Tree of Life Ministries, Mx.

Picture Slide Show

noreply@blogger.com (Misa and Rose) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:36:00 +0000

Thanksgiving...

noreply@blogger.com (Misa and Rose) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 17:39:00 +0000

We went to work with Misa today which entailed driving all over the place to check on material pricing and workers for a job that he is coordinating. It was good to be out of the house.

We then decided around 2pm that we should eat something and not fast on Thanksgiving day! So we went and had our "turkey" dinner at Churches Chicken. Okay, it was fried chicken and not a turkey. It was good though and we were especially thankful for the yummy mashed potatos and gravy:)

We then went home and cleaned and watched lame movies.

Hope all of you have plenty to be thankful for as well! God, Family, Friends, the Bible, Freedom, food, clothes, shelter, books, an education, health, limbs, and so much more!

Valerie said that she was thankful for the following:

"I am thankful for the all of the stories I have heard. The funny ones, the sad ones, the scarry ones, all of them. I am thankful that I have a body with bones so that I don't just have to lay on the floor like a wet noodle! I am thankful for my family and just EVERYTHING!"

Apartment Dangers

noreply@blogger.com (Misa and Rose) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:12:00 +0000

Claudia, the single Mom that we helped move a while back called us about a week ago to see if Misa could help do something about the stairs in the place that they moved to because her baby (Genesis) fell down the steep concrete stairs!!

Miraculously she was fine except for a few scrapes and bruises. I pray that there aren't any more accidents in that apartment, it is a horrible place for children! Many of the apartments here are an absolute hazard for children. I'm sure there are a lot of deaths from falls out of windows and off of decks that are on the 2nd and 3rd floors with absolutely no railing on them!

Claudia's 14 year old daughter is growing (her belly that is) she still makes comments about us taking the baby. I think she should wait and see how she feels once the baby is born. I try not to think about it because I don't want to get my hopes up as, I would LOVE to have another baby. But, I would rather see her take responsibility and do what she needs to do to be a good mother and for us to continue our relationship with them and hopefully she will make GOd the Lord of her life.

What have we been up to??

noreply@blogger.com (Misa and Rose) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 03:34:00 +0000

School, school, school...that's what the girls' would say we have been doing and I suppose they are right. Now that we feel a little more settled, I have been trying to get them caught up in school.

They ARE getting caught up so I will lay off a little when God leads us to work on something else. We have been praying about really jumping on board with the Calvary Chapel here and the ministries that they already have going. We just want to know that that is what God wants before we commit to it. There are A LOT of opportunities to serve with them but it would require a FULL-TIME committment and so we could REALLY use prayer that we would hear His voice and follow His leading and not our ways.

I so want to serve and work with Calvary Chapel but I want what God wants so, I'm trying to be silent and let God speak (especially through my husband without my voice!).

We will most likely be coming back to Vancouver in the first part of March and staying for a while so if that goes as planned, we are very excited to spend time with our family and friends!

Moving a family...

noreply@blogger.com (Misa and Rose) — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 04:21:00 +0000

The night before last we moved a single mother of a 1 year old and her pregnant 14 year old out of a very junky apartment into another junky apartment. That was an interesting experience.

When we arrived at their new place with the first truck load of stuff all of these kids from all up and down the street ran out and started saying Gringas are moving in! And they immediately started helping to unload the stuff from the truck and carry it up the stairs to the room, not realizing that we were not the ones moving in! We later heard a man (one of the children's father) telling the kids not to expect to get money out of us because we were not the ones moving in. Most of the older kids wandered off after that but the younger ones just kept on helping unload and carry stuff upstairs for all 3 truck loads of stuff!

When we were finished and said goodbye to the family that we had moved, the mother tried to pay us! I couldn't believe it! THEY do not have money she barely works at all and her husband is in prison. Frankly I don't know how they eat at all! We of course would not hear of it and I told her it was a gift for sisters in Christ. She almost started crying and gave me a big kiss.

We have been able to spend time with this family off and on since we have moved to PV and have shared the gospel with them and she is reading through Created to Be His Help Meet so that she can use it when her husband gets out someday.

This is also the 14 year old girl that keeps offering us her baby boy that she is due to have in Feb. I don't think that she will really want to give it away once it is born but we told her that if that is what she really wants we wouldn't hesitate to adopt him!

The girls all had a lot of fun moving them and it was good to get our minds off of our move for a while!

My daughter has proven herself...AND we have a HOME

noreply@blogger.com (Misa and Rose) — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 04:11:00 +0000

Okay, so I was reading my daughters' (Crystal) blog and see that she has proven herself more diligent than I in keeping up with her blog!

Life has been crazy trying to manage school, work, family and ministry (which has been slow lately).

We haven't been doing a whole lot as far as "official" ministry goes, but God has still been using us in smaller scale (daily life) ways.

The apartment/house below ours became available so we moved down there which is more than double the size of the little 1 bedroom that we had been in. This is the first time since we moved out of our house in Felida that I have felt like I have a real "home"! When we had moved out in May of last year we had only 1 week to move all of our stuff into a house that was in serious need of repair, before leaving for our mission trip in Guatemala. We had just dumped our stuff into the house which didn't even have floors and then left for 3 weeks to Guatemala. ....Then in November we took off to Mexico and well lived on the road for quite some time...so this is a nice change of pace to feel "settled" and have a real home:)

God is Good ALL the TIME!

noreply@blogger.com (Misa and Rose) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 03:12:00 +0000

Misa's Mom flew down on Sunday to visit and get permits ready for building. It has been really nice having her here. We have had some good talks. She will be going back on Sunday.

We are praying as to how God would have us serve here in Mexico during the tourist season.

God has used us to witness and minister to a lot of local people and even some tourists over the spring and summer months. At this point we are not sure if God is still calling us to just be planted here or to start doing something bigger (well I guess bigger in our eyes, God's plans are always BIG!).

I'm missing "home" as the fall time is my favorite time of the year and I get this nesting instinct every year. I love the smells of the outdoors in the NW this time of year, the change in the weather, and revving up for a new school year. My relationship with my husband is great and he is my best friend but I'm beginning to feel the loneliness of not having fellowship with other like minded Christian women and families.

So we keep chugging and plugging along until God moves us elsewhere or tells us to do something different.

Praise the Lord that God is still on His throne!

God is working patience in us the hard way...

noreply@blogger.com (Misa and Rose) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 21:17:00 +0000

Lately the Mexican way or ways rather have really been getting to us, especially Misa. The constant lying, deceiving and manipulating tactics that is just common place here is really hard to live with.

If a business messes up they tweak their system to make it look like they are not at fault. NOBODY ever admits when they have made an error. They will stand there and give you a blank stare as you both look at the green something that they gave you and tell you that it is the red one that your ordered.

I'm not exaggerating here! Misa started working with this guy a while back and when they started he said oh you are from America? Don't worry I'll teach you how business is done in Mexico. I'll show all of the tricks of lying and how to cheat them all. By now Misa was not surprised at this comment because he gets it all of the time. Misa told him if they were going to work together then they would do things his way which would be honest and fair or not at all. The guy laughed but went along with him. Now they have a good reputation with some big local businesses and an Architect so the guy is thinking there could be something to this honesty thing!

I won't go into the Costco tire thing as I'm still trying to get over that and might write some inappropriate comments!

Point being....This country, Misa's birth country is so corrupt. PRAY FOR MEXICO please!! Where is God in this country? Why is God allowing us to see and experience all of this? Surely, all of Mexico cannot be like this? Is this lack of morals exclusive to tourist areas?

Ahh...HELP I'm a statistic!!

noreply@blogger.com (Misa and Rose) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 19:03:00 +0000

Started out strong with blogging but then gradually slowed down to....well this!

One reason that I haven't been blogging is that we have been extremely busy with school, community building, family stuff and trying to build the real estate and construction business. Sadly we haven't had a whole lot of time for "official" ministry work:( Although, we have been getting more involved in people's lives and witness on a personal level. Which I suppose can be just as good as going out and doing some big and magnificent ministry.

We have a busy day today and tonight. We have an open house to go to, another listing that we hope to get signed, invoicing to do for construction work that Misa has been working on every night for the past 2 weeks at a famous restaurant, and a showing for a rental.

We are really praying that this guy rents this penthouse because our monthly fee would cover our rent every month! Yes, we are trying to sell the penthouse too but that will probably take some time so in the mean time we might as well benefit. The owners can't believe that we really have someone that wants to rent the place for as much as we do. That should build some confidence in us as Realtors!

Anyway, we could use prayer in these specific areas:

1. God would help us to know his will and that we would follow.
2. God would help us earn enough money to support us and the ministry.
3. That we would use our time wisely.
4. That we would continue to seek His face with all our hearts.
5. That we would continue to be witnesses of His love.
6. However God leads you to pray:)

Thank you and I will try to blog more often:)

Walk at the Marina

noreply@blogger.com (Misa and Rose) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:19:00 +0000

We had never walked or been to the Marina before so since we were all over there doing some work we decided to walk down there and take a look see.

Wow! I would love to live there! It is so beautiful, calm and peaceful. It is so different from Puerto Vallarta or Bucerias.

Here is a little slide show for you to enjoy!

Balancing work and Ministry

noreply@blogger.com (Misa and Rose) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:10:00 +0000

This is a challenge! I get so gung ho about things. I always take things to the extreme! I can't do this anymore, I must prioritize and set aside specific times for each area that I have been called to in this life. 1. My walk with God 2. Being a Wife and Helpmeet to my husband 3. Caring for the kids, homeschooling, housework, etc 3. Ministry 4. Business building 5. whats left?

Please pray that I would be able to assist Misa with the Real Estate business here in Mexico but keep a healthy balance of Ministry, Homeschooling and Spiritual growth.

The Real Estate could be a huge vehicle in bringing in the funds needed to build the mission/ministry base but what does it matter if we have no time left to work in the ministry!

Seek ye FIRST the Kingdom of Heaven and all these things shall be added unto you.

As soon as I'm finished doing a few office things, the girls and I are going to the beach with our Spanish and English tracts to play and evangelize!

My Mom's Neck Surgery...Please pray

noreply@blogger.com (Misa and Rose) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 18:51:00 +0000

My Mom is going in on Wednesday for a long awaited neck surgery. It was supposed to be just a quick in and out surgery lasting only a couple of hours before she went home. But this week when she went in for her pre-op physical her blood pressure was very high and there was something abnormal about her heart.

They sent her for an EKG and she has a heart murmur and what they believe is scar tissue on her heart. At this point they are still moving forward with the surgery but it will require at least one night stay in the hospital.

She is feeling very emotional about the whole thing and doesn't have a whole lot of local support from family and friends. I'm all the way in Mexico so I can't do anything for her!

After release from the hospital she gets to go home and care for herself:( Not a very good situation.

My prayer is that God will give her peace and comfort which will also keep her blood pressure down. I would also like prayer that God would provide some caring individual to take care of her for the first week.

Thank you for your prayers.

Naomi Mopping

noreply@blogger.com (Misa and Rose) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 03:03:00 +0000

I ran across this picture when I was searching for something. This is Naomi a few months back mopping the floor at Misa's Aunts house in Reforma Agraria.

Misa and I had to leave the girls there while we went to meet with some people and when we came back they had cleaned it up! The house is empty most of the year but his Aunt had offered to let us stay there while we were in town.

Crystal must have snapped the photo and I'm glad that she did because I just find it so adorable :)

Whew.....Clean, clean, clean

noreply@blogger.com (Misa and Rose) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 02:54:00 +0000

Okay, so Crystal and I had a ton of work waiting for us when we arrived back home!

Apparently, they weren't able to keep up with the house work. We are almost caught up on laundry but there was so much of it and it keeps raining so we can't seem to get it all dry!

Although, I enjoyed visiting with everyone in Vancouver, it is so good to be back home! I missed my family a terribly lot.

Now I need to try to help Misa get these condo's sold and then we want to start building the mission base. We also are probably about ready to start an official bible study with some locals that have accept Christ and have a desire to start walking with the Lord.

Thank you to EVERYONE that helped us in so many ways while we were in Vancouver. It is so awesome to have the privledge of experiencing God's grace through so many people! EVERY need was met while we were up there. As we kept stepping out in faith...God kept meeting us:)

God is just so GOOD!

noreply@blogger.com (Misa and Rose) — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 16:28:00 +0000

I sure hope people are not offended when I blog about their generous gifts to the ministry! I won't use names but I just have to share the praise and the testimony of God providing!

First of we needed to get back to Mexico. I have a companion fare and some other discounts but still the total was going to be $216 to get back. That took every penny I had and plus I had to put some of it on a credit card (I hate to do that) and it didn't leave me any money to finish purchasing the books, tracts and other ministry supplies that we had wanted to get. Misa said get back ASAP so I did what my hubby asked. Besides I REALLY miss him and the girls. So I booked the flight in faith.

That day....I kid you not, I received an email from someone in CA that was going to purchase one of my baby carriers but had decided not to because she didn't care for the color. But apparently that night she had seen that I had a blog so she went on and started reading. She was moved and decided she wanted to purchase not only the one carrier but any remaining carriers that i had left!! Guess what the total came to?? $206!! That is right $10 short of the amount for the airline tickets.

The next day a friend of mine drove down with her 3 boys to meet me and Crystal at the mall as we hadn't seen each other for quite some time. It was great to see them and spend time together. I wish I couldn't have spent more time with them:) Her little boy who is just a little older than Naomi was so cute!! It made me sad because I miss my girls so much.

Anyway, she took me to Costco (my membership has expired) so that I could pick up my medicine. I was expecting the cost to be around $20 but it came to $75!! I only had $78 left in my pocket which was supposed to go toward the airline tickets. But it had to be done so I paid and never said a word to my friend about the cost of the medicine or anything. Well a little earlier she had handed us two sealed envelopes and said that her two older boys had wanted to donate their portion of their garage sale money to us. I was so moved and thought it was such a sweet thing for them to do. I hadn't looked in them to see how much but I figured that it would be $10 or something which is huge especially coming from kids (young men:). Later when we went home I opened it and Crystal counted...it was a total of $78!! I coulndn't believe it!

God is so awesome! I feel so loved by him. We don't have excess but he is providing exactly what we need which keeps us so thankful, grateful and walking by faith.

I love my Jehovah Jirah!

Another one accepted Jesus!!

noreply@blogger.com (Misa and Rose) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:44:00 +0000

Misa led another neighbor to the Lord!! He hasn't led a very good life and now that he is humbled and asked Jesus to be the Lord of his life he wants to know what to do next!!

Misa told him to just start trying to read the Bible and to wait until I get back because I'm bringing books in Spanish to do Bible studies for new christians!

I didn't know that I was bringing these books! SO now I'm frantically looking for some before I go back on Tuesday!!

Anyone want to help out with the costs? Please let me know asap. We also need another case of Bibles.

Who have you invited to the Wedding Feast?

noreply@blogger.com (Misa and Rose) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 21:57:00 +0000

We weren't able to go visit HOFCC due to transportation. I suppose if I had planned we could have emailed HOFCC to see who was in the area and hopped a ride with them.

We did go down the street and visit Walnut Grove Church in the morning. It was really good to go worship (in English). There wasn't much of a sermon as they had missionaries from Afganistan there. Well actually it is their home church but they have been living for the last 5 years in Afganistan. They have 2 going on 3 kids. It was encouraging to hear them talk about the culture there and what God is doing.

It reminded me of what we are doing in Mexico. Nothing that appears to be "Grand" and huge but just the simple, mundane living your life in a foreign country and witnessing on a personal relational level. In the midst of that Muslim country there are people searching and reaching out for a saviour. People that have never heard of Jesus! I started to tear up as they were talking.

God has been growing in me a deeper passion for sharing the message of salvation with others. It's amazing how many people really have never heard the "true" message of the Law, judgement day, their fate, and what Christ did for them! How can this be? There are so many professing Christians!

How can we not be sharing with everyone around us? How can we truly have the love of God in us if we are not brought to our knees, brought to tears with our heart breaking for everyone that is going to hell? It is beginning to consume me! Every waking moment I want to be an ambassador for Christ, sharing with others, whether verbally, written, emails, over the phone, hiding tracts...I don't care I just want people to know my Savior!

Have you ever been to a party, event or gathering where you were just so excited to be there that you wanted everyone that you knew or cared about to be there too? You know....if there were a lot of people there then it was really cool! Well, that is the way we should feel about heaven! We should be wanting and desiring a HUGE "wedding feast"! I mean HUGE...we should be trying to get everyone that we know or run into to come to this wedding feast in heaven!!

Presenting Misa Chavez....Puerto Vallarta's Newest Realtor!!

noreply@blogger.com (Misa and Rose) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 21:37:00 +0000

It's official ....Misa is now a licensed Realtor in Mexico! He got his MLS logon and A.M.P.I. Certification!

He has 3 listings so please pray for buyers as this would help us tremenously in building the Mission base!

We don't have our personal Realty website up and running yet but here is our Broker's site. Just remember to call us though if you or someone you know are looking to buy or sell anywhere in Mexico!!

Misa & Rose Chavez ~ Real Estate Agents
Office located in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
1-322-168-7224 in Mex.
360-339-7213 from US
Skype: ficusenterprises

God Meeting our needs (as usual!!)

noreply@blogger.com (Misa and Rose) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 21:30:00 +0000

We had promised that the first donation that we received while in Vancouver would go directly to purchasing Spanish books for our ministry (we want to start a bible study on parenting) and spanish tracts.

We hadn't received anything so I decided to order them anyway and use the little money we had for our trip (food, etc) and just trust God. We did and the total came to $69. That afternoon an old (not age wise:) friend of mine saw my blog and donated $60 through paypal!! She was so excited when I emailed her and thanked her telling her how God provided through her!

I'm waiting to sell the last of my Patapum carriers and then I will purchase the rest of the tracts and bibles that we need as well as the stuff for the ESL class.

Misa also led his Aunt Cuca to the Lord that same day so that was awesome!! She wants to start studying the Created to be His Help Meet book.

Witnessing Praise Reports!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Misa and Rose) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 21:16:00 +0000

Okay...there has been so much that I should have been blogging about but I have been too busy. So, I'm back tracking and going to post several blogs to cover some of the exciting things that have happened.

We have been riding the bus a lot while being in Vancouver and wow! What a good place to minister and witness to people! It was really neat because on one of our trips the bus was so packed that people had to stand. A hispanic woman carrying a 4 week old baby got on along with a cute little 5 yr old (that reminded me of Valerie) and a 7 yr old girl. There was no place to sit. A gentleman stood up and offered his spot to the mom and Crystal and I without even pausing grabbed both of the girls and plunked them down in our laps and started talking with them in Spanish. They were on there for a long time and the 5 yr old wanted to stay on my lap even when there was a seat available. I enjoyed it. We handed them some Spanish tracts before they got of the bus. The mom was sort of shy but thanked us in a most sincere way when she got off.

We went into the mall and went around hiding tracts inside shoe boxes and coat pockets too. It was fun to do:)

That night when we got home we lead Consuelo (Misa's Mom) to the Lord. We had started it and gone through it verbally but then found that it worked out really good for her to go through the "Good Person Test" in Spanish on my laptop. Towards the end we left the room so she could have personal time just with her and God. When we came back in she was writing down some stuff. I asked her what she was doing and she said I have to start reading the Bible every day and this is what it says to start with. She wrote down the gospel of John and Romans!

I then went over all of it to make sure that she understood. I then asked her if she now thinks she is going to heaven and she smiled and said yes!

God is so good!

Our trip to the States..

noreply@blogger.com (Misa and Rose) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 19:16:00 +0000

Crystal and I arrived in Portland on Monday night. We are staying at Misa's parents house trying to get tax stuff done and trying to have a garage sale as well as selling stuff on Craigslist.

Yesterday, we went on the bus and the Max to Gresham and we got to witness to a 15 year old girl. It's amazing the responses you get from people when you introduce the Gospel the way the Bible tells us to. She was very accepting and began to be humbled by the fact that she is not really a "good" person after all. I didn't get to finish because the bus came and I was out of English tracts but she knew some Spanish and said that her friends could help her read it so I gave her one in Spanish. Cool! Now the tract may get read together with a group of friends!

I can't wait to finish witnessing to Misa's parents. We got interrupted the other night and I had to leave his mom with her verbally admitting that in light of the fact that she is a sinner (like everyone else) that she will be going to hell! I really want to give her the good news now and let her know that she doesn't have to go there!

GOd must be at work in her heart...as He has not provided an opportunity to finish the message!

God at work...where ever we go!!

noreply@blogger.com (Misa and Rose) — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 16:59:00 +0000

We thought that we were going to be picking up money for the truck but God had other things planned for us.

The first person that God had us minister to was Misa's cousin, the wife of the guy that was supposed to be buying the truck but changes his mind. We were all in the van getting ready to leave and I suddenly had the strong urge to give her one of the tracts that we hand out to people on the streets. We don't normally just go around shoving tracts into families hands as most of them are Catholic and we don't want to botch the relationship before it has even been established. We are very cautious. I gestured to Misa to see if he felt the same and wanted to offer a tract and he so he told her that this is what we are handing out to people. Her face lit up and that opened the door to discuss spiritual things a little further. She then agreed to take the "virgin Mary" tract as well. We also started talking about marriage and she expressed great interest in the book "Created to be His Helpmeet" so we gave her one along with a Bible and she promised to read it. She agreed that we would sit and talk about what she has been reading when we return.

I take that back she was not the first...she was the second. The first person was a guy that Misa had spoken to a long time ago and possibly led to the Lord. He saw our van and came running down the street to get our attention. He began to tell Misa how he had been sober for 6 months now and feels great. Then he wanted to know where his Bible is that Misa had promised him!! It was awesome to have someone be so enthusiastic and come running to us to get a Bible!

Then when we were heading out of a town called La Libertad we stopped to buy some plantanos and Misa called me out of the car and asked me if I wanted green ones or ripe ones. I told him it didn't really matter to me whatever he like best but....I suppose I would want some of both. The guy that was selling them said to Misa, Wow! I thought all women did anymore was boss the guy around and demand what "they" wanted! Misa interpreted for me and jokingly said, maybe his wife needs that book too! He said what book...I want one. I said no, you'll get beat up if you give it to your wife. Misa and him talked a little more after I got back in the van and then Misa came and asked for a book, bible and some tracts. The guy was very happy and immediatly went in to his wife. We'll check in on them the next time we go too.

We ran out of Bibles and that wasn't good because there were some families in Zacualpan that were waiting for Misa to stop by with Bibles too. We will bring some to them the next time we go through.

We will need more Bibles and tracts....so if anyone would like to donate money or order them for us we would be most appreciative!

The drive home turned into an inventful one again! We were going to swing by San Blas to pick up some tacos, there is only one road going into San Blas and it is very low and narrow with wetlands (marisma) on both sides of the road. It was aroud 9PM and very dark already, there had been some showers and lightning in the distance nothing unusual for this time of year. Then suddenly maybe 500 feet ahead of us around a bend in the road there was a bright blue and green light that lit the whole sky. We kept on driving when very quickly we realized that the electric box had blown and the electric wires and pole had fallen across the road. We pulled off in a little turn around area and then looking behind us realized a car coming that had been unaware of the flash and almost drove right into the wires. We started frantically waving, screaming and honking our horn. They just in time realized what had happened and turned around as well but then along comes another truck speeding along ignoring our continuous brights flashing and emergency blinkers and horn blaring! He too almost ran it over. He sat there in front of it and then other cars started to pile up behind him so we figured it was safe to turn around and go back.

So much for those tacos! The storm felt like a little hurricane or a tornando. I figured that Misa would want to play it safe and stay at his aunts house instead of driving the 3 1/2 hours back to pv at this time of night. He said NO! Absolutley not! I felt a little uneasy but then remembered how God had spoken through him just the night before and kept us from harms way. So, I relaxed, smiled and began to pray! I prayed a specific prayer this time (remembering that the last trip we took when our truck broke down and we had the horrific drive back home that I never prayed specifically, I had just prayed, Oh, Lord keep us safe). My specific prayer was that for that point on that the roads would become completely clear and that it would not rain AND of course that we would get there safely. He did just that!! The rain stopped, the wind stopped, there weren't any landslides or stalled vehicles, no falling rocks, or trees this time! The only little surprise was a flood stretch of road that scared us because we were going 60mph and didn't see it. Talk about hydroplaning!!

GOD IS GOOD! AMEN? AMEN!

God's Protection through my WONDERFUL Husband!

noreply@blogger.com (Misa and Rose) — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 16:49:00 +0000

On Thursday we were supposed to leave to go to Reforma Agraria to pick up the money for the truck but then Misa got a "quick" job that turned into all day. So by the time we got out of here it was after 7PM. We started driving down the freeway when all of the sudden Misa said we're not going!

We didn't ask why, we just sat there each of us quietly wondering what was wrong. He seemed a little upset or disturbed. We didn't say anything nor did he offer an explanation. We got home and unloaded the van. He left to go measure another potential job that was offered to him.

Later, (I was already asleep) he told Crystal and Mariah that he just suddenly didn't feel like we were supposed to go. He didn't exactly know why.

In the morning he said okay lets go. So we repacked everything and off we went. We were almost out of Puerto Vallarta (it took us almost 45mins to get out of town) when I commented on how annoying the van wheel had become. We had a flat the prior weekend and went to a llantera (tire place) to have it repaired but over the week had grown shaky and the whole van shimmied as we drove.

Misa said we would stop and have it looked at again but he suspected that they just hadn't rotated the tire or aligned it correctly. When the tire shop guy looked at it he said he couldn't believe that we had been able to drive on it at all! The tire was completely bulging and ready to burst!

If we had gone the prior night we probably would have gotten in an accident or been stranded again!

Praise the Lord! He is good!

The people decided they wanted a different type of truck so we didn't get our money:( But in the next post I'll tell all about the exciting opportunities we had in witnessing to a bunch of different people while we were there!

Supplies NEEDED....

noreply@blogger.com (Misa and Rose) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 06:44:00 +0000

Just in case anyone feels led to collect some of this stuff or buy it....here is the full list. We also need either VCR to play the Jesus film or a DVD of the Jesus Film in Spanish and one in English.

Everything in orange we already have or will have.

Supplies to be Purchased/Borrowed/or Gathered from Home
• unlined 3x5 cards
• paper / pencils for students
• paper plate, brad, pen, and construction paper clock hands (for each student)
• paper clips for marking chapters
• dry erase markers
• colored chalk
• water colors and brush
• local map (wherever you teach)
• map of the country (wherever you are)
• world map or globe
• U.S. map
• map of Sea of Galilee
• map of ancient Israel
• calendar (with colorful seasonal pictures, if possible)
• current calendar showing holidays (can be purse-size from a business)-1 per pair of students)
• calculator
• video recorder
• used boarding pass
• used airline ticket
• authentic flight schedules
• birthday candle for each student
• birthday hats and whistles (if possible)
• disguise (wig, dark glasses, mask, etc.)
• weather gear-ear muffs, scarf, umbrella, sunglasses, hand fan
• two shirts and some food for sharing
• examples of different fabric design (plaids, checks, etc.) and fabric type
• articles of clothing (all basic types/colors)
• missfitting clothes
• coat/ umbrella, and sun hat
• suitcase and a few garments to fold
• needle and thread
• perfume
• brush/curlers/scissors
• props representative of the seven holidays in Lesson Ten
• nativity set (if possible)
• book to " study" (demo)
• large book with clear chapter distinctions
• magazine
• things to show
• things to carry
• koosh ball or bean bag
• current calendar
• small kitchen towel/pad/pencil
• paring knife
• bone from cooked meat
• an example of dull and shiny
• apron and cooking spoon
• bottle or jar with a lid
• cloth and pan of water
• two rags-one clean and one dirty
• one dry and one moist cloth
• bowl of water and a small dish
• bar of soap
• cloth to tie around head / cotton for a " fake" swollen jaw
• drying towel
• blindfolds cap for taxi driver
• sheet or large table cloth
• birthday cake
• birth announcement (" used" is fine!)
• dinner invitation (sample)
• personal letter (sample)
• tape for " Musical Chairs"
• piece of music
• family pictures
• scrapbook of memorabilia
• newspaper
• authentic obituaries from a newspaper (one for each pair of students, if possible)
• large rock
• rock for rolling
• paint brush (for house painting)
• hammer and nail
• fishing pole/net (if possible)
• extension cord and light bulb
• string for a clothesline
• seeds and hoe
• small container of dirt
• sample of sand or picture of a desert
• doll (with receiving blanket - optional)
• box
• stethoscope (toy store?!)
• bandage for knee
• spoon and a bottle of liquid medicine
• crutch (or stick to lean on)
• pill bottle
• ice pack
• heating pad
pictures of:
• babies
• various types of weather
• various occupations (one for each student)
• various modes of transportation
• two people in love
• representative of the four seasons
• pregnant woman
• nuclear family
• mother and child
• holiday activities
• various stages of life (END OF PICTURES)

• grocery store flyers (one for each student or pair of students)
• sample of spices
• nut in a shell
• apple
• individual (real!) food samples
• foods for the Taste Stations (each of them numbered)
• three small pieces of candy
• small candies or pieces of gum (prizes)
• crackers and honey
• small cooking pot with a few vegetables and a lid

LONG overdue Update!

noreply@blogger.com (Misa and Rose) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 06:28:00 +0000

It has been over a week since I have blogged!! Time does fly!

So God blessed us with a double size bed and a little sofa that folds into a bed. It's not a hid-a-bed but thick foam cushions that fold down onto the floor.

We were so excited!! The double bed is for Misa and me a the sofa bed is being rotated between the kids (2 at a time). But they are so good, they don't complain about sleeping on the floor. We are just happy to have something after all of this time on the ground and floor!!

Hmm...what else has been going on. We have been making a habit of passing out tracts everyday that us girls go out of the house. People usually recieve them well. We also leave them in shopping carts and places like that. I can't wait to go to the airport and pass them out!!

Misa is finishing up a job for a Canadian Realtor that just bought a condo here in PV. What a huge blessing that turned out to be! She is kind of confused about her beliefs in religion and God but Misa and Crystal have had the opportunity to really witness to her. Now she is the one asking questions! I haven't met her yet but apparently she has really taken a liking to Misa and Crystal because she invited us to come up to Vancouver, B.C. and stay at one of their houses sometime!!

We will be going to Reforma Agraria within the next day or two to hopefully pick up money for the truck! If no WHEN that happens I will immediately book Crystal and my flight up there to get all of out tax stuff out of storage. We decided that we will only be up there for 2 days so we may not be able to see anyone:( We are going to be hopefully ....picking up a car for someone and driving back down. Hopefully it is a big enough car for us to pack some of stuff other than tax junk!!

Then when I get back I will need to start on our last 2 years of taxes!! Ughh! I'm trying to figure out how to fit our printer into a suitcase to get replaced at Staples (it is still under warranty, PRAISE the LORD!). I sure hope I can somehow get it on the plane! We really need the printer for printing the Tracts that we are using. We are almost out!

The other thing that we need (and we need money for this too so please being praying that GOd will provide) are a bunch of books in Spanish. We have people waiting for us to bring them To Train Up a Child in Spanish. We also wanted to order some specific tracts in spanish. They are $5/100. We also were hoping to get the supplies to do this 12 week ESL (English as a Second Language) course for the kids and teens here. It is based off of the Jesus film in Spanish. The program is free but there are still a ton of materials needed for it.

If anyone reading feels led to assist us in either collecting, purchasing, ordering any of the above PLEASE email me ASAP as we don't have much time to do this.

Okay...this probably should have been divided up into 3 posts but it is almost 2 in the morning and this is all you get for now:)

Love and miss everyone!!