." There were tears in the eyes of parents as they watched their children playing and having fun as they saw Jesus is a real way. What is even more amazing is some things that took place, might I say transferred over. One woman bought a group of students treats from a food cart. Another mother started following a group and picking up trash with the group and still children began to follow the groups and join in in the clean up. It was really neat to see the love of Jesus that this group brought being transferred over to those being ministered to and them acting out what we had shown them.
Day three we went back for the third and final day of VBS. Saying goodbye was difficult for the kids both ways. A group of teen girls had hung out for the 3 days and on this last day made some of the teens from Tenessee matching necklaces. They wanted to show their thanks too. After VBS we took the group to the local hospital in Dorado to do more clean up. Again, some people in the group did not fully understand why we were at the hospital cleaning. That is until someone started asking questions. There was a person who heard that a church group was coming to clean up the hospital grounds. This was so shocking to them that they took off of work to come down and see it for themselves. They told Pastor Efren that they had never seen any church do this. They asked why is a church doing what our own people are not willing to do? Again we were able to share that we are not only called to preach the gospel but live it out and this is why we are here. To be the hands and feet of Jesus. Their reply was, "Wow, you really are a different church."
After we got back to where the team was staying there was a de-brief. It was amazing to hear what some of these kids said. "I just love those kids.", "I would do it again even if I got bit by a five year old." Teen boys were crying after hearing God's calling on their life. It was truly overwhelming to see.
Day four we took the team to Rincon, This was a key trip as this was the first time CCPR officially was coming into the city of Rincon as a church. This was our time for first impressions.
Most of the team cleaned up trash on the beach. Another team of 14 helped put in a new parking lot for Church Without Walls and I took a team of 10 to a recreation center for the elderly. The kids I took with me helped clean, handed out food for lunch and played bingo and pool with the older people their. The elderly people loved it that these kids came. As I was talking to one of the nurses the same topic came up as the past three days. The question was posed, "Why are you here?" "You are a church?" I shared with her that we are here to be the hands and feet of Jesus and we do not want to only preach the gospel but live out what Jesus teaches us. She again said, " No church has ever done this. You are the only church doing this. I have not been to church in seven years. I want to go but no one here practices what they preach. You are. When you plant your church here I am coming."  I also talked to the director and a very similar conversation took place. We were welcomed back anytime. God truly gave us favor this week.
The rest of the week was off days for the team. We went to Old San Juan on Saturday so the kids were able to explore the old city. Jennifer, Bridger and I enjoyed time in a cafe for 2 hours talking to Darryn and Renee. They are leaders from Global Passion. We were able to learn a lot from them as we asked many questions.
Sunday was an off day. After church some of the group went to the beach and others stayed at the house. The evening was hard. Our kids made friends and it was hard to say good bye. There were lots of tears and exchange of numbers. We are so blessed for this team to take our kids in as their own. They had invited Blake and Dallas to stay at the house all week with them and they did so. It was such a great opportunity for Blake and Dallas. It was our pleasure to serve along side of an amazing group of people.

We have learned a lot over this past week and God has re-directed us back to what our original call was. Live the gospel more than preach the gospel. I think my fire is burning hotter than when we first moved here and now I have direction and a vision of what it looks like here in Puerto Rico when we actually are the hands and feet of Jesus. We will be sitting down Tuesday evening with Pastor Efren and his wife Monica to talk about our vision and how we can keep this momentum going. We are excited to move forward with this call!

Here are a few photos from the week.

Praise Report!!! God is good!

God is good! As you know we have been praying about support. This month has been really tough. We have an electric and phone bill due both are late as well as rent and we only had enough money to pay part of our rent, a little over half. We prayed and trusted God that our landlord would be ok with that and understand. Our hearts were settled and we were at rest about it. 

Today we went to get the mail and there were a few envelopes. The first one we opened was the exact amount to the dollar of what we needed for the rest of our rent. Then we openend another and there was the amount we needed for our electric bill and then we openend the other and there was the amount we needed for our phone bill! Total all together we have enough to cover all our bills and an extra $20 or $30! God is good!! 

This is all for Gods glory! There is no other reason we share this! When we come to God and ask truly to glorify Him he provides! To God be the Glory Amen!

Father forgive me for doubting....again! 

4th of July and more

Hey all
     We hope you all had a great 4th of July. God blessed us with an invite to the US Coast Guard housing 4th of July party. We had a blast and so did Bridger. Blake and Dallas were both still gone.It was great building relationships with our friends Miles and Jamie. We are so blessed to have them. They are true people of God. We felt very welcome and spent the weekend there as well.
     Blake finally came home Monday after his flight for Colorado got cancelled. They were a full day behind schedule. He had a blast and has tons of stories. Of course they are all coming out slowly.
     Dallas had a great time at her friend Madi's house as well. It is nice for her to hang out because we have so few English speaking kids around.
     We are back out in Cabo Rojo again this week. Jennifer is babysitting for the next three days.  We have found out that the woman she is babysitting for practices a form of witch craft called Santaria. This is a kind of mix between Catholic and Voodoo. We have had our church pray over us and ask for your prayers too.We know that the power of the Blood of Jesus overcomes! And if God is for us than who can stand against us?
     We are excited as we have friends from Michigan visiting us this weekend! They fly in Friday! We have some fun things planned for them.
Next week we host the mission team from Tenn. and we are very excited about that. There is so much that we will be doing. Its gonna be a long hard week but awesome!
    Well that is all for now. Until next time...God bless.

God Comes Through....Like Always!

     Today has been a relax day. I (John) am getting caught up on school work, Dallas is spending the weekend at her friends house, which also happens to be our pastors house, Blake is still in Colorado and Jenn and Bridger are watching movies.

     Our truck seems to be running good. I think a gasket or something fell into the gas tank when I replaced the fuel pump yesterday. Every now and then clogs up the fuel pump. When it starts acting up I shut the truck off mid drive and restart it and it runs fine. She is a beast but she does the job. 

     Today we got a care package from my parents, 12 jars of fresh homemade strawberry jam! it is amazing!

     As you all know we have been praying for income and support and God comes through again! I just got a message from Pastor Efren and starting in September I will be working part time for the church doing small maintenance things and running errands for Pastor. Feeling super blessed and excited.

     The 4th of July is here tomorrow, we really have no plans. Not much goes on here in PR for the 4th. Im sure you all will have fun at the fireworks. Enjoy them for us and eat an elephant ear too.

     There is a plant out front in our yard that has been green ever since we got here. I have seen them in the stores for $15. I thought wow that is a lot for a filler plant. Just a few days ago it blossomed huge flowers out of nowhere! They are beautiful. Thats why they are $15. So blessed to have these.

     We are getting ready to host the mission team from Tenn. in two weeks. We cannot wait to see what God has in store.

     Well thats all for now. Short and sweet but I want to start giving these little blerps more often. Until next time God bless.