Lakatos Family Ministry

Outreach in La Loma

2012-01-19T09:51:00.008-05:00

Here is the view from our car as we drive down the street in front of La Loma UNIFAM (United Families in Christ) Church, and then head our way home. We are so excited to be in worship with our Mexican brothers and

sisters who live in this area! La Loma church will be celebrating her 13th anniversary at the end of this month and they are planning a special outreach up and down these same streets. Nick will be giving a small concert as a part of the celebration. The church is also involved in Mexi Kids, a weekly outreach that provides a meal three days a week to children and their mothers. This is a church that doesn't intend to sit still and watch the world go by! We are really looking forward to becoming more involved with La Loma and the vision of our Mexican brothers and sisters for sharing the Good News of hope in Jesus throughout this coming year.

Prayer requests:

1. Please pray for La Loma church, Pastor Miguel and the church leadership. They have a vision to begin planting house churches in this new year. Please join us in fervent prayer for this area.

2. Pray for Nick as he goes out with church planting teams. Pray he can find his way around this city, for fruitful ministry and for safety. Pray for further opportuniites for him to use his musical ability to shared the Gospel.

3. Pray for Lisa as she prepares to teach a sociology course at the seminary. Pray for an increase in Spanish ability to be able to teach well. Pray we will learn how to apply God's truth to bring change into this world.

4. Pray for Hannah and Samuel to be healthy and strong, to grow daily in the Lord and to be a blessing here.

5. Pray for growth in the number of students in the Sembimex seminary, especially the daytime classes.

6. Pray for innovative ways to take seminary classes to the people, so more and more leaders can be trained.

7. Pray that the established churches will be thriving outposts for evangelism, training, and planting house churches, helping UNIFAM to reach its goal of 2 million house churches by 2025.

8. Pray for unity to be stronger than ever this year, that by our unity people will know the power and love of Christ.

9. Pray the existing house churches will be able to multiply, with new leaders being discipled and sent out to plant even more churches.

10. Pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit in all of Mexico.

Thank you so much for your prayers! We rely on them daily.

Life in Mexico City

2011-12-01T11:42:00.006-05:00

It's hard to believe that we have been in Mexico City for 3 months now. The time has flown by as we adjust to life here!

In Mexico, One Mission Society is partnering with the UNIFAM (United Families in Christ) churches to reach Mexicans with the Good News of Jesus. Nick is involved in church planting with various UNIFAM teams throughout the Mexico City area. He is loving it!

We have also been visiting UNIFAM churches as a family. The picture above is of a baptism of new believers in the Coacalco Church. It was a cold day, and we celebrated with those brave enough to get into the water. They are brave for declaring their faith in Jesus, and for stepping into that frigid water! It is a pleasure to minister alongside our Mexican brothers and sisters.

Hannah and Samuel are "jumping" right in to life here, with school and making friends at church and in our neighborhood. We are so proud

of them for how they have adapted to life in Mexico City. It is a huge change from small town PA. They are learning more and more Spanish each day.

Recently, we had a day of church planting training at Sembimex seminary (where we will eventually be teaching). There were around 130 in attendance! We split up in groups to learn more about how the Lord is working around the world through planting house churches. Nick is seeing the result of that first-hand and comes home encouraged each night.

Yep, some days it feels like an uphill climb, surmounting language barriers, cultural differences, traffic and day-to-day issues that we all experience. However, it is worth all of it to serve our Lord.

And, we know we couldn't be here without your faithful prayers and support. Thank you so much.

The UNIFAM churches have a goal of having 2 million house churches, filled with new believers in Christ, throughout Mexico within the next 10 years. Please pray that we meet that goal and even surpass it! All things are possible in Christ.

Here are some of our prayer prayer requests:

1. Pray that many Mexicans will come to know Jesus as Savior and Lord and that the goal of 2 million house churches will be met and surpassed. Only Jesus is the answer to the many problems in Mexico!

2. Pray we each gain fluency in Spanish and can communicate effectively.

3. Pray for ministry opportunities among our neighbors.

4. Pray for safety as we travel in the car, and especially for Nick as he goes out into the city most evenings.

5. Praise the Lord for our adjustment to life in Mexico and pray we continue to adjust more and more each day.

The Countdown Begins....

2011-06-29T11:55:00.003-04:00

It is so hard to believe, but we will be graduating from the Spanish Language Institute in a little over 6 weeks, and the very next day we will be in Mexico City! We have learned a lot during our time here in Costa Rica...much more than we expected. As for now, we continue studying Spanish and preparing to move. Hannah and Samuel have a Spanish intensive course for the month of July at the same time we are in school.

As for now, here are our prayer requests as we begin to transition:

1. Please pray for our team members in Mexico who are carrying a heavy load, and who are now looking for a home and car for us. Ask the Lord for strength and wisdom on their behalf.

2. Please pray we will find the house and car that fit our needs and budget and that the Lord will use them as means of ministry.

3. Pray for our family as we say good-bye to good friends in Costa Rica, who will soon be heading out to all parts of Latin America. Today our children are saying good-bye to their best friends. Please pray the Lord will provide good friends for them in Mexico.

4. Please pray that the Lord will use us to be a part of accomplishing the Mexican/OMS team goal of 2 million new believers by 2015. All things are possible through Him!

Thank you so much for praying us through this transition!

2nd Trimester

2011-02-17T20:22:00.002-05:00

Well, it is hard for us to believe but we are well into our 2nd trimester of language school. Unfortunately, we cannot post any pictures because our computer has completely stopped working and are writing this update from a borrowed computer. The good thing is that we are actually able to post. Our computer has been giving us problems for a while.

Language school continues to be a blessing and is much more intense this trimester. We are excited that we are preparing Bible studies in Spanish each week and are learning to express ourselves more and more. Hannah and Samuel are also taking the first steps of speaking in Spanish and are working with a tutor, besides all of their regular school work.

Thank you so much for continuing to pray for us! Here are our latest prayer requests:

1. Praise the Lord for keeping us safe and well. Thank Him for the opportunity for our family to learn Spanish.

2. Pray for our language learning. Some days it can be really difficult. Please pray we will learn quickly and will be able to retain all we've learned and use it to share the Lord's love with everyone we meet.

3. Pray for our church Generation de Campeones EC Church that new believers would continue to grow in Him and would share the Good News with others.

4. Pray we can get a new laptop at a good price and can find someone in the USA to bring it to us as soon as possible. (They are much too expensive here.)

5. Pray for our continued health, both Samuel and Lisa have had recent bouts of strep throat.

Thank you, as always for partnering with us. Your prayers are very important!

The Lord's guidance and protection

2010-10-30T11:43:00.007-04:00

A couple of weeks ago we took our first weekend trip outside the city of San Jose, Costa Rica to a place called Tortuguero, where green sea turtles come to lay their eggs. We were all thrilled to watch the baby turtles dig out of the nest and make their way to the sea. Hannah and Samuel were especially privileged to walk alongside some of these babies as they headed toward the water. Those little turtles were so focused on getting to their destination that they never noticed our guide smooth the path for them out of the nest, nor the children at their side. However, the birds looming overhead did! They were quite angry at the protection Hannah and Samuel offered those little ones. The birds were missing out on a meal!

As I observed this taking place, I was thinking about our own lives. We're focused on adjusting to life in another country, to a new language, new foods, new school, new friends and we don't see the hand of the Lord smoothing our path nor the things we are protected from as we head to our destination. But He is there and faithful. And, He is indeed setting our way before us. What a blessed reminder that we are never left alone and though we sometimes feel small and vulnerable, the Lord is not and He is our ever-present help!

It is hard to believe, but half of our first trimester in language school is over. We still have a lot to learn, but we are amazed at how much Spanish we have picked up already. The Lord is smoothing our path!

He has blessed us with a wonderful Tico church plant that we will share about in the next blog post. Hopefully with pictures! Each week we're understanding more and more and are able to talk with our Tico brothers and sisters beyond, "Hello." "How are you?". What a blessing!

Thank you for your continued prayers! We know you are there, helping us to our destination...Mexico!

Here are some prayer requests:

1. Praise the Lord for His provision and protection.

2. Pray for our strength and health. This is cold and flu season and we've all gotten the flu in the past week.

3. Pray we will learn Spanish rapidly and will soon be able to speak well enough to share our faith.

4. Pray for Generacion de Campeones EC Church, our church here in Costa Rica. Pray for new believers to have boldness in sharing their faith and for many more to trust in Jesus.

5. The UNIFAM churches in Mexico have a bold vision: To start 2 MILLION house churches throughout Mexico by 2015, thus reaching 20% of Mexico for Christ. Please pray that nothing will hinder their efforts and many, many Mexicans will trust Jesus as their Savior!

First few days in Costa Rica

2010-08-17T14:42:00.002-04:00

August has thus far been an amazing month!

We spent two weeks at One Mission Society headquarters receiving Church Planting Movements training along with people from 10-12 other countries. It was interesting hearing our sessions being translated into English, Spanish and Russian, which were the major language groups. We were blessed to be with three of the Mexican pastors most involved in church planting leadership with UNIFAM, the group of churches we will be working with in Mexico City next year. They have a tremendous vision to plant churches in each state of Mexico over the next 15 years!

The day after training ended we arrived in San Jose, Costa Rica around noon. We were greeted by Steve Cosslett, our language school "Big Brother" and a fellow OMS missionary to Mexico, and by Pastor William Araya, the Evangelical Congregational church leader in Costa Rica. Between the two men, we were able to divide up our luggage and ourselves and arrive safely at our new home.

We attended worship at a local church on Sunday where Samuel already made a friend who will be attending the same school, and Hannah was invited to attend a Saturday night youth group. It was also Costa Rican Mother's Day and the church's 7th anniversary. It was quite a day of celebration.

This month has been a time of wonder and adjustment! We are so blessed to know we are uplifted by your prayers!

1. Please continue to pray for our adjustment, safety and language learning. We are doing well but sometimes overwhelmed.

2. Please pray for the Mexican UNIFAM church leaders Alfredo, Alexis and Miguel. They are responsible for casting and implementing the large vision the Lord has given them. Pray for an increased faith and for the Lord's favor.

3. We met a wonderful pastor from Cuba at training named Magdiel. The Lord is doing amazing things in Cuba and many people are coming to know Jesus as Savior and Lord! Please pray for Magdiel's safety, strength, faith and perseverance in the midst of sometimes unimaginable obstacles.

4. Please pray for the Cossletts and the Reids, our dear friends and fellow missionaries who are leaving Costa Rica for Mexico City in the next two days. Pray especially for their children during this time of transition.

5. Please pray for Pastor William Araya as he tries to communicate with us through the language barrier. We will be meeting with him and his wife on Saturday and discussing plans for attending one of his churches on Sunday. May the Lord bless his ministry in Costa Rica abundantly!

Thank you again for your prayers! We are in great need of them.

from 2 months...to 2 weeks...now it's 2 days!

2010-07-28T12:22:00.002-04:00

We're in the final stages of packing, making arrangements and saying good-bye to our family and friends. The time has really flown by and we are becoming more and more excited each day to see what the Lord has planned.

Beginning August 2nd, we will be in 2 weeks of church planting training at One Mission Society headquarters and leaving for Costa Rica on August 14.

Please pray for our family, especially during these next few days and weeks as we are in the heart of transition:

1. Thank the Lord that He has brought us thus far and thank Him for our many partners in prayer and giving. Please pray for the Lord's blessing on each member of our team.

2. Saying good-bye is difficult. Please pray for our ability to grieve well, especially for our children. We are all learning what it means to be happy and sad, excited and feeling loss....all at the same time.

3. Pray that all of the "little details" will fall into place as we make our moves.

4. Pray that we will have rich times with the Lord as individuals and as a family. The Lord is our strength!

Thank you, again, for praying for us!

Two weeks to go!

2010-07-15T10:51:00.002-04:00

Time is flying by with packing, paperwork, visiting friends, churches and saying good-bye! We will be leaving our home in a couple of weeks and heading to One Mission Society headquarters for two weeks of church planting training. The day after training, we will be arriving in Costa Rica around lunch time.

During this time of transition, we appreciate your prayers more than ever! Here are some of our specific requests:

1. Praise the Lord He has gotten us this far! Praise Him for sustaining our family and for all of those who have partnered with us along this journey.

2. Pray we will accomplish all that needs to be done in these last two weeks (more packing, paperwork and visits). Pray that we will receive all paperwork necessary to make our move to CR and to obtain our student visas.

3. Pray especially for our time with family and friends...that we will continue to build good memories and will have ample time with our loved ones.

4. Pray that Hannah and Samuel will transition well (so far they are doing great), and that they will be well prepared for what lies ahead.

5. Pray for quick language aquisition for all of us.

6. Whatever the Lord lays on your heart, we know we will be in need of those prayers!

Thank you so much!

Leaving in 2 months

2010-06-01T06:30:00.002-04:00

It's hard to believe, but June is here and we will be arriving at One Mission Society headquarters just a short 2 months from today! Our days are starting to be filled with planning, packing and visiting (saying good-bye).

In the meantime, believe it or not, we're also working in our garden. It has been a good lesson in slowing down and reflecting on how the Lord cares for us. And we are using that time to talk about how the Lord will be transplanting our family from Pennsylvania to Costa Rica.

Thank your for being with us along the way! We would appreciate your prayers for the following:

1. Praise the Lord for His provision.

2. Pray for our family as we transition: that each of us would trust the Lord with our emotions and that we would be able to accomplish all that is necessary.

3. Pray for wisdom as we consider bringing our dog, Calvin, along with us. (The children are REALLY hoping this will work out.)

4. Pray for the Lord's abundance and His peace in our lives!

Making Plans

2010-04-27T06:22:00.002-04:00

It is hard to believe, but yes, we're starting to pack up some of our things already! We are fully funded for 2 1/2 years of ministry and are working towards our goal of complete funding for a 5 year term. We are so thankful for everyone who has been a part of our ministry team and we are thinking of you while packing!

We are making plans to be at One Mission Society (OMS) headquarters for Church Planting training the first two weeks of August, and then we'll leave from there to Costa Rica for one year of language school before heading to Mexico City.

Thank you for praying for us along the way! Here are some prayer requests:

1. Praise the Lord for His provision!!

2. Ask that the rest of our funding (for the 5 year term) would come in before August.

3. Pray for opportunities to share how the Lord is at work in Mexico.

4. Pray for Hannah and Samuel as they adjust to the reality of moving away from family and friends in a few short months.

5. Pray we find a good home for our dog, Calvin.

Paradox

2010-03-14T22:43:00.002-04:00

Last week was a wonderful missions conference at Lakeside EC Church. During the Wednesday brunch, Hannah and Samuel shared some of the things they learned at cross-cultural training. The one thing of great impact to them was gaining a new understanding of the word "paradox". As they put it, "Without any good-byes, you can't have any new hellos." As we approach those sad times of good-bye in Pennsylvania, as well as the happy hellos in Costa Rica, would you please pray for us? I (Lisa) recently read this excerpt from "The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions":

Let me learn by paradox

that the way down is the way up

that to be low is to be high

that the broken heart is the healed heart,

that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,

that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,

that to have nothing is to possess all,

that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,

that to give is to receive,

that the valley is the place of vision.

Please pray for us that we learn all He has for us as we learn by paradox. Thank you for your continued prayers on behalf of our family.

Happy news!

2010-03-02T15:53:00.002-05:00

This has been a good day for us! We have confirmed that we are about 95% funded and we have a target date of August 1, 2010. Our home church, Lakeside EC Church, will be having their missions conference beginning March 7 and on that day we will be commissioned as missionaries by the Global Ministries director of the EC Church. We are looking forward to that long-awaited day!

Here are our prayer requests for this week:

1. Praise the Lord for His provision!

2. Pray that our remaining funding will come in quickly so we can begin making all the necessary arrangements for our August 1 departure.

3. Pray that our commissioning will be a great encouragement to the church, and that the Lord will bless us all with greater and greater opportunities for outreach.

4. Pray for our health...the cold season has finally caught up with our family.

Thank you for continually lifting us up before the Lord. You are always an encouragement!

New Prayer card

2010-02-20T08:36:00.006-05:00

Our new prayer cards have been ordered, and we are amazed at how much Hannah and Samuel have grown since the last one was taken! Can you believe they are 12 and 9 years old? We can't! Where does time go?

It is exciting and hard to believe that they will, Lord willing, be celebrating their birthdays this year in Costa Rica! We are getting closer each day to meeting our funding goal and are overwhelmed with thankfulness for your partnership with us.

Here are our newest prayer requests:

1. Praise the Lord for His faithfulness and for His provision.

2. Pray for us, and for youself, that we would all carry out Christ's calling in our lives with total devotion.

3. Pray that our total funding will come in this spring. We need less than $1,000/mo. faith-promised (for our total term) before we can leave for language school.

4. Pray we can either work out the bugs in our computer or that we can get a new one soon!

5. Pray for Hannah's knee. She had an unfortunate meeting with a tree last month while sledding and sprained it. It is still sore when she is active.

6. Pray for the Mexico ministry team. There is much work to be done and need for more workers to accomplish the task.

OMS has a new name!

2010-02-20T07:14:00.001-05:00

Dear Friend of OMS,

We have some exciting news to share:

OMS International becomes One Mission Society

One Lord. One Life. One Calling.

Today, we launch a new name, tagline, logo and mission statement. These changes were designed to help One Mission Society better communicate what we have stood for since our inception in 1901 as The Oriental Missionary Society.

But it is important to note, One Mission Society’s sole reason for existence as a mission organization remains steadfast―to see the Gospel of Jesus Christ spread throughout the world and to see God glorified in all that we say and do. This is the command of the Great Commission. This is our “One Mission.”

God has blessed OMS by using us as a tool in His hands for more than 100 years. Today, One Mission Society is seeing, on average, one person come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ every two minutes. In recent years, thousands of new churches have been planted and tens of thousands of people are actively participating in discipleship programs.

These are historic times to be involved in missions. As never before in the history of the Church, One Mission Society is poised to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Make no mistake: the task is huge. OMS recognizes that we are only a small part of the body of Christ and that we join with many other individuals, churches and like-minded Great Commission organizations called and equipped together for One Mission, God’s mission. This is the unity in mission to which all Christians are called in Ephesians 4 by our one God and Father of all.

One Mission Society currently works in 50 countries. We were founded on the principle that the most effective way to share Christ is by training a nation’s people to lead and multiply their churches. That principle still fully applies today and is the basis of our dynamic four-fold focus: intentional evangelism, church planting, training leaders and strategic partnerships.

OMS currently has six international offices from which missionaries are recruited and sent out: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the Untied States. Today, One Mission Society has 430 missionaries and is a member in good standing with the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.

Here is One Mission Society’s new mission statement: By God’s grace, One Mission Society unites, inspires and equips Christians to make disciples of Jesus Christ, multiplying dynamic communities of believers around the world.

David Long

President, One Mission Society

Update on Samuel

2009-09-23T20:59:00.002-04:00

Thank you for praying! Samuel is doing remarkably well. In fact, he is recovering much faster than the doctor expected. After only one week from being diagnosed with pneumonia, he was given doctor's permission to go swimming yesterday at his "Gym and Swim" class. He was so happy (as were the rest of us)!
Here's our prayer requests:
1. Thank the Lord for a wonderful time at Wayside Community Church last weekend. And please pray for that church as they receive their new pastor on Thursday, Sept. 23.
2. Please pray that Samuel's immune system continues to get back to full strength quickly. We are taking some time away next week, hoping that some fun and sun will be of benefit. Pray for travelling saftey as well.
3. Please pray that our full funding will come in soon so we can go to Costa Rica at the end of this year (after Christmas).

Thank you, again for your partnership with us in ministry!

Samuel

2009-09-14T16:19:00.003-04:00

Cold and flu season has come early to the Lakatos household, unfortunately. Lisa and Hannah are doing well after a couple of rough days. Samuel, on the other hand has a longer recovery period ahead, as he was diagnosed with pneumonia on Sunday (Sept. 13). He was happy and healthy and playing with friends at a birthday party Friday night through Saturday morning and then began to rapidly become sicker and sicker late Saturday evening. We were deeply concerned as we decided Sunday morning that he needed to go to the emergency room at our local hospital!
He is feeling pretty good now, and we praise the Lord for that. The roughest part on Samuel is that he has to go the next week with "no physical activity": try telling that to a 9 year old boy! He is especially sad that he is still considered contagious and can't play with his cousins who recently moved here, nor with his friends.
Through it all, we have been given the opportunity to learn to trust the Lord with our most precious gifts (our children), to surrender control to Him, to learn new medical skills, to gain patience and to bond as as family since some of us are not able to interact with the "outside world" for a while.
Thank you so much for partnering with us in this faith ministry. We really do appreciate your prayers! As you pray for us this week, please remember the following before the Lord:
1. Praise the Lord that Samuel is recovering without a need for hospitalization! Praise the Lord that He led us (Nick and Lisa) to do what was needed before the situation became worse.
2. Please pray for full recovery for Samuel and for the health of our whole family.
3. Thank the Lord that Nick had a wonderful time at the EC World Fest at Lakeside Church last weekend, even though his family was at home and unwell. It is so awesome to surrender our cares to Him!
4. Nick will be at Wayside Community Church, Grove City, PA on Sept. 20th. Please pray for the Lord to meet with everyone in the worship service and for Him to equip us all for service.
5. Please pray our remaining funds will be faith promised by the end of November so we can make plans for language school in Costa Rica in January.

Again, thank you for praying!

Changes!

2009-08-31T09:10:00.002-04:00

Lisa's brother and family moved to our hometown this past week and so the changes begin for both of our families. We are currently making plans to transition out of our home so they can move in (at present they are staying with other family members). We are trusting the Lord for the rest of our funding to be in by the end of fall. Then we can head for language school in Costa Rica after Christmas!
As for now, Hannah and Samuel are really enjoying spending time with their Florida cousins, uncle and aunt. And we are too!
We are hoping to fill our schedule this fall and would appreciate your continued prayers for the following:
1. Praise the Lord for the safe arrival of Lisa's brother's family!
2. Praise Him for how He is working out all the details, putting everything in place and making His care for all of us very evident.
3. Pray for Nick as he travels and speaks at Grace UM September 6 and EC World Fest on September 12.
4. Pray for fruitful meetings, strong relationships to be built and funding to come quickly.

Home Again

2009-08-06T07:04:00.002-04:00

We had a great time during our 3 weeks of CROSS training at OMS headquarters! Thank you so much for praying for our family during that time. We learned a great deal that will be most useful in the days, weeks and years ahead. We also were able to meet others heading to Mexico City (or are already there) and are excited about the team the Lord has put together.
While we were away, Lisa's brother and his family began to make plans to move to our hometown. This will be the first time Lisa and her siblings will be living in the same area in over 20 years! We are currently working out details for her brother's family to live in our home while we are out of the country.
Thank you so much for partnering with us and especially for your prayers. As you pray for us in the coming days, here are some prayer requests:
1. Praise the Lord for the safe travel, fellowship and learning we experienced in July!
2. Pray for Nick who will be travelling to Terre Hill EC Church this weekend and for an abundant time in ministry.
3. Pray we will be fully funded by fall so we can go to language school in January 2010.
4. Pray for the Coslett family (Steve, Helen and Nisha) as they prepare to leave for language school in Costa Rica this month. (They were in training with us and will be part of the Mexico ministry team.)

Getting Ready

2009-06-25T11:11:00.002-04:00

Well, June has been quite a month for our extended family. As a matter of fact, my (Lisa's) grandmother was just hospitalized on Father's Day and is being released today. We have seen the Lord's hand at work as both Mom and Mimi (grandma) have dealt with life-threatening illnesses in June. Both of them have progressed toward wellness much faster than doctor's anticipated. Thank you so much for praying!

Now we are counting down...one week to go before leaving for CROSS training at OMS. We are very excited and have a lot of loose ends to tie up. We feel we are playing "catch up" in several areas as this has been a rather hectic month. So, we would really appreciate your prayers for the following:

1. Praise the Lord for His healing power at work in Mom and Mimi!
2. Pray for physical health and strength for us and our extended family during this week and while we'll be away.
3. Pray we can efficiently accomplish all necessary tasks before next week.
4. Intercede on behalf of everyone attending CROSS training and all those leading us at OMS headquarters. We're most likely not the only ones who have faced challenges recently.
5. Pray for a few good, calm days for our family to be together, regroup and feel rested before we leave.
6. Praise the Lord He is always faithful!

When we are weak, He is strong!

2009-06-18T08:44:00.002-04:00

We know that the Lord tells us His strength is made perfect in our weakness, and we have had the opportunity to experience that first hand the last couple of weeks.
June has had a rough start for our extended family. My (Lisa's) mother has been hospitalized twice for kidney failure and my grandmother has had some problems recovering from a recent surgery, as well as needing a new one. The doctors told my Mom it would be months before she would be well again. It has been an emotionally and physically trying time for all of us.
We have had many people praying for us and we want to thank you. You have held us up and kept us from becoming discouraged.
Nick is at Seneca Hills Bible Camp this week sharing with children ages 8-12 and he is having a great time. Hannah and Samuel were with him last night and called to say they love it! I will be picking my Mom up today when she is discharged from the hospital. She will be glad to be home, I'm sure!
So, here's our praise and prayer requests:
1. Thank the Lord for being our strength! Thank Him for our partners in prayer and ask His blessing.
2. Praise Him that both Mom and Mimi (grandma) are recovering much quicker than anyone expected!
3. Pray we will continue to have the strength to all the Lord has for us.
4. Pray as we make arrangements to be at cross-cultural training at OMS headquarters in July that all will work out smoothly, and we will be prepared to learn all we need to know to help us in our future ministry.

School

2009-05-27T11:11:00.002-04:00

Well, it's hard to believe it, but Hannah and Samuel are about to finish their school year. The time really flew by quickly. As we are saying good-bye to school, we are not saying good-bye to learning however. We are preparing for our CROSS (cross-cultural) training at OMS headquarters in July. Some of our pre-training assignments have been completed and we're working on some more. Each thing we have done has been very helpful and we are becoming excited about training. We are especially excited to meet those who will be a part of the missionary team in Mexico!

Please pray:
1. Thank the Lord for all of the missionaries at OMS headquarters that are putting this training together.
2. Pray we will get all of our assignments completed in a timely manner and we will finish up all things necessary at home as we plan for our time away.
3. Pray for our continued health and strength as we prepare for our training and during the training.
4. As always, please pray for the Mexican people to rejoice in Jesus as their Savior.

Thank you for partnering with us in prayer!

Surprises

2009-05-08T12:39:00.007-04:00

What a lot of surprises we've had since last weekend! We returned home from Texas to a ringing telephone with our first surprise. Someone we deeply love and trust is considering moving to our home area and living in our home while we're on the mission field. That would be the answer to many concerns, if it works out.

Then we went to the mission conference in Cranberry, PA where our next surprise awaited. This is what greeted us when we drove in to the place we were staying for the weekend.

I heard from the back seat as we pulled in, "This is like a dream come true!" Not only did we have a wonderful time of fellowship with the people of Van UM, Cranberry UM and Rockland UM churches, including a fun fiesta with good Mexican food, but we were also restored. Ahhh!

Because of government concerns over the swine flu, Hannah and Samuel could not return to school until they were tested for the virus. (They do not have it.) So, they got to stay home an extra day. And surprise...at the doctor's office Monday we met a wonderful Christian nurse who wants to become more involved in missions. She was interested in hearing about Mexico City and we are hoping much good will come from our meeting, with she and her husband visiting there in the future.

Nick went back to teaching Tuesday and was offered a new job until the end of the school year tutoring a student. He was happy to come home and tell us about this opportunity!

So, we had a joy-filled, surprising week. Now we are trying to get back into the "routine". Here are our prayer requests:
1. Praise the Lord for surprising us with so many blessings this week.
2. Please pray the Lord will work out our loved one moving to Greenville in perfect timing with our full-funding and moving on to language school.
3. Please pray we will have many more good meetings with believer's whose hearts are stirred to spread the gospel to all nations. (Nick will preach at Leavittsburg EC Church this Mother's Day and we will be at Riverhill EC Church missions conference May 16-17.)
4. Pray we will be fully funded by fall so we can make plans for language school.
5. Pray as we prepare for cross-cultural training at OMS headquarters in July. (We are currently finishing up some homework.)

6. Please pray especially for the people of Mexico City as they attempt to get back to "normal" after the swine flu scare. Pray for much fruitful ministry in the days ahead for the missionaries and national Christians.

Thank you for partnering with us in this journey of faith. May the Lord surprise you with many blessings this week. Lisa

Texas

2009-05-01T12:41:00.003-04:00

We are back from the Missions Conference at First UMC in Waco, TX. So how was it? You can figure it out by Samuel's parting words on the way to the airport as we were heading back home, "I want to move to Waco, Texas!"

We met many people who have been a part of the OMS Mexico work and we hope they will return while we are living there, giving us the opportunity to minister together. It was a privilege to share how the Lord is working in our lives as we prepare for life in Mexico City. And, we were richly blessed by many new friends. We are so thankful for those who have made the faith committment to partner with us on this journey!

We will be leaving shortly for our next missions conference in the Cranberry, PA area and are looking forward to making many more friends.

Praise and prayer:
1. Praise the Lord for His provision and for family in Christ.
2. Please pray for strength and good health in all our travels, currently Samuel is recovering from a cold.
3. Ask the Lord that many people will join us as prayer and financial parnters.
4. Pray we will do and say exactly what the Lord wants us to.
5. Pray for much fruit to come from the missions conference this weekend!

Traveling

2009-04-21T16:22:00.002-04:00

We are preparing to leave this week for a missions conference at First UMC in Waco, TX. We are travelling as a family and will be there April 25-30. Hannah and Samuel are excited to see Texas. Their only experience in the state was in the Houston airport as we travelled to and from Mexico City. First UMC is a wonderful church and we are sure they will be glad they went!

After our return, we will leave the next day for the missions conference of Van, Cranberry and Rockland UMC churches in the Cranberry, PA area from May 1-3. These churches are very near the one we wrote about in our last post. Our whole family is excited about being back in that area. It is beautiful and so are the people.

We have so many prayer requests for this coming week:
1. Praise the Lord with us for the opportunity to fellowship with other believers who have a heart for missions.
2. Pray we will communicate effectively what the Lord has been doing in our lives and in His work through OMS in Mexico City.
3. Pray for many new partners to join us on this faith journey.
4. Pray for safety in travel, for good health, and especially for Hannah and Samuel to get the rest they need.

Thank you for praying with and for us.

Fiesta!

2009-04-01T12:11:00.005-04:00

What a blessing we had this weekend! We were invited to Seneca E.C. Church in Seneca, PA to share about our future ministry in Mexico and how the Lord is working there. It was wonderful to get a chance to know many people at Seneca. Then to top it all off, we celebrated together with an after-church fiesta, complete with Mexican music, scrumptious food, a pinata and pin the tail on the burro (donkey).

We also had Lisa's mother, sister and niece along with us. Everyone really enjoyed the fellowship.

Here you can see Hannah getting ready to take a whack. She was the one who managed to break open the pinata and was so happy about that! Samuel laid claim to its remains. This is a picture of him with his "prize" and a piece of candy in his mouth.

One of the greatest blessings of our friend-raising ministry is having the privilege of getting to know so many believers who have a desire to see the Good News shared throughout this world, and to know they are praying for us.

Praise the Lord with us for the blessed fellowship we have as believers. Please continue to pray for safety as we travel, and for many people to join us in this faith journey.

Cultural Lesson

2009-03-23T10:27:00.004-04:00

Last week we participated in our home church missions conference. What a wonderful time we had! It is so encouraging to hear stories of what the Lord is doing close to home and around the world. And, it is uplifting to see people excited to spread the Good News by going and sending.

I had a conversation on the closing night with a missionary to Bolivia that really got us thinking. He pointed out that even through our friend-raising ministry, the Lord is teaching us invaluable lessons about Latin American culture. Isn't it just like the Lord to use every little thing for our growth and benefit? Praise His Name! While we are focused on gaining the prayer and financial support we need to be able to go to language school (and then to Mexico City), the Lord has already begun some of the schooling.

We would appreciate your prayers that we would learn our lessons well. Pray that we would continue to grow daily in godly character, and that we would have many opportunities to learn the Mexican culture and language. Also, please pray with us that we will be fully funded and able to go to language school in the near future.

The Learning Curve

2009-03-09T14:19:00.004-04:00

Well, if you want to be a good teacher, you also need to know how to be a good learner. So, here it is...we've finally figured out how to get a blog started. Now that it's up and running, we're excited to be able to share with you on a more regular basis!

And, what a better place to start than Sembimex Biblical Seminary, the place where our family first encountered Mexico City. Our church missions trip seems so long ago now. We went to help with clean-up and painting at the seminary just one week before the building's grand opening. What a mess we all were! It is so exciting to catch a glimpse of what the Lord is doing there since then. Please take the next 6 minutes to watch the video posted on the left side of the blog. It is well worth the time. (If you have trouble getting it to work, right underneath is a link to the OMS International page with the video.)

While watching, keep this quote from the OMS website (link on the left side of this page): "There's an explosion of new Christians worldwide. In many regions, the response to the Gospel is in the millions. This is unprecedented in history. New Christians have spiritually grown on their own, without guidance from a shepherd. Trained pastors are rare in most of the more than 40 countries where OMS International serves."

And there Sembimex is. A place to train and equip people to be shepherds. We are so excited to be a part of that ministry: in the past as a work team and in the future as educators. And, especially now, in the present, as we lift this ministry and its leaders before the Lord.

Will you please join with us in prayer for Sembimex? Pray for the teachers and students to grow in the Lord's grace, and in the knowledge and applying of His Word. Pray for leadership to have a clear vision for the seminary, and the skill to implement that vision.

Please pray we will be fully prepared and funded for this ministry in the near future. Pray for us as we try to learn Spanish here at home, to get a jump-start on language school. The learning curve is pretty big, but we're encouraged. After all, we did finally get the basics of a blog!