Monday, July 30, 2007

Kinda home...

Well... Montana was GREAT! God is awesome and it was awesome to see Him at work.

I am kinda home... we made it home from Montana @ midnight on Saturday... got up and went to church Sunday, but left Sunday afternoon to come visit family in West Virginia. So- I am not really at my home yet... but will be by Saturday (hopefully- I am ready to be back in my own bed).

Right now it is late and I am exhausted. I still haven't caught up from our trip out west. I have stories to tell you all about the trip and pictures to post... but not tonight. :-)

Thanks for all the prayers!

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Montana or Bust

Hey...

just in case anyone actually reads this, besides erin b :-), we are leaving for montana in like 4 hours- woohoo!
we are headin there to help out a missionary with the north american mission board

pray that God will open doors for us to share the gospel, pray that God will use us in a mighty way

i will let ya know all the details when i return... in 10 days to be exact :-)

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

We freed the hot dogs

Well... we had the block party for Neuva Esperanza last night. We passed out free hot dogs and information about the upcoming Bible studies.

I thought I would be "cool" and use one of those free online translators to say that in Spanish... so here ya go :-)

Bien... tuvimos el partido del bloque para Neuva Esperanza anoche. Nosotros nos desmayamos libertamos los perros calientes y la información acerca de los estudios próximos de Biblia.

Then I noticed the "fine print". It said -This free translation is ideal for instant, draft-quality results. It is a "gisted" translation, providing a basic understanding of the original text.

That kinda made me think..."humm, I will have no well of telling if it translated the way I want it to...for all I know- I could be telling people we will be giving away biblical hotdogs, or maybe something along the lines of passing out at a party." For any of you who have taken a Spanish class you will understand. Things don't always translate word for word.

So I came up with the bright idea of using a different website that translates and paste in what they gave me in Spanish. If I entered the Spanish and have it translated back into English I will be able to better understand what I am telling the world in Spanish. So I did that! :-) Apparently this is the literal translation of what the Spanish is actually saying. *LOL*

... we had the party of the block for Neuva well Hope last night. We freed the hot dogs and the information about the next studies of Bible.
FREE THE HOT DOGS!
gotta love it :-)

Anyways- just had to enlighten ya'll.
So here are some pics from the last night.
Fixin' the "freed hot dogs"

Takin' hot dogs door to door

Balloon animals for the kids

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Neuva Esperanza

Vacation Bible School... those three little words can bring back some fun memories.

VBS at Westwood is a little different this year and I believe it is working in the lives of that adults just as much as the kids. VBS is taking place on Wednesday nights with the focus of missions. Each week, the kids 'board a plane and fly to a different country'. We have been to Hungary, China, Bolivia, Peru, and to East Roxboro (yeah- that's where we live now). Our church either supports missionaries in those areas, has been there on a mission trip, or both. We learn about what God is doing in those areas, how we can support and pray for the people there, and about the importance of speading the gospel to all the nations. Acts 1:8 "You will recieve power when the Holy Spirit comes to you. Then you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem. You will be my witnesses in all Judea and Samaria. And you will be my witnesses from one end of the earth to the other."

Like I said earlier, one of the weeks in VBS we 'traveled' to East Roxboro. This is because our church is currently helping a new church be planted right here in our hometown. So often when we think of mission work, we think we must travel elsewhere. But truthfully, the people right here in our own neighborhood need to hear the good news of Jesus just the same as those in other countries. If I translated Acts 1:8 to be speaking directly to me, it would say "...be my witness in Roxboro. You will be my witness in Person County and North Carolina. And you will be my witness from one end of the earth to the other." Roxboro is my Jerusalem. Are you being a witness in your Jerusalem?

Yesterday, Shawn and I had an awesome opportunity to help with a mission project right here in our home town.

This leads me to the title of the blog. Neuva Esperanza. Neuva Esperanza is a Spanish Mission church that meets in the fellowship hall of our church weekly. Somehow they inherited an empty trailer that is located in a trailer park that is mostly a hispanic people group. They have been working on the trailer for quite a while now...cleaning, new walls, new flooring, etc. They are planning on using the property to hold Bible studies to reach out to the spanish commnuity. So, a team from Westwood got together yesterday to help out with the project. We were able to accomplish a lot, but there is so much that still needs to be done. We are going to be having a block party tomorrow to hand out free hotdogs, balloon animals, listen to live music, continue with some of the work, and pass out information reguarding the upcoming Bible studies. It is so awesome to be a part of Gods work.

Here are some pictures from the work day yesterday.


Here she is! (the trailer that is) The guys were building a new porch.

Jim was installing new light fixtures.

The ladies cleaned on the inside... and boy did we clean.

This is only about HALF of the trash we hauled out of the trailer.

Shawn and I taking a much needed break.

I ask that you be in prayer for the upcoming Bible studies that will be taking place in this very trailer. Pray that God will open many doors, provide opportunites for Neuva Esperanza to share God's word, and that they will be a light in this community.