Posted by
Wes on June 30th, 2009 @ 2:16 pm
under The Newest News
During our trip to Houston last week we got to spend some really great time with our friends, the Winters. On Saturday evening Tim and Jenny hosted dinner at their house and a bunch of great friends came over for good times and good food. Andy and Addie were there even with Addie about to pop… she actually went into labor on their way home! Wes and Trisha and their boys… Jon and Amanda and Amanda’s belly… and my friend Duane even braved the sea of Aggies for the night. Thanks everybody for coming… we had so much fun. Sorry, didn’t take a single pic.
However, the next day Tim and Jenny celebrated Caleb’s birthday with what amounted to a homemade splash pad in their backyard… kiddie pool, baby pool and an awesome slip-n-slide. (An idea that we totally ripped off for Derek’s party, but that’s another post.) Anyways… that was also more fun than should be allowed… when was the last time you slip-n-slided? I guess that should be “slip-n-slid.” Anyways, it’s still just as fun as when you were a kid… and Jake and Sam Fikes are just the right size for what pretty much amounts to toddler bowling. They “raced” over and over and over… we have fun video but I’m having trouble getting it uploaded… so keep an eye out for that soon.
More pics here.
Posted by
Wes on June 25th, 2009 @ 11:18 pm
under The Newest News
Well… we made it through our trip alive. We had a really great time and even manage to keep our sanity… barely. The great thing, and the purpose of our trip, was reconnecting with people that are important to us. Towards the end of the trip we stayed in Sugar Land and visited our church family at First Colony Church of Christ again… amazing as always. We also got to spend a couple of nights in our home away from home at the Voss’s. Norman and Beth were our hosts for the whole summer of 2007 before we moved away from Houston. Jake was just a wee little guy at the time, but I think he still had a special connection with “Mr. Norm” and “Miss Beth.”
A few pics…
We had some great chances to spend time with so many friends… Dana and Sheila on Saturday night before they flew off to travel the world… Josh and Lindsey over Beth’s amazing Sunday lunch roast… and Gina and Bryce over a classy brunch at Micky D’s before heading out of town.
It’s amazing how differently people can read Dr. Suess… apparently the way Lindsey does it much better than the way I do.
Derek, looking awfully red-headed at one of many McDonald’s stops.
A lot more awesomeness happened on our trip… a little more later. Right now it’s past my bed time.
Posted by
Wes on June 18th, 2009 @ 8:40 am
under Mission South America, The Newest News
Wowzers…. we’re in the middle of it. It’s been a fun but crazy week or so… since Friday we’ve been able to reconnect and spend some time with different friends that we haven’t seen in a long time… every. single. day. Sorry, I did a horrible job of taking pictures… well really I just did no job at all. Anyways, here’s a quick rundown…
Last Friday - Jon and Amanda Robertson for dinner and general good times
Saturday - Sara Davidson for breakfast
Sunday to Wed - Mark Clancy came to spend a couple of days with us before heading to Lima in a few of weeks.
Wednesday night - Brett Bishop, my roommate from college, is one of the youth pastors at Oak Hills and he invited us to come down and meet his youth group.
Today for lunch - Chris and Tonya Fikes for lunch and then we head out of town for more.
This afternoon we’re hitting the road again… headed to the Houston area. It’s going to look something like this…
Tonight - Staying with our friends Jon and Amanda Robertson in Clear Lake.
Friday - Staying with our friends Tim and Jenny Winter in Houston.
Saturday - Staying in Sugar Land with friends and mentors Beth and Norman Voss.
Sunday - Staying with Chuck and Marilyn Jobe at “Tranquility Farm” in Brenham (the Lord knows we’ll be needing some tranquility.)
Monday - Coming home.
Good gravy what’s wrong with us?
Of course lot’s of good times mixed all throughout that. So, if you’re in any of these areas we hope to get to see you… if you haven’t already, let us know and maybe we can meet up.
Well… this is something we’ve known about for a couple of months now but haven’t posted anything here. I guess now is as good a time as any. It seems that the “economic downturn” or whatever you want to call it that we are facing has worked its way down and reared its ugly head in our neck of the woods.
As you probably already know, the Kaufman Church of Christ is our sponsoring church. Since 2008 they have been our only church providing financially for living expenses and working funds. We have really been so blessed by the generosity of our church family in Kaufman. However, a number of factors, not the least of which being the current state of the economy, have made it necessary for them to lower the level of financial support they are providing for us. In addition to that, we’ve been experiencing some significant shifts in the exchange rate between the US Dollar and the Peruvian Nuevo Sol… right now the exchange rate is about 10% lower than when we set our current budgets. Effectively, that’s like a 10% cut in pay once we get to Peru. And… on top of that, for reasons that I can’t fully explain, since this time last year, the cost of renting housing in Lima has skyrocketed. The same middle class housing that was renting for around $600-700 per month last year is now renting for 2 or 3 times that. Even renting a smaller home now will be significantly more costly than we originally had planned. Yes, this is a lot for us to handle right now, but we know that we serve a God named Jehoveh Jireh… our provider.
So, what does this mean for us now? Well, it means we’re on the search for additional support. We are both talking with churches about the possibility of forming new partnerships and we are very optimistic that our financial needs will be met by the support of individual contributors. In the past, I have sometimes seen fundraising as a necessary evil. But, now I am finally truly able to see this as an opportunity. Our friends and family are so supportive of the life that God has called us to… and this is an opportunity for them, some of you, to participate in it with us.
Soon we’ll share some more details about all of this and our outlook for the future and we’re working on some really great ways to make the process stress free for everybody… so stay tuned.
If you want to know more now, just email us… either by going to our contact page or at our regular email.