Saying Goodbye Is Never Easy

This past Saturday a very dear family to us left the Island. Victor, his wife Anna and 3 kids left Isla Mujeres to return to his home state of Veracruz. Victor was the first Taxi driver that we connected with over 2 1/2 years ago. It started with a few words of English back then on our rides to town. Today, Victor is teaching English to his kids and his younger brother who has come to the Island to try and better his life as well. Victor left because the tourists visiting Isla have slowed way down and hopefully they return at the end of November. We do not know what the future holds for any of us and Natalie and I may never see them again. With this in mind, we lift them up to our Heavenly father that does know the future and we trust in Him for the outcome. We are so grateful to Victor for allowing us into his family during the time we had together. We pray for their return in November so we can continue our relationship with him and his family. Birthday parties, dinners at local restaurants, serving our guests when they arrive, he always has a smile and kind word. It is a gentle reminder to us why we are here. "ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE." We also get to plant seeds and love on those God brings to us during the time we have. May this update find you planting seeds and loving on those that you greet today because today is all we have.

Family Affair

Our son and niece came to visit for a couple of weeks and had the opportunity to join us in our ministry. It was a very special day for us with the kids, as everyone got a pair and we even had some left over. That was a first for us. I should say every kid that showed up for shoes got blessed. The best we can estimate, without going in and counting, is that there are around 250 homes in Guadalapana. We have no way of knowing how many kids are there but we do know that every pair of shoes that are handed out are appreciated. To be able to have them all leave with shoes and not see a sad face walk away was so rewarding for us. One of our friends, who came to help as well said, "Greg, I sat here and watched God multiply your shoes right before my eyes." Praise the Lord! A second blessing was that our little friend from Bend, Oregon decided that she did not want any gifts for her birthday but wanted everyone to donate towards shoes for the kids here. Reece and her family came down for three weeks in January to lend a hand and she saw a need. Way to go Reece, we sure love you. We continue to build relationships with families and see God move in hearts on the Island. People turning to Christ, prayers being answered, and smiles put on the faces of the kids. Thanks everyone for simply giving as we continue to share His love and do His work.

Another chance to love the kids

We went to Karen's home on Wednesday to celebrate her 4th birthday. We had a great time with her family and relatives as we laughed, sang, and enjoyed the great food we had gathered around the Island. We made several laps on the Moto to find everything, and we arrived on time,(remember we are in Mexico so "On Time" takes on a whole new meaning.) As the 6 adults and 6 kids sat around in the little 10x10 kitchen/living room area, everyone wanted to be in front of the fan, so musical chairs were in order throughout the night. Karen has a great love for her pinatas so this year we decided not to attack it with a big stick as memories from last years party danced in our minds. Fun, fellowship and love were shared by all as we took delight in blessing this special little girl that God connected us with 2 1/2 years ago. God keeps providing so many opportunities for us as we walk by faith and simply love on those before us. The Temp. is rising and the tourists are dropping so please continue to pray for us as we are faced with so many choices for ministry on the Island. Love is the greatest of gift all and it does not cost us anything but time.

The Gift of Giving

Simply giving. The Jersey Girls came to simply give. They gave time, they gave shoes, they gave precious little gifts, they gave smiles, they simply gave. They gave from their hearts. They gave to God's precious little ones, and some of His precious big ones! They gave to us encouragement, and a helping hand. They gave us a reminder that, "Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights,..." James 1:17
Their giving was a reminder that all we have is given to us by our loving Father, and is ours only as we open our hands and let Him give to others through us. These are ours because only what is given back to Him can be taken to heaven when we go. All the stuff we call "mine" on earth will surely pass away, but on that final day, when we step out of time into eternity, the gifts we gave will be found again in His eternal treasure store.
Thank you all for the gifts you have given, we are blessed beyond measure to pass them on for you.

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

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