Lending a hand where we can

We were blessed a few weeks ago with a family that came to Isla Mujeres and joined us in the shoe ministry. After handing out the many shoes they bought and brought with them, God opened up another opportunity for them to touch a family in Guadalupana. We were talking with the host family, who allow us to use their home as a base to distribute the shoes, when the family that had joined us went looking for their son who had wandered down the road. He was visiting with a man we have come to know, and grown to love dearly. His name is Benito. Benito is growing in his faith and reading through the "Purpose Driven Life" book we gave him. We all gathered in front of his home and he made a request to us for prayer that God would provide for him a new roof. He said he didn't want money, but that He learned from reading his Bible we should make our requests for prayer known to each other. He wanted us to pray for a new roof because his children get wet when it rains in the house! We said we would pray and visited for awhile longer.
A few days later, I sent a thank you note to the family that met Benito while out blessing the locals with shoes, along with a few photos of their adventure. Shortly thereafter, I received an e-mail from them stating that they had prayed about Benito's request and felt led to help out. Benito said that he would need 8 sheets of metal at 8 feet long to repair the part that leaked the worst and that the little drips were no problem. They just rearrange the home when it rains and put buckets under them. Our friends in the States were obedient to the amount the Lord had laid on their hearts and we gathered up Benito to go order him some roofing. To his surprise we ordered him 12 sheets of the 15 foot ones. This will re-roof his entire home!
As we were heading home, after ordering the roofing, Benito said to us, "Take a photo of these". He held out some shells he had found at work that day, and after the photo, he handed them to us as his way of loving us back "UNCONDITIONALLY". He gave all that he had to offer us and that was a lot. Through shoes for the children, God allowed us to be a part of touching this entire family in the community we reach out to. We continue to see the Scripture come to life as folks in the body of Christ come and serve in "LOVE". Shoes... Books... Bibles... Roofs... whatever it may be, without "LOVE" it is empty, but with love, the gospel is fulfilled. We know that if we are not living the gospel we will have no power to share it. Thank you for giving the greatest gift of all to these wonderful people of Isla Mujeres, "UNCONDITIONAL LOVE".

Hanging out with the sisters

Sunday was an exciting day for us. We met Sandra and Monica down on the beach for an afternoon of fellowship. Sandra was the first girl Natalie got to start meeting with downtown to teach her English. Her sister Monica followed in her footsteps after we got Sandra enrolled at the English school with classes. They have learned very quickly so this was a special day for us. We played volleyball and then watched the sunset as we talked in English. They wanted to know how to use certain words in the past, present, and future tense. That filled up 2-3 hours with laughter and learning about each others language. We discovered that you should not use the word "Silly" describing someone in the Spanish dialogue. There are things that do not work in their culture that we use on an everyday basis. It makes us stop and think about what we are about say which should be a good rule of thumb in any language or conversation. Am I going to build this person up, encourage them? A thought for us to ponder today as we move forward with our relationships on Isla Mujeres.

Our mission on Isla Mujeres

This free slideshow generated with Smilebox

Because Of You Gods Love Shines Through

Every day is a gift, and we are so thankful for the ways God shows us how to share it. Some wonderful new friends came to the island from the U.S. and donated shoes, and their time, to help rescue little feet from the glass and rusty metal dangers of the neighborhood! Thank you so much for giving! Your presence lingers long after your departure!

All in the family

Greetings once again from the land of sand and sun. The weather has turned for us... we believe and it feels like the warm season is starting to take hold. The winter has been a chilly for the locals of Isla Mujeres but they faried well and survived it with smiles as always. Greg's mother and our son Ryan came for a visit and what a blessing itwas to spend time with them. We took them around and they helped us distribute shoes in some of our favorite places. To see their hearts moved by the hand of God as they shared in the ministry God has given us here was a blessing beyond measure. Mom reconnected with many of the vendors that she got to know during her first trip here a year or so ago. They all remembered her and as usual, blessed her far beyond anything she was expecting. They lavished her with many items from the goods they sell here but would take no money for it. They kept telling her, "For Gregorio's mama, gratis". We had to keep reminding her that the right thing to do is simply receive it and to thank them. We keep being reminded of how Jesus loved people and the Epistles emphasis the fact that love is the greatest gift of all. We get hung up on the other facets of life and have to be reminded that love is the basis of everything pertaining to life. Our son was refreshed during his break from another term of college and we were blessed by his freshness in the way he views life. Thanks Mama Snider and son for coming down and loving on us in such a marvelous way. We are heading into Easter Weekend where we are to meet up with a family for the service and then go buy shoes with them. Another blessing from God for a family that we have never met, yet through the moving of the Holy Spirit, found us and want to lend a hand. We are excited as we keep pressing forward for His glory here on the Island and seeing His will being manifested before us and we walk in obedience. May your Easter be one of reflection as to why Jesus went to the cross and how the love of God keeps being poured out on His children each and every day. blessing from the little rock in the Caribbean of Isla Mujeres.

The Smile Says It All

"And He called a child to Himself...." Matthew 18:2

Blessings in the little things

We had the pleasure of spending time with our dear friends Brian and Joyce from Truckee California the other day. They came by and spent 41 hours with us on their way to Belize to see the missionaries they support there. As we took them around the Island to introduce them and show what the Lord has us doing for His Kingdom, we went into Guadalapana, the small community of families we spend most of our time at. We wanted to take some progress photos of where the fire was a couple of weeks ago that destroyed 19 homes. As we strolled through the area, as normal, we drew a crowd of the kids running around filling their day with adventure and laughter. We stopped and laughed with them as they showed us their newest inventions. Pieces of PVC pipe with balloons on one end to shoot rocks out of. They let us give it a shot, :) and hit everything we aimed at. They never stop amazing us with what they can do with the things laying around the Island. The biggest blessings was as our group said goodbye to the 8 or 9 kids with us was something we both noticed and it sure touched our hearts. We looked at each other as we made our way down the jungle trail and asked if we had noticed anything about the group. Being liked minded that we are since 30 years of marriage and seeking the Lord first in our lives does that, we had both been blessed with the fact that all 9 of them had shoes on their feet. This was the first time we have gotten to experience that sight since we have started putting shoes on the feet of the children of the Island. It is because of the faithful giving folks keep sending our way that we are starting to see fruit from our trips up and down the lanes here. They seem to want to save them for special trips downtown or gatherings they attend but we keep telling them to put them on and get with it. We know that this was a special sight and that every kid will not be protected from the elements of the Island with shoes, yet God gave us this special blessing to encourage us that we are or should I say, you are making a difference in the lives of the kids here as they know that we hand them out in the name of Jesus. We can't thank you enough and we have a hope that comes from above that another pair will be handed out with love and another life will be blessed as we continue to march on day by day here with these beautiful people of Isla Mujeres.