Hornbrooks in Mexico City

Where has the time gone?

2011-08-11T10:11:00.000-05:00

This summer has sped by. Most of June we spent packing up our house in Mexico City getting ready for a church family to move in. We are thankful for Oscar, Araceli and Tanya. This family is lovingly taking care of our doggies as well. (at least two of them--our puppy is at another church family's home)

July 5th we arrived here in Indiana. Flying up rather than driving up is really nice. There are some draw backs. One is that we don't get to slowly adapt back to American culture. Driving up allows us three days to enjoy all the green grass, crops, etc. We also have time to adapt back to speaking in English to folks. It took us a couple of days to switch gears. Now we don't hesitate when responding. Our first thoughts aren't Spanish ones. We have also stayed busy getting the girls ready for school. I got most of their shopping taken care of before my surgery. It was a good thing since a lot of my time is spent going and doing Physical Therapy. My surgery didn't do all that we had hoped. I'm still pretty stuck but I am seeing improvement. I am continually told that no one has ever seen a more frozen shoulder than mine. Good thing God is the Great Physician and He already knows the end result and it is perfect! Sam and the girls did some traveling in July while I was recuperating. They went to Michigan and saw our dear friends at Berean Baptist Church in Livonia. They had fun touring the Ford Museum and Greenfield Village. They also went to Nappanee, Indiana. Kind of a bummer that I wasn't able to go. Thank you so much for all your prayers for our transition, health, etc. God is good and we are so blessed to have you all as our friends.


Nueva Vida folks! We sure miss you all.

Nueva Vida guys.

Nueva Vida gals.

Some of the young people.

Nicole with some of her church friends.

Cousins being silly!

Our dear friends, Ernesto, Estrella and their boys!

Kid's City

2011-06-21T16:05:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we took Nicole along with two of her cousins to Kid's City. This is a City that is a miniature world. Children can work at Walmart, DHL, a bank, Coke plant, Ice Cream Factory, etc. It is the coolest place ever for kids. Our crew didn't want to leave even after being there 7 1/2 hours. They learned some great lessons as well. They worked in a dentist office and the girls performed surgery at the hospital. There was construction work like painting and laying bricks. Another thing they did was go underground and see what actually is under the streets. Natalie and I enjoyed a day at the mall. We went to Saks Fifth Avenue just so we could say we've been "shopping" there.


Claudia climbing the building!

Gabe and Nicole getting ready to ride the mini-race cars.

Enjoying the fruits of their labors from working in ice cream factory.

Gabe and Claudia working at Walmart.

Making a DHL delivery.

Gabe doing some painting.

Trip to Poza Rica

2011-06-21T12:28:00.000-05:00

Last week we went to visit Sam's dad in Poza Rica. It had been awhile since we were there. Dad appears to be adjusting to this new chapter of life. We were able to do some jobs around the house. Sam Sr. is hoping to relocate in Poza Rica. He would like to downsize and move closer to church. There is a house next door to the church that is available but right now the owner isn't willing to lower the price. The house would need some work. We went and saw Ellen's grave site. Dad ordered a nice gravestone that is an open bible. Continue to pray for Sam Sr. We will be leaving for our furlough July 5th and won't be able to visit him here in Mexico for another year. He is wanting to fly up for Thanksgiving and we are encouraging him to fly up and visit his kids this summer if he can get his move made. The church family are really helping Dad in every facet of life. We will have to rely on them to help Dad pack up and make the move. We are very thankful for God's Family!


Here Sam Jr., Nicole and Sam Sr. are harvesting mangos from one of the three trees that Dad has.


Looking at Mom's grave marker.


Philipians 1:21 For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.

The grave sites of others near Mom.

Mom's grave marker is a great testimony to those that will come and visit the grave yard. I was very saddened to see the other markers. Some of the sites had flags of their favorite soccer team. Who cares what team you are for?

We love you Dad!

Maranatha celebrates 25 years!

2011-05-23T12:47:00.001-05:00

Saturday we were invited to attend a special concert to begin the celebration of Maranatha's 25th year of faithfully spreading the good news of the Gospel! What a joy to hear the adult choir perform several specially selected songs. Their orchestra was absolutely impressive. We all sat there in amazement to see and hear what God has done. We had the privilege to be involved in this church for the first ten years of our ministry here. The young people are now married and their teenage children are serving in the choirs and orchestra. This is what Heaven will be like. We will get to listen to how our awesome God was faithful to His promises and rejoice and give all the Glory to Him. It was wonderful to have Beulah Pinkston fly in for the special occasion. We loved working with the Pinkstons when we came to the field twenty years ago. The folks at Maranatha will always have a special place in the Hornbrooks hearts.


Rene, present pastor, Beulah Pinkston, founding missionary wife, my lovely husband, also former pastor, Pepe, former assistant pastor and Armando, present assistant pastor.


Some Maranatha folks we've known for 20 years.

One of the couples that we've known for a long time. Now their sons are involved in the orchestra.

One of Natalie's bestest friends from Maranatha, Bety. Now Bety, 19 ,is the choir director! She is very gifted.

Baptisms

2011-05-23T12:16:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful day at church yesterday. We got to hear four beautiful testimonies of how God used people, events and even very difficult trials, to bring folks to Himself. Rene, Ofelia and Michell are all from the same family. Husband, wife and daughter were all saved within the past year. God used a trial of their two year grandson suffering and nearly dying to bring this family to the foot of the cross. Michell's boyfriend is our son Nathaniel's childhood friend. It was through the friendship of our son with Carlos that brought these dear folks to church. Carlos, Rene, Ofelia and Michell have all come to know the Lord. Gaby, the other person baptized, has heard the Word all her life. She came to know the Lord when she was six. It is wonderful to grow up in a Christian home. Yesterday we also had another baby/parent dedication. Zuriel is such a blessing. Lety, his mother, had a very difficult pregnancy. She was in bed most of it. Zuriel was born premature and just a month ago was allowed to come to church. We are so thankful for Sergio and Lety and their desire to bring Zuriel up in the ways of the Lord.

Mixed Emotions

2011-05-17T09:20:00.000-05:00

We are wrapping up another term here on the mission field. As we approach our departure date, we do it with mixed emotions. A part of us wants to go to the States and be with our family and friends and yet another part of us doesn't want to leave. So why do missionaries put themselves in these difficult and uncomfortable positions? There are a variety of reasons, to be honest, unless you are a missionary, you may not understand. I've heard from very dear folk that we missionaries should be used to leaving and saying good-byes. Listen, just because we've been doing it for 20 years doesn't make it easier.
Twenty years ago we left our family and friends in Indiana and made the long trek to Mexico City. At the time we had a three year old son. It wasn't easy leaving but having our little family to lean on as we went was comforting. It was a new adventure and this is how we presented it to our son. Children are very adaptable and look forward to new things. At least this is how we looked at it at the time and it worked. We adjusted well even though the circumstances around us were very difficult. (long story that I don't want to go into at this time) Fast forward to today... Now we have three children. One left our nest when he was just 17 years old. We sent him to the States for his senior year in high school. I'll be honest, I was miserable that year. I wanted to be with my son and experiencing all the things that other parents get to experience when their child is a senior. I grew tremendously in my prayer life that year. Much of it done with lots of tears.
We as a family take a year furlough because we believe it is important for our children to experience a school year in a regular school. Homeschooling has been nice but it has been difficult and sometimes impossible to give our children all that they need to prepare them for the next chapter; college. We don't have co-op groups here on the field. We don't have libraries either. We have been very fortunate to be able to bring down many books and other materials to help our children along.
Believe it or not we've had folks in the States question us on taking a full year. I've heard some say that, "I've never gotten a year's vacation". Let me say right here, our furlough is not a vacation. We do a lot of driving, and then some more driving and we don't arrive at a resort where we can turn off our phones, sit at the pool, forget about our work, etc. We do get to visit with some of the bestest folks in the world. We also have the privilege to worship together and man do we eat good. We get to rejoice in all that the Lord is doing in Mexico City and around the world. In many cases, this is better than a vacation!
We plan to be gone 13 months this furlough. We want to enroll our daughter Natalie in college and make sure that she is adjusting well to this before we return to the field. It is getting harder rather than easier for us to leave the States as we will leave two of our children there. I know they are there with my parents, a good church, a great college group, etc. But still... I'm a mother and it still is hard. We've gone a whole year without seeing our son when he was in college. We are very thankful for our special blessing: Nicole. I can't imagine coming back to Mexico City without a child. This will be difficult for her. She won't have anyone in the house to play with. She has done pretty well in this category but she also will not have a sibling to talk to, to tease and believe it or not, to argue with.
This furlough year is also a time for us to pay attention to our health. We all will have medical work done on us to make sure we are doing all that we can to be good stewards of our bodies. This is the only time we pay attention to our health. We don't do yearly check-ups on any of us. We only go to the doctor when we feel deathly ill. That rarely happens. We have had to tend to our daughter Natalie and her back issues. We are so thankful for the loving care she received last summer. Her life is so much better than it was a year ago. She will always have some pain but she has learned how to deal with it through exercises that help relax the area, yet strengthen her core.
We also use our furlough year to get more training. We go to conferences that will help us to be more effective missionaries. We learn so much from visiting each and every one of our support churches. None of our churches are a like and each one has strengths which they are maximizing in different ways and different ministries. We use all this here in our church plant. We get to try things that we've seen in our churches back in the States. This is one of our best ways to be creative in the ministry.
So, furloughs are great for our family and our ministry. We go through adjustments that seem uncomfortable in the moment and God uses them to grow us. Our children learn what it is like to be a stranger in a new place and they go back and work hard to make others feel at home. That's worth it isn't it? We all continue to grow in our understanding that this Place is all just temporary. There is so much better in the next Chapter--Heaven! This is truly what it is all about! We all are serving Him, bringing others to Him so that in eternity we can all worship Him!
Furloughs are just apart of God's plan for the Hornbrook family and many other missionary families. Furloughs come in many different shapes and sizes. Sometimes the purpose is to raise more funds, sometimes they are useful for more training but they all serve great purposes. I'm so thankful for our Home Church and all the love they have for their missionaries. We always feel welcomed, loved and very well cared for. Our church here in Mexico City has had to grow fast as we are leaving our church plant without a full time pastor. The folks have jumped in and taken ownership of all the responsibilities that are involved in keeping a church of 90 to 100 going! Us leaving is a good thing. Our church family here in Mexico City has had to interact more with one another and has had to learn some valuable lessons in communication. This is all good. Pray with us as we maximize on our time left here and as we adjust to life back in the States. Sometimes we missionaries come across as odd or different. Don't let this keep you from getting to know us. We've been out of the U.S. culture long enough to not know all the lingo but I believe we all can learn from each other!

Christina the Church Rabbit

2011-05-09T11:00:00.000-05:00

Our children enjoyed the Christopher Church Mouse books and videos. This is an excellent way to teach children biblical principles using a cute little mouse and his family. They lived in the church building and listened to the preaching and teaching of the Word. Well, at Nueva Vida we have our version; Christina the Church Rabbit. Our church is nicely located on a small recreational park. All of us enjoy going to church each week just to enjoy things like grass, trees, and even animals. Surrounding the church there are goats, cows, a horse and now... a bunny. The children love arriving and trying to find the cute white bunny. Two weeks ago my job was trying to keep a little kitten from coming into the church auditorium during the service. That was quite the task. I gently kept putting it on the other side of the fence and it continued to find it's way back to me. Each week we are amazed at our Creator God through the hearing of His Word. Sometimes we get to enjoy some of His creation while we are listening!

Mother's Day

2011-05-09T10:51:00.000-05:00

We had a great day celebrating Mother's Day at church. We had a great turn out since several of our church families use the weekend to visit their mother's. We had a meal catered in and the dads and young people served the moms. It was a wonderful time to reflect on the mother's in our lives and also to see that God in His perfect plan designed the family. Aren't you glad we have His Word to guide is in parenting and in life?

Here we are being silly!

Kid's Day

2011-05-05T12:30:00.000-05:00

That's right. Here in Mexico we celebrate Kid's Day. It is a national holiday to focus on children. We used the opportunity to invite folks to church. We had games, picnic, piñatas, and pool time for the children! The visitors got to hear a very clear presentation of the gospel. Mexico has plenty to celelbrate in the month of May! These are great opportunities to reach out to the community around us.

Passover Meal

2011-05-05T11:20:00.000-05:00

This year we did a Passover Meal over Easter Weekend. It was a great time to focus on all that God has done and is doing. We had a great turn out. It was fun to have our former members Ernesto, Estrella and their boys come back from Monterrey and be with us. They are doing a fantastic job of serving God where He has placed them. We miss them terribly but we are excited to hear how they are faithful to our Savior. The Passover Meal is very interesting with all the symbolism involved with each food item. Some of the flavors aren't my favorite but it is a very good reminder of the Sacrifice that was made on our behalf. (lamb) The bitter herbs to me are a reminder that God is ultimately in control of everything, including the difficult times. Sam played the part of a man that came through a time machine and told us all of the events that lead up to the Last Supper and more. A few children in the church came up to Sam later and thanked him for the mini-drama. The drama helped tie the whole evening together.

Parent/Baby Dedication

2011-05-05T11:06:00.000-05:00

We are having a baby boom at Nueva Vida! It is truly amazing to see how God works in restoring folks to Himself and to others. Daniel and Lizbeth were a couple that were ready to end their marriage. They got invited by one of our church families to come to church. That was over a year ago. Now God has brought their family together! They are excited to be growing and changing in the likeness of Christ! They use to be a family of three but God in His Wonderful Way has made them a family of four. Big brother Diego (14 years old) is so happy to have a baby sister. Daniela is a little cutie. This is our fourth baby in a year and we have another one on the way for July! Our nursery is busting at the seams!

Youth Retreat

2011-05-05T10:58:00.000-05:00

We had a fantastic time at our Youth Retreat this year. We had unexpected rains that forced us to be very flexible and creative. The theme was focusing on Godly Friendships. We all know the pressures of life as a teenager. The peer pressure to live without thinking of consequences is great at this age. It was good to come together and see from God's Word that there is another way to do friendships.

We had a fantastic time playing games like: capture the flag, mafia, volleyball, Stephen ball, four square, mentira (bologna), apples to apples, and much more. We ended the retreat playing a photo scavenger hunt!

Our time in Indiana

2011-04-08T15:19:00.000-05:00

We had a nice time visiting with family and friends while up in Indiana. Nicole was really hoping to see snow. We arrived in Lafayette and the temps were in the 70's. I didn't think it was possible that we would see snow. Well, that's what I get for assuming. One morning we woke up to a spritz of snow.


Not much, but at least it was snow!


Nicole gathered all the snow and made a snowball!


Sam Sr. and Sam Jr. got to see a winterland while in southern Indiana!

Nicole was a bit jealous to say the least. God allowed us to see some big wonderful snow flakes on the way to the airport on our way back to Mexico City. We stopped the car and let Nicole enjoy the flakes!!

We also enjoyed some time with our son, Nathaniel. We had an early birthday party for him so that we could celebrate with him. We are thankful for the 24 years God has given him. He is enjoying his studies and his ministries at Faith Bible Seminary.

Nathaniel and his roommate Joe, who is also a Seminary student.

Memorial Service in Lafayette, Indiana

2011-04-08T15:05:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful Memorial Service for Ellen Hornbrook in Lafayette, Indiana. I personally want to thank our Home Church, Faith Baptist Church, for going above and beyond in demonstrating their love for the Hornbrook family. I put out a plea for housing for the Memorial Service for family members and friends that would be traveling and I got twice as many homes as we needed. I also want to thank my parents for hosting several meals in their home for the Hornbrook Clan. It was a fun time of fellowshipping and of course eating! The Hornbrook family like many other missionary families, don't have the opportunities to get together very often as several of us live out of the country. Although the occasion was a sad one, there was way more joy than sorrow. Thank you to all the extended family that made the journey to Lafayette. It was so good to see you all. I think we got a taste of what Heaven will be like. We all will sit around and rejoice in what God has done in our lives. We know that this is what Ellen is doing these days. We are thankful in the comfort that we have knowing where she is and that one day too, those of us that have put our faith in Christ will join her! What a day that will be! Below is a link to view a presentation we made of Ellen's Funeral in Poza Rica, Mexico.

http://youtu.be/WaNraTMoAQs

The next clip is about Ellen's life. Sam and Ellen went to Mexico in 1957. They were like pioneer missionaries. They made their own bricks to build their house. They had a cow for milking purposes. They were only going to Mexico to serve for one year but God had other plans! They faithfully served together for more than 53 years. Sam and Ellen planted or help plant 10 churches during that time. All their children are faithfully serving the Lord. Two of their son's serve the Lord full time here in Mexico. One more, Steve, who also made both of these presentations, is finishing up his Masters in preparation to serve the Lord. Two Hornbrook grandson's are also serving or are in preparation to serve as missionaries. David, also served the Lord in Japan for six years as a missionary. Missions is never far from the hearts of all the Hornbrook children. What a heritage has been given to the Hornbrook children, grandchildren and great grandchildren!

http://youtu.be/GM4OWx63VEY

Here are a few pictures from our time in the States:

Nathaniel played a special at the Memorial Service.


The Hornbrook Family singing one of their favorite devotion songs: Therefore the Redeemed

Natalie and Nicole

2011-02-28T12:55:00.001-06:00

Our girls are really enjoying the life God has given them here in Mexico City. Both girls have friends at church, basketball and from other connections. It has been fun to watch our children grow up in another country. They have learned another language plus have been brought up in a church plant focused life. This lifestyle isn't like any other. This year has been a year of them both realizing that they are going to have to pick up and leave again. For Natalie, it has been much more difficult. She has come to a point in her life that she knows that her life won't be like it has been for the past 17 years. She is going to finish her high school education in the States and then move on to college. She will only come back to Mexico for visits. Let's just say, she has shed a few tears about this. We have just a few more months 'til we head back to the States for our furlough year. We enjoy our time in the States but it just isn't the same as our life back here in Mexico City. Please pray for our girls. My childhood was not like my kids. I went to the same church my whole life up until we came to Mexico 20 years ago. I didn't know another culture, another language like my children have been so blessed to learn. I barely knew that there was a West Lafayette. (I grew up in Lafayette) There are always lessons in these transitions. Saying good-bye doesn't get easier with time. We continue to grow more and more attached to our church and those around us.

This is a cool truck that we found in the Home Depot parking lot in Poza Rica where Sam's dad lives.

Thanks so much for your prayers as we get ready to transition to the States.

Double Baby Shower

2011-02-28T12:41:00.000-06:00

A week ago Sunday we had a Double Baby Shower at Nueva Vida en Cristo. What a fun time of games, devotional and opening gifts! It was a joy to see the church folk demonstrate so much love to these two families. You may remember Fransisco and Sonya. They are the couple that lost a baby nearly a year ago. God blessed again and this past week, Kevin Emanuel was born! We barely got the baby shower in before he got here! Lizbet and her husband Daniel, the other couple that is expecting, have been a blessing to have in our church. They came to our church with their marriage ready to end. They've both come to know the Lord and are now expecting their second. That's right! They have a son Diego that is almost 14! This is the second family in our church that has a big age gap and they too just had a baby in November. We are expecting little Daniela to arrive any day now! It was fun to buy both girl and boy gifts for the shower. In thirteen months our church has had a growth spurt in the nursery of 4 babies!!!!! This is so exciting and fun for the church. There are plenty of babies to hold when you get to church! Our church is also going to have two weddings this summer! One in June and one in July right before we leave for furlough. Sam is enjoying doing two premarriage classes during the week in preparation for these weddings. Pray that these couples and families will continue to strive to please God in everything.

Ellen Hornbrook's Homegoing

2011-02-16T18:06:00.000-06:00

Several words come to mind when describing my mother in-law: gracious, humble, loving and hospitable are just a few. I've had such a privilege being in the same family with her. I"ll be honest, years ago (1984), I was blown away with my mother in-law. So much so that I decided that I could never measure up to all that she was. Sam, myself and a friend, Kandie (Johnston)Stilwell, went down to Mexico in 1984 so that I could see what I was getting myself into by marrying Sam. I came back feeling like I could never do what I saw my mother in-law do. I felt inadequate for the job of: missionary wifery. Sam was good to convince me that I could learn to do what every missionary wife and mother has had to do. I still fall way behind when it comes to all that my mother in-law has done all these 50 plus years here in Mexico. I'm so thankful that I got to rub shoulders with my mother in-law. Not all the Hornbrook sister in-laws have gotten as much time with Mom as Ruth and I have due to living here in Mexico. We all however got to experience her love and kindness. Mom was quick to jump up. Ellen was also quick to play with her grandchildren. I have fond memories of her playing dolls with my girls and legos with our son. She always brought a special book up to read to the children when she and Sam Sr. came to Mexico City. Our children always looked forward to her yummy desserts that she also brought along. We miss Ellen tremendously but we know that God hasn't allowed something to happen to us that we can't handle. And we know that good will come from this.


There were so many flowers.

It's been awhile...

2011-01-19T13:54:00.000-06:00

Christmas was here and gone but the message of "the free gift" is something we carry and share with us all year long. We had a wonderful time visiting with family over the holidays. My parents (Jerry and Rita Jamison) came for nine days and our son Nathaniel was with us for two weeks. The time went by too fast but we made some wonderful memories. The highlight was December 27th when we invited all the family to our house. We had my in-laws (Sam and Ellen Hornbrook) Sam's brother (Jim and Ruth and family) Sam's nephew (Brian and his wife Merari) my parents and us. We also invited our son's best friend and his girlfriend. There was lots of eating, fellowshipping and laughing.

Not long after our family left we welcomed a group from Faith Christian School in Lafayette, Indiana. They came and served at a Missionary school, held a youth activity, basketball clinics and got some site seeing in. We were busy. It was a lot of fun. In the middle of their visit we got word that my grandmother went home to be with the Lord. That same day we learned that Sam's mom had suffered a brain hemorrhage. Sam has been with his mom and dad in Veracruz since January 11th. Today they are transporting my mother in-law back to Poza Rica where they live. She is still in critical but stable condition. She is unable to respond at this time. She is breathing on her own which we are very grateful.

It's hard to think of my mother in-law being in such a fragile state. She has always been very active and the most hospitable person I know. She was getting ready to serve homemade icecream when her hemorrhage started. She and my father in-law have had a "swinging door" policy in their home. There has always been room at the table and if you needed a place to stay--the beds always had clean sheets waiting. We'd appreciate your prayers for the Hornbrook family at this time.

Thanksgiving

2010-11-27T19:02:00.000-06:00

We have so much to be thankful for. Of course we have to begin with our salvation in Christ! We are thankful for good health. This past year both Natalie and Sam have had back issues but right now they both are doing well. Natalie has learned to tolerate her back situation. She still has pain but knows how to get through it. Sam is finally getting over his back strain that happened in September. He is working his way back up to running again for exercise.

We are also thankful for the spiritual growth we've seen in our own lives and in our children's lives. We are grateful for the trials that God has brought across our paths this past year. We are hopefully growing more through these specially designed situations!

We are thankful for the privilege to serve the Lord here in Mexico City! We are grateful for the spiritual and numerical growth we've experienced at Nueva Vida! God is allowing some major trials to occur in some of our church families. Most of us don't enjoy being put through the hard times but we have all been reminded that God is in control and His Grace is sufficient.

We did Thanksgiving a little differently this year. We had planned on spending the holiday with Sam's parents in Poza Rica. Unfortunately, my visa didn't get resolved until Friday and we weren't able to use our vehicle until my paperwork was in order. So we did plan "B". We invited our Bible Overview attendees over for a Thanksgiving meal on Friday. We had the works! It was fun to introduce our friends to some traditional dishes like sweet potatoes, greenbean casserole and cranberry sauce! The turkey was moist which was a wonderful surprise!! Please pray for our two Bible Overview studies. There are several folks attending that still need to understand the true gift of salvation.

Party!

2010-11-09T16:48:00.000-06:00

The ladies at church wanted to do something special. So, they planned a fun brunch and surprised me with gifts! We have a special group of ladies in our church that desire to grow in their love for God and their love for one another.

Cre-Cri (Creciendo en Cristo or Growing in Christ)

2010-10-28T12:14:00.000-05:00

Some of you might remember the name of our Children's Program called, Cre-Cri. It stands for Growing in Christ. This is what we do when there is Bible Institute for the adults on Sunday mornings. We have one service on Sundays where Sam teaches the adults and the kids have what most would call Sunday School. But when we have Bible Institute we use the time with the kids to teach them Godly Character Qualities. This past semester we've been working hard on Obedience--Submitting to your authority with a happy spirit. I used the teens as my helpers. Natalie taught the Bible story each week. I had three other teen girls help with the definition and memory verses. Plus we had the children learn the books of the Old Testament. If they memorized them in order they got to pick a Beanie Baby from the Treasure Chest at the end of the semester. We also used mini-Beanie Babies as a reward each week for good behavior. It was such a joy to see the kids grow in the area of Obedience. The kids also worked hard on the Obedience song from Patch the Pirate. Last Sunday we got to show the church all that we learned.

Natalie turns 17!!

2010-10-28T10:01:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday we celebrated Natalie's 17th birthday!!! We had the youth over and had a wonderful time playing games, eating pizza and lots of laughter!

We are so thankful for Natalie's desire to please God!

Sam's 50th Birthday Celebration

2010-10-26T14:55:00.001-05:00

On Sunday October 17th we had a very special surprise birthday celebration after church for Sam's 50th birthday!! It was so fun to plan and actually pull off the surprise. Sam got purposely detained at the bottom of our property for 13 minutes while the rest of the church did a mad scramble to decorate the church. Here in Mexico they don't humiliate folks on their birthdays so they had to be educated on what we do in the States when someone turns 50. The church dressed in black and wore sunglasses and were seated at tables when Sam was led into the room. Victor did a wonderful job of starting out the "memorial service" in Sam's honor. Francisco, a man in our church who works in design, made a wonderful video presentation. I did supply the pictures but this is about all I did. The church, under the direction of Alberto, organized a wonderful, fun time of honoring Sam's faithfulness to God. One other big surprise was the arrival of all the Hornbrooks that are here in Mexico were able to attend the special day!!

The mad scramble to get things decorated!

Victor getting ready to lead the "memorial service"!

Sam finally putting it all together!!

Hornbrook girls in "mourning".

Enjoying the video of Sam's life!

Sam's parents, Sam and Ellen were able to join us!

Jim and his family also were with us!

Sam enjoying a video message from our son, Nathaniel!

The Hornbrook Clan enjoying enchiladas!!

The teen table enjoying themselves!

Getting ready to enjoy our buffet of desserts!!

Even the puppy got in on the fun!

All of us Hornbrooks!

Nicole turns 10!

2010-10-07T11:26:00.000-05:00

Claudia, (Nicole's cousin) and Jessi. The three enjoyed their sleepover!

Hard to believe that my baby is ten! It seems like yesterday she became apart of our family! We are so thankful for her! She keeps us young, at least young at heart! Nicole is growing everyday in her understanding of God and His Word. She is a hard worker in school and at basketball. She loves to help me in the kitchen. She loves all dogs and according to her there ain't an ugly dog in the world. She doesn't like spiders yet she doesn't want anyone to kill them but to help them outside where they can enjoy life. She is concerned about all her friends coming to know Christ personally and has done well at witnessing to them. We love you Nicole and are glad our nest won't be empty for at least 8 more years!

Mexico's Bicentennial Celebration

2010-09-15T12:52:00.000-05:00

This week Mexico is celebrating 200 years of Independence. I can remember when we celebrated this as a country in 1976. I was sharing with my daughter Natalie that I was in a special play at school that had a bicentennial theme. There is even a picture in the yearbook! Oh to be in the 7th grade again!

This past Sunday we as a church celebrated Independence Day. (the actual date is September 16th) Here in Mexico we celebrate normally on the eve of the date. So, September 15th is when the country starts it's festivities. This is also true at Christmas. Mexico celebrates Christmas on Christmas Eve. It is almost like they can't wait so they do it early. My kids actually like this.

We are praising the Lord for what He is doing at Nueva Vida! We are allowing the church folk to organize and carry out the activities this year. This is in preparation for us leaving for our furlough next summer. It is so exciting to see everyone come together. We have a very gifted man in our church, Alberto. He organized our Bicentennial celebration. Everything went very smooth. Sam, unfortunately, was unable to attend due to a strained back. We had 120 folks come and enjoy the food, fellowship and festivities!

We had a dress up contest.

We almost ran out of space!

Here are the salsas that the guys made!

Alfonso, preached and did an awesome job!!

Benjamin, a man in our church, did a clown act for the kids!

Alfonso led the church in the "grito". This is the famous shout where we end in "Viva Mexico".

These are our deaf friends. They love to come to special activities!

Special thanks to Axel, the young man on the left. He took all these pictures! He is a professional photographer in our church. We are so blessed to have his family in our church. His dad, sitting next to him, is our sound man and his mom organized all the food!

Busy, Busy, Busy

2010-08-31T11:24:00.000-05:00

This is a picture of our dog Sasha. Sometimes I wish I could just plop and snooze. These have been very busy days for us these past couple of weeks. We are getting ready to jump start our Institute at Nueva Vida for our Fall classes. This semester we are offering Christian Education. Sam is wanting all of our present and future teachers to take this exciting class. We have 25 folks signed up!! This is so encouraging as we train and disciple new people to serve in the ministry. While the Institute class for adults meets we have a special designed class for the kids called Cre Cri (Creciendo en Cristo) or Growing in Christ. We are going to start out the year studying Obedience. This year we will be utilizing the young people as helpers and they too will be training to serve. We are going to be focusing on Bible Stories that show us both obedience and disobedience. We will have a music time to teach the kids the musical scale as well as counting. This is prep for the future. We hope to have a real bell choir in the future so we have to start learning now!!

Thank you so much for your prayers for Natalie and her back. She is doing so much better. She is faithful to her specialized exercise program that she will have to do for the rest of her life. She has no limitations but is learning how long and hard she can do things. She is jogging three to four times a week. I'm walking while she runs and we are pushing close to 8 miles a week. She is also doing volleyball drills that the coach at Faith Christian is giving her. We are so thrilled that Natalie can do all this after a year of hardly being able to exercise. We are praising God for the doctors He brought our way to help Natalie! The Back Clinic in Indy went above and beyond their call of duty. The Rehab in Lafayette at Unity Hospital was so refreshing and extremely helpful in giving us back our Natalie! God used so many people along the way.

We have also begun the school year. Natalie is in the 11th grade and Nicole is in 4th. We are working hard this year in preparation to going to Faith Christian next year while we are in Lafayette for our furlough. Both girls miss having classmates but we are trying to work hard at getting them together with kids their age. We are thankful for a great youth group and children's class at Nueva Vida.

This year we are focusing on training folks for different ministries and we are discipling the newer believers. We have four pregnant ladies in our church!! This is so exciting! Right now we have a six month old in the nursery and in November we will have two more new arrivals and then two more after the first of the year! Our church attendance continues to grow and we have visitors nearly every Sunday. God continues to grow His church in His time. We are honored to be apart of His Work here in Mexico City!

PPS Our son Nathaniel is doing well. He is staying busy with his studies at Faith Bible Seminary and with his ministries at Faith Baptist Church. He is right now he is in charge of the Skate Park and the Hispanic Class. He is loving what he is doing! Thanks for your prayers!

Sad and Glad

2010-07-25T20:52:00.000-05:00

Today we experienced a bitter sweet day at your church. One of our founding couples and dearest friends had their last Sunday with us at Nueva Vida and are in the process of moving to Monterrey, Mexico. I'll have to admit that I cried during much of the day. Ernesto and Estrella and their boys are a part of the Hornbrook family as well as a part of our church family. We have known this couple before they were a couple. We had the privilege of singing in their wedding. We've watched their boys grow up since their first day of birth. Today we had a despedida or going away for them. We had 15 folks give testimonies and I cried through every single one of them. We actually all cried together. It was so exciting to hear the wonderful witness this family has had on so many folks. We are going to miss them terribly. We are also rejoicing knowing that this couple is looking at this move as an opportunity to grow and serve God better. This all has happened all so quickly. It isn't what we'd plan as we are in the last year of our term here before we go back to Indiana for our year of furlough. This is what God has planned and we know that His plans are always better than anything we can think up.

Sam is sharing his testimony.

Here is Silvestre sharing how much Ernesto and Estrella have impacted he and his family's lives.

Alfonso, Ernesto's brother, sharing his testimony.

Ernesto sharing how much he and his family are going to miss Nueva Vida.

Ernesto, Estrella, Ernesto Jr. and Greco cutting the cake in their honor.

Araceli, Fernanda and Estrella

Young people hanging before their last good-byes.

Catching Up

2010-07-07T14:15:00.000-05:00

I can't believe how long it's been since I blogged last. A lot has happened. First, we had a wonderful time in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa. Most of our time was spent in Lafayette, Indiana but we did get to see some friends and family in the other states mentioned. We really enjoyed the wedding we got to go to Livonia, Michigan. Myranda and Justin did a fabulous job of honoring God in their ceremony. I spent a lot of time going to doctors, physical therapy and the dentist. Natalie is doing wonderfully! She has graduated to the next phase in her physical therapy. We are very thankful for the doctors there in Lafayette and Indianapolis. Natalie has been given the green light to start playing basketball again. She is really excited. Of course it will be in moderation until her body gets back into shape. Natalie is scheduled to have her wisdom teeth removed on July 13th. This was something we added in. We chose to have the procedure done in the States rather than finding someone here in Mexico City to do it. We haven't been too pleased with the medical system here lately. We also learned that we need to address the over bite that Nicole has. We plan to address this ASAP. She isn't very excited about it as you can imagine. Our children have wonderful teeth but they just don't grow in the right direction sometimes!

We also got to visit my grandma. Grandma June is 84 and ready to meet our Savior. Pray with us that she won't have too much pain in the process. Her kidneys are failing. She is sweet as ever. It is never easy to say good-bye and this trip was especially hard. I had to say good-bye to my grandma and it could be the last time I see her. We also left two kids in Lafayette this time. Of course Natalie is coming back in August but still it was more difficult.

Nathaniel is very busy with his job and the new ministries he will be in charge of at Faith while he is in Seminary. Pray that he will do well in his responsibilities as well as in his classes. He has chosen to live with two other Seminary guys for the next three years. He has been extremely blessed living with my parents these past six years.

I'm going to post a few of the pics from our time in the States. Thanks so much for your prayers. We look forward to seeing you all next summer and following when we come up for our furlough year!

All dressed up for a wedding

Here is a robin's nest on my mother's wreath

Here are two of the three eggs that eventually were laid.

Here are the three little baby robins.

All girls breakfast at IHOP with the Worrell girls and grandmothers!

Meeting Ian Humphrey!! Natalie and Ian hit it off real quick.

Cupcakes that Nicole decorated with Grandmother.

My brother's doggies!! Megan and Maddison.

Kami, Nicole and Kalli

Having fun at Columbian Park!

Nathaniel and the Skate Park kids

Nathaniel and his first car. 2002 Dodge Neon

Update on Natalie

2010-06-09T18:11:00.001-05:00

Thank you so much for your prayers for Natalie. Some of you might not know that one of the main reasons we are in the States is to get medical help for Natalie. Since our arrival we have had three doctor's visits and today Natalie got her epidural shot to try and help with the pain she has been experiencing for over a year. We had seen three doctors in Mexico City but just haven't been happy with the outcome. All three doctors had different diagnoses and different treatments. None of which worked. We learned today that if this shot doesn't do the trick then we will look at the joints in between the discs etc. and try and see if this is the source of pain. We also learned that the recovery time and time needed for me to be in the States will more than likely be extended. Natalie is going to require a great deal of physical therapy to build her core muscles so that her back will be strengthened and work better. Then she will go through another set of physical therapy so that she can play sports again. It is important for folks with back issues to stay active so the idea of Natalie returning to her playing form is not a far stretch. She will have to do certain exercises her whole life to keep her back strong.

The news we received today was very informative. We were surprised that the shot may not fix the problem. We appreciate doctors being honest and upfront with all the information. We never get this in Mexico City. I had my long list of questions but the doctor covered most of my list before I even had to ask. I guess I'm used to the treatment in Mexico. Pray that we will learn all the lessons God wants us to learn at this time. Pray for Natalie. She is trying not to get excited nor discouraged. She is one tough cookie. I was so impressed with how she handled her epidural shot today. Natalie's shot was much more intense than my two epidurals put together. I know because I got to watch the doctor today. (not too much fun) I've often sat back in amazement of God's grace in Natalie's life. Thanks so much for praying.

Mother's Day Celebration

2010-05-11T11:55:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful time at Nueva Vida celebrating Mother's Day! The fairly newly formed Cre Cri or children's choir did a fantastic job singing a very special song for their mothers. We also had a teen read a very touching poem. Sam had a special Mother's Day message as well. We topped off the day with a Taco Buffet followed by Banana Splits! It was a first time for many of the folk to experience banana splits. It went over very well. It was in the 90s on Sunday so the icecream really helped cool us off. The husband and men in the church served the ladies all day. That was very relaxing! We had a great day all around. Several of our church families were away visiting their mothers but we still had a full house with lots of visitors! Praise God for what He is doing at Nueva Vida!

The hubby's serving the ladies!!

The ladies eating first!

We had 10 families missing, yet we had six visiting families!

Tacos al Pastor

2010-04-20T12:49:00.000-05:00

Last night we took Nathaniel and several of our church folks out for one of Nathaniel's favorite meals; tacos al pastor. They are absolutely amazing to eat!

Nathaniel's visit

2010-04-20T12:43:00.000-05:00

Nathaniel's visit with us came to an end. He flew back to Indiana on Tuesday, April 20th. Nathaniel had an amazing impact on our lives and the lives of our church families. Nathaniel jumped right in and started serving from the time he arrived. He accompanied in the youth band for a Christmas number in our Christmas Program this past year. We also got him busy playing the guitar and piano in the Worship Team. Nathaniel taught our church two new choruses that have quickly become everyone's favorites! Nathaniel organized and led the Youth Retreat over Spring Break. Nathaniel also worked hard at renewing old friendships that he developed 13 years ago with one of our neighbors. You never know how and what God uses. It has been amazing to sit back and watch my two older children reach out to others over the years. This last baptism we got to see how God used Natalie to bring Ana Elsa to Christ. Now God has allowed the faithfulness of Nathaniel's friendliness bring one of his friends to the foot of the Cross.

Michell, Carlos and Nathaniel

Family Dedication

2010-04-20T12:32:00.000-05:00

This past Sunday we celebrated a Family Dedication at Nueva Vida. Victor and Rocio are proud parents to Gamaliel. It has been exciting to see this couple mature in the Lord. They were our first wedding at Nueva Vida six years ago. Victor and Rocio also have another son, Uziel who is four. Gamaliel was a little fussy during the presentation but calmed down when Sam held him and prayed.

Youth Retreat

2010-04-10T16:46:00.000-05:00

Thanks for your prayers for the Youth Retreat. Everything went very well. We didn't have any broken bones this year!! The worst we had were a couple of scrapes and a headache. There were lots of games including soccer, volleyball, basketball, four square, ping pong, swimming, Hide n Seek at night and Capture the Flag at night. Nathaniel was the camp director. He organized and ran the camp. It was so nice to have another adult helping out.

Easter Sunday at Nueva Vida

2010-04-05T17:39:00.001-05:00

This past Sunday was Easter and it also was the 6th Anniversary of Nueva Vida en Cristo Baptist Church. We had a wonderful time listening to testimonies from the 7 folks that got baptized. It was so encouraging to hear how God is using others to bring the lost to Himself. Our daughter Natalie was apart of God's plan to bring Ana Elsa, our deaf neighbor, to Christ. It was so neat to listen to Natalie share Ana Elsa's testimony while Ana Elsa signed. Benjamin, a new believer also gave a very moving testimony. He invited his parents from Durango (a 12 hour trip) to witness his baptism. Benjamin publically asked forgiveness for being a horrible, son, husband, father and grandfather. After his testimony his wife Ana, gave him a big hug. I can't wait for you all to meet these folks in Heaven someday!

Alex, Ana Elsa, Karla, Miguel, Sam, Oscar, Ana and Benjamin

Kids enjoying the pool after the baptism.

Our new kid's club choir--Cre Cri. Cre Cri stands for Creciendo en Cristo or growing in Christ. We are teaching the kids biblical character qualities. This class meets on Sundays during the Bible Institute classes for the adults.

Our youth did a skit under the direction of Nathaniel and Natalie. It was so good. We stole the idea from something we found on YouTube, Everything Lighthouse Skit.

We had over 120 folks yesterday. It was a day full of glorifying God for what He is doing in our lives. We are so grateful for Our Risen Savior that give us the opportunity to have a New Life in Him!

Hornbrook Wedding--Brian and Merari (Sam's nephew)

2010-04-05T17:24:00.000-05:00

It was fun to be able to attend a Hornbrook wedding! Here are Sam's parents, David and Sandy Hornbrook and children, Jim and Ruth Hornbrook and children, Sam and Jamie and children and the bride and groom, Merari and Brian Hornbrook.

Our son Nathaniel got to be a groomsmen!

Downtown Mexico City--Zocalo

2010-04-05T17:19:00.000-05:00

For Nathaniel's birthday on April 1st. we spent the day downtown with a church family and another missionary couple. The day was filled with site seeing, a special tour of a government building, lunch on a roof top terrace and we went to a very cool museum of photos by Willy Sousa. It was a very fun day!

Javier and Nathaniel. Javier came up from Poza Rica and spent a week with us.

Here are Tere and her daughter Angelica with Jamie and Nicole. We are on a balcony over looking the Zocalo.

Nicole and Angelica

Natalie and Anna

Horse Park

2010-04-05T17:12:00.000-05:00

Nathaniel, Javier and Natalie

Progressive Dinner

2010-03-31T21:00:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pics from our Youth Group's Progressive Dinner

Puppy Love

2010-03-31T19:51:00.002-05:00

Here is Nicole and our puppy, Cinnamon.

To God be the Glory!!

2010-03-31T13:36:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we had a great afternoon and evening with our friends. Joel and Tere, the couple to the right of Sam and me, invited all of us missionaries (Cindy Castillo, David and Johann Hyde, and Bob and Terri Metze) over for a day of appreciation. Joel and Tere gave thanks for the hours of time invested by all us missionaries in their lives. It has been amazing to see how God transforms lives for His Purpose and Glory. We had fun sharing photos and stories. The food was out of this world. Of course you'd have to live here to appreciate some of it like, cactus and real pork rines fried ever so carefully to stay crispy when smoothered in guacamole! Makes my mouth water to reflect back on it again!

25th Wedding Anniversary Celebration of Pedro and Rebeca

2010-03-31T13:28:00.000-05:00

What a joy to participate in the 25th Wedding Anniversary Celebration of Pedro and Rebeca's. Sam and I have known this couple for more than 14 years. Our boys enjoyed growing up together at Maranatha. Even to this day they remain good friends. This past Sunday evening we were privileged to be the padrinos of the lazo as well as sing a duet at the special ceremony. The lazo is a symbol of remaining together for life. What a blessing to see all that God has done in this couple. Praise God! This July Sam and I will also celebrate 25 years. We are so ever grateful to our Lord. We never would have made it this long without His Word to guide us in decision making and problem solving.

UPDATE

2010-03-10T13:21:00.002-06:00

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. It is for good reasons. The ministry at Nueva Vida en Cristo has really kicked into another gear! We are starting our own Institute Classes on Sundays before our church service starts. Sam is co-teaching, The Christian Home and we have two other men co-teaching, Fundamentals of Faith. These are our two basic discipling courses that we encourage all of our folk to take. We have 25 newer folks to our church that are taking these classes! Also on Sunday we are starting our kids club called, Cre-Cri (Creciendo en Cristo or Growing in Christ). I enjoyed starting this similar thing at Maranatha years ago. The basic idea is to teach Christlike character qualities to the kids. They will learn songs and verses that accompany the character quality. Plus we have crafts and games. We are expecting 20 kids to start out! Pray with us as we take this next step of growth.

We've also ramped up our youth ministry. We had an activity almost two weeks ago and our son Nathaniel did the teaching. He did an excellent job. We have parents anxiously awaiting Nathaniel's next lesson as they have heard good stuff from their kids. This Saturday we are having our first ever Progressive Dinner for the youth. This is a new concept. I'll let you know how it went over.

We are also preparing for our Youth Retreat in April. We are still awaiting whether we can use the property that we rent on Sundays for the Retreat. Nathaniel will again do the teaching and much of the leadership during the Retreat. This is great prep for him for future ministries he will need to organize and lead.

We've had a couple of sad situations in our church. Sam, just took last night, one of our youth to a Drug Rehab. We are hoping that Omar will listen to God's Word and make the changes necessary to end his drug addiction. We also had a young family give birth to a son at 29 weeks into the pregnancy. Please pray that Paco and Sonya will grow in their relationship to God during this difficult time. Also pray for their little son, Juanito. He has a long road ahead of him. He is still in the hospital and will be for quite some time. God is at work in both of these situations. We know that God has allowed these trials to draw them to Himself.

Thanks for all your prayers!

Valentine's Day Sunday

2010-02-15T20:39:00.003-06:00

Valentine's Day Sunday

Click on the picture and you will go to my album. Then you can choose to see the pics full screen.

We had a wonderful time on Sunday, Valentine's Day. We had a special meal catered in and spent the day eating, fellowshipping and hanging out together. We have enjoyed some growth in the church and we are averaging 94 folks on Sundays!

A Clear Day

2010-02-09T09:14:00.003-06:00

We've had a few clear days here in a row and we've been able to see the mountains all around us!!!!! Sam and Nathaniel went a couple blocks from our house and took these pictures. We were able to see the snow capped mountains that are around 50 miles from our house. This is the only snow we will see all winter!

Baby Shower!!!!!!

2010-01-27T10:11:00.004-06:00

This past Sunday we had a babyshower for one of our ladies in the church, Rocio. It was a fun time of giving thanks and showing love for one another to Rocio and her husband Victor. It was a surprise babyshower which was especially fun! We had families bring in fillings for tacos! Yum, yum!! Several folks in the church also brought their microwaves so that we could heat everything up. We spent the day at the park and enjoyed playing volleyball, futbol rapido and even watched the Colts beat the Jets!!!!!! Our church folk had never seen me in my "fan stage". Of course I screamed when we scored touchdowns! This is a side they didn't know I had!!

We are so thankful for the church family that God is developing here at Nueva Vida. We have another family expecting in June! God is raising up families and we are so thrilled to be a part of it!

Sopes (Soap-pez)

2010-01-27T09:49:00.003-06:00

On Saturday we had the privilege as a family to go to one of our newer church families home and eat something called sopes. Miguel and Lourdes and their family are another extended result of our English ministry. They live across the street where we hold our summer English classes. Lourdes and Miguel are now saved and are in the middle of the Bible Overview study with Sam. I've told some of our church ladies that I'd like to learn some more Mexican dishes. Lourdes took me up on the offer. Sopes are delicious! They are like a tostada in that you leave the tortilla flat and put stuff on top. A sope however has to be taken off the griddle immediately and then you form a crust around the edge to hold the yummies. Then you fry it in pork lard before spreading beans and other delicious toppings. The look on my face is that of pain. My nerves in my fingers were feeling the heat on Saturday. I've decided that I have very sensitive fingers. I can't tell you how wonderful sopes are!!!!!!!

Cinnamon our cute little puppy!

2010-01-27T09:43:00.004-06:00

Our girls sure have enjoyed having a puppy around. I can't say that mommy is always as excited as they are. But I've learned that having animals makes a house more of a home. Our dog population is now three. For those of you that have been here and seen our house, that is a lot of pets. Cinnamon, the newest family member, however is an exceptional puppy. She actually behaves herself when she is permitted to come inside. She has claimed the loveseat as her seat. She is allowed to sit there if and only if she smells decent. Being a puppy she loses this privilege pretty quickly. Some of you might be wondering what kind breed is she. Well, she is a poodle/shitzu mix.

Installation Service at Iglesia Bautista Peniel, Mexico City

2010-01-11T12:41:00.006-06:00

Yesterday we spent the day at a sister church. They were celebrating the Installation of their new pastor, Pepe Pozos. Sam has spent a year and a half leading this church along with their leadership team in first, mending relationships, growing in biblical leadership and secondly, going through the process of finding a new pastor. Pepe Pozos is a student in the Seminary where Sam teaches. Pepe will be graduating this May from the Seminary. We are rejoicing on how the Lord has brought this church and pastor to this point. Sam has enjoyed working with these dear brothers and sisters.

Sam had the honor of delivering the message at the Installation Service.

Pastor Moises Ruiz--mentor of Pastor Pozos

Special music by Avisai Aumada. He will be cutting some Cds in the future. Excellent voice! Avisai was in the youth group when Pastor Pozos led the group in his former church.

Leadership teaming at Peniel praying over their new pastor.

Packed out the place on Sunday at Peniel!

Praise God because only through Him can there be anything good!

2010-01-09T09:02:00.003-06:00

Sam, Daniel, Elsa (the mother of Ana Elsa) and Ana Elsa

Do you believe in prayer? Do you believe that God is actively involved in our lives and the lives of others? I must admit that I sinfully have wondered at times the "why fors" in situations. Last night I was reminded that God loves us all so much.

Most of you remember a post that I had about a deaf neighbor of ours, Ana Elsa. We've been called up to her house on several occasions in the past due to family quarrels. I've gone up and found a noose around Ana Elsa's neck. She was very discouraged and wanted to just end her life. We've had friends often ask about Ana Elsa and I can joyfully say that she is now a follower of Christ!!! This past week she accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior! We've been studying and helping Ana Elsa understand the Scriptures for a couple of years now. Things move much slower with Ana Elsa as her vocabulary is limited and the way she processes information and truth isn't the same as it is for you and I. Ana Elsa processes most of what she receives by observing to see if what she is understanding is "true". Ana Elsa came over a year ago and asked about salvation. I can't tell you how many times and different ways we tried to explain the gospel. We illustrated it on the white board. We read from scriptures. We used real life stories... We could see that she needed more time. She did ask us what to say to God if and when she was ready. Of course we went to 1 John 1:9. I wrote out a prayer in very simple Spanish. I had forgotten all about it. Last night Natalie asked Ana Elsa what she did and what she told God. Ana Elsa pulled out of her Bible the prayer I had written and she went on to tell us how she knelt by her bed this past Wednesday and poured out her heart to God. Can you picture Ana Elsa, signing to God begging for forgiveness, admitting she was a sinner and realizing she can't save herself? Our powerful God knows every language and even knows how to sign!

There have been times we have been discouraged with how our deaf ministry wasn't growing or we didn't think we were being affective in the way we were communicating with them. Last night has encouraged us all to keep doing the simple, everyday acts of love and kindness and trust God for His timing and His results.

Praise God with us and please keep Ana Elsa and her family in your prayers. There are many folks around us that are sitting back and watching to see if our "truth" is really what we say it is.

Snapshots

2010-01-02T19:32:00.007-06:00

We had such a fantastic time over the Holidays!!! We ate a ton of Mexican food! Laughed 'til our sides hurt and reflected back on all that the Lord has done for us this past year!

My parents flew down and spent ten days with us! We had a wonderful time together!

Here is a flower/fruit arrangement at San Angel where we ate brunch.

We had a great time fellowshipping with Alberto and Karla at San Angel.

Here are the cousins enjoying a fabulous meal on Christmas Day.

We had the bestest food ever at Jim and Ruth's and we enjoyed fellowshipping with Ruth's parents, sister, my parents and my inlaws.

Sam and Ellen Hornbrook came up Christmas morning. We did a very Hornbrook Tradition and put a puzzle together. It was so much fun!

Christmas Program at Nueva Vida

2009-12-23T16:24:00.013-06:00

Idalia and Maria Elena as Chismina and Soplona--the town gossipers.

Alberto and Lazaro as Shepherds.

Gaby and her husband Alejandro, as Mary and Joseph.

The Ladies Group sang, Not that Far from Bethlehem.

Even our son got in on the act!! He was a part of the youth band that played Joy to the World.

Combined children's choirs singing Joy to the World.

The Youth playing bells and tubes to Navidad, Navidad--Jingle Bells (believe it or not it is a Christmas Hymn in Spanish).

The Children's Choir signing Happy Birthday Jesus!

It is so hard to know where to begin! Let's start with, "Our God is an Awesome God"! We had a wonderful turn out at our Christmas Program on Sunday night. We had nearly 100 guests and close to 190 in attendance. It was impossible to count all the folks since we ran out of chairs and folks were standing outside in 48 degree weather. Poor people. That's down right cold no matter where you live! All our performers did an excellent job. The kids were precious, the actors were great and the songs were wonderful! The gospel was clearly presented and the True Meaning of Christmas was given. Afterwards we enjoyed tamales, atole, apple salad and piñatas! Thank you so much for all your prayers! Have a wonderful Christmas!

Update on Natalie

2009-12-18T16:56:00.002-06:00

First of all, I want to thank you for all your prayers for Natalie. It has been a frustrating time for her. She went from a very active young lady to not being able to stand for long without pain. We finally got to the source of her pain. She has had in the past a stress fracture to her back which has caused her L4 and L5 to slip out of place. There is no way to put it back except surgery but Natalie's case isn't severe enough for that, yet. This is something that she will have to live with for the rest of her life. It has been hard on me to see my very young girl have pain of someone in their upper years. Natalie finished up her Physical Therapy this week. They have told her to start walking on a regular basis and then build up to running again. Natalie is fearful she won't be able to play sports due to the pain she has now but we've been told that as her back gets stronger she will be able to return to basketball. We will see what the Lord has in store.

Much of our energies during the week have been trying to get Natalie on the mend. So much so, we realize we haven't sent out a prayer letter in awhile. We promise to get one out as soon as we have the Christmas Program on Sunday. We appreciate your patience. The church is doing very well. Sam was able to get us registered with the government which is very exciting! We weren't able to do this until we were officially paying rent for a location. For five years the church met in our home and of course we didn't charge rent.

Tonight our son, Nathaniel, is arriving!!! He will be staying with us for four months before returning to the States to work for the summer before he starts Seminary in August.

Trust you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year's!

Christmas Cookie Exchange

2009-12-18T16:46:00.004-06:00

What a privilege to serve the Lord here in Mexico City. It sure helps to have a wonderful group of Missionaries here that have given up so much to serve in this Cement Jungle. Every once in awhile, we Missionary Ladies get together for food, fun and fellowship. This past week we had a fantastic time together. There were 12 of us that came for a Brunch here at our house. Sam, my wonderful husband, made the bestest ever waffles and the ladies brought every topping possible. My Natalie put every one on her waffle. I didn't get my camera quick enough to take a picture of it. Here are a couple of snap shots I did get.

The Cookies were all so beautiful! And yummy too!

So thankful for all the Missionary Ladies here in the City!

Sure enjoyed all the fellowship with these wonderful Servants!

So thankful for our inhouse Chef Sam! He makes awesome waffles!

She made a basket!

2009-12-09T19:15:00.003-06:00

Nicole finished up her basketball for the semester. She finished on a good note. She made her first basket during a game! She has worked hard and finally it went in!

Seminary

2009-11-19T11:31:00.001-06:00

We learned this week that our son Nathaniel has been accepted into Seminary!!!! He will be attending Faith Seminary there in Lafayette, Indiana. Our home church started a Seminary three years ago and Nathaniel is excited to be apart of the Seminary Interns for the Fall Term 2010. He will be studying as well as interning for the next three years! We are excited for this opportunity. We as a family will be semi-united again while we are on furlough 2011-12 with our son in Lafayette which will really be nice. My parents will also glad that their grandson will be in the area for at least three more years!

This past weekend

2009-11-11T11:28:00.003-06:00

This weekend we took Natalie to hear one of her friends do the opening act at a concert. Elizabeth did a wonderful job with her song!!! On Saturday we gave away our last puppy. It was a happy/sad time. We were sad to see "Wally" go but happy to give him to a very loving family!!! It is always easier to give when you know that the receivers appreciate the gift. This reminds me of "the gift", the greatest gift ever given. Oh, how we as a people so long ago didn't appreciate the birth of Christ. Even today, we can forget the sacrifice He made for us. God did it when we, the receivers, didn't have an ounce of appreciation. May we, this Christmas, be examples of God's love; giving without expecting anything in return. Are we willing to sacrifice everything for the cause of Christ? Pray that we here at Nueva Vida would remember the true meaning of Christmas as we work hard on our Christmas program.

Natalie with her friend Elizabeth before the concert.

Trying to Stay Warm

2009-11-06T18:31:00.003-06:00

This week we spent one afternoon winterizing the "chicken coop" where we have two children's classes. "The coop" is very rustic. The window holes just have fencing over them. We needed to cut down on the draftiness of the rooms. The temps have gotten down into the 40s at night. Even frost has shown up on the car windshields. Fortunately, we don't use the rooms until around 12 on Sundays. By then, the sun has been up and warmed up to middle to upper 60s. Now the kids have to get used to the plastic blowing. The kids will appreciate even more when they get a real classroom. I do think however they will miss the goats, cows and horses that can be seen and heard while they are in class!

The Lord has been working on the lives of the groundkeepers where we meet. Franciso and Sonia. Sonia is expecting and has been restricted to bed rest and "light duty". The church has done an excellent job of providing food and visits during this difficult time. We had a good visit with Sonia this week when we went over to work at the church. Sonia has come a long way. She would come to church and then zip down to her house right when the service was over. She was staying and visiting up 'til her recent bed rest. Please pray for Francisco and Sonia. Pray for their salvation.

We use to put plastic on our apartment windows in Lafayette many moons ago!

Me all wrapped up!

Not pretty but should make it a bit warmer.

Baptisms at Peniel Baptist Church

2009-10-26T21:35:00.005-05:00

The water heater didn't work so they had to heat up water and put into the baptismal tank. Yes, the water was cold!

Here is Alan's dad getting baptised! God used the kidnapping to bring Alan's dad to Himself.

Here is Alan, the boy that was kidnapped, tortured and then escaped!

This is what happens when you are in the car too long!!

Party!

2009-10-26T21:23:00.007-05:00

Natalie turned 16 this past week! We invited the youth to Fun Center where they enjoyed bowling, ice skating and two indoor rides! Then they came to our house for pizza and video games. They all had a wonderful time!

Basketball Hoop!

2009-10-24T12:45:00.002-05:00

Basketball has been apart of my life since I was nine. I started to love the game by shooting out on a hoop that was attached to our garage. All three of our kids have played basketball as well. We finally got a hoop so that we can enjoy the sport even more--at home!! This was Natalie's sixteenth bday present. I know it seems strange to get a girl this, but believe me, we gals here love our bball!!

Surprise Birthday Party!

2009-10-19T12:19:00.002-05:00

Yesterday the church had a surprise birthday party for Sam!!! After the service folks hung around and ate a wonderful meal, cake and coffee! I wasn't able to take but a couple of photos since I was helping serve. We had a wonderful day! We had 87 in attendance and Maribel understood salvation and accepted Christ! Sam had the privilege of walking her through the gospel. What a perfect way to celebrate your birthday!

Two Down, One to Go!

2009-10-19T12:12:00.006-05:00

Rafa, Ale, Ana and Valentina with their new puppy!

Nicole and Jennifer with her new puppy!

We are still doing puppies!!

2009-10-15T22:19:00.004-05:00

Our puppies are now six weeks old! Hard to believe. We gave away our the first one today. Boo hoo. There were a few tears. We gave her to a wonderful family that will love her just as much as my girls do. We have two more to give away and yes, I know we are crazy, we are keeping the tan one. We have named her Cinnamon and Nicole really wanted us to keep her since she was born. She was the runt but she has caught up! I'm ready for us to be out of the puppy stage but I know we have a whole puppy year ahead of us and then some! Our girls have really enjoyed the whole adventure. We all agreed that this was the last batch of puppies. Poor Sasha doesn't know what awaits her!!

Puppies!

2009-10-04T17:50:00.002-05:00

Here's a recent picture of our puppies! They sure are cute and my girls love having them around! We have families that are interested in taking them so hopefully we won't be stuck with too many of them!!

Nicole turned 9!!

2009-10-04T17:34:00.005-05:00

This past Saturday our youngest daughter Nicole turned 9!! She really wanted a sleepover in the tent so we set up our eight man tent in the livingroom. Nicole thought she was in heaven! Our house was filled with lots of giggles. Nicole enjoyed her special meal of chicken pot pie, macaroni and cheese, brownies and icecream!

Sam's Trip to Venezuela

2009-09-17T22:45:00.004-05:00

Sam had a wonderful time just above the equator in Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela! Boy was it hot! Fortunately, most homes in Venezuela have airconditioning!! And, get this, they only pay the equivalent of $20.00 dollars a month for electricity!!! Unbelieveable! Also, Sam said that gasoline cost 7 cents a gallon!! These are the only major pluses to living in Venezuela. The president of the country makes life pretty miserable for nearly everyone. Everyone there is losing their freedoms at a rapid rate. Sound familiar?

Inspite of all of this, Sam had a fruitful ministry at the Bible Institute where he taught on Biblical Counseling. He also preached in four different churches the two Sundays he was there. Tim and Pam Darling were very gracious hosts! Sam got to see the sites, the churches, the culture and taste the wonderful foods of Venezuela!

We are very glad to have Sam back here with us! Us girls decided that two weeks is a long time without our daddy and husband!

2009-09-05T15:06:00.007-05:00

It's been awhile since I blogged. Our lives have been very crazy since June. Natalie has stayed very busy with two a day practices with basketball. Little by little, we were more and more controlled by basketball. To make a long story short, after much prayer and counsel, we decided to change Natalie's schooling. Basketball is great but not when it is controlling so much of your life. The school where Natalie got her scholarship promised 90% of the subjects would be in English. Well, the truth of the matter is that only three or four, depending on the day. of the subjects are in English and the rest are in Spanish. Also, several of the classes never openned or used their textbook after a month of classes. What is up with this? Natalie has also been diagnosed with Scoliosis. Natalie has struggled with a lot of pain in her back and it was only getting worse. So, with all this said, she is back at home and homeschooling. We waited for Natalie to make the decision. It has been hard on her. She made lots of friends during the past month. She also misses playing basketball but we are giving her back some healing time. Natalie is happy but lonely here at home. Pray that we will find friends and more activities for our girls. Thanks so much for your prayers during the time when we were waiting for Natalie to take her college entrance exam, waiting for the scholarship, etc. We don't know why God would take us down this path, only to see that it wasn't the best plan for us. We are aware that Natalie is a lot smarter than we imagined. I hope to be able to keep her challenged. We have learned what our Mexican friends go through with being told half truths. It was very disappointing but we are growing in accepting God's plan.

Thank you Berean Baptist Church

2009-08-25T12:31:00.003-05:00

Thank you so much Berean Baptist Church in Livonia, Michigan! The Backpack Outreach Ministry was a hit!!! Mouths dropped, kids jumped for joy when they received their new backpacks stuffed with the basic school supplies!!! I wish I could have video taped their reactions. It brought tears to my eyes to see the joy on the children's faces! It was like Christmas morning! Nothing like new stuff to get you started out on the school year right.

History Lesson

2009-08-04T17:48:00.003-05:00

Every year we make several trips out to the Pyramids that are about an hour and half from our house. That's on a good traffic day it takes that long. One of our poor groups suffered several more hours than normal going around and seeing the sites this summer. Anyway, we always take our visitors to the Pyramids to show how far man in the past has gotten from God. The Pyramids were created during the period when human sacrifice was used to suffice the gods. We also take our guests to the Basilica, or the largest catholic church in Mexico. There too you see folks still trying to apease God but not by killing someone but by crawling on their knees until they are scabbed and bleeding. Reality starts to sink in with our guests. Folks here and in many parts of the world are still trying to work their way into heaven. They don't know that the blood sacrifice has already been paid.

This summer our youngest daughter Nicole started putting the puzzle pieces together in her own mind. Nicole understands better why her family has chosen to live away from most of her family and friends. It is so neat to see the light come on in our children. It isn't always easy being a missionary family. We miss our family in the States a lot. Having groups come over the summer is really a blessing in so many ways!

Group from Roxanna, Illinois

2009-08-04T17:38:00.005-05:00

We sure appreciated having the group from First Baptist, Roxanna, Illinois. They came and served us by building a wall so that we could add two more classrooms for our children's ministries at church. The group also enjoyed Mexican food and seeing the sites. Every group has to try new foods but I have to say this group did the best at eating grilled cactus!!!!! Way to go!!!! Pastor Mike Hess also preached in Spanish here at Nueva Vida. I heard he did a wonderful job! After church we hung around and played volleyball. Thanks for all the sacrifices you all made to come and serve our Lord here in Mexico City!

English Classes and Alan's visit to our Church

2009-07-20T14:51:00.008-05:00

Here is a picture of Alan (the kidnapped young man) with his family. We had the privilege of hearing their testimonies in our church services this past Sunday. Please continue to pray for Alan. This Wednesday he must go to court and testify against and face his abductors. Our church was very moved by their testimonies. We packed out the church and we had lots of visitors. Our gals from Livonia really enjoyed getting to sit and hear first hand the whole story. Their church prayed for Alan as well as many other churches around the world!!

It has been awhile since I blogged. It has been a very busy three weeks. We are into our third week of hosting visitors! It has been a wonderful time of serving and fellowshipping with our State side visitors. Most of our ministry has been English classes. This past week we hosted a group of six ladies from one of our supporting churches in Livonia, Michigan. We had a great time teaching English to nearly 50 children. Before these gals arrived we hosted a young lady, Kara Nolle from Alton, Illinois. Kara was able to serve in a preschool as well as help out in our children's church ministries. This week we are hosting a group from Roxanna, IL. This group consists of three men and a their pastor and his wife. We hope to keep them busy doing work projects at church and here at our home. We always look forward to our summers when we are able to host folks and give them a taste of missionary life! Please pray that God would work in all the lives that our US visitors have touched!

Natalie

2009-06-25T09:53:00.002-05:00

We so appreciate all your prayers for Natalie and her journey! Yesterday she signed up for classes at the Tec High School. The campus is very impressive. Natalie will do nearly all her homework via a laptop. She will have wireless access on the whole campus. This is really cool. So when we are in the gym watching her games I can give you a ticker-tape/play by play of her games!!! Maybe I should investigate this Twitter thing. All but one of Natalie's classes will be taught in English. This is what really sold us on the school. Think about this. What if your child attended a high school and all but one class was taught in Spanish! It is still pretty unbelieveable that kids here are able do school in English. The US is far behind in studying and teaching foreign languages. I've mentioned this before, but here and around the world, children are taught English from Kindergarten and up. Natalie's section of kids is very small. The bicultural class only has around 30 kids and around 150 for all three grades. The rest of the school is in bilingual. They have half of their classes in English. Natalie will be taking French as her foreign language. This is a little scary for her as she's never had a foreign language. To her Spanish isn't foreign. She's been speaking it as long as she can remember. All the other kids in her class will have an edge on her but in the rest of her classes she will have it so much easier than her classmates. Natalie will have a Spanish grammar class that is taught in Spanish.

Natalie has been in basketball training this summer. Her schedule consists of conditioning on the running track/football field from 9-11 in the mornings. Then she returns in the afternoons in the gym from 2-4. On Tuesdays and Thursdays she also lifts weights after her conditioning practice. This is serious stuff for a 15 year old. She is practicing with girls that are all older than her. The coach is trying to have Natalie play in a category above her age. She is being trained very hard to catch up with the older girls. Natalie's body has never been pushed so hard. She has thinned down and has gotten stronger. The beginning was pretty rough. We are extremely proud of her. She has had opportunities to be "light" already. Please continue to pray for Natalie. We know that there are going to be issues we will face that we wouldn't normally when we homeschool. We know that with God's help, we all will grow together to be more like Christ. We want our children to be prepared to live in a lost world with lost people. Being a missionary and homeschooling often shelters children way more than they should be. Pray for me. I'm dealing with some issues as I let my sweet Natalie away from the "nest" a bit. We live in a big and dangerous city. We've been reminded of this lately with Alan and what his family went through. This is a chance for our family to trust God more than ever before.

Fortunately, the school is a mile and a half from our house. It is very close. Many of Natalie's classmates come from long distances. We can get to the school in five minutes if the traffic is light. Natalie could be traveling as far away as Monterrey, Mexico with her team. This is a 12 hour trip by car one way. This is a very unique opportunity for Natalie. We never dreamed when we got the first recruitment call that she ever would go to the school. We kept thinking that she wouldn't pass the Spanish College Entrance Exam. Then we thought, the coach would never offer a scholarship. Then there was, they'd never give us 50% scholarship. God allowed all the road blocks to be knocked down. There are some kids and some families that God wants us to impact for His Glory. Pray that we wouldn't get caught up in all the "newness" to miss these opportunities.

Father's Day!

2009-06-22T17:40:00.009-05:00

We had a wonderful day yesterday celebrating Father's Day as well as witnessing believer's baptism for three of our folks at Nueva Vida!! The day was full of special music, testimonies, preaching, baptism, swimming, etc. We had 105 in attendance! This is a high for us! The park setting makes it very easy to invite folks. We had beautiful weather for volleyball, handball, swimming, tennis, etc. Of course the most exciting of all was to see three adults share their testimonies and then follow in baptism. Thank you for all your prayers for the minsitry here!

Nathaniel

2009-06-13T23:40:00.003-05:00

It's been awhile since I've written about our son, Nathaniel or Nate as his goes by now. First of all, we miss him something terrible. Nathaniel has spent the last four years attending college up in Lafayette, Indiana. He has really enjoyed his time at Purdue University. He has majored in Creative Writing while minoring in Jewish Studies. He will graduate this coming December. He will then come and stay with us for several months and help is in the ministry before he goes off to Seminary in the fall 2010.

This past weekend Nathaniel played the piano for a wedding of some good friends. We are extremely proud down here. Sure wish we could have heard him play. We heard he did a wonderful job!

Thanks to my dad for these pictures!!

Trip to the Border

2009-06-10T11:53:00.004-05:00

We had a wonderful time at the border with my parents!!! We especially enjoyed going to South Padre Island. We went to Schlitterbahn Waterpark. It was a great park to start Nicole out on. We had fun eating out. One of our favorite places to eat is Taco Bell. I know that sounds silly but we enjoy American tacos! Of course we drank our Mt. Dew!!!

Farming......

2009-05-31T22:34:00.002-05:00

Remember awhile back when I did a post about Sam and Nicole's farming project? Well, the tomato and cucumber plants have done wonderfully!! The flowers, well, they must have been dud seeds cuz they haven't done nothin'. It won't be long before we will be eating from our own garden!!!!!!!

Kitchen Pictures

2009-05-31T22:28:00.003-05:00

Here are a few pics from our recent remodel. My husband is such a handyman!!!! I have so much more counter space!!!

Catching up!

2009-05-31T16:58:00.002-05:00

It has been an interesting week to say the least. We started out the week by taking out our old wall oven unit. This is a leftover project from our kitchen remodel that we did nearly six years ago. We are kind of slow at getting all of our projects done! Plus I used the oven. Why? Well, long story, but my newer oven that I bought during the remodel never worked consistently. We bought a new fridge last winter and the wall oven would make the fridge come on since they were right next to each other. So, $150.00 dollars and six technicians later, we finally got the thermostat changed!!!!!!! So the old unit came out this week! This of course left an ugly hole in the wall. So, my wonderful husband, used all his carpentry skills, plus some new ones and built me a shelf to move our microwave up off the counter and into the new shelving unit!!!! Now, no kidding, I have doubled my countertop space!(didn't have much to begin with!) My sweet husband bought me a new microwave too!!!! Of course the cabinets needed painting after we noticed that we just couldn't paint the new shelving unit cause everything else looked horrible. You know how these projects get bigger and bigger!!! We did finish and I have to admit that my kitchen never looked so good!!

Anyway, on Thursday I was sitting at the computer when I experienced exteme pain in my chest and heart area. After suffering for nearly 30 minutes we went to the Emergency Room and had an EKG done. It came out clean. The Cardiologist suggested that I come back on Saturday and get thoroughly tested. I had a "stress test" done as well as an ultra sound on my heart. I was given a "clean bill of health". But we did learn that I have a valve that doesn't close like it should. This isn't the reason I experienced the pain that I did on Thursday. I also learned that I need to have a better routine of exercise as the bottom part of my heart looked "rigid" rather than flexible. We still don't know what caused the pain. I will admit that I got a "wake-up call". I've been reminded that my time here on earth could conclude at any moment. My daughters also were reminded of this. We had to leave Natalie and Nicole behind when we went to the hospital. I'm not sure which hurt worse, my chest or my "heart" when we left two teary eyed girls here at home when we rushed off.

Tomorrow we take off for a week at the Texas/Mexico border. We will be staying in Harlingen, Texas. My parents are taking the opportunity to fly down and meet us!!!! We are really looking forward to some Stateside eatin'!!!!!! And Mountain Dew!!!!!!

On the church front! We had 71 in attendance today! We now have plenty of space to put everyone and then some!!!!!! It is neat to see folks hang around and visit with one another!! This week again most of the church stayed and played volleyball. We didn't leave church until 3:00!! Please continue to pray for property for us!

Our new location!

2009-05-17T20:44:00.010-05:00

Today we had our first service at our new location! Oh how we enjoyed all the space! We came home from church and couldn't believe how we have crammed ourselves in our home all these years. We have plenty of space to grow and we need your prayers as we determine what the Lord has for us as far as finding a more permanent location.

Look at all the space!!!

Coffee Shop/Snack Shop area--great fellowship!

Our new auditorium!!

Nicole's class!

Our youngest children's class. Photo is blurry cuz I was holding on to a two year old!

The guys enjoying futbol rapido!

Elizabeth, Ana and Natalie hangin'!

Chillin'!

Araceli, Tanya and Estrella enjoying our new seating area after the service!

Elbow Grease

2009-05-17T20:24:00.010-05:00

Never dreamed cleaning could be so much fun!!! Saturday we had a church work day at our new rental location. We got a lot done and we had a wonderful group of folks that came and helped!! We scrubbed down walls, floors, washed windows, painted and did some lawn work! I came home and every muscle in my body ached. I could barely get out of bed this morning. The park looked amazing when we finished!

Church is moving on!!

2009-05-11T09:51:00.002-05:00

For the past five years we've had the privilege of hosting Nueva Vida Baptist Church in our home. I have to say that it has been a wonderful experience and I'd even do it again! We've watched a lot of folks come through our doors during this time. We so appreciate our three founding Mexican families that have been with us since the beginning. Our family units has now grown to 20!

I'll be honest. I don't quite know what to do with my house. We need to replace our livingroom furniture and the carpets upstairs in the bedrooms. I think we've about decided to leave things as they are until we can replace the furniture. For the past five years we downsized our furniture. We got rid of some, hid some and scrunched the rest into our t.v. area. On Sundays we've moved a chair into the office and moved our loveseat against a wall to spread things out. This allowed us to have a very large open space to hold over 50 folks comfortably. We will have around 50 black chairs that we will still store at our home. The property where we will be renting already has chairs for the auditorium. We will only need to supply chairs for the kids. My mind has been spinning as I try and think of things that the church has had here that we will need to move by next Sunday. Also we will need to be able to store things at the property probably in plastic bins. In some ways it will be a little more work to have church at the new property but it will give more opportunities for folks to serve and take more ownership of the church. Nueva Vida is still God's Church but instead of Sam, Jamie and the Hornbrook girls getting the church ready every week, folks will take turns arriving early on Sundays to spot clean and make sure things are in order.

Pray for us this weekend as we clean on Saturday and have church Sunday at the park! Everyone here at church voted unanimously for the move and there is a lot of excitement! Nearly every church family is coming to the Work Day on Saturday!!! One lady spoke up and told us that she loves to paint and that she could paint all day!!! Now that's exciting!!!!!!!!! She later told me that she paints her house every year because she loves to paint that much!

Please continue to pray for us. If this property should sell, and we aren't the buyers, then we'd have to look for another place to rent. I've mentioned before that we'd love to buy this property but we have to see what the Lord does!

Slideshow

2009-05-06T13:50:00.005-05:00

On the right side of my blog you will see that I have uploaded a slideshow of pictures of the property that we Lord willing, will start renting for our church starting May 17th. The park consists of a swimming pool, volleyball court, fronton court, playground, several buildings and lots of green grass!!! We would love to purchase this property. We can invision lots of ministries that would grow God's Kingdom! Pray with us as we take this next step of growth here at Nueva Vida! (If you want to view the pictures in a larger format just click on them and you will be taken to Picasa. Once you are there you can click on each picture or view it as a slideshow.)

Ready to get out and about!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-05-06T10:03:00.002-05:00

It has been a long time of staying couped up. Our whole family has enjoyed to some degree these "lazy crazy" days but believe me, we are ready for things to get back to normal. Tomorrow the high schools and colleges will go back to school and then on the 11th the elementary schools will open again. We have been doing school here at home. My girls have gotten breaks here and there but for the most part we have been trying to finish up our school year.

This Sunday we decided to have our last service here in our home. The property where we will be meeting starting the 17th needs some cleaning. We are going to have a work day on the 16th as well as one after our service on the 17th. We are extremely excited about this next phase in our church. We will have plenty of room to grow. Now we need to pray that the property doesn't sell until we have money to purchase it or have another place to meet. We'd love to buy the property but we have saved up $70,000.00 dollars and we need closer to half a million. Pray with us concerning this. We are renting the property for less than $500.00 dollars a month.

By the way, we never did know anyone who had the swine flu virus or anyone that knew anyone that had it.

Virus Update

2009-04-28T08:41:00.004-05:00

Thank you so much for your prayers and comments on my Facebook and my blog. They are so encouraging. Some of you have asked about the earthquake. We did feel it. Earthquakes are actually kind of interesting. Your body feels like it is on a ride at the amuzement park. Yesterday's quake was very small. Sam and Nicole didn't feel it yet, Natalie and I did. That tells you how small it was. Of course folks downtown Mexico City always feel it more as that part of the City was built on a former lake bed--not stable. It is true that right now the country is pretty emotional with all that it going on with the Flu Virus. There was no damage however from the earthquake.

We are growing a little tired of hanging around the house. We did venture out yesterday to see Sam's brother's family. This has been an opportunity for us to focus on trusting God. We say this so much but a sickness like this is causing us to talk about it and live it out.

We are looking into the possibility of meeting on Sunday in an outdoor location. We are thinking of having a service where we met for the Passover Meal. We have to take into consideration ventilation and as I heard last night on the news, " the six feet rule". This rule says you need to stay this far apart to not contract the virus if someone around you is sick. We will of course have to not greet others like we normally do. This is so hard here. Normally we greet with a kiss, hug and handshake. Yes, on Sundays we usually do all three with everyone. To some of you that seems very weird. It took me awhile to get into this but now I have to work hard not to do it in the States when we greet. In other words, it's a habit. If the government puts more restrictions on us we will probably have to cancel our service again. It is really strange to stay home from church. (even when church is in your home) We really miss not seeing our church family. Sunday is the best day of the week!

The government is thinking about shutting down the whole City. This means shutting down all public transportation as well as telling folks to stay home from work. This would really put a damper on things economically.

I will try and keep my blog updated on the happenings here. Thank you again for your prayers!

Swine Flu

2009-04-26T09:41:00.004-05:00

This is a post to let you all know how the Swine Flu is affecting us. We did cancel our church service today. There are several reasons we did this. One is the Mexican Government has closed down many public meeting places and has asked that folks don't congregate. Our church congregation of 60 plus meets here in our home in very tight quarters with limited ventilation. Also we thought of our neighbors and our testimony with them. What would they think if they saw us ignoring the Governments recommendations. So, Sam called all our folks yesterday morning and told them to stay at home. Mexicans are taking this pretty seriously. When you are out and about you see nearly half of the people wearing surgical masks for protection. The soccer stadiums are empty during the professional games as the gates have been closed to not allow fans in. The whole City has been asked to avoid going to the hospital unless you have an emergency. The schools have been closed down until May 6th. The government thinks this is serious and they are taking and making great sacrifices to humanly do all they can to curb this illness. We know that God is ultimately in control and He has allowed this event to draw Mexicans to Himself. Pray that we would be stewards of these opportunities to be "light"! Pray that many Mexicans would come to Christ and know Him as their personal Lord and Saviour!

She got it!!!!!!

2009-04-23T22:48:00.002-05:00

Thanks so much for all your prayers concerning Natalie's scholarship! She has been offered a 50% academic scholarship to play basketball at the Tec High School!! Natalie is pretty excited! We are still trying to figure out all the financing on our end to make it possible. Please continue to pray with us!

Hail Storm

2009-04-19T20:31:00.007-05:00

This evening it started raining here in Mexico City. This is a bit unusual as we are still officially in "dry season". It rained and then it started to hail. Our girls were eager for the rain to quit enough so that they could run out and attempt to make a "hailman"! It sure was a lot of fun!

It almost looks like snow!!

This is as close as it gets to snow here!

Hailballs really sting! Especially when you are wearing shorts!!

Nicole and Natalie playing in the hail!!

Our attempt at a "hailman"!!

Great Retreat

2009-04-18T16:59:00.014-05:00

Thank you for all your prayers!! I'll have to admit, camping is an activity that stretches me. Roughing it to me is staying in a hotel. Camps and Retreats are activities that are very effective with youth. I couldn't wait as a child 'til camp rolled around each year. It was the highlight of my life!! We all need to get away every once in awhile from the rat race and focus on God! I think that our Retreat was a success. Of course we had a couple of "issues" but overall we accomplished all that we set out to do. We had 21 youth and three adults. We had six visitors!!! Sam did a great job during the three teaching times of sharing the gospel as well as challenging the young people to be "salt". Natalie, our daughter, is ready for us to do another one!

Our tent community!

Here is the Bath House, Lodge, Dinning Hall and Kitchen!

We city folk sure enjoyed the fields, fertilizer and even the loud cows!!

We felt like we were out in the middle of nowhere!

A Retreat just wouldn't be complete without getting wet!

We sure had fun soaking each other!!

Water games!!!!

The youth really loved the trampoline--for jumpin' and chillin'!!

Camp food!!! Yum, yum!!

Can't have a Retreat without a campfire!! The kids really enjoyed making s'mores as well!!

Omar having his personal devos.

Me with the owner of the property where we held our Retreat! Thanks Ellen for the use of your spacious yard!!

Passover Meal

2009-04-10T18:12:00.006-05:00

Thank you so much for your prayers for our special Passover Meal. We had over 90 folks in attendance. We are so grateful for all the hard work that went into this event. Please pray as our church folks follow-up on the visitors that they brought. The gospel was presented very clearly. We enjoyed the outdoor party place where we had our dinner. There was plenty of space for all of us plus space for the kids to run and play.

This is the Seder, or the Passover Meal. Our folks really enjoyed the mixture of flavors as well as the learning what each item represents.

The table looked so nice! And yes, that's grape juice in the copita!

The atmosphere was absolutely incredible!!

Araceli, Jorge and Alexandro cooking away!

The kids enjoyed the trampoline and the inflatable!

Here are some of the 32 children we had!!

Faces of Nueva Vida

2009-04-06T12:07:00.007-05:00

Nueva Vida yum yums

Nueva Vida loveables

Nueva Vida dads

Nueva Vida moms

Nueva Vida couples

Nueva Vida gals

Nueva Vida guys

5th Anniversary!

2009-04-06T11:51:00.002-05:00

Yesterday Nueva Vida celebrated five years!!! We are so thankful for what the Lord has done these past five years! Yesterday we had an attendance of 63!! We still had 6 regulars missing but that is because we are at the beginning of Spring Break here! We had a wonderful time of fellowship afterwards. Praise God with us!

Youth Group

2009-04-06T11:41:00.005-05:00

We taught the youth how to play Dutch Blitz!! We played in teams!

Natalie and Karla blowing bubbles!!

Omar had the biggest bubble during the bubble gum blowing contest!

We are so enjoying working with youth again. Sam and I worked with the youth group at our supporting church before we came to the field. I have a new appreciation for youth pastors and youth workers. It's hard work! Of course most youth workers aren't also hosting a church in their home as well as organizing most of the other church activities, but I still admire them! We are seeing some spiritual growth in the kids which is so encouraging. Pray with us that God would stir up some interest in a couple in our church to eventually direct the youth. The two fellows that we thought had a desire have kind of fizzled. Here are a few pics from the last youth meeting!

Still waiting....

2009-03-26T17:06:00.004-05:00

We are still waiting on news. Natalie got a recruting phone call the other night from the coach. He told her that he is in the process of obtaining (no final answer yet!) a 50% scholarship for her that would be part athletic and part academic!! We are growing in trusting the Lord and His Plans for us! Thanks so much for all your prayers!

Future bballer!

Natalie's team celebrating Isabel's birthday!!

News on Natalie

2009-03-17T21:39:00.002-05:00

We were told today that we won't know on Natalie's scholarship for yet another week. This is an opportunity for us to grow in trusting God! Please continue to pray!

Youth Retreat plans---and Apples to Apples!

2009-03-16T17:23:00.008-05:00

This week we went and looked at a location for our Youth Retreat!! This will be a first for us here at Nueva Vida. Sam and I haven't camped out with youth in years but we are excited to take our group in April for a trial run for what hopes to be something that will get bigger and bigger each year! The kids are very excited! Of course we are planning and planning to make things go as smooth as possible.

We also had youth group this Saturday. We found the game Apples to Apples in Spanish. It was soooooooo much fun! The kids caught on real quick to the game. The next few weeks will be busy ones for us as we have several activities planned in a row.

Too cute!!

These sheep were on the back of the property where we hope to have the youth retreat!

Apples to Apples is a keeper!!

Always lots of laughs!

Wii Mario Kart is one of the youth's favorite games!

Eight is Great!

2009-03-09T19:02:00.003-05:00

Nicole is always saying things that make us giggle. Sam and I were talking about my grocery list and we mentioned something about fish and Nicole piped in "I like Chinese Salmon". Of course we giggled and then asked her where she had this fish and then she told us she had it at a Japanese restaurant! We still need to work on our Geography and people groups!

Are you ready?

2009-03-03T15:04:00.005-06:00

Things sound so depressing these days. Last night Sam and I listened to Fox News and even though this channel gives a more balanced side of news, it still doesn't sound very encouraging. I realize that many dear folks have loss much of their retirement and even some have lost their jobs, but can we still find something to give us hope? Of course we can!!!! God is on top of everything. This "crisis" hasn't caught Him by surprise. My question is, are we willing to lose our "nest eggs" if it would cause many to come to Christ? Are we willing to go through rough times if it would shake up a nation and bring them to their knees? Are we willing to do without so that others can gain life in Christ? Are we willing to work longer in life if it brings someone to the foot of the cross? I don't like what is happening politically anymore than the next person but if it causes folks to open up to hear the gospel-- then I'm all for it!!!!!!!!! If this "crisis" allows me to have more conversations with my neighbor-- then bring it on! Christians get ready to give an answer!! Yes, I do realize these days could cause us here as missionaries to suffer as well. And yes, I'm willing to do it. I believe God uses times like these to grow His Church--around the World!

Natalie has been accepted at the Tec!!!!

2009-02-23T20:20:00.003-06:00

Thank you so much for all your prayers for Natalie during this exam process. We learned today that Natalie has made it into the higher academic level of the high school at the Tec. We still need a big scholarship for us to even consider this as an option for her. We know that God is in control of all of this and if He thinks she should go there then the money will be available. We have to make our decision by March 17th. There are a couple of more steps that we will take in order to see if Natalie qualifies for an academic scholarship or an athletic scholarship. We'd appreciate your prayers. Natalie understands that there is still a chance that she won't be able to go to this high school but we are so proud of her for sticking her neck out and taking that College Entrance Exam in Spanish!

Green Thumbs??!!

2009-02-23T13:01:00.002-06:00

Sam and Nicole are at it again!!! They grew black beans last year and this year they are doing it big and branching out! They are hoping to have a big crop of tomatoes, cucumbers and flowers! We saved our milk cartons for a couple of weeks so that we could cut and use them as our starter containers. Right now Sam and Nicole enjoy getting up and watering and staring at the dirt!!! We have a little problem. We can't transplant the crops in the yard cuz the kids on Sundays would trample them. We can't transplant them on the front patio because the dogs would destroy them. So that leaves the back patio and there's no room. So, we are some how going to transplant them on the roof of our bodega (storage room/ back bathroom). It should be interesting as we don't have stairs to the rooftop. Projects like these help keep homeschooling interesting!!