Sweet Sacrifice

Normally I just use this blog to keep people updated on what is going on in our family and what life is like in Latin America. I'm not much of a philosophical writer, but God has been teaching me the same thing over and over for several months, so I'll share it with you all. Several years ago we made a big change in our lives. God showed us that we should follow Him to Central America to prepare to serve Him in Honduras. We sold our cars, our house and our belongings. We quit our jobs and left our families. We moved to a country where we did not know the language or understand the culture. It was a sacrifice. But one filled with joy and adventure. It's sometimes a temptation to think, "I have counted the cost and made a big sacrifice for the Lord." But God has been reminding me that Jesus said, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me." I think the daily part is the most challenging. He didn't just ask me to GO once, He asks me to FOLLOW continually. He didn't just want my one time sacrifice; He desires my daily denial. And I have a wonderful promise. Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come, eternal life."

Paperwork Saga

Living overseas involves endless paperwork. For the last 14 months we have been in a non-stop paper-shuffle to get our license plates. I will try not to bore you with the details, but let's just say that we have learned to long for the organized (if annoying) system of the US department of motor vehicles. Hearing "Now serving B 14 at windown number 6" would be music to our ears. In Tegucigalpa, there was a period of 6 months where there wasn't money to make new plates, so everyone had to go to a government office every 2 months to renew their temporary permission to drive without plates. You cannot imagine the line of people waiting. One day Mark waited for 8 hours in the line. And for an un-known reason the location of the office kept changing. So part of the frustration was the hunt to even find the office. A few weeks after we moved to San Pedro Sula, we learned that our plates were finally ready... in Tegucigalpa. So Mark drove 4 hours each way only to be told that our paperwork was not in order. For the last month, while trying to resolve the situation, we have been forced to drive without updated papers. The police pulled Monica over twice and threatened to impound the car. But really, they were just trying to get her to pay a bribe. We finally hired a lawyer to help us end the wild goose chase. So here's the tally: We waited in 14 different lines at 5 different offices, traveled to two different cities and paid several hundred dollars just to get our license plates. It was never a dire situation, just an on-going frustration of trying our best to live legally in a foreign country. It was a very satisfying feeling to screw the plates to our Honda this afternoon.

Move to San Pedro Sula

With joy overflowing we share with you how God is advancing our plans for ministry as your extension of the gospel in Latin America. Our family of four has been serving and studying within an established church of 1,000 Hondurans in the political capital of Honduras for one year. Our original plan was to live there for 3 to 4 years learning within the central campus of this influential church. However, in 2011 two Honduran pastors from our central campus planted a daughter church in the industrial capital of Honduras. That newly planted church in San Pedro Sula has quickly grown to 80 people with many new believers. To be part of its continued growth in evangelism, discipleship, and teaching we were given an invitation to move our family and minister in this new local church in a city of 1 million Hondurans within in a jungle valley ringed by beautiful green mountains. After much prayer and at the advice of our local pastors, elders, and US leadership, we have taken this further step of faith and have replanted ourselves at the base of the mountains outside San Pedro Sula. To clarify: neither our ministry vision nor our missionary associations have changed as we continue to advance within the same network of Latin American Impacto churches and under the same US supervision of Grace Pointe Ministries.

Our new church: Iglesia Impacto

Clarissa in our new kitchen

Reagan and Clarissa's new room

We now live in the most violent city in the world. But God has provided for us through your faithful prayers. We see God’s provision as He directed us to a well-guarded, enclosed neighborhood where we have the freedom to walk outside and to meet our neighbors without fear. We are learning how to live carefully in this even-more dangerous setting, but we are truly at peace and know that our safety lies in the hands of our powerful and caring Heavenly Father. Additionally, God has provided a bilingual Honduran preschool for our 4 ½ year old son, Reagan, within a mile of our home.

Visit to the US

This summer, after living for two years in Latin America, we visited the US for the first time. Clarissa had not yet been to her country of citizenship since she was born in Central America. We spent our first week with our home church, Bethel, in Houston, Texas. It was a wonderful time reconnecting with many special friends. We then flew to Breckenridge, Colorado to see Monica's family. We rode the ski lift to the top of the mountain, went hiking, celebrated Randy and LaVon's 40th wedding anniversary and had a party for our nephew's first birthday. We spent our final week in the US with the Voss side of the family in Vail, Colorado. Reagan and Clarissa enjoyed playing with their cousins. Reagan went on a pony ride on Vail mountain and splashed in the river. We did a lot of shopping for things that are cheaper in the US, and ate some great food at our favorite restaurants.


Reagan riding a pony
 

Monica with her sisters
 

All the Voss cousins

A beautiful view from Vail Mountain